A Festive Farewell: Between Friends or Family?

[Bobbie]

Once everyone was on the ship, it took some time for things to settle. People were injured, some more than others, and Hayden was trying his best to offer medical attention to anybody who needed it while Eponine wasn’t able to.

He wasn’t the best at it, his knowledge of medical procedures was largely self-taught as he specialised in pharmacology, not medical practice. This showed in the quality of his sutures and stitches but he tried his best. Knowing that her brother had a relatively weak stomach and he grew queasy dreadfully easily, Danielle made sure to check on him to make sure that he was also okay.

They had only set sail from the port of Shimoshiki, leaving a disaster behind them and a couple more reasons for the marines to despise The Professor, less than an hour ago and Danielle wasn’t quite sure where they were going. However, Gabriel was well aware of her situation so she decided to trust that wherever they went, she would be brought back by the hours of the morning, perhaps by noon at the latest. Failure to do so could compromise everything that she fought so hard to achieve and completely destroy her chances of marrying Rosalina. Surely, that would be good enough for the cruel Olivier...

Emerging from the cabin area after checking on Hayden for the third time, she let out a tired sigh. The treasure huntress was exhausted, emotionally more than physically. She hadn’t cried the way she did at that restaurant in years and all she wanted to do was simply go to sleep and wake up hours later to find that this was all just a terrible nightmare. However, she knew that the next couple of hours will be her last with these people, whom she considered as dear to her as family, for who knew how long. Sleeping now would take away precious time they had together and she wasn't ready for it to be over yet.

Still, perhaps ironically, she found herself avoiding most people on the ship. She didn’t know how to tell them. She didn’t know if Gabriel already had - he and Beast were the only ones who knew, other than Barbossa, and he chose not to join them as he had to tend to his dojo. It was like a pit in her stomach that made her sick, wishing this could be as simple as a stomach bug, wishing that it was only a matter of bad food that her body could reject and she’d be done with it.

While she was silent as she sat on the steps that went up to the second lever of the upper deck, her mind wouldn’t stop. Her thoughts kept racing, some of them on repeat. These were the ones that brought doubt and caused her trust and certainty in her relationship with Rosalina, the one woman that Danielle swore absolute loyalty to and adored with every last breath, to waver… These were the thoughts she had to shake out of her head.

As much as she loved the ginger, Danielle never hated her father more as she redirected any anger toward her lover at him instead; yet, she was sure that bearing such a grudge would bring no good. Assuming such wise advice would come from Gabriel as well, she tried to let it go and look to the future instead.

One big question remained - what was the Devil Fruit that Beast consumed?

Taking a deep breath, the restless woman rose to her feet once more as she decided that the best thing to do would be to rip off the bandaid, as they say. She needed to announce that she was leaving to the rest of the crew, if they hadn’t heard already. Danielle wanted them to know how much their time together meant to her. First, she needed to find out if The Professor had already told them or not. With that in mind, she looked around the large deck, a significant improvement over the previous ship that she was on, in search of Gabriel.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #1

After retrieving Sigrid, Gabriel gave his orders to the rest of his crew to take the ship to the other side of the island and further away from it, to stay hidden from unwanted spectators and then retreated to the infirmary. Not because he wouldn´t be able to handle his injuries with the treatment he already received, but because he wanted to be close to Eponine in case she would wake up.
Looking at her face, his mind was plagued with guilt. There were no doubts in his mind that what happened to her was his fault. She was his puppy; he was supposed to be there for her no matter what. He should have been strong enough to take care of that giant right away, not just save Hayden there. He should have, but yet again he managed to fail the people who relied on him the most. And to rub a salt to an injury he was now supposed to let Danielle go, alone in the wide hostile world. Chase after riches for woman that even wasn´t worth of her.
“Bull*it!”
He growled, clenching fists that were resting on his legs. So much effort, so much time to build them, yet it still wasn´t enough. He almost died fighting today so how could anyone expect him to let his puppy go and face all these dangers alone? What if she gets hurt without him by her side? What if she´ll die? Would he even ever learn about her fate? The more he was thinking about it the stronger his conviction became. He have to keep her by his side, no matter what.
Almost as if she could read his mind, Danielle arrived to the infirmary as he was getting ready to climb back on his feet.
“Here you are.”
The smile he gave her lacked the usual happiness, revealing more of his emotional state than he originally intended, mainly because he knew that the treasure huntress won´t take these news kindly.
“I was thinking and I…I think you shouldn´t leave us.”

