Task Details:

The straw footing of his sandals lessened in durability with each skidding step he lazily took, but they still held together and provided the wandering ronin their full support for their owner's sake. As he strode down the stone path he took in the musk of nature's presence. On both his sides the greenery was lush and even overhead the trees from the side of the path let their branches loom over to create and archway over the path he was traveling. It wasn't too popular of a route, but on the occasion, perhaps every ten minutes or so another person trudging along the opposite direction would hesitantly make eye contact with Ondori and force an artificial smile. The bending of his lips was also fake, but the way his eyes squinted and his cheeks naturally moved upwards when he did so gave the gesture a hint of sugar to it, which made it seem genuine despite it fading as soon the two bodies passed each other.

Alone on his left hip rested Taka, while on his right hip was just a pouch of the bit of Beli he had left over. He had been tracking one fellow for some time now, but Ondori was beginning to think the Navy got to him before he could, for all signs of the bastard disappeared off the face of the planet. He sighed in self pity, before a rustle in the trees snapped him out of his loathing slouch. Eyes sharpened, left hand sailing to his left hip's weapon, Ondori waited in silence for about two seconds until two birds fluttered out of the trees. All the tension in the atmosphere had vanished with their debut. His shoulders fell at ease, his left hand returned to his side, his eyes softened and his mind went back into a mode of self loathing and his feet carried him onto towards his destination.

In due time Ondori would arrive in a small town that his last lead had lead him to, but to be honest, the lad had no hope in finding his mark as was ready to start aiming for a new one. When he stepped into town, he just gave his bag a tap and he knew he couldn't afford a snack this early in the day unless he wanted to skip dinner. "Have mercy" He muttered to himself in a sob as he took a seat on a roadside barrel. Watching the people go about their business he reached for his little bag of coins and dumped the contents out into his open palm. Tapping each coin as he counted them, Ondori came to the conclusion breakfast for tomorrow morning was the last meal he'd be able to afford unless he came into some money real soon.

About to turn his open palm to a fist to funnel the change back into the pouch, another hand invaded his palm and took what bit of money was there. Just as the person's feet began to lunge outwards to run by Ondori, his right hand had already dropped his little empty coin bag reached across his body, and gripped his katana's handle. As if he were slashing outwards, his weapon was moving to his own right to meet the person who was running to Ondori's left side from his right. Luckily for the thief the weapon remained in the sheath when it made contact with their shins, but nonetheless it sent them to the ground in a fit of pain. Moving the weapon back through the path it came to his hip, his left hand, now empty, grabbed the sheath to keep it to his left hip, while he drew the blade with his right hand which was still on the handle. Stepping over the downed being with a look of scorn, Ondori questioned if he killing this person was a valid option at the time, but he couldn't bring himself to do it until they stopped rolling on the ground gripping at their hurt shins. "I'd appreciate if you tossed those coins back my way." He said as he stretched out his left hand while simultaneously trying to get a good look at their face, but the lighting was a bit poor and their face was hidden while they groveled in the dirt. "Here take it!" Like a child who didn't get their way, the person tossed Ondori's chump change along the ground scattering the few coins about in the dirt. "First the Marines are out heavy and now I'm getting done in by some random Ronin, god damn." The man began to gather himself to his feet, still obviously in pain and trying not to nurse his hurt shins, but as he began to hobble off, Ondori grabbed the back of his collar. If the Marines were out and about it was very likely his mark had could have gotten captured. "Have you heard any news about the Nameless Enforcer?" The guy looked at Ondori with a bewildered expression. "The Marines caught him just the other day, if you're a bounty hunter then you're late to the catch."

"Shit. I had been on his ass for a bit more than a week now." "Well the Marines haven't sent him out to where ever it is Marines take their prisoners. I heard they leave tomorrow night though. I don't know what good that info is, but it's all I know, so let me go now." Ondori held him for a moment longer, before he decided that the info would do him good. Letting the thief go, he went to picking up his coins while he planned his night raid.

