Murky Depths

[Grey Man]

Hayate chuckled a bit as he turned his head back around looking at Basil "You seem to forget that you have your own little light over there, i never met a man who forgot about himself so easily." he said with a tone of humor in his voice for he already knew that the others had little to no choice but to tag along with them, and he also knew full well that he needed them to tag along even if it was just for a flashlight right now, and he already thought of how the fishman could help them when the time came. "and if you were wondering i wasn't going to just ask politely... i was going to ask it politely with cherries on top. That little piece of info did come into mind, but that is something we cannot do anything about until later, and until later we just have to take this one little step at a time Mr. Basil. Especially since we still have to get to the front." he said looking at Basil, already conjuring up a few ideas on how to get out depending on the situation.

He looked at each of them in the group, knowing that each of them was eaten at some point or another, and each time that happened the beast they were within surfaced and chowed down on a new meal. Though the thing that he was most curious about was what was the reason that it was chowing down on such a small meal, especially when there was much larger prey down below and the only thing that he could think of was that the island eater wasn't surfacing just to catch a meal. Though this was still just all speculation on his part. "This is all just speculation but when you think about it... why is there a group of alive humans, and Fishman, in the belly of a Island Eater, when there is much bigger prey down below." he stated to the group as he turned back around starting to walk again before he looked back "Mr. Basil if you don't mind lighting up the way for us?"

He finished talking when he could now hear a strange new sound in the air, it wasn't the sound of one of the others walking or the rantings of the crazed man with them ether. Rather the sound that he was now hearing was a soft almost buzzing sound in his ears and since it began playing its tune his 6th sense had been going crazy... he knew already that this was not something good. Then as if on cue a new light source appeared in the cave, he had hoped that it was merely Basil making a new light source but his hopes were turned down when he turned his head and saw a bouncing floating green orb in the darkness. Hayate watched the orb as he pulled out his pistol and aimed it straight at the thing, waiting for something to happen as he quickly glanced out at the rest of his crew and others.

"Looks like i was right." he said softly to himself as he flicked his cigarette into the darkness, and if Bea had learned anything of him by now it was that the only time he never smoked was when shit was about to go down. Hayate then moved his still sheathed blade into the darkness and it immediately felt pressure on it as the club of a stranger fell on it. "Predictable." he said bluntly to the stranger that had tried to play whack a mole with his head, and at the same moment he moved his other arm and aimed the pistol in his other hand at the stranger. The sound of a single gunshot rang though the cave as a single bullet ripped though the scales and flesh of a Fishman.

((P.S. Very nice Shut))

[Shinx]

Beatriz K. Montelle

xxxBea was incredibly lucky she hadn't been hit. In fact, she marked it up to the fact she'd been fiddling quietly as her captain spoke, and spotted a tear in her skirt. A tear! She crouched down so she could examine it fully, making sure the fabric still covered her essentials- despite the fact she was wearing skin tight black shorts underneath the skirt so she could feel condifent about doing flips in battle without showing the world her underwear. And whoosh the club went right over her head, though not unnoticed.
xxx"That wasn't very nice," Bea muttered, pulling the war scythe from her back. The tall shaft gave way to a thin, curved blade, a very light and easy to handle weapon when you knew how to use it. She was hesitant to attack the fishman, but when she heard Hayate's gunshot, she knew it would probably result in a quick fight, in which the attackers (she assumed there was more than one) would spare no expense into taking them out; and Bea, as the only female, would probably be viewed as the weakest link. Well, time to prove them wrong, she thought. She was, in her own crazy little mind, the first mate of Hayate's crew, therefore, she couldn't show weakness to her captain, could she? Twirling the scythe in a large circle, she rushed forward, always ready to dodge any blows that may be made at her, and aimed a diagnal slash to his lower left. The attack hit the fishman across his chest, a spray of blood coming a little too close for comfort to her clothes. He wasn't done, though, it seemed. She dodged a blow aimed for her right shoulder and felt the coarse club brush against her left as she darted away from another blow. The next slash she threw was towards his neck, and landed fatally. The fishman fell and Bea allowed herself a sigh of relief, though she was still looking around to see if anyone else needed help.

{{I'll edit if there's any problem with the blows the fishman threw}}

[noaneu]

❦ Of The Green Thumb ❦

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Basil's senses suddenly were more alert, a feeling washed over him like when he was all alone living on that weird plant island. His hand dipped into his satchel, feeling around for the right seeds, he nodded and jumped forward past Hayate aka 'smoker' and then turned about and dropped a single seed beneath his feet "Rapid Bloom!" He said aloud as the seed beneath his feet suddenly took root and quickly grew into a rather tall tree with Basil resting on top one of it's taller branches, launching him up into the air with it for about ten feet.

