Mashyuu and Kanix: The One Piece!

CALL OF THEWILD

Ancalagon soared over the sea, his form blocking out the sun for those who were on ships out to Divide Island. He let out a loud, terrible screech from his place in the sky, the beat of his wings sounding like the rumble of thunder. Kanix sat on his back, in the saddle that was always strapped on, waiting for his lumbering arse to get to the island. It wasn't her fault that the creature liked to take his time, but his size was also a considerable factor for his speed. On top of that, it was likely going through his mind that he wouldn't be able to join her on the mission with his size. Before long, the minuscule island, residing not that far in front of them, could be seen, and Mashyuu's ship just below. She lightly patted him on his neck, sparks of lightning flying from where she touched him, and smiled a little bit.

Her pet flew past the dock, far out enough that he was able to land safely, without crushing buildings and people. The woman slid off the saddle and hit the ground, grabbing her staff and wandering back toward the docks. Quickly, she rejoined the captain and Mashyuu, bidding her greeting to the both of them and even giving Rocky a scratch under his chin.

"Sorry that took me so long; I'm not entirely sure why Ancalagon likes to take his time when flying to places. He knew I was in a rush and yet, still took his time," the shamaness stated, a frown appearing on her face. "Anyway, so what's this about the map being stolen and how do you expect us to get it back from them? Think it'll be easy?" She sounded a bit mockery toward the man, though only doubted at their ability of being able to get to the item before the others.

CALL OF THEWILD

"You better keep that mouth of yours closed, boy, or you won't have a tongue to whistle with," the woman threatened the captain. She wasn't about to take being catcalled by the man, but her threat came short when Mashyuu spoke up about her pet. "Sure, he's the rarest of Thunderbirds, but he's also highly aggressive; if one of those pirates get close to him, they'll be his next meal. I do believe people is what he eats, now that I think about it; of course, I've never seen him come back to the guild with a meal... Eh... Ancalagon will be fine. It'll take a few hundred men to even budge that beast, considering the size he is... But if you need me to.." She turned toward the forested area, placed her fingers to her mouth, and whistled for him. The bird burst up from the trees and flew toward her, in which she merely directed him back the way they had come.

At first, Ancalagon was hesitant, just gliding around above her, then decided that his owner was right and headed off. "Okay, so he's on his way back to the guild now... no more ride home for me, I guess... but what's next?" she inquired. Kanix turned back to them, the commotion the captain was making quite clear to her hears, and her cocking an eyebrow at him. "Is all that stuff really necessary? I mean, we have an Earth Dragon Slayer with us..." Her blind eyes stared at him. She shrugged her shoulders and turned her head in Mashyuu's direction, waiting for him or the captain to take lead. "Don't look at me to lead us... I'll just lead us straight into death if you let me... can't see where I'm going, remember?" She chuckled a bit and walked over to Rocky, though stood on the other side of the Captain and beckoned for Mashyuu to begin.

CALL OF THEWILD

"Oh please, you're making this job out harder than it's actually going to be," the woman laughed at the captain. "The ground being enchanted by magic to protect from magic? I get it being possible, but if there's a map to the treasure, why would they make it impossible to get?" Sometimes, the woman didn't understand pirates and their motives to burying their treasure, but it was what it was. "All right then... lug that shit around, as along as I'm not the one pushing it; I am in no condition to be pushing heavy shit." In fact, she wasn't even in any condition to be fighting, but had still come along at the request of Mashyuu. After all, he had helped her more than once, so it was only right of her to be helping him out with things as well. What the matter of fact was, she was pregnant, and doing something like this, most likely, would put both her child's and her life in danger.

"Well, I mean... I could lead if you really wanted me to, but I'm pretty sure I would lead us into a lot of trees, rocks... maybe even cliffs," she retorted. However, a smile was upon her face as she walked alongside Rocky and Captain Buggy, arms crossed over her chest. "Oh... and thank you for that, Mashyuu; I promise to do you good on this job as long as nothing becomes too dangerous." She would wink at Mashyuu's back, certain that he wouldn't turn around merely to listen to her and run into something. Knowing him though, he always gave her his undivided attention, and she found it quite appealing to tease him. Kanix picked up her pace this time, catch up to the Sabertooth mage's side, but never looking at him once thereafter. "You seem to know where you're going anyway with the help of Captain Bugs Bunny back there telling you where to go."

