This city is inhabited entirely by bounty hunters working for Baroque Works, who capture any bounty heads that land here to help fund Baroque Works' missions. As such, the city doesn't have much treasure or supplies, as noted by Nami and Miss Monday. The citizens here fool pirates into thinking that they are kind and hospitable and proceed to throw a party for them, only to turn them in and steal everything from their ship when the pirates pass out.
After winning, of course who else would, GoGo claimed their prize money with a sleazy smirk, counting it from the man whom sweated profusely as the group neared. Her eyes tinged up to him, scanning his figure over. Middle aged. Bald. Not sexy in the slightest. Probably divorced among other things. She was. . uninterested in him, but if he could provide this much money. ."So. . my not so endowed friend. ." Having said this while rubbing up against him, her hand firmly rubbing his crotch in obvious disappointment. A sad man all around. ". How did you get all this money in the first place? Perhaps swindled some pretty little thing like me?"
Face sweating, eyes looking down to the body so close. She smelled of lavender and honey, looked like something off those wanted posters, and her smile was to die for. If only he knew that was what he was getting himself into. ". . I-Er. .I just work for a organization that supplies me with the funds for the race. . I myself don't have much. ." Her frown was absolutely dreadful. The look in her eye, maniacal and her curves were undoubtedly edged. "Useless are you. . That's unfortunate. . " A sway of the hips and she tossed the sack of money onto the ships deck while climbing up, eyes turning back to look to the man as she did so. "Pardon, my love doesn't like when men flirt with me. I'm sorry for whatever befalls you." His death would be sound and GoGo would snicker at the sounds of the ensuing pain.
She'd pilot them to a nearby island thereafter. A place, from her understanding, where a bunch of bounty hunters stayed. Sounds like a lovely location for them to make home for the time being. After they finally docked, GoGo smiled to both Galand and Goldi. "This spot is supposed to be a place where big wig hunters run amuck. I think it's a good enough area for you two to blow off some steam." Being cooped up for too long never boded well for either of them, especially Galand. Being around two beautiful women with no way to relieve stress - well, that Goldi would allow, meant he was fuming most of the time. If it wasn't ********, fighting was the next best trick.
Her long legs carried her across the area first, humming as both hands laid behind her back to a bar where a few patrons were going in and out. She made sure to be ahead of the two others, so the stage could be set. Tossing the doors to the side, the eyes of all the dirty hunters met her form. Curvaceous. Fit. Long legs, thick thighs, wide hips, juicy bountiful backside and a lovely bust to match it all. They couldn't help but stare and as she came in to a halt, her a** plopped down on a seat before looking to the bartender. "Hardest drink in the biggest glass you can offer." Pour on the innuendos to reel em in then wait for em to take the bait. She'd done this some many times it was child's play at this point.
They all stared as the drink was brought and she gulped it down easily, tongue sliding out to get the foam from about her mouth as some of the alcohol drizzled down to her chest. Hook. Line. Sinker. "Aye, lass, you comin' in here lookin' like you need some attention. " One of the bargoer's said, a group of them rising up around her. Course, her loving smile was the response, looking them over. A hand grasping one of them by the belt and bringing him to her, hand running up his backside. "I got a real bad itch that needs to be scratched boys. . but . . I've got a problem. ." A foot rose, kicking the man away as her eyes watered, looking like tears. The men, of course, swayed to her ruse. "These two mean pirates won't leave me be! They've been chasing me all around, tryin' to take my dear sweet chastity from me! W-Whoever can stop them will be my hero and I'll be sure to reward you. . with whatever you desire. ." Heart eyes filled the room, they all turned to look for these evil pirates who would do such a thing to this fair maiden.
Her body would turn, looking to the door as Galand and Goldi came in. "There they are! Stop them! Oh god please!" Eyes lit up with a flare of excitement to see the bloodbath that would ensue.
STR 00 || SPD 05 || END 05 || PRW 15 || INT 00 DEX 20 || HP 100 || SPI 20
[ Galand still hadn’t completely recovered from the group’s time at the race. He goes to nap just a small bit, and the girls have the ship jumping and leaping around at top speed in the middle of some god forsaken pirate race! He hangs over the crow’s nest bored as humanly possible, peering down at the girls below. “Oiiii… Let’s find somewhere interesting to dock already. I’m at wits end, you know? Lemme stretch my arms.” he almost whines. Sure enough, the next place they pull up to is one where they’d be able to have one hell of a good time, according to GoGo. An island of hunters, is it? Bounty Hunters, in other words. As the ship slowly pulls up to the island, a fire almost lights in the previously apathetic man’s chest. He leaps down from the crow’s nest with fervor and lands in a crouch. “Now we’re talkin’! I woulda died if I didn’t get to use this another day later!” he roars out, hoisting his sheathed greatsword over his shoulder.