[Bobbie]

Upon reaching the infirmary in search of Gabriel, the person Danielle was looking for rose and came to her. She had been down to the medical bay where Hayden was to check on him, but she hadn’t actually stepped further into the infirmary where Eponine had been left to rest.

Her gaze first went to the girl, seeing the stitched wound on her face. She was glad that it appeared to simply be a flesh wound, but she really did have a pretty face… it was a shame. Then she looked at The Professor as he put forward his advice.

Instantly, Danielle frowned and shook her head, but as she opened her mouth in protest, she found herself hesitating when she looked at his smile. It was different. There was so much more hidden behind it, and that weighed on her sensitive heard like a cinderblock. “Professor…” pausing, her features softened as any expression of annoyance was shifted into one that seemed to mirror his inner sadness.

Is he really blaming himself?

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself so as to stand her ground first, and then planned to talk about this later.

“I’m afraid I have to. You know I have no other choice, Olivier was very clear…” It was at this moment that she remembered what Beast said, that he threw him out of the window. Her frown returned, however, for a different reason, as she wondered if his concern was about not wishing to say goodbye or about what happened to Eponine and all the others who were hurt. Now that she thought about it, she just realised that she hadn’t seen Henry anywhere, which was odd. She would expect him to be by Eponine’s side.

“This wasn’t your fault. You know that, right?”

It felt very unusual to actually jump to the man's defence for a change, but she hated seeing him like that. He was battered physically and emotionally.

"Take a break and get some rest. I'll sit with Eponine myself while you do. I need to be back by noon, tomorrow... until then, I'll do whatever I can to help out here."

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #2

The Professor said nothing, but upon hearing Olivier´s name his eyes reflected such pure, undiluted hatred it became scary. He should have killed that man when he had the opportunity and take Rosalina with them as it would make everything much easier. However now it was too late for it as Marines were swarming the island and he was in no condition to fight.
His hatred however quickly shifted back to sadness as Danielle continued.
“How is it not my fault?”
Gabriel asked with melancholic tones in his voice.
“She is my puppy. I took her in, I took responsibility for her and now…Henry is dead, probably killed by the very knife that made her this…”
He pointed at the wound on her cheek.
“and I don´t even know what happened because I wasn´t there to protect her!”
Balancing at the edge between sadness and anger, Gabriel snapped at the treasure huntress, regretting it almost immediately.
“I…sorry, that wasn´t…”
Growling in frustration, the Professor hid his face in the palm of his hand, massaging the base of his nose, before continuing.
“I am sorry for snapping at you like this, but I cannot let you go. Not when I know the dangers you will face because of some woman who isn´t even worth your love.”
Gabriel paused, looking into Danielle´s eye.
“I care about you.”
He said and it sound more like a plea than announcement.
“I care about you too much to risk you will die alone one some god forsaken island. So stay with us and…”
He paused as if he has to force himself to say these words.
“And if you really want to be with Rosalina so much, we can take her with us. Not now, because Marines will probably guard this place for some time, but soon. I can call on the remaining members of M.A.R.I. and together we can bring her to you.”

[Bobbie]

Danielle could see the anger and hatred in his eyes before Gabriel snapped at her. She understood it, he hated the man as well. It was also reassuring, however, as bearing such hatred for him must mean that he’s still alive…

Listening to what he had to say, the treasure huntress remained silent and took no offence to him snapping at her, although she couldn’t help a subtle flinch. It was so unusual to her to see him like this, so broken and desperate to keep the people he loved safe.

She never doubted it… he had never given her a single reason to do so. Yet, somehow, it just wasn’t enough.

“Professor… you and I both know that it won’t work that way.” She reached over to give his healthy arm a comforting squeeze. “I’m not going to wind up dead on some god forsaken island,” using his own words a gentle smile appeared on her face as she was truly touched by how deeply he seemed to care for her. “Besides, it is very clear that you don’t like Rosalina very much… I can’t imagine you and her being on the same ship for more than the few hours that you’ve already endured for my sake. I fear she will be the one who ends up dead, floating in the ocean.”

