A Little Misleading [Grand]

[Dandead10]

The Background Music

Ultimately, a calm day for the Marines of Eldoran Island. This was especially true for the redheaded marine walking through the halls at the moment, a bright and happy smile on her face as she adjusted the marine cap along her head, gazing about as she was to meet with her squadron today. While she wasn't a "real" superior yet like those commissioned above her, she was happy in her spot, guiding the seamen recruits under her. Stepping lightly in her black boots, she stopped before the area, her cerulean orbs standing before two lines of four men. Upon her arrival, they smiled and saluted before her, Senshi calmly returning the gesture with a dainty left hand before sharply lowering it back to her side. "Ohayo everyone!~ Are you ready to get to work? We have a long day ahead of us and we can't afford to lounge around! Erh...I-I mean...don't take it offensively." 

The girl blushed embarrassed at the assertive response crumbling apart, tilting her head down towards the ground, her eyes shadowed by the pink flush on her cheeks as she silently cursed her shy demeanor. "K-Kawaii! ACH!" Comically falling to the ground in deadpan expressions, they quickly got to their feet as the marines rested in a drill yard. Yes, a simple drill yard with training targets of all sorts, and ample space. For a place like Eldoran though, it seemed pretty peaceful. Well, relatively. However, within mere moments, she turned her back to her men, wordlessly, taking three steps forward. That was until she responded, "Hajime..."

Just like that, immediately in conjunction did two marines rush forward, medium built men with swords as they swung at her from both the left and right side with Cutlasses. As the blades crisscrossed along the Warrant Officer, the blades ripped through her, torso. However, no blood came. None at all. Instead, Senshi proceeded to raise her right hand up to her head, adjusting the marine cap along her head, her whole entire torso black by all means underneath her clothes. "Not bad everyone. Your teamwork isn't half bad. Though it could be better!" Her wound sealed themselves, the two swordsmen backing off.

If she didn't have the power of the Nama Nama no Mi, there was no doubt about it that she'd be dead in the last moment. However, she'd been working with this fruit for quite some time, and that included some of the intricacies of how to use it effectively. However, the swordsmen quickly cleared away, the marines in the back line raising four rifles, firing upon her, littering her with consecutive holes, causing her to stand entirely still as bullets rained on her, piercing through her head and chest as the others began to surround her in a half circle formation.

"Good. You know I can't attack you and be transformed at the same time! You're using the time to surround me and have me prepared for assault by my flanks! Good!" Speaking in bright enthusiasm at the tactics she had drilled into these men, they seemed very concerned, as they knew all too well that it was going to be tough to defeat her, even with this tactic. However, seeing they didn't know Haki or had access to seaprism equipment, it was the best they had to offer to assault her. When one man stopped to reload, the next man took his rifle and fired, causing her to sharply look out, looking for an opening. In that next brief moment, she found her chance. 

Dashing forward, slipping through the line, a bullet slipped by her as she swerved her body, her right arm turning completely black as one of the swordsmen on her side raised his blade to swing it diagonally for her shoulder. A clang as the Lead Marine's open hand slammed into the side of the weapon, diverting the swerve and the man's momentum as the black arm's hand had clenched, the knuckle extended in a thrusting motion. "Nama Nama No: Koka!" A powerful fist slammed into the man's stomach, sending him skidding backwards, but not on the ground as she quickly found more attacks launched. The average training day with Senshi and her squadron here at Eldoran. The sound of firing bullets and the clash of metal.

[Grandest]

It was a beautiful sunny day, blue skies with the occasional drifting cloud, birds drifting on the sea breezes. A relatively normal day for the Marine base to be sure. Marines going about their duties, refitting ships, resupplying, sharing intel... While the more rowdy Marines used the training grounds. Sounds of combat came from the sparring grounds, both swords, and guns but just a few feet away even stranger sounds could be heard.

"1,123..." *Munch.*

"1,124..." *Crunch.*

"1,125..." *Nom."

The sound of working out followed by rather loud sounds of eating. Magnolia was busy doing her morning work out routine, the female Ensign was vertical, her feet pointing toward the sky held in place only by two fingers, one hand behind her back as she continued to work out. However, the strangeness wasn't her working out although some of the lower level Marines did find that amazing... what was truly amazing was the large bowl of apples placed beneath her. A large bowl that was rapidly dwindling as the Ensign had somehow figured out a way to work out without having to stop eating. If the quartermaster found out he would probably have a stroke as Ensign Wilde was already rapidly depleting the bases food supplies with her monstrous appetite but luckily for both Ensign Wilde and the Quartermaster, the rather churlish man was otherwise occupied at the moment.

