01 - Action/Video

[dualcross]

Who: Dracule Mihawk and Anyone else.
Broadcast: Video - Fleetwide.
Action: Marsiva.
When: Now.


[It's the annoying chill that stirs the swordsman from sleep, already frowning as he pulls back the sheets and cracks his neck once. Chill tends to stiffen one's body and bones. Now, as her rubs his face with a long yawn, Mihawk peers around at the unfamiliar space, the even more unfamiliar clothes, and his scowl only seems to set in place. He's not unfamiliar with being dragged from his home, his world and thrust into a whole other one on the whims of whatever nonsense that sees fit to haven him there, but there is one thing that is lacking the confined space he finds himself in.

One very large and exceptionally important thing.

At the very least his clothes and his cross necklace (doubling as a small, concealed knife) are inside the chest. After dressing, he sweeps up his communicator and easily flicks it on. He's had previous experience with gadgets like this, after all. He doesn't care where he is, how he got here, what his purpose for being here is. Mihawk has not a care about that frivolous bullshit, he just wants to know--]

Where is my sword?

[Later, after Mihawk has heard enough, he's gone to explore and to look for his sword. Regardless of what he's been told, he's not parting with Yoru so easily. One way or another he's getting it back. He doesn't look any angrier than usual as he prowls through the halls like a stalking wildcat, but the sheer presence of him, the sharpness that hides in the edges of his golden eyes...it's obvious Mihawk's not at all pleased with this so-called fine print. Not in the least.]

Comments

[mikangirl]

[...well hello, familiar face. Nami flicks on her comm to reply immediately

and then flicks it off again, because Mihawk doesn't know her from a bar of soap unless he comes from Adstring. Which seems to be unlikely given her luck so far. Hah.

She flicks it on a moment later, tone carefully neutral.]

It won't be here. They take all the weapons when you first arrive.

[dualcross]

[Hello, equally familiar face. Mihawk's quiet fury diminishes only a light sum, replaced by a mild surprise. The lady navigator? Ah, he's...not sure her name, oops. Must have forgotten - maybe it'll come back to him eventually. But once again Mihawk's eyes narrow, and he doesn't mince words when he responds again.]

Where?

[Because taken doesn't mean gone.]

[mikangirl]

The Atroma. It's a group that kidnapped us all to be on reality television. I made the same inquiry of them about my weapon, and they said they'd "look for it, but filling in the paperwork would help."

Which we're currently not in a position to do. If you even believe that.

[dualcross]

Your staff?

[Why yes, he does know about it. Mihawk really has no care to hide that he knows Nami from before, when they both shared the experiences of Adstringendum. Were she one he knew or not, he simply doesn't mind either or. If she doesn't, it means a lengthy explanation for him, and he has other matters to attend to, but he's not going to go to lengths to hide this fact. Too much of a bother. She'll find out someway anyway, and it's not exactly a huge secret.

Anyway--]

So they can be contacted then. [That's useful.] Though I'm assuming their physical whereabouts are safeguarded.

[Not like he's going to go charging in on horseback screaming and waving a red banner, but still. A little intimidation sure gets the point across sometimes.]

[mikangirl]

[There's a pause.]

Not so much contacted as they deign to contact us. If you're here long enough they'll probably open their traps on the screen to speak again. And yeah... nobody's seen them in person.

[Bluntly:] Did you just come from Adstringendum or did you have the luxury of going home first?

video;

[ino]

[ Ino sighs. Yet another dude missing his sword ... ]

Atroma takes your weapons from you when you arrive, we don't know where they keep them. If you're lucky, we'll get off this stupid ship and stop at a planet that sells good weapons soon.

video;

[dualcross]

[Excuse you, his sword is an important part of who he is, okok. How can Mihawk be the World's Greatest Swordsman without his partner sword? Stop being so insensitive, Ino, GOSH. )8

But wow, that is a lot of information in a small package. Mihawk grunts, cluing in on the latter part. Ships, planets... Meaning the "ship" is some sort of space vessel. Fantastic. Just what he needs: to be even farther from his home.]

When will the ship dock? And Atroma...I'm assuming that is what brought me here, correct?

video;

[ino]

[ Look, she's sorry you feel like you men have to compensate for something with your big long swords, but that's not her fault!!!!11 ]

We don't know. Usually we go somewhere different once a month, but we've had a bit of an unscheduled interruption.

