The Initial Steps
Stepping onto the docks of Mock Town, Noctis bid a brief farewell to the man who had so kindly let him stowaway on-board his ship. Letting the air flow into his lungs, he finally felt the touch of civilization once more, and his skin shuddered. A large Birkan, he drew enough attention as it is, let alone his distinct appearance, his mask reflecting the light beaming down from the near cloudless sky. He wandered around a bit, letting his legs get some much needed blood flow, and getting an idea for the town. Strangely enough to him, he didn't get prodded or ogled nearly as much as his previous encounters with people, but Noctis just chalked that up to this being a Pirate Town. Though he was no pirate, he could certainly look the part.

"Well, I guess now I should find someone who'll take me even further into the Grand Line..." Noctis thought to himself.

He returned to the docks, pulling aside the captain of a nearby, and fairly impressive vessel. "Mind if I borrow a moment of your time? You see, I'm in need of passage to-" Noctis tried to speak, before he was cut off by the captain, a man just barely over half the size of him. "Who the 'ell are you again? Get out of here before me and my boys blast 'ya, chump." he spit out, a wad of saliva landing square on Noctis' abdomen. Though the captain could not see it, a face of anger grew under the mask. "Very well. Sorry to bother you, oh mighty captain." Noctis forced out, before walking away calmly, being sure to remember the man's face. He and his 'boys' certainly didn't look tough, and it was honestly astounding to Noctis that they even made it this far. However, if it's a reputation these men wanted, it's one they'll get. Making one final note of their ship, he made his way into the town.

If anything, time had made Noctis a patient man. Aging revenge not unlike a fine wine, made it so much tastier to savor. He counted the minutes, and hours, waiting and stalking his prey not unlike his mother had years ago. He counted the crew as they entered and left the ship, crating on supplies. "...thirty-four, thirty-five. Thirty-five goons and the head goon himself." he whispered to himself, now standing just out of line of sight, the cover of night now here to aid him. It'd be a challenge, but with enough caution, nothing that was impossible.

He approached the ship with a calmness and quickness that any assassin would be proud of. Noctis was not a man of honor, especially when he had received very little from them himself. His blood boiled not in anger, but anticipation. As the final man  boarded, Noctis trailed behind him, making sure not to be noticed. He boarded the ship with none the wiser.

Despite being a man large in stature and appearance, he drew very little presence. He was often invisible, though not quite literally. Ducking into a corner of the ship, he watched as the man pulled up the gangplank for the night. Carefully, Noctis snuck up behind him, the rest of the man's crew having gone below deck for the night.

Noctis gripped his blade, drawing it slowly enough to be silent. He positioned himself methodically, indicating a level of expertise or perhaps even talent in the art of killing. The nodachi approached from behind, neck level, blade inward. A swift motion, no screams, the blade slid across the man's neck, severing his windpipe and jugular all at once. Blood covered the deck, and the man covered his throat helplessly, as Noctis sheathed his weapon. The grunt, weakly falling to his knees, and then to the ground. A quick death. He set the body to the side and out of sight.

"One."

Knowing that someone would soon come looking, if not for concern, then curiosity, Noctis moved around the corner of the door leading below deck. Sure enough, the door opens, another grunt coming above deck, yelling drunk as he stumbled. "Oi! Roi! Where are 'yeh?!" Too wasted to notice the blood seeping around the corner, the grunt started to turn back. Noctis tensed his muscles, readying himself. Right hand on the hilt, he grabbed the boozed up grunt by the collar with his left, pulling the man down onto the deck and pulling his sword out in one swift motion. Before anything than a gasp of surprise could leave the grunt's lips, a blade descended into his throat. In and out. Clean and effortless. Dragging the man's body away from the open door, he stacked the corpse on top of his comrade.

"Two."

Noctis descended into the ship, the smell of alcohol strong in the air. He managed to fit into the ship fairly comfortably, suggesting that there was at least one person of similar stature on board. Or perhaps the ship was simply made with him in mind. It made no difference to him, but it was certainly convenient. He snuck up to a corner, listening carefully. Laughter and banter being exchanged. It was almost stereotypical pirate. It disgusted him, but it meant they were distracted. He moved along unnoticed, going further down into the living chambers and storage. For pirates, they certainly didn't have anything of value to him,  but they sure had enough drinks to last a lifetime and a half.