 

Task Details:

Having had his encounter with a rather well informed thief earlier in the day, Ondori decided to spend a large majority of his time loitering inside of a bar. He purchased cheap items on the regular to not only feed himself, but to keep the owner from having a reason to kick him out since he was a paying customer and occasionally consuming their product. Ignoring all that however, while he sat, Ondori planned what he would do with the information the thief had given him. It seemed crazy, but what he came up with was a ploy to break the Nameless Enforcer out of Marine custody, then wait a few days before turning him in elsewhere to claim the reward. To push his agenda and set in his mind that there was no turning back, he spent the remainder of his Beli on a small rowboat that he'd be using to board the Marine vessel that was floating out in the water. Well composed and steadily running through the operation in his mind, he sat in the bar until it was about half an hour beyond midnight. Leaving the bar he went to the docks where he had rented the row boat. Quickly as ever, he slowly rowed himself out from the docks deeper into the South Blue in the darkness of the night. Hoping a majority of the Marines were asleep, he rowed out to their boat and positioned himself beside it. Silently unsheathing his sword, he jumped to the side of the boat and plunged his katana into the wooden side of the vessel. Finding a secure hold, he pulled his weapon out the ship's exterior, hoisted himself up a bit higher, then stabbed the sword back in. He'd continue this pattern until he got high enough to get onto the deck of the ship, but he wouldn't board it.

Peeking over the railing, he saw the coast was clear save for a single Marine high up in the crow's nest but he appeared to be sleep. With a piece of cloth he covered from his chin to the bridge of his nose, and tied the cloth in a knot at the back of his head to hide his identity. Slipping onto the deck of the ship, he sheathed his weapon, then began to tip toe his way to the nearest door. Slowly opening the door he slipped into what seemed like complete darkness, but down the hall he could see there was light from a lantern. Carefully and silently he continued down the passageway, but he stopped and held his breath when he heard a few murmurs. "How much longer till our shift is over?" "Shut up, we've only been down here for about an hour. Just be patient and stop pestering me." Peeking around a corner Ondori spotted two Marine guards, both sitting in a chair in the dim flame lighting. More importantly he saw the bars of the brig where they kept the prisoners.

Very slowly he pulled his sword out the sheath and readied it for use, but when he was about to round the corner and attack the marines, the door that he came in had opened and shut. Footsteps soon followed and they were heading his way. "Someone's coming, I hope it's our relief!" The other Marine just sighed and they stood in attention, awaiting the person to round the corner. Cursing under his breath, Ondori was trying to think quickly, but nothing was coming to mind. Like he always seemed to do, he resorted to the only way out he knew. Having been in the dark for a while his eyes had adjusted to it and he could make out the Marine's frame as he walked down the corridor. Shrouded in the very darkness he could see through, he knew it was only a matter of time before the marine was close enough to make out his own frame. Taking a breath, he crouched then jumped at the marine, his sword reeled back and as he entered striking range, he brought the blade down into the marine's neck. Blood splattering onto the walls and an ugly gurgling sound following, the marines that were on guard, soon reacted and got up from their post. Their footsteps were booming as they ran towards Ondori's location and he could see the light was getting brighter as their footsteps got louder, they had grabbed the torch and brought it with him. Hiding int eh dark no longer and option, he just readied himself to take them both out when they rounded the corner. Pulling his sword out the first marine's neck, he let the body slump to the floor as it experienced its last few moments of life.

