Wandering [Open]

[Marius Levasseur]

A land of beautiful green, of such sheer natural beauty. That was how Lyneel was often described to people, if not always. Tall, coniferous trees filled with life and rolling hills drawing one's eye across it. It held a medieval look to it, yet it didn't seem repressed in ages gone by so much as it seemed like a place of strong tradition. A magnificent castle seemed to blend effortlessly into the rest of the land. Marius adored such natural beauty - a seemingly effortless ability to bring such elements together without seeming forced. An inspiration for his creative mind. But it was also a Kingdom in alignment with the World Government. Such a shame. He rather liked it otherwise, too.

The gentleman, though aged and possessing gray-white hair, was not frail. On the contrary, he seemed to give off an air of quiet power - of subtle strength. Black, polished shoes, black trousers, a white dress shirt, black waistcoat and a brown long coat made up his attire. Alongside, of course, a light silver scarf wrapped around his neck. A bony hand reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a square packet, from which he took his time to pull a single cigarette. Inserting it between his lips, he reached into his pocket again and took out a lighter, proceeding to spend a few moments lightning his cigarette. He stood in the fresh open air, a violin case sitting by his feet as he looked about through half-lidded eyes.

"My, my, I appear to be quite lost. How unfortunate," he remarked quietly to himself. He'd decided to wander about the island earlier in the morning, when he had little else to do. To stimulate his creativity, of course. He had been thinking of composing some music, but little had come to him earlier. To solve this problem he took it upon himself to go out and find some sort of inspiration. Of course, he had now begun to realize some problems - namely, that when you weren't terribly familiar with an area, that it was quite easy to get lost. Especially when you weren't paying attention to anything in particular. But he considered it a minor setback. Keeping a small smile on his face, he began to hum an upbeat tune as he picked up his case and wandered down the street, keeping his eyes peeled for any sort of familiar landmark.

"What a shame. Perhaps young Master Fausto will come looking," he remarked. It probably wasn't completely necessary to do so, he reasoned however. The island was not an unreasonably huge one. He would find his way back to the ship sooner or later. And if it came down to it, he could easily just swim around the island until he found the ship. That hardly took any effort, after all. As he wandered in thought, his shoulder accidentally brushed against that of another. Taking a moment to stop, he kept up his warm smile and looked to the person he had bumped shoulders with. "My apologies, it appears I have been too lost in thought. It does not do well to imagine and forget to live. Or walk straight, for that matter," he spoke, giving a short bow. He was a gentleman, after all. Even if he was a bloodthirsty pirate.

[Catherine 'Kitty' West]

The crimson-haired cook, the demon chef, the wielder of the gura gura no mi. That was Catherine 'Kitty' West and if you thought the name Kitty made her sound weak just think of what a cat does to you if you piss it off. Yeah, she was the type of person who if you got on the wrong side of her was likely to rip your face off. The kingdoms annoyed her, but not too much. She understood that sometimes people needed someone to rule over them and she herself was subordinate to a Captain. Though subordinate was perhaps not the right word. She listened to instructions from a Captain and if she agreed with them she followed, though perhaps in her own manner, and if she disagreed she would tell him so or just do things her own way. The good news was that if the captain got pissed at her for doing this she could quite easily beat him into submission or if not that then slip something into his food. Poisoning food was not something she liked to do, but it did have its advantages.

It was as she was walking, taking a break from her duties and getting some well needed R&R before plans began to be taken into action that someone lightly bumped into her. She turned to face him a look of indignation on her face, but seeing how polite the old man was made that look dissapear.

"No need to apologise. I wasn't really looking where I was going either." she said with a slight grin. "Too busy thinking on the future and about what i'm cooking for dinner." She returned the bow before extending a hand to the man.

"I'm Catherine West. Nice to meet you." she said politely. Catherine may be a bitch sometimes, but she was polite other times. It just depended on the mood she was in and what she thought of you. This guy had done nothing really to annoy her except walk into her and he had apologised for that. For that reason she would be polite...for now. He was smoking though and that ticked her off slightly. Smokers couldn't taste the food properly after smoking. If you were going to smoke then do it after the meal was what she always said. She never saw the appeal in smoking though.

