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Post by Alexander Yu Gerad on Feb 25, 2012 18:47:49 GMT -5
"NIIICHE!" Xan was more than just worried. He was terrified. The archer stumbled through the forest frantically. He knew he shouldn't have let her go hunting. Who knew what happened to the hawk. "NIIIIIIIICHE!" he cried again as loud as he could. He sighed shaking his head in frustration. Xan's mind was racing towards panic but he chewed on his own tongue to bite back the impulse to just drop to his knees in terror.
Two days, four hours, eleven minutes, and twenty seconds (and counting) ago, Niche had gone off for her morning flight of a the new island. This was a common tradition whenever the air would reach a new place. Xan had strict rules to be back within six hours of her initial flight and she was usually 2 hours early.
1:09:28 PM
Yesterday she had not returned. Today she had not returned. Xan was no longer angry with the bird. He did not appreciate her being late and scolded the hawk for being so. Now he was afraid. Niche had ever done this before. She simply disappeared. Xan tried searching all around the island, sticking to the forests. Nice commonly hunted rodents in her diet so he figured the forest mice would be to her liking. No signs of the Hawk at all. He knew how to track her, as was part of their training to find each other via signs among other things. None. Xan knew that this was not by Niche's choosing. She would never not leave ANY trace of her.
Next Xan had checked a nearby village. He asked if they had hear or seen any foreign birds. The locals just gave him odd looks. "Why are you using a bow?" "Are you a hunter?" "Did you need directions?" Xan nearly screamed in frustration. Niche was probably in trouble, injured or worse de- NO! Xan shook his head and closed his eyes. No. He would not think of her like that. She was alive. She was out there. She needed help. There was no way he was going to give up on her. She never gave up on him.
Ever since they ended up in East Blue, she had been nothing but a help to him. Niche was a hunting hawk, trained to search, hunt, and pinpoint enemies or prey. Her finds had saved Xan more than they had not. And her company was more than anything he needed. He truly had no friends off of Cactus Island. No friends meant he got rather lonely at time, sappy as it was. But Niche filled that gap for him, with her crooning him and personified pranks. She always loved to pull on people's ears just when you thought she was being sweet. And when you went to admonish her for it, she would act as if she had no idea what she had done.
"...I miss you, you stupid bird..." he whispered to himself. he lowered his head under a branch and sighed. There had to be something for him to find. And he would find it. Niche was alive. And Xan would not stop until he found her.
Stamina: 485/490
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Ira Travis
Junior Member
[M:0%7C0%7C0]
Player: Merc
Posts: 65
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Post by Ira Travis on Feb 25, 2012 19:07:59 GMT -5
Ira yawned a bit to herself as she wandered through an unfamiliar village, her eyes half closed as she wandered forth somewhat lazily. She had likely just woken from a nap, as she still seemed to be a little blurry eyed, judging by the way she was rubbing at them with the back of her hands. Beyond these gestures, her face was as expressionless as ever as she meandered forth, walking without an ounce of fear in her body, in spite of the fact that she was in an unfamiliar place - had it been more crowded she might have been freaked out, but it wasn't too bad, and so she was not bothered by the people or the unfamiliar surroundings.
In passing, she could hear the townsfolk talking about a man, chattering about a sketchy stranger that had been lurking around, seemingly without a reason for doing so. The blonde initially merely ignored their excited, if not worried, musings about the strange male in the area, but as she got deeper into the town and closer to the forest it became harder and harder to ignore, some people were standing around, inspecting the tree line while trying to act as though they were merely doing chores. She snorted a little through her nose, seeing plainly through their mundane 'excuses' for scoping out the nearby trees - from afar no less, as they were clearly afraid to venture forth. The teen supposed this was fair enough, as the locals were unlikely to really be able to defend themselves.
It didn't take a genius to realize that the man had likely headed in this direction, and she began to feel a tad curious about him, mostly about his intentions. She may have been a pirate, and a terribly apathetic one at that, but she figured this was what her Captain would do, so with a sigh she passed the men lingering about the end of the village and went to head into the forest herself.
One of them tried to stop her, reaching out and gently touching her arm, he began telling her that it was dangerous for a 'young lady' to go alone, which she merely ignored as she trod forwards, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she shrugged it off, growing quiet for a few moments, "I'll be fine," she assured, closing her eyes as she wandered forwards.
It took some wandering, and the use of her haki, which was still somewhat low leveled, but, she eventually stumbled on a man, whom was looking rather depressed for some reason or another. Ira observed him for a moment, as though gauging the potential of him to be dangerous, before speaking up and making her presence known to him, "I assume you're the one that has the villagers in such a tizzy?" She asked, though was fairly certain of the answer.
Stamina: 2330/2335
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Post by Alexander Yu Gerad on Feb 26, 2012 6:56:22 GMT -5
1:15:06 PM
Still nothing. Xan was far from giving up hope though. He was getting his second wind and now had his bow out. He had skipped breakfast, but as of now he was hunting for both his friend and his lunch. His path was now reckless, leaving traces of his trail everywhere when he usually was neat about everything. He was no thief but he did no the art and usefulness of being less than detected. A bounty was a bounty, and he was no flashy showman. He took his prey quietly, cleanly and without hesitation. And ever since Niche and he got out of Whiskey Peak, he had tried to maintain a low reputation. Would do no good if pirates and other criminals thought him as a threat. They would begin taking precautions and that would lead to having a much more difficult job.
