Night Patrol(Part2)! Hospital Food Sucks!

[Kami-Gaz]

*Recap*

The night was still as dark as the blackest oil, the air still as cold the hearts of monsters and the scene on the ghost ship still entirely dire. The marine group that had stumbled on this derelict vessel has barely found evidence of a survivor when a piercing pair of shots rang out and one of their number died. His body falling from his sniper’s perch and onto the deck, bringing the reality of service into the group. The next of the number was found dead when a recruit had gone to alert the defacto leader… only to find him bleeding out with a slashed throat.

From there the pirates that had previously ravaged this ship had come to finish the job and climbed aboard, looking at the marines with a vicious glee as they decided to have some fun. Rakka, the Stetson wearing recruit engaged multiple opponents including the captain as Nora came to terms with the reality of the situation, offering her a helping hand where he could as he took more and more damage. Daniel was forced into a fight below deck, taking out who he could on his side.

Above The captain of these vial pirates had set his sights on taking out the Oil Spewing marine whilst his men spread out to attack Nora who had gained her resolve and engaged in her own bout. Fighting feverently she lost one of her weapons. Meanwhile Rakka was still not giving the captain his full attention, choosing to still help Nora. This landed him a beating. Below deck Daniel had dispatched the last of the men who had gave chase to him and in doing so found their valuable treasure.

Upon his return topside he was met with the scene of Nora recovering from losing her weapon and Rakka being stood over, a boot on his neck. He laid down a threat to smash the Devil Fruit, this only made the captain laugh and turn all of his attention on the young man.

---

Now we return to the scene as Captain Surgeo continues his slow advance, staying close to the recruit he was fighting earlier. “Come on Boi, give it here and we leave you and the others alive when we are finished here.” He warned, preparing to pull a new pair of cards from his breast pocket, his long bony fingers bloodied from his previous fight.

‘Was that Daniel?’ Rakka thought to himself, barely making the other recruit out in his blurred vision. As it cleared up his entire world snapped back into focus… that was a devil fruit and this captain wanted it?! There was no way that could happen. He was a Pirate and on top of that a very nasty one, scouring a ship and beating marines for sport. Two of their number were dead and there were to be more blood on Surgeo’s hands. Giving him a devil fruit was just too dangerous.

Without thinking the young marine outstretched his arm and grabbed the pirate captain by the ankle with what strength he could muster. “Don’t!” He coughed out in pain as he shouted. “Daniel! Don’t let him have it! You have to eat it!” Rakka managed to shout out before the pirate captain went red with rage and turned around on the spot to pull back his right leg and with all the power he could he booted Rakka’s head like it was a football being shot into a goal.

“PENALTY SHOT!” He bellowed before rearing his leg back for another kick.

Rakka’s vision went entirely white as the boot made contact with his head, pain surged through his entire body and his grip on his own consciousness faded. His hold on the pirate captains ankle loosened as the young marine passed out from the heavy kick he had just sustained. ‘At least Nora and Daniel are still alive…’ Were his last thoughts as everything went black.

[pepsi]

-- CHAPTER 2 // NIGHT PATROL

"Training? Vamos, I don't need any training for that, right now." Nora Leblanc scoffed. Her father was always too cautious in her eyes, always trying to teach her obvious stuff about the life of a Marine. "Papá, if we ever fight people, there's no way they'll send me to the front lines. I'll see the fighting from a safe distance, I'll be fine."
On the one hand, she wanted to show her parents that she was truly a prodigy just like them; in her mind, the best way to do it was to simply boast. That's too easy, that's very clear, that's just obvious. A contradiction, a contradiction that made sense in her mind.
On the other hand, she didn't really have the foresight to understand how useful it would be to learn something beforehand. Even better, to learn something before she even enlisted in the Navy, to learn something from her parents; she didn't want, because they didn't learn from their parents. Again, she just wanted to be validated by her parents; and similarly, she went about it in a contradictory way.

Those times when she had no idea how wrong she was, they came back to her at once. She was still breathing the cold air of Tequila Wolf, and she was still fighting for her life; all around her, a slow motion of people in the snow; Nora's vision was becoming more and more tunneled, less and less sober.
Was all of her negligence finally coming to bite her in the rear? Probably. She almost lost a hand because of an obvious mistake in her fighting tactics; she reasoned that if she were to look at herself from far away, she would find herself stupid and incapable.

And that idea made her feel terrible. And that idea made her feel motivated to do better.