That's right, Atroma is responsible.

video;

[dualcross]

[HEY NOW, JUST BECAUSE MY CANON'S GOT THE D. INVOLVED, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO MUDSLINGING!!1

Once a month. The ship docks month a month...that's too long to wait to have even a sparse chance to try and locate his sword on some other world. Mihawk is feeling one hell of a headache coming on, and his brows knit together as he closes his eyes with a deep scowl, chewing on the information and exhaling slowly.]

How long is the stay, once docked? [Interruption? Whatever, so long as they get moving again, and soon. He rubs his thumb over his cross necklace, which conceals his knife, the only weapon (albeit very small) he still has from how] And are we allowed to keep weapons at all? Things we find, I mean...or will they be taken as well, once we board the ship once again?

action;

[tothefly]

[Natasha hasn't given up on finding a way off the Marsiva, or off this show, but she's mostly stopped prowling the halls in an effort to determine the actual size of the Marsiva or find a new door or duct she hasn't seen before. At the moment, in fact, she's curled up in a chair with a book, and doesn't even look up as he passes her for the fourth time. She does, at least, speak in his general direction.]

Hallway's 340 feet long. At least it was this morning.

action;

[dualcross]

[Oh, don't for a second think Mihawk hasn't noticed he's passed this woman several times already. By now he's keyed into the faint signature of her haki, and his title of "Hawk Eyes" isn't just to be funny. Even from his peripheral vision he's seen her as he passed, in glaring detail.

But, beaten, he stops and turns to face the woman at last. Decided to speak have we? Alright then, hopefully what he gets is informative. ...Though the length of the hallway wasn't what he was looking for.]

Is that so? Then I can assume you must know where it leads, and the many paths that split from it as well?

action;

[tothefly]

[She isn't trying to go unnoticed. Time for that's passed, hasn't it? Instead, she's fallen into a holding pattern, and if that pattern includes poking at the newbies, well. They'll adjust.]

Nowhere you haven't seen already. Bathrooms at one end, bedrooms along the hall, this room at the other end.

[She looks up, finally, jerking her head back and to her left.]

Kitchen's over there, if you want a change in scenery.

action;

[dualcross]

[Mihawk lifts his head and peers down each of the halls she indicates. He can see the entire distance, even tiny details one would miss - a scratch on the door frame from where someone must have dragged something against it by mistake, a spill from overhead...maybe a leaky pipe somewhere, and then specks of food trailing from where the kitchen starts. Nothing that interests Mihawk in any way.

He closes his eyes, crossing into the open space to lean again the opposite wall. If anything, he looks a little resigned, but still unhappy.]

What is this ship's purpose?

[To keep them here? That's stupid - he's been without a crew for years and years, prefers it that way - he's not about to sail under anyone's flag soon. Does the damn ship even have a heading? What's their destination; why are they even sailing? And why not have the passengers armed? Afraid someone might kill the other passengers? Ugh, he needs a stiff drink...]

Action

[thebloodseal]

Looking for something?

[That sure is a suit of armor with a teenage boy's voice you're talking to, Mihawk.]

Action

[dualcross]

[He has seen odder, by far. Though being called out at least has Mihawk stop his march and glance sideways. He's found out nothing, barely more than a basic layout of a singular hallway. Obnoxious, definitely, and it's done little to appease his bad mood.]

Correct. Though I'm beginning to think I'm walking a fool's path in vain.

Action

[thebloodseal]

[Al nods.]

Maybe I can help- what do you need?

Action

[dualcross]

Information. Is there an armory aboard this vessel? And if so, where?

[Mihawk half knows the answer, but he's hoping his assumption will be wrong. While he'd like to reunite with his sword, Yoru, he's not blind enough to realize that's going to happen soon. Atroma or whatever obviously doesn't want them armed, at least not with weapons they're familiar with. But even so, he will need a replacement eventually. Just until he does get his sword back.]

[huaaaaagh]

I've been asking that for two months now.

[In other words, good luck.]

[dualcross]

[NOT HELPING.]

And in that time, what have you learned in regards to its retrieval? [Because, boy, if you tell him you've given up on getting it back, then he's not going to count you as someone who deserves to carry a sword. Or bear the title of 'swordsman'.]

[huaaaaagh]

Literally squat. Atroma's no help at all.

[Although to be fair, his swords only exist in the virtual world, so it's not like they can just pull it from his home and hand it to him. Maybe if they worked like his avatars do, it would be fine, but he seriously doubts it'll be that easy.]

I'm looking at alternatives for the short term.