Peaking his head into a room, he saw a lone woman sleeping in a hammock. Perhaps she had drank too much, or maybe she wasn't a drinker at all? Regardless, she was to bear witness. Oil lanterns lit the insides of the ship, and Noctis moved into a storage chamber, taking a careful look at the casks and barrels the size of him. Turning the taps, he let the liquor spill onto the floor and soak the wood. He moved across the hall, checking back on the woman. He prodded her gently with his finger, and she groaned in pain. Definitely hungover.

"Three?"

Slinging the half-unconscious woman over his shoulder, he lifted her up and started to carry her. Grabbing an oil lantern, Noctis moved up the hall, back up the stairs, and laid her next to the two casualties. Moving back down, Noctis noticed the liquid now flowing out of the storage room. At the bottom of the stairs, he braced himself to move, and move quickly. He would only have moments to get the woman and go. Gripping the lantern tightly, the chucked it towards the alcohol and booked it. He made it up the stairs and turned towards the woman as the back end of the ship erupted into fire, and shook violently. He grabbed the woman, now much less gently, and tossed her over the side of the ship and into the waters below, and he took flight, as a secondary explosion rocked the ship. People would be coming shortly.

"Well, so much for counting. But this is much more efficient." Noctis thought to himself as he descended picking up the now panic struck, hung over woman.

"What in the ever loving hell happened?!" she screamed. "Did you save me?"

Figuring there was little in terms of time to explain without getting caught, he pulled her along with him, as she followed with the prospect of thanking her winged savior. Once Noctis decided they were out of immediate danger, he stopped behind a building only a few blocks down.

"You might be wondering who did this. Well, let me enlighten you. It was me, and do you know why I kept you alive?" Noctis said, with no intention of letting her answer. "Two reasons. One, I'm not of mind to simply get rid of defenseless women whom I don't know. And two, I needed someone to spread the word of who exactly did this. Now you don't know who exactly I am, but I assure you, no one will believe you enough to attempt an apprehension."

The woman was left speechless, and with that Noctis departed. With only one witness, it was unlikely that he would be singled out for some sort of mob justice, but the word would spread. Noctis moved to a nearby Inn to hopefully spend the night. He walked up to the tender, gesturing to the door. "You hear about what just happened? A ship at port suddenly burst into flames." The tender behind the counter nodded, "Yeah, it's a damn shame, but to be fair, they were quite a nuisance, and didn't really bring much of worth. So, you gonna rent a room?"

"Hell, I don't have a damn beli on me..." Noctis remembered, attempting to play it off. "No thanks, I just wanted to check and see what was up with that accident. Maybe another night though." He walked out of the inn, and strolled along to the other side of town, people now gathering at the port. He sat himself down in a less traveled alley and began to rest.

"Maybe leaving this island will be a bit harder than I thought... Well, there's always more to do I suppose."

Not quite asleep, but not quite awake either, Noctis sat alone in the alleyway, letting the time pass. No way in hell was he going to spend another night on the street. Dawn approached, the sky still dark, with only the hint of sunrise beginning to warm the skies. Time to work. He moved up out of the alley, and made his way back into the main town. He spotted a rather inexperienced looking boy, probably still in his teens. Noctis approached the boy, "So if you're here, I'm sure you've must have heard of Skypeia by now? You wanna go?"

With Noctis' winged appearance, the bait worked all too well. Not even speaking, but giving an enthusiastic nod, Noctis led the boy back to the alley where he had spent the night. "Now now, you're speechless. Good, good. You can stay that way. Now, the way I see it, there are two options for you. You can give me everything of value on you, and walk away with a story to tell. Or you can die, and then give me everything of value on you. Go ahead, mill it over. I'll wait. Just no screaming or sudden movement now."

Noctis put a firm hand on the boy's shoulder and his other on the grip of his nodachi, making sure the boy saw. Slowly, surely, the boy pulled out a few beli. Enough for a few nights of decent shelter. "Ah, excellent. Smart too. You'll go far, or maybe not. Now go on and get out of here." Noctis told the boy, releasing his grip and gesturing for him to leave.

Pocketing the money, Noctis walked down to the dock to investigate the situation, to find that the remains of the ship had long since sunk to the bottom, and people had largely moved on aside for a few who stood around and gossiped. He turned to leave, to find a group of men looking at him rather angrily. A short distance behind them, the boy from earlier looked on. Ah, friends? Crewmates? There were two men, who were rather basic, and one man who looked as if he could hold his own for a dance if need be, toned and with the eyes of a veteran.

