Post by Henric Gisharam on Feb 13, 2017 2:26:05 GMT
“I keep telling you to keep that damn guard up kid.” The tight ragged voice of the Sou reached Henric’s small circular ears. At that moment, the Fishman’s heavy knee met the fur of the teenage mink’s underbelly. The few members of the crew that were taking a smoke and decided to watch all hissed in the way only someone who had taken that blow could. In memory Henric found it funny the small silly ways that camaraderie and brotherhood form. The stubborn Mink fell to the deck only to shift his weight forward to rest on his forearms, for the briefest moment before rolling his body to lash a quick kick at the old broken backed barracuda. It was a fruitless effort of course, the old scared man caught the blow like it was nothing. He proceeded to throw the mink into a nearby wall drawing another wince from the assembled members of the crew. Sully was a bastard to end all bastards, an evil and twisted man that to this day threatened to sell the young mink to slavers given half a chance. He also made the best bread on any sea and was deadly protective of his crew, which was why he was Kilroy’s Sou-chef and First mate. “You’re a big fucker Comme, you’re almost as large as I am and you’re only what 14 now? And I know you’re much too tough for that much of a hit to bring you down, stand up and come at me again before I have you spit cleaning the copperware again.”
In an instant the crew cheered as Henric shot forward using his arms to shove himself upwards as his legs came underneath him compressing for an instant as he launched forward his entire focus on one old fish. Henric saw the blow coming and slid under it and caught the following knee in a downward cross block his own left leg sweeping up to the old man’s now open kneecap. The cheer silenced for a second as the sou-chef stumbled to a knee for a moment.
“Your guard’s down.” The mink saw the blue sky and white clouds as his brain recognized that his jaw had been dislocated. This was going to suck.
Henric came awake in an instant his pupils widening and narrowing back into focus as he rolled over the clinking of the chains enough to set him into the moment the memory of happier times fading in an instant as the pain filled him again. The collar and manacles were getting too tight again, cutting through his fur and into his skin, the faintest crimson flecks visible along the metals edge. The iron’s bite was starting to get old. Not that he could do anything about it. The quiet night inside the empty cell that the mink had come to call his home over the past few months was a happy companion compared to some awakenings that he had found himself in. He had a dream, that was rarer than it had been. Henric couldn’t remember what it was but he had the notion that it was at least a happy one. The light smile hurt bring memory to the muzzle latched onto his face, that’s right this master thought it best to muzzle the beast when he wasn’t being played with. The thought brought a deep growl out of the mink’s broad chest, it would only take a moment alone without his paws in these iron balls and the Vice-admirals guards distracted for Henric to regain his freedom.
A slightly torn ear twitched at the light sound of a woman’s, young-woman’s if Henric would have to guess, halting tears. Someone else was hurt, she was close by to, thick as this stone was she’d probably be one or two cells over. The Muzzle was designed to be able to speak lightly through… it was worth a shot.
“Hello?” it was odd to use his voice after so long, Henric remembered it bouncy and light, a moderate baritone during the shanties and songs among the crew… no he couldn’t fall back into memory now as tempting as it is.
“He-Hello? Who's there? I-I thought I was alone here?” One cell over then, Henric moved his chains clinking as he readjusted what little he could to lean against the wall dividing him from his first peaceful interaction with another individual in years. He heard a gasp coming from her cell at the sound of the chains. “The Mink? You can talk?!”
“That’s a little rude don’t you -cough- think, pardon me.” His throat was so sore from this little speech already? How long had it been since he had used his words…? It was a shuddering realization.
“I-I’m sorry, I’m Mahide… we’ve been…” He could see the look in her eyes not even knowing what color they were, the look of trying to find a word that wouldn’t break either of them.
“Neighbors, perhaps Mahide, And I’m - cough, cough- I’m Henri.” Close enough to his name, he had even been called it in the past. That words hurt at this point to long without water and his vocal cords unwieldy from disuses.
“Neighbors, a good choice... We’ve been neighbors for nearly three months then Henri, and all I ever heard before now were roars and growls… I’ve seen you been taken in and out many times… almost always you comeback injured and bloodied. It… it reminds me of someone else that I knew… what…” He heard her voice stop breaking lightly as he could again see her eyes, he pictured them green, he always liked green, the green of a deep expanding forest in the middle of summer. They were again mulling over something, this time he didn’t know what. “What do they have you… what do they have you do that injures you so.”
“...” Henric didn’t answer as he sat there his mind reaching for words that wouldn’t run her off, it was selfish but this was the sanest he had felt in years now, he needed to talk to someone. “I… I am entertainment for our host… I’ve been an entertainer of kinds for several years now.”
“You’re a gladiator.” The directness of the words shocked the mink his eyes shooting sideways as he nodded his head. It was silent for a few moments before he realized she couldn’t have seen the movement. If, his paws weren’t encased in iron he’d smack his head. The two spoke a while more, Henric wished it to be longer but heavy footsteps started to come towards them causing them both to try to hush the other quickly. Henric saw the marine uniforms and growled low as they walked past him.
“You know sometimes I worry that Vice-Admiral Sentanro is making a mistake keeping such a dangerous creature next to such a beautiful woman, what’d happen if he got free.” One of the pair glared into Henric’s eyes flinching back in an instant. “I swear some days that thing almost seems smart as a human, know what I mean?
“Quiet Jern, I hate coming down here to fetch the Boss’s current pleasure toy, as it is, without you pointing out the dangerous predator that’s down here with her. Not like he could do anything about it anyways. He’s supposed to fight again tomorrow night, another noble’s visiting and Sprinkles is currently unbeaten in the ring.” A jingling of keys and the sighs of the two men. “Please don’t make this harder than it has to be… I don’t like this and if I had a choice in the matter…
“HELP, PLEASE HELP!” Henric bit his lip and kept it back, he had to wait, he’d have to plan… he would get her out though, he would get them both out of this. They thought him a mindless beast, and so he’d remain in their eyes… for now at least. He kept his eyes on the hallway outside his bared door focused as the two guards escorted the woman away, he watched the pale white hair pulled back and her deep green eyes caught his flashing eyes and he nodded to her. He hoped she would understand, he needed her to understand. As they disappeared out of sight Henric sighed in relief as she gave the slightest of nods in return closed his eyes taking in a slow breath. He needed an idea, he needed to remember.
Henric opened his eyes the smell of breakfast already starting to fill the air as he rolled out of his hammock in the men’s quarters, Elizabeth and Margaret's room was a floor up and from what he could spy much nicer than the one that he and the seven other men save for the Sou and the Chef shared. A note was tacked to the post of his bunk, with a groggy hand the mink pulled the paper flipping it open and reading the line of text once dropped it and bolted towards the door springing around a corner pushing from a corner and jumping over the two women who were returning to their room from the bathing area.
“COMME!?” Elizabeth dropped to her knees pushing her towel closer as she blushed a furious red at the closeness of the mink as he bolted over them.
“PERVERT CAT!!!” Margaret's response was much more aggressive than Elizabeth’s the end of her scrub brush’s handle knocked into the back of the mink’s furry head with a crack that likely was heard by everyone aboard the ship.
“SORRY!!” not even slowing down or looking back Henric landed in a roll using his legs to shoot him forward off the compression as he slid into the now empty bathing area, a quick scrub and a change into his whites Henric calmed himself and entered the secondary kitchen knocking lightly on the frame before entering. “You wanted to see me Chef…”
“Henri-”
That wasn’t right the Chef never called him by name until those last few days…
“Henri-”
No that wasn’t right, why did the voice start to sound feminine...