A shiver crawled down her spine though, and she looked around at their surroundings, listening intently to the nature. "I feel that we're being followed, Mashyuu," Kanix murmured to him, her voice low for only him to hear her. "Don't get me wrong, my visions can be a bit wonky at times, but this is a whole other level of feeling to me."

CALL OF THEWILD

A warhammer came whirling toward Kanix, and she ducked down screaming for a second at the unexpected attack. Quickly, she caught herself and cleared her throat, her face heating up with embarrassment from acting like a damsel-in-distress. Kanix jumped back to her feet and whirled in the direction that the warhammer had come from, her ears catching sound of another. This one, she was able to dodge more quickly, darting out of the way as it went whizzing past where she had stood. These men were adapt in throwing hammers, discovering this only by experience and not through her visions. She frowned and looked to the brush, pointing the horns of her staff at the area she believed the man to be. Swirling her staff in small circles, the emeralds in the eye sockets lit up and green gas began to pool out of the nostrils.

"Poppy, yar, and brisbane steep to make a potion for potent sleep," Kanix chanted as the gaseous air surrounded the man. When it enveloped the man enough, the pirate let out a cry of pain as his skin swelled and welted and bubbled disgustingly. She smirked at his pain, but she hadn't expected him to throw another hammer at her, this one hitting her in the side. The woman dropped her staff as the weapon struck her, and fell to the ground, holding her side where it had hit. A grown escaped her lips and she gently poked at the injury... the bruise that was starting to well up where she had been hit. This was going to be a lot more difficult than she had thought it was going to be, seeing as he had tricks up his sleeve. Weakly, she reached for her staff and boosted herself back up to her feet, then zapped a lightning bolt at him.

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The warhammer had hit her well, striking her right in the side of her stomach, which wasn't the best of places to hit her. Pain radiated in her and for a moment, she was fearful of her child; fearful that the hammer had injured him. Her had fell to her abdomen, and she nearly collapsed, if it wasn't for Rocky coming to her aid and helping her out. She had fallen against him weakly, gritting her teeth against the aching and praying nothing had gone wrong. While the child as important to keep safe, it was not meant to be her sole focus at the moment, and returned her attention back to the rotting man. "N-no... I don't think I'm okay," she called to Mashyuu, though she didn't want him worrying about her right now. Instead of continuing the conversation, the woman tried lifting her staff again to cast another spell.

Yes, it had been painful even to do that for a moment, but she managed to push past the pain and cast her next spell. This was the guardian of nature; a wondrous beast of fiery passion, a blazing fury of a lion, roaring at the pirate. It lowered its head and rammed into the man's chest, who was too busy dealing with the infectious gas to notice. With the man dazed, but still alive, the lion stretched open its maw and bit down on the man's arm, tugging at it harshly. Now that the spell had been cast, Kanix's limbs went limp for a short moment, and she collasped against Rocky once more. She broke out into a sweat, but moved slowly off of Rocky and onto the ground, while she had the chance to rest. "Y-you just focus on the other pirate, Mashyuu; I promise that I'll be okay... I just need to rest for a bit."

Foe's HP::

CALL OF THEWILD

She grimaced as Mashyuu lifted her up, eyeing the wall of stone in front of her, where the fallen pirate now rested. Her hand, one more time, flew toward the pained area of her abdomen, and thoughts clouded her mind that made her pout. "Are you saying I'm weak because I not only have to protect my own life, but that of the one growing inside me?!" she retaliated. Quickly, she clamped her mouth shut and turned her blind gaze away from Mashyuu as he kicked away the gear and put her on the sled. How embarrassing... Captain Buggy having to pull her now, and he was likely not strong enough to lug a pregnant woman. Kanix lowered her head and remained silent as they continued with the journey, contemplating her previous words. It was a smart idea to inform Mashyuu of her pregnancy, for she was putting both her child and herself at risk if not.

