Welcome to Karate Island || Serious

It was a breezy, and clear morning over Karate Island, over most of the South Blue actually. And thanks to Mother Nature it was smooth sailing for Ezra Cooke and A Valkyrie’s Promise, literally. The waters were calm and the wind nestled itself into the backsides of sails. Ezra’s new ship cut through the blue like butter. It brought his estimated arrival time down by two hours and he couldn’t have been happier, because for the men and women of Karate Island waking up at sunrise to start training was customary. So for Ezra seeing the island enlarge as the ship closed the distance, and seeing the sun rise changing the atmosphere from night to day was a blessing. He planned to visit his favorite and home island one last time before starting a long and fun career filled with adventure, action, and fighting and fleeing from the exact kind of people he trained his whole life to become. 

Out with the Marine and in with the Pirate. Ezra thought to himself about five hundred times since he had deserted back in the opposite Blue. 

"Such a beautiful day." Ezra said as he climbed up the mast and furled the sails. He sniffed the sea air as the Promise came to a stop at Karate Island’s port. It smelt like the sea, full of fish, blood and sweat. Those last two were usually because of Ezra but he wasn’t complaining if no one else was. 

Ezra dropped the anchor and tied the boat to a post before making his way down the dock. There were many tourists from more than just the South Blue. Maybe there’s a big boxing match, or a sumo tournament. Ezra thought. There was always some sort of spectator sport going down on Karate Island, which is a fact that Ezra hated. Fighting was about honor not fans. He shook his head and made faces at the tourists as he walked by and toward the pub for some pre-training breakfast and a pint. Before he walked in the News Coo flew by and dropped a newspaper and the new wanted posters right onto the bill of Ezra’s Marine Cap which he was so used to wearing he forgot to take it off. He flipped through a couple new wanted posters and found his face among them. It looked like his little act of desertion had landed him a ten million beli bounty. “Well… I’m officially a pirate now.” He said through a cocky smile as he walked through the door and sat down at the bar. 

 SLAM! Ezra sipped his Ale as a pale and plump tourist swung the door open and ran in wheezing. The door hit a booth at the end of it’s arc which pissed off some of the bar’s patrons. “Oi. Watch it!” The regulars at the booth screamed. The tourist ignored them and locked eyes with Ezra who had spun his stool around to watch the action. “Fight… Outside!” The berry shaped tourist wheezed. “Why you telling m-" Ezra stopped realizing he still had his justice coat and marine cap on. “Oh right. Excuse me.” He said as he hopped to his feet and walked through the door again. There was a crowd at the door huddled around the fighters. Ezra pushed his way through to get a good look. People moved out of his way pretty speedily as they spotted the marine garb.


“This is the fight?” Ezra said coming to the front and laying his eyes on a couple run of the mill street punks and a lone swordsman. He crossed his arms and stood there with the crowd watching and waiting. It wasn’t polite to enter another man’s battle.

"So, this is it." Giorgio said to his aunt. He was standing next to the door with a bag slung over his shoulder. Giorgio was wearing his usual attire, but with a black hooded cloak over it (the hood was down). The cloak concealed his katana, Notus, on his waist. His aunt was a lively woman that still retained the beauty of her youth. She said to him "If you die before reaching the Grand Line, I won't ever forgive you!" and then proceeded to hug him tightly. It was finally time for him to start his own adventure. He hugged her back and took a deep breath, noticing the smell of breakfast was still in the air. He smiled to himself and remembered the great feast they had enjoyed just moments ago. Giorgio let go and turned around, opening the door as he did so. As he walked away, he turned back and waved "I'll be back!" with a huge grin on his face.

It was beautiful out, like most days in South Blue. "Perhaps I should go to the dock and see if I can find a ride..." Gio said to himself as he stroked his chin. There were a bunch of tourists today for some Muay Thai tournament, which made traveling through the town a bit annoying. Watching tournaments was always nice, but that's not what today was about. Today was the day he finally followed his dream of getting off of this island. During his time here, Giorgio had a built somewhat of a reputation on the underground circuit as one of the best swordsmen on Karate Island. He only participated in the underground tournaments to hone his skills and earn a little extra beli for this adventure.

