Fishmen Island XII

Author's note:

So I did finally manage to post it in the little time I had left on the GB's I had on my phone. To be honest, I kept on editing/changing/correcting/deleting a lot of what I wrote in this chapter, as I just wasn't satisfied with it.

Do post any incosistencies in the comments, things that stand out, or things that could have been written better.

***

"So what are we doing here? I thought the fishmen didn't want any help of the surface dwellers to complicate things."

Akane stared at the group of fishmen sitting in front of her. They appeared beaten up and injured, some carrying more than a few bruises.

"Please help us! Duke and Asher spoke highly of you! Please save our family before they clash with the army!"

A merfolk woman cried out, kneeling on the ground as she hugged her children. The people around her followed her example, begging Akane and her crew to help.

Akane ruffled her hair in frustration. How did it even come to this?

It had become a complete mess.

To understand how it got to this point, she needed to get back to a few days prior to this.

Neptune had assembled the soldiers loyal to him, while the men and women at the court had procured all kinds of methods on evacuating all the people from the broken down fishmen district.

As she hadn't been privy to the details, nor was she present during the whole battle planning, Akane had no clue as to what Neptune's plans currently were.

The only thing she had been made aware of was the following.

Neptune had moved his army to stop the rebellion, but also to help any civilians struggling behind. They were to take Hody Jones and his compatriots into custody, while also safeguarding all those who had been trapped in the Fishmen district without their intent.

There was one problem though.

The plan wasn't taken that well with the occupants currently living there. Most of the inhabitants of the fishmen district were against the rule of Neptune, with only a few family members thinking of the whole picture.

The inhabitants began to openly show their discontent, attacking every soldier that came to help any escaping civilians.

One thing led to another and it ended up in a stalemate.

As the fighting continued, more and more in the rebel faction began to question if what they were doing was truly right.

They couldn't however, back down now, as Hody killed anyone who did.

Thus they were caught between a hard place and a rock, with nowhere to return to. This was where the current situation came in.

The family members that did manage to escape began to ask third parties for help.

As Akane was rather well known due to the many conversations the inhabitants had with Asher and Duke, a few of the more courageous ones asked her for help.

Akane looked at these desperate people, unsure of what to do. She was a human, someone who wasn't looked good upon by most of the fishmen. If she appeared there, she would no doubt be swarmed by more than a few of the rebels.

"We can surely help them, can we not? You have a power that can disguise us. If we mingle in amongst the crowd, we can surely safe whomever wants to leave the rebellion."

Shinobu commented, looking kindly at the fishmen and merfolk in front of her.

"Yeah, and if it doesn't work as it should, we can always take out Hody and his riff raff crew. No sweat~"

Ban added.

Lafitte just remained silent, while Soren waited for whatever decision she made, as he had no problem listening to her orders.

They were right, but she still worried. Most of Hody's skills were unknown. Even if they were to go, there was no guarantee they could be of any help.

Still... She couldn't let these people alone. She knew that even if she decided not to go there, her crew would surely think of some other way to help. Shinobu was an expert in using poisons after all. It was one of the things most dynasties were ended by. No doubt would it work with a rebel leader.

"Then we will help them. BUT. I want something in return. When we get back from all this shitty stuff, I want to eat some good food. At least get something to eat for my hard work, right?"

The fishmen looked gobsmacked, as they took in her definition of a decent reward. They had no problem with it, but shouldn't pirates be more greedy? What's going on inside her head?

"N-No problem! We will get you as much delicious food as you want."

The other people gathered nodded their heads as well, glad with the reward Akane had chosen.

"Alright, then I guess we should get to work, right guys?"

Akane stood up and left towards the fishmen district, followed closely by her crew.

"So, what kind of fishmen do you all want to look like? Choose one."

Having given them free reign on their own appearances, Ban was the first to decide.

"Oh me me! Make me a whale shark, like the big boss guy all these fishmen seem to look up to. I wonder what the fishman Ban looks like."

Ban shouted in excitement.

"Sure."

With a casual wave of the hand, Ban' skin became a light blue, gills appeared on his neck and a shark fin on his back. His teeth seemed sharp, like those of a shark, while his hair became longer and black.

He still looked a bit like himself, but others wouldn't easily recognise him as The Undead Ban from the demon fox pirates.

"Wicked!"

Ban exclaimed as he looked at himself in the reflection in one of the windows.

The others soon decided their appearances, Shinobu choosing a angelfish, Lafitte a pufferfish, Soren a Orca and Akane a rosetail siamese fighting fish.

Though the others looked pretty scary or intimidating, Akane looked pretty normal. She retained most of her normal features, though petal like membranes flowed down from her back and shoulders. They were in the same crimson red color as her original hair color, letting her stick out a bit. Not much though, as there were a lot other fishmen that had striking colors as their skin of fins.

Her skin color had changed as well, taking almost the same color as her fins, just a few gradients lighter.

Having disguised themselves, the crew split up and entered the fishmen district.

There the crew scattered throughout the masses, starting their find and rescue campaign.

They avoided the royal guards, intent on keeping their involvement to a minimum.

Akane had also hidden herself amongst the rebels, singling out individuals who didn't seem that confident, outright wary of the whole situation, or were just doing nothing but staring at empty space.

When she accertained they wanted to retreat from all of the fighting, only then did she get them out. Fairly easy at that. She only needed to drop them off near the royal guards after all. The only annoying thing would be the hard core rebellion members, who would shoot down their own without any kind of remorse.

They would be handled though a swift knock out, followed by the quick actions of the royal guards who immediately cuffed them.

'I wonder how Ban and the others are faring?'

Akane thought as she brought another family out of the conflict zone.

This was the moment where she would regret having left them to their own devices.