Mission #22: Practical Exercise [Pluto/Tsubaki]

[Konaa]

Mission 22
★★★★★
You’ve been targeted by an extremely dangerous hunter. They’ve been setting up traps to try and capture you, but for what reason? Will you end up a trophy on the wall, or will you and your allies turn the hunter into the hunted?

"Typical." Konaa muttered, leaning forward against the railing and eyeing the approaching coastline with skeptical resignation.  "Someone goes through the trouble of giving this place the most unfriendly possible name to warn people off, and what do the Marines think?  'Death Island?  I LOVE death!  Off we go!'  Honestly."

Not to say he was addressing anyone in particular, or at all for that matter.  An unfortunate side effect of being a loner with a mouthy disposition was a tendency to make these comments to himself.  In a world rife with inanity, the young man's way of coping was through his bitingly clever observations and witticisms...or so he preferred to think of it.  Whether or not that was case or it was more along the lines of flavorful whining was up in the air.

Konaa was considerably out of his depth.  A Recruit from the East Blue out here in the South, and prepared to embark onto an isle with one hell of a vicious reputation.  Squinting at the horizon, he tried his best to take in whatever it was that awaited them.  Past the coastline, he could see tall, thick clefts of grass - wading through that was going to be a pain - and towering treelines forming a menacing jungle landscape.  Not quite so towering and menacing as the mountain that overshadowed the entirety of the island from above, however.  It was like if you asked him to picture the most comically dangerous possible Southern island, except it wasn't a joke.

All that was missing was rivers of molten lava and ship-eating sharks.

A deep seated groan escaped him as his hands moved to massage his temples.  Their purpose here was a training exercise, geared toward preparing the recruits for the harsh conditions of potential Grand Line postings.  After all, the isles and seas there were vastly unpredictable, and should any of them be assigned into that legendary sea, they wouldn't last long without experience.  Konaa wasn't sure what part of this was the most ominous - going through this exercise on this godforsaken island was bad enough, but the idea that the Grand Line was in his future was if anything even worse.

Shuddering, he turned back toward the deck and slouched against the railing.  Compared to most Marines, he certainly wasn't an impressive specimen, between his short stature and unkempt hair and uniform.  One way or another, this was going to be a massive pain in the ass.  Maybe he could get disqualified early and spend the rest of the trip on the ship...if that was even how it worked.  Probably not, then he'd actually have lucked out for once in his life.

"This is stupid." he mutters bitterly.

[BlacKitten]

Still as a rooted tree, he stood as if the soles of his soil-colored boots were glued to the swaying wooden floor and slowly filled his diaphragm with the long and quiet intake of air through his nostrils. Expanding his arms outwards and opening up the upper levels of his lungs, the air flooded within him, starting from the deepest of depths and rising like a steady internal flood. Full as a balloon, he then slowly lowered and contracted his arms, releasing the air out in a gentle stream.

After hours of standing meditation, he left his spot along with his room. His ghost-quiet steps reflected the state of his void-like mind. Stillness and nothingness left him more energy and vitality than before; otherwise, he would have rotted and decayed by sheer boredom in this eternal voyage.

Ranked as a First-Class Recruit, he was treated as such – a lowly rookie with no real experience in the marine forces. As a testimony to how new he was, the vessel that he walked on happened to be the first marine ship that he had ever laid foot on.

Slipping out from the cramped insides, the unarmed soldier sauntered on the decks where the salty scent grew all the more concentrated in the warm, soggy air. Born in North Blue and journeyed in the Grand Line, he found the seas of South Blue to be quite demoting in its level of danger. Ever since he joined the military force, not once had he approved of the training methods that were instilled, and this journey towards Death Island was no exception. His main complaint was that the destination was far too out of his way for the ends to be worthwhile, but his body and mind were starving for stimuli. The very nature of the name Death Island might entail something that could spark some entertainment for him.