Looking down Basil could then barely spot everyone else and moved a hand into his satchel to then grab a handful of seeds. He would then carefully look to the... fishmen? Fish like creatures with humanoid bodies.. he guesses but they had legs too so they had to be fishmen. Basil shook his head and tried to concentrate he began to then 'flick' the seeds from his index finger using his thumb aiming to hit them somewhere on their bodies.

The three down below clawing and hacking at the tree didn't seem to even register the seeds as they 'smacked' into their moist flesh. "Viper Vine...Bloom!" Basil snapped his fingers as the seeds quickly germinated into their flesh causing sharp pains along their flesh as the vines then shot out from the seed quickly wrapping and constricting about the fishman's bodies, yanking their limbs into awkward and painful positions, squeezing their torso's and necks, all together a painful experience all around. Basil looked down at this and couldn't help but smile a little, thinking 'serves those smelly thugs right' before another thought went into his head of 'OW.. who hit me!?' he rubbed the back of his head as he barely had time to grab onto the branch, seeing another fishman who was... apparently throwing debris at him THWACK! A knife landed it self into the branch next to him. "Okay.. Debris AND knives, got you."

Basil, holding the lantern close to him got an idea, he would grab a single seed from his satchel and flick it towards where he thought the person was throwing things at him was. "Rapid Bloom!" The seed germinated onto the moist wood of the broken ship and began to sprout pods that began to light up in a bluish glow, perfectly outlining the fishman in it's dim blue lights. Basil tried to think of a plant and then grinned snapping his fingers, something that wouldn't kill but contain the fishman. Basil 'aimed' a little more and then flicked another seed, this one landing just behind the fishman who laughed saying something like "You Missed!"

But Basil did not, the seed landed where it was supposed to "Pitcher Plant Bloom!" As these words slipped from Basil's mouth the seed quickly germinated into the wet wood of the broken ship and grew two, no five, no seven feet tall! It grew fatter and heavier, looking like a giant, over sized pitcher, empty for now it wouldn't stay that way for long. The plant bumped into the back of the fishman who only turned around and with a loud GULP the plant swallowed the fishman whole whose figure could still be seen struggling inside the pitcher. Basil wiped his brow hoping that was all he had to deal with for now hoping his plants could hold the fishmen for a bit longer.

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[psychtcpyro7]

Kazuo (the curious little merman)

xxxxx"I don't know. I just," Kazuo spread one arm out, half a shrug "thought you were going to hit me." He had been hadn't he? Well maybe not seeing as he seemed rather friendly now that they stopped rolling. "It's good you're not." Thish? Was that supposed to be him or someone else. He recalled a name that sounded like that. While he was trying to figure out the name, adding sounds to see what fit, the human had taken it upon himself to charter a trip. "Eeep."
xxxxxFingers gripped onto his impromptu ride. It certainly wasn't usual mode of transport for him. He renewed his grip on the human, fingers tightening around an arm. Not able to see yet he felt no fear in running through said darkness at what Kazuo thought was a reckless speed. The least he could do was to use his eyes, seeing as he was hitching a ride right? "Left left leftleftleft!" He really really didn't want to be in the man's arms if he crashed head long into part of a ship. Though on second thought, that didn't really look like wood. It looked really familiar. Like when he played hide-and-seek in the dark reefs. That is, the faint hint of a body that was not quite fish, sort of kind of human. But not exactly either because it looked a good bit different when you were hiding in water and when you were hiding in a stomach.
xxxxxKazuo frowned at the strange thing that looked something like Takahiro but not really. He was particularly wrapped up in the one he'd seen that he didn't notice others. What he did see triggered hunting reflexes. A flash of movement off it the side of his view that looked rather like a fish stirring up water. He flipped. Not completely as it was rather difficult to do what he was trying out of water, much less while being carried. His upper half turned on the movement and his mouth chomped down on what should have been a tasty meal. "Yuck." Kazuo stuck out his tongue, trying to get the taste and pieces of wood out of his mouth. He had snapped down on one of those clubs, leaving him with a mouthful of wood.
xxxxxHands pawing at his mouth to get rid of the nasty taste of wood that had been sitting in an island eater's stomach, he froze as he recognized the closer form as fishman. The disgusted grimace turned into a wide open smile. "Ah! Wait!" In his mind, they were friendly until proven otherwise and the near bludgeoning of his ride/friend hadn't yet convinced him. "Hello! Do you know the way out? What's your name? Put me down now please." After all he couldn't properly chat with the fishmen if he was still being carried.