"OY! You're that bastard swordsmen!" said a rough voice from behind him. Giorgio turned around to see that the source of the voice was one of the men he had beat on the underground circuit last week. The man had brought along with him two of his cronies. All of three of them were a couple inches taller than Gio and bigger as well. "Oh, hello. Nice to see you again." said Gio nonchalantly. The man's face turned red with rage and he screamed "I challenge you to a rematch, right here, right now!!!" A crowd had begun to gather, people egging them on. Giorgio loved to fight, but the people of this island became gluttonous on fighting. They were greedy and most were addicted to gambling. But Gio wasn't the type to step back from a challenge. Giorgio dropped his bag on the ground and said "What are you waiting for?" his face stern and calculating.

The man drew his broadsword and charged towards Gio in a blind fit. Giorgio drew Notus and flipped the sword so that his next move wouldn't kill his opponent. Gio sidestepped the man while spinning in a full circle and swinging his sword at the back of the neck of the man. The spin added enough power through momentum to knock the man out cold. "I call that  One Sword Style| Hawk's Dance: Folly" Gio said as he resheathed his katana. The cronies looked on in fear, but then regained their composure and drew their katanas. Giorgio raised an eyebrow and said "I have no quarrel with you two, but if you come at me, be prepared to die. Though, if I were you, I'd grab this guy and go" He got into an Iaido stance and waited for them to approach, his eyes watching their movements. What the hell kind of mess did I get myself into... Gio thought to himself. Hopefully they would run away with their tails between their legs, most punks have no honor, though a little more practice couldn't hurt.

Technique:

The sound of chirping birds greeted Thea's ears as she finally came to. Her head throbbed where she'd bumped it before passing out on the bottom of her boat. She cringed slightly when she reached up to touch the top of her head. Based on the lack of rocking motion, her boat had washed up on shore somewhere. Without opening her eye, Thea sat up in the boat. Miraculously her glasses were still perched on the bridge of her nose. Her dress and hair were dry, indicating that the storm the night before had passed while she was unconscious, and had left her and her boat on the beach of Karate. The spot she had washed ashore, was a more secluded part of the beach, one that based on observations wasn't visited very often.

Thea had finally opened her eyes and was looking around. Most of her items were still there, thankfully. She began sifting through them, figuring out what was ruing and what wasn't. Many of the books she'd brought with her were soaked and unusable, which was unfortunate. The rest of Thea's dresses were damp, but not damaged. Any food she'd had left over was now soiled. Some how, the map and letter from Matilda were also okay. "Oh thank goodness! I can still follow the path Matilda left me! Now I just need to figure out where I am." With this being said, Thea got to work. She hoped out of the boat and pulled it farther ashore than it already was. This time, she tied it down in multiple places, she didn't want the boat to drift away again that was for sure.

Once the boat was guaranteed not to drift, Thea got back in and started separating her items. With the ruined books and food out of the picture, Thea could fit everything in the smaller of the two chests she'd brought. A few items, including her knife, the letter, the map, sewing kit and her old knife, were all put into a satchel she'd grabbed last minute five days prior when leaving her island. Thea put a pair of slippers on and took some navy blue fabric which was used to tie her floor length blonde hair up into a pony tail. The chest of Thea's other belongings was hidden near the boat, and a reminder string was tied around her left index finger before Thea set off, "It's time to find some people, and figure out where I am." she muttered, following the beach.

The two punks looked at each other and weighed their options: life or death, and as Giorgio expected, they chose life. They sheathed their weapons, Gio doing the same, and grabbed their boss, dragging him along. "What a waste..." said Gio while shaking his head. Satisfied, he turned around and made his way through the crowd towards the dock to find someone to help him out. The adventure had now begun.

[OOC: Bad post but whatever, Gio is leaving the thread]

Stopping in town, Thea bought some supplies and got her bearings. Once everything was in order, Thea headed back to her little Dinghy. She rearranged everything before pushing off and heading back out to sea.

[OOC: Really bad post, but I forgot to do this before I left and whatever happens with Thea next, well, we're going to pretend this thread never happened...]