After standing up tall he pats Goldi on the back and follows after GoGo carelessly. Though something did seem weird. The pink haired woman seems to be walking rather fast all things considered. It’s almost like she’s the one most excited to be here. Unbeknownst to her machinations, he walks behind blindly, arrogantly, giving any and everyone he passes by a confident smirk. He’s hoping, waiting for one of them to take offense to his glares, and lash out. But for now, they all seem rather tame. Eventually he notices GoGo stepping into a bar over yonder. He’d look over to Goldi, a bit confused, but then turn back just assuming the woman must want a good drink. They had been on those god forsaken waters for days on end since the race. “Guess she couldn’t wait to get her throat wet, Grahahaha! She should have just said she wanted a damned drink!” he says aloud, garnering the attention of a few people around the place. Without much further ado, he bursts inside the bar, still holding his weapon over his shoulder.
He expected to come in and have a good time, get a few drinks with the girls, and party for a while. But instead he’s greeted with the death glares of the bargoers...and GoGo screaming something off the flipping wall. “...Stop them? Woman, you’ve been in here for all of two minutes. What trouble have you-” Smack. One of the random guys lusting for the pink haired woman’s attention sends his fist going across the large man’s face. Galand remains facing to the side, his relaxed expression replace with a more serious one now. “Oi. You saw that right, Gold. He swung first, yeah?” he replies, slowly turning his face back towards the puzzled man, whose wondering why his blow didn’t seem to do all that much. Galand lifts his sheathed weapon directly up towards the ceiling, before swinging it down with rage. A vein pulses between his eyes as the weapon collides with the man’s shoulder. Immediately he falls to his knees from impact as his left half hangs slump and loose, clearly broken. “If you’re gonna come at me, you better be damn ready to kick the bucket! C’mon!” ]
Traits: Rokushiki x Primary Weapon: Sword | Perk: Perseverance | Alliance: Pirate | Fruit: Quake | Word Count: 440
What rose to shore hand been a lone woman who'd seemingly been levitating across the waves. However, upon further inspection one could see the numerous body parts lazily stitched together by dark threading to form a makeshift raft.
The end of the race signaled the call for prizes. However, when the group reached shore and approached the man holding the money, she'd been told about a particular set of rules and regulations, the primary issue being that she herself hadn't entered but rather the Captain whose ship they had stolen. After a small talk along with a few broken fingers and some cracked ribs the proprietor of the prize money was more than happy to fork over their hard earned Beli. Though most of that aggression derived from her jealousy when GoGo felt him up, despite how pathetic a man he was. GoGo had retrieved it and begun counting it to make sure they weren't being swindled.
After looking the man up and down one last time, Goldi saw no point in killing him as she'd be showing him mercy. It was more fun to leave him alive so he'd have to live with his ugly.
So the group sauntered off and toured the peak, GoGo taking the lead as they sought out a tavern to enjoy their time. The pinkette still had drugs stashed away for a more private party later on in the evening but for now she needed to retrieve her buzz from the bottom of a mug. With her sober state returning combined with Galand's whining, the scar-faced pirate could feel her mild annoyance slowly shifting into explosive rage; though that wasn't a difficult state to achieve with her."Aye, shut it, will yeh? Sweetcheeks here is gunna find us a nice place tah get shitfaced. Yer givin' me a ********' migraine."She rubbed her temples, the actual migraine being more so from the alcohol than anything else but she figured more booze would help get rid of it.
Goldi followed behind the pair sluggishly, almost staggering behind. Her posture was slumped and hunched over, she looked weary and ragged as if she'd been hungover. The woman operated on booze, it was her life blood, without it she may as well have been bound in sea stone and thrown into the ocean.
Addiction at its finest.
She perked up at the sights of a tavern, though by now GoGo would have already vanished inside to make her pleading ploy to the patrons and mercenaries within. She'd drag herself inside, listless, half-lidded orbs tracing the bar as the fight had already been initiated by the hands of GoGo and one of them men had struck Galand in the face."Eh?"She mumbled incoherently as she peered over to Galand, asking if she'd seen that. Her lashes simply batted, her lips pursed and poked out childishly, uncaring; her tank was on empty.
With an ear piercing holler it appeared that Galand had dealt with his attacker. The other men stood up abruptly, weapons drawn whether they were at their waist or makeshift from their seats at their respective tables. Murmurs of the man being a huge problem rose and that they would probably have an easier time taking out that lanky woman; that she didn't look like much. A man hastily approached from behind, slamming a half-empty mug over the spaced out pirate's head. A loud crack sounded, matching the chime of shattering glass. However, Goldi just stood there, her body still hunched. It wasn't until her tongue swiped across her lips to catch remnants of blood and beer that she finally stood upright.