Maggie was feeling rather proud of herself, having finally found a way that her workouts didn't have to stop her from eating. Now she could both work out and continue to munch which in Maggie's opinion was probably the greatest news since the invention of pizza. She was also watching the sparring match going on in the training grounds... if it really could be called that, seeing how it appeared that the Devil Fruit user was just playing around with the poor underlings. Maggie was more interested in the devil fruit itself and she wondered what type of Devil Fruit it was and how it worked.

However, the Ensign was not going to bother asking as it seemed like something to private to share. Sort of like explaining to someone how to defeat yourself... which, most intelligent people wouldn't do. So she continued to work out and observe, wondering why they didn't just pick the woman up and carry her to the ocean? Maybe to mean for a spar? Maggie didn't know and she wondered how you would fight someone who could apparently turn into some kind of rock-like substance judging from the noises the weapons made as they clashed against the Marine's blackened body.

"If you're strong enough... I guess you just smash stone?" Maggie mused aloud as she continued her work out.

Honestly, that type of Devil Fruit seemed like it would be really useful, especially to someone like Maggie herself who didn't do much besides be really strong. She hoped that the Devil Fruit she had a lead on would be something similar, something that helped to emphasize her strengths...

'Hmm... or maybe I should hope for something that shores up my weaknesses?'

Maggie soon lost herself in her own internal debate as she tried to decide if being balanced or specialized would be better...

[Dandead10]

Ultimately, as the battle dragged on, even she could get a bit tired from skirting around and taking blows, avoiding them, and counter attacking. She really wasn't anything particularly spectacular yet in terms of strength and ability, but there came a special moment where she had resolved herself to fight incredibly defensively in the next few moments, ducking her head back as a blade deftly missed her head in a upper rising slash, leaping into the air off her right leg as she hardened her left leg to swiftly kick down and press her weight upon another, actively clenching her hands as she could feel the awful situation she rested in. 

"Nama Nama No: Dangan!" As she kicked off the weapon she rested her weight on, she proceeded to flick her thumb and index fingers outward in a snap finger gun, a ptwang noise ringing through the air as one had shot out, hitting the foreheads of the gun toting marines, causing him to recoil back, the stinging sensation of a metal ball hitting them in their skulls as they fell back, a single bullet misfiring and promptly slamming into the porcelain bowl of apples before the Ensign. The shattering resounded through the area, and just like that, Odayakama Senshi froze, her blood running cold for a moment. She had just messed with another person's food.

Worse than that, it was the food of one of her superiors. Her eyes widened then, her right eye twitching as dual rings were evident. She had just pissed off the wrong person today. Oh no. Yes, most certainly, that seemed to be the case. Ceasing the training session, the marine that was Senshi would quickly step up, obviously not being a commissioned officer, the lead marine looking as pale as a ghost in the coming moments. Bowing her head, she spoke, her right hand clenching the white shirt draped around her small form near the stomach, the other scuffing her hat as she seemed scrunched up, a red on her face as she looked ashamed.

"A-Ano...Shōi." She seemed to drag on that thought for just a moment before she slowly adjusted her right hand, pointing a finger towards herself. "E-Eh. My name is Odayakama Senshi. Warrant Officer. Please forgive me for what happened to your fruits and bowl. I'll gladly buy you a new one from my own pocket and compensate you with whatever you'd like to eat." On Goa, ruining another person's food was a declaration of war, plain and simple. She could only hope that she'd just averted a war through the offer of peace. Though, perhaps it wasn't enough to avoid the righteous fury of a hungry person.  Whatever was coming surely was justified.

[Note: Shōi=Ensign]

[Grandest]

Maggie was in the middle of her work out, minding her own business when disaster struck. The black rock crashed into her large bowl of apples, sending them flying in all directions. Magnolia froze, her mind locking up at the tragedy that had just befallen her. She simply froze mid-motion, her body still vertical, her feet pointed toward the sky.

In slow motion, Maggie lowered her feet to the ground, her face shadowed by her Marine hat as she stood up. Her entire body was trembling and an aura of blackness seemed to be seeping off her as several of the fodder Marines nearby found themselves running for their lives. They weren't exactly sure what was about to happen but they were sure it probably wasn't going to be good.

"Y-y-ou..." Magnolia couldn't finish her sentence she was so angry. Then she let out a heavy sigh.

"You didn't mean it but be careful you could have hurt someone."

It was at this time that Maggie realized that she shouldn't have been working out so close to the sparring grounds... it could have been a bullet or worse. Shaking her head at her own folly, Maggie walked forward and offered her hand to the other woman.

"Ensign Magnolia Wilde, pleased to meet you."

She was still mad but she now realized that a large part of this was her own fault for being so carless. If she was stronger, she could have even blocked the attack before it hit her food. This was simply an indication that she needed to grow even stronger.

