[Week ~9] [BH] Vitani Kikan <Chapter 1: The Brave and the Bold: Set Sail for Destiny!>

Making her way to ‘Kakan isamashii Sato’ (which was also known as the “Village of the Bold and Brave”, Vitani followed the directions the elders gave her, to find this strange man named “Onikaze”. The elders had cared for her over the past 25 years and as her 26th birthday was approaching fast, Vitani was approached by a Pirate threatened the village she lived in. However during the midst of the fight, she somehow remembered the Pirate’s face and the ship that bared the flag of the ‘Marines’ and the ‘Jolly Roger’ gave her a flashback of a memory she had not quite forgotten, yet didn’t remember fully.

Along the dirt road that seemed to stretch on forever, her long, bright yellow hair flowed in the breeze from a top the great hills she climbed along the way, often flowing into her face and in frustration, often stroked it back; wondering why she didn’t cut it before she left. However beyond the farm animals and masses of fields, there was no sign of any town of city and even more so, any sign of life. Often she had pondered if she took the right directions and more likely wanted to turn back; but she trudged on along the path, watching the sea in the distance: waves flowing layer upon layer, wafting in the wind. Although suddenly she hit something in her path and rubbing her head, yelled in anger “Watch where you’re going you dozy, stupid, arrogant little..” however she cut herself short when she noticed what she had bumped into in fact, was a signpost that toppled sideways from the impact; slowly tilting further and further until it decided to give up and flop on the comfy grass beside it, as if it was tired of life.

Ignoring her mistake, she bottled up her rage for later and got to her feet, grasping the hilts of her blades briefly to check they were safe, before bending down near the sign, to read the locations it knew and the distance it would take to arrive. However one place stood out from among the rest, one that widened her eyes so much, her hair raised for a moment; before dropping back down as a smile grew.

“’Kakan Isamashi Sato’s’ only a few miles away! Finally I’m making progress!” Vitani scoffed as she dashed down the road, running as fast as she could until a small town appeared in the distance, slowly growing into a village and then a city, as more and more buildings appeared, growing taller and taller as she approached the place. That was until she arrived at a gate guarded by two men, equipped with military weapons, standing in front of the only known entrance and exit into the city: a set of large heavily bolted doors that were made of a sturdy wood, thick enough to take any impact and possibly even a cannon or two.

Still it would be simple to avoid, she thought. Just climb over the wall nimbly and make her own way in, however it wasn’t quite that simple. As she looked at the wall, it towered an impressive 4 stories high: an impressive feat should she succeed, nevertheless she fastened her belts and tightened her gloves, immediately taking to the walls like a ninja; she began towering this mighty beast. However it wasn’t until she was halfway up she was caught, the Marines at the gate had watched her since her arrival and decided to make her climb a good way up; before asking her to come back down, pointing their guns at her and calling for reinforcements, she made her way down, with her hands in the air.

It’s possible, she thought, that she could easily take out a few marines with her blades and make her way up the wall, but it was too risky to do: especially when it would be so much easier to let them arrest her and take her to their headquarters. As they opened the heaving gate, the men bound her arms behind her back with rope and confiscated her blades on the spot, telling her she was under arrest and taking her to jail. Unfortunately the man with the blades headed off towards another direction and after asking for some answers for a good hour, they eventually gave in.

“He’s going to take your weapons as evidence and store them in our barracks. Who knows? After the execution they might make a worthy trophy for the Marines.” The Soldier scoffed, taking her to a small fortress to the left of the city and shoving her in Jail, locking her behind bar and key.

Pondering on a way to escape, she dug her hand between her breasts and pulled out a small piece of wire from inside, pondering to herself as she sat on the nearby bed, she started to fiddle about with the piece of wire and wonder where her blades might have ended up and how she could possibly find this one person from an entire city. Even if she escaped, the fear of being caught wouldn’t help her chances in finding him; if she could find him.

She contemplated her thoughts, twiddling the piece of wire around her fingers, she stood. Turning towards the tiny window of the jail cell, if you could call it that: the window was obviously barred to prevent people escaping and was positioned at quite a height, although it seemed average enough inside the cell; the prison was actually on top of a hill, looking down at the city below. However something caught her eye.

Suddenly it appeared again, a small pigeon with pink eyes and covered in completely white feathers fluttered by, landing at the window for a few seconds and curious what it was, Vitani moved her hand closer to stroke the bird. Which in dept decided to take her piece of metal, its head reaching through the bars, as Vitani pulled it back; as if she thought it was going to steal it and take it to a nest somewhere. Nevertheless the Pigeon gave up and flew away in a huff.

“What a strange bird. Then again…”

She pondered on the thought before finishing her sentence, turning on her heels to face the cell door, leaving her back to face the window; she slowly made her way closer, concealing it behind her back while she checked if anyone was watching.

“…everyone else here seems insane.”

She suddenly went silent as she concentrated on picking the lock and after what seemed a good few hours of hiding and work, she heard a small click that made the door feel more loose; checking to see if it was unlocked, she swung it slightly back and forth to confirm it.