A dark steam permeated and then coalesced around her body. An evil aura that froze the man right where he was behind him."Hey...boy...did you just waste good booze?"She questioned plainly as all fell silent. She shot him a gaze over her shoulder, piercing blues gleaming like frozen gems, her face masked in darkness and hair. Lines of hatred traced the air as from one moment she stood, her back to him, and the next, in the blink of an eye, she had the man's entire face inside of her palm. With all of her might she drew her arm back, stomped forward with her dominant leg, and catapulted him through so hard, so fast, that his body blurred as he was sent through the wall of the shack like an arrow nearly a quarter mile through town and into the sea.
Goldi turned around with fire in her eyes and a mug in her hand that she'd swiped from the table beside her. She downed its contents with several deep gulps, loudly belched, and turned to both Galand and GoGo with a wicked smirk; her hair still damp with ale."Alright! These ******** have no respect for the drink. Aye, Galand. Yah look like you can use a bit'a exercise; don't needja becomin' a goddamned beached whale on meh! So let's take their s**t and then burn this b***h to the ground, huh?!"The woman returned to her usual aggressive state; all it took was a bit of booze to get her going again.
Her gaze that turned to GoGo, the agitator of this fire."As for you woman, I'll deal with yer a** later."Her voice rough and raspy as another man gained the courage to come at her from the side. Goldi lifted up a stool with her foot and swung it out, breaking it over the man's torso as the impact of her leg sent him careening through another part of the wall; the man-sized hole a foot apart from its counterpart. She then turned back to her companions. "Whatcha waitin' on? Let's <********> this place up!"
They were all so easy to use and manipulate. To pluck and pull their strings like puppets to her play - amusement ran across her face as Galand was struck. "Oh dear! Be careful! They're both very strong and I'd hate to see you brave men hurt!" A glass waving in the air as she spoke, her hand covering the edges of her mouth with an evil conniving smile right after. Woe was she to be dealt the hand of being so beautiful and have to deal with so much chaos. Alas, she'd take it in stride with mixed emotions. As the ruckus spread throughout the place and Goldi having finally taken notice of her antic's, Gyui merely turned her head with a coy smirk. "I have no idea what you're talkin' about, pirate-chan~" A melody of honey dripping about as the bar fell to nothing but debris - one of the men, seeing how powerful the pirates were, ran over to grab GoGo by the hand. Probably trying to flee. A foolish mistake. "Ma'am! W-We have to leave! They're too power. .ful. . Ack. ." Slowly his words stop as frost spread over him from where he gripped the young pirate, an angered expression on her face. "WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO TOUCH ME FILTHY SCUM!? ONLY GOLDI-SAMA HAS THE RIGHT!"
An arm reached out and pierced straight through the fellow, shattering him in a single go as a huffed pinkette came to her feet, brushing herself off. Finishing the last of her drink and hearing her captain's command, ice spread throughout whiskey peak in a flash, completely freezing over several other bounty hunters trying to flee. They were all met with a swift end. An easy enough day, the place was left in ruins once it was all said and done.
Yawning to herself, GoGo placed the bag of loot from the area over her shoulder while walking along to their boat and their next destination. ". Hm. . . There's a few islands in Paradise we could hit before we leave. Let's do some sight seeing!" Excitedly she spoke, hands rising in the air while looking to the other two beside her, a cat grinned stretching as she cuddled up to Galand, rubbing his chest with one arm. "Then maybe we can all get us a nice room and. ." Oh. . She was whispering in his ear and saying some nasty things.
STR 00 || SPD 05 || END 05 || PRW 15 || INT 00 DEX 20 || HP 100 || SPI 20
[ It had been a few days since their time in that silly town with the even more silly people. They had committed so many crimes. From following the whimsical machinations of Gogo’s deceptions, to attacking the crew, but worst all they dared to retaliate and fight back. But through it all, Galand was able to have his fill of fun. Even now, days later, he playfully moves about the ship, exercising his body every chance he gets. For example, currently he hangs from the crow’s nest doing sit ups, somewhere in the two thousands. With a large grim across his mug, he looks down at the crew ambitiously. For him, someone betrayed by the World Government, they are his most important people. He wasn’t sure about them before, but having spent all this time with them, he’s grown attached in a way.
“Yo, Gogo! Gold! I just! Thought of! Something fun!” he calls out in the middle of his sit ups, beat by beat trying to spit out words where he can.
After finishing up, he lets himself fall backwards, and spins a few times before landing in a crouch. He stands up tall, wiping his face over with a small towel. “Next island should be coming up soon, yeah? Let’s make a game out of it this time.” he starts, letting the towel rest around his neck while he walks closer. “The Marines… I think their reach here might be lax. I think we should see just how far we can go before they come running to stop us. Test the limits of their patience. We pile up enough bodies, and they should come right to us, and if not…” he’d finish by wiping a thumb across his neck. ]
Traits: Primary Weapon: Sword x Rokushiki x Life Return | Perk: Perseverance | Alliance: Pirate | Fruit: Quake |
When it came to GoGo, admittedly Goldi had a bit of a jealous streak. Sure, she had her small harem of cabin wenches, the good times spent with them were usually with the pinkette whom she'd met first. Of course, they weren't simply for her to enjoy but she did have control over them given their love for their self-proclaimed captain. However, when Galand came into the mix the woman was confused. She didn't like sharing GoGo but she wasn't entirely against it either?
