Ondori had just fled the scene of what erupted into a violent firestorm. He replayed the sight in his mind and sighed that he missed witnessing it first hand. The only direct recollection he could summon was the boom, the screams of the civilians, and of course the billow of smoke. He wondered if the Marine and the masked clown had made it out alive. He had a particular interest in the clown, he seemed like quite the twisted fellow and it fit Ondori's taste. As the saying goes, "bird's of a feather flock together." and Ondori had this unusual feeling that made him feel like he was a magnet pulled to the jester. His mind raced through places he felt he'd be able to locate the man, but he knew his best bet was to wait for his bounty poster to spring up. Without a doubt after a show like that, the next release of fresh marks would have that poor fucker's face on a piece of paper. Even if he wasn't one of the big shots, after stunts like that, the Government liked to make a show of their presence and send their hounds out to hunt down the one's who acted recklessly and escaped their grasp. With those thoughts, Ondori found relief and reassurance in his gut feeling that told him, they'd meet again.

Tossing such a thing out his mind, the Ronin's mind fell on the sound of the rain beating the stone path he walked while his eyes ate up his surroundings. The area he had travelled to was a slight walk from the roads of the Briss Kingdom, but even this small detour away from the town had gifted Ondori with solitude and nature all around him. Trees and bushes bordered the path he walked and at the end was a square shaped clearing with a structure meant to shelter people from rain or sunlight. The clearing itself was about 20m by 20m, outside these measurements lead one into the wilderness. At the corner of the clearing was a 5m by 5m square shaped area that was untouched by the rain.

Ondori knew this area already, for he had come here before and that was the reason he had returned. To seek refuge from the precipitation and because he had stowed away his weapon here. The fact it was raining all of a sudden was ironic to the Ronin. It was as if the deluge was summoned to help beat down the fire the jester had caused, the thought made Ondori think about some conspiracy theories he had heard back in Baltigo and about some illegal substance called Dance Powder, that forcibly summoned rain. It was on his bucket list of things to research once he hit the Grandline, but for now he was chilling in the Four Blues in search of companions. No matter how strong he was and how many people he could cut down, the sea was an enemy that couldn't be fought solo, he'd need allies.

"Allies." He said under his breath reminiscing on both his old Bounty hunting allies from Baltigo and the students that he studied swordsmanship with back in Wano Country. All were on bad terms with him due to his attempts on the lives of his masters leaving Ondori on his own in the world.

Stepping out the rain underneath a square shaped structure, he wrapped his fingers around the shaft of his weapon Tori. He had left it here, for he thought he wouldn't have a need for it, but to his surprise the scythe and chain would have been a lot of help back in that situation. Perhaps if he had it, he would not have faded the scene like he did. Lifting the weapon safely over his right shoulder with his right hand, Ondori fixated it so just steel shaft was over his right shoulder and the blade of the weapon was down behind him hanging off his left side safely off the side of his left leg. This position meant he could run and move without having to worry about the blade cutting his leg off or impeding his movement since the blade wasn't aligned with his body. Fastening a length of cloth over his left shoulder so that'd it'd cross the shaft of the scythe with his other hand while he held the scythe with his right, Ondori would tie a knot with the cloth so the scythe would stay in place without usage of his hands.

Done with the binding, Ondori looked out to take in the scenery more thoroughly. Thick cylindrical stone supports held up the structure he was under. The roof was pyramid in shape and about 7m high from the ground. The ground was all stone, so with the rainfall that made the surface pretty slippery, so movement with quick take offs would only lead to slipping and falling. Other than that there wasn't much else to note. Looking out towards the path he had taken to come here, he could see the buildings of the town in the background and of course the billow of smoke that was being snuffed out thanks to the convenient rain. "Guess I'll head out after this rain stops falling."

 

Ondori had just been sitting and taking in his surroundings watching his surroundings for some time now. There wasn't much else to do and while he wanted to sharpen his blades, he hadn't purchased any good steel to do so, so he was just waiting under this cover for the rain to subside, but luckily that didn't last too long. He had a visitor, a familiar visitor at that. He wasn't sure who the guy was, but he knew he was a Marine and he was surprised to see he was still alive given the scale of the explosion from earlier. Given the Marines attitude from their previous meeting, Ondori wasn't sure if the two of them encountering each other here was random fate or the government dog sniffing the rooster out. Eyeing him every bit of the way as he travelled up the path and devising a plan of action should the Marine initiate combat. As the Marine stepped under the structure, he stopped and made his presence sonically known. Ondori nodded to the man ever weary of their spacing, barely even 3m was in between them. For casual convo it was a bit spacious, but in the mind of a fighter that was pretty intimate spacing.