She refused to be one of those idiotic officers who blamed everything on underlings. Those were the type of people Ensign Magnolia Wilde hated the most. She smiled, she could always snatch more apples why the Quartermaster was away after all.

[Dandead10]

Odayakama Senshi in her awkward social demeanor had brightened immediately when Magnolia Wilde had stepped forward and had accepted her apology, letting her know that everything was alright. That accidents happened and she was willing to accept that, despite the obvious anger and frustration that was evident on her face mere moments ago. Odayakama Senshi could only take her hand, firmly, and shake it as she smiled, Shōi Magnolia Wilde. Taking that in with a firm resolution of repaying the girl, she did recall in those moments that she was training, seemingly on her own. If that was the case, there was definitely some ways that the young Devil Fruit user could offer help.

"Shōi Wilde. I saw that you were training on your own before all of this, so I'm wondering if you'd like to train with me." Suddenly, the marines behind her, the ones she had previously been training with suddenly broke out into comical trails of tears, audibly shouting in unison. "WHAT ABOUT US?!" The redheaded officer in that moment shrugged a bit awkwardly, an apologetic look as she had sweatdrops on her head. "U-Uhm...clean the barracks?" The marines froze, before promptly shouting, "SO CRUEL! GACGH!" With the brief pause, the deadpan expressions by some of her men, the redhead gazed over at the Ensign to hear her answer. It seemed they both had some idle free time, and Senshi was the kind of person that liked to use her time productively.

Training with someone, an Ensign nonetheless was an excellent way to do so. Taking three paces back along the sandy/gravelly ground, she extended her fist for a fistbump, wondering if her fellow Marine would accept the challenge of training with her, the Black Knight, the Lead Leader, the Senshitive Senshi! Okay, awkward nicknames aside, she was definitely excited about training and therefore fighting with strong characters, even if they were marines. She had long heard stories of monsters of the sea such as Shirohige, Hiken no Ace, Mugiwara no Luffy, among many other famous names, and she aspired to be like those figures, but perhaps one for justice. However, there seemed to be some sort of odd common theme where Senshi met people that had the cursed powers of Rokushiki that she had never been able to learn as of yet.

Looking at the odd heterochromic eyes of the girl before her, if her fist was acknowledged, it would suddenly turn completely black in a small burst of what appeared to be hot steam, albeit there was no such recognition whatsoever in terms of temperature. "I have no doubt that you're stronger than I am Shōi. So then. I'm going to give it to you with everything I've got. it's time for me to test and acknowledge that I've learned a lot from my Nama Nama no Mi. Please take good care of me, and let's both try our best!" Her eyes gazed at Magnolia with dual rings in either eye, obviously ecstatic. Hopefully, this would be a thrilling experience.

Overtaken

[Grandest]

Maggie stood blankly, watching all the things happening before her and she reached back to scratch the back of her head. She didn't think of herself as particularly strong, in fact, she was fairly certain she was rather weak... all the same, she supposed she could do with a spar although... Magnolia was a bit nonplussed about how this changed from an apology to an excuse for the other marine to beat her up but she just shrugged her shoulders. Then she raised her hand and calmly fist bumped the other Marine.

"Sure, a spar doesn't sound half bad. Although, I'm not particularly strong or anything."

She replied with her signature wide grin. She didn't really move at all, just staring at the lower ranking Marine who Maggie was pretty sure was the stronger of the pair. After all, Maggie didn't have any devil fruit or even special fighting powers or techniques. She was would have to play this smart and analyze her opponent. Her opponent definitely had a Devil Fruit and from what she saw during training she could use it at both range and melee although it appeared she was relatively stationary when she changed her body into the hard rock-like substance. Maggie wasn't sure what kind of rock it was but never the less, it was definitely harder than her fists. Sure, she could punch through a wall probably but that would be more because the wall has structural weak points. A rock has no such things.

She would have to stick to grappling if she wanted to do anything at all and the fact that she was super strong would weigh in her advantage. All she could really do is throw the other Marine around... Then she blinked at a sound that was such a part of the background noise that she had forgotten about it... and she grinned as the sound of splashing waves filled her ears. They were only about twenty feet from the beach... Maybe this could work after all. And if it did work it would be a good tutorial for other Marines watching how to overcome a superior opponent. 

"I'm ready when you are I guess?"

She said after the staring went on for an uncomfortable amount of time, sweat dropping a little as she just stood there. Then, she raised an eyebrow in disbelief as a tumbleweed rolled across the training ground from out of nowhere... There wasn't even any wind! And above, on the edge of the building, she was pretty sure she saw chipmunks exchanging bets. Shaking her head to clear it of the wild things she was seeing, Magnolia sunk into a fighting stance, her center of gravity lowering and her hands opening as she prepared to fight.