As far as she was concerned, Galand was the only one who could challenge her authority. Ever since Hoaknoton Town the pair had squared off a number of times. Her darkness versus his tremors and each time they couldn't decide on a clear victor. She respected him but she wouldn't necessarily listen to him, and vice-versa; however, she was the one with the biggest mouth so she was often seen as the strategist.
Their days were filled with debauchery and destruction. They had leveled Whiskey Peak, rather, pillaged and plundered, plucking what they could from the establishments they'd dismantled. Honestly, they'd done it to gain the attention of the Marines so at least they would have a challenge but unfortunately no one had come for them.
Had they all been preoccupied in the Blues? Or were they just too cowardly to come after them.
After a long night Goldi headed out barefoot onto the deck where Galand had stationed himself. Her body adorned in a lavender silk robe, tied at the waist yet still uncaringly open enough to allow her body to breath in the salty sea air. A lit cigar between her lips, her curled her a bit of a windswept mess as she'd lean over the polished railing and stare out to sea where the next island was finally in sight."Some fun?"The woman perked up to Galand's words, listening to his proposal. Perhaps they could make a little game of this. If they caused enough mayhem then maybe they could garner some attention from those all righteous assholes."So we take the kiddie glove off then. We start destroyin' whole villages instead'a just raidin'em. Hell, maybe we can conquer a row or two while we're at it. Sounds like fun tah me."She took a drag of her cigar and exhaled the ashen smog into the air before.
A cold smirk stretching across her lips as she peered back over to Galand, sapphires shimmering as she schemed."Let's make it even more spicy. We leave some folk leftover. Make the place our home fer the day. Let 'em know who did this to 'em. They tell the boys in blue when we leave and then we got ourselves a nice lit'l game'a Cat n' Mouse on our hands; kick those lazy arses in tah gear, yeh?"The amazon took one last drag before flicking the half smoked cigar into the ocean. A snicker escaped her lips, huffs off smoking following right after as she turned away to see if GoGo was still sleeping in. Hopefully she didn't freeze another one of Goldi's wenches in her sleep again.
Maybe she could have a round with her before they hit land; that is, if she wasn't cranky and hungover. Those mood swings were frightening.
WORDS
Words: 550 Cash Flow: 5,500 Total Bank: 71,620 Posting History: [ x ]
QUOTES
Deecee Sama
North Lotus
Master Cliff Fate
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2018 3:31 pm
Vot arrived in Whiskey peak to help reparation efforts. The city had been laid low by a group of pirates, and normally Vot would not be able to enter the grand line. However, with the clearance given to him by one of the higher ups; Vottie was able to enter the grand line and make his way to the mercenary city. This would not settle well with the undead marine, having to help mercenaries. People who were no better than pirates and were probably even worse. Pirates? You could guess what they would do, they would steal, loot, and pillage. But a merc? They might act altruistic one moment then turn around and stab you in the back the next. They were truly scum. But orders were orders. Vot'gul was not one to deny aid when explicitly told to help. Even if he wanted to. It would be better to allow these degenerate vermin to rest in the squalor that they so humbly deserve. Disgusting hedonists with no morals, not even codes of honor. They would sell their own mothers if it meant making a quick beli. He received several stares as he marched through the town, helping pick up rubble or rescue someone where needed. They were tense around a marine, understandably, but they were also keeping tabs on him. You know, in case they could isolate him and capture him. The cartel would pay a pretty penny for a marine, dead or alive. Not that Vottie was all too worried about being dead. He had clearly died once before. Death couldn't really be that bad, especially considering as a zombie he really didn't feel much of anything. Death would likely be just like existence in this case. He sighed as he grabbed a hammer and helped nail a board back up to a wall. With tool in hand, Vot went to work. He started to put a building back together, having some experience with tools. Using that experience, Vottie hammered pillars to beams, sills to windows, and soffits back to their respective roofs. He would do this for several hours before finding a local blacksmith and asking to use his smithy. With permission granted, Vot'gul would go about making tools and parts to help the repair efforts. He used what ever scrap he could get his hands on as he hammered out nails, hinges, and the blunt instruments needed to put one wooden board to another. Of course, he would take requests from those going about to help as well. Be it anything from a hammer to a pair of shears. Whatever was necessary, he was willing to brave the heat of the forge to make. With coals were burning nearly white hot, the perfect temperature, as he worked. Only occasionally between hammering and tempering the iron he was working with to work the billows. This was easy work for an undead, neither feeling exhaustion or the heat of the flames. Fatigue did little to slow his efforts.
