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Well, he made it from the Blues, and now he was here in the Grand Line. First stop, Water 7. What a great place to start an adventure in! He was certain that he could find a ship to stowaway on, a ride to get out of this place, or maybe an ally or two to deal with the stuff that had been going down.

Dialing back to several days ago, Willow Omens was on his way to Water 7, only for the boat he was on to be attacked out of nowhere. Cannonballs flying through the air, striking the ship that he was riding along in, only for the ship to fight back. Fire was exchanged, decks were boarded, Willows were hiding in the pantry. All the fun stuff that one could imagine in a battle between presumed pirates. Sure he got to Water 7, but the people that he rode with wanted an explanation. He was happy to give one to the red bearded captain an explanation.

But instead, Willow, with that dopey look on his face, played dumb and got the hell out of dodge. Away from the docks and through the streets. That was three days ago, now he was hiding out here in the slums of Water 7, looking to try and wait things over before making it up tot he main part of town. Not only did he have a crew of weapon smiths the size of which dwarfed a 'normal human', but he had a crew of deliverymen wanting vengenace for loss of some of their product.

He could only sigh and rub the back of his head while he contemplated just what he was going to do. Sure he escaped from his homeland, moved from blue to blue, and came right back here to the Paradise section of the New World, but now it was getting harder to keep on the move.

As he was thinking about all of this, he had unceremoniously bumped in to a marine. A master Chief Petty Officer no less. It seemed that they were on patrol with a Commander, several other petty officers and a Lieutenant commander. And the Master Chief Petty Officer didn't really appreciate her chest being bumped in to face first.

The rotund Roxanne simply looked down at Willow who looked up with that dopey look on his face. Playing dumb he simply rubbed the back of his head with one hand, the other waving in front of his face, "I'm sorry ma'am. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Right--I'm not in the mood for someone trying to cop a feel off of my body today." SHe said while slowly drawing a pistol and shooting, which was shot right between Willow's legs as he had drawn his wepaon and swung it hard against the ground, "Summer Solstice!" He skidded to a halt on the ground, holding onto his staff while it was extended to three feet in length, wielding it more like a cane at the moment with his free hand on the ground, fingers splayed out and legs spread. The look on his face having changed to narrowed eyes, glaring at the woman.

Of course--that meant he was glaring at the marines and realized what he had done. He turned tail and started to run, looking to try and escape! Maybe he could find some help? Today was not the day to die! Nor was this a good place for a grave!

Klinghoffer loved to start his day with some busking, he played Layla, his beloved electric guitar like there was nobody watching, the only time he would look up was if he heard the sound of money dropping into his guitar case or if there was some sort of commotion going on. For the majority of the morning, everything had gone as smoothly as his guitar playing, the only things that had come past him were smiles and a hefty amount of beli. The musician played his standard routine, starting off with a small jam that leads into some songs he had picked up in Water 7 then followed up by well-known standards from the West Blue. As he began to reach the end of his routine an unusual occurrence had sparked not 20 meters away from him, a crew of marines had rolled up and had started to cause trouble with a small fellow that sported orange hair and an unusual outfit. Klinghoffer shrugged it off then did a double take, with that amount of marines at least one of them was bound to know of his bounty, not to mention that the orange haired kid had just started sprinting in his direction and the Marines were starting to give chase.

The musician quickly collected all of the beli and stood up in the middle of the street readying his guitar, "Keep running kid! I'll catch up!" he told the orange haired boy as he ran by. With a Wah! of his guitar, Klinghoffer strummed a Minor Inversion Triad, halting all of the marines. Looking the master chief petty officer up and down he took quite the fancy to her, the guitarist walked over to his guitar case, put his guitar inside and pulled out a business card that stated S.C. Klinghoffer Yamamoto ~ Wanted Pirate & Musician. "Maybe come to one of my shows someday if you want to have a good time" Klinghoffer said nonchalantly with a wink as he put the business card into her hand then turned tail and grabbed his precious Layla on the way.