Perhaps subconscious primal instincts to appear bigger, but as the Marine stepped under the structure, Ondori straightened up his fram, not to some proper saluting posture, but he was out of his passive slouch."Did the other guy make it out of there too? The clown?" The question dribbled out his mouth accidentally, but he didn't want to seem skittish, so he let it roll. It was on his mind after all, so what could it hurt to ask. "If so, you wouldn't happen to know the bloke's name would you?" Marine's knew all sorts of things, the little worker ants had a nice network that fed them with information on the daily, maybe they had this guy on file or something.

Sizing the man up as he spoke, he noticed he didn't have the katana from earlier with him, which Ondori found a bit odd. It was brushed off, but not forgotten.

 

As the man spoke droplets of rain slipped off his being onto the dry stone floor that was protected but he pyramid shipped roof. Easing up a bit as the Marine spoke Ondori casually stepped back creating more space between them. While the space created wasn't much Ondori did it to sort of gesture he didn't have intentions of sparking in hostile fighting or anything of the sort. "Ah, I follow. Well I hope he got out aight . . . he was quite the interesting fella in an odd type of way. If he's a pirate he'll either end up dying prematurely or go on to be somebody. It's either one or the other with those types." Looking out towards the rain, more specifically the road, he was sure to keep the man in his immediate peripherals. He'd refocus on the Ensign after he spoke and as Ondori himself began to speak. "An Ensign is like entry level Marine right?" Assuming the question would be answered truthfully. "You got pretty big balls for a newbie then. I'm Rooster." Ondori had taken interest in the Marine given he was under the impression he was just at the entry level. If he knew he was actually a higher ranking he undoubtedly wouldn't be as impressed or impressed at all with his bravery, but he would still be respected as he did hold himself in a composed manner. Beyond that however, here he was just chatting it up with Ondori, it kinda showed a humble side or a chill and leisure side to the once dogmatic man. But Ondori didn't have that impression since he believed he was an Ensign of course.

 

Ondori had caught sight of the approaching figure int eh distance as they walked up the path tot he location he and Derous were at. His eyes followed them for bit until Derous began to speak. Glancing back at the Ensign like a good listener would do, he gave a responsive, but not overdone nod showing he was paying attention. "Yeah, that's what bites about them. I mulled over the thought about joining the boys in blue, but I'm better off just getting funds how I can as a freelancer." His eyes followed the woman as she walked by, albeit his body stayed facing Derous. She didn't seem like anyone too special or anyone at all in fact, just a soul who gave a nod of acknowledgment tot eh two blokes. Ondori wasn't wary of her like he was wary of Derous, but he still would keep tabs on her presence. As it was at the moment the woman stopped moving she was to his right, while Derous was directly in front of him, the woman and Derous in line with each other. With Derous facing Ondori and now sitting, she was on his left side.

As his own eyes glanced back over to Derous, he saw the man glance over to the woman, then he began to talk. Only Derous would know where he was going with his words, for he would be cut off prior to mentioning anyone being prepared for anything. Spontaneously, even shocking himself from the impulsiveness of his movements, Ondori brought life to the drab scenery. Should the previous vibe be orchestrated with a droning cadence, it was now eaten alive with a crescendo of brass and drums, maybe even strings. One would think with their distance and Ondori's weapon that was handy, Taka, Derous was in a safe zone, but Ondori had ways to extend his curtain of death.

His right hand that was previously swimming naturally in empty space in front of him as he spoke, had fallen into a telegraphed pattern of movement that'd create a speedy technique that was known as Iaido Quick Draw. The movement was effortless to execute, yet that's only because it was very well refined and had been honed like the edge of his blade that was oh so sharp allowing him to take the head's of his targets right off their necks.

"Fear not who practices one hundred kicks, but the one who practices one kick a hundred times."

