Star Gaze, Chapter 4: A Froúrio Awakening

"Are you mad", declared Ashigaru as he stared down at the shark infested waters. Star Gaze was already jumping into the sea as the words left the young marines mouth. With a plop she hit the water and the frenzy of the sharks began.

It was almost like a maelstrom. Sharks rushed in one after another ready to devour the tender white flesh that dared to enter there domain. The sea blurred for a moment due to the thrashing of bodies and soona it turned a crimson red.

"Captain", roared Ashigaru! The expression on his face was that of heartbreak. It was a short time they had spent together, but there was still some feelings of regret with her passing.

"Oh cut the mellow drama", spoke Joshua as he tied a plastic bag around his katana. The man pointed to the shore, which was still quite far away. On the shore a lone figure moved about removing what looked like a second skin.

"She lives", questioned Ashigaru in amazement. "Wait then ...", he started. His eyes shifted to the growing blob of crimson in the water.

"Country hick", started Rome as she walked up to the edge of the ship, in full plate armor I might add. Her body then turned black as night and she plunged into the sea without a second though.

Ashigaru looked on in bewilderment. Her words were not only harsh, but they also left him with no context to determine their meaning. It was a random insult toward his thoughts of there captains death.

"Sharks in frenzy will even eat each other", stated Moses as he took his turn on the edge of the ship. "The blood was from there own kin and not the captain. Once there teeth could not bite into the captain they accidently bit one another. The blood in the water sent them into a feeding frenzy and as a result they began to rip themselves apart."

“Oh”, stated Ashigaru as he stared down at the crimson waters. “wait, I heard that sharks have some of the most powerful teeth and jaws in the world. How in the world did she manage to get out of there without being ripped to shreds?”

“Haki”,

"Huh",.

"Haki, you know, the warrior spirit.You can use it right? I was sure that Star chose you for this mission because you had the ability to use it. If not ..."

"No, no, I understand. Sorry about that. We just don't call it Haki back home."

"Really, what do the Froúrio call it then?"

"Elf Magic."

"What", questioned Moses?

"Don't ask."Shaking his head Ashigaru turned back toward the crimson waters. He did not like the look of it, but he understood what he needed to do. Focusing the power of his will Ashigaru focused on himself. In a mere moment his skin turned as black midnight and as glossy as glass. Staring at himself Ashigaru could hardly believe he was still human. “I always find this to be strange”, he stated to himself before plunging into the dark crimson waters.

"Can you believe that he actually thought that you died", chuckled Rome as Ashigaru reached the shore. The Battle Maiden's words were received with a light chuckle from Star Gaze. A delicate smile crossed her face as her gaze turned toward the last members of their team to arrive.

"Do you have so little faith in my abilities", questioned the fair maiden in a light tone.

"Pshaw, don't chew him up to bad Captain", requested Moses. "The boy had no idea that sharks would eat there own. When he saw the blood ..."

"He assumed the worst. Typical for a new marine."

"Typical indeed", retorted Moses. "Remember Hikari,t not everything you see is what it appears to be. You must learn to rely on other senses than just your eyes. If you do that ..."

"No time for a combat lessons", started Joshua as he pushed past Moses. His rock hard abs glistened from the dripping sea water. "Remember that our enemies are beast with superhuman abilities. They can probably hear us speaking at the moment."

"Good point", spoke Star as she shifted her face from delicate maiden to stalwart commander. "We need to go ahead and focus on our objectives. Moses ..."

"Already on it captain", spoke the marine as he sat down and crossed his legs. His hands moved down to his center and took a shape that made a O. Staring down at the ground he closed his eyes and began to focus on the world around him. He needed to find both the culprit of this foul infestation and The World Noble.

"Show me", he spoke to himself as he felt his mind leave his body and travel across the island. Flashes of images and emotions raged through his head. He could feel there anger. He could feel there fear. He could sense the human buried under .the cloak of the curse, and the intent of the humans lurking in the shadows.

"Which one", he asked himself as he began to focus.

