Trouble, the fruits of naiveté

At around noon a group of three individuals who could reasonably, and correctly, be identified at a glance as pirates were walking down a dirt road from the port town of Lumen on the eastern shores of the Alclara kingdom.

Leading them was a pale, fit, middle-aged man with short blonde hair and an intricately patterned tattoo down the left side of his face. He had a blue jacket that went down to his knees with golden rims over an olive t-shirt with a brand name logo on it and loose, ripped, light blue jeans with a sword and scabbard at his right hip.

To his left was a short, thin, brown-haired woman with a bitter expression having just been pulled away from her beach fun by her captain to scout the island where they'd landed. She wore a yellow striped bikini and had a beach towel wrapped around her lower waist and hanging down which covered her legs and, currently, no footwear to speak of.

To his right, a tanned young man with a high-top fade wearing sunglasses, shorts, a loose-fitting t-shirt, and a belt with a gun holstered tied around him over his shoulder and under his arm. He had been in charge of gathering info about the surroundings from the people of the port town who he came to understand, to his surprise, were dismissive of these pirates' ability to pose a threat to their business and well-being.

"Up ahead there should be family owned dojo that practices swordsmanship, the owner and master is supposedly one of the strongest guys around the kingdom," the tan man said to his captain

"Really, any idea how strong?" his captain responded

"The guy told me a story about how he fought off the Nine head pirates. I checked the recent bounties and their captain's head is worth 15 million belly."

The woman responded with a Poe-faced delivery "Then he's not that strong."

The captain smirked he then said "good if it's swordsmanship they teach then the master must have a prized blade. I've been wanting a new sword and if we're lucky we'll walk away with a meito to our name."

Just then he looked ahead, "looks like we won't have to wait long to find out."

Through the trees, he saw a decent-sized traditional Japanese building. On the porch the pirates saw an old man who was sitting, head back and eyes closed in a rocking chair, seeming at first to them like he was sleeping.

The captain however knew better than to tread aloofly by an elderly man residing in or near a dojo, he knew as much from his experience back home. Betraying that experience however was his tanned friend, he chuckled and said while glancing at the old timer and back to his captain "seems like this'll be easier than expected, wonder if it's an off day or somethin',"

"He's not sleeping, quite alert actually," said their female cohort. While the tanned man looked at her in surprise, the captain's expression hadn't changed, observant, with confidence remaining in his step. Just when the woman called the tan man to attention the old man spoke "Can't get anything past kids today can ya? From yer clothes, the way ya came, and the fact I can't recognize you I'd hazard a guess that you guys are pirates. Am I right?"

"And what if we are?" The pirate's captain asked as he stood ready to move his hand to draw his blade at a moment's notice.

"Not gonna deny it then, huh? Oh... it depends. What are yer plans here in Alclara?"

the tan man spoke for his captain this time, affirming in Vik's mind that there was decent trust between the merry band, "Oh not much: some sightseeing, maybe go explore the crown stone caverns or the jungle..."

Vik, getting a bit impatient, decided to press a button that he figured might get the pirates to their point faster. Cutting the guy off he asked the captain while feigning senility "I see that sword you're carrying, did you by chance come to learn of or challenge our dojo here?"

The pirates glanced at their captain before he responded to the senior citizen, "Yeah, I hoped to meet the master..." as he said that he quickly moved his hand and unsheathed his sword. In sync with their captain, the tan man took a step back and pulled his gun and the girl got into a fighting stance, apparently ready to use her fists in combat. the captain finished his sentence with "... and maybe he can find a decent sword for me to borrow from his collection."

Vik had an unsurprised look on his face as he closed his eyes and sighed before looking back and saying "figured as much. Outta curiosity, what's yer bounty sonny boy?"

"Bryce L. Stark, 25 million belly."

Vik grumbled and said, "I didn't ask yer name."

Bryce was indignant to the insinuation that who he was didn't matter, that the old man only cared for the number and it angered him, as though the codger could deal with him either way. But, as he tried to take a step forward something he couldn't foresee happening happened. He blinked. In that instant, he heard a sound, like metal being dragged through the dirt, and saw as he opened his eyes that the man in front of him was now suddenly pointing at his feet. He stopped in his tracks and looked down to see a five-centimeter wide and meter-long line parallel to the front of the building drawn through the dirt in front of him. Bryce looked up with a bead of sweat on his temple and saw something strange as he focused and inspected the old man.

On the top of Vik's hand, running from the tip of his index finger and a bit up his forearm was a shining guillotine blade that seemed to bloodlessly emerge from within his skin. Additionally, two parallel circular saw blades a few centimeters apart emerged from his upper cheek. He spoke with a more serious tone to the pirates in providing his threat a phrase: "Now run along before I get the urge to relive my days on the grand line."

This scared the pirates shitless and proved effective in dissuading the group. Bryce sheathed his sword with a frown and in submission, clicked his tongue and called to his crew members, "tch... devil fruit, he seems good with it too. Let's go" the indignation now thoroughly noticeable through his tone as he returned the way he came. The girl followed wordlessly and the tan guy responded tiredly "aye aye captain."

Vik retracted the blades back, leaving not even the slightest mark on his skin, and looked at their backs as they walked away. He pondered and said to himself "not bad. The trust is there, Brycey boy just doesn't know how to pick his battles right yet."

Abruptly, the door behind him opened and Elaina came outside wearing grey sweatpants, a modest purple t-shirt, a hoodie, what looked like tennis shoes, and a wooden practice sword at her side. She spoke to her uncle with a greeting first "Hey uncle Vik." and then proceeded plainly to her first objective in leaving the house "I had a weird dream last night and I want your opinion on it, do ya mind?" Vik responded with cheer in his voice, as though the events of the prior few minutes had never occurred, "of course sweet pea, come and tell this old man of your troubles."

Elaina simply smiled in response to his welcome and sat on the edge of the porch facing away from him. She proceeded to describe the oddly prescient fable/stage play style dream that she'd had that night.

As she finished with a description of the dream, she shared her own thoughts, "I just have to wonder if it means anything. Maybe it's just anxiety from the big leap that I'm taking, but I wanted your opinion since you know more about the world." She then turned to him and asked "What do you think?"

When Elaina turned and looked at her uncle, she saw him with a hand over his mouth, thumb pressed to his cheek, with an eyebrow raised. He then returned to a neutral position while saying "I do think it's just yer anxiety. A dream like that is likely just symbolic of your feelings and fears, symbols are things anyone can use to think about ideas they don't understand. Since the raven's probly' you, the beast probably just represents yer fear that the sea will 'swallow ya up' but I don't know what the king mannequin could be. You'd know more than me and you'll probably learn more once you leave home." They then sat in silence, Vik leaving his niece to her thoughts. Half a minute later Elaina got up and began stretching while saying "Oh well, no use thinking about it now if it'll be made clear later. I'm gonna go see Moria at the port to check out the ship and start looking for supplies" she then started walking away with a "see ya" and broke into a jog soon after.

As he lost sight of his niece, Vik then remembered the pirates and frowned, "shoot, I forgot to tell her to watch out."