Nora's hand, now free from the bindings of her own weapons, went to grab the closest enemy by the collar; with a titanic effort she pushed them away. She was clenching her teeth so hard it hurt.
Another enemy, perhaps hidden by the tunnel vision, came right up to her and delivered a punch to the face; it all became a blur for Nora, and the next sensation she felt was the sting of the snow on her face. She had fallen on the floor, and perhaps her consciousness was fading.

She was only left with a mouthful of regrets, and a bitter taste on her tongue.

-- NAME // Nora Leblanc

-- CLASS // E

-- TECHS USED // None.

[Mr. Moon]

Daniel #1

The situation on the upper deck quickly changed from bad to nightmarish. When. Daniel got back on the upper deck, two of their companions were already dead. Rakka was beaten and Nora desperately fought for her life. He was unarmed himself, so there was no chance he could fight and defeat a few dozens of pirates and their captain in a fight. But he still had hope. He thought that he could use the fruit as a leverage and force the pirates to leave the ship, or at least to focus on him, so Nora could run away. However, the reality hit him like a battering ram, when the pirate captain laughed in his face and Rakka asked him to eat that fruit.

“Eat...it?”

Horrified, Daniel looked at the fruit in his hand like it was the scariest thing in the whole world. He had to eat it? He should become a monster? But why? No, there had been another way…

“Give it to me you ******!”

As he was standing there startled, one pirate got to him from a side, trying to grab the fruit for himself. By reflex, Daniel pulled it closer to him. The two men struggled for a second, before the pirate, tall and wiry man with a scarred face lost his balance on the omnipresent oil and both men fell down on the soaked boards.

“I said give it to me!”

“No! Let go!”

Desperate struggle. Both men were holding the fruit with all their might pulling, pushing and kicking each other to force the other one to release his grip but it seemed, they were locked in stalemate.

“Ah come one Francis, are you really so useless, that you can not even steal a single fruit from a kid?”

Asked the captain, as he stepped towards them.

Daniel panicked. he was barely able to keep that cursed thing against one pirate! How was he supposed to guard it against two?

With his brain overcomed by a fear, his reflexes finally kicked in. He released his grip, but before his opponent could celebrate his victory, Daniel´s thumbs found their way into his eyes.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaa!”

Sudden pain forced him to release more than just an ear piercing cry. He released that Devil Fruit as well.

“**** don´t!”

Realizing what was going on, the captain cursed and changed from walk to sprint, but it was already too late. Daniel lunged for the fruit, with his mouth opened so much, that it looked like he dislocated it and before anyone could stop him, he stuffed the whole thing into his mouth and started chewing.

GULP!

For a moment, everyone was looking at the young recruit, like frozen in time. And Daniel was just standing there, confused, and horrified by what he just did.

“That was...disgusting! Ah my god...it was spoiled! I am going to die! I am going to die!”

Sudden panic attack hit him together with nausea. The young recruit bent over in his waist and tried to hide his face in his hands only to realize, he had no hands! Instead of them, he was looking at a pair of wings covered by dark blue feathers.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Shocked by this sight, he jumped up like a startled cat, hitting the air with his monstrous wings. His scream completely disappeared in a deafening thunder strike.

Suddenly, everything around him became blurry and when he could see clearly again, he the ship he stood on just a second ago was nothing but a small, “toy like” thing deep beneath him.

“What the...oh no, no, no, no, no! I am going to DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

Without the slightest clue of how to control his new body, the gargantuan bird started falling back down, uncontrollably rolling and spinning in the air.

[Fox]

“What do you mean they’re out there on patrol?!”

Rosie stood in Vaun’s office. She was watching the man that was her captain shake with anger. That anger wasn’t directed at her, of course, but at the news that she’d just divulged to him. Another division had taken their recruits on patrol without notifying any of their commanding officers. Rosie had just overheard it when she went to the cafeteria to fix herself a midnight snack since sleep was often elusive for her. She’d immediately pressed for details, making the man extraordinarily uncomfortable. That news had made their usually overly cheerful captain shake with rage. It was uncharacteristic of him.

Rosie, for her part, was perturbed herself, of course. She’d put time and effort into the recruits. If they died, then she would be extremely displeased. Of course, she already had her sights set on whoever thought it was a good idea to take recruits from another division away on a potentially dangerous patrol.

Vaun slammed his fist down on the desk and stormed toward the door, little black clouds forming around him and crackling with lightning. Rosie followed behind him wordlessly, awaiting his orders.