When he finally caught up to the orange haired kid he pulled him aside into an alley then took him along the sidewalk of a canal, after looking left and right to see if it was safe he let out a loud sigh of relief then held out a hand. "The name's Klinghoffer Yamamoto, the Marines call me Smooth Criminal, a pleasure to meet you"

Running. Running fast. Running very very fast! Eyes uncharacteristically bulging out of his head, mouth open and spewing nonsense, limbs flailing as he booked it as fast as he could! Willow O Omens was on the run again! Not from the Yulkan weapon smiths, not from the previous crew he stowed away with, but marines now. Would his bad luck know no end?

As he was sprinting away, he passed up some guitar toting man that wanted to play some music for the marines, but told Willow to keep running ahead? You didn't have to tell Willow twice! He just ran on past, kicking up a bit of water and dust cloud as he went by Klinghoffer! Then when the marine mob caught up, they were met with a haunting melody of sorts, something that could stop them in their tracks momentarily? Who knew? Willow didn't, he just kept on running away. Up a ramp and onto the stone walkways further into Water 7.

it wasn't until he was running past a few alleyways that he was grabbed while STILL in that running pose, and yanked away to have a private conversation with someone. Willow huffed and puffed, bent over a little, knees knocked together, hands on his knees, head down toward the ground as he tried to catch his breath. When he finally looked up, it was Klinghoffer, offering his name and designation by the marines.

"Oh! Hello Music Man." He had a rather dopey look on his face, smiling up at Klinghoffer and referring to him with a name that he didn't even hear. Willow was grateful, but they weren't out of the woods yet.

Those marines were still out and about, looking to capture not one but two criminals and take a bounty off of the board by taking the head of Klinghoffer. They ran past the alleyway that Willow and the Smooth Criminal were in, but didn't take notice of them, the two had a momentary reprieve to get calm and collected.

Klinghoffer took a minute to catch his breath from running, taking a deep breath and absorbing the beautiful surroundings that they found themselves in, for a slum it was absolutely beautiful and completely outshined the business district in beauty. The business district may have flashing lights and modern facilities, but this part of the slums next to the canal had the raw feel of humanity and nature itself. Now completely zoned out, the Smooth Criminal was left to his thoughts, and what to do next, what kind of score could he make next? Looking at his new dopey acquaintance, he noticed that he was missing something aesthetically, like he wasn't whole, "Hey, what do you say about me and you getting something to impress the ladies with huh? Some new accessories, you seem like one of those funky guys, maybe you need a boombox or something... Well, that settles it then, we're getting you some funky accessories to match your groove." Klinghoffer said as he started to walk off, "I know just the place to rob, I mean accessorize at, it's a street vendor that sells some funky stuff. You shouldn't feel bad about it either, the guy is a total lowlife, has it coming anyway." Klinghoffer added as he turned a corner, leaving the canals and entering the hectic world of the slums once more.

Weaving in and out through people, he lead his new acquaintance to a place in the back of the market area of the slums, they approached a stall that was as wide as a storefront in the business district, the counter at the front of the stall lined with all sorts of electrical equipment and probably illegal equipment, but Klinghoffer didn't care since it was all the same to him. He walked into the stall, hiding his face from the man at the counter, walking in and going through the aisles. "Go ahead, take your pick, me? I just want a sword to do me until I can buy a good one..." The musician said with his voice lowered to make sure the guy at the counter couldn't hear him, he picked up a katana with a black scabbard and small engravings along it. What would happen next, Klinghoffer wouldn't know, he was too busy looking at the massive sword collection the stall had.

Things were calming down a little bit, Klinghoffer offering to take WIllow shopping of all things. Willow just looked up with a bit of amazement at how someone could be so calm after having attacked marines and running from said marines? He wanted to go rob something? Well that certainly explained it, even if he tried to save himself. Still--Willow kept that part to himself, for now. "Oh I could use some new clothing or threads to fix up the holes in my outfit."

So Willow would be following the Smooth Criminal, out into the slums once again, only to find themselves off to some little open air market place. It was here many things were sold, various weapons, armors, equipment. Willow managed to legally buy a backpack and a set of clothing that looked just like his normal set! Thankfully that meant he had a change of clothes after losing his last set of luggage a couple of islands ago.

Klinghoffer was looking at a sword and when Willow came back into view, he was wearing a set of headphones over his ears underneath his upturned hood, "How's your shopping spree been going?" He asked with that naive tone of voice, eyeing the sword that Kling held with his almost closed eye-stare.

