A mellow stroll through the menacing woods

[York]

When and how Adrian Idol wound up on the Crescent Moon Islands remained a mystery to him. The only thing he remembered before waking up in his hospital bed was a score of masked luchadores ambushing him and his crew on the Reverse Mountain. As hard as it may have been to forget something like that, the details were foggy. Still, Idol could clearly recall the face his unnamed crew member made when he informed the wrestler that there was trouble afoot and he was needed. Aside from that, it was all a blank.

Idol himself had a few theories on how he got to the islands. The first, and most likely was that he was simply knocked off the ship and flew all the way to the islands like a bird. The less likely scenario was that he was knocked off the ship and floated all the way over to the islands on a log or something. A doctor had tried to explain the situation and how he was found by frightened civilians, but Idol had other things on his mind and didn’t quite catch it.

Without the Storytellers and their ship, the Chocolate Valentine to sail on, Idol was essentially trapped on the island for the foreseeable future. The seas of the Grand Line were nothing like the Blues. At least that’s what he’d been told as conversations with nurses turned towards sailing. A mere sailboat wouldn’t get someone very far before the tumultuous nature of the Grand Line wrapped its unforgiving hands around it.

Without any money to buy a superior boat or secure a ticket for a ferry, Idol had no other choice but to find a job on the island and work for a while. Thankfully, a position opened up for a job that seemed to fit Idol’s set of skills like a glove. It was the Crescent Enforcers who were in search of abled bodied men and women to serve their island and keep the peace in the name of Justice. Despite his injuries and fatigue, Idol’s pro wrestling lifestyle and training already made him a notch above the average man or woman on a physical level. The written portion of his application proved difficult, as the wrestler hadn’t actually written anything down for well over a year now, but he managed.

It wasn’t long until he was given the job. But being awarded the hat and uniform wasn’t the reason Idol smiled so much nowadays. Not even the regular income was the culprit behind his newfound joy. The bounce that came in Idol’s step came from the fact that Idol was able to give something back to the world after the atrocities he was partially responsible for.

To this day, Idol still had dreams of the Silver Islands, and the events that the Storytellers partook in. The roaring explosions, the ear-splitting chainsaws of Flynn Toctic, the awful taste of sewer water in his mouth; all responsible for Idol waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. The opportunity to do something good on the side of justice helped quell the nightmarish sounds, and helped motivate Idol to ensure that nothing like that ever happened again.

Rubbing his now buzzed head, Idol returned to carefully filling out his paperwork. Calls received, locations visited, and daily reports were all done throughout the day and had to be put to paper for possible use in a later citation. While not as glamorous as hitting the road and smacking people’s noses in with his elbows, it was honest work and Idol was glad to do it. His handwriting was a bit messy, but the alphabet books Idol bought was helping it clear up every day, and it was only a matter of time until his handwriting would stand alongside museum paintings.

As he wrote, Idol’s mind wandered and he got to thinking of the other Storytellers who were ambushed on the mountain. “They’re strong,” he said to himself, his pen strokes slowing down. “They’ve probably all reunited by now, and are already off to their next crazy adventure.” The writing came to a stop as Idol blankly stared down at his report. “Probably better off without me weighing them down anyway.”

It took a moment for Idol to register that his paperwork was completed. Examining it, he returned it to the stack of other completed papers and slid them into an envelope. With a loud exhale, he stood from his desk and marched to Rustan’s office. Most of the pain in his head and leg were gone, but there was still an ache whenever he’d sit for long periods of time. Hopefully, something would come up and he’d be given an assignment that would let him stretch his legs today. He really needed the exercise

[Slueshy]

It was a long an arduous journey for Kurumi. Not only for the usual reasons that plagued her very existence, but just the travel in general. All those years ago when she chose her field of study, she couldn't have imagined how valuable the skills she learned really were. Given she never had much to do with them in her home environment, but out here, in the world, it seemed like everyone was in need of a doctor! At first she thought she would have to get by on money alone, money she'd taken when she'd left of course, but it turned out that her knowledge and expertise were often enough all she'd need to get herself from place to place, it was rather stunning how well that worked out. Furthermore it also helped to keep people from getting too invested in her when she could fake any number of things to keep people from really finding out who she was. It wasn't exactly easy for a Mink to go unnoticed and honestly she wished she had an easier time of it. Thankfully she usually made the excuse that her appearance was because of a Devil Fruit, and that helped quite a bit, though she never let herself be too open with her appearance, covering up as much as possible.