Having received instructions through the Den Den Mushi she carried, meant to be used in emergencies only, the wolf eared girl made way to the port of the island she had been previously and left, making way to the nearest base of the Marine in the West Blue. There she received further instructions and was pretty much thrown into a ship that would sail into the Grand Line. The higher ups were ordering everyone, regardless of how low their rank was, to go on a voluntary mission and repair the damage caused by criminals in the immediate area of the Grand Line's Paradise's entrance, the Reverse Mountain and the islands within a predetermined radius. They were all targeted by accursed villains who destroyed, looted and pillaged as they desired. Or so she was told. Because she was pretty much forced into that, she made herself the favor of ignoring the excessively long speech given by the commanding officer of the base. Unfortunately, she could not ignore the task given to her. As a mere chore girl, Lyre would have to do manual labor while the officers would probably boss people around.
Once the ship left the island of the West Blue that was closest to the entrance of the Grand Line, after restocking their supplies, it sailed up the violent current of the Reverse Mountain, on a river so long and that flowed in reverse, giving the mountain such a name because of that, that gave one the idea that they would reach a holy land upon reaching the summit. Reality was not so kind though. As they neared the peak of the mountain, the waters grew even more turbulent, rocking the ship violently. The lower ranked and inexperienced marines feared the worst, while the more experienced ones knew that such a thing was normal. Before long the ship made a sharp turn that seemed impossible given its size, and the turbulence stopped. Instead, they felt the ship sail faster. Not because of the wind but because they were no longer ascending. They entered the fifth river that flowed on the Reverse Mountain, the only one that flowed normally. Because of how steep the mountain was, the ship quickly gained speed and reached the base of the mountain, where the river met with the waters of the Grand Line, in a very short time frame. A huge splash was made when the ship returned to sea level.
Having slowed down, the ship made its way to the capes, the Twin Capes where two lighthouses stood. Half of the manpower would be left in one area, to repair the first lighthouse and clean up the debris, while the other half was left in charge of the second. One could argue that it would be faster to use the entire troop to fix one area and then move on to the next but, that was not true at all. There were simply too many people on the ship, to the point that it would be too crowded for them to work in such a confined space as a lighthouse. Yet the culprits for the destruction were still around. Nuisances. Apparently one of them was an admiral or something of the sort and hindered any attempts to reconstruct the building that had been destroyed. One could wonder why he had yet to arrest the criminal but not a single soul seemed to voice those words, out of fear since they could be punished unjustly. And so they were forced to head to the next area, Whiskey Peak, that had not only been destroyed but was also raided by criminals. For some reason it seemed that the higher ups were slacking in the Grand Line, not doing their duties and simply sending the lower ranked ones to revert the damage caused. Or taking their sweet time to capture criminals, instead of doing it swiftly and efficiently. As a slacker herself, Lyre could not say she condemned their actions in the truest sense but still felt a certain dislike towards it.
Upon arriving at Cactus Island's Whiskey Peak, the ship donning the colors of the Marine was docked at the port. Given the previous incident at the entrance of the Grand Line, the ship's commander sent a scout beforehand to check if there was no other hindrance to the mission they were given. Once confirmation that there was nothing of the sort, the order to into town to assist the populace was given. They were to restore all of the damage caused by the criminals and make a detailed report on the goods that were stolen. That was needed to ensure them that the Marine and the World Government would return their lost possessions or, at least, reimburse them. A way for them to think of the World Government as caring and understanding. Making them a better option when compared to pirates, even those who called themselves protectors of some areas.
With a good lip service, Lyre was able to take the job of working on reports regarding the stolen goods and general damage caused, rather than manual labor as it would have been at the lighthouse. The girl went from the port to the destroyed areas, interviewing the citizens of Whiskey Peak. Some reported the loss of fortunes while others were modest and answered honestly. A behavior that could be found anywhere in the world. After a couple of hours, Lyre returned to the ship, exhausted, and carried heavy notebooks she used to record the details of the damage done to Whiskey Peak. She did not even have the opportunity to take a break and drink something in a bar, due to the enormous amount of reports she had to record. Once she was done, Lyre also ended up having to assist in the transportation of materials to be used in the reconstruction. By the end of the day, she was exhausted in her cabin on the ship. But the mission was far from being over, there were more places in need of assistance and the ship would depart by dawn.
[Exit to Little Garden]
Word Count: 1,017/1,000 - Major Reconstruction and Reimbursement Complete
Samael of Light generated a random number between
25 and 75 ...
66!
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 8:20 pm
[Reconstruction Roll]
Samael of Light
Hunter
Offline
Samael of Light generated a random number between
50 and 100 ...
92!
Samael of Light
Hunter
Offline
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 8:21 pm
[Reimbursement Roll]
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 9:02 pm
XXXBack at Little Garden..