While they were looking about and perusing the wares, the marine posse from earlier spotted Willow's vibrant orange hair. "There they are! Get them!"

"Uhp! Looks like it's time to go!" Willow shouted while reaching to grab and drag Klinghoffer along. They were leaving with a set of premium headphones, one ear containing a sound dial that could play back recorded music and speeches, and a transponder snail in the other that could record and relay the sounds it heard to that dial, providing stereo hearing. Though as they were running, there were many shouts of thieves, scoundrels, and the like. Apparently, aside from the clothing in his backpack, he piled on several supplies and food rations.

"I couldn't find a boombox, but I found a lot of other stuff!" He said with a cheerful tone while running along with Klinghoffer, getting chased yet again.

Klinghoffer picked up the katana he was holding and ran away once more, "Wait I feel like they are missing something..." The musician said as he turned a corner into a small alley, luring the marines into the confined space. he started to slow down, realising what was absent from the gang of marines, "Aha! That's it... where did Miss Marine Hot Stuff go guys? Did she split off from you to go to one of my shows? maybe get one of my recordings?" Klinghoffer asked confidently, turning around to look the group of Marines. They all looked at each other in silence, not having a comeback to what he said, until one of them spoke up, "She's just....on coffee break, yeah that's it... coffee break..." they said, not too confidently. The musician then turned to his new orange haired acquaintance with shiny new headphones and said "I'm not too sure how good you are at fighting, but are you ready for a right rumble here? This will be perfect target practice for this new katana I have." He said, putting his katana by his side through his belt and slinging his guitar into his grip and strumming a loud Minor Inversion Triad.

The crowd of marines stopped moving, leaving Klinghoffer and Willow the only people that were mobile in the alley, the musician swung his guitar over onto his back once more and drew out his new weapon, making sure to leave the scabbard on. He charged up to the marines, slashing at each of them and watching them go down like flies, this was by far one of the easiest fights he had been in and it just felt wrong. Once he and Willow had finished off the enemies, they heard footsteps coming up behind them, the two turned around to see none other than the master chief petty officer, turning the corner and walking into the alley from the opposite side. "What do we have here? A groper and a smooth talker huh? Thought you could get away from me that easily?" She said, pulling out her baton and extending it, she walked towards the two with grace and put on an offensive stance, getting ready to begin the fight. This was sure to be an amusing battle for both parties.

Well there were a couple of things that weren't going to go how Klinghoffer had wanted. Sure they had the upper hand of mobility and could escape from the marines, and as they came to a slow and eventual halt, the two would be faced with the marines coming in while Kling was wondering where the Master Chief Petty Officer was.

Of course, while the focus shifted from the marines, to the duo, to the woman coming up behind them, it seemed that Willow somehow made an escape, as if it were some sort of cartoon, there would be a dotted line in place. It seemed that Willow had left Klinghoffer alone!

But--that was not the case at all. The moment that anyone would look around, Willow was climbing up the sides of the buildings in the little alleyway they found themselves in. he managed to make it about ten feet before anyone would take note of him, and at that point he smiled and waved down at everyone, "I don't suppose we could write this all off as a misunderstanding could we?" He jumped back down while the tension was rising.

And as he came down, he withdrew his staff and brought it out to three feet in length, wielding it like a sword as he came crashing down, the marine woman lifting up her baton to block Willow's blow while the loud clack of two blunt weapons striking each other could be heard and Willow was tossed off and pushed back toward Klinghoffer.

"That plan could have gone better no?"

Sadly Klinghoffer was done with his romantic advances on the petty officer, if he couldn't resolve this conflict with peace then he will just resolve it as harmless as possible. He lets the Master Chief Petty Officer advance on him, strike after strike of her baton he would weave in and out of the way, he was used to this kind of conflict being in the business he was in and the best way to get to a person is through not shutting up. "So tell me lovely, what's your name? Where did you grow up? Are you Single? Do you have any siblings? How are your parents? Are they still alive?" The musician spurted out as he ducked and dodged, the last question, however, struck a nerve. Tears started to well up in the Master Chief Petty Officer's eyes, she looked at him in the eyes then looked down, stopping her advances. "T-They died last year..." She said sniffing and wiping the tears from her eyes, "I've thrown myself into my work ever since, I guess I'm just taking out my anger on you guys. Look, kid," She says turning to Willow and wiping the last of the tears away. "I know you didn't mean to bump into me, you seem like a decent kid. And you, musician, it's comforting to know that somebody cares, Unfortunately, I had the time to look you both up on our database and I found that our little musician friend has a bounty of over 4 million beli"