Suddenly it all came to a stop. Moses had picked up on something else. Searching through the emotions and minds of the people on the island Moses had found three matches to the profiles he had created beforehand.

"I have three suspects", he started. "One is taking great enjoyment in this."

"That must be the devil fruit user", stated Ashigaru.

"My thoughts exactly", answered Moses. "The second one is deadly afraid. If I had to guess ..."

"It is probably the World Noble", started Bolt. The man had been quite most of the mission, and from what Ashigaru had seen of him quite was his natural state.

"The last one is strangely calm", explained Moses as a bewildered expression crossed his face. "I don't know about this guy, but he is moving around a lot. There is a slight chance he could be the creator, but ..."

"I would also place my bets on the one taking glee in this", answered Rome for him. "He fits the bill more than this third guy. The third guy is probably some lost sailor who has of yet to realize what kind of situation he is in. By the end of the day he would either be dead or turned."

"Speaking of the end of the day", spoke the fair maiden as she took back over the conversation. Star Gaze flipped the left bane over her ear and addressed her soldiers. "I want this mission complete before sun down. The beast will have the advantage in the night. We will first make contact with the scared Noblemen. We will then escort him off the island and back to the ship. After that we will take our the head of this plague. If he is not the one we are looking for then we will direct our efforts toward eliminating the second man. I am sure that one of the two of them is the culprit."

“Understood”, chanted the marines in unison as they received their orders. In a freakish display of unison they all, with the exception of Ashigaru, smashed their fist against their chest at the same time. It was a old, but revived salute used by a dead nation. All the soldiers under Star Gaze command used it, but Ashigaru was new. The young lad looked on with bewilderment at first, but smashed his fist against his chest in a delayed response.

“Sorry about that. We did not …”

“Don’t worry about it’, spoke Moses as he cracked his neck and began to walk toward the tree line. “You will get the hang of it in no time.”

“Took me a week”, added Joshua.

“I got it immediately”, retorted Rome.

“You were probably born saluting”, chuckled Bolt.

“I will have you …”, started Rome when suddenly a black figure slammed into her. In a frenzy the two began to do battle. Claws slashed at Rome’s face, but a sturdy gauntleted hand absorbed the blow and allowed the maiden to return the favor with a haki infused left hook.

Like a arrow shooting from a bow the figure flew off Rome and slammed into a tree. At first Ashigaru thought it was a man covered in fur, but once it had finally stopped moving he could clearly see the wolf like features.

“It’s a …”, before Ashigaru could finish speaking another figure rushed out of the woods. Its body leaped into the air. The creature was poised to pounce onto the unarmored Seaman First Class.

“Keep your head in the game”, roared Star Gaze as her arm blurred out of view. Before Ashigaru could notice what was going on the maiden was already dashing into the tree line slicing at what seemed to be another beast. The creature that had leaped at the boy toppled to the ground into two pieces. Its upper body gasping for air while its lower half wiggled in the sand.

“Unbelievable”, questioned the young Froúrio. His wanderlust however was cut short by another monster rushing up to him. The creature bore its fangs and leaped at him with its mouth open.

“Oh no you don’t”, retorted Moses as he rushed forward. The fearsome blue jean wearing marine slammed his blacken fist into the teeth of the beast. The blow was so powerful that his fist broke clean through sending the beast to the grown with a shattered grin.

“Watch out for its fangs! That is how the beast spreads its disease!”

“Don’t tell us things we already know”, growled Bolt as he fought two of the beast. The first creature swiped at him high, while the second went low. One would expect him to turtle up and block the incoming blows, or foolishly attempt to dodge them. Instead Bolt sent his body into a sudden and deadly spin. The two incoming attacks bounced off the sudden white tornado. Air blades slashed off the blur of white cutting into the flesh of the beasts.

“To be honest I don’t see why these things were such a problem.”

“Maybe because the common citizen is not a trained marine soldier”, added Joshua as he dodged around a beast claw and slicked the hand off another attacking creature. He then ducked under the return blow from the first monster and stabbed his blade behind him into the kidney of the best. Pulling his blade free he chopped the arm of the attacking second beast clean off. The master swordsmen then placed his sword back into his sheath and began to walk away. The two creatures then exploded into a series of super fast air blades.

