[Silver]

She watched him turn to head out. “Oh and Sir. Until I am formally discharged I will do my duties and since you said I could do whatever I wanted I’m coming with you.” She said following him out. “And the reason we dont ask your name is by order we are required to refer to you by your rank or Sir. Though truth be told I am Curious as they got to the pet shop she shook her head and looked to it watching him go in and catch the roof. She took a breath. “That dog hates me.” She was stupid and walked in with him and staird by the door bracing herself in the door frame. “And Sir if you are going to be an idiot and be out here alone shark or not I will not let you do this alone.” Larceny may be in her genes but she still had honor and she still had respect for the shark.

[Lord English]

When the newly appointed Warrant Officer awoke, the admiral was right outside the door and knocking. “It’s time to leave,” He whispered gently. He wasn’t going to rush her as they had time. They wouldn’t be getting the note to Coby anytime soon but from the news he had just received about him, it was best to not see the Vice Admiral anyways. He fought with himself if he was to tell her about it and his conscious won out as she was possibly readying herself. “We won’t be seeing the Vice Admiral any time soon, he is on a pirate hunt and may be getting relieved from duty. He is going just a little bit overboard.” He kept the concern from his voice and released a relieved breath.

This was when he waited for her to follow and he would escort her to his ship. While they walked, he took out a cigarette and placed it into his mouth. He held it there in his lips and took out the lighter. His finger flicked against it to roll the starter, it not sparking up on the first two flicks. The third time was the charm as the small flame spurt up and he placed it against the tip, sucking in so gently to start the flow until it burned of its own accord and he could cap his lighter to place it back in his inner pocket. He would blow out smoke gently and though it wasn’t right, he felt the compulsion to take out his pack and offer her one as they headed to the ship.

He’d make sure to show her the entire ship, pointing out chamber pots, her room, where all the offices on the ship were, let her meet people she wanted to then prepared to set sail. She would see the one man who had been demoted moved onto the ship as well but he was obviously a lower rank as he was one of the ones preparing and getting the ship to sail.

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The Sand Devil was frustrated from him following him but he tried to ignore what she was saying. He continued to pet the dog while holding the ceiling up. He looked back at her and said, “Since it isn’t formal yet, you should know better than to disobey… I don’t want anyone around me.” He looked back at the dog and scratched it under the chin. He then said, “The only reason this dog would hate someone is if they were to steal from him. He is related to the great Chouchou after all.” He smirked and then chuckled. “I am not being an idiot… I have the strength to be out here.” He felt the land shaking a bit worse and his hand dropped down from the dog and to the ground to keep the ceiling up. “Just so you know,” He sighed, “I only give out my name to those who prove themselves to me.” He then regained himself and placed his hand to resume petting the dog and felt as the attic was caving in on the doggy and scooped the dog to be under him, just in case he couldn’t hold it.

[Silver]

She looked back and simply looked back out. “I stopped in here and looked around all i saw was the dog and i checked the cabnets and everything to make sure no one tried to hide nothing more but fine lable me a theif i dont care anymore you want to be alone Captain then I will leave” With that SHe pulled back and threw herself out with one of the shockwaves and landed on the ground shacky and started to walk jumping only when she had to and once she shot back into the base she walked through the halls her anger evident on her face she made her way to her quarters and took only what she could hold of her stuff and then moved to the door andleaned in the frame. She just took a deep breath and waited out the tremors she wasn’t going to move tell all was done. She didn’t belong here. She looked to one of her fellow marines. “Tell me your thoughts since I have been here do you feel I belong?” She sounded almost resigned at this point like she was planing on leaving on her own. “am i just a preitty face for you guys?” She was being serious she wasn’t trying anything she just wanted to know.

[Lord English]

The Sand Devil peered back at her and watched her leave. He had nothing else to say to her. He gently placed the ceiling against his back and held onto the doggy. He waited until he thought she was away to curl completely over the dog to assure its safety. One of the heavier buildings beside it collapsed and slammed down onto the pet store, placing the lighter ceiling, lighter wall, heavier ceiling, and heavier wall all upon him in an instant. He felt the pressure but he pushed himself up, doing everything he could to keep the dog happy and to make it not crushed. He smiled at the dog, exposing his usually menacing teeth and getting the response of the dog licking his nose in thanks.