Perhaps Astraea shouldn't even have been surprised. There was no way she'd been able to have anything close to resembling a peaceful day gardening on such a horrible island. Her guard was up, of course, especially considering what had occurred on the last island she had stopped at, so when she felt the tremors she simply looked up from the tree she was replanted, a tired expression on her face as she sighed. Of course she should have expected interference on an island as infamous as this. Standing up she bring her hands together, brushing the dirt off them and reaching for her sword. "Don't worry, I g-" Ah, and there went her daughter kicking the poor reptile into oblivion. It was a circle of irony considering they were here to repair the island for the creatures that inhabited it, but they couldn't finish their work without fighting back the very animals they were trying to help. Still, despite the smallest twinge of guilt upon seeing the dinosaur like thing being thoroughly taken care of, Raea couldn't help but be proud of how strong Eve was. It warmed her heart to see how much she had grown in the years they hadn't seen each other, and considering that she was still young, the woman knew she would only improve.
Seeing another one of the "monsters" - though weren't they the real monsters here? - come up behind Eve, and as she opening up her mouth to call out to here there went... the civilian?! And just like the first creature, this dino was hammered away, and Astraea watched with wide eyes as it sailed through the air and into the sea. Why were these two so strong?! Shaking her head she,had to laugh, giving the two a thumbs up as they returned. "Excellent work." She'd ruffle Evelyn's hair as she got closer, then turned to Bo with a smile. "Good looking out, ma'am. I appreciate it. And I have to say, I'm quite surprised at how powerful you and that hammer are! We're lucky to have you along with us." And speaking of people along with them.. Where the hell was Shinra?!
As if on cue the young man dropped beside them as they were heading back to the ship, causing Astraea to pause and stare at him. No sweat, no dirt... Barely even any sand on his clothes! "Oi.. Were you just.. napping this whole time again...?" Recovering from a wound she could understand, but the trip to the Grand Line had taken quite a while. The Marine took a single slow step forward toward her lazy partner, a shadow cast over her eyes. "Shinra, c'mere. I just want to talk to you for a minute.." She'd continue her slow advance toward him, a menacing aura about her as she approached, despite the fact that she was quite a bit shorter. "Let's see how well your wound has healed.." Lifting her head up, her eyes twinkled brightly, a smile on her face, still exuding the same chaotic energy...
At Whiskey Peak...
The major epicenter of all the destruction was what had once been a shitty mercenary bar. It seemed some Marines had been there before them and had started patching things up and gathering lists of what had been taken. Truthfully it was only because it was a part of her job that she stepped through the wreckage of the former bar to speak to the mercs. She'd never liked or trusted them, especially when they'd be just as happy to nab a Marine as they would a wanted pirate. Still, one immediate thing that caught her eye was.. ice sculptures? Confused, she'd walked on through, ignoring those gathered for drinks for a moment. As she got closer though, the morbid details of what she was looking at clicked, and she stepped back in surprise with wide eyes.
"Oh yeah, sugar, those guys are real ********' dead." Raea turned her head to look at the woman speaking to her, a mug in her hand. "By the time we realized we could defrost the poor bastards it was way too late. So now they're pieces of art I suppose. Byohohoho!" There was no remorse in her words, and the mercenary looked more concerned about picking the shells away from some peanuts than she dead about the icy coffins they kept around. "Real ********' scary group that did all this though, miss Marine~. Gave me some real nasty scars." This prompted the man beside her to speak up, though previously he'd had his head down at the hastily reconstructed bar, and Raea had thought he'd been fast asleep. "You talkin' about those crazy bitches again? Swear on my life one of 'em was twelve feet tall."
The woman rolled her eyes, throwing her peanut shells at him. "They were like eight feet tall at the most, you loon. Strange trio. One of 'em froze those idiots over there of course. The other b***h was.. hm. What would you say, Vin? Dark? Byohohoho!" Again she'd take a swig from her mug, happy to give just enough details to interest the woman, but not enough to paint any full picture. "Third one.. s**t. Strongest ********' earthquake I've ever felt."
And with that it seemed that she had managed to capture the Marine's interested, considering how quick she was to halt her note taking and glare up at her. "..Earthquake..?" With a smirk, the mercenary waved her hand lazily, swishing the alcohol in her mug. "Oh yeah, honeybun. But the details are starting to get foggy~. If only something could jog my memory~." Removing her Clima-Tact, Astraea gave the woman the faintest of smiles, her eyes burning with a look the merc knew well: murderous intent. "How about I get your drinks cold again, and you tell me what you know?" Bursting into cacophonous laughter, the woman smacked Raea on the back. "Now, there's a ********' idea!"