Man everyone is so good, thought Ashigaru. So far they had already taken down one or two beast while he was simply gawking. I need to get into the fight, he thought to himself. Ashigaru then took the offensive and rushed toward a beast that seemed to have gotten behind rome.

“Watch your six”, he shouted as he slammed his fist into the creature. The blow sent a shockwave of force clean though the creatures body. Without even breaking the skin the werewolf toppled to the ground into a heap of flesh.

“My six”, questioned Rome. The maiden’s puzzle look toward the beast was quickly cut off by a attack from the front. “Damn monsters!”

“Keep a eye on your surroundings …”, before Joshua could finish a claw cut into this side. “What the …”, he groaned as the pain ripped through his body. The creature moved to finish the job when a sudden flash of a blade severed it’s head from its body.

“Get back on your feet”, declared Star Gaze as she resheathed her sword. Her wary eyes scanned the beach with dissatisfaction.

“Your forms seem to be off today”, spoke Bolt as he continued to fight the beast. His spin move kept three of the beast at bay giving him a distinct advantage against their flanking attempts.

“No that is not it”, responded Moses as he grabbed a beast claw out of the air and took it for a spin. Using the werewolf as a weapon he began to smack several of the beast into the air with there friend and then brought his target back down to finish them off with a grand slam.

“The dead enemies are getting back up”, he shouted as he turned his body black. Fang’s bit into his blacken flesh. The teeth shattered on impact and Moses delivered another devastating blow to the creatures heart.

“Iron Edge!” Ashigaru’s hand slicked through a Werewolf’s body as if it was made of wet paper. “What’, he responded as he looked over his shoulder at Moses. As he turned back to his enemy he noticed the flesh of the creature coming back together in a grotesque display.

“You have to be kidding me.”

“So that is why the beast were able to take over the Island”, started Star as she stabbed her sword into the heart of one of the monsters. Two werewolves jumped at her from behind, however there moves were interrupted by two super sonic whips. Star Gaze’s long hair slicked through them like a hot knife through butter.

“However that does not explain that”, she started as the first creature she slew remained lifeless on the ground. Purple smoke rose from its’ body, but the healing was not taking place. As matters of fact go the exact opposite was occuring. The creature was reverting back into its standard human form.

“Wait how in the”, started Rome as a beast bit into her shoulder. The maiden howled in pain.

“Rome”, screamed Ashigaru as he rushed over and slammed his fist into the creatures head. The force of the blow caused it to pop like a water balloon.

“Rome, no”, he started, but he stopped once he noticed that the bite had not gone through her armor.

“Don’t worry I ain’t going to be growing a beard any time soon”, she started. The maiden then swung her sword at another creature. The blade slicked clean though the flesh and removed its hand. The beast backed up in both pain and fear, but suddenly it's flesh began to bubble and another claw popped out to take its place.

The beast howled as it rushed back into combat.

“Maybe headshots”, declared Bolt as he sent out another wave of slicing winds. That move had become quite tiresome. A particularly fearsome werewolf suddenly rushed forward. It’s body turned a pitch black as it slammed into Bolt’s defence. His spinning top attack shattered as his body was knocked through the air.

“Damn”, he groaned as he hit the ground. Then the wolves were on him, or attempted to.

“Back off”, shouted Joshua as he drew his sword from its sheath at blinding speeds. The blade created a massive flying slash that cleaved three of the creatures heads from their shoulders.

“Thanks.” Bolt climbed to his feet and prepared for the next attack.

“Aim for the head then”, questioned Rome.

“No that is not it”, responded Star as she watched the two wolves that were cut down the middle by her hair suddenly get back up. The two had suddenly become four and the situation suddenly took a darker turn.

“Wait so headshots don’t work”, started Bolt as his body turned black with haki. The big werewolf that had broke his spinning attack form earlier had rushed in to finish the job. Joshua attempted to slick it with his blade, but blacken fur blocked his blows. A fearsome swipe of its claws cleaved though the harden flesh of Bolt’s arm and sent a spray of blood on the ground.