Withdrawing her hand, she let out a soft sigh. “Gabriel. You can’t be everywhere at all times. You can’t protect everyone from everything, as much as you want to. What happened here wasn’t your fault. I’ll be fine anyway, I’m not as hopeless as you seem to think I am, and so will Eponine... It will be tough, but she'll get through it.” She spoke in a firm and confident tone, but much like what he offered her wasn’t enough, she knew that her word was not going to be enough for him either, so she moved on.

“I came to ask you if you’ve already made it known to the others that I will be leaving or if I should announce it myself.”

The words were difficult to pronounce, as it was quite difficult for her to accept that she had to say goodbye to all these people whom she herself also loved quite dearly, even if she tried so hard to keep that hidden on most occasion. Still, it needed to be done this way. The only consolation was the promise of a future meeting and keeping in touch through letter correspondence.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #3

The Professor didn´t say anything while Danielle talked, only looking up at her with so much sadness in his eyes that even the greatest cynic of all time would feel a pity for him. She really wanted to leave them. Go out into the world and face it´s dangers without him to protect her. His little helpless puppy…
“It´s not true…I mean, we have our differences, but if it´s for you I am sure we could put them aside and you said yourself she will change without her father´s influence.”
He tried to grasp at straw, before slowly accepting the reality.
“You are really leaving right?”
Gabriel smiled sadly, before suddenly grabbing the treasure huntress´s wrist as she was withdrawing her hand, pulling her towards himself, before hugging her firmly, ignoring the sharp pain, that was shooting through his whole body from the injured arm.
“No, I didn´t…”
The Professor whispered, while petting her golden hair.
“I was still thinking, that you could…”
Deep inside he knew that nothing he could say will change her heart. And he knew, that if he tried to stop her by force she would just resent and hate him for that. He knew all of that, but didn´t want to accept it and so he was holding his puppy for the dear life of his, like if it was the last time they should see each other.
It took him some time, before he managed to accept the reality and release his grip. Not that it would make him any less sad about it.
“We should tell them. The sooner the better.”
He tried to help her back on her feet, before standing up himself.
“There is so much work to do. I still have a skills I want to teach you to make sure you´ll be safe, and boys will want a party for you…”

[Bobbie]

Danielle could hear the sadness in the Professor’s tone and it was both shocking and sad to see him like this. Still, however, she maintained a strong facade to hide how much she truly wished things could be different and that she could remove the pain that he was feeling at that moment. It was terrible, and she knew it was a form of betrayal, but her goal was always Rosalina… she never misled anyone in that regard.

The woman nodded her head in response to his question, giving confirmation that she will be leaving. With a heavier heart than you know… she quietly thought to herself, but didn’t bother saying that out loud as Gabriel seemed quite inconsolable.

Her gaze drifted after his hand as she suddenly felt her wrist in his grasp, then it was squeezed, and her arm was unexpectedly pulled.

The treasure huntress’s back arched, following the movement of his pull, and, standing slightly beside him, her legs collided with his and gravity did the rest of the work as she suddenly found herself sitting in his lap with both legs to one side and the man’s arms wrapped around her.

What does he think he’s doing!?

Danielle was immediately more uncomfortable than she had ever felt; yet, just when she thought it couldn’t get worse, she felt his hand stroking her hair. Her eye twitched and her jaw clenched to keep her teeth pressed together for both of their sakes - for hers as she needed to focus her frustration on something, and for his as if she allowed her mouth to open and speak her mind, her words would not be very kind.

This didn’t stop her from struggling, however, as she tried to pull away from the Professor, but his grip was ridiculously strong. Trying to be subtle, seeing as how upset he was, she raised her hands to his sides in order to attempt a push away from him. When that failed, she tried to stand up - which was equally unfruitful as there was no way she could twist her body to rise to her feet while in his clutches. Surrendering to her fate and biting the bullet so as not to hurt his feelings at one of his lowest moments, Danielle merely sat there, offering a consoling pat on his back every now and then.

Seconds felt like minutes, and each one took an age to pass. Her blood beginning to boil, she closed her eye, silently urