The heels of Stench’s boots scraped against the paved road as Kai kept walking, the teen walking with half-lidded eyes as he ignored the stares aimed his way as he walked down the street.  He ignored the whispers from the townsfolk of the blandly-named Port Town. “…nggghhhh.” He also ignored the unconscious groans of Patch…

Round Two wasn’t starting off the way he expected it.  The Grime Brothers didn’t stop their grossness with just their bodies, apparently. With the sludge coating their hands, they somehow managed to turn their stink factor up by at least twice. At least. “Stay!” Stench’s fist slammed down where he wasn’t, Kai hopping from spot…

There was no warm-up, no fancy stance or anything like that. He just surged forward with a straight shot, floorboards groaning as he threw a hammer fist aimed right at Patch’s ugly bearded face. Except Patch wasn’t there. Whoa. Kai’s knuckles hit nothing but dead air, the world tilting as the big man jumped back,…

It took almost a half day at that speed to get to the next major island. Well, “major” was doing a lot of heavy lifting. Port Town. That was the name on the map. Creative.  Kai slowed the Naruto down as the harbor came into view, the jet stream from the skiff’s stern ports dying…

I thought we already got this over with. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Kai adjusted his bucket hat, the frayed black cap almost falling off his head as Auntie Loa womanhandled his face again with all the love and care she could put into hands that could probably knock a grown man clean out. He knew…

“I… I…” The words were thick in his throat, a single syllable all he could get out. Like chewing down a bunch of old pork jerky with no water or mango juice to wash it down, his mouth was dry as it had ever been. “Is… is this for real? Nobody answered his question, so…

The water was red as he blinked down at it, so much thick surf lapping at his knees. Warm and heavy, it clung to his skin, the stench of copper and rot almost as thick as syrup. Bodies floated in it; face down, face up, and missing whole parts as they bobbed in the dying…

The grin on his face was as wide as it had ever been. Wide, hungry, and eager, it felt good on his face even as it stretched the scars on his left cheek tight, pulling at the tangle of his beard as it split to show teeth the color of old sailcloth. The smell of…

The morning of the Great Wave Festival started with all the noise in the world. A noise that shook him from his sleep and sent his butt tumbling off the bed, as a hundred shouts went up at once with the bang-bang-BANG of tin drums alongside them. Blue eyes blinked at the roof of his…