“Bolt”, screamed Rome! The maiden attempted to get to him, but her path was blocked by two werewolves who violently rushed into battle.

The creature swung its claw ready to make the kill.

“Lion’s Roar!” Ashigaru screamed at the top of his lungs. The sound wave created from him was so great that it manifested as a focused shockwave. The blow battered the beast and sent it flying backwards and into a nearby tree.

“Holy shit”, whispered Moses as he looked on. It was the first time he had seen a man shout something off its feet.

“Shattering Fist”, started Bolt as he began to pull himself up.

The other beast paused for a moment, but then saw a moment of opportunity when everyone else was gaping. With a sudden and primal roar five of the great beast leaped through the air toward Ashigaru.

“Crap”, started the warrior as he quickly turned his skin black. It was all he could do in the small allotted time.

“You fool”, shouted Star! The maiden’s odachi blurred in front of Ashigaru’s face. Her sea stone odachi cleaved clean though all five bodies of the beast. There cadavers flopped to the ground and began to bleed purple smoke.

“The hell”, started Rome.

“Oh I see”, grinned Moses. “It’s the sea stone. The sea stone can cancel the curse. That …”

“Retreat now”, screamed Star Gaze as her eyes turned to the tree line.

“What”, quested Ashigaru, but it was to late. From the trees thousands of howls could be heard.

“Oh shit”, cursed Bolt as he realized what was going on.

“You little failure”, cursed the fair maiden as she picked Ashigaru up by his collar. “Have you forgotten that this was a stealth mission.”

“Wait I …”

“Pointless”, she started as she tossed the young marine across the beach and into the ocean. As Ashigaru flew through the air he saw a horde of Werewolves descend onto there small squad.

“Wait, don’t tell me …”, he started.

“Get back to the ship and request reinforcements”, roared Star Gaze as she branished her blade. Her sea stone sword moved like a blur as she cut her way through the horde of Werewolves that rushed at her.

“Don’t take it to harshly kid”, started Moses as his body turned as black as the night sky. “Someone has to …:” Before he could finish his voice was blocked out by the screams of agony delivered by Bolt. Fangs ripped though his flesh and claws shredded his bones.

“Damn it, they got Bolt”, declared Joshua as he slicked though a creatures eye. A claw slashed at his back and blood began to pour from a long wound.

“Don’t let them take your flank”, ordered Rome as she placed her back to Star. The maiden slashed a creature with her sword cutting the beast clean down the middle. “If you …”, she started, but a massive Werewolf almost forty feet tall slammed down onto the beach.

“Oh they are dead”, spoke the Vice Captain from the safety of the ship. “All hands prepare to sail back to the fort.”

“But Vice Captain …”

“It is captain now”, stated Vismark. “At this point victory is impossible. We will go back to the fort and request reinforcements. A full scale invasion is our only option.”

“Understood Captain”, declared the soldiers as the ship opened sails and began to sail home.

“Damn that coward”, complained Joshua as he stabbed a beast in the heart. The giant Werewolf swung its massive hand toward the injured marine, but before it could make contact it’s arm separated from its body.

“There is no way I am going to abandon you guys”, started Ashigaru as his boots hit the ground. Several beast rushed up to slice at him with their claws, but a fearsome roar from the pit of his soul blew them all backwards with his rage.

“Stupid boy”, started Star as she dashed to her right and chopped the arm off a beast moving to take Moses in his flank. “You were suppose to get to the ship and deliver the information about the beast.”

“You should have gone yourself captain”, chuckled Moses in a casual tone. The brawler was punching his way through a horde of werewolves to no avail. His fist were powerful, but they could not put down the beasts.

Sparks flew from Rome’s armor as werewolf claws bit into the tempered steel. “As if she would abandon her crew. Our captain may be vain and a major narcissist, but she still has a strong sense of duty.”

“Of course I do”, declared Star Gaze. “Justice must be glorious after all. It won’t do for a captain to abandon her men. Such a sight …” The maiden cut another one of the abominations in half. However a swift moving creature slashed at her back with it’s claws. The attack however was meet with a hardness beyond that of steel.