“Gather EVERYONE at the docks NOW. You have five minutes before we cast off.”

“Yessir.”

Rosie diverted quickly as Vaun headed toward the docks, reaching the communications room where she picked up the Den Den Mushi connected to Tequila Wolf’s PA system, calling for all members of the 22nd Division to assemble at the docks immediately.

~~~

Lightning filled the night sky as a giant bird rocketed up like a beacon. And a beacon it was. Vaun immediately took off from the deck of the Betelguese, bounding into the sky after the bird. Rosie sighed softly to herself. Kurt was up in the crow’s nest to provide suppressive fire and so Vaun had left her in charge of commanding the troops. A look through the spyglass informed her the situation was dire. Rosie ordered the troops to prepare to board and glanced down at Reynard who was at her side.

“Help Nora first, understand? We’re going.”

Several things happened simultaneously at that point. Rosie grabbed a rope and swung over the side of the ship, crashing down onto the ghost ship in her hybrid form. A shot rang out from above from Kurt at the man standing over Rakka. Rosie shot off a volley of thick metal needles at him just in case that wasn’t enough to get the man away from Rakka.

“Surrender and we’ll make this painless.”

Above, a series of cloudy platforms formed below Daniel as he fell, slowing and eventually stopping his uncontrolled descent. Vaun stood on one of these cloud platforms, looking at Daniel with care.

“Are you alright, son?”

---

Rosie | Pale Pink (#fad7f6) | Post Count: 1
Vaun | Deep Sky Blue (#00bfff)

[Fennec]

-- CHAPTER 5.5 // Night Patrol

*sizzle sizzle*

The sound of a wok frying food, with an assortment of vegetables, noodles, egg, and meats sizzling about as filled the air. But that wasn't all an aroma of a freshly cooking meal did as well! Reynard smiled moving around the ingredients with the spatula! A meal ready for Nora, Rakka, and Daniel. It wasn't often that he made special meals for them as he usually saved them for Rosalyn and Vaun... (but especially Rosalyn.) Classic bootlicking for superiors did get you far in the marines and he was going to get that rank up of his by any means necessary even if it meant giving his bosses special treatment.

Just as he was almost done preparing the dishes for them so they'd be ready upon arrival an announcement boomed through! It was his Ensign's voice issuing a command! Putting on his hat Reynard got ready, (he turned off the oven first of course.) A part of him wanted to ask Rosalyn what was going on once he showed up alongside the other seamen.

~~

Upon arrival he even had a decent chance of asking Rosalyn what exactly was happening, considering he got the honor to stand next to her, something that had been occurring more ever since they'd taken down the Bubble Pop Pirates. It seemed like he was being groomed to be an assistant... especially with all the responsibilities he was granted. Snow fell around them, a norm in this neck of the woods... normally something tranquil... but in this scenario, it only added onto the severity of the situation.

Looking onward at the situation, it was complete and utter chaos! Lightning flashed about as a massive avian fluttered about in the air struggling to keep itself aloft. The more he watched the scene on fold the more he wished he'd been given a proper briefing, but there was no time for briefings! Action was necessary... his friends were in danger! He knew that much, as adrenaline began to surge through his body he prepared to leap in.

"Aye aye!"

Reynard responded to Rosalyn's command! Immediately he entered his hybrid form growing a couple of feet in size. His body now covered in brown fur... making him resemble something of a lycan, one with a much more elegant fox-ish frame. Just as Rosalyn hopped onto the other deck, Reynard followed suit!

"GEPPOU!"

The Seaman yelled letting out a single 'geppo' kick to empower his leap. It was enough to send him flying through the air, that along with his light frame he elegantly landed on the ship with a light thud. Pacing through the sheets of white snow on the birch deck, immediately his eyes turned into hearts at the sight of his beloved 'Princess Nora...'

"Don't worry Nora my Princess I'm here to saaaaaave yooooooou!~"

Reynard said immediately transforming back into his normal state. Only to witness his friend get deck right in the face. That was enough to wipe the smile from his face... so this was how it was going to be huh? Immediately his eyes became darkened, they locked onto the slow falling Nora... he'd show them for beating up Nora. He'd gotten battle-hardened by his fights with Corone, Kikori, Wagyu, and Bobo!

This threat was below him, it was okay to be afraid. It was natural. He just had to remain calm and in control. He took a deep breath... before dashing in with breakneck speed, right before Nora could hit the deck of the ship he was already holding her in his arms. The Seaman slung her over his back effectively giving his fellow recruit a piggyback ride.