The marines she asked looked to one another and one of them spoke up, “You are undisciplined… But that doesn’t mean you don’t belong. Yeah you are pretty but… Your abilities are useful to oppress the enemy.” The others nodded in agreement. “You probably just caught him in a bad mood. He had some odd occurrence earlier I heard.”

[Silver]

SHe looked at the marines and nodded feeling the heavier Tremors start to hit the base she shifted and baced herself in the doorway grabbing the Marines that where Talking to her and holding them in the doorway having lifted up and done the splits above them to held herself in the door frame and heard the crshing outside and growled. “He shouldn’t be alone” she stated flatly as she held herself above the other three marines. She didn’t care what they saw or what whent on she just wanted them safe. “After this depending on what happens I will be putting in my resignation.I do not want you all to be punished for me.”

[Lord English]

The marines were pulled into the door frame and huddled down into the door way, trying to not look up at her out of respect. They heard her words and one of them said, “Alright miss.” Another said, “We understand.” The first one then said, “Just be careful miss.” They sounded hopeful for her and looked to her face with a sense of pride. This was when they’d scatter to different door frames or to the medical ward to be somewhere safe.

The Sand Devil was still holding up the ceilings and walls with his strength. He made sure no matter how fierce the tremors felt, he would not falter from his sturdy stance. He took deep even breaths and kept looking at the dog, its licks upon his face reassuring what he was doing was right despite how he was slowly losing his strength. He started to slowly inch himself around, facing so the dog was on the side of the way out and gently tapped his foot on its butt. It gave him a look of reluctance so he pushed it with his foot. Once it was out of leg’s reach, he took a step, then did it again, his arms beginning to shake as another building dominoed on top. He couldn’t move now to attempt to get the dog out or they would both get crushed from his lost strength. He heard a snap as his dorsal fin was cracked out of place, not reacting to the pain in order to not alert the dog.

[Peridot]

“Well, there’s no helping that I guess.” Carina responded when she was told that the ship wouldn’t be heading to Vice Admiral Coby at all. With that said, she fell into step beside but slightly behind Admiral Cancer as they headed to the ship, shouldering her backpack with all of her supplies. Her mind whirled slightly from the admiral’s news about Vice Admiral Coby. When he mentioned that the Vice Admiral wasn’t available, she took on a pensive and thoughtful expression. Coby was out hunting pirates and would likely be perfectly fine, but for him to get so worked up about the chase right when Jango died. Could the two be related somehow? Her thoughts went back to the secret message secreted in her pocket. Were these pirates he was chasing part of Jango’s old gang? Could he even be using the pirates as an excuse to avoid receiving Jango’s note? The plot thickens, Carina thought to herself as she wondered just what Jango had decided to write. The temptation to not take a peek was almost overwhelming, but she had to persevere. The kind former Rear Admiral had been counting on her.

When they first arrived at the ship, Carina’s eyes were transfixed upon the vessel where she would be living for who knows how long. This would be the ship for her first real journey out into the dangerous and wild waters. To her, the ocean air had never smelled saltier, and the breeze had never felt more refreshing than this moment. In Carina’s eyes, it was the perfect day to sail. When the Admiral kept walking, she hurried along beside him so as not to lose any time.

As they walked, the admiral lit up a cigarette and then to her surprise, he offered her a joint from his pack as they approached the ship. Carina took one more out of habit and from being caught off guard than out of any desire to smoke. “Thank you sir,” she said distractedly. It wasn’t the sort of thing normally offered to others, and especially not to someone her age. Wasn’t smoking really bad for you? She rolled it about in her hands, using it as an outlet to work out her nervousness when a waft of second-hand smoke drifted its way over to her, causing the girl to stiffen and look significantly more awake as her eyes lit up. It was as if she had just taken a tiny taste of 4000 different types of ice-cream flavors at once. The cigarette in her hand suddenly became much more interesting. Experimentally, she stuck the cigarette in her mouth in an imitation of the admiral and was happy to find that the cigarette tasted even more poisonous than it smelled.

