Mission 31 | Dealing Indeed

[Armani]

The rain poured on and on, unconcerned of whom it soaked and inconvenienced. A torrent of water coming from the heavens meant specifically to annoy, frustrate and beleaguer the freshly promoted Ensign, Flynn Reptiel. Sulking as he trudged through the increasingly mudding environment of the forested Daijuu Island, he remained in a silent funk, waiting for the moment that this provocation would eventually end. Dressed well, like he always had, the Marine's uniform, coupled with his own personal touches of a teal green vest and pants combo was drenched through, making things heavier on him than they normally should have been. It had been enough that his white, now practically see through, button down shirt hung half-heartedly untucked and his vest was slung over his should.

"Oi, this is quite the inconvenience."

A crack of thunder illuminated the area for a brief second and drowned out his sardonic and simple truth about his situation. With his promotion had come new responsibilities, which could have been assumed as one would climb in the ranks. However, it had also been assumed by Flynn that these responsibilities would entail the ensnarement of criminals and the like; not doing excruciatingly tedious and exasperating checkups in the rain on islands that weren't civilized enough to have a decent pub around.

"Well, at least I'm not being trounced on back at Marineford."

Alone for a simple, easy assignment, looking for some sort of silver lining was all he could do to keep himself from blowing up at the elements at hand. Fresh images of the grotesque, toothy and malicious grin of Marshall D. Teach smiling at him as he hung Flynn by the scruff of his neck suddenly jumped to the front of his mind, the well embedded fear of being liquefied by the magma or even the stare of Admiral Akainu sent chills down his spine and the sore spot on his ribs was still ripe with the shockwave he had taken from being in the way of the Fleet Admiral.

"Dammit…Whitebeard wasn't even the scariest thing in that war…"

He grumbled to himself as his thoughts travelled to the past for a brief respite from the weather; though it was about as much of a respite as one would call a respite from dehydrating in a desert from being struck in the face with a cactus. But the past was the past. The Marines were a little thinner now thanks to Marineford. And that was why Flynn was out here miserable and by himself. They couldn't afford so send anybody else out to do the menial tasks.

As he went forward, Flynn reeled his foot back and kicked a rock up and away that was in his path.

[{Argentate} Phoenix Dahana]

Indefinite of inconvenience, the rain poured on, breaking through any tree cover and soaking anybody and anything that stood out in it. One's irritation wasn't being mended by it either, only heightened as heavy wings were dragged behind into the forest. She didn't have aquatic wings, they soaked water slowly but surely and lagged behind the host as she walked. Tripping once, she growled and carried on a little bit quicker, slitted pupils narrowed as she looked through the trees.

Animals larger then normal roamed freely, and it seemed like some became more active in the rain. A kicked rock from a wandering marine made a quiet thumping sound and something growled menacingly. A huge black mass rose from the ground and turned tired but irritated eyes on Flynn. A brute to be exact, it barely focused over a long nose before rising on its hind legs. A Black bear, twice the size of any normal bear stared down and made a long, drawled growl. The good thing maybe was the rain that pattered at the beasts eyes, confusing it and yet irritating it further.

It only took a moment but the thing turned at the sound of two large wings flapping, a woman with drenched feathers that looked up at the animal. all too quickly it lurched at what it thought to be prey, food, and something to beat but it let out a little roar as she drove the muscle of the wing up into its throat, letting it fall to the side away from her. Either way, a quiet little concept turned and harsh golden green eyes settled on the Marine. The animal made a small haggard sound and tumbled over its own feet, dizzy and breathing heavy as it toddled off back into the forest.

She didn't look away for awhile but eventually she shook her wings again, a spatter of water hitting the trees and ground. She'd only seen marines once before, when she'd been stuck on the blasted pirates ship. She hadn't been found in the wreckage at the time and made her own way to a random island. Day's later it seemed she had been tossed onto this island. His outfit looked similar but she finally just sighed, looking around and lifting her head a bit higher, tugging at her clothes sicking to her skin.
"Do you know the name of this, island...?" She lifted her voice high enough to be heard over the rain, sweeping some hair from her face. She didn't exactly look dangerous, her wings were down on the ground again and her hands hung at her sides a minute later. The only thing off was that she seemed really down and tired.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to disrupt you..." She added on after a second, head tilting.

[Armani]

Flynn kicked the rock hard enough to not expect to hear any sound that it could possible make, especially while the downpour of rain continued to fall. As any sort of bad lluck would have it however, a small, yet still audible "thump" made the Marine cock his head in confusion. Confusion that quickly turned into concern as a low growl and a black silhouetted mass rose. Even though the details of its form were skewed by the rainfall, it became all too clear that when the black form of a beast rising didn't stop at a decent height for an animal and continued to get up.

Flynn's expression of annoyance was joined by a look of tired disbelief at the luck of his current situation. "Things don't ever just get better do they?" Sardonic and derisive of his fate, he recalled his debriefing of the island.

_______________________

"Daijuu Island is primitive at best, Reptiel." Flynn halfheartedly listened to the frustrated voice of his weasel of a commanding officer. "They're a tribal people and we don't want to interfere more than we have to. They like to keep their distance from us and as far as I care, they can keep it. We just want you to make sure they're still on our side. UNDERSTAND!" An arched eyebrow and a twisted smirk followed with a "Yes Sir" dripping with mockery for the officer in front of him was all that he'd give the man as he stood up from the hard wooden chair. "By the way, Reptiel," Flynn was halfway through the door when he decided there was more to say, "There's dangerous animals out there. Big animals. Keep an eye out because you're the only one we're sending out there. Were spread thin and a guy like you doesn't get backup." Flynn's handsome smile grew even wider as the man practically told him he wasn't going to even try and save his irreverent ass if he were to find trouble. "They say that the bears there worry even the Sea Kings in the area. Just as a heads up."