“Henri…” the sound of someone else’s voice was enough to bring him out of the memory again the thoughts disappearing in an instant. The voice was shaking, she had returned how long had he been out of it. She was in tears again, this time deep raking sobs. Sentanro had hurt her from the sound of it, and badly. That lit something in Henric, something that he hadn’t felt in a long time, no one should ever sound that scared, that broken, that powerless. “Henri, are you there?”
“I’m here Mahdie… I’ll get you out of here, sooner I hope then later but I will get you out of here. Are… are you ok?” Henric bit the inside of his lip again as he asked the question stupid as it was. She was a pleasure slave to a jackass madman, of course she wasn’t.
“I want my Brother… my brother would be able to stop this… I wish he was here…” Henric stared at the grey wall across from him as he heard her breakdown, the wall had to have been a foot think but he could feel her sadness from his spot on the cold floor, his back to the same stone hers was. They were separated by layers of stone that sucked away the heat of the room as the open windows blew in the whispered promises of the sea. The promise of freedom ever out of reach.
“Tell me about him.” Henric’s soft voice caused the crying to slow at first as she started speaking of the freedom the man inspires, the power of his gait and how he was a powerful pirate. A strong captain, she told stories of him bringing his friends back home to the old tavern that their family had owned for hundreds of years. Their great-grandfather having worked for Vinsmoke Sanji at one point, even learned a little of how to take care of himself from the old pirate. Even as they talked and Henric built an image of the short clipped white hair, black eye-patch and glowing green eye Henric planned. The more she talked the slower she got, she was getting tired but didn’t want to sleep. ”Sleep Mahdie, I’ll keep watch and roar out if they get close to your cell. Go ahead and sleep.”
“You have to fight tomorrow, apparently, it’s supposed to be a hard one… you… need… sleepppp,” Henric smiled as he leaned his head back now looking at the ceiling, she was a stubborn woman this Mahdie. A good trait to have for a woman that lived around pirates.
“Sleep Mahdie, I won’t be fighting until tonight, tomorrow during the day you can watch over me like I’m watching over you, I’ll sleep better knowing I have someone watching over me as I sleep.” He heard the rattle of chains as the woman shifted into what was likely a curled position… The moon was setting the shape of the nearly full body peeking into view from the bar windows that looked over the bay and port surrounding it. Three months of being wherever here was and Henric had no idea where to even go from here… he needed to start small, if he could figure out where they were he could in theory figure out a nearby haven island for pirates… maybe, but he had to start somewhere.
The hours ticked away and true to his word the mink sat guard over time he shifted back to his original position of his back under the window his gaze catching the guards whenever they walked past, roughly every 97 minutes if his count was right, and each face was seen three times, most likely five hour shifts then. Henric did get some little enjoyment of watching them flinch as he simply sat staring at them. They probably didn’t even realize he was listening to them so long as they were in the extended range of his hearing. He still didn’t know where he was in the blues but he knew that as bad as He and Mahdie had it they could have been forced into mines of some sort. Mines meant trade ships, trade ships meant smugglers, smugglers meant a way off of this gods forsaken Island; also, that the crepes at Frivato’s were supposedly superior in every way to the ones Madam Reece’s offered, and the best bar if you were a marine was the Admiral’s Reach.
Nothing big happened though, no one came for Mahdie and no one stopped in front of his door, not for long at least. He thought though, thought and planned. Something was telling him to make it through the full moon in the next two days, it wasn’t a premonition just a gut feeling, the kind that kept the hopeless focused and going. But to get to tomorrow he’d have to get through the fight tonight. The sounds of the city coming to life called into the cells at this point Henric fought to keep his head up as he heard the chains jingle in Mahdi's cell.
“Morning Mahdie,” the rumble of a voice was smoother now, a bit of water helped with this throat, what he didn’t pour down himself trying to figure out how to drink with a muzzle on of course. His voice was deeper though, but that was to be expected he had no idea how long he’d been a slave now, not really but the body he was in was not the same of the body he remembered being in. Last time Henric checked he stood about six, six and quarter feet tall and while broad chested wasn’t a mass of muscle. He felt heavier now, not heavy fat or heavy unwieldy but dense muscular power that he hadn’t had however many years it’s been since he decided to save his mind he’d have to put his conscious self away for a while. And from what he could tell he was much, much taller. It’d make sense, big cats went through two stages of puberty and he was about to hit his when… well the night that the crew was attacked.
Flash of Gunpowder… Burning flesh, a smell used to in small increments but nauseating in the overwhelming when bodies were burning in the entirety… Fire… Fire everywhere as the sounds of the Crew being slaughtered echoed around him… Screams from Elizabeth and Margaret as… as….
The roar came from deep within him before he could even try to stop it, the leather of the muzzle bit into his flesh drawing blood as the iron creaked as the manacles strained to hold firm as he tried to break free.
“Henri? Henri, what’s wrong?!” The desperate sounds of Mahdie’s voice were drowned out by being caught in the memory of the night his world had been sundered and destroyed.
They were in danger, everyone was in danger, Sully was dead and Pierre and Antoine were being run through. Where was the captain, WHERE WAS THE CAPTAIN? The Plaque D’or burned around them casting an orange light on the flag snapping on the mast of the ship that hit theirs, the black flag emblazoned with a crowned skull over a crossed axe and sickle, a serpent's head poking out of the right socket while the body wrapped around the base of the skull. The flag was new, the Cuisine Pirates had been sailing the same waters for years now and all the crews in the area, the Mulin Family, the Joint-Esparie Fleet, the Huntsmen Pirates, they all had good relations with one another going so far as to talk about future mergers to help establish a more powerful presence.
Thud-click
That noise…
Thud-click
It was one that should be familiar…
Thud
Henric looked up at the false leg and heavy boot, the tattered pants, four swords and four guns ringing the heavy waist of the man standing over him. Blood and ash covered the arms of the man, the drawn steel still dripping, in the other hand blood dripping from the severed stump…
Darkness
“&* W*nt Cr@*#...” Henric opened his eyes the world around him a blur of colors as the mix mash of voices and sounds slowly began to filter into reason.
“C@n H3 F1gh7 though?” That voice though brought absolute clarity to his world. Vice-Admiral Gregor Sentanro, the man who was gifted a mink gladiator by a noble for a special service rendered. It took what little mental facilities Henric had to keep himself under control. He needed to keep a level head, he needed to maintain his expected composure. More murmuring and the sound of what was likely a heavy fist into a table. “I DON’T CARE IF IT DOES HARMFUL DAMAGE LATER, THE ENTIRE POINT OF THIS FIGHT IS TO GET SOMEONE ELSE TO TAKE HIM AND LEAVE A MORE CONTROLLABLE SLAVE... If nothing else he only needs to get to next week anyways. He wouldn't be able to survive that, no one in his position could.”
That changed things. That changed a lot of things. Who knew what would happen after the fight, should he throw it for a chance that no one would be willing to take him… no he’d be too much the monster… that would work. Henric tried to sit up in a holt only to find restraints in place causing a loud jingle to fill the room. A moment of silence would rouse suspicion so Henric started thrashing and growling, roaring in anger.
“Sir,” Despite the show that he was putting on Henric listened to the world around, the man’s voice was smooth, like honey flowing down a blade, an almost sweetly polite tone that held an edge to it, something almost hidden that most ordinary people would overlook. “I think he’s ready to fight. Let him loose and I think this animal will show you what he’s worth.”
“Fair point my Dear Captain Imari, fair point indeed, but I need him to sleep for now, the show isn’t for another 12 hours after all. So, if you’d be so kind as to put him under for now I think I’ll go enjoy my favorite toy…” the acting slipped into real life as Henric let loose a full body roar and strained to the point of the restraints starting to stare as a hand touched him…
Darkness.
