New strings.{Z0pu}

[odango]

”Well... this is getting boring...” a young woman gave out before a heavy sigh from which her shoulders fell and she hung her head. Her hand reached up to push back a few brown locks from her face and she backed up against the wall. ”You’d think they’d lose a limb if there was more to do around here.” she muttered, leaning against the wall and aimlessly looking up at the ceiling. ”And of course I want to practice the most when there’s not a single piano in the area.” Yet another mumbled row of words while she allowed herself to slide down to a sitting position. Her hazel eyes were still looking for something interesting in the ceiling, but it seemed she gave up and let out yet another sigh. The brunette placed her arms on her pulled up knees. *Perhaps I should go out and try to find a piano in the city? But I could’ve sworn I saw one instrument in this place. I didn’t imagine it, I’m certain! Gosh, this sucks…*

So there she was, dressed in what seemed like common uniform trousers and shirt, yet the latter seemed a size or two too big for her, if not counting the chest area. The brunette sat, now letting her head hang again, as if that would help her find a piano sooner, if ever. Her waist-long hair touched the ground and fell on her back and shoulders in many different variations. The scent of jasmine could be felt, if one paid enough attention. Yet, it was still a question – why was she there?

That morning, Tsubaki had gotten up with one distinctive need – to practice. She had been shipped over to Marineford only recently, but was already missing the piano they had at the 80th Branch. She also knew this was not going to get better, probably. If she were to find an instrument here, there were usually no pianos on ships. If she were in charge, she’d put a couple here and there for personal use. Then again, no, she wouldn’t have to do anything but be in command, so she could stay in the new HQ and get a piano in her office.

Either way, Tsubaki had gone off to search after there were no other duties for her. She had started with the middle floors and went door to door. Well, she only went in the rooms from which she didn’t hear any noise. In some cases, thou, she did enter rooms with people. In those situations, she quickly scanned the room, then apologized and gave a random reason as to why she was there. This had been going on for the last two hours. Apparently, there were a lot more rooms, than one might think after seeing the fortress from the outside. By now she was in the lower floors. There was close to no chance of finding a piano there, but at least, some doors had windows, so she didn’t have to disturb anyone to scan the room. That’s what she thought before starting to give up, that is… Now she just didn’t want to fall asleep by accident.

[Blushing z0ro]

This was the former Marine Headquarters, Marinford. The buildings, the people, even the air felt... huge. Or at least that's how it seemed to the young recruit. "Wh-why am I here..." was all young Seaman Recruit Small could think. What possible reason was there to ship a fresh recruit to the Grand Line? Granted the young boy had a special ability of is own but did it really warrant getting stationed here of all places? Then again even the former headquarters needed people to wash the floors, that's probably why the Dino-boy was there. Why else would anyone want someone like Willy here?

After arriving on the large base William felt lost. Where to go, what to do? Clueless would have been an understatement. So the Dino-boy just decided to sit on the side of the port and eat some carrots. It took a solid hour before some officer found the boy, only to tell him if he had nothing to do he should pick up a mop and go wash some floors. So in the end Willy was right, the seaman recruit was indeed here to wash floors. This not so shocking revelation felt a bit disappointing nonetheless. Perhaps somewhere deep down the young recruit from South Blue had hoped to be able to become a part of something greater by coming here. Alas it appears this was all just wishful thinking.

After being directed to a closet where mops and buckets were stored, the gentle South Blue boy got to work. Even if this is the only thing he could do, he would do his best! One thing his parents taught him was that no work was dumb or worthless, even if your only reward is making someone else's life better. So the short recruit actively mopped the floor of the base.

It wasn't until a solid hour later a loud voice called out from behind the boy. "Hey you with the mop! Are you Seaman Recruit William Small?" Shocked to be called out like that out of the blue, Willy dropped his mop and turned around clumsily, or least tried to as all he actually managed to do was slip on the wet floor and land head first in the bucket he had been using. It was fitting really, William Small for all intents and purposes looked like his head was the one of a mop topped with a Marine hat and shoved on top of a short body. So having it suffer the fate of an actual mop made some sort of deep cosmic sense.

Before he could even manage to get himself out of the bucket, William felt a large hand grab his ankle and pull him out. Suddenly the world was upside down and right in front of the Recruit's face was the one of a man in his forties. Square jaw, slid back black hair and short trimmed beard with stone grey eyes that accentuated his tanned completion which for only flaw had a small scar on the corner of the left eyebrow. Meanwhile Willy still looked like a mop, a wet one at that, by some unexplainable reason his marine cap had remained on his wet head but his bangs following the laws of gravity got out of the way of his eyes to show their deep blue to the other man.