Just as the marines rounded the corner, their eyes opened wide in exclaim. Half way through a shout, Ondori's sword pierced one of them through their chest resulting in an empty scream. The other reached for a flintlock pistol that was on his waist in the meantime. Knowing he wouldn't be able to withdraw his sword and swing at the still standing marine before he could shoot, Ondori released his sword and just closed in what little space was still in between them. Ducking low and ramming into his midriff, Ondori kept his hand to his side on the handle of his pistol unable to actually draw it. "Damn it, let go" Doing whatever he could, Ondori dug the fingers of his unoccupied hand into the man's ribs causing him to yelp in pain and squirm uncomfortably. Using the unoccupied arm of his own, he brought his arm up in preparation to drop an elbow onto Ondori's exposed back since he was bent down into his torso grabbing around him. When the elbow dropped, though Ondori's grip did weakened a bit, he didn't let go. Even with the next one and the next one. Instead the headhunter reached for the torch the other marine had. His fingertips barely able to graze it, with one muleheaded push of his legs, he moved their positioning closer to the torch and Ondori was able to grab it. Swooping it around and jamming it into the Marine's back he burned the man and his grip on his pistol was released by reflex to nurse the burn. The torch put out when it was forced against the marine's back, the two were in complete darkness, but Ondori was aware of where his katana's handle was. Pulling it out of the chest of the deceased marine, he followed the poorly suppressed whimpers of pain of the burned marine and he stabbed him through the neck. Panting in fatigue and pain, Ondori fiddled around on the bodies of the dead marines until he heard a satisfying noise. The jingling of keys. Throughout the skirmish while the corridor was still lit, Ondori caught glimpses of the prisoner staring at them fight. He probably already knew what ondori was here to do, well not the whole idea, but he knew he was getting freed probably. "Where you at buddy?" Ondori called out in the dark. "Over here . . . behind you." Ondori grinned in the dark, satisfied that his plan was actually working. Turning around and feeling for the keyhole with his free hand, he slid keys in and gave them a turn until one finally worked. Tossing the keys to the floor, he opened the door to the jail cell. "Not gonna take my cuffs off?" Ondori chuckled. "I know better than that, lets get out of here first, then we'll see about taking the cuffs off." The Enforcer scoffed and walked out in front of Ondori until the bounty hunter gave him a push commanding him to walk. "So I take it this isn't necessarily a rescue?" "Eh . . . it's something like that, we'll talk more once we get into town. Lets focus on getting out of here without having to kill anymore marines." A grunt agreeing to Ondori's words was confirmation enough and silently the two snuck off the marine vessel, back onto Ondori's rowboat and into the wilderness up a stream Ondori had discovered.

"So now that we're out here, ca-" A kick to the man's gut silenced him and brought him to his knees, while Ondori bringing his sword up to his neck forced him to raise his head. "I'm going to be turning you back in for the reward in a few days. Until then you're going to chill out here, got it?" The Enforcer chuckled in self pity. "Is this what bounty hunters do now? Kidnap already claimed marks, then turn them back in for the reward. Times have changed." Ondori listened to him as he tied him up tight to a tree trunk. "I don't think you're in the position to judge me. I'll do whatever keeps money coming in my pockets. As long as I don't end up tied to a tree waiting to be turned in for few thousand Beli at least." Ondori chuckled as he stepped back and examined his work. With the sun about to rise he figured it'd be best if he left to area so no one would come snooping. "You're about five miles away from the road of town, so feel free to exercise those lungs while you're out here. You won't be bothering anyone."

 

Task Details:

Though he was sitting on a lump some of money, things hadn't died down enough for Ondori to turn in the mark he had stolen from the marine vessel. They were heavy on the lookout for the Nameless Enforcer, under the guise he had broken himself out, unaware he was broken out by the Bounty Hunter himself. That said, with no money in his pockets, the Headhunter had been living in rundown shacks and abandoned buildings for the time being while scrounging up what he could for nourishment for his body. He wasn't in the best condition and that said he decided today would be the day he turned the Enforcer in for his reward. Pushing himself up to a stand he brushed through his hair a few times before topping his head with a strawhat. With nothing else but a thoughtful sigh, he grabbed his katana and fastened it to his left hip before trudging out the shack. He could feel the sunlight heat up his skin and it caused him to tip up his hat as he lifted his head to the sky and taught a peek at the weather. "What a waste of good weather to be feeling so shitty." Ondori's stomach grumbled in agreement and he decided he'd have to find something to eat before bringing in his catch.

Walking down the road the Ronin's nose caught wind of fresh fish, it was a market. His lips moved to form a grin shaded by his straw hat, but he suppressed the reflex, for he had yet to eat. Slipping into the bustling crowd, he did a few laps around the market within the constant stream of traffic. As he did so he scanned the stands and also noticed how heavy Marine patrol was. This was more than likely due to the escape of the Enforcer. From feeling empty and hungry to the sensation of have stones weighing his gut down, Ondori knew he wasn't being suspected of any crime or at least shouldn't be, but he couldn't shake the uneasiness.