"Hold on tight Nora! I'll take care of this!"

Holding onto Nora would surely slow him down a bit. He felt her weight slightly pull him down as she laid on his back, his black boots sinking into the snow. But that didn't matter to him. Rey was up for the challenge! He looked at the bastard who'd given her a good punch to the face. His eyes slit and became fox-like as he concentrated on the man before him.

"Get out of my way kid, we'll beat ya to bits like we did to yer other friends!"

He gloated throwing a punch Reynard's way at high speeds. One that the fox-man simply evaded with ease, his reflexes were at their peak now that his body had tensed up for battle.

"Fat chance buddy! KUMIHO CHAGI: GWAN!"

Reynard yelled out and with a stomp-like kick he struck the man in the gut. The mook was bashed, his body contorting as his eyes rolled into his head and blood sputtered out of his mouth.

*BA-BAM*

The impact like thunder cracked through the ship as the mook was sent flying across the deck and into the nearby mast which snapped in half. Reynard stood straight, face full of resolve.

"That's for hitting Nora."

-- NAME // Reynard Ayoki

-- CLASS // D

-- TECHS USED // Geppou, Kumiho Chagi: Gwan

[Kami-Gaz]

Nothing on this excursion had gone right for the red card pirates. Their first raid on this ship had yielded nothing and their second was ruined by a bunch of upstart marine recruits. It was frustrating to captain Surgeo, his face was bulging with veins and red from anger. Once the thunder bird had lifted into the air he halted his charge and looked up with a face of pure rage. “KILL THEM ALL!” He bellowed, turning to head to the already downed youngster he had already beaten to a pulp.

As the pirates shout rang out Rakka’s body shifted, his eyes blank as what was left of him moved to stand and face the captain. He was not there, the lights were out this was just his body moving on instinct through the pain. The blonde recruit got into a new stance, swaying as he did. Defiant against the will of the murderous captain.

More men charged at both Nora and Rakka, aiming to follow their captains latest order to the letter, this excursion was their loss aswell. Something they had been working toward for months… ruined by these marines. By the time Rakka had gotten his stance more than half of the remaining crew and the captain were surrounding him. This was it, it was certain death wasn’t it?

The oil baron moved, locking his stance in and letting oil slip out from his entire body to join the pool on the floor. In the heart beats between his stance locking and the oil splashing to the deck the Red Card pirates had stopped, looked at each other before nodding. They were all going to attack at once and overwhelm the young man who looked as if he was going to topple over with a stiff breeze. They charged.

Rakka’s fist clenched, his world was dark and every sound rattled around his head. Was that lights in the distance over the water? Or was that the light at the end of the tunnel? No matter, he still had to help Daniel and Nora. He had to push past this limit and save them! His arms moved, twising with his entire broken body before extending outward in a fluid motion like a wave. “Twin” He mouthed. At the end of his hands outstretching all of the oil he had released shifted; it rose like a spinning wall around the marine. “Twisting” He whispered. At the end of his next heartbeat the wall expanded and pushed away catching and forcing the mooks of the red card pirates back. “VORTEX!” He bellowed out as the wall of oil pushed the number of mooks back, making them slam into walls or off of the ship, over the railings.

Most of the oil that had not soaked into the wooden floor had been used in this grand attack, there was now only one Pirate stood over Rakka, The captain. With a mighty slam he punched Rakka in the gut forcing him to fly into the wall and slide to the floor, barely sitting up. “I’VE HAD IT WITH YOU BOI! YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST DIED EARLIER!”

The hit had knocked some senses back into Rakka, he was coming too was the pirate was stomping closer. ‘Is this it?’ He asked himself. ‘I’ve got to help Nora…’ He raised his hand, pointing it past Captain Surgeo.

*CRACK!*

A sniper shot had rung out, before he knew it Rakka in his blurred vision watched the Pirate stumble back, in a near instant after that he was hit more projectiles slammed into his chest making him take a few more steps back and grit his teeth. “URGHH!” The pirate grunted, still standing, and now looking at his new opponent.

“Oil Well…” Rakka softly spoke as he let a small spurt of oil spill from the palm of his out stretched hand, it was aimed at the blurry shape near where Nora was… it didn’t even travel a few inches before splashing to the wood ineffectively. Even so… the recruit kept shooting his shots. “Oil Well…”

---

Six Days Ago, Karate Island, South Blue