She was curious as to who he was. He radiated a quiet power which was odd for an elderly man. She too radiated power because despite her relatively low bounty she was still incredibly powerful and able to hold her own against much more well-known fighters.

[Marius Levasseur]

"Ah, so you are a cook? That certainly requires talent. One has to know what they're doing when preparing food, after all," he remarked, making polite small-talk. His face seemed radiant, his smile projecting a certain warmth. His eyes held a sort of shine to them. The kind you expected of Card Dealers who were dealing you a hand but refused to explain the rules of the game. He needed only a moment's inspection of her reaction to his cigarette to understand she was not entirely supportive of it. Ah, well. People had their vices. his was a better alternative to drinking, in his mind. Rather unfortunate things tended to happen when he drank anyways.

"Marius Levasseur, at your service. It is a pleasure to meet you too, Miss West," he spoke before taking a quick drag of his cigarette. Turning his head, he exhaled the smoke, watching as it blew away in the wind. No need to blow smoke in the young woman's face, after all. He paused for a moment, wondering for a second if perhaps she'd recognized him. But then he pushed the thought from his head. Whether she did or didn't hardly changed much. Looking back to her, he continued to give that warm look before speaking. "As you can no doubt tell from the case in my hand, I myself am something of a wandering musician. Though I must profess, it is difficult buying equipment that does not break underwater. But I suppose it is a worthwhile investment, wouldn't you agree?" he gave a little chuckle.

Something about her seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it. Perhaps it was best not to jump to rash conclusions. Nevertheless, there was something about her that just seemed ever so slightly off. Maybe he was imagining it. Maybe not. He was getting old, after all. Best to take life as it came.

[Catherine 'Kitty' West]

"Indeed it does, but even more so when you have my goal." she said with a broad grin. "I plan to be the best chef of the era and go down in history as one of the greatest chefs of all time." She considered the case in his hand and thought about his statement. He was a fishman so instruments that could survive transportation underwater were essential or at least cases that could. "You get what you pay for and if you can afford to pay that little bit more then it is worth it or at least that is how I find it with ingredients." She was grateful he had blown the smoke away rather then in her face. The smell and taste of smoke annoyed her.

She wondered if it was possible to develop some sort of food that neutralised the taste reduction caused by tobacco. It was surely possible though it would be difficult. Perhaps one of the crew members would have an idea. If not then she would have to experiment and read up on it. There had to be a way. Then she would have much less issue with smoking.

"So what brings you so far from Fishman Island to Lyneel?" she asked out of curiosity. He too looked vaguely familiar, but for what reason she could not tell. Perhaps he was a pirate and she'd seen his wanted posted somewhere. Some faces stuck in the mind even if you didn't realise it. The name also rung a bell, but for what reason she could not say. "In my case i'm just looking for new recipes to try or new ingredients."

[Marius Levasseur]

"My, that's quite a big goal you have there. The greatest chef in the world? I'm sure such dreams must seem lofty to some," he remarked, pondering it over as he inhaled more of the smoke. Exhaling again to one side, he continued. "However, if people didn't chase such lofty dreams, we'd never be able to achieve great things. Even if perfection is impossible, that is no reason not to aim for it, don't you agree?" he smiled again. Ah, youth. It was so energizing to know that the current generation was willing to push themselves so far for the sake of achieving their goals. Dreams were important, after all.

"I suppose many things, Miss West," he started, thinking the question over. He was under no illusions that he had travelled a great distance from his original starting point. "A desire to learn, of course, as well as an ambition to hone my craft. After all, why should I limit myself to one audience? But above all... I've found myself a rather fetching group to work with. Lots of sailing, adequate accommodation and of course, all I need offer are my own talents. A rather generous bunch, if I do say so myself," he admitted, thinking of his fellow Storm Riders. An interesting crew, to say the least. Young Master Fausto reminded him a little of himself in his youth.

"I suppose a young, aspiring chef such as yourself must want to experience the many different dishes across the Earth, hm? Why, I'm sure there are many exotic dishes you must have wanted to learn how to prepare. Not to mention, the supposed "All Blue"? I can't deny I've heard of it, but only in myth. Still, so many chefs seem to enjoy speaking of it," he remarked, curiously raising a brow. Well, this young woman seemed quite nice. He couldn't help but take some interest. Quite sincerely, he would wish her well.