[hikuro]

Hikuro knew that was something in is back, but he din't know that was a fishman. He evade the attack from the fishman quickly by ducking it. "Fishman?" Hikuro turned around and decide to give a quick punch in the fishman face that made him a little dizzy. After that Hikuro give a kick in his stomach. The fishman was hit but still on his own feet. The fishman charged at Hikuro with is shoulder but quickly Hikuro reach is knives and made a cut to the fishman shoulder, he shouted in pain. The fishman looked at Hikuro with anger, but Hikuro din't care anything from it. Hikuro run quickly and slash on of his dagger in the fishman eyes that made him blind. And after that he stabed in the fishman stomach with his knives. "Sorry, but i don't felt to use my powers." the fishman body just fall without any reaction at all. Hikuro looked at the others that were all right with their own fight.

After a moment Hikuro saw one other fishman that was running to attack him. Hikuro put the knives in his pocket, he pointed is index and middle finger to the fishman, like a gun, and from his finger a flame came. "I'm sorry" Hikuro shoot three fire bullet to the fishman. Like the previous fishman this one fall over to the ground without any sounds.

[shutN]

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"Hmmm..." Leche adopted a thoughtful expression: his lips pursed, his brow furrowed and his eyes closed. His hands joined in, complimenting the gesture with a rub of the chin. Well they would have, had they not been preoccupied with carrying the merman. Rubbing his chin with the man fish's tail was just as good. Maybe, and he felt strange thinking this, maybe running into the darkness without a clue where he was, or where he was going wasn't such a good idea. Maybe it would be better to go back to where there was light and other people? Maybe he was being silly, diving into the black unknown while in a strange, dark place? More furrowing, more chin rubbing; these scales would make a great back scratcher. Naw! And the boy was eager to resume his trek, ignoring reason in favor of his gut, which was full of instincts! Did Leche hear it? The footsteps? The grunts? The flying club as it was eaten by his cargo? Maybe that last one.

The boy paused as he took in their assailant. He was tall; eyes continued to travel the length of their foe. He could be measured in eye miles! He was big, fat even, maybe one too many fish burgers, or whatever fishmen ate. It was a fishman right? Leche looked back and forth between its legs and his new friend's tail, confused. A mystery fishman then. Said mystery raised its club for another skull hug.

"Put me down now please."

Leche dropped him, catching the club with his head. Teeth kicked teeth in a painful grit. The anger was back at once, pulling his lips and revealing his white, unbrushed rage. Leche walked toward the fishman. His steps were slow and filled with an unusual sense of purpose. Gone was the panic. Vanished did the silly. His face glowered beneath the shadow and darkened below the black. The more ground he covered the more clenched his mouth had become. So tight were his teeth that they threatened to break and shatter.

"Jerk." The insults walked alongside his steps. "Idiot, moron, bastard, stupid, stupid, stupid," he was close, within arm's reach "Stupid!" And he closed the gap within seconds, his bridge a single, solid punch through the darkness. His arm tightened unseen, rippling as the boy, Leche put every bit of weight and power his fourteen years of life had amounted to behind that fist.

Like an aquatic missile, Leche's adversary soared through the air, back first. It was bent nearly in half at the power behind the blow, shown clearly by its stomach's buckled flesh - not that it could be seen in this darkness. It was a flabby mold that took on Leche's fist print, a fat piece of clay that barreled toward one of the numerous broken ships. Surprise was slammed by unconscious as fishman hit ship and ship, knocking the fish turned projectile away and into the darkness.

"AH!" Surprise entered the fray. "You wanted to talk to him, right?" Now he felt guilty; his emotions were getting a work out today. Finding the fishman and dragging him back was easy, waking him up was hard. Foam gathered around its mouth and its eyes were glazed over with unconsciousness. Aw, he was sleeping. Slap! "Wake up!" Slap! "We have questions!" Slap! "Questions!"

(ooc: Puppeting minions is an acceptable action. Killing them is up to the player's discretion; as much as I'd love to throw the book at you guys. I think that evil cook is rubbing off on Bea...