The sounds of beeping were slicing through the silence of the hospital room that housed the matriarch of the Hoshiko family. A middle aged woman, on the younger side of her forties, potentially in her late thirties Sayuri Hoshiko. A woman of brilliant blonde hair and blue eyes was hooked up to multiple machines and despite all of the wires coming from her body she wore a smile as a marine was stood by her bed holding a whole stack of papers.

“Remember, they have to get to him in the right order.” She spoke softly, her voice seemingly failing through the medical treatment. “And only after I pass.” Her soft voice said in as stern a tone as she could muster. She was still an officer after all.

“Yes Ma’am.” The man said with a booming presence, standing to attention as he watched her write one final letter in a shakey hand. The rest were written by himself, dictated by the woman. However, she stubbornly wanted to write this one herself. “Are you sure you do not need help Ma’am?” He asked, leaning closer to present a helping hand.

“No! I’ll never get to see my boy again and this has to be special.” She retorted, using the barely functional arm that was holding the pen to swat at the marine. “I’m saying good bye.” She said, her smile wavering.

“Understood.” The marine responded, rubbing at his forehead that now had a bruise forming. For a woman that was on her death bed she could still pack in quite a wallop.

“Tell me…” She spoke quietly. “Was I a bad mother?” She asked, still writing as tears dripped onto the page of the letter that she was writing. “Did I fail him?” Sayuri asked, stopping her writing in the first fit of sadness any marine had ever seen from her.

[pepsi]

-- CHAPTER 2 // NIGHT PATROL

Nora's memories of what happened after are hazy and incoherent. She felt the touch of someone tugging on her body and lifting her up; she was absolutely certain that it was one of the pirates, and she was about to be taken hostage. But then, struggling to keep her head up, she caught a glimpse of a familiar face - fox ears - and a voice she'd heard before. Reynard?...
For sure, it must have been all a dream. Why would Reynard be there after all? He wasn't there when it all started. And why would she think of Reynard of all people in those moments, when she could barely take a hold on her consciousness? Perhaps the stress had really done a number on her sanity.

-- NAME // Nora Leblanc

-- CLASS // E

-- TECHS USED // None.

[Mr. Moon]

Daniel #2

Eyes closed, Daniel was falling towards certain death. Driven by panic, his large wings were desperately beating the air but to no avail. It would need someone with skills that he definitely didn't possess to get him from the wild spiral that was leading into the ocean. His body hit something soft and gentle, like if he fell to his bed at home.
"So that's how death feels like? That's not that bad…"
Daniel muttered to himself, his mind still lost, balancing on the eye of delirium from all the things that happened in the last few seconds. Son...someone was talking to him. Male voice calling him a son?
"Dad?"
He asked, trying to open his eyes. It wasn't an easy task as the world around him was still spinning.
"You died too? That is sad, but at least we…"
The young recruit froze in the middle of his sentence as he finally realized that the man standing above him isn't his father, but rather a stranger, whose face he didn't recognize.
"Whoaaaaaaaa?! Who the **** are you?"
Startled, the giant deep blue bird tried to back off from whoever this guy was, scrambling to his feet, while at the same time beating around with his wings. At one point, he accidentally connected their tips, releasing a powerful lightning bolt.
CRACK!
A powerful electric spark traveled from his wings down, hitting the deck below, while setting the oil on it on fire. Daniel himself finally found the edge of the cloudy platform, however, as if that electrical discharge depleted all of his energy, his body transformed back into its human form.
"Whoa!"
Finally realizing that the cloud is finite, Daniel stopped on its very edge looking down on the quickly spreading fire.
"I...I didn't mean to...it was an accident, I...WE HAVE TO HELP THEM!"
Finally coming back to his senses, the young recruit yelled ad Vaun behind him, pointing at Rakka and the rest of their team. They were still too high for him to jump, but with these clouds, they could get them to safety.

[Fox]

“Whoa, easy there, son!” Vaun said, throwing out his arms and making another cloud appear behind the boy to catch him just in case he walked off the edge of the cloud. He seemed to call down - somewhat - after returning to human form, but now the ship below was most decidedly on fire. He held up his hands and walked over to Daniel, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“And we will. But first, we need to get you down to safety.”

With a flick of his wrist Vaun created a spiraling cloud slide that led down to the Marine ship. He gently pushed Daniel down into a sitting position and nodded to the lad.

“When you get down there, Lieutenant Volta will give you further orders. Now go!”

Vaun jumped off the side of the cloud, leaving Daniel to the slide and diving into the fray below.