[Catherine 'Kitty' West]

Ah so he was part of a crew. Judging from the fact he only needed to offer his skills it seemed that he was a pirate or the marines had become a lot more lax with their recruitment policies. Almost definitely a pirate she was sure. It was true her goal was a lofty one, but it was one that was achievable she was certain. With the freedom to sail the blues she would be able to sample many recipes and learn to cook them all. That was what she did best, learning to cook a recipe and then improving upon it.

"A lofty goal, but not impossible." she said with a faint smile. "They say the crew of the Bartie are the best, but I reckon I'll be able to outclass them with time and practice." So he was still learning even at his age. That was impressive. "It seems none of us are too old to learn a few tricks." Yes, it was truly impressive that a senior like himself still believed there were greater heights he could achieve. She was fed up with hearing the elderly saying things like 'listen to your elders.' and 'with age come wisdom'. She was certain some of her elders were thick and she wouldn't listen to them and she was also certain that in terms of the modern day she knew more then them. However, this man was still learning, still improving. Admirable.

"I've travelled the four blues, seen many things and tasted many recipes with different crews. The Eternal Phantom and now the Spiral Arrows. Before my life is over i'm sure I will have been apart of or led other crews" she said and thought back to things that had happened in her past. "I even fought my way through a horde of zombies on Thriller Bark once." All blue. A chalice of the ocean. A place where all four of the blues met and all species of fish could be found. "I do wish to visit the all blue, i am sure there are some fish that have not yet been tasted." She ran a hand across the back of her head. "Problem is...I can't swim." She wondered what he would infer from that. Would he guess she was a devil fruit user?

[Marius Levasseur]

"The only age at which one can learn nothing more is death. I'll keep learning new things until I've met death himself," he responded, offering his own insight into the world. As long as one had an open mind and a desire to learn more, was there ever a limit to how much one could learn before they died? He may have been old, but he did not consider himself feeble or senile. Even in his old age, there were things he wanted to learn. Things he wanted to do. He kept those wishes close to heart. It just so happened some of his ambitions were a little darker than simply the desire to be great at what he did. Some of his ambitions involved heads on pikes.

"You claim to be a part of the Spiral Arrows? Well, though I can't profess to have heard much of your crew, it seems as though you've done quite a lot with your life. Perhaps I should reintroduce myself," he remarked, impressed with the young woman's track record. He'd seen so much on the seas that honestly, Zombies weren't so much of a surprise to him."My full title is "Requiem" Marius Levasseur, Musician of the Storm Riders. I do rather like the epithet "Reqiuem", but my full title is rather wordy, don't you think?" he remarked. Though he did take some measure of pride in it. After all, he was a proud pirate, and he served his Captain with complete loyalty.

"A Devil Fruit user, I take it? Why, you're certainly full of surprises. But I suppose there are many pirates on these seas who have partaken of such fruit. Certainly more than a fair share within the Grand Line. Personally, I couldn't touch such fruit - A Fishman losing the ability to swim would be a shameful thing, would it not?" he inspected her keenly with a new interest. Already an experienced pirate, it seemed, having served on two crews. A Devil Fruit user, too. He couldn't boast to having a particularly high bounty - if anything, it was low. But he didn't mind that. After all, he sought improvement everywhere, not just in his musicianship.

[Catherine 'Kitty' West]

"I agree with you wholeheartedly." she replied calmly. It was truly the truth. There was no age limit on learning nor no threshold that must be crossed before you can learn. She had met young people far wiser then some elders she had met. It seemed he had not heard of the Spiral Arrows, but they were not that famous. However, the crew this musician was a part of was one she knew very well and not just because it was famous.

"Ah Nikon's crew. We were both part of the Eternal Phantom at one point as was Elias. How are those pair of rogues?" she asked. She was genuinely interested in there welfare. She had got on well with the pair before they defected when Nikon became a yonkou. Hard to believe she had once served with a yonkou. "It is a good nickname. Most people call me Kitty, but on wanted posters they call me Disaster Zone at the moment, and not just because of my hair."