Thankfully despite any setbacks she figured she was going to face, she actually managed to make her way to the Crescent Moon Islands with little issue!  Which was perfectly fine with her, the sooner she got away from all the people the better, goodness knows she wasn't anti-social by any means, but in order to sell yourself to get from location to location, it requires a lot of interactions with all sorts, and quite honestly she was more than looking forwards to a chance to really get away from all the hustle and bustle and delve deep into her own research.  The reason she was here in the first place.  The 'Gibbous Shadow' a rare plant species native to these islands, her findings let her know that such a plant was capable of producing a very interesting and deadly toxin.  Such a plant would be wonderful to research, not only for it's capabilities in poisoning, but for anything else as well, it doesn't do just to dable in death, one should always keep their antidotes well learned too.  But she was curious to see what she could do with the specimen and how she could improve upon what nature had already created here.  Though she'd also learned of the laboratory on the island while she was in travel and she would be a fool if she didn't bother to poke her head in there for a few moments and maybe simply ask if they had some good information on the plants so she wouldn't have to trial and error her own research as much, not to mention she'd just love to know more about the types of plants on the island that could also be of interest to her.

All these thoughts and more went with her as she stepped off of the boat she'd managed to ride with.  Dressed in what could only be a very formal looking long sleeved dress adorned in shades of green and yellow, a backpack strapped to her in the usual place which held her belongings.  With her goodbyes made she went on her way, deciding to familiarize herself with the island a bit before deciding to head off into the wild, after all she'd need a place to stay here if she was going to do any serious research, so finding someplace that would accommodate her was key.  

[York]

With his papers tucked under his hands, Idol made the long walk to Captain Rustan’s office. Despite having met him and spoken to him numerous times, he still felt uneasy having to speak to him one on one. This wasn’t the first job that he’s taken outside the WBCW Battle Ship, and this wasn’t the first boss that he’d ever had to fill out papers for. But the size and clear strength difference made Idol feel like he was reporting to a beast who could tear him in half if he upset him.

Steeling his nerve, he knocked on his superior’s open front door and stepped in. The large man was hunched over his own desk, a newspaper in one hand and a different report in the other. He did not look up when Idol knocked, nor acknowledge him when he approached his desk.

“Uhm, sir?” he quietly said, extending his arm full of papers towards Rustan. “I have those reports you wanted. All filled up. Crossed T’s, dotted I’s, everything.”

Without looking up from his papers, Rustan gestured to the ‘In’ pile on one side of his desk, and nervously, he placed the stack there. Walking back to his starting position at the head of the desk, Idol clasped his hands behind his back and looked down to his polished boots. “So~” he started, rocking himself from his toes to his heels. “Anything you need from me, sir? Any assignments that could use a warm body?”

“You could try mopping the floors. Someone’s tracking mud” Rustan sharply said. He smiled and looked up to Idol out of the corner of his eye “If you have nothing to do, you could conduct a manhunt for the mud tracker, that’d be helpful.”

Idol forced a laugh at Rustan’s joke but pulled the laugh back when the Crescent Enforcer captain did not join him. Coughing, he regained his composure. “Thank you, sir, but I was… I meant for something a little more… you know… substantial”

“Substantial, huh?” Rustan looked up from his papers at Idol, who quickly straightened himself up to look taller. “If you’re restless and feel the need to stretch your legs…” Idol’s eyes widen and his hopes raised like a balloon full of hot air, as Rustan put his papers down and gave Idol his undivided attention. “You can go out and do your rounds again.” And like a hot air balloon with a puncture in it, Idol could feel his hopes crash right back down to earth in a fiery explosion. So clear was the wrestler’s disappointment that his superior had to respond.