"I didn't want you to know that I was expecting because if you did, you wouldn't have let me come on this mission. The thing is, I need money if I'm going to keep and raise this child to be a strong mage, and I'm poor as fuck. Hell, I live out in a tepee in East Forest of Magnolia because the apartments out there are too damn expensive." However, they neared a clearing and the presence of beings alerted Kanix to quiet down and allow for Mashyuu to handle it. "Are there ones with pots on their hands, Mash? If so, those are the weakest ones, you'll want to take them out first if possible. Heh... and I guess the other two are those hammer-wielding pirates, aren't they? Be careful, Mashyuu, and I'll try to help out the best that I can." After saying that, she would remain silent and hope for the best of them, knowing her friend could only handle so much before he, too, broke.

CALL OF THEWILD

Kanix felt herself being scolded by the mage, which wasn't something that the woman had in mind about the man. He was right though, it would've been far better if she had just outright told him that she was expecting a child. Her opalescent, blue eyes stared down at the wooden sled that had once carried the gear for digging and pickaxing at the ground. She would not stand still and let him do all the fighting; oh no, she would find a way to help him out, even if it meant injuring herself more. With protests coming from Captain Buggy, the woman struggled to stand on her feet, but once she had, she pointed her staff at Mashyuu. "The wild is what protects me, and so the wild is what I'll share... I call upon the guardians of nature and send them forth to you! Let the beastly side of you show: Savage Rage!" With those words, she would cast her strengthening spell on Mashyuu, then turn to the pot-headed midget pirates.

She lightly touched the bones of her necklace from underneath the jacket that Mashyuu had so graciously lent her. Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply and called upon the spirit of the Morrigan, which shifted her appearance. Her clothing was still on her, including the jacket, but everything had become covered in dark, crow-like feathers. The headdress she wore had turned into that of a crow's head, with feathers trailing down the backside of her. With her own magic now boosted by this change, the woman would cast her Door to Hell spell and launch it at the three midgets. As the demon came rushing out, the woman then cast her next spell, which was the Curse of Anathema upon them. They cried out in pain as they were struck by her magic, which was doubled in power thanks to her form.

CALL OF THEWILD

The fighting wasn't over quite yet, for the remaining three midget pirates had heard the commotion the trio was making. Unfortunately, those pirates discovered that, while Mashyuu was the strongest of the mages, the feathered woman looked to be valuable. All those jewels and gold stringing the headdress and outfit together... they wanted those from that woman. If they could simply get those items from her, they would make a fortunate off of what she had been wearing. At the sense of threat, however, the demon rounded back to Kanix, flanking one side, while Rocky had the other. It cracked its neck and as the pirates had gotten closer to the shamaness, it bounced away from her and attacked. One of the midgets went down as the demon tackled it and bit into its neck, then dug its claws into the man's chest.

When another of the three came closer to Kanix, she blasted a bolt of lightning at him from the eyes of her staff. The man jolted as the spell struck, and she darted toward him, using the horns of her staff to her advantage and striking him with them. She twisted as they went through, then ripped them out and danced around the pirate to get in another hit. As that pirate went down, Kanix's form puffed into a flurry of crow feathers, and a bird came flying out of it. It flapped its wings wildly, then fluttered toward Mashyuu, landing quietly on the earth mage's shoulder as it did. Her "pet" demon had advanced toward the remaining of the pirate men and jumped him, who struggled against the spirit's attack. A claw to the face, a clawed hand into the stomach, a shovel to the head, going right through, and cackling followed. Another hit to the pirate's body, countered by another strike of the shovel, and lastly a bite to the neck to finish off the opponent.

The demon proceeded to get up from its place on the fallen pirate and waddled back over to Kanix to follow her around. She tilted her head toward it though and the door came back up, the demon retreating back into the fiery depths.

"Don't worry, Mashyuu; I'm fine," the crow lilted from her place on his shoulder, blinking her beady eyes.

CALL OF THEWILD

"Oh, no... I'm fine, Mashyuu, please," the bird responded, soon pushing off his shoulder and flying in place by his side. A white light would surrounding the bird and change in size as she shifted from the crow to her natural, human form. "The child will be fine; I should have been fortunate enough that the hammer didn't strike too hard there. If the child wasn't fine, I think I'd be having a lot more issues than just a bit of pain in the side; don't worry about it, please." Kanix scooted closer to the mage and placed a gentle, comforting hand on his shoulder, to assure him she was all right. "Should things become too rough for me, I will back out, but I am a lot stronger than you are making me out to be. I am pregnant, I have two lives to look out for, do you think I'm going to let myself be protected like a weakling? No. I'm going to fight."