While the admiral brought her around the ship to meet some of the important crew members on board as well as show her where her room was so she could quickly dump her baggage, the offices and everything else was on the ship, Carina took note while carefully munching on her cigarette as if it were a piece of delicious candy she wanted to savor.

After meeting all of the people and having a grand tour of the ship, they ended up on deck where the admiral began to ready the crew to set sail. Carina gave him a curious glance but didn’t say anything. She decided to wait to ask just what sort of duties would be expected of her until after they had gotten going. Setting sail took a lot of effort and they were so close to Reverse Mountain that she didn’t want to disrupt the admiral or any navigating that might be going on. The mountain was treacherous and she had heard it was easy for even large ships to get torn to pieces by a simple mistake. She found a place to stand nearby that seemed relatively out of the way of any sailors trying to hoist the sails, tie off rope or weigh anchor and took in the sight.

Her eyes alighted on a familiar face. It seemed like the cranky registration paper guy would be coming aboard with them. Hopefully the guy would stop whining now that they would be sailing on the open sea. Carina took another nibble of the cigarette, trying to guess which toxin a certain unfamiliar but delightfully citrus-y flavor was coming from and chuckled softly under her breath. Somehow she doubted his mood would improve that drastically. The girl stretched and then grinned at the sight of the ship preparing to sail.

[Silver]

Thinking about her captian out there alone she dropped down and shot like a bullet bouncing and richocheing off the walls “I cant let him do this alone and I dont think any of us should let our captain die alone.”she said as she moved through the base and was soon bouncing off the upturned land making sure to stay int he air as long as possible and rolled infront of the building and shouted in. “Sir Courtmartial me do what you must I dont care I cant leave you in there alone not like that I wont let you die not like this Can you hold out for just a few seconds?” She thought and shook her head and looked to the dog and sighed. “Boy you may be mad at me but right now I need your help to save someone that matters to me just as you are trying to protect something that matters to you.” Not caring if she got bit she reached in the doorway “Boy do you have a idea to save him. we need to work fast.” and grabbed the dog not sure if any of the other marines followed her but she didn’t want to let her captain die alone she was trying to figur out a way to save him she just couldn’t figur it out. Thinking a moment and sighed willing to take whatever clawing and bitting she had to pulling the dog from him.

[Lord English]

Slowly, the magnificent vessel began to move towards the rushing waters of the reverse mountain. All of the crew braced at their stations, holding onto various implements to keep the ship stable and ready to change the direction on a whim. The admiral looked to his newest member and called out sharply, “Brace yourself!” She may have been new but he didn’t want her falling over the edge if they hit anything. He held firmly onto the guardrail as the ship suddenly would get caught by the current and rushed up over the mountain. He should have just used the diving function but he wanted to give her the thrill of going over the mountain, her and his other few new members. The wind rushed by them as the ship was carried up and over the mountain like a gigantic roller coaster and then as they moved further up, the rains and storms of the reverse mountain began. This made the ship want to falter into the walls of the mountain, the crew holding it steady as best as they could on this winter island.

Rain would pound upon the ship as they headed further up and then the worst of it was near the top, rumbling heard and strikes around them of the lightening. The admiral then turned to his crew and said, “PREPARE TO ENTER THE GRAND LINE!” The boat tapped the edge a bit and he gripped on as the boat felt like it jumped a bit. “STEADY!” As this was shouted, the top could be seen and they’d need to turn it quick. “NOW!” The ship started turning slightly and nearly rubbed between the two walls, the tip getting caught into the down current as lightening struck directly beside the boat. The back end of the boat, still caught in the up currents made them face more downward for a moment before they were sent cascading down the down current.

The crew pulled the things that made them go faster from their positions to attempt to slow down the ship but it refused to move. “BRACE!” He yelled, seemingly calm. They would go down between the twin capes and then the splash would spurt out in front of the ship as they suddenly slowed down. The admiral was thrown into the brace he was gripping onto, getting slightly hurt but dealing with the pain. Other members held on for dear life as they got into the calmer waters at the bottom, moving away from the reverse mountain.