"Well? Are you?" Remembering the question that had been asked before he fell William Small managed something like a salute despite his less than glorious position. "Y-YES SIR! Se-Seaman Recruit William Small!" The older officer looked at him for a few more seconds only to finally say "Alright, I've been looking all over for you! Only need to find that other recruit and we can get started. Seen a girl named Taighana anywhere?" Willy who was still upside down simply shook his head sideways still feeling uncertain about what exactly was happening and who was this strange officer. "Ah well. Nothing to do about it other than to search for her." At which point the officer swung the dino-boy over his shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes and began to walk away while looking around for that other recruit, leaving the one being carried with no clue what so ever on what was happening.

[odango]

*Fine, time to get up… perhaps, there’s still a way.* she thought to herself, before pulling her knees even closer, putting her palms on them and pushing herself up. *Why dos my back feel like it’s made of rock? Do you have to get promoted to get a decent mattress in this place?* she made a light pout at the thought and then proceeded to reach her arms up and stretch. Crack, crack... ”Ow-!” Tsubaki gave out with a hurtful expression. It hadn’t exactly hurt her – it had just been quite uncomfortable. ”What am I, an eighty year old hag?” she gave out to herself before once again driving one of her frail hands through her hair and now showing a light scowl in her brow.

”Jeez, this is quite troublesome.” she began walking while still moving her shoulders in a circular motion, as if trying to regain her plasticity all of a sudden. ”And my breasts seem heavier than normal…” she began, before placing a hand on her quite sizable chest and lightly squeezing a couple of times. ”Hm, they seem to feel normal… This really is a weird day.”

She cut a corner and once again started peeking into room after room, getting on the tips of her toes at each door and almost gluing herself to the round windows until she was certain there were no pianos in the room. She had gotten her spirits up once again, it seemed. This is how it worked with Tsubaki. She could give up on things more than once a day. And she could pick up the very same things later, or never. It all depended on her whims, really. That way, she wasn’t ever too consistent, yet when passionate about something, she was more than very capable of achieving her goals.

~…-dono’s… Taighana… now!~ she could have sworn, she heard her name somewhere close by. Curious, the hazel eyed brunette looked towards the origin of those words and came eye to eye with two guys, who, by the looks of it, were also about her rank. ”I’m sorry. Did you say ‘Taighana’?” she asked in a polite tone, hoping, she wasn’t butting into their conversation too much.
~Er… yeah. Dayne-taicho is searching for him.~ one of the two responded, a little thrown off from her for a second, yet then the two started conversing as normal. ~I don’t know this guy. Do you?~ When they asked her, she hesitated a little and just shook her head in a denying manner. After that, the two passed on and she was alone once again.

”Eh?!” she gave out to herself. Had she broken some rules or something? She didn’t think so… Perhaps there were rules against disturbing everyone in search of a piano? She didn’t know. Not like she had learned all of them by heart. She mostly used them as gentle guidelines. Pebbles in a river, so to say. What if she was in trouble? What would they make her do? ”Oh no, more chores!” she gave out in almost a yelp and then quickly covered her mouth. The young woman could feel a shiver go down her spine and her hair stand up. There were no words to describe how allergic to scrubbing floors she had gotten. She still had to do it, but still… she didn’t like it. Thou, she had learned to do it really quickly, so it would pass sooner.

*Perhaps I should just run for it. Captain Dayne has no idea what I look like, right? He might also assume that Taighana is a guy, right? Right! No way I’m scrubbing floors or dishes for the rest of the day!* Tsubaki decided and started sprinting the direction from which those two guys had come. Usually, one would run the other way, but she was hoping that Dayne had already been there, so it wasn’t likely that he’d pass through there again so soon, right?

The plan was good, but of course, as fate would’ve had it… ~Taighana? Isn’t that her right there?~

She froze on the spot. Damnit, one of the warrant officers had told this guy who she was. There was no way out now. If she were to run, she’d get into real trouble, she knew it. So, she straightened herself, her jaw clenched, as if ready for some bad news and she spun in the direction of the last voices. What she saw was not really intimidating. More like just odd.