She laughed out loud at the thought of a fishman that couldn't swim. The idea was just ridiculous. Their entire martial art involved water and they lived for the sea. It was truly an entertaining thought. "Not shameful, but it would be hilarious." She realised she hadn't mentioned what fruit she had or if she had one. "Yeah I do have a fruit. Its the gura gura no mi."

[Marius Levasseur]

"Ah, so you were once an ally of young Master Fausto? And First Mate Church?" he eyed this young woman with a new interest. He had not heard of this information. But of course, he had also not done too much to inquire into his Captain's previous career as a Pirate before becoming a Yonkou. As far as he was concerned, they lived in the here and now. Still, it was not everyday you met an old acquaintance of your admittedly young Captain. "I am sure you would be delighted to know they are doing well. Of course, in spite of my age I am admittedly a relatively new member of the crew. That said, I think the others might find it unfortunate that I cannot partake of alcohol much the same as they can," he chuckled a little. He'd been sober for thirty years; he wasn't going to stop now.

"With a name such as 'Disaster Zone', I am sure you must be able to claim some infamy. It seems the World Government must consider you quite the threat, if I do say so myself," he remarked, mulling it over in his head. Well, those kinds of Bounty titles were usually given to the particularly infamous. He was sure she must have done something to truly draw the ire of the World Government. "I myself must profess to having an admittedly minor bounty on my head. But such things are of little worry - After all, after joining the crew of a Yonkou, I would not wish to disappoint young Master Fausto". That mysterious twinkle in his eye was there again. He slowly inhaled before taking the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaling to one side, this time blowing a smoke ring. He chuckled at her comment.

"A rather dark sense of humor, don't you think?" he gave a somewhat morbid chuckle. "The Gura Gura no Mi? Ah... Shockwaves. Earthquakes, even, capable of causing tidal waves... Or at least, that is what I have heard. But many Devil Fruit possess such incredible power. Regardless, I would not think the cost of eating one is worth it. At least, for a Fishman," he remarked, offering his own opinion. Well, there were many Devil Fruit out there, but that didn't make their users particularly fearsome. Simply unique. True strength was what you did with it.

[Catherine 'Kitty' West]

Catherine was about to make a response to the statements of the old man when she heard a rumbling like that of many feet running swiftly towards them. She looked around behind Marius and stared at the dust cloud being kicked up. She looked closely and shook her head in disbelief.

"You're not gonna believe this, but there is a stampede of ostriches heading this way." she said as she pulled him to the side of the street. A few moments later the ostriches stampeded by followed to her surprise by a small monkey in a top hat wielding what looked like a large haddock. "Ok....that was weird." The monkey turned to look at them and to her surprise spoke perfect english or near perfect.

"Help catchee big birdies?" it asked and then without question began to chase after the ostriches. Catherine tilted her head and looked at Marius.

"Up for catching some ostriches?" she asked as she looked in the direction the ostriches had ran in. It was an odd request from an even odder requestee, but it was entertaining nevertheless and there may even be a reward.

[Marius Levasseur]

Marius was about to speak, but decided it better to quickly move aside as the huge stampede passed them by. Watching with a bizarre sense of intrigue, he wondered just what was going on. Here they were, chatting away in Lyneel Kingdom as a horde of Ostriches raced and stampeded through the streets without restraint. His eyebrow raised itself, watching the sight curiously. Nevertheless, he tried to keep his reaction to a minimum, and did very well in that regard. His brow seemed to rise higher however as he took notice of the monkey chasing the ostriches. As the stampede passed, the monkey was quick to turn to them both and ask for help, speaking in what Marius could describe as surprisingly good English for a monkey.

"Well now, this is hardly something that happens everyday..." he remarked, setting his violin case down. Nevertheless, he couldn't prevent a small smirk from appearing across his features, stretching his wrinkled face. "Still, it would give this old Shark something to do. I'd be more than welcome to help. Could you take care of my case in the meantime?" he asked, handing the violin case to the monkey. He looked back to Catherine, smirking still. She seemed every bit as enthusiastic to take part.