「003 STR | 010 PRW | 005 DEF | 005 SPD | 003 STA | 004 VIT」
A huge roar came from behind Evelyn as she watched the larger woman, whom she had met earlier, launch herself at the creature with immense power. She slammed into its jaw with her hammer, sending it flying away. Evelyn scratched her head, "Wooooowww! Thanks a bunch! That's some power you got there, huh?"
She rested her hands on her hips and jogged back over to the crew. Astraea once again ruffled her head and thanked the other woman for her service. Evelyn tapped her boots to put out some embers still lingering and picked up the few items she had cast aside to do ward off the beast. Shinra dropped from the ship and Astraea went into full mom mode. Evelyn froze and took a couple of steps back in order to see this pan out.
"Oi.. Were you just... napping this whole time again...?"
Again?! Shinra has done this multiple times!
"Shinra, c'mere. I just want to talk to you for a minute.."
Oh no. Evelyn knew this stance all too well. Astraea was known for her specialty discipline style, which consisted primarily of sleeper holds. It was quite scary, especially since Evelyn had been on the receiving end of most of them. She simply watched as Astraea slowly crept towards Shinra, trying not to die of laughter. The look of fear on his face was reminiscent of hers when Astraea had unleashed her fury upon her for the first time Oh, this would be good...
Whiskey Peak
The ride over was not as long, though Evelyn had slept for most of it anyways. She was pretty tired after all the work done at Little Garden. Once they docked on the island, Evelyn opted to go with Astraea for the time being until something else caught her attention. Evelyn trailed behind Astraea as she walked into the destroyed bar. Taking notice of ice sculptures, she halted and examined them further.....frozen people? It was a horrifying sight to see and Evelyn clenched her fist, wondering who could do such a horrifying deed? How vile could one possibly need to be? As she watched Astraea refill the drinks, Evelyn exited the bar and went for a walk to clear her head. There weren't many places she could go and she didn't want to travel too far away, so she decided on a circuit that would bring her back within minutes. The destruction spread quite far, extending even quite past the town itself.
Memories flickered in her mind as she reflected on the cause of destruction. A man. Armor. Astraea. And her, as a child. Everything was so unclear and she didn't understand at all. Why? Why was this in her head? She leaned against a wall and collected herself as her mind became a maelstrom of thoughts and memories. Scenes of what might have been the past were fuzzy but a name kept coming back. Galand. Who was that? Who was Galand? She had never met anyone named Galand. What was going on? Evelyn groaned as her head pulsed, pain coursed through her mind as everything came in all at once. Were these hers or someone else's. Oddly enough, Evelyn always felt as if there were blank spots in her memory. She didn't remember getting stranded at Hoaknoton Town. She was just there.
By this point, Evelyn had been pushed to the brink of tears. They welled up and rolled down her face as she clutched her chest, hyperventilating due to the sheer influx of memories and voices collectively speaking in her head. It was overwhelming, like being swept away by the sea and drowning. She didn't know what to do, it was too much to handle. Evelyn tried to assemble a fraction of a coherent thought, but it was blasted away by a new memory or thought every time. She fell to her knees, the wave of voices echoing and rebounding, filling her, searing themselves into her very being. Her hands grabbed at her head, covering her ears as if it would halt the noise. Whispers came in droves, their volume increasing more and more over time. It was all incoherent, only a few select items made sense, overlapping everything else.
Her hands lifted off her head and she stood. She wasn't the same anymore. She wasn't whole, or whatever she was before. She had a void, something missing. Something taken from her that she had to reclaim. She had a name and to her, that was all she really needed. Because she was going to get it back. Not just for her. But for Astraea.
All was well once more. The threat had been neutralized and the group had been able to fix everything up without further interruption. Bo set her hammer behind her, rubbing the back of her head with a bashful grin from Astraea's words,"Aww t'was nothin'. A gal's gotta now tah defend herself amirite?"Bo waved off casually, setting her hands to her hips before the lot of them got back to work. Though, during that whole exchange she didn't really see that droopy eyed man anywhere. When she thought about it her face twisted up into a mild scowl and followed by a shake of disapproval."That boy is about as useful as a steerin' wheel on a mule."She muttered. After shrugging her shoulders Bo sauntered off to finish repairs up.
-------
Once they were back out at sea the woman had a bit of time to herself to think. She hadn't been sure how many people were on this ship so she either kept to herself or stuck with familiar faces. It wasn't that she didn't like people, her homegrown self just hadn't developed much in the ways of common social skills. Bo was a well-mannered woman and could carry on a conversation with people she found enjoyable, but large crowds made her nervous. Being the long civilian on a ship of Marines would attest to that.
It made her remember just how different she and her older sister were. One Beauregard Mariabelle Vines. A southern belle. A fashionista extraordinaire. A real rich b***h who would came near shovel or dirt with a ten foot pole. Polar opposites the two of them, sister who could never really see eye to eye on anything. Clothes, food, boys, the last of which Beau tended to nab from her mostly out of spite. Bo gained the best traits from their father, while her sister inherited the worst from their mother. A single thought crossed her mind when that woman came to mind.