”Yes? I’m Tsubaki Taighana.” She announced politely in a calm tone but her mind was racing a bit right then. *Who is this guy again? I’m certain I’ve seen him before a few times somewhere. I hope he’s not poorly mannered… He’s so tan… Right, I can’t get tan, even if I’d spent a year in a desert. The best I get is boiled lobster red… He’s quite cool looking for an old man. What is he, like fifty? He has that ‘rugged cool uncle’ look…* and then she noticed William on his shoulder. Well, she noticed his behind… *What’s that? Is it seriously a person? Will this be some stupid joke and he’ll make ma carry that person? Eh, my back will really give out or something… I guess I can do it, if it’s necessary. Oh, gosh, I hope she’s alright… or he? I can’t tell by the butt… Oh, a he, definitely. Quite petite, isn’t he. Did they accept people so young here? Oh, no! This won’t also be one of those weird situations when within a corrupt organization they kidnap the weaker recruits and then make them fight to the death in some underground hall while everyone takes bets and- ok, calm down, Tsubaki. Perhaps they just wanted to check I existed?*

[Blushing z0ro]

What just happened? Before Willy could even understand the situation this muscular officer just grabbed him and carried him like he was nothing more than a bag of potatoes. Why can't things ever go my way? That was an honest question the young Dino-boy asked himself quite often. Nothing seemed to ever go quite right in his life. He was bullied as a kid, people always took advantage of his kindness and gullible attitude, and yet the young Marine never gave up. Despite how he he's always been treated William Small never failed to believe that one day things would get better.

Getting carried wasn't all bad, at least he wouldn't get tired from walking. After all the young boy had quite short legs which made walking anywhere troublesome if it was at a certain distance. So for a few minutes Seaman Recruit Small just looked at the scenery while the officer walked. Well it wasn't much of a scenery, just the inside of the Marineford base where not much was going on. That is until the muscular officer asked to lower ranked Marines if they had seen someone called Taighana. Luckily the two men pointed pointed at something, or likely someone just a little further down the hall. Or at least Willy assumed as much as from his point of view he couldn't actually see anything in that direction other than the coat of the man who was carrying him.

The girl, it must have been a girl from her voice assumed the Dino-boy, presented herself as Tsubaki Taighana. This presentation was immediately followed by a loud and  joyous, yet somewhat relieved sounding, laughter that came from the tall officer. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm glad I found you Taighana. You were hard to find you know?" Willy felt the weight of the man carrying shift a little before hearing a high pitched shriek from the girl. Indeed the officer simply picked her up like he did the boy Marine earlier then put her on his massive other shoulder before resuming his walk. "We have a lot to do today! You guys get to know each other on the way okay!" Get to know each other? That man was nuts. How do you get to know someone while being carried around like a sac? Regardless it was an order from a superior officer so William decided to follow the order as best he could. "Errr... I am Seaman Recruit William Small. Ni-nice to meet you.. Tai... Taighana-san.. right?" Well that was a weak attempt... but it will do... for now.

Meanwhile the two Marines who were talking to each other earlier had been witness to the oddest scene they had ever encountered. Staring blankly at each other and at the high ranking officer casually walking away while carrying a pair of recruits. "That... was Captain Dayne... right?" said the first marine who had been lying against the wall. "Yeah..." Was all the other one was really capable of replying. Yet his partner did manage to clearly express how the whole situation seemed. "Is he some kind of kidnapper or something...?" Again his partner had no words... at least none more than "I'm... not sure..."

SPOILER: Click to show

SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG >.< BUT MY MUSE JUST REFUSES TO WORK AND EVEN NOW THE POST SUCKS. Hopefully it'll get better soon but in the meantime this will have to do. Also to the graders permission to move the other OC was given beforehand.

[odango]

”Eh-wait, what the-? Kyaaah!” Tsubaki had gotten picked up and thrown over her superior’s shoulder. How was one supposed to react to that? Was this old man a pervert? Why would he take her and this feminine looking boy? *Oh, dear god! What if I never see sunlight again?* she thought to herself as she felt her entire spirit cringe. Perhaps it was nothing… but she had heard odd stories about Marineford. Most of them were made up just to make other recruits sound tougher, or scare the new ones, but what if they were true after all? In that case, this might be the last day for her. Why was this guy even bringing them somewhere? What happened to normal briefings? Or normal orders? She was used to getting sent on errands already, but this had been the first time she had gotten picked up and carried away. Excuse the girl for thinking something bad was about to happen.

He wanted them to get to know each other? What? In that state? Perhaps Dayne had banged his head against too many pirates. There was no way the two would start conversing while getting carried to god knows where. *What? Seriously? There’s no wa-*

And then William introduced himself. Needless to say, this also shocked Tsubaki a little. ”Hey, this isn’t really a suitable moment…” she let out under her breath while just staring at the blue eyed boy. He didn’t seem fine with the situation also, which in a weird way made her feel a bit better. Perhaps, he was a normal person? Then there was hope she was not living her last day after all. Right, if this uncle wanted them to exchange pleasantries, she guessed she kind of had to do it, right? Insane people. You could never know how they’d react. Will was probably smart to obey this man without second thought… however that might seem.

