hiding

It's a damn Kingdom

"So... uh you're sure these aren't mammoths? They look a lot like mammoths." Ian had asked for about the fifth time.

He had been the unfortunate soul that was stuck riding the Juxuay (as the villagers apparently called it) with Jenex for the last hour. He was so focused on the fuzzy creatures, that he failed to notice the rest of the group playing a childish round of rock-paper-scissors for who would have to ride back to the village with the angry woman. By default of not participating, he lost.

"Are you hard of hearing, or just stupid?" Jenex had lost her patience with the boy long before she had even spoken to him, "It's a Juxuay. A JUXUAY."

"Aye boy, keep asking her the same question and she's bound to throw you off," Thatch called out from the Juxuay he was riding with another villiager, "Or better yet kill you."

"Better yet?" Ian felt insulted despite knowing he was joking.

"That's not a bad idea..." Jenex muttered lowly.

"No one is killing anyone." Rojin (they had later learned her name was) spoke up from the Juxuay in front of the group.

Ian let loose a small sigh of relief. Rojin appeared to be the complete opposite of Jenex. While Jenex was blunt, aggressive and quick to act; Rojin was calmer and more collected, more reasonable.

"Are the storms normally that bad?" Rakuyo looked towards Rojin.

"Only on occasion. That last storm was particularly bad though. We haven't had one that rough in a long time. We usually only experience a mild, to regular winter year-round."

"Not to sound like a prude darling, but I noticed your," Izo paused, trying to find the wording.

"We're what?" Jenex growled, rolling her eyes.

"Your all women." Izo glowered at her behavior, "Not that there's anything wrong with it mind you. But most kingdoms, villages, towns or whatever you prefer; their guards and soldiers are made up of men."

"Because women are the more superior..."

"Because that is who we had available to train." Rojin cut Jenex off, "Several, several years ago there was a war a few islands over. The World Government needed to grow their ranks and forced many of our men and boys to join. Anyone male over sixteen had to go."

"That's awful." Ian frowned in response.

"Our men, our king... they never returned. The queen led our people, women had to take up roles they didn't usually have. Over time some men have sailed to our island and stayed, and our younger ones grew up and married island women and produced children of our own. But our island is made up of women mostly because we had no choice."

"We can still kick your ass." Jenex smirked

The group fell into an awkward silence, unsure of how to carry on a conversation with each other while riding fuzzy elephant-like creatures. The storm had died down completely. Only light snowflakes fell from the sky.

The whitebeard pirates weren't sure what they had been expecting, but it wasn't exactly what lay before them. The "village" was now visible as they passed over the last snow-covered ridge. The town rested at the base of a mountain and was made up of well-constructed stone and wooden houses and shops. The face of the mountain was carved in a way that made it obvious it was a castle. The whole town and face of the mountain was surrounded by massive stone walls and gates. It stood out stunningly in the snow.

"Village my ass," Izo frowned, "This is a whole damn kingdom."

"You're not kidding." Thatch agreed.

As the group quickly approached the village, it became obvious how massive the walls were as they towered even higher than the juxuay.

Ian nearly fell of the Juxuay in surprise as Jenex let out an unexpected and strange shriek. The gates rumbled, shaking the ground. Hundreds of people made up of mostly women; lined the streets in excitement as they passed through.

The pirate group could feel all eyes on them as loud whispers spread through out the crowd of people while the Juxuay made their way down the streets. The town was much bigger in person than what it looked like from the ridge.

Reaching the face of the mountain, the Juxuays came to a stop, the women each silently sliding off the massive beasts with ease. The group gave each other strange looks of confusion before Thatch shrugged his shoulders, attempting to follow by example.

Ian couldn't help the burst of laughter as Thatch unceremoniously tumbled to the ground with a thud. Izo let out a snort at his ungraceful movements.

"You think that's so damn funny do you?" Thatch growled, picking himself off the ground, "I'd like to see you do better."

"Please," Rakuyo chuckled, "Those women already showed you they could!"

Izo, just like the women, slid off the Juxuay with an almost disturbing amount of grace. Rakuyo and Haruta followed after, landing without any trouble. Ian sighed, looking at the group before making his own attempt. It was an unbelievably bad attempt. Ian landed harshly on the ground almost as bad as Thatch did.

As soon as Ian stood up, he was met with a bow drawn towards his chest.

"What the hell?!" Jenex glared at him as he threw his hands up with surprise.

"Jenex!" Rojin hissed.

"What?" Jenex glared at her, "They're prisoners are they not? We should not be so relaxed around them now just because we are back in our territory."

"They are not prisoners." The men gave each other uneasy looks, "As of now they are our guests. Do you have any proof that they have done our village any wrong? Have they broken any rules?"

"Well no but..."

"Unless they have committed a crime, they are guests. We will approach the queen with the matter and let her decide."

Haruta and Rakuyo became aware of the crowd of villagers gathering nearby to watch them. Izo nudged Haruta forward, drawing his attention back forward as Rojin motioned for the group to enter through the massive doorway. Ian gave Haruta an unsure look as they all moved forward.