~~~

Rosalyn slammed into the deck heavily, her body morphing into a monstrous looking hybrid form just as lightning cracked from above and lit the ship on fire. They were on a time table now. But it was one that wouldn’t be an issue. Rosie stalked forward, paying no mind to any sort of retaliation that the pirates threw at her. She was laser focused on the man standing above Rakka. It wasn’t long before she was within range. She lunged out and grabbed the pirate by the face.

With all of her considerable strength, Rosie wrenched the man up off of his feet and smashed his head down through the deck of the ship down through the ceiling of the deck below. When she took her hand away it was covered in red. Turning, she looked down at the prone, weak form of Rakka, and leaned down, picking the boy up and tossing him over one shoulder.

As she did, Vaun rocketed down from above, slamming into the deck. Clouds appeared all around that zapped any pirates that were close. And, in a moment’s time, the danger was over. Mostly, anyway. Captain Vaun barked orders to the Marines around. They scattered and arrested the pirates they could. Rosie took the cloud bridge that Vaun had made back to the Betelguese with Rakka in hand.

It wasn only a few more minutes before all of the pirates were rounded up - slightly singed - on the deck of the Betelguese. The corpses had all been gathered up too with shrouds put over them. Vaun stood on the aftcastle of the ship, doing a headcount with Kurt before determining that, yes, they had everyone. It’d be a rush back to Tequila Wolf to imprison the pirates and get those who needed treatment to the medical wing.

For now, Rosie brought Rakka inside and set him down in the ship’s infirmary on a stretcher, gesturing for Reynard to do the same with Nora. What a senseless tragedy. All because of some fool taking their recruits out for a patrol without permission. Well. It seemed like that fool had gone and met his fate out here, so there wasn’t even any opportunity for him to learn from his actions. Well. Rosie would certainly make sure that the other Division was too frightened to take her recruits out without permission from this moment on.

---

Rosie | #fad7f6 | Post Count: 2

Note: Skipping ahead a bit as agreed.

[Fennec]

-- CHAPTER 5.5 // Night Patrol!

The intrepid marines disposed of the pirates barely breaking a sweat. It wasn't surprising, to say the least, Vaun and Rosalyn were very capable fighters. Reynard himself was hardly a pushover, with Nora tight around his back. Reynard rushed up the path of clouds that Vaun had left behind. He would like to stay and fight... but he had orders to keep Nora safe.

Once on deck, orders were given out and heads were counted. The pirates now subdued or at least those that had survived the ordeal would likely be stuffed in a prison cell somewhere in the East Blue. Or in Impel Down if they were found too threatening. A fitting fate for such dastardly villians if you asked Reynard.

With Nora still on his back Reynard noticed Rosalyn's signal. Following behind her he put Nora on a stretcher next to Rakka. Crossing his arms he looked at both his companions with a concerned expression. They were alive. Their wounds would heal. But the same couldn't be said about the horrendous experience they had. This would likely stick with them. Reynard understood this. His ears drooped. He asked Rosalyn.

"D-do you think they'll be okay?"

-- NAME // Reynard Ayoki

-- CLASS // D

-- TECHS USED // None.

[Kami-Gaz]

“Oil well…” The battered and broken recruit kept uttering as small splashes of oil seeped out of his barely outstretched arm. More shapes had come into the fray now, the figure that was looking over him had been taken aback and a large pink shape has appeared just in front of him. Had he done it? Did he hold them back long enough for the rest of the division to come and save Daniel and Nora?!

He let his arm slump down and he managed a small bloody smile. Rakka had done it! He had managed to save someone and push his beyond his absolute limits. His eyes closed just a moment later, the last glimpse of shapes being of the pink one slam dunking the pirate captains shape into the deck just as a flash crashed into the ship.

It felt like a blink but he was dangling and moving, was the ship on fire? Darkness came back almost as fast as it vanished. Consciousness was coming and going over the next few hours as the Betelguese travelled back to the base on Tequila Wolf. Was that Rey speaking? Wow he sounded sad… he was going to need a pick me up.

Rakka cracked an eye open through the severe pain to see a surgeon leaning over him, a needle in hand to administer anaesthetic… wait where was Rey? That was it, the blackness of a dreamless sleep claimed young recruit Hoshiko. It would be hours of surgery to fix him up and days of bed rest before he could even walk… but a guardian angel seemed to want the young man to stay alive.