“Damn it”, cursed Joshua. “If only we could finish these beast off”. More and more werewolves rushed to their location. It was almost as if they were dealing with Land Sharks, and just like before the feeding frenzy was about to start.

“Shattering …”, started Ashigaru, but the boy was knocked aside by the great power of the massive werebeast. His body slammed into the beach hard knocking the werewolves around him around.

“Alright I had enough “, started Star Gaze as she jumped into the air to deal with the beast. Her moves however were cut off by the fearsome jaws of a Werewolf. It’s fangs bit down on her leg, thought they could not pierce her haki, it gave the creature enough leverage to pull her back down.

“Damn dog”, she cursed. The massive werewolf slammed its claws into her exposed back. The maiden flew across the battlefield like a ping pong ball. Black liquid soaked the earth as Star Gaze, for the first time in this fight, took a series injury.

“Impossible”, she hissed as she felt the sting in her back and the sight of her own black blood.

“What the”, started Ashigaru as he suddenly came back to reality. He was lucky. The beast that would have ripped him to pieces were focused on stalling Star Gaze and not on killing him.

As Ashigaru stood up he felt a wetness on his forehead. Touching his head he discovered a blacken substance like nothing he had ever seen. “What in the world is this”, he wondered, but the vicious howls of the werewolves turned his attention back to the battlefield.

At this point victory for the beast was almost assured. The horde of werewolves were closing in on Star Gaze. Her sword was still cutting through them like butter, but there greater numbers and the force of the big one made her defeat inevitable.

With Star no longer at her back Rome was now surrounded by the beat. At the moment she was holding on due to the force of her haki, but that would not last forever. Moses, like Rome, was equally screwed. He was a skilled combatant in fighting, but his main focus was on Kebu not Bushoku. As a result he could not take as much punishment as the other two. His only saving grace was the fact that he was dodging blows rather than taking them. That option however was starting to run out as more and more beast poured in. Hope seemed lost.

“Damn”, cursed Ashigaru. As the words left his mouth two of the beast took notice of him and began to rush to his position. The young marine ignored them and instead he began to focus on the situation that was playing out before him.

“It looks like I have no choice”, he stated as he opened up his back and pulled out a small vial of homemade fruit juice. With a sower face the young marine downed the entire flask in a single gulp.

“Blah”, he groaned as he stared at the earth.

“Cursed”, that was the only word that left his mouth as the two beast pounced upon him.

Suddenly and without any warning the sky broke. What was once a pure blue sky turned into a massive wall of glistening silver. Impaled upon silver spikes were two cadavers dressed in tattered marine uniforms.

“What the”, started Star as long spears of silver began to rain down from the heavens. The first to die was the big one. The giant werewolf was skewered in a thousand places by a thousand silver lances. As it struggled to flee it’s body began to melt around the silver that impaled its body.

“Oh no you don’t”, came a familiar voice as a Ashigaru face appeared in the silver that engulfed the shore. The silver then twisted and malformed. It turned into a solid thirty foot stature of the once Seaman First class. With a flick of one of its fingers a single beam of silver shot out from its hands and impaled the massive beast straight through the heart.

“Pretty easy to beat when you can’t regenerate”, growled Ashigaru. The marine turned to see the other werewolves in full retreat.

“Forgive me”, preyed Ashigaru as he suddenly floated out of the statue of Silver. “I am sorry ,but I am going to have to take all of your lives. So”, he started as a expression of determination crossed his face. “Remember me in the next world.” With that Ashigaru jumped high into the air. “WAIT WITH ME!!!!!!!!”

Ashigaru suddenly created a ball of silver connected to a chain of silver. With great force he tossed it down like a comet from the sky. The ball of silver pierced through the earth and buried itself deep into the island. Then it suddenly began to expand and rush back to the surface Spears of Silver erupted from the ground all around impaling the creatures that fled for their lives. In a single move HikariFroúrio the second had whipped out one third of the population on the island.