Calmly walked over a fallen branch and dropped the ground. He pushed a few leaves off a spot on the ground to reveal tracks. It was a clove-hooved animal, possibly a boar. By the indention in the hard ground, Xan guessed it was running, but this track was a day old. His Devil Fruit ability slammed him with the information as he stared at the track. Eighteen hours, forty three minutes and twenty eight seconds ago, the tracks were made. He noted the time and stood back up continuing onward. He continued northward through a bit more forest, only about twenty meters, when he encountered a similar pattern of tracks. 'The beast must live nearby.' The tracks were much fresher than the previous ones, two hours, four minutes and thirty two seconds. He smiled and pulled one of his normal arrows out.
He heard a rustle behind him and he turned. As he did time ebbed into a slow pattern. His thinking remained the same but his body could not keep up moving at this steady pace. With his bow nocked he took aim at whatever was coming towards him. 'Lunchtime,' he thought to himself with a warm thought. And then, a girl emerged.
"I assume you're the one that has the villagers in such a tizzy?"
Every part of the bounty hunter's instinct was now telling him that he had made a grave error. His body was now in full swing of the motion, but luckily though he was a quick shot with a near perfect score, he was an even faster thinker.
1:17:02 PM
He tilted the bow to the right slightly just as his fingers let go of arrow. Xan's shot flew speedily towards his target but harmlessy, but dangerously close, hit the tree behind ten meters behind her. The arrow barely, but thankfully did not touch her. With a sigh Xan walked to the girl and frowned. "Don't sneak up on a hunter like that. Get an arrow through your head." He walked past her to the tree where his arrow had lodged itself and pulled on it. He grabbed it and pulled only to have the metal head snap off. Xan growled and then shook his head. Going to have to get another. He placed the shaft of the broken arrow into his quiver. He turned back gave a curious look at the blonde young lass.
"If the villagers truly think that looking for a friend is all that wrong, then yes. Don't care for them either." Xan put his bow away on his back and then flung his black scarf to his back. "Alexander. Xan for short." He cocked an eyebrow up. "And you are...?"
Stamina: 480/490
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Ira Travis
Junior Member
[M:0%7C0%7C0]
Player: Merc
Posts: 65
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Post by Ira Travis on Feb 26, 2012 11:07:39 GMT -5
Ira arched a brow as a bow and arrow were trained upon her - though for someone faced with a situation that could lead to the death of most, or at the very least make them flinch, she remained as apathetic as ever. The arrow nearly clipped her, but instead lodged itself in a tree slightly behind her. She had felt the gust it caused, and was well aware that it had indeed been a close call. He gave her a warning, and she gave a bit of a listless shrug, "a simple arrow couldn't kill me," she assured him, though somehow she didn't sound cocky, it sounded much more like she was merely stating a fact.
Of course, this fact was the truth, though Xan would have no way of knowing it without taking a more serious shot at her. Her Phoenix Mythical Zoan was a curious thing, after all, with strange properties and a regeneration rate to die for.
She turned her head slightly, watching as he went to pull the arrow out of the tree, only to have the tip broke off, but he kept the shaft of the arrow for some reason or another- she assumed to get it remade, but that thought was already gone from her mind when he mentioned that his friend was missing. She tilted her head just a little at him, her hands still stuffed deep in the pockets of her somewhat heavy jacket. "Oh, your friend is missing and no one in the village offered to help you?" She wondered, shifting a little on her feet as she contemplated this.
For a few moments, her blue eyes cast themselves upwards, beyond the hanging tree branches and the towering treetops, staring at the beautiful sky that was spread out over head, though it wasn't of any particular interest. She was contemplating turning into her partial phoenix form, taking on the wings of flames once she found out whom exactly she should be looking for, or perhaps a bit of an idea where she should even started searching for this missing person.
Her icy eyes scanned the area around them for a few moments as she contemplated this, but slowly returned to him as he announced his name, telling her to call him Xan for short, which suited her well enough. "I am Ira," she said simply, and slowly pulled her hands from her pockets, observing the male for a few long moments, easily noticing that he was likely roughly the same age as herself. He seemed to very muck like the color black, not that it terribly bothered her, of course. What caught her attention was actually the fact that there was something about him that reminded him of herself. She came to realize that the way he acted was similar to her own, in several ways. His words were somewhat cold, a manner which she often used when speaking. He also merely blew past her to gather the arrow, rather than bothering to stop and ask if she was alright, as she knew most people would. Additionally, he spoke bluntly to her, what he said was fairly short and to the point.
Naturally, none of these things really bothered Ira, in fact she was slightly amused by it, but her face retained that neutral expression as she watched him toss his scarf over his shoulder to rest down his back. "Nice scarf," she finally stated. The teen herself was wearing a long red scarf, though not nearly as large as it, that trailed down to the center of her back.
Stamina: 1590/1640
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