The soft sound of rapid chopping filled the air, the underlying bubbling of aromatic sauce bases adding to the rhythm playing through the air as the world around Henric seemed to swirl into focus. Unlike the other memories Henric didn’t see himself… he was the epicenter of the memory… the world seemed solid around him the slight blur that he hadn’t noticed before weren’t there. The ship wasn’t as he remembered it, it was as it was… a difference he hadn’t noticed, considered even until now. The smells were instant memories, Duck broth reducing into a consume, slow roasting leeks and garlic, the nutty smell of a mix of grains simmering away plumping and filling out… Duck Roulade with dried fruit and grains… Chef’s specialty.
Henric knew the passage as he came to rest in front of the Secondary Kitchen, the test kitchen of Cpt. Oliver Kilroy. The heavy wooden door never seemed as ominous in the past, the test kitchen had always been open to everyone aboard the ship, the ship that burned down so how could it be here… Henric raised and then lowered his hand… he needed to knock, that was the right thing to do… but he couldn’t… he couldn’t handle seeing him again.
“Comme, get in here. I can hear you from here and I need your opinion on something.” The barked order was enough to kick Henric into gear shouldering the door like he was trained and washed his paws at a nearby sink before coming over to the workbench that while full was organized and the man behind it was a looming and powerful figure despite the three-and-a-half-foot difference in height. Auburn hair tied up in a green and silver bandana his sharp green eyes focused on the board in front of him was Chef Captain Oliver H. Killroy, captain of the Plaque D’Or, and the Cuisine pirates. Nimble but slightly scared fingers were manipulating a handful of shallots the small roots being nicked with a kenmuki, the shinning bit of inch and a half of flat bellied knife working through the shallots in a blinding pace. With a few quick chops, perfectly square ⅛ inch cubes fell from the vegetable only to be slid into a waiting pan and put over the roaring stove top. The chef said nothing for a moment before pulling a spoon out of his coat pocket dipping it into a sauce and passed the spoon over to Henric. “Try it, I think I hit it with the citrus to early.”
“Yes Chef,” the words were automatic as Henric slipped the sauce into the center of his tongue. A blast of orange quickly lead into a deep and intricate flavor combination, sweet yet savory as the chef leaned back against the stove his well-trimmed beard down as the green eyes bore into the mink's indigo eyes… there was something in the sauce though... “The sauce is fine… I don’t know though… I… this can’t be real… you… you’re…”
“Dead? I know that, but the sauce though… it’s still not right, I never could get it right. In life, maybe now I finally have time to get it perfect. You said fine, why isn’t it amazing.” The deep fire in the chef’s eyes and the dismissive wave of the hand, it was all too real… He had to be dreaming… this was all in his head…
“...All in my head…” Henric fell to his knees his vision blurring in tears as he couldn’t take it anymore. He repeated that phrase over and over as he broke down.
“Of course, this is all in your head you little shit,” Henric collapsed slightly at the words of his chef. The words were soft almost gentle, it was the other side of the brutal task master. The shoulder to lean on and the man who would help his line, his crew, his family with anything. Lightly the callused hand of the best cook, best man that Henric ever knew raised the minks chin just enough so that the indigo of his eyes met the verdant green of Captain Oliver Kilroy. The room was gone now, it was just the two of them on the deck of the ship. NO, it wasn’t just the two of them, everyone was there going about their duties. “But does that even really matter. You need someone to kick your furry ass into gear and so here I am, even I don't know if I'm real or not. But I do know that you have shit to get done Comme, shit that you should be doing instead of being here.“
“I can’t Chef… I can’t do it, I don’t have the time to plan, I was never the planner, dumb muscle and skilled in a fight yeah but I have… I don’t…” The tears still flowed down the minks face as he shook his head.
“Our strong little Kitten…” The soft voice caught Henric’s attention, Kilroy looked over the deck of people throwing lines and tying them down under Sully’s orders. “You know that’s what we used to call you? Our strong little kitten because you’d fight and fight your way through anything we’d throw at you, any dish or any problem you couldn’t figure right away you’d throw yourself at over and over until you got it right. You can do it… You can fight, Sully sure as hell taught you how to after all you great lummox of muscle, by the sea you're a big fucker now, did you know that?”
“I… heh… I might have an idea…” Henric chuckled as the Chef batted him on the shoulder.
“What’s the first step of any recipe?” Kilroy’s voice was sharp now as he stood back from Henric.
“Mise en place.” The response was automatic, the crews go to saying for almost everything.
“And Mise en place means?”
“A place for everything, and Everything is in its place.” The back and forth centered Henric, truly centered him for the first time since he woke up.
“And where’s your mise en place right now Comme?” The question was sharp enough to cause Henric to wince.
“Now? It's good chef. Thank you, Chef.” And it was his mental mise en place was for the first time in years in the right place, he had a prep list to execute and it was time for him to get back to work.
“Win the fight, Save the Girl, and Figure it out from there Comme, thinking on the fly is a sign of a truly great chef, and that’s what you want to be right?” Kilroy’s voice was now in Exec mode, barking the order for a table. And when the Exec called a table you called it back.
“Win the fight, Save the Girl, Improvise. YES CHEF.” The ending call back was echoed by the voices of the crew around him… all of them… were dead and gone, they were all together in the next life, knowing them having taken over Satan’s Kitchens with Kilroy and crew running roughshod over the demon king’s own cooks, and when he joined them… when he joined them Henric would have stories to tell.
“Then Execute Henric Gisharam, Child and Last of the Cuisine Pirates. Show them the soul of a chef of the sea.”
Unlike before there was no coming awake Henric simply opened his eyes and found himself in a room, a figure flinching back from him. The Vice Admiral’s captain, Imari, the man who put him to sleep.
“Are you back?” Imari straightened himself properly adjusting his coat. Henric noticing a tattoo as he did so, crossed cutlass’ and what looked like a partial jawbone on his forearm… Henric jerked his head up looking the Marine in the eye only to get a wink in return. “Survive tonight Mink, and you’ll get your freedom.”
“Wha…” There was no muzzle, but Imari’s hand covered the minks mouth in an instant.
“Shush, survive tonight, act the beast a few hours more.” with that the man was gone.
Henric looked around himself slowly, he wasn’t in his old cell, the room was circular and the floor was carpeted… he was chained still but he wasn’t muzzled. The bed he was on was an actual bed. As, he laid there he tried not to think about what that was that happened. It was what he needed though. Win the fight save the girl… he repeated a few times as he fell asleep again. This time no memory or dream awaited him.
-
“Get up you beast.” The kick in his side caused a snarling growl to spring from Henric’s lips as he came awake again, a squad of marines stood there many had pistols pointed at him. The one in front had a lead that was connected to the heavy collar around Henric’s neck. “Time for you to get some blood on your claws. Up.”
Henric followed the directions wordlessly, he couldn’t wait to get this over with. The first thing that he’d need to find was a blacksmith's shop, the collars had a weakness, they were locked with an iron ring in the front, the clasp would only need a good shot or two with a decent wedge and hammer to get off. The marines kept their guns on him as they led Henric down the steps to the dungeon where he was kept, the air smelled similar. They lead him into a nearby room where Sentanro stood waiting a small key in his hands.