---

Meanwhile! In the South Blue on Karate Island.

An alarm blared in the dark hospital rooms, a red flashing light as a long tone blared from a heart rate monitor that was beside a singular bed in a private room. The droning beep was eventually turned off by a nurse as a doctor stood at the foot of the bed, a sad look in his eye. The elderly couple that were crying by the bed side were the woman’s parents. ‘It’s a cruel world where parents lose their child, at any age.’ He thought, making a quick note. “We’ll give you some time with your daughter…” The doctor said as he ushered the nurse out to the side.

Once he was outside of the room he let out a long sigh. “Let the lieutenant know, he needs to get to work.” The doctor simply said.

Within the hour an announcement slowly cascaded through the major bases in the world, sent via Den-Den Mushi in a chain, first to all the main bases in each blue and grand line route and then to the larger bases. That message was simple and surgical. “Vice-Admiral Hoshiko has passed away peacefully In her sleep. Please take a moment of silence to pay respect for the hero.” This message was also passed on to the base on Tequilla wolf.

Unfortunately for the base at Tequilla Wolf… the son of this Vice-Admiral was fighting for his own life, recovering from a mission gone wrong… The official letters addressed to him would be arriving soon.

[pepsi]

-- CHAPTER 2 // NIGHT PATROL

Nora woke up in a pool of her own sweat.
She looked around, trying to make sense of her environment. White curtains on the windows, white bedsheets, white bandages. She had only seen that place from far away, probably wishing to herself that she would never have to end up in one of those beds. The infirmary was empty.

What a way to show her parents her self-worth, was it not? It was merely her first time doing anything remotely close to the work of a Marine, and she managed to not only be useless but nearly get killed in the meantime.
Nora wondered what her parents would think of her knowing that. Would they be worried about her? Would they come to Tequila Wolf and check on her? She hardly believed they would. Time would tell, Nora concluded in her mind.
Her next thought went to the others. She had witnessed the death of two, and she had no idea about the status of the others - where were they? Nobody except her was in the room. Did Rakka and Daniel die too? And if that was the case, how come she survived?
With how she reacted then and there she didn't deserve to survive at all, she thought. She could be as good as dead. But instead, she would have to be the one to think about her friends on the Dia de los Muertos, the day one remembers their dead loved ones.

For a moment, she felt like she never even had thoughts like these before.

Nora snapped back to reality hearing the rythm of footsteps coming her way. The door opened, and the nurse came in to check on her. "Hello, Seaman Recruit Leblanc. I see you have recovered." She grabbed the small clipboard by the side of Nora's bed. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm... fine, I guess." The half-baked response was everything her mind could conjure. "I see... We will be monitoring your vital signs for some more time before sending you back to your daily occupation." And having scribbled a few lines on the piece of paper, she turned around to exit the room again. "Wait!" Nora called.
"Did you take in other people together with me? How are they?"
"Our doctors are taking care of them as we speak, miss Leblanc." The nurse responded, nodded a reverence, and left.

Nora reclined with her back to the wall, and let out an audible sigh. She knew nurses weren't exactly the ones to deliver information about other patients, but at least she could reasonably conclude she wasn't the only one that survived.
To know who else did, it was just about playing the waiting game.

-- NAME // Nora Leblanc

-- CLASS // E

-- TECHS USED // None.

[Mr. Moon]

Daniel #3

Daniel was looking down on the raging fire, frozen in place as one part of him wanted to jump down and save his friends, while another, older, more primitive part If his brain was screaming, that fire is scary. And before he could decide, captain Vaun created a large cloud slide, pushing him down on it.
"Wait...wait, I have to...whoaaaa!"
The recruit tried to protest but to no avail. Vaun pushed him and before he knew it, his butt hit the wooden planks of their ship.
"Are you injured?"
Before he could get on his feet, a tall man in the uniform of a lieutenant barked his question.
"Who? What?"
The shock that struck him was already fading away, but he was still confused, with images of the past horrors mixed with the present.
"Soldier, are you injured or not?"
The lieutenant repeated his question in a stronger voice.
"I...no, I am not sir!"
Daniel shook his hrad slowly.
"Good, then get on your feet and start working, we will have to get the wounded ones back to base asap!"
Someone could deem these words insensitive in that situation, but for Daniel, they were like a lifeline, that switched in his military training and pulled him back to reality.
"Yes sir!"
He nodded, jumping back on his feet, just as Reynard and Rosalyn arrived, swiftly grabbing a nearby rope to help prepare the ship to set sail back home. Work like that was exactly what he needed. It hid him from the prying eyes of his colleagues. It allowed him to hide himself behind the wall of mechanical, repetitive work, far away from his thoughts, far away from his feelings. Far away from the fact that he couldn't protect his friends. He wasn't even there for them most of the time. Too busy becoming a monster.