It didn’t matter to him how much danger would be imposed to his crewmates. Their choices and reactions under exotic and bizarre circumstances would make it all the more amusing for him to watch. The only rule of thumb that he needed to abide by was to avoid utilizing his superhuman abilities when witnesses are around. And it goes without saying that he couldn’t rely on his Devil Fruit power either for his cursed abilities had always been kept a secret from the World Government, and he intended for it to stay that way for quite some time.

At first glance, the landscape appeared great enough to be a foundation of a small country but appeared to house too much wildlife for there to be a civilization. The closer the ship approached the coast, the stronger the winds became, causing their vessel to rock side the side and riding over the bumpy waves and ripples.

The air was notably moist. Rainclouds covered a vast part of the sky above, leaving few cracks and crevices of the cerulean shade that they were all used to seeing.

I wonder if this place lives up to being called what it is.

[odango]

SPOILER: Click to show

{OOC}I am... very, very, VERY late. I apologize. Will make no excuses. I have been a d-bag.

*Hmmm, either we are getting very close or that island has pretty tall trees. Maybe the mountain isn’t that big?* her brows raised at the thought and she soon squinted her eyes and leaned further over the railing she was holding on to. The wind was picking up so it was hard to keep her hazel orbs wide open. The leaning further eased her sense of noticing more detail about the approaching piece of land. The young woman was balancing most of her weight on the railing and her feet barely pressed their toes to the deck below them. With all of her being the Jr. Lieutenant was trying to stretch every inch of her body just so she could lean forward more.

Suddenly, the ship hit another wave and the entire vehicle bounced enough to throw the young lady off-balance. The railing she hung on to felt ripped from underneath her hands and pulled backwards. Tsubaki found a ticklish sensation in her gut as her whole body was tossed up and forward. ”Whoa!” Her legs felt like they were dangling midair behind her but the nineteen year old brunette quickly pulled her upper body downward – back towards the railing. Her legs followed. For a moment she tensed up and refused to move. *Jeez, I almost flew overboard… I wonder how many people saw this?*

Cautiously, from her now crouched position, the busty teen turned her gaze over her shoulder to inspect others on the deck. Luckily, she had not picked a moment full of spectators to display how clumsy she could be.

”Attention!” The commanding officer of the ship spoke up, calling all the marines to gather around and do just that – pay attention.

”We will arrive in a few minutes. Now the recruits will be divided up into smaller groups. A pair of recruits will be assigned to a ranked officer.” The triangle shaped man with grey-ish bangs lifted up the pad he was holding and flipped away a page or two.

”Officers, step in front.” It took but a few seconds for five cloaked figures to form a row next to the commanding officer. Four strapping lads and one graceful young woman looked back at the horde of recruits. Tsubaki was standing right in the middle, her cloak hanging over her shoulders and almost completely hiding her figure. The brunette had a heart shaped face, fair complexion and stood at a height of six feet and eight inches. Some might notice that her height lacked a laughable amount to qualify as the noted height but she had rounded up. Her long hair was tied up in a high pony tail with a black ribbon. The hazel eyed noble was wearing what looked like a basic marine uniform yet her shirt looked a few sized too large and by her hip there was a black sheath holding a katana. The visible guard was shaped like an orchid and the hilt was black with dark purple weaving. Upon even closer inspection, one would notice a couple holsters strapped to her thigh.

”So, from left to right, I will call the name of the officer and then the two names of recruits assigned to them.” the man explained and glanced up briefly as if to check if everyone had paid attention.

”Right. Let’s begin. Ensign Houser! The recruits assigned to him are Guno and Fendersen!” He took a small pause to let the first officer step forward. Finding that one fifth of the recruits (as there were just ten) had probably understood what was going on, the man continued and took short pauses between the next announcements.

”Ensign Sears! The recruits assigned to him are McLaden and Nguyen! Junior Grade Lieutenant Taighana! The recruits assigned to her are Pluto and Konaa! Ensign Totomatsu! The recruits assigned to him are Lopez and Raku! And finally, to Ensign Swade, the recruits assigned are Dozhauer and Martinov! Approach your assigned Training Officer and they will fill you in on further details. Dismissed!”