“Restrain his arms with the pull knots, remember they need to be tied right, if he dies in this fight because one of you idiots tied it wrong and his arms weren’t freed properly I will shoot you myself.” Henric fought growling as they pulled his upper arms back and tied them together his iron mitted hands smooth against his chest spread as far as the chains connecting them could be. In a moment, he was swarmed with men on his arms, struggle as he could he couldn’t do anything more than slow the men down as they unlinked the mits from each other, pulled his forearms into line and bound them in rope as well. Sentanro walked behind the mink the key twirling as he hummed to himself. A soft clink and a heavy thud were met with air touching his palms, on reflex Henric rotated his wrists and cracked his knuckles. Sentanro walked back around and smacked the mink in the face chuckling. “Do well tonight Sprinkles and I’ll make sure you have a whole tuna and keg of ale waiting for you. Hell, kill him and I’ll even give you a warm body to play with tonight. I think my dear Mahdie could use some new experiences, beastialty would be interesting to see if she liked it. Pirate blood like her’s you never know what sick shit they like.”
The room of marines chuckled and smirked at the joke as Henric pushed the thought into the back of his mind… it might work, if he killed the person he and Mahdie would be put into the same room. He was shoved and manhandled into a closet sized space, a bolt was turned behind him and he could hear a mass of murmurs from the area in front of him, whatever it was beyond the doors in front of him. The room was starting to get uncomfortable as the heat trapped in with him made him start to pant the heat trapped close to his skin. There was some clapping and the murmurs grew more excited as a louder single murmur filled the air outside the chamber.
Whoever was talking was working the crowd into more and more of a frenzy until the doors were opened and the low light of the ring as Sentanro’s voice filled the air clearly.
“... And facing Gowr, standing at 8 foot 3 inches of pure muscle and hatred, 356 pounds of wild muscle, from the mysterious land of Zou, the Mink Menace, Sprinkles.” The cheers seemed to come from above. They were fighting for entertainment then. Henric looked across to see a Fishman standing there, the hulking figure had mottled green and blue skin the heavy long arms of his opponent seemed to be covered in an almost shell like layer one of the arms ending in a hand as the other ended in a claw like appendage.
Kill the enemy, save the girl, improvise.
The mantra started in Henric’s head as he made his way cautiously into the ring, the floor was covered in a thick layer of sand the walls stained dark in places. The fishman moved slowly into the room as well, the two large figures circling each other Henric watched the very tip of his tail twitching from time to time as he watched and waited for the other slave… the man across from him didn’t have a collar on… where was the collar, wasn’t it only slaves who were supposed to be in the ring?
The fishman charged cutting off Henric’s thoughts as he fell into combat. The marine came in low to the ground to try and end it with a quick uppercut only for Henric to catch the blow in a cross block. In a moment of instinct, the mink shifted his hands and went for an elbow strike to the jaw, it seemed to happen in an instant the fishman didn’t even try to stop him, the blow sent the fishman reeling back as Henric took control of the opening his paw sparked with electro as he extended his claws slamming them into the center of the fishman’s chest. The fishman laughed the blow stopping at a hardened chest.
“You can’t break my shell that easy…” A series of sharp cracks silenced the man as Henric’s claws sparked to life and dug into the hardened skin of the fishman. The desperate hook from the claw made purchase against Henric's cheek sending him flying across the chamber. The hit against the back wall was jarring the fall to the ground sent a blast of blood from his mouth that hit the sand with a wet smack. In an instant Henric was slammed against the wall his neck in the claw of the fishman. “That hurt scum, I’m a marine rising star, I might only be a Lieutenant for now but I will make it higher, these bouts are what will make my raise to power all the faster. I will not let a piece of scum from a no-rate dead weight crew that never even was worth a bounty hunter’s time, much less the marines.”
“Heh…” A dull thud drew the marine’s attention from the minks face as his eyes widened at the hardened blue-green chunk of exoskeleton on the ground. Before Lt. Gowr could tighten his grip the electro filled kick dug into the opening in his armor causing the fishman marine to fall the claw opening on impulse as the two fell to the ground Henric rolled to his knees and stood up rolling his shoulder as he walked forward. The Marine was breathing ragged breaths the crowd cheering as Henric raised his leg the marine slowly shook his head as Henric slammed his foot down… once…. Twice… at this point the crowd started to quite… three times… four times… the blood spattered over the sands grew larger and larger as the marine now dead at his feet simply leaked its life force into the hungry sands. With a roar Henric threw his hands back and raised his head the crowd silenced as they watched the brutality of a beast.
Kill the Enemy, Save the Girl, Improvise…
Save the Girl....
Save the Girl…
The sound of dozens of guns being cocked drew the Minks attention his tail still lightly twitching at the tip as his bloodied face and body tensed before relaxing.
“Our winner of the fight by kill, thirteen of thirteen kills, The Man-Slaying Mink, Sprinkles... Congratulations for the five of you to bet for a lethal end in Sprinkles’ favor your odds at the time of the fight were 400 to 1 so please enjoy your winnings. Lieutenant Bartimaeus Gowr has unfortunately fell to the unnamed Marine Hunter known as Back-Slash, I hope that at one point we’re able to bring him to justice.” There was no applause, the slight murmur of the room started back up though as they seemed to move on from the bloody and visceral mess they had just witnessed. “Please lords and Ladies, fellow members of Marine command and Cipher Pol, feel free to enjoy the rest of the night, my cellars and the food are of course entirely complementary, if you want to thank anyone for your free beverages tonight please do thank Lord Nibana for his generous side bet of picking up the tab if my fighter killed his ‘Indestructible Gowr.’ So please everyone enjoy the festivities please see the money counters before you leave and do keep on your calendars that next week’s fight will still be here in the Coyote Kingdom, and next week will be the Battle Royal between The Man-Slayer and four of the most dangerous names in the Blood Pit arena circuit: Hunter Spider; Disappearing Jin; Rock Shuco; and finally the current owner of the title Blood Lord, Sullivan Ginamari will all be battling it out in this pit for the title Blood Lord and a chance at freedom might await them. So please do be ready to spend big and bet hard the five who enter, only one will be allowed to leave.”
That did get the crowd going… Sullivan Ginamari… it couldn’t be… it couldn’t be Sully… Henric started freaking out for a minute his world tinging red as he heard the captain’s voice in his head again.
“Win the fight, Save the Girl, and Figure it out from there Comme…”
Step one was completed now he only had to focus on the next two steps, getting Mahdie out of here and off wherever the hell the Coyote Kingdom was. Henric let himself be crowded back into the room he came from. It was a small group, four men one of them a bit larger than the others who seemed to be issuing orders. They got him into the room the large marine first locking the way back into the fight pit as a crew of men rushed to the dead fishman’s side. The lead marine then took some rope, odd no chains this time… probably Sentanro keeping true to his word and moving him to have some ‘fun’ with Mahdie. The Marine had the rope in place and started tightening it when…
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BA-BOOOOOOMMM
The walls shook, they were under ground, dug into a cliff side and the walls were shaking… that wasn’t good. In the momentary distraction Henric still riding high on adrenaline and frankly a fair taste of bloodlust reverse head butted the marine behind him. His hands breaking free of the yet to be knotted ropes and grabbed the key spinning down and shooting forward. The now shocked and frightened human marines fired into the large marine that had been right behind him. The man fell as they saw the one door into the room close and the latch turn locking them in there… that was very not good.
Henric looked around in confusion, no one was running around this area… no, of course they wouldn’t be. They’d all be up with the important guests making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be. The mink took off at a run his body almost naturally falling into a light bouncing gait. He used corners and tables as springboards and vaults to preserve momentum. Someone, something was attacking… whoever it was better be the baddest moth…
There were a group of men all focused on Mahdi's cell, the girl had her back to them stretching on her toes to see out of her window, she was saying something but she had no idea what. The men were heavily armed... Save the girl… He was outnumbered five to one… Save the Girl… He needed to think. One of them flipped the lock… SAVE THE GIRL… Henric roared and charged at the group. Mahdie yelled something but it was lost among the noise of blades being drawn and the men yelling amongst themselves. Even as Henric closed the gap he felt something come over him warm and almost inviting in mid pounce Henric found his world blackout. The sounds of boots on stone. Mahdie’s voice again, this time, for the first time he heard it really and truly happy.