"Don't worry so much over me, sir." A wave of the hand dismissed everything that he had just been told. "Too much of it and I'm going to start to feel flattered, kay?"

"Just get your ass out of my office and on a ship."

________________________

Flynn dropped back a couple of steps as the shape propped up on all fours, looking for whoever had broken its rest or concentration or whatever it had been doing in the rain. As he stared at the creature, it let out a low guttural growl before it prepared itself, bracing all four paws on the ground to let out a massive roar. Anxious about what would happen, his worries were almost immediately alleviated as the beast let out a struggling, choke. Anticlimactic, to say the least, Flynn squinted like he was trying to see through the innumerable amount of rain drops. As the bear silhouette collapsed to the side, a new shadow against the veil of water emerged and defined itself.

"Wings?"[/i] Suspended disbelief hung on the Marine as the even through the rain, Flynn could see that the shape was clearly of a woman. Did an angel suddenly come to his rescue? Of course, he had heard stories of men in dire trouble seeing the graceful figure and radiant beauty of a female with large bright wings saving them from certain doom. Was this figure, such a creature? Was he that lucky? Was she going to be as beautiful as the stories indicated?

The figure stood there and with the movement of their wings a tired voice spoke out amongst the sound of the rain. Flynn moved closer to investigate, seemingly transfixed on finding out what he was looking at. She was a tiny thing. Not that he was overly tall himself, but when he was easily a head above someone, that made them short. She wore some baggy clothes that seemed to counter quite a thin, nearly sickly looking frame that she held. Her hair was nice, and she wasn't bad looking either, but when he managed to get close enough to see the detail about her, he answered her question in a fashion true to his character.

"Well, you're certainly no stunningly, beautiful angel, are you?" Arrogant and proud, Flynn didn't like being rescued. Angel or not, he was the kind of guy who wanted/needed to fight his own battles; whether it was a giant bear or man or "thing". He could hear the creature stumbling away from the two of them, beaten by the girl almost choking it to death and the sound didn't help his disposition towards her in the slightest. And she seemed timid! Or maybe just tired. Nevertheless though, if this was the girl who had helped him out, his pride was taking a decent beaten the more he heard her speak. Still, misery loved company and this rain was making this Marine pretty miserable…

"Hmmmph!" Scoffing at her weak apology as he continued his look over her. With the rain, it made it difficult to get a complete grasp of everything on this girl, but when she moved her hair it looked almost like she had a horn or some type. It wouldn't be the rarest of abnormalities, considering there was a world full of oddities just to be found in Devil Fruits alone (and Flynn knew quite well what some of the effects of a Devil Fruit could do), but most of the time, things like that could still be hidden from one's typical appearance. Crossing his arms and throwing on a handsome, roguish smirk, Flynn then truthfully answered her question. "This is Daijuu Island. Home of annoying storms and extremely large, bears, 'kay?"

As he talked, Flynn's eyes danced back and forth searching for some sort of shelter from the rain. In seconds, his well saturated body began to make a beeline for a natural overhang made from several large boulders. If the girl wanted to follow that would be fine, though with his initial first impression, he probably wouldn't blame her if she didn't.

[{Argentate} Phoenix Dahana]

-Phoenix

She watched him monotonously, wrinkling her nose at the first comment but otherwise not reacting. She wasn't one to like how she looked in the first place, considering the wings to be a headache as well as the horns and the simple fact she was often beaten down. No, she despised part of herself in some way or another. She refrained from giving him a return smart comment though and just waited until he finally named the island she'd been stranded on. The scoff was enough though and she turned her head, obviously looking for something to get out of the rain to abide her time.
"You getting rescued by an angel is as high a chance of that bear coming back...or me not being some damned scientists creation..." She voiced herself absentmindedly, really not caring if he heard her or not. From what she could tell, girls needed to be weak things. She wasn't and that was that, much less being classed an angel. She was no such thing.

This rain was really fraying her nerves, and probably that marines as well.

His smirk did nothing to stun her even if most normal girls would swoon. She simply nodded and thought on the island a moment before following his line of sight. He left and she did indeed contemplate whether following would be a good idea. Looking up at the sky, she sighed slowly and ran a hand down the side of her face before looking towards the sight of some sort of shelter. With a final mumble, she began to follow him, wings still dragging and occasionally lifting off the ground with a struggle.

Of course the shelter seemed to be of a decent size, a cave to be precise. She glanced inside it and whatever Flynn had decided to do before looking around again. Wandering out of sight, she came back soon enough with a large, only just damp log and some extra slightly wet bits of firewood. Why? Because the cave itself had the remnants of a fire pit in the middle with some already dry, unused wood. She dropped the extra bark with the rest and sighed, turning to think as she stood at the entrance of the cave. Maybe it seemed presumptuous but if a girl wasn't supposed to show a proud marine up, she figured he could start the fire.

Without much else thought, she stepped back out into the rain and out of sight, searching a bit more for some wood. She didn't wander fire, head bowed so she could see at least a bit. Using a wing as temporary cover, she gathered little bits of wood that seemed usable, getting a decent arm load and finally made her way back into the cave. Glancing out, she shifted and swung her wing out to the side, getting the worst of water off outside before she laid the wood down to dry as she cleared her face.

She definitely wasn't that talkative either.