“I understand how you may be disappointed, but you gotta understand that this inactivity is a good thing.” he said, pointing a finger to Idol, “If there was a crime being committed right now, that presents a danger to the people of the island. And we don’t want that, now do we?” With a closed fist, Rustan smacked his wide desk so hard it bounced an inch off the ground. Everything on the table was thrown into disarray, and Idol jumped backward in surprise. “Of course not. Now go do your rounds.”

Staring with a blank expression, Idol shrugged. It was true that moments of peace were to be cherished and the job of the Enforcers was to maintain that very peace, but doing rounds were so boring and unfulfilling. Sparring sessions with other lower-ranked Enforcers were only so exhilarating. They could not hold a candle to Idol’s fight against the pirate from Silia. To Idol, it felt like he was back to square one on the Battle Ship.

Idol gave a nod and turned to leave the office. “Just a second!” Rustan called, Idol quickly turning to face him with a smile so wide that it impaired his vision. “If you see anything suspicious, make sure to alert one of your superiors as quick as you can. Don’t go jumping the gun unless someone else is with you, got it?”

The burning wreckage that was Idol’s expectations had now fallen into a deep chasm. He kept his happy charade up as he left the office, gently shutting the door behind him and marching back to the rack holding his coat and hat. It wasn’t until Idol was out the door that he loudly exhaled and groaned in frustration. This was not what he meant when he said he wanted some exercise. Stomping down the streets, Idol took to swearing under his breath to vent his frustrations.

[Slueshy]

"Thank you, I'll be back later!"

It didn't take her too long to find a place she could put her things and really settle down here on the island, and after saying a quick goodbye to the woman she was renting the space from, Kurumi was right out the door!.  It wasn't more than exchanging a few words with the owner of the establishment, procuring a room for her to stay in, something spacious but overall not very luxurious, she was mainly going to be using it for writing and additional research, only sleeping when she really had to.  But that was besides the point, it was just one step in her overall goal of getting down to start her research.  With that out of the way she could head out and go down the street, intending to make her way to the forest to get started.  Of course she changed up her attire a little bit, though primarily she kept a long dress, this time she wore one more stylized with the islands own fashion sense, as her red dress was adorned with yellow flowers across it.  Of course it was still long sleeved and she kept her tail wrapped about herself underneath so it did look a little frumpy.  Wearing her sun hat and keeping it low so her face was more obscured, she'd gotten this far but she got this far being careful and keeping to herself so it was in her best interest to keep it that way.

Besides it wouldn't really that big of a deal anyway, once she got to the forest she planned on stripping down to some more comfortable clothes before she got started, that and she didn't really want to ruin her dress by trekking about through all the foliage and such.  Though if she did ruin her dress that just meant she had the option of buying some clothes from the island, perhaps she would do that anyway?  The style here was quite nice in her opinion and she didn't really want to leave without something to remember this place by, well she would be doing a lot of research and getting samples but those really aren't things you can just show off to people should she get the chance and she'd enjoy having something to remember it by that wasn't constantly reminding her of her work as well, but perhaps she was just talking herself into it?  Rather thinking herself into it, though what could you do about the association, even if she bought it thinking of having something nice to remind herself of the trip there would always be the fact that the main reason she came her in the first place was because of her own work and interests so buying it at all would pretty much think of this island and any work she'd come here for because that was the point of coming here in the first place!  

While thinking about this she wasn't quite watching where she was going and was just heading down the streets at a leisurely pace, though that didn't quite matter much to her, as far as she was concerned, the day was young, she had little to worry about and she had quite a goal in mind for her day after all.