"If our job is to recapture these Ostriches, it seems we're going to have to hold back a little. But it should be entertaining, don't you agree?" he asked, taking his cigarette before tossing it to the ground. Stamping it into the dirt, he bent down just a little before quickly taking off, shooting forwards at full speed down the path. He was going to give chase to the Ostriches, and for an old man he proved himself surprisingly fast.

[Makovi]

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[Catherine 'Kitty' West]

The female dashed after the old man following the direction the ostriches had ran in. She was quite impressed by his speed because despite her best efforts she could not catch up with him and was in fact falling behind. She saw the ostriches taking a left turn in the distance and quickly ran down an alley which was going at a diagonal hoping to cut the distance. She was quite fortunate in fact because the ostriches had turned again and were now coming straight towards her. That was just perfect. A horde of rampaging ostriches stampeding towards her.

"This will be fun." She was standing at one side of the street and with those words she threw out her trench knife so it stuck in the wall. It was attached to a durable wire. As the ostriches came running at it many of them tripped and fell over it and those that didn't fell over other ostriches. It had been an ideal way to take them down. With them on the floor she quickly began to move among them hitting each one with precise force on the head to knock them unconcious. "Hey Marius. Mind helping me subdue these before we carry them back?"

The ostriches had been tripped but that wasn't making them any calmer. They had to be knocked out and carefully because a peck from those beaks would be dangerous. Catherine moved amongst them dodging beak attacks and blocking others with the flat of her sword. Gradually they were knocked unconcious, but it was taking time and a few had got up and began running out of fear. "Or catch those ones."

[Marius Levasseur]

Seeing the Ostriches ahead tripping over suddenly and unexpectedly, it didn't take long for the old Fishman to figure out that someone had set a tripwire for them. Seeing Catherine just ahead, he could already tell who had done it. Of course, she was the only other one after the ostriches. As he drew close, he made a quick hop over the wire before landing on a patch of ground amidst the crowded, flailing and fallen forms of the many ostriches. Each one, brought down unexpectedly, now thrashed about madly in a vain attempt to get back up and figure out what had caused them to trip over. For some it was the wire, but for many of the others it was the other ostriches themselves who had tripped them. Chaos tended to be like that.

"An efficient way to incapacitate them..." Marius remarked cooly, keeping that warm smile ever present on his face as he snapped around, avoiding a kicking leg of one of he ostriches before he snapped his hand down, knocking it out with a well-aimed blow to the head. Turning, he snapped his arm out again in another strike. There were so many of them that even standing still he had many targets to aim for. As they thrashed about in an attempt to get up, he had almost all the time in the world to strike each one, causing each to fall to the ground unconscious whenever the blows struck cleanly. When done with the ones surrounding him he began to move again, leaping over several of the bodies to land on another patch of ground, where he continued to strike out at the ostriches.

"They seem quite restless! I think some may have already gotten up..." he remarked, striking another ostrich unconscious just as he caught sight of a small group beginning to race ahead again. "I'll give chase to these escaping birds. If we let them out of our sight, it could be difficult to find them again, after all!" he remarked, deciding to leave the other still not unconscious birds to Catherine as he began to race ahead, giving chase to the few that escaped. There was little doubt she could handle herself in his mind, after all. Silver hair whipped about behind him as he continued smiling. Well, he was certainly having an interesting day.

[Catherine 'Kitty' West]

She nodded to the fishman before he gave chase. Some had escape and would need to be rounded up. The ones that remained were soon all unconcious leaving her with a dilemma. How was she to transport this many ostriches back at once. It was then that the monkey came over holding the music case and jumping for joy. With a wave of his fish all of the ostriches were leashed and the leashes were tied to his wrist. The monkey grinned happily and jumped about.

"You catchee big birdees, but not all birdees." he said and she explained quickly that the others would soon be brought back by Marius. "Fishyman is quickfast. He catchee birdees. Bring back to bigboat at dock."

With that he handed her the musical instrument case and walked away leading the birds. She stared after him in amazement. That was probably the weirdest thing to ever happen to her. She ran off in the direction Marius had gone hoping he had managed to catch the other ostriches.