Not the words of Ondori or even his conscious, but nonetheless the phrase was a mantra to the youth and those who laid eyes on what was occurring right now would know this. The cut was flawlessly executed and only the soul who resided in front of him would be harmed by the attack. From his left hip, it went diagonal, but detoured directly to the right horizontally leveled with Derous' neck. Now of course the sword would only be cleaving through the air in front of Ondori, the 25inches of steel slicing the air making a whooshing noise as it did so. Said noise not even existing for a second, more like half of a second. What would happen however was a thin blade, hardly visible would project outwards from the angle of Ondori's swing. The length of this crescent air made projectile was equal to the width of the pillar beyond the target's neck, while its width or thickness was small enough to make the the edge nigh invisible. As he swung his weapon, his left leg naturally slid against the concrete, his feet dry as opposed to the two who recently entered the dry haven that was the pyramid topped structure. His right arm would end outwards, extended in between the placement of two and three, should the center of his body be the center point of an upright clock. His left leg's movement would have ended in synch with the draw of his weapon. His right arm a bit off his right side and his left leg back a bit behind him off to his left side, his weight centered steadily between his two legs, now in a healthy stance ready to react. While he wasn't looking to kill Derous, he was quite fond of him, he was curious to see just how skilled the Ensign really was and if he had really lowered his guard or if he was just keeping up a front. Ondori assumed it was the latter given he type of aura he bled out into he atmosphere, but perhaps Ondori's intuition could be wrong. He hoped not. He really didn't want any problems and just wanted to test the Marine's instincts.

Should things go as the Ronin wished and Derous was fine, he'd chuckled and sheathe his sword should he himself not be under assault from either of the people present or anyone at all for that matter. "Just wanted to see how sharp you were, hope you didn't mind." Around his neck was the string length to the straw hat he was wearing earlier that day. The actual hat laying flat against his back and on Tori. Safely reaching over his left shoulder with his left hand, he'd grab the edge of the straw hat and place it atop his head. This occurring as he spoke and his legs would also step back into a more casual placement. He wore the smile of a youthful mischief, though with the straw hat atop his head it would seem more smug than playful.

---

Tier 2 Skill Name: Shadowless Flight
Tier 2 Skill Type: Melee Weaponry
Tier 2 Skill Range: 10m
Tier 2 Skill Cooldown&Duration: 3|Instant
Tier 2 Skill Description: Utilizing the Flying Slash, Ondori swings his weapon and generates a dangerous air wave. It manifest itself as an arc compacted air that has a distorted appearance to it. The arc can create a cut that is 1.5m long, while the edge is extremely thin. Ondori can produce 3 air waves each usage.

 

Another Marine? Ondori's luck was possibly about to run out, but luckily the female hadn't attacked Ondori off the bat like she rightfully could have. "We're not just random civilians he's my rival. You know all the cliché shit you read about in the comics?" Having sheathed his sword, he would no longer be a threat to the two, though he was on his guard for the guaranteed retribution that his actions had costed him. As he spoke his hands bobbed up in down casually in front of him as if trying to convince a crowd to simmer down."But you're right, my bad, I'll go easy on you next time." Ondori winked and softly laughed hoping to get a rouse out of the Marine beneath his well composed shell. "It's just not everyday you link up with interesting people though." He meant this in regards to both of the Marines now. Perhaps the woman was just doing her job, but she sprang into action in between Ondori and Derous without hesitation and the kid admired that. "Anyways, I'm gonna fade now. There's no way I can linger around here with anyone feeling comfortable." He gave a smile, placed a single finger from his left hand on the brim of his straw hat and tipped it as he nodded his head in a respectful manner.

To make his exit he'd first walk forward, then turn to his left. This would take him right beside the two marines, then lead him to the path that lead to the clearing. The rain was still sprinkling down despite the fact it had weakened a bit, but Ondori wasn't bothered and was content with the small scenario that just played out. Throughout the whole time he was leaving of course he was staying alert, ears doing their best to ignore the light pitter patter of rain, and to listen for any other sounds that could signal he was in danger. He felt Derous was the type to get his shot in later as opposed to directly after, but Ondori wasn't psychic and had no way of being 100% sure, so he would rather be safe than sorry.

[Exit]