“BROTHER! You came…”
Killed the Enemy, The Girl was saved… time for a nap. Order up Chef. For one more moment Henric felt the hand of Chef on his shoulder he could almost see the nod of approval. A rare acknowledgment of a job well done.
In an instant the crew cheered as Henric shot forward using his arms to shove himself upwards as his legs came underneath him compressing for an instant as he launched forward his entire focus on one old fish. Henric saw the blow coming and slid under it and caught the following knee in a downward cross block his own left leg sweeping up to the old man’s now open kneecap. The cheer silenced for a second as the sou-chef stumbled to a knee for a moment.
“Your guard’s down.” The mink saw the blue sky and white clouds as his brain recognized that his jaw had been dislocated. This was going to suck.
Henric came awake in an instant his pupils widening and narrowing back into focus as he rolled over the clinking of the chains enough to set him into the moment the memory of happier times fading in an instant as the pain filled him again. The collar and manacles were getting too tight again, cutting through his fur and into his skin, the faintest crimson flecks visible along the metals edge. The iron’s bite was starting to get old. Not that he could do anything about it. The quiet night inside the empty cell that the mink had come to call his home over the past few months was a happy companion compared to some awakenings that he had found himself in. He had a dream, that was rarer than it had been. Henric couldn’t remember what it was but he had the notion that it was at least a happy one. The light smile hurt bring memory to the muzzle latched onto his face, that’s right this master thought it best to muzzle the beast when he wasn’t being played with. The thought brought a deep growl out of the mink’s broad chest, it would only take a moment alone without his paws in these iron balls and the Vice-admirals guards distracted for Henric to regain his freedom.
A slightly torn ear twitched at the light sound of a woman’s, young-woman’s if Henric would have to guess, halting tears. Someone else was hurt, she was close by to, thick as this stone was she’d probably be one or two cells over. The Muzzle was designed to be able to speak lightly through… it was worth a shot.
“Hello?” it was odd to use his voice after so long, Henric remembered it bouncy and light, a moderate baritone during the shanties and songs among the crew… no he couldn’t fall back into memory now as tempting as it is.
“He-Hello? Who's there? I-I thought I was alone here?” One cell over then, Henric moved his chains clinking as he readjusted what little he could to lean against the wall dividing him from his first peaceful interaction with another individual in years. He heard a gasp coming from her cell at the sound of the chains. “The Mink? You can talk?!”
“That’s a little rude don’t you -cough- think, pardon me.” His throat was so sore from this little speech already? How long had it been since he had used his words…? It was a shuddering realization.
“I-I’m sorry, I’m Mahide… we’ve been…” He could see the look in her eyes not even knowing what color they were, the look of trying to find a word that wouldn’t break either of them.
“Neighbors, perhaps Mahide, And I’m - cough, cough- I’m Henri.” Close enough to his name, he had even been called it in the past. That words hurt at this point to long without water and his vocal cords unwieldy from disuses.
“Neighbors, a good choice... We’ve been neighbors for nearly three months then Henri, and all I ever heard before now were roars and growls… I’ve seen you been taken in and out many times… almost always you comeback injured and bloodied. It… it reminds me of someone else that I knew… what…” He heard her voice stop breaking lightly as he could again see her eyes, he pictured them green, he always liked green, the green of a deep expanding forest in the middle of summer. They were again mulling over something, this time he didn’t know what. “What do they have you… what do they have you do that injures you so.”
“...” Henric didn’t answer as he sat there his mind reaching for words that wouldn’t run her off, it was selfish but this was the sanest he had felt in years now, he needed to talk to someone. “I… I am entertainment for our host… I’ve been an entertainer of kinds for several years now.”
“You’re a gladiator.” The directness of the words shocked the mink his eyes shooting sideways as he nodded his head. It was silent for a few moments before he realized she couldn’t have seen the movement. If, his paws weren’t encased in iron he’d smack his head. The two spoke a while more, Henric wished it to be longer but heavy footsteps started to come towards them causing them both to try to hush the other quickly. Henric saw the marine uniforms and growled low as they walked past him.
“You know sometimes I worry that Vice-Admiral Sentanro is making a mistake keeping such a dangerous creature next to such a beautiful woman, what’d happen if he got free.” One of the pair glared into Henric’s eyes flinching back in an instant. “I swear some days that thing almost seems smart as a human, know what I mean?
“Quiet Jern, I hate coming down here to fetch the Boss’s current pleasure toy, as it is, without you pointing out the dangerous predator that’s down here with her. Not like he could do anything about it anyways. He’s supposed to fight again tomorrow night, another noble’s visiting and Sprinkles is currently unbeaten in the ring.” A jingling of keys and the sighs of the two men. “Please don’t make this harder than it has to be… I don’t like this and if I had a choice in the matter…
“HELP, PLEASE HELP!” Henric bit his lip and kept it back, he had to wait, he’d have to plan… he would get her out though, he would get them both out of this. They thought him a mindless beast, and so he’d remain in their eyes… for now at least. He kept his eyes on the hallway outside his bared door focused as the two guards escorted the woman away, he watched the pale white hair pulled back and her deep green eyes caught his flashing eyes and he nodded to her. He hoped she would understand, he needed her to understand. As they disappeared out of sight Henric sighed in relief as she gave the slightest of nods in return closed his eyes taking in a slow breath. He needed an idea, he needed to remember.
Henric opened his eyes the smell of breakfast already starting to fill the air as he rolled out of his hammock in the men’s quarters, Elizabeth and Margaret's room was a floor up and from what he could spy much nicer than the one that he and the seven other men save for the Sou and the Chef shared. A note was tacked to the post of his bunk, with a groggy hand the mink pulled the paper flipping it open and reading the line of text once dropped it and bolted towards the door springing around a corner pushing from a corner and jumping over the two women who were returning to their room from the bathing area.
“COMME!?” Elizabeth dropped to her knees pushing her towel closer as she blushed a furious red at the closeness of the mink as he bolted over them.
“PERVERT CAT!!!” Margaret's response was much more aggressive than Elizabeth’s the end of her scrub brush’s handle knocked into the back of the mink’s furry head with a crack that likely was heard by everyone aboard the ship.
“SORRY!!” not even slowing down or looking back Henric landed in a roll using his legs to shoot him forward off the compression as he slid into the now empty bathing area, a quick scrub and a change into his whites Henric calmed himself and entered the secondary kitchen knocking lightly on the frame before entering. “You wanted to see me Chef…”
“Henri-”
That wasn’t right the Chef never called him by name until those last few days…
“Henri-”
No that wasn’t right, why did the voice start to sound feminine...
“Henri…” the sound of someone else’s voice was enough to bring him out of the memory again the thoughts disappearing in an instant. The voice was shaking, she had returned how long had he been out of it. She was in tears again, this time deep raking sobs. Sentanro had hurt her from the sound of it, and badly. That lit something in Henric, something that he hadn’t felt in a long time, no one should ever sound that scared, that broken, that powerless. “Henri, are you there?”
“I’m here Mahdie… I’ll get you out of here, sooner I hope then later but I will get you out of here. Are… are you ok?” Henric bit the inside of his lip again as he asked the question stupid as it was. She was a pleasure slave to a jackass madman, of course she wasn’t.