After his rounds, he spotted a few stands with small sized pieces of fish and when the vendors were occupied with other customers, Ondori was quick to swipe a few small fish like small mackerel and salmon. Back to his little shack he scrounged up a fire, cooked his catch, and ate. It didn't fill him up, but it was enough to get him through the whole process of turning in his mark.

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Stepping out the run down shack a few people ran by in front of him obviously running from something. They didn't bother to look back and when Ondori looked in the direction of where they were running from he saw why they were running. His catch had gotten free, but oddly enough it hadn't chosen to flee or lay low. He was going on a rampage and letting every soul in the town know not only where he was, but who he was. Ondori simply watched the man terrorize some middle age guy who was clumsy enough to get caught. He had his head in a pretty strong vice grip with just one of his hands, the yells and screams for mercy the man produced were evidence enough. Stepping out to a more noticeable position in the center of the road, Ondori caught the Enforcer's eye and a smirk slithered onto his face when he saw his captor. Releasing his grip on the random civilian, the guy just fell to the ground limp and exhausted, he had entertained the Enforcer long enough for him to find something more interesting, so he was useless now. "I figured you'd be hiding in here somewhere. I got to thank you for breaking me out, but you should work on your knot tying a bit more or maybe not leave me in the same binds for so many days on end. Or mayb-" "Yeah, I get the you got out the ropes, but as far as I'm concerned I wasn't the one who captured you the first time. You must have me mixed up with someone else." Ondori gave a shrug and before tipping his head down to let his strawhat slide off onto the ground.
"I will however, capture you this time and turn you in for that bounty on your head."

"That won't be necessary Bounty Hunter." Ondori had heard the sound of people gathering behind him, but he figured they were the footsteps of bystanders who gathered up the courage to observe the skirmish that was about to unfold. Instead an authoritative bark from a Government dog had rang in his ears. Turning his head to face the presumed Marine, he saw him and his little pups tailing, Ondori would be damned if he was just gonna let the guy take his catch. "I've been tailing this guy for a few weeks now, I'd appreciate if you let me do what my job title implies and hunt my bounty." The Marine's eyes didn't even seem to acknowledge Ondori's existence as they were fixated so sharply on the Enforcer as he continued to walk forward from behind Ondori until he and his small troop had passed and stepped in between he and his mark. "As I said, that won't be necessary." Drawing his katana, the Marine Captain rushed the enforcer with his five troops running behind him as support. "You must be stupid if you think I'm just going to let you muscle me out this money!" Grabbing his scabbard with his left hand and placing his right hand on the katana's handle, Ondori crouched down and pressed off the balls of his feet to move as fast as he could in one instant. Angled outwards beyond the Marines, then inwards to in between the Enforcer and the Marines, his back at the mark and his front at the Marine Captain, Ondori torqued his body to the left, the side his katana was holstered on and swung outwards with his right hand as he pivoted on his right foot. This pivot allowed him to rotate in a clockwise fashion for a full three-hundred and sixty degree turn. Having lashed out with his right hand, his katana had exited the sheathe. This motion increased the speed of his rotation since they were moving in the same direction. With his katana extended out and the Enforcer at his back, when he turned, Ondori cut straight across his neck slitting his throat. Ducking back down at the end of his rotation, the gush of blood that sprayed forth from the wound projected out and over Ondori onto the advancing Marines, one of which got blinded from the ruby cascade. "God damn Bounty Hunters always in the way!" "Since he's dead now there's no reason for you to still be here. It's apparent he's my kill." Despite the situation and Ondori's words the Marines showed no signs of slowing their advance. "Take this fucker out! We're taking back two bodies tot he depot."