"I just hope this ‘Sato’s’’ got more sense than…”

Pausing on the last word, she turned away from the cell door and reached in between her breasts again, putting the piece of metal back from the same place it came; she was about to venture out until a small sound, like a whistle appeared from out of nowhere, coming from what seemed like the window: it got louder and louder until suddenly the entire place started to quake, covering her eyes as she heard rubble scatter around her, she opened them again to notice the wall had been burst open. Surly someone would have heard this, all her work gone to waste!

Disappointed beyond belief, she could only muster weakly a “Them!” before her rage took over. Because, before her were three men in black leather and belts a similar color to hers, grinning as if they did her a favor; which was quite the opposite.

“We’re here to break you out. We heard the guards talking and we came as quickly as we could!” stated one of the men, who Vitani dashed towards in anger, grabbing him by the collar and yelling at him spitefully; giving him a clear piece of her mind.

“I was almost out by myself! And I would have done it quietly if you didn’t just make that racket!” bellowed the young girl, she was about to add something more to what she said, however another man, dressed in a similar fashion, however had a variety of different attributes to the rest.

Although most of the other men were in black shirts and trousers, brown belts around their waists and a variety of weapons, gadgets and satchels attached to them, the new stranger seemed to lack most of these; only a small bag that looked more half-empty than half-full. Someone could even say his personality reflected this when in the way he spoke, a calm and reassured voice that seemed to cross the boundaries of a completely organized man and someone who improvised at the current time. Or maybe it was the tone of his voice that was changing? Nevertheless he arrived carry something shiny in one hand and his arm raised, like a wing, in the other. Coming into view as he dropped down from, what was presumed to be a cord attached to the roof, a bird seemed to appear on his arm; resting like a pet. In fact it seemed familiar.

Suddenly she remembered the Pigeon from earlier and even more so, the familiar cooing it was making as she was escorted towards the prison. However what came next was even more unexpected, the strangers other hand tossed towards her two very familiar blades towards her. One of which was “ShortStrike” among them. Releasing her grip on the man, he scuttled behind the rest and took his post, as if he was assign on this job like a military man, forced beyond his will.

“Sir, this lady wishes to refuse our help!” stated another man who Vitani’s eyes suddenly darted towards him in spite, the man swallowing his pride from, what seemed to be a growing fear of her. However the recent stranger gestured calmly, waving his arms in disappointed manner before he crossed them as he thought.

“Really? After all the work we put into this? Well I guess it can’t be helped. She obviously has everything under control so we’ll just have to leave her to do what she wants. We can’t force her after all!” he nodded as he spoke, unfolding his arms as he turned and waved his arm to his men and what could be presumed t be her as well, as if he wanted her to join them on the way out. Nodding, the men climbed down the building walls and vanished from trace; however as soon as the stranger started to make his way down, Vitani interrupted him.

“Fine. I’ll go! But only because of the noise you made, I would have made it out without the noise!” she demanded, the stranger indicating to his bird to fly away as it took off, giving him a chance to stretch out his arm; meanwhile the sounds of naval men approach started to get louder and louder, grumbling in a distasteful tone. Reluctantly taking his hand, the stranger wrapped his arm around her waist and did the most logical thing a person, hanging off the edge of a broken-into-prison-cell would do, kick off against the wall and plummet down to earth.

Screaming her head off, she had a good mind to escape the man’s grasp and leap for safety, at least then she might survive, however swinging her head around, she noticed the other men did the same: all looking calm and smug, as if they got their revenge. However the strangers grip was far too tight for her to escape, so all she could do is struggle or wait. Looking back at the naval men, who had only just arrived at the scene of the crime, at the time they were moving away. Wait? Moving away? Vitani paused to look at the cords they were hanging from and indeed they were moving further away from the building, like they were puppet from a string. Nevertheless the more she waited, the more was revealed over time.

Looming from behind the building was a strange flying contraption, floating in mid-air like magic and above it was some sort of giant balloon of sorts; you could say it was a blimp, but to say that would be an understatement. The balloon-part was merely a large, worth quilt of various scraped sewn together and the way it was supported, didn’t seem as if it was doing anything to lift the contraption; in fact it might just be for show. However below there was a strange container, woven like a picnic basket would but big enough to carry more than ten people!

The first thought that went through her mind is most likely the same that would go through anyone’s mind. “What kind of a nutcase are these people”, while she found herself and the men being lifted up, into the flying machine. All the while the navy people firing at them and missing by a long shot. Either they had terrible aim or this was a strange kind of television series, because they went into a tantrum when their ammunition ended; tossing their guns to the floor and kicking them in a strop.

Meanwhile Vitani and the men made their way into the machine and as they got their bearings together, one of the pilot’s, a strange man wearing goggles that were too big and too thick for someone like him to wear; approached the woman with concern.

“Is she the one we’re looking for?” he asked the men, Vintani attempting to grab her sword as they discussed this.

“Well everything about her is correct, but if she isn’t the right one, we can always put her back!” one of the men joked, unintentionally building Vitani’s rage as she started to unsheathe her blade and then suddenly, something happened! Well nothing that could be described more than a sharp pain down the back of her spine and then sudden darkness. Did they navy get her? Was she going back? These thoughts pondered her mind as her body plundered to the ground, her story ending and her life vanishing before her eyes. Not entirely, as another door was opened, welcoming her to a new life.