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[shutN]

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☠ Murky Depths ☠x[/center]

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Fishmen, everywhere, were bodies on the floor. Sleeping, motionless forms that refused to move and refused to attack. The ambush had failed, the survivors had won. But why, who? Questions remained in that dark stomach. Questions that no one present, awake, could answer. Except maybe that glowing light. It returned with a vengeance, a lighthouse in a fog, drifting through the silent carnage and bathing everyone in its green glow once more. The way it moved seemed panicked. Afraid, for a flying lightbulb, jumping between the fishmen in a hurried, almost worried fashion. It zipped, it zagged, it dove through the darkness in a hovered run. The ball of light retreated at once, going further and further into the bowels of whatever had swallowed them, taking with it the only source of light. Where it headed, answers could be found. Where it ran, a way out waited. Maybe. Those that followed, those that gave chase through the tunnels would be surprised. Surprised by that light, literally, at the end of the tunnel.

Details hit them like a bright, green freight train. The green orb joined hundreds of its kind in a room, adorning the walls and the ceiling. Clarity shined down at long last upon the party. With the light came the answers. Some of them. The orb wasn't an orb at all. It was a bug. One of many bugs that obediently clung to the room like light fixtures. Their bio-luminescent glow washed over everything, drowning out the dark with a green tint. The room, the section of insides, was small. Smaller than that invisible dome they had left earlier, anyway. There was no signs of debris or scattered, wooden remains. It was relatively clean for something inside a thing's stomach. The ground was still wet, still squishy, but you could see it though. See how organic it looked, how soft and fleshy it was and how it didn't stop there. It climbed the walls and encompassed the ceiling. If they still had their doubts about where they were, maybe now they could find peace, peace in the fact that they were eaten alive.

The decor was sparse and bare. Cages lined the walls, small 7x7 prisons constructed roughly out of wood; no doubt the recycled remains of the broken shipyard they had just left behind. Some of them were empty. The others were filled. With people. Humans. Tired-looking and scared as they retreated backwards into their cages, away from the giant fishman that towered over its brethren and subordinates, dozens in number, in an impressive display of height and muscle. It sat in a large throne, which was also constructed from ship bits. The fishman, the apparent leader, looked old. A long beard poured from its chin, thin and groomed. It dangled over a wide, muscled chest put on display as the kimono's top was opened, with a right arm peeking through the dark fabric, leaving it and its shoulder bare. Traveling further down, the facial hair fell across the hakama tied securely around the fishman's waist. The beard stopped just above the ankles, where a pair of large, thick geta were held in place by the fishman's equally thick toes. A fin poked from behind its head, revealing its species. A shark. The fishman took a long drink from a white bottle of some kind. It was embroidered and tied at the nose by a length of rope, which the fishman held on to tightly as he drank. Another pause, and he stopped, letting out an enjoyed, though exaggerated sigh.

"What took ye?" He regarded those gathered with a fanged grin, twin razors poking from his bottom lip.

(ooc: o.o Not a minion! )

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[Grey Man]

Hayate walked his way over to where the Fishman he had just shot was groveling on the ground, he looked over to the rest of the group to see whether or not they were still alive, and as he did he pulled out his blade and put the Fishman under him out of his misery. He looked around the area curious on exactly where the Fishman had come from for they had masked their presence enough until they got close enough, and the more he thought about it he had already thought about the glowing light from earlier. And as if on Que the light appeared once again to light up the dark tunnels of the beast.

Though Hayate was not entranced by the thought that the light was somehow his friend and he should follow it blindly into its grasp, rather he was more curious on where it came from and more importantly who was in control if it deep within the beast they were within. He took another look at the Fishmen laying ether unconscious or dead around them and knew that the only explanation was that there was more within the tunnels and they were the ones responsible for their predicament within the beast, and if they were responsible then they had a way to control the island eater. Therefore their ticket out of here was not towards the mouth but into the enemies territory. "Were turning around. If there is any way out of this thing, our new friends will know how." he said as he began to walk the other way though the group and down towards where the light went.

[noaneu]

❦ Of The Green Thumb ❦

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Basil was already uneasy about this whole situation, though now that he saw them all, all these fishy men he knew nothing good could come from it. Were 'they' behind all of this, maybe somehow in control of this 'Island Eater' or were they trapped in it's belly like they were. If so then why did they attack them? Maybe some kind of pecking order situation? So many questions filled his mind before he shook his head to regain his composure.

"What is it you want with us? I will tell you now mister fish... man, that I will not go easily into one of those cages." Basil said, looking towards the poor people stuck in those makeshift cages, quite a few of them showing signs of malnutrition, being beaten up and all together a miserable living at the time being. Could he free them? Would they even be strong enough to flee if he did and flee to where exactly? Better playing along for now Basil, Basil thought to himself, a hand slowly moving his satchel a little behind him as his other went to slide into it, grabbing at something inside the medium sized bag. Finger wrapping around something, maybe a weapon or would it be just another handful of seeds?