“I want my Brother… my brother would be able to stop this… I wish he was here…” Henric stared at the grey wall across from him as he heard her breakdown, the wall had to have been a foot think but he could feel her sadness from his spot on the cold floor, his back to the same stone hers was. They were separated by layers of stone that sucked away the heat of the room as the open windows blew in the whispered promises of the sea. The promise of freedom ever out of reach.
“Tell me about him.” Henric’s soft voice caused the crying to slow at first as she started speaking of the freedom the man inspires, the power of his gait and how he was a powerful pirate. A strong captain, she told stories of him bringing his friends back home to the old tavern that their family had owned for hundreds of years. Their great-grandfather having worked for Vinsmoke Sanji at one point, even learned a little of how to take care of himself from the old pirate. Even as they talked and Henric built an image of the short clipped white hair, black eye-patch and glowing green eye Henric planned. The more she talked the slower she got, she was getting tired but didn’t want to sleep. ”Sleep Mahdie, I’ll keep watch and roar out if they get close to your cell. Go ahead and sleep.”
“You have to fight tomorrow, apparently, it’s supposed to be a hard one… you… need… sleepppp,” Henric smiled as he leaned his head back now looking at the ceiling, she was a stubborn woman this Mahdie. A good trait to have for a woman that lived around pirates.
“Sleep Mahdie, I won’t be fighting until tonight, tomorrow during the day you can watch over me like I’m watching over you, I’ll sleep better knowing I have someone watching over me as I sleep.” He heard the rattle of chains as the woman shifted into what was likely a curled position… The moon was setting the shape of the nearly full body peeking into view from the bar windows that looked over the bay and port surrounding it. Three months of being wherever here was and Henric had no idea where to even go from here… he needed to start small, if he could figure out where they were he could in theory figure out a nearby haven island for pirates… maybe, but he had to start somewhere.
The hours ticked away and true to his word the mink sat guard over time he shifted back to his original position of his back under the window his gaze catching the guards whenever they walked past, roughly every 97 minutes if his count was right, and each face was seen three times, most likely five hour shifts then. Henric did get some little enjoyment of watching them flinch as he simply sat staring at them. They probably didn’t even realize he was listening to them so long as they were in the extended range of his hearing. He still didn’t know where he was in the blues but he knew that as bad as He and Mahdie had it they could have been forced into mines of some sort. Mines meant trade ships, trade ships meant smugglers, smugglers meant a way off of this gods forsaken Island; also, that the crepes at Frivato’s were supposedly superior in every way to the ones Madam Reece’s offered, and the best bar if you were a marine was the Admiral’s Reach.
Nothing big happened though, no one came for Mahdie and no one stopped in front of his door, not for long at least. He thought though, thought and planned. Something was telling him to make it through the full moon in the next two days, it wasn’t a premonition just a gut feeling, the kind that kept the hopeless focused and going. But to get to tomorrow he’d have to get through the fight tonight. The sounds of the city coming to life called into the cells at this point Henric fought to keep his head up as he heard the chains jingle in Mahdi's cell.
“Morning Mahdie,” the rumble of a voice was smoother now, a bit of water helped with this throat, what he didn’t pour down himself trying to figure out how to drink with a muzzle on of course. His voice was deeper though, but that was to be expected he had no idea how long he’d been a slave now, not really but the body he was in was not the same of the body he remembered being in. Last time Henric checked he stood about six, six and quarter feet tall and while broad chested wasn’t a mass of muscle. He felt heavier now, not heavy fat or heavy unwieldy but dense muscular power that he hadn’t had however many years it’s been since he decided to save his mind he’d have to put his conscious self away for a while. And from what he could tell he was much, much taller. It’d make sense, big cats went through two stages of puberty and he was about to hit his when… well the night that the crew was attacked.
Flash of Gunpowder… Burning flesh, a smell used to in small increments but nauseating in the overwhelming when bodies were burning in the entirety… Fire… Fire everywhere as the sounds of the Crew being slaughtered echoed around him… Screams from Elizabeth and Margaret as… as….
The roar came from deep within him before he could even try to stop it, the leather of the muzzle bit into his flesh drawing blood as the iron creaked as the manacles strained to hold firm as he tried to break free.
“Henri? Henri, what’s wrong?!” The desperate sounds of Mahdie’s voice were drowned out by being caught in the memory of the night his world had been sundered and destroyed.
They were in danger, everyone was in danger, Sully was dead and Pierre and Antoine were being run through. Where was the captain, WHERE WAS THE CAPTAIN? The Plaque D’or burned around them casting an orange light on the flag snapping on the mast of the ship that hit theirs, the black flag emblazoned with a crowned skull over a crossed axe and sickle, a serpent's head poking out of the right socket while the body wrapped around the base of the skull. The flag was new, the Cuisine Pirates had been sailing the same waters for years now and all the crews in the area, the Mulin Family, the Joint-Esparie Fleet, the Huntsmen Pirates, they all had good relations with one another going so far as to talk about future mergers to help establish a more powerful presence.
Thud-click
That noise…
Thud-click
It was one that should be familiar…
Thud
Henric looked up at the false leg and heavy boot, the tattered pants, four swords and four guns ringing the heavy waist of the man standing over him. Blood and ash covered the arms of the man, the drawn steel still dripping, in the other hand blood dripping from the severed stump…
Darkness
“&* W*nt Cr@*#...” Henric opened his eyes the world around him a blur of colors as the mix mash of voices and sounds slowly began to filter into reason.
“C@n H3 F1gh7 though?” That voice though brought absolute clarity to his world. Vice-Admiral Gregor Sentanro, the man who was gifted a mink gladiator by a noble for a special service rendered. It took what little mental facilities Henric had to keep himself under control. He needed to keep a level head, he needed to maintain his expected composure. More murmuring and the sound of what was likely a heavy fist into a table. “I DON’T CARE IF IT DOES HARMFUL DAMAGE LATER, THE ENTIRE POINT OF THIS FIGHT IS TO GET SOMEONE ELSE TO TAKE HIM AND LEAVE A MORE CONTROLLABLE SLAVE... If nothing else he only needs to get to next week anyways. He wouldn't be able to survive that, no one in his position could.”
That changed things. That changed a lot of things. Who knew what would happen after the fight, should he throw it for a chance that no one would be willing to take him… no he’d be too much the monster… that would work. Henric tried to sit up in a holt only to find restraints in place causing a loud jingle to fill the room. A moment of silence would rouse suspicion so Henric started thrashing and growling, roaring in anger.
“Sir,” Despite the show that he was putting on Henric listened to the world around, the man’s voice was smooth, like honey flowing down a blade, an almost sweetly polite tone that held an edge to it, something almost hidden that most ordinary people would overlook. “I think he’s ready to fight. Let him loose and I think this animal will show you what he’s worth.”
“Fair point my Dear Captain Imari, fair point indeed, but I need him to sleep for now, the show isn’t for another 12 hours after all. So, if you’d be so kind as to put him under for now I think I’ll go enjoy my favorite toy…” the acting slipped into real life as Henric let loose a full body roar and strained to the point of the restraints starting to stare as a hand touched him…
Darkness.
The soft sound of rapid chopping filled the air, the underlying bubbling of aromatic sauce bases adding to the rhythm playing through the air as the world around Henric seemed to swirl into focus. Unlike the other memories Henric didn’t see himself… he was the epicenter of the memory… the world seemed solid around him the slight blur that he hadn’t noticed before weren’t there. The ship wasn’t as he remembered it, it was as it was… a difference he hadn’t noticed, considered even until now. The smells were instant memories, Duck broth reducing into a consume, slow roasting leeks and garlic, the nutty smell of a mix of grains simmering away plumping and filling out… Duck Roulade with dried fruit and grains… Chef’s specialty.