"I can let you go kid but by law, i have to bring you in the musician, by any means necessary" she says as she pulls out her baton once again and extends it ready to fight. "Alright! You got me, I'll come quietly. I thought we were having a moment there but you can take me in if you want... Syke!" Klinghoffer says as he starts sprinting down the street just as the Mast Chief Petty Officer lowered her guard, grabbing Willow and dragging him along with him. "And now we are in another chase, great! Any good ideas for our grand escape eh, Lupin?" The musician asked Willow as they ran through the streets of the slums

Why was it that higher ranked marine officers either had that total sense of justice and a sense of being a bad ass just because they existed, or had these weird quirks? Not that he knew anything about marine ranks, he just had the general assumption of it always being the marines that were introduced by name, especially the ones that wore their jackets as capes. He thought about that while Klinghoffer got to talking to the woman who would be known as Skye.

Willow just stood there, left hand holding his right elbow, right hand up near his mouth, thumb pressed up under the cleft of his chin, index finger curled up just under the cusp of his bottom lip. A thinking pose he struck up frequently in instances like these. Even with the grunts behind himself and Klinghoffer, Willow was just focusing, standing perfectly still and lost in thought.

The grunts wanted to make a move, but when you lived out here on the grand line there was one thing that always stood out to not rush in on, and that was calm individuals like Willow who just stood there, as if waiting for them to make a move. Did he have 'the sight'? Did he have some strange power that could beat them back with the flick of a wrist? Well, no, no he did not. Willow had no such powers, he was just prone to going deep into thought like this when something thought-provoking came along oddly enough! So the grunts were not going to make a move while Klinghoffer walked toward Skye, then doubled back to grab Willow and run off with him!

Willow just flailed in the breeze, static in position and shape as if he was not bothered by the physics of the situation! Though, when he finally had Kling speak to him, Willow snapped out of it and looked at Klinghoffer, "But my name is Willow, I don't know anyone named Lupin." He replied to the musician before the concept of coming up with the escape plan came along.

"I have a couple of ideas! If you can move faster than them enough to get into an alleyway, marines normally don't look on rooftops. How good are you at climbing?" Apparently, Willow had an idea, but it was up to Klinghoffer to help them execute it while he ran with Willow in tow like some sort of drag racing parachute.

"Pfffft am I good at climbing? You....Literally, don't know who you are talking to that insult is irrelevant, my bad" Klinghoffer says as he turns a corner into yet another alley and leaping onto the fire escape, scaling his way up the side of the wall and onto the top of the building. The musician pulled his headphone wearing acquaintance up onto the rooftop then looked down at the alley to see if they had been followed, Skye, the Master Chief Petty Officer ran to the intersection of the alley and the street, ordering groups of marines in each direction, she looked around in each direction looking for the most likely place for them to run then looks up to the rooftops. Klinghoffer drops to the floor and pushes Willow down with him, hoping to make sure they don't get caught, it would seem that they were in the clear when the musician peered over the edge of the roof there were no signs of any marines. He let out a loud sigh then laid down on the roof to relax, "Well Willow, it looks like we made a successful escape then but I can almost guarantee that we are going to run into those marine goons again one way or the other."

"So I guess as you can tell that I am a musician, I've been touring around the grand line and this is my latest stop, but 'tour' isn't really a good word for it. My funds kinda ran dry when I got here so I've just been working out of here" Klinghoffer explains as he lays down on the roof with his eyes staring up at the sky. The air was fresher than down below and the wind blew with more force down there, everything was rawer up here. The musician stood back up and began to run, he sprinted towards the opposite end of the rooftop and leapt off the side of it, landing on the next one over with a roll and standing up then taking a bow. "Now your turn, give it your best shot."

