Approval and voyage layout



Mashyuu's large hand palmed the odd looking fruit in his deep pocket just as he burst through the last of the forest. Mashyuu looked over his shoulder at the trees, many had been knocked over by the pyramid that came to life and attacked the man, others destroyed in his battle with the guardians of the fruit. Worst of all was the state of the sacred land, small craters, burned patches of grass and trees and his broken sun glasses. Lazily, Mashyuu ran his large hand through his sweat drenched black hair and flung the fluid off his fingers then he dug into his other pocket and placed the broken frames of his glasses back on his face to at least block out some of the rising sun's light.

His arms hung at his sides next to the two chain scythes placed in the holsters on his hips. He was tired, thirsty and hungry, along with sore from injuries but Mashyuu didn't let it stop him. He trudged along his chosen path for hours until he reached a small, flat patch of land. The land itself was barren of life, the grass had died out long ago, leaving only patch of clumped dirt that had been beaten down into a solid path by many feet. Mashyuu walked a series of feet forward, how far exactly Mashyuu was unsure of in his dazed condition. When he reached the edge of the land he couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the ground going down into what he would call a small valley.

At the end of the valley was a large cave, too dark to clearly see inside of but outside of it was a ran down camp site. Something that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Mashyuu crouched low and flapped his wings, using the pressure to throw himself forward and down the hill without having to walk or even fly. Slowly he slid to a stop and made his way towards the camp site without a word or even checking to make sure he wasn't walking into a trap. Once he arrived at the small campsite he started to rummage through the belongings in the area. A small locked box, a wide table made of wooden slabs that had been tied together quickly. A small rack of digging supplies and a wheelbarrow to cart materials back and fourth. A singular one man tent and a backpack.

Mashyuu scooped up the small chest and the backpack and settled into the tent that had a one man cot and a pillow in it. He plopped down on the cot and put the box at his feet, then started to go through the bag. "Alright... lets see. This bag is sort of heavy... Iron ingots?.... Four of them to be exact. Odd. What else. A canteen of water. Good, I'm thirsty as hell. Oh awesome! Dried beef and trail rations! This will come in handy." Mashyuu exclaimed with relief and joy. Slowly he set the ingots in the bag again and set the sack aside. Without fail he started to eat a few sticks of jerky and a hand full of the rations to make sure he didn't starve. He topped it off by drinking a few swigs of water and saved the rest for the next day, just in case things didn't go smoothly for him. Mashyuu laid down on the cot, too tired to continue on through the day and fell into a deep sleep...

A loud crack in the sky woke Mashyuu the following morning. He quickly sat up, hair plastered to his face and broken glasses hanging off one ear, the man looked like a mess. Slowly he shook his head side to side and listened carefully to the sounds outside the cramped tent. Rain smacked against the plastic like fabric and thunder and lightning ripped through the sky above and below Skypiea in a dark torrent. Mashyuu looked about for a bit, still dazed from the sudden awakening then collected the locked box and sack of iron and headed out to the mouth of the cave, figuring it was better to wait the storm out there than staying in the tent that might get blown away.

Quickly he pulled the flap of the tent open and darted across the now muddy field the short distance to the wide open mouth of the cave. Using his wings to balance himself, Mashyuu slid across the mud and stopped some ten feet into the cave, silently and although wet, was no worse for wear. His back pressed to the wall of the cave and he slid down it to sit on the still dry floor. He plopped the locked box between his legs and the bag he carried to his left side, away from the pouring rain. He took his broken glasses and tossed them aside, letting them whip into the storm and land in the mud.

Mashyuu looked at the lock and frowned at the piece of iron holding the chest closed. He stood up and pulled one half of Silver Wind from its holster and planted his foot on the one foot tall box. With careful aim he wedged his weapon into the crack of the box at the lid's hinges and yanked up. The wood cracked yet held firm after Mashyuu's first attempt. He pulled the weapon free and drove it into the wood again. His entire body flexed as hard as it could and he yanked with all his might, splintering half the chests lid in one motion. Quickly he spun around and kicked the chest against the stone wall of the cave and planted the weapon into the bottom of the wood again and yanked, ripping the rest of the lid from atop the box.

The winged Captain's blue eyes went wide with excitement when he saw the contents in the box. He dropped down and pulled the items from the box. A set of diagrams that laid out how to inlay a strong and light armor out of something called Skypiean Iron, a small sample of the iron and a lantern with oil. Awesome. This might really help the crew. And I could use some more protection considering how much I've been getting beaten lately. Mashyuu thought silently while wearing a wide smile.

Mashyuu placed the items in the backpack and headed outside to grab a shovel and a pick ax. He tossed them inside the wheelbarrow and pushed the items inside the cave. The man pulled his backpack over his shoulders and picked up the lantern. After lighting it he placed it in the wheelbarrow and started to wander into the cave...