[dualcross]

Nothing? How disappointing.

[Mihawk leans back against the headboard of his bed, or the wall, with a sigh. So it seems like getting Yoru back is going to be a severe challenge, but not impossible. If he's lucky, and patient, he might come across the black blade while traveling to other planets... But he's not exactly happy with that. The weightlessness he feels on his back is telling - it's like he's missing a piece of himself.

His eyes narrow though, when replacements are spoken of. This is a touchy subject.]

...You sword. What is it called? ['Does it have a name' is what he's asking.]

[shoujoreject]

[He doesn't habitually lose himself, whether in principle or in practice. Absent-mindedness is the bane of any food-worker's existence, much less one who works with the customers directly.

In his defense, this place does not promote clear thought in its newcomers. Qing may not have lost anything of note when he arrived, but even after speaking with a number of others here, he's beginning to think he's losing his mind. A reality TV show? In space? Where no one knows how they got here, why they were chosen... nothing at all.

His wandering thoughts follow his wandering feet, and it isn't until there's a sense of heat and a looming presence that he looks up. By then, it's nearly too late, and the sound he makes is one of faint embarrassment. Perhaps Mihawk will have noticed his mindlessness, been ready to move when Qing's form kept forward, but his reaction will be the same regardless.

It's just a question of whether or not they collide in the least, the almost-negligible weight of the redhead shifting back in alarm. The movement is remarkably quick, whatever Qing thinks of himself and his abilities, but that doesn't matter - staring up into the face of someone with that much presence, with such sharpness in his eyes...

... well, he may well have fucked up, hasn't he.]

A-ah! Excuse me, I wasn't- [Paying attention. Qing's hands rise up as if to surrender, begging forgiveness as his face turns red. He'll have all the apologies in the world, and as it stands he just has to hope that irritation doesn't turn too sharply on him in his panic.]

[dualcross]

[It pays to have a sort of sixth sense in this situation - the sort of clairvoyance that allows one to predict another's movements. Haki, and though Mihawk's is fairly mild, it does at least give him the reaction time to shift his body away in time to avoid a collision. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean Qing won't get tangled in the flowing coat the swordsman wears, or at least get smacked in the face by in when he moves. Mihawk is tall (an impressive 6'6") and very muscular, so he tends to take up a bit of space even without his immense black sword.

Mihawk peers down at the boy when he speaks up, mildly irritated, but it rolls off quickly. Considering the circumstance, a lot of people have much to think about right now. Bumping into someone whilst walking seems like just the sort of hazard one ought to expect of newcomers. Especially those that don't have previous experience with "world-hopping".]

Mind yourself. [Not rough, but not exactly gentle, either. Just a statement. Mihawk's not bothered with an accidental bump, but he wants to keep exploring a little more, and he can't be standing around listening to a child's simpering apologies.]

[shoujoreject]

[How... strange, the way the mind works. Qing had narrowly avoided getting tangled in the spill of Mihawk's coat, though it flicks against him with a little too much force. No matter, it scarcely hurts. It's not the coat that really gives him pause, but the height. He expected to have to look up - he so often does - but as it stands he's not even at shoulder height on the man.

It's the words that snap him back to reality, out of that period of dumb staring where soft violet eyes finally met the sharp features - and sharp expression - of his face. Simple, firm.

It reminds him of too much else, all of a sudden.]

My deepest apologies. [In its wake, his flailing clears up considerably - as though someone told him to stand up straight and stop being childish. The way his features shift into something a bit more afflicted is hidden in the immediacy with which he... well, leans forward to bow politely.]

Ah... were you going somewhere in particular? [It's an idle question, and seems to be one borne of kind intent, as he rights himself and tugs at the edge of his skirt. Thankfully, he's gotten... a good bit more used to the Marsiva and where everything is, especially thanks to Jennifer's assistance.]

[dualcross]

Yes and no.

[He notes the change of demeanor with muted interest - just what was that now? To stop that atrocious sputtering so quickly... Mihawk knows he holds a certain presence, but that was a little more than just taking note of the difference between how they hold themselves. His eyes narrow some and he tilts his head slightly at the boy. Yes, boy, Mihawk's eyes can distinguish the minute details the young lad is concealing by dressing the way he does. He says nothing to it - there are cross-dressers in his world also - and he never had an opinion on them. It's nothing he's interested in.]

I'm looking for something that was taken from me, though it feels I'm wandering for nothing. [But the walk at least calmed him down. Ish. Kind of. Maybe...?]