Ondori sucked his teeth in a peeved manner. Why was it that majority of the Marines he encountered were dick heads that got mad over nothing? As the setting of the battle changed, the marine fanned out to make a semi circle around Ondori, while on stayed back and wiped his eyes. "I'm not looking for any bullshit. I just want my mark, if you attack I'll fight back." The atmosphere tense with anticipation for the first move, once a Marine's foot inched closer into the circle it seemed all hell broke loose. The remainder charged from that small movement that made a scratching noise in the air. Raising his stance a bit, albeit his center of gravity stayed low and his weight was on the balls of his feet, Ondori's katana came idle to his right side, both hands on the handle in a right handed grip. Ondori knew he'd need to take the defense in this situation. Eyes steady shifting about to each marine, he watched their spacing to see who would arrive first and make the first swing. Arms beginning to move back to prep their attacks, he caught one swinging a bit premature and made his move. A stab coming from his left side aimed at his torso, in response Ondori stepped back with his right and leaned back a bit to allow the blade to sail by in front of him. It was important to not evade with demanding movements in situation where one was outnumbered or facing a high number of attacks. Too much movement would cost too much time and make it so you couldn't react in time to a new attack, so Ondori would be using minimalistic movements and not worry about his sword until a for sure opening in someone's offense was presented. After the stab, shortly after a horizontal slash came in towards his neck. Quickly he ducked low as he brought his left foot in to his right to put him in a squatting position to allow the sword to glide overhead. Next came another stabbed aimed at his face from the front. Moving his weight over to his right and leaning his head over to the right as well, he narrowly avoided being wounded and from there he immediately sprang out in a leaping lunge still towards the right to exit the half-circle. The leap wasn't very high from the ground and when it was losing momentum Ondori rolled out of the maneuver his sword safely placed parallel with the ground as he did so, so he wouldn't cut himself. "You're pretty good at dodging, but how about fi-" Straight out of his roll the Ronin had squared his body off with a Marine on the edge of the circle who was in the process of turning to face him. Ondori had also stepped with his left foot to place himself in a kneeling position, although his weight was heavily pressed in his left foot, specifically the balls of the foot. Utilizing the remaining distance of his Ghost Step, Ondori closed the gap before the Marine could turn the complete distance to face him, let alone fixate his weapon to impale Ondori for blitzing his body how he did. Slamming his katana straight through the marine as he had raised it after completion of his roll when he had stepped with his left foot, what length of steel wasn't still inside the marine's body was poking outwards through the other side. Ondori was sure to position his blade to impale the Marine's heart, so he'd have no further issues with him. Ondori let the marine slump down to the ground lifelessly after removing his weapon from his body. In the course of pulling the weapon out, Ondori readied his katana for another swing on a marine who was in shock from what he just witnessed. About three steps forward and Ondori swung his katana horizontally, from right to left across the marines chest, then once more, after raising the height of the cut to cut into and across the man's throat.

Rushed footsteps coming from behind him, he cut off the tempo of their assault by jumping backwards, his back still facing them. In unison he reversed the grip of his katana to a backhanded right hand grip and brought it downwards off the side of his right hip to make it jut out towards the approaching marine. The timing of his attack broken and rushed due to Ondori hopping backwards into him, his attack hadn't developed and no attack on his behalf had occurred, only Ondori's which impaled him through the stomach. The Marine's hands were high above his head with his katana weakly gripped, he was slowly losing strength, Ondori could tell because he was gradually letting his weight droop on the Ronin's back. From behind him to in front of him, the front of attacks had changed. This time it was the marine captain. Using the blood from his enemies that lathered his sword, Ondori swung his weapon out into empty air, the blood on his katana lashing outwards in a cone at and into the eyes of the marine captain. "Hold hi- Ahg!"