The wheel of the cart that Mashyuu pushed squeaked louldly in the confines of the cave that the Captain had discovered was actually a mine meant for gaining resources to take create a light weight armor. How effective the armor was, was still up for debate but Mashyuu was curious to try and also interested in practicing his blacksmiting skills again. His cart came to a stop some two hundred feet into the mines. A seep slope ran down into darkness far beyond the light of the lantern. At the slopes flanks were sets of hand made steps, carved with picks and hammers to create uneven steps to aid in easier walking. Mashyuu didn't plan on walking down the steps and leaving his digging gear behind, it would be a waste of a good chance to improve himself. Still he was rapidly losing time to return to the ship and see what the others had discovered. True it had only been two days since he left but it felt like an eternity.

Mashyuu gripped the handles of the barrow firmly and started to fly at a high angle. Quickly he flapped his wings and flew forward until he safely (even if it was a slow fly) touched down on the ground some fifty feet down. Mashyuu released the wheelbarrow and rubbed his palms together to fight the sore feeling in his palms. Lazily he walked away from the cart while picking up the lantern and started to walk deeper into the cavern to get a feel for where he was headed. "Too bad the guy didn't leave a map to follow. I have no idea where the hell I'm going. Only what I'm looking for." The dark haired man whispered to himself.

Hiking along the cold stone path of the cave, Mashyuu could hear the echos of nocturnal animals that made their home on the mine after people stopped using it. Mashyuu didn't feel unease at the sounds however, thinking that perhaps the animals were just afraid of the man since they likely hadn't seen or heard a walking talking person in a long long time. Mashyuu rounded a corner leading left and stopped dead in his tracks. About fifty feet away, nestled in the corner was a bright orange light that flickered and danced. A large forge had been built into the wall of the mine, its embers still hot with flame as if it had been recently used. Tools were in perfect condition and clean, hanging on the walls of the cavern. At one end was a small anvil just big enough for a single person to work, not unlike the one he had used on Jaya.

Mashyuu stalked up to the forge and examined the thing carefully. After about ten minutes of searching he had found a small journal and cracked it open. Dust shot off the cover of the book and billowed in Mashyuu's face, a sign of not being touched in years. The pages were musky and stale but the scent of the forge quickly overpowered the smell of the book. Mashyuu's blue eyes quickly started to scan the journal while he lifted the lantern in his left hand to read the contents better.



Mashyuu closed the book and glanced at the forge. "Is that right... well. Maybe I'll put you on the ship. I could use the practice." He spoke in a neutral tone, as if he were talking to someone who was useful but not his friend.

Mashyuu stepped up to the forge, running his hand over the side of the cast iron, blinking in shock at how cool to the touch it was. Interesting... how on earth did this get to stay cool...? He thought to himself and smirked when he found the switch that was mentioned in the book. Mashyuu took a step back and placed his hands on his hips for just a moment then shrugged the bag off his shoulders and set it down atop the anvil. As quickly as he could, the Pirate searched the contents and grabbed the sample of ore that was left so Mashyuu would know what he was looking for.

The man pocketed the sample and picked up his lantern again, leaving his bag behind with the forge. The man returned to his cart and headed right instead of left. Again Mashyuu started to walk down a long hall that seemed to wind down then came to an abrupt end where a sheer wall went up high. Mashyuu picked up a pick axe and jumped, his wings spreading wide and flapping rapidly to carry the man high into the sky. As he came to the end of the wall he smiled wide, spotting a large wall made of the Skypiean Iron. It's pearl like color reflected the light of Mashyuu's lantern, making the wall glow brighter and brighter as Mashyuu drew closer to the wall with each flap of his wings.

Mashyuu touched down on the ledge of the floor and looked over his shoulder down at the wheelbarrow. There was just enough room to get a good swing at the wall of ore with his pick axe. Mashyuu twisted his body and flexed as hard as he could, taking aim at the wall the torqued his body, slamming the pick axe into the wall to chip at the ore. Barely a mark was made and Mashyuu blinked in frustration at what was happening. He placed the lantern in the far corner of the small room he was in, so that he could use both arms in his attempt to break some ore off of the wall...

Mashyuu worked for hours, until his arms felt like jello and his fingers were numb from the vibrations on his body from the repeated strikes to the wall. Behind him, in the cart was half a wheelbarrow of ore that had been chipped and broken away. Mashyuu let go of the pick and fell to his knees, half leaning back while looking up at the top of cavern Mashyuu found himself in. Bat's hung upside down, staring down at the black haired man without doing much more than blinking. Their heads tilted as they curiously looked at Mashyuu. In return the Pirate tilted his head in the same way. "You guys wanna join my crew? Could use some silent friends on top of the ones that talk a lot." Mashyuu joked with a wide grin. He took one last look at the wall and shook his head. "I'll have to get the others to help grab more of this stuff. But for now that ore should be enough to start." Mashyuu grumbled while hoisting his lantern and dropping off the edge of the ground to float safely down to the ground in a crouched stance.