Henric knew the passage as he came to rest in front of the Secondary Kitchen, the test kitchen of Cpt. Oliver Kilroy. The heavy wooden door never seemed as ominous in the past, the test kitchen had always been open to everyone aboard the ship, the ship that burned down so how could it be here… Henric raised and then lowered his hand… he needed to knock, that was the right thing to do… but he couldn’t… he couldn’t handle seeing him again.
“Comme, get in here. I can hear you from here and I need your opinion on something.” The barked order was enough to kick Henric into gear shouldering the door like he was trained and washed his paws at a nearby sink before coming over to the workbench that while full was organized and the man behind it was a looming and powerful figure despite the three-and-a-half-foot difference in height. Auburn hair tied up in a green and silver bandana his sharp green eyes focused on the board in front of him was Chef Captain Oliver H. Killroy, captain of the Plaque D’Or, and the Cuisine pirates. Nimble but slightly scared fingers were manipulating a handful of shallots the small roots being nicked with a kenmuki, the shinning bit of inch and a half of flat bellied knife working through the shallots in a blinding pace. With a few quick chops, perfectly square ⅛ inch cubes fell from the vegetable only to be slid into a waiting pan and put over the roaring stove top. The chef said nothing for a moment before pulling a spoon out of his coat pocket dipping it into a sauce and passed the spoon over to Henric. “Try it, I think I hit it with the citrus to early.”
“Yes Chef,” the words were automatic as Henric slipped the sauce into the center of his tongue. A blast of orange quickly lead into a deep and intricate flavor combination, sweet yet savory as the chef leaned back against the stove his well-trimmed beard down as the green eyes bore into the mink's indigo eyes… there was something in the sauce though... “The sauce is fine… I don’t know though… I… this can’t be real… you… you’re…”
“Dead? I know that, but the sauce though… it’s still not right, I never could get it right. In life, maybe now I finally have time to get it perfect. You said fine, why isn’t it amazing.” The deep fire in the chef’s eyes and the dismissive wave of the hand, it was all too real… He had to be dreaming… this was all in his head…
“...All in my head…” Henric fell to his knees his vision blurring in tears as he couldn’t take it anymore. He repeated that phrase over and over as he broke down.
“Of course, this is all in your head you little shit,” Henric collapsed slightly at the words of his chef. The words were soft almost gentle, it was the other side of the brutal task master. The shoulder to lean on and the man who would help his line, his crew, his family with anything. Lightly the callused hand of the best cook, best man that Henric ever knew raised the minks chin just enough so that the indigo of his eyes met the verdant green of Captain Oliver Kilroy. The room was gone now, it was just the two of them on the deck of the ship. NO, it wasn’t just the two of them, everyone was there going about their duties. “But does that even really matter. You need someone to kick your furry ass into gear and so here I am, even I don't know if I'm real or not. But I do know that you have shit to get done Comme, shit that you should be doing instead of being here.“
“I can’t Chef… I can’t do it, I don’t have the time to plan, I was never the planner, dumb muscle and skilled in a fight yeah but I have… I don’t…” The tears still flowed down the minks face as he shook his head.
“Our strong little Kitten…” The soft voice caught Henric’s attention, Kilroy looked over the deck of people throwing lines and tying them down under Sully’s orders. “You know that’s what we used to call you? Our strong little kitten because you’d fight and fight your way through anything we’d throw at you, any dish or any problem you couldn’t figure right away you’d throw yourself at over and over until you got it right. You can do it… You can fight, Sully sure as hell taught you how to after all you great lummox of muscle, by the sea you're a big fucker now, did you know that?”
“I… heh… I might have an idea…” Henric chuckled as the Chef batted him on the shoulder.
“What’s the first step of any recipe?” Kilroy’s voice was sharp now as he stood back from Henric.
“Mise en place.” The response was automatic, the crews go to saying for almost everything.
“And Mise en place means?”
“A place for everything, and Everything is in its place.” The back and forth centered Henric, truly centered him for the first time since he woke up.
“And where’s your mise en place right now Comme?” The question was sharp enough to cause Henric to wince.
“Now? It's good chef. Thank you, Chef.” And it was his mental mise en place was for the first time in years in the right place, he had a prep list to execute and it was time for him to get back to work.
“Win the fight, Save the Girl, and Figure it out from there Comme, thinking on the fly is a sign of a truly great chef, and that’s what you want to be right?” Kilroy’s voice was now in Exec mode, barking the order for a table. And when the Exec called a table you called it back.
“Win the fight, Save the Girl, Improvise. YES CHEF.” The ending call back was echoed by the voices of the crew around him… all of them… were dead and gone, they were all together in the next life, knowing them having taken over Satan’s Kitchens with Kilroy and crew running roughshod over the demon king’s own cooks, and when he joined them… when he joined them Henric would have stories to tell.
“Then Execute Henric Gisharam, Child and Last of the Cuisine Pirates. Show them the soul of a chef of the sea.”
Unlike before there was no coming awake Henric simply opened his eyes and found himself in a room, a figure flinching back from him. The Vice Admiral’s captain, Imari, the man who put him to sleep.
“Are you back?” Imari straightened himself properly adjusting his coat. Henric noticing a tattoo as he did so, crossed cutlass’ and what looked like a partial jawbone on his forearm… Henric jerked his head up looking the Marine in the eye only to get a wink in return. “Survive tonight Mink, and you’ll get your freedom.”
“Wha…” There was no muzzle, but Imari’s hand covered the minks mouth in an instant.
“Shush, survive tonight, act the beast a few hours more.” with that the man was gone.
Henric looked around himself slowly, he wasn’t in his old cell, the room was circular and the floor was carpeted… he was chained still but he wasn’t muzzled. The bed he was on was an actual bed. As, he laid there he tried not to think about what that was that happened. It was what he needed though. Win the fight save the girl… he repeated a few times as he fell asleep again. This time no memory or dream awaited him.
-
“Get up you beast.” The kick in his side caused a snarling growl to spring from Henric’s lips as he came awake again, a squad of marines stood there many had pistols pointed at him. The one in front had a lead that was connected to the heavy collar around Henric’s neck. “Time for you to get some blood on your claws. Up.”
Henric followed the directions wordlessly, he couldn’t wait to get this over with. The first thing that he’d need to find was a blacksmith's shop, the collars had a weakness, they were locked with an iron ring in the front, the clasp would only need a good shot or two with a decent wedge and hammer to get off. The marines kept their guns on him as they led Henric down the steps to the dungeon where he was kept, the air smelled similar. They lead him into a nearby room where Sentanro stood waiting a small key in his hands.
“Restrain his arms with the pull knots, remember they need to be tied right, if he dies in this fight because one of you idiots tied it wrong and his arms weren’t freed properly I will shoot you myself.” Henric fought growling as they pulled his upper arms back and tied them together his iron mitted hands smooth against his chest spread as far as the chains connecting them could be. In a moment, he was swarmed with men on his arms, struggle as he could he couldn’t do anything more than slow the men down as they unlinked the mits from each other, pulled his forearms into line and bound them in rope as well. Sentanro walked behind the mink the key twirling as he hummed to himself. A soft clink and a heavy thud were met with air touching his palms, on reflex Henric rotated his wrists and cracked his knuckles. Sentanro walked back around and smacked the mink in the face chuckling. “Do well tonight Sprinkles and I’ll make sure you have a whole tuna and keg of ale waiting for you. Hell, kill him and I’ll even give you a warm body to play with tonight. I think my dear Mahdie could use some new experiences, beastialty would be interesting to see if she liked it. Pirate blood like her’s you never know what sick shit they like.”