His words the the advance he was making was interrupted from the burning in his eyes, there was no doubt in the world that the marine captain had been blinded. Following through with the outward slash, Ondori again used a rolling motion with his wrist to switch the grip of his blade and he seamlessly sheathed the weapon from the outward slash. Dashing forward towards his blinded target Ondori had his left hand on his scabbard and his right on the katana handle. About to cut the captain down, the marine who was rubbing the blood out his eyes before had slid in front of Ondori along with another still standing Marine. One on Ondori's right and one on his left, they slashed at him together diagonally. Forced to defend himself, he brought up his sheathed katana and partially drew it letting the portion of exposed blade take the blow from the swords that formed an "x" when swung together. With their strength working together, Ondori was easily blown back off his feet from the swing, the momentum carrying him back a few feet, but onto his back. One of the marines went to assist the captain while the other went to take advantage of Ondori while he was down. The sheath was still partially on his katana and laid parallel to the ground on his right side. With his right hand still on the handle, he reached his left hand across himself to the butt end of the sheath then swung outwards to catch the incoming slash from the marine. The sound of ringing metal signaled the blade was successfully caught and a struggle between the two ensued, but not for long. The marine had two hands on his weapon, his weight, and gravity on his side since he was standing, so Ondori knew he couldn't hope to win this clash. Rolling over to his left in one swift movement, he let the swing of the marine carry the navy dog forward off balance. Over to the marine's right side, Ondori had come to both his feet squatted down, his scabbard held like a sword in his left hand and his katana held normally in his right. Pulling his right arm back he jousted forward as the marine tried to regain his balance and he punctured him through his side, through the heart, and out the other side. This was done with the reinforced momentum of a jumping lunge into the marine, thus causing him to fall over when contact was made. Pushing the body over and keeping his own balance, Ondori only had two more marines to deal with. The captain and some random troop.

"This is quite the work out, glad I got something to eat before we got into this little thing." Ondori gave his sword a quick flick to relieve the blood off of it to ensure his next cut could have the best possible results. In the meantime his left hand flipped his scabbard back to its normal position on the side of his left hip. The Marine Captain still couldn't get the blood out of one eye and he didn't seem to be working on getting it out anymore. It was apparent he was pissed and just wanted to get rid of the nuisance in front of him. "I hope you realize that you're making yourself an enemy of not only the Marines, but the World Government." Ondori's expression went blank as he acted astonished. "Is that what happens when you defend yourself from attacking Marines? As stupid as that is, I couldn't care less, it was only a matter of time before I became a target."

The Captain just scoffed and waved the other marine away. "Go to the ship and check for any near by fleets, we're going to bring this fucker in at all cost." Ondori felt confident about taking these guys done, but a ship's worth of marines was something he couldn't do. He thought about just running for the marine and killing him before he could make it tot he ship, but it was too risky, because it'd open up his guard for the Marine Captain. The conclusion he came to was killing the Captain as quickly as he could then high tailing it out of the town and probably off Karate Island. To do so he'd have to rely on a quick draw technique that was probably his most efficient technique, so that's exactly what he did. The guard of his katana pressed firmly against the mouth of the sheath as it hid the blade, Ondori entered a lowered stance, a small bit of torque tot he left resided within it. On the contrary the Marine Captain seemed to be comfortable with approaching Ondori with his weapon already drawn. It made no difference for the Ronin. Both of the swordsmen charging in towards each other, Ondori drew his blade prematurely with blinding speed. While the timing of his draw wold make it so the Marine Captain wouldn't get cut, it would allow for the Ronin to redirect the swing of the opposition, thus leaving him open. Drawn from a five-thirty position on a clock out to a two-thirty placement, Ondori slapped the weapon of the Marine Captain up and out also towards this two-thirty placement, but outside Ondori's weapon, meaning Ondori's katana was in between the Marine's own katana and his body. Having not slowed down in the least bit, using his speed to his advantage, just as quick as he drew the blade from his sheath, he brought it down through the same angle. Down the Marine's collar bone, across his chest, and to his hip. Ondori had wet the whole front of the Captain's attire with blood, but wouldn't stop there. With his downward dragging slash, he had stepped to his left so he would proceed by the Marine Captain's right side. His katana down on his own left again the Ronin torqued his body over to his left and unleashed a slash out to his right side in front of him while rotating on a pivot to bring him around in a clockwise fashion. This swing would sever the Captain's head and signal the end of the altercation. All the bystanders looked on awe struck and terrified. Swiping his blade out to make the blood fling off the metal, Ondori walked over to the corpse of the Enforcer. One swift cut across the already cut throat, Ondori separated the head from the body. Grabbing the head by the hair, he sheathed his katana and walked about his way with the head held by the hair as if it were a bag of groceries that he was returning home with. He would surely need to turn in the bounty on another island, given he got into a bit more action than he would have liked to. It was only a matter of time before a few marines were killed on his accountable behalf though, so he wasn't stressing.