Mashyuu rubbed his palms together and hoisted the handles of the wheelbarrow. His face strained just a bit at the weight of the cart but he carried on and turned the cart around to walk back to the forge. The young man wandered back to the forge and stopped in his tracks, letting the wheelbarrow clatter loudly with a thud. He sighed and wandered back to his sack to grab the remainder of his water and some rations. Mashyuu took a few moments to feed himself and make sure that he wasn't too winded before he picked up a leather apron and strapped it on over his shoulders and waist. He then found a pair of heavy gloves and pulled them tightly to his fingers. Next he searched for a mold and put a few pieces of the pearl colored ore into the mold and slid the mold into the forge to heat the metal up until it melted and became one solid form after cooling. He let the metal cool while putting a second mold into the fire and going over the layout of the armor.

"It looks like it's supposed to be worn like a shirt.. like the white one I normally wear. So my jacket could go over it but the sleeves aren't long. So it will really only protect my vital organs and back. Makes sense. It looks like it will be light too. I'll have enough ore to make Yuurei some bracers like Harley suggested." Mashyuu spoke out loud simply to keep the silence of the mine from getting to him. Mashyuu then pulled the second mold out of the fire with a pair of iron tongs and let it cool. Again he looked at the diagram, it seemed like the armor was actually made of rings, closely wound together so that it looked like a solid sheet of pearl. The ingot would have to be hammered out as smoothly and flat as possible then have pieces of it cut off while it was still hot in order to make an outline of the armor. It would be a challenge for sure but Mashyuu was confident in his skill, plus he had plenty of left overs to create what he needed. Mashyuu pulled the ingot he had formed onto the anvil and lifted the hammer in his right hand, then... after a moment to collect himself made the first strike.

Clang!....Clang!.....Clang!.....Clang! Mashyuu's hammer smashed into the metal until the large ingot was nearly as flat as paper. After it was flat he put the metal into a large mold that would hold the sheet of metal. The mold itself was wide, a little longer than his body and had many smaller molds inside it that were thin and long, once the metal melted, it would seep into the molds and create long wires that were thin. Mashyuu then picked up a long metal rod that was a few feet in length but not even an inch around. Now came the hard part.

Mashyuu pulled the second piece of Skypiean steel from the furnace and hammered it till it was flat, like he had done the first time. Then he pulled the melted metal out and let it cool to take its wire form. When it was cool enough to pull out, Mashyuu removed the wires from the molds and placed the second set of flat ore into the mold then the forge. Mashyuu took the first long strand of metal and held it to the iron rod that was sticking out of the anvil, then began to twist the wire until it was coiled close and tightly around the iron rod. He continued by sliding the coiled wire off the rod and used his pliers to cut the coils into small rings that weren't even an inch in radius. By the time Mashyuu had the rings he needed, he was looking at twenty thousand small rings, the ordeal had taken him most of the day and night, leaving Mashyuu exhausted. He soon found himself curled up on the ground, sleeping near the forge for the safety of the light the forge offered...

When he awoke, Mashyuu finished off the water he had, and the food then set out to work again. Following the diagram, Mashyuu closed half of his rings so that they ends of the rings were pushed just past one another, using his pliers to create the correct amount of pressure without hurting his fingers. Then he lapped four rings around each closed ring, closing each ring around the already closed one until he had something that looked like sets of key chains. Mashyuu threaded these together by opening parts of the rings and connecting them again until he had two straps for his shoulders. Once that was complete he made the chest piece that connected to the bottom end of each of the straps. Following that he started to work on the back piece, being sure to leave room for his wings to fit through without causing him harm. The Diagram was made for Skypieans and took the wings into consideration so it was fairly simple for Mashyuu to follow through with that.

Once the main shirt was complete and felt even, Mashyuu pulled the shirt on and made a few minor adjustments such as making sure the straps were even and the rings were crafted well enough to not fall apart. Then he hit himself with the blunt end of his weapon and even tried to stab himself but the rings were so close together he wasn't able to stab himself at all. He was sure that most would have mistaken his armor for a simple shirt. Realizing how much he needed full range of motion, Mashyuu didn't bother to put sleeves on his armor. He took the shirt and pushed it into the backpack, then gathered his ore and ingots into the backpack as well. Quickly he collapsed the forge and started to make his way towards the ship, soaring up as high as he could after he left the cave, to meet up with his crew.