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Some of the marines in the base heard her and those that were required to stay, would stay and perform their duties. Those who had nothing to do slowly made their way to follow her, careful of the tremors. The Sand Devil looked up to her without moving his head, focusing on the dog. “I can,” He spoke out to her. The dog seemed to understand and despite some light growls, didn’t bite at her nor struggle as he was taken. The Sand Devil would wait until the dog was removed and they were safe before pulling his wild card, focusing water from the air into his hand as a sort of brace. He’d suddenly turn under the great weight and thrust his hand against it with all the strength he could muster, causing the wall to seemingly disintegrate into small rocks that rolled off his back once he turned back around. He would refocus and doing it again to the ceiling. He felt the rocks slice into his back but he continued his way of doing it for the heavy wall and the heavy ceiling. He would then pull himself out of the rubble and place himself over the top of the rocks and just lay there to catch his breath.

[Silver]

She watched in amazement of him and was hopping over the tremors and even did a flip keeping the dog held close to miss a fissure that was forming. She was doing her best to shield the dog from harm then looked at the other Marines and looked to her captain. “Any of you with medical training tend to the captain.” She looked to the dog and sighed leaning in she whispered in its ear. “I’m sorry.” Looked to the destroyed shop she sighed. “Captain Take the rest of my wages and put them into fixing this dogs shop anything that might be left from it goes to the dog.” She now said loud and clear so that her captain could hear her.

[Lord English]

The crew-mates around her ran over to tend to the captain. They cleaned up the wounds formed on his back and took off their uniforms to make temporary fixings for him. They even tried to set his dorsal fin to stand back up. The captain looked up at her and shook his head as he forced himself to stand, the crew members asking gently for him to stay down but him resisting. He spoke directly to her with a yell, “I broke it… I bought it… I will take care of this… All you did was all you needed to… Saved the owner…” The crew finally gave up on keeping him down and instead helped him to where he wanted to go, the tremors were slowing and finally coming to a halt. This made it easier to get him there. One of the crew-members holding him pulled a knife from his pocket and looked like he was going to press it into the captain’s side while he was in this condition.

[Silver]

She took a breath as he yelled at her and looked to the dog and set him down then watched as the marines where working on getting him on the move. She watched them and spotted the knife and the marines that was seeming like he was going to attack the captain and didn’t hesitate she rushed across the now level ground faster than most of the men. She didn’t want to alert him and as she got close she gripped the man’s wrist with the blade and twisted it out of his hand. If she were able to she would state. “Captain” she said as she gripped the man’s wrist and bent it and forced him to drop the knife.

[Peridot]

As the ship entered the turbulent waters of Reverse Mountain, Carina noticed all of the crew members braced themselves either against guard railings or by tying themselves with rope to specially designated posts on the ship in case they fell off. She raced over to the bulwark when the admiral ordered to brace herself for impact. She dashed over to the nearest bulwark and gripped the guard rail so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

To her surprise, the ship went up the mountain at an incredibly steep angle. The rain was picking up and starting to fall, feeling like tiny icy chunks of hail against Carina’s skin as they got closer to the top, navigating between the walls of the mountain and the carved arches marking the entrance to the Grand Line. To the newly promoted officer’s alarm, she could pick out the booming of thunder accompanied by quick flashes of light marking the sky. For a moment, she had a horrifying image of the entire crew and ship getting electrocuted by a bolt of lightning when they made their way to the summit. The slant of current flowing down the other side of the mountain was at a sharp angle, but the admiral and crew seemed to be well prepared and had it under control. She couldn’t keep down the startled shout of surprise mixed with terror as a flash of lightning struck directly beside the boat just as the bow of the ship entered the downstream current.