Even swearing mentally caused her to apologize in her head immediately after, unable to contain herself when truly irked.
She stared out to sea. Her mind blank, her thoughts wandering. Bo felt homesick, she couldn't remember how long she'd been away from the farm given her trip to Lyneel was extensive enough just getting there. Her family. Her farm. Her friends, He--*RRRRAAAUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!* Bo's head immediately snapped to the sky but all she saw were the gulls soaring on by, their caws fading in the breeze. The hairs on her neck were risen, goosebumps littered her body, and her heart hammered violently against her chest.
There was nothing there.
When realizing her state of sudden shock and fright her confusion immediately quelled it. She cooed. Hazel hues panned down to a resting arm on the arm as a she quizzically brushed a palm over it. There was a brief feeling of lethargy as shook it off.
What was that roar? It sounded so angry. So familiar.
Without a chance for a full reflection someone had called out land ho upon arriving to the next island. When they got off the group seemingly split off in different directions but aside from scattered and hidden kids and some adults, the place had been all but wiped from the map of Atlas entirely. Bo did what she could to help in the repairs while the others did the same whilst gathering intelligence on those responsible. There were areas layered in thick sheets of ice, others were quaked apart, while some looked as though fractions of them had been erased from existence entirely. She couldn't even fathom what type of catastrophe could've caused all of this, she'd never seen anything like it; not to her knowledge anyway.
Bo could hear the talks amongst the people. Some spoke of pirates, others of devils but no one seemed truly certain. The country minotaur had known how extraordinary people could be but for a small group to be capable of such widespread ruin was frightful. Chaos like this made that motley crew sound colder than a well digger's butt in January. It was a wonder how anyone had survived at all.
Those that needed their wounds tended to she'd help patch up along with the Marines present. Those that needed clothing and food she'd provide. Bo was a pretty decent cook, at least she believed it so. Amidst all of this she'd take a gander around her to visually check up on the others. Her eyes fell upon that Evelyn girl from before but somehow she seemed different—as if she wasn't all there. Bo's head craned to the side but from seeing the scowl on the girl's face she thought it best to just leave her be for now. It was safe to assume that she was just as upset with the state of this place as much as most of the Marines were.
Bo mostly kept to herself, giving aid to those who required it while also trying to see if she could spot that droopy eyed boy again or if he'd just been lazing about.
WORDS
Words: 850/850 Major Reconstruction/Reimbursement Cash Flow: 8,500 Total Bank: 108,370 Posting History: [ x ]
After the brief appearance of a knighted individual, they parted ways as he went off to face the bigger threat head on. the archer and the lady were once again on the move to aid in the war effort. Only this time they were accompanied by a third member. A woman who'd been relieving tension on the other islands. He'd give a friendly bow to her, asking her name seeing as how Masae had already introduced them."It is a pleasure to have you with us."He'd greet, the ship arriving to their destination though it seemed that another group of soldiers had already begun making their rounds.
They'd get off of the ship though off in the distance was view of another island. One clearly more active with all of its thunderous booms and ongoing wreckage. It was sage to assume that the island was one of the war zones too volatile for them to enter without a major amongst their ranks.
Was this something that Marines were always tasked to do at this rank? Damage control? To Azusa it made perfect sense, yet at the same time he hadn't seen any large ships setting sail to actually deal with the problem, though he could've been mistaken. With a sigh he got to work. This area didn't have many inhabitants. Those that were civilians of these parts had homes made of adobe and even most of them were nothing more than broken piles of clay and rock. The land was humid and filled with wildlife the deeper they went.
Among others, Azusa, to help rebuild the destroyed homes without over heating, casually removed his shirt, folding and setting it off to the side to prevent it form getting dirty. He didn't mind the sun nor the sweat. The warmth that struck his back was actually quite pleasing for all but ten minutes. Still, this wasn't anything new to him. As the sun beat down he'd wipe the sweat from his brow, occasionally picking up a damp cloth to dab the dirt from his well-toned person. Despite his rank he'd call out instruction to his fellow Marines as to where things were suppose to go; this wasn't his first time building homes. His Wanosian roots ran deep, masked in pain and unknown lore that made him the man he was today.
Just how much longer before the rows had been repaired? The man felt antsy, uneasy, not by their work, but because he felt as if he hadn't been contributing enough to make an actual impact. Azusa was on a time frame that no one knew about; but flying under the radar while simultaneously attempting to gain a relevant position with the World Government were two highly contrasting goals. However, there was a thing gray line that he tiptoed along. If he could keep his balance then his plan just make end up being a success.
WORDS
Words: 492/700 Major Reconstruction/Reimbursement Cash Flow: 4,920 Total Bank: 46,430 Posting History: [ x ]
____________________________________________________