Instinctively, Noctis' hand found the hilt of his Nodachi. The man up front simply gestured to the two behind him, as they strut up, pounding their fist into an open palm like this was some sort of movie or show. What sense it made to attacking an armed man with your bare fist was beyond Noctis, but it hardly mattered as they rushed forward, one after the other.

Noctis, towering over the two men by a few feet, drew his blade, taking the blunt end and jamming it up into the first man's armpit when he swung, and pivoting his entire body, rotating in a circle, and  tossing the man backwards into his friend in one swift motion, leaving a long cut along the initial attacker's side, causing some serious bleeding, but nothing immediately fatal. Just painful.

"Well, that was pretty rude. Wanting to dance and not even buying me a drink first?" Noctis sneered, putting one hand on his hip mockingly.

"Shut 'yer trap, smartass." the man who seemingly looked like their boss said, not even seeming to care about the two on the ground. "You knocked down two pups, want a trophy? You're still fresh to this world, so let me teach you a lesson."

The man gestured back to the boy from earlier, who now came into clear view, holding a rather impressive looking  iron club. The veteran man took it from him, and swung it around like it was weightless.

"Woah now, you look pretty tough there, but you should know that killing someone in the middle of the street would be in pretty bad taste, don't ya think?" Noctis responded, making a sly reference to the men he had just incapacitated.

"Like I said, shut 'yer trap. I'm gonna give you some tough love, whether or not you survive isn't my concern." the club wielding man said, before rushing up to Noctis, swinging hard and fast. He was certainly faster and more well off than the people he had confronted before, but Noctis was certain he could rely on his speed and technique to beat him. A contest of strength at this point would be suicide, as strength was never a strong suit of his.

"But men and beast bleed the all the same." Noctis said, taking his sword, feigning the same counter he had done previously, initially aiming the blunt end of the blade toward the man. The man began to slow in an attempt to react to the supposed counter, but in one movement, the blade exchanged hands, and swung in the opposite arc, blade towards the man, and Noctis lunged forward. The blade cut into the man's chest, but it was a shallow wound, only enough to bleed. The man hopped back, touching his chest and inspecting the blood.

"Oi, oi, oi. That wasn't bad. I know a fight when I see it. You can call me Ferris, not that it'll matter here shortly."
Veteran Ferris gripped his mace in both hands, and rushed again, this time faster. More precise.

"Was he holding back...?" Noctis thought, holding his sword in front of him, one hand behind the blade to brace it, before taking his feet off the ground, and letting the impact of the mace carry him. The force of the hit rippled through his arms, into his torso, and spread into his body, making it ache, as he was thrown back several feet by the man's swing.

"No time to recover, just have to go." Noctis assured himself, spinning his blade hand over hand by the hilt, until it became nothing but a blur. He was going to try to end this all at once before it got out of hand. The momentum built in the sword, as Noctis began to move into a sprint at the man, hoping to build up every bit of force he could muster. As he reached Ferris, he firmly gripped the blade, and let the momentum flow, making sure not to waste any of it, and swung with all his might right at Ferris' weapon. Ferris reacted well enough to block, which is what Noctis was hoping for.

The blade impacted the club, and Ferris shook, stuck in place. A long second of silence later, he fell to his knees, hacking up blood, and unable to move. Noctis took a deep breath, and composed himself. Walking away, despite his instinct to finish the fight. Like he had said, it'd be in bad taste to kill someone in the middle of the street. But now, it was time to rest, as a decent number of people had witnessed the scuffle. Walking back to the previous inn, the tender warmly greeted him again, "Back so soon?"

"Aw, did you miss me?" Noctis joked back, placing some money on the counter. "One room please."

The tender took the money, and directed him to his room.  "Third room on the right."

Noctis walked briefly down the hall, and opened the door to his room, ready to rest up, but there was a man inside, waiting. A smaller looking fellow, his pale complexion and ginger hair made him look absolutely absurd in comparison to the 9 foot tall Noctis. However, the man made no notice of this, and didn't seem to care. In fact, he looked angry, as if he were ready to beat down Noctis.

"You. I saw you leave the boat, and I know you've been causing problems here. Now ya see, I have a good thing going here, so if you don't make yourself scarce, I'm gonna do it for ya. Got it?" he threatened.

Noctis, not willing to back down at this point, held his ground. "Now, now. I'd like to see that happen, if you can. See, I've had what you might call a long day. If you want, I can try and fit you into my schedule out back."

Mustering a chuckle as if something mildly humorous had been said, the man got up, and made his way out of the room. "Have it your way. But, don't let anyone say Ertrun didn't warn ya."