Then Carina realized why it was so necessary for everyone to brace themselves. Just like a rollercoaster ride, the ship paused for a heartbeat stilling moment at the top of the mountain. It was icy cold at the very tip, but the girl wasn’t sure whether the goosebumps spreading on her arms were from the frosty air or excitement as the crew was treated to a stunning view of the sparkling waters of the Grand Line and the seemingly endless horizon.
“Woah! So that’s the Grand Line…” Then the ship tilted and began to cascade down the down current while the crew desperately tried to slow the ship’s speed. Throughout the din and chaos, the admiral stood unfazed and resolute.

Carina’s grip tightened on her own guard-rail as her stomach began to churn unpleasantly while they raced downward towards the Grand Line. Her heart felt like it would fly out of her throat, but the rush of adrenaline was welcome and nice now that they were becoming less and less likely to get struck by lightning. Her balance was thrown off by the sudden break, and Carina was sent careening and sliding backwards by the change in momentum. The young marine regained her grip on the railing though, and would be perfectly fine although her already bruised leg was plenty sore from getting banged up against the guard-rail. Carina’s grip didn’t want to loosen from the railing, even thought the ship was now moving to calmer waters.

The poisonous human could feel her stomach continue to gurgle and churn uncomfortably at both the hectic entrance to the Grand Line and the overwhelming amount and diversity of toxicants Carina had consumed only moments before-hand. Oh please no, not now. Not in front of everybody. Her face took on a sickly pallor as she tried for a few seconds to keep her composure. “…I think I’m going to be sick,” she warned in a trembling voice. Utterly failing to keep her nausea down, Carina released her death-grip from the guard-rail and quickly lurched her way on shaky limbs across the deck to the leeeward bulwark of the ship. She doubled up over the railing and promptly threw up noxious purple gunk into the ocean below.

[Lord English]

The last of the tremors ceased and the land became calm, the ocean still showing after shakes. The sailor she would stop from stabbing the Captain would yell out in pain as he had the knife twisted from him. The Sand Devil peeked back at the incident and gave a small smile. This was when one of the marines from the base ran up to them and saluted the captain as he said, “Captain! The Fleet Admiral wishes for you to meet him on his ship mid-way from here to Drum Island.”

The captain looked concerned but pulled away from his own men then and said, “Alright… I will be fine in the water. You all tend to this, and girl…” He looked to the young woman who saved his life. “No paperwork necessary, take charge here while I am gone and report anything that happens.” He’d wait for a moment before he would walk to the ocean, hoping to hear her say something. Once it’d be said or left unsaid, he’d take to the ocean and swim as fast as he could.

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The admiral watched the young and new recruit take to the side. He had a feeling with the information he’d given her that it was more of the cigarette that was at fault than the ride on reverse. Other of the crew followed her to where she got sick and one pat her on the back as he said, “Cool, by that color I take it you’re a fruit user. No wonder the Admiral added you to the roster.” Another one said, “I puked my first time over reverse too. But it is so much fun!” A third member said, “You’re gonna fit right in.” A fourth one said, “I wanna touch it.”

The admiral watched from afar until people were literally crowding her. He then stepped over and said, “Give her some breathing room.” He had them disperse and he grabbed a bucket on his way over to her and handed it to her. “Go to your room and I will have someone retrieve you buckets if you fill that one, alright?” He straightened his posture and said, “Once you are well, I will give you your duties and I am sure the other sailors will help you adjust to life on the grand line.” He heard his snail phone going off in his office and motioned for one of the others to take her to her room.

The marine was a white male with black hair and he was a Seaman Apprentice under this Admiral. He looked at her and he was the first one to speak to her. He said, “I will help you to your room Mrs Fruit.” He meant it respectfully and held out his arm like a gentleman.

[Silver]

She looked to him as he walked away giving a slight nod. “And Sir can I have your name before you leave so that I know to whom I should address my reports?” she stayed silent after that and twisted the marine in her grip. ”Men put him in the brig Next we will rebuild this town and make sure it will survive something worse than what we have just seen.” She left what needed to be said in silence she would not resign not just yet she would wait for him to return so that she could explain her reasons to him he deserved that he was a good man and did the right thing even if it wasn’t what a marine would do. She thought she understood now sometimes Pirates where not all bad and did the right thing but just in a different way.