[Fox]

The recovery of the recruits had been a touch and go thing, at least with Rakka. Daniel, for his part, had come out of the ordeal largely unharmed and with a Devil Fruit, though he seemed to be in a very strange state of denial. Rosie and Vaun had been keeping him busy with orders and menial tasks. Something to get his mind off of things. Vaun had summarily chewed out the relevant parties with a ferocity that Rosie had never seen in him before.

Rosie, for her part, had just received the news that Nora had woken up and was on her way to see her. It was partly out of concern for her wellbeing, but also because she had been tasked with determining if any of the recruits were in need of psychological evaluations and counseling. With a knock on the infirmary door, Rosie stepped inside to see Nora reclining against the wall.

In these circumstances, flowers would be an appropriate gesture, but Tequila Wolf was decidedly lacking in that. So, instead, Rosie had brought some chocolate. It had been a recent gift from her father - he often sent her things like this - and it would be better served to bolster the spirits of her recruits. Rosie nodded to Nora as she entered, gesturing for the recruit to stay where she was and not jump to attention.

“My, my,” she said, smiling her usual crooked smile, “It’s good to see you awake.”

Walking over to her, Rosie took a seat near Nora and handed her the box of chocolates.

“For you. How are you feeling? Reynard was quite worried about you all.”

Rosie wouldn’t be shocked if both he and Daniel came bustling through the infirmary doors in the next moments. They were an enthusiastic lot. Rosie took a sip of tea from her thermos and took a moment to give Nora a status report. She decided to omit the casualties from the other division for the moment. None of them had survived, and Rosie felt as though they had gotten the end that they had deserved for endangering another division’s recruits.

“Daniel had no injuries, and Rakka is in postoperative care. They’re okay. Rakka’s a little more banged up, but I’m certain that he’ll pull through,” Rosie smiled at Nora, “He’s a bit too stubborn to die on us.”

---

Rosie | #fad7f6 | Post Count: 3

[Fennec]

-- CHAPTER 5.5 // Night Patrol

The news around Tequila Wolf's base ran quick. Nora, Rakka, Daniel had a speedy recovery! Not just that but a certain nurse had informed him that Nora had just woken up. That was good news, he was looking forward to seeing her again especially after being so worried. So much so that he found a bundle of crocus flowers growing out in the snow and made a bouquet of them. The violet-colored flowers with a yellowish epicenter were tight around his fist petals fluttering off as he ran at inhuman speeds through the snow-white snow. To anyone just walking down the road, he would seem like a kamaitachi!

He transformed his legs into their hybrid form gaining extra speed as he ran across the snow. The padded paws of his helping him stay above. With a might powerful leap he jumped up high at least two stories! Over a building and continued his chase across the snowy rooftop. The pitter-patter of his paws echoing throughout the town stead. He leaped from building to building! Seeming like a blur of orange and white to most. Until... a precipice showed up. A cut-off of the town stead leading onto a lower level of the bridge. Down where boats would dock and where the infirmary was located. But the vulpine did not stop...

"Geppou!"

He exclaimed! Leaping across the air and down at the pit below. Gliding like someone who was sky diving! The sun showed over him as his shadow was cast over the white fresh snow below. Some of his fellow recruits who were moving around crates caught glimpse of him of him staring in awe. Not far off was the hospital building! He memorized which was Nora's room. Even from the outside! He had to know which was his friend's room.

"Nora!!! My princess, I'm coming!!"

His eyes were in the shape of hearts as he whooshed through the open window causing the window curtains to flutter about. With a skid across the floor, he landed conveniently in front of Nora with his bouquet in full display. To his shame, however, what remained of the once delicate crocus flowers was all disheveled. Hardly a petal remained on a stem.

"Umm..."

He let out a confused smile and immediately hid the flowers behind his back. No way he was giving these to Nora. Not in this state at least. Not to mention Rosalyn was there too, he stood up straight and gave his boss a respectful bow before backing off and taking his place next to her.

-- NAME // Reynard Ayoki

-- CLASS // D

-- TECHS USED // None.