While they got to the alleyway, Klinghoffer came to realize just how little about him that Willow knew. So when they were at the ready, WIllow managed to wiggle about and get out of Klinghoffer's grasp, "I can climb just fine on my own thank you very much." He stated while Kling started to climb without trying to release Willow. Though when he hit the ground, the marines were passing by, something that made Willow jolt and jump up to start climbing the building faster!

He leapt up over the ledge and onto the roof top next to the spot where Klinghoffer would be landing, only to take in deep breaths and try to calm himself down while the Smooth Criminal spoke about who he was and why he was here. Willow thought about it and thought to give about as vague of a description as Klinghoffer had given.

"I'm not from around here normally--I've been traveling around the different blues lately and found my way here. I'm just searching around for the best place in the world to die right now." He stated in a matter-of-fact manner, just saying it so plainly while he looked up at the overcast sky, his breath visible in the air while he huffed out, thinking about just what he was doing here.

He was here for different reasons, but that was the main reason he was traveling, but Water 7 Specifically? That was something else. At least he was starting to make a connectionw ith someone, the first time in a long time, there was just something about Klinghoffer that let him feel like he could be trusted, as if that fortune he gave to SYlvester the other day was coming to fruition without him even realizing it.

Klinghoffer knew absolutely nothing about his new acquaintance besides his name, now he knew a little of his backstory, where he had been travelling from and his motive. It was a breath of fresh air to see someone so new to Water 7 around here, especially in the slums as newcomers usually stick to the more upmarket parts of the island like the business district. Many people that come to Water 7 are traders of some sort whether they be artisans, stall owners or even slave traders and those kinda people don't usually like to associate themselves with the lower society that dwells in the slums, unlike Klinghoffer who thrives in both the slums and the business district, the business district gives him the drive to pursue his dreams and the slums ground him and let him know who he is doing it for. The musician looked at Willow, he didn't seem like the kind of guy that would be a part of high society but he wasn't someone of low class, he wondered what Willow was even doing in the slums, whatever he was doing there it was none of the musicians concern as he had gigs to do.

"Look man, it was fun hanging out you and almost getting caught by an attractive marine officer and her squad of goons, in fact, it was quite refreshing to practice my sword skills on some actual people. So to you my friend, thank you." Klinghoffer said as genuinely as he could muster, "Buuuut, I do have shows to play at Funky G's Groove Central for the next three days, which means I have to bid you adieu. So if you want to hang out sometime you'll know where to find me, if you do go into Groove Central just ask someone for Funky G or myself, they'll point you in the right direction." The musician got up from where he laid and picked up his guitar then slung it over his shoulder onto his back, after he stood up he turned to Willow then paused for a minute. Klinghoffer gave him a tip of his imaginary hat then turned to the edge of the roof and descended back into the slums, that was the end of Klinghoffer's momentary meeting with another musical mind.

-Exit Klinghoffer-

Willow just stayed on the roof, looking up at the clouds while the cold air washed over him. The warmth of his body radiating out onto the roof he lie on, the heat starting to return to him as the equilibrium set in, keeping him somewhat comfortable. Or was that just the feeling going numb from just lying in the cold doing nothing? Didn't really matter either way though, Willow would be getting up shortly after Klinghoffer.

The guy was quick to leave, and with a tip on where he would be playing music for the next few days. Now why would someone with a wanted poster be doing something that got them so much publicity? he wanted to ask if Klinghoffer was a pirate, but the musician was already gone! That wasn't the big part of Willow's amazement though. What amazed the lad the most was how Klinghoffer was so undisturbed by what Willow wanted to do.

He could only smirk to himself and bring himself up to a cross-legged sitting position, grinning ear to ear at that point while he thought about it. This guy was interesting enough to Willow to make him consider a second encounter, a rare treat, he thought to himself.

But for now, it was time to duck away back into the slums. He had been hiding from that Johannes guy and the rest of his crew, now he had to hide away from marines while moving in and out of little alleyways. Oh how he wished to be off of this island soon.

Getting to his feet, he took in a deep breath and let it heave out into the air in front of him. Maybe it was the fortune-teller in him, but he could swear the breath on the air looked like a skull and cross bones. Interpreted to be a sign of adventure for some. Willow just wondered at the prospect and made his way off to where he could find a place to hide out while the heat died down, no pun intended.

[Exit Willow]