The blind woman frowned at his next words and let her hand drop back to her side, a frustrated look appearing on her face. "I'm not letting you do this on your own; you're going to get yourself killed out here with how many pirates there are. You think I'm going to let you do this on your own? You're damn wrong if you think I will... I care for every living being's life." She stamped her staff into the ground, digging a hole into the dirt before tearing it out of the sand and looking back at Mashyuu. "We can stay here if you want to, not move, do whatever... but I am not going to stand for being held back in fighting. I was bred to fight, and this pregnancy is only an obstacle I have to get over... Jaeger will get his fair share for what he's done to me." Kanix jabbed her staff at the Sabertooth mage, but a smile was on her face now, as she had been angry from the start. "Now, what are we doing? Staying here or continuing?"

CALL OF THEWILD

Kanix felt her hand taken up by Mashyuu and held warmly in his own, with a... tenderness... to it that she didn't understand. She stared down at the presence of their hands together as he spoke, and when he did, she felt her porcelain-white skin heating up. It boiled with a blushing red at his words, and she shook her head to clear her thoughts to look back at him. "Mashyuu... you care far too much for me; you'll get yourself hurt... please, don't look at me in that kind of ligh-" The kiss to her neck caught her off guard and she abruptly ended her sentence that she had been saying to him. What hope was there in telling him not to fall in love with her? What would Jaeger do if he ever found out of such an escapade happening? Would he be disappointed in her? Would he feel cheated on by her if she told him another man happened to love her?

She wished that she could share his feelings, but Jaeger was the one who had captured and caged her heart. It was not because of the child either that she had chosen him, but of the gentle care that he presented to her. Mashyuu was doing the same, and she felt torn now, more than ever, as she was unsure how to feel toward him. He was, but a friend to her, where Jaeger was the man to whom she would birth a child and had feelings for... Suddenly, the earth slayer was gone, her hand cold from the warm presence of his, and she let out a pained sigh. Things would be different from here on out, wouldn't they be? He was fighting for something that he could never have. Perhaps, it was best that she just leave him alone and never keep contact with him again? So his feelings would die out?

Reluctantly, the woman dropped her hand to her side and followed Buggy and Mashyuu to wherever they were heading. She remained silent as they walked, up until the slayer had stopped and disappeared into the sand below them. Kanix frowned and stayed where she was, wondering what he was doing or if he had succumbed to embarrassment. The awkwardness she felt as of now, she was unsure if he was feeling that same awkwardness or if he was just her.

"The captain must be around here, I suppose... unfortunately, I can't make out if they're close to us or not," she rumbled in a low tone.

CALL OF THEWILD

The unhappy, yet forced to be cheerful, tone of Mashyuu's voice was nearly unsettling for the young shamaness. She felt bad for him... pitied him, she supposed... that he couldn't get what he wanted of her because her being claimed already. Instead of saying anything to her partner, the woman kept her mouth shut and followed after him when he called Rocky away. Kanix hadn't minded the presence of the earthen dog, but she guessed that Mashyuu was right; a little bit of space wouldn't hurt her.

A hand came up to rest on the small bump of her stomach, not protectively, but in searching for some sort of comfort. "When you are brought into this world, my child, you will know more love and affection than the world can bring you," she murmured. With Mashyuu, Rocky, and Buggy far ahead of her, she had no means of speaking too loudly when talking with herself.

When her friend called to her, she stopped what she was doing and looked upward, listening to what he had to say. In that moment, the woman's steps faltered and her eyes lit up with the familiar light, so commonly seen when she's given information other worldly.

"Supposedly, the One Piece was the cause of the divide on Divide Island, but other than that, not much is known about the item. Would you like to know what it is, Mashyuu? Because once you hear about it, I'm unsure if you will want to continue this. I mean, it's rather stupid if you think about it..." she responded to him, her eyes still glowing brightly with light. However, as she was speaking and catching up to the slayer, he called to her not to come any farther than where she was. Kanix halted in her place, in which a pulsation of feeling emitted over her, crippling her to the ground, just as the branch struck her friend.

The light quickly died away from her eyes and she scrambled back to her feet, rushing toward Mashyuu after the strange attack. "Are you all right? Where are you hurt?" the woman exclaimed, her glossed eyes wide as she reached out to him.