”I’m Tsubaki. No need for last names. Will, was it?” She couldn’t help but think the world had a sense of humor. Being born with that last name and having the size to match. She figured he had probably gotten bullied as a kid. Same as her. Somehow, one could tell by the first exchanged words. Perhaps she was wrong, but he seemed like a passive person at first glance. He also seemed a bit younger than her. That’s why she felt like calling him by his first name. But, why would they take such a small boy? Was he one of those parody kids who looked helpless but could actually sink ships with a glance? No, no, then he wouldn’t still be a recruit? Perhaps he had some specific ways that he stood out? She couldn’t tell. But if he was as strong as he looked and as passive as he seemed, it was cruel to throw him in this environment in the first place. She hoped he hadn’t been strong-armed into it.

”Ah, and nice to meet you, too… if you can call this a nice way to meet.” she added the last bit with a worried look showing on her face. ”By any chance, do you know where he’s taking us? And why us two?” she asked, trying to somehow lean closer. She felt a little constricted, really. She usually chose shirts and sweaters that were a size or two bigger to try and conceal her rather big chest, but now it had backfired and she felt like she could barely move her arms, since she was pinning down her own shirt against Dayne’s shoulder. *What if I rip it or something?*

Looking around, she noticed they were going down the stairs. And then some more stairs… *He’s bringing us outside?* Tsubaki figured the man was bringing them outside through the training fields. Were they going to fight? Were they going to have to duke it out with higher ranking officers or be test subjects for some new techniques the higher ups were working on? She had also heard those kind of horror stories.

The nineteen year old swallowed loudly as the three entered the training ground area. Her eyes widened a little and she glanced at Will, obviously worried. ”Hey, Will… have you heard about the newbie fighting pits?” she asked in a hushed tone. What if her initial fears were about to come true? Oh, the horror!

And at that thought, she felt herself get dropped off like a not all that fragile bag and she landed on her back. Great, now there was sand in her hair. Feeling the need to sigh, the girl got herself up and dusted herself off. She might be in trouble, but she was not about to look unkempt while she had time or the ability not to.

So… why were they there?

[Blushing z0ro]

The girl asked many questions, but sadly Willy just did not know anything either. "I-I really don't know..." The Marine boy said sounding almost dejected about his own ignorance as the two recruits were carried around by the broad shoulder officers like they were nothing more than bags of potatoes. Captain Dayne just carried the youngsters for a few minutes through the halls of Marineford, not caring for any odd look thrown at him. Even for the Grand Line, the sight of a grown men carrying around two teenagers like that was odd to say the least. Wondering where they were being taken Tsubaki mention something about "Newbie Fighting Pits" to the Dino-boy. The very idea gave way to a terrified, albeit petrified, expression. Fighting pits!!? Oh lord no I'm gonna die! What do I do, what do I do, whatdoido, whatdoidowhatdoido!!!? Erratic thoughts kept going through the young Marine's mind, ways to get out of this sticky situation. However none of the plans he could come up with could possibly end wel, running away could be considered desertion, which could result in court martial which could result in imprisonment or execution. The Seaman Recruit almost wanted to scream for help, claim this was a kidnapping, something, anything! However only silence came out of his throat.

Eventually Captain Dayne finally kicked open a door that lead to the outside of the buildings, where a large stone paved courtyard dominated a good part of the island. Unless someone stood at the very edge, only the sea could be seen on the horizon. In the middle of the yard was a circle that had no pavement upon it, only dry dirt. It had various weapon racks around it, so it naturally came to Seaman Recruit Small that this was the fabled Newbie Fighting Pit and that he and that Taighana girl would have to fight to the death, or more exactly they would fight until Willy dies. The dino-boy had no confidence what so ever in his capacity to fight with anybody, despite his "special ability".

When the older Marine officer reach the center of the the circle he put done the two recruits he had been carrying surprisingly gently, that is as gently as one might drop a sack. The two landed on their feet next to one another. Dayne walked out of the circle and turned around. "Alright. Here's what's going to happen. You guys each pick one of the training weapons from the racks there, then spar with one another, if one of you doesn't use any weapons but their fists that's fine too. This is no death match or whatever you guys were thinking of, this is just a test to see how well you guys could handle the life of a Marine, but make sure to give it all you've got!" The tall figure kept a smile on his face the entire time he talked, however a certain intensity could be felt from his eyes, the determination of a warrior, truly something that someone with as little will as William Small could not hop to disobey. On the bright side this was just sparring, so no dying today. On the bad side the officer had asked for the recruits to "give it all they've got", that was something Willy was not to inclined to do, reaction to his power often led to him being mistreated. No, for now the Dino-boy would just raise his fist haphazardly, trying to mimic something like a boxer's stance despite his arms and knees shaking. This was truly a sad sight to behold for any kind of experience fighter.