The room of marines chuckled and smirked at the joke as Henric pushed the thought into the back of his mind… it might work, if he killed the person he and Mahdie would be put into the same room. He was shoved and manhandled into a closet sized space, a bolt was turned behind him and he could hear a mass of murmurs from the area in front of him, whatever it was beyond the doors in front of him. The room was starting to get uncomfortable as the heat trapped in with him made him start to pant the heat trapped close to his skin. There was some clapping and the murmurs grew more excited as a louder single murmur filled the air outside the chamber.
Whoever was talking was working the crowd into more and more of a frenzy until the doors were opened and the low light of the ring as Sentanro’s voice filled the air clearly.
“... And facing Gowr, standing at 8 foot 3 inches of pure muscle and hatred, 356 pounds of wild muscle, from the mysterious land of Zou, the Mink Menace, Sprinkles.” The cheers seemed to come from above. They were fighting for entertainment then. Henric looked across to see a Fishman standing there, the hulking figure had mottled green and blue skin the heavy long arms of his opponent seemed to be covered in an almost shell like layer one of the arms ending in a hand as the other ended in a claw like appendage.
Kill the enemy, save the girl, improvise.
The mantra started in Henric’s head as he made his way cautiously into the ring, the floor was covered in a thick layer of sand the walls stained dark in places. The fishman moved slowly into the room as well, the two large figures circling each other Henric watched the very tip of his tail twitching from time to time as he watched and waited for the other slave… the man across from him didn’t have a collar on… where was the collar, wasn’t it only slaves who were supposed to be in the ring?
The fishman charged cutting off Henric’s thoughts as he fell into combat. The marine came in low to the ground to try and end it with a quick uppercut only for Henric to catch the blow in a cross block. In a moment of instinct, the mink shifted his hands and went for an elbow strike to the jaw, it seemed to happen in an instant the fishman didn’t even try to stop him, the blow sent the fishman reeling back as Henric took control of the opening his paw sparked with electro as he extended his claws slamming them into the center of the fishman’s chest. The fishman laughed the blow stopping at a hardened chest.
“You can’t break my shell that easy…” A series of sharp cracks silenced the man as Henric’s claws sparked to life and dug into the hardened skin of the fishman. The desperate hook from the claw made purchase against Henric's cheek sending him flying across the chamber. The hit against the back wall was jarring the fall to the ground sent a blast of blood from his mouth that hit the sand with a wet smack. In an instant Henric was slammed against the wall his neck in the claw of the fishman. “That hurt scum, I’m a marine rising star, I might only be a Lieutenant for now but I will make it higher, these bouts are what will make my raise to power all the faster. I will not let a piece of scum from a no-rate dead weight crew that never even was worth a bounty hunter’s time, much less the marines.”
“Heh…” A dull thud drew the marine’s attention from the minks face as his eyes widened at the hardened blue-green chunk of exoskeleton on the ground. Before Lt. Gowr could tighten his grip the electro filled kick dug into the opening in his armor causing the fishman marine to fall the claw opening on impulse as the two fell to the ground Henric rolled to his knees and stood up rolling his shoulder as he walked forward. The Marine was breathing ragged breaths the crowd cheering as Henric raised his leg the marine slowly shook his head as Henric slammed his foot down… once…. Twice… at this point the crowd started to quite… three times… four times… the blood spattered over the sands grew larger and larger as the marine now dead at his feet simply leaked its life force into the hungry sands. With a roar Henric threw his hands back and raised his head the crowd silenced as they watched the brutality of a beast.
Kill the Enemy, Save the Girl, Improvise…
Save the Girl....
Save the Girl…
The sound of dozens of guns being cocked drew the Minks attention his tail still lightly twitching at the tip as his bloodied face and body tensed before relaxing.
“Our winner of the fight by kill, thirteen of thirteen kills, The Man-Slaying Mink, Sprinkles... Congratulations for the five of you to bet for a lethal end in Sprinkles’ favor your odds at the time of the fight were 400 to 1 so please enjoy your winnings. Lieutenant Bartimaeus Gowr has unfortunately fell to the unnamed Marine Hunter known as Back-Slash, I hope that at one point we’re able to bring him to justice.” There was no applause, the slight murmur of the room started back up though as they seemed to move on from the bloody and visceral mess they had just witnessed. “Please lords and Ladies, fellow members of Marine command and Cipher Pol, feel free to enjoy the rest of the night, my cellars and the food are of course entirely complementary, if you want to thank anyone for your free beverages tonight please do thank Lord Nibana for his generous side bet of picking up the tab if my fighter killed his ‘Indestructible Gowr.’ So please everyone enjoy the festivities please see the money counters before you leave and do keep on your calendars that next week’s fight will still be here in the Coyote Kingdom, and next week will be the Battle Royal between The Man-Slayer and four of the most dangerous names in the Blood Pit arena circuit: Hunter Spider; Disappearing Jin; Rock Shuco; and finally the current owner of the title Blood Lord, Sullivan Ginamari will all be battling it out in this pit for the title Blood Lord and a chance at freedom might await them. So please do be ready to spend big and bet hard the five who enter, only one will be allowed to leave.”
That did get the crowd going… Sullivan Ginamari… it couldn’t be… it couldn’t be Sully… Henric started freaking out for a minute his world tinging red as he heard the captain’s voice in his head again.
“Win the fight, Save the Girl, and Figure it out from there Comme…”
Step one was completed now he only had to focus on the next two steps, getting Mahdie out of here and off wherever the hell the Coyote Kingdom was. Henric let himself be crowded back into the room he came from. It was a small group, four men one of them a bit larger than the others who seemed to be issuing orders. They got him into the room the large marine first locking the way back into the fight pit as a crew of men rushed to the dead fishman’s side. The lead marine then took some rope, odd no chains this time… probably Sentanro keeping true to his word and moving him to have some ‘fun’ with Mahdie. The Marine had the rope in place and started tightening it when…
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BA-BOOOOOOMMM
The walls shook, they were under ground, dug into a cliff side and the walls were shaking… that wasn’t good. In the momentary distraction Henric still riding high on adrenaline and frankly a fair taste of bloodlust reverse head butted the marine behind him. His hands breaking free of the yet to be knotted ropes and grabbed the key spinning down and shooting forward. The now shocked and frightened human marines fired into the large marine that had been right behind him. The man fell as they saw the one door into the room close and the latch turn locking them in there… that was very not good.
Henric looked around in confusion, no one was running around this area… no, of course they wouldn’t be. They’d all be up with the important guests making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be. The mink took off at a run his body almost naturally falling into a light bouncing gait. He used corners and tables as springboards and vaults to preserve momentum. Someone, something was attacking… whoever it was better be the baddest moth…
There were a group of men all focused on Mahdi's cell, the girl had her back to them stretching on her toes to see out of her window, she was saying something but she had no idea what. The men were heavily armed... Save the girl… He was outnumbered five to one… Save the Girl… He needed to think. One of them flipped the lock… SAVE THE GIRL… Henric roared and charged at the group. Mahdie yelled something but it was lost among the noise of blades being drawn and the men yelling amongst themselves. Even as Henric closed the gap he felt something come over him warm and almost inviting in mid pounce Henric found his world blackout. The sounds of boots on stone. Mahdie’s voice again, this time, for the first time he heard it really and truly happy.
“BROTHER! You came…”
Killed the Enemy, The Girl was saved… time for a nap. Order up Chef. For one more moment Henric felt the hand of Chef on his shoulder he could almost see the nod of approval. A rare acknowledgment of a job well done.