Noctis stood in the room for a moment after Ertrun left. This was an unfortunate circumstance, but also a prime opportunity. Noctis could tell well that Ertrun was far more experienced than he was, but if he could pull it off, his reputation would surely grow enough to get off this place. There was only one path left, out back.

Noctis exited the room, and strolled further down the hallway to the back door of the inn. There, Ertrun waited, as he polished some iron knuckles around his hands. He didn't even give Noctis the time of day, as if he had all the confidence in the world this would be a one-sided beatdown. He finally looked up, and gave a forced look of surprise. "Oh, you came. Huh. I was sure you'd take your wings and fly right on out of here. Well, at least I'll get some fun out of this."

Ertrun took up a very traditional boxing stance, that left few openings. It was clear to see the experience in this alone. There was nothing for Noctis to say. All he could do was win. There were no other options. Noctis drew his nodachi, and got into his own stance, blade back, with his free arm floating parallel above it. Ertrun didn't even react, and made the first move, closing the distance and sending a fast right jab right at waist level. It was fast, but not as fast as he anticipated.

Noctis moved his blade elegantly, putting the blade right into Ertrun's shoulder blade as the jab followed through, and carrying the force of the punch into the wall behind Noctis, using the ball of his foot as a rotary pivot. As Ertrun's fist hit the wall, a hole was punched straight through it with little resistance. Getting hit at all would be a real problem for Noctis.

Ertrun pushed off and disengaged, paying no mind to the cut that had opened up in his shoulder. He rushed forward again, and Noctis, prepared to feign a counter as he had the previous fight. As Ertrun came with a straight left jab, Noctis once again moved his blade as if to counter, but Ertrun didn't stop, as if he knew it was a feint. It was something familiar he had felt before. Mantra? How it was possible was a question for another day, as Noctis was forced to go through with a counter he was not prepared to follow through with.  The blade tore through Ertrun's shirt, but didn't cut him, and the momentum was transferred sloppily, much of the force ending up in Noctis' right arm instead.

Noctis gripped his arm in pain, partially to soothe it, but mostly to feel if it was broken. Determining there was no major damage, he grit his teeth as Ertrun's assault continued. He threw out a right hook aiming right at Noctis' left hip. Forced to just rely on instinct, Noctis could only counter. There were no mind-games to be played. Flipping his blade up, he swung the vertical blade in the same direction as the hook as he stepped back, putting a small cut into Ertrun's forearm, but he followed through seamlessly, carrying the momentum of the counter as he spun into a spinning backfist right at Noctis' left hip again.

Turning the blade back, Noctis held it parallel his left side, taking the hit, and letting it carry him, before turning his blade up at the end of the swing to leave a cut along the back of Ertrun's hand. Noctis' knew he had to go on the offensive, and use his advantage in speed if he wanted a shot, so as he was pushed sideways, it created distance between himself and Ertrun. Noctis hopped back further, holding his blade back behind him as he ran at his unphased opponent. He weaved his wrist carefully, feeling how the blade was catching the wind as it cut through, and letting it gather. As he reached Ertrun, he thrust his blade forward at his sternum, taking all the wind he gathered with it and sending it at him at max speed.

Ertrun could keep track of the stab, but the cuts on his arms and shoulders had begun to slow him, making the speed difference even more apparent. All he could manage was to put up his left arm and stop the stab by letting it through his hand. The blade went through as he gripped to slow it down, it stopping just short of his chest. But as he thought to perform a counter of his own, the wind caught up to him, creating cuts all along his chest, neck and head. His free hand relaxed, as blood began to seep through his forest colored jacket.

After a moment of being unable to pull his sword free of Ertrun's grip, it finally loosened, and Noctis pulled it out, Ertrun going limp and falling into a pool of his and Noctis' blood. Looking down, Noctis' left hand and arm were bleeding profusely, having not noticed it through the adrenaline. The counters against his second jab and hook were too much, and backfired.

Cutting a strip of Ertrun's shirt free, Noctis' made a makeshift bandage and tourniquet. He made his way back into the inn, and right into his room, speaking to no one on the way. He collapsed onto his bed, and passed out on the spot.

When he awoke 12 hours later, he was honestly surprised he hadn't been apprehended. He walked out to hear a den-den mushi on the counter reporting that a masked figure had taken out Ertrun Luisede, a small-time criminal leader here in Mock Town. With a satisfied smile, he held his mask and walked back into his room, and laid on his bed.

Maybe he'd get out of here sooner than he thought.