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[psychtcpyro7]

Kazuo (the curious little merman)

xxxxxThump.
xxxxxHe was probably a good deal better off than his ride though. It was a little bouncy too so he supposed it was more like thu-wamp-wamp. But then he was a bit more concerned that his new friend was once again going on a dark tangent. Maybe there was something wrong with him. Like the little fish that swam a bit different until someone snapped them up and put them out of their misery. He was a little old to be damaged though wasn't he? Should have been ate by - Oh, well, there they were!
xxxxxProblem solved he cried out to the man currently beating the head in of one of his friends. "Hey wait a minute!" Why was it he was surrounded by some many violent people? It wasn't like his ride was going to eat his new fishy friend when he was done. What was the point? "You don't have to be so-" But he couldn't think of the word for a moment "angry!" He finished excitedly at having remembered.
xxxxxAnd there he went again. Kazuo watch the boy confused as he once again shifted moods like it was going out of style. "I guess so." He frowned a bit unsure if he really wanted to talk to the fishman now given the fact that it was causing the boy to act out his more violent tendencies once again. Anxiously he tugged on the arm Leche was using to accost the unconscious fishman. "I think the other's left us."
xxxxxHe couldn't see them. Apparently they were far. But he never thought even island eaters were that big. Maybe it was just really dark? Like super dark. "Maybe we should find them?" And you know, stop beating the crap out of everything that moves. Every - thing? "Wasn't there another one?" The frown deepened. One he saw, the other he bit the nasty wood thing. One. He looked around the ship graveyard. Or was it grave-stomach?
xxxxx"Hello?" Kazuo called out loudly, no fear that whatever might hear him might not be so friendly. "My name's Kazuo. He won't hur- Well, I think he's done hurting people for now. You can come out now."

(I dun know how you changed the numbers so, whatever ^^. If not Kazuo is delusional and talking to himself, no big deal. I'm sure its not the first time.)

[hikuro]

Hikuro was looking at the body of the fishman that himself and the others beat down. His face was sad when he was looking at the body, he closed his eyes and said "I'm sorry". After Hikuro heard that his captain was walking to a new direction, he opened his and decide to follow him while putting his hand back at his head.

Hikuro walked silently following his captain. "Wow" Hikuro was amazed when he looked at the big fishman and behind him, Hikuro saw the the cages. His face from surprised become angry in just a minute. What the humans in the cages deserved to be tortured like that? Have they did something wrong? Hikuro was thinking a lot of stuff about it. Hikuro become really angry but he tried to be calm for the moment.

[shutN]

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✗Plague of East Blue✗x[/center]

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T[/color]he fishman took off in a full sprint, his mission and club forgotten amidst the bodies of his friends. Being the only one still conscious it was his right, no, his duty to run away, flailing. Maybe work in a scream or two. He chased after the green light, down the tunnel toward the unknown, yelling as he did.

"Booooooooossss!" Was his cry.

Leche gave chase. The single glowing, green bulb had become a sun. A glowing, green sun. Dark became light. Black became green. Through clenched teeth and squinted gaze, Leche took it all in: every blur and every tint the haze had to offer. The bugs lined the walls and ceiling like paint that twitched. They showered them, fish and non-fish alike, in their light. It painted a vague, green picture. There were fishmen and cages; greenish blurs with greenish smudges. Leche rubbed his eyes. The light burned them, giving the pair a sharp slap to the pupils as they constricted. Good morning, he thought as his left and right dashed across his view. He willed them to stop. He urged them to open. And they did, shyly behind the eyelids. The fish were still there, as were the cages, but they were different now. Clearer. Leche saw the people behind the wooden prisons and almost gave it some thought. Almost. A beard caught his eye. A long, flowing beard that dangled from one of the fish's chins and coiled on the ground like rope. Eyes, once dilated, widened in wonder at the hairy sight. What happened next could be best described as dumb.

In moments the child had crossed the length of the room and stood before the boss, dwarfed by the giant. He eyed the beard again, trailing its length up the body and down the chin. It was magnificent. "Hey Mr. you have a long beard." The obvious was followed by a sharp tug as Leche picked up the gray line and pulled. "How'd you get it that long?" Tug. "No one in Mirrorball has a beard like this." Pull. "Not even the guys." Yank. "Do fish's beards grow differently?" Wretch. "Maybe that's why it's so long." Again and again he pulled, testing its strength and enjoying its touch. Leche was smiling. He was like a kid at play. He was a kid at play. The fishmen, the survivors, the prisoners: none of them could get in his head. It was boarded and locked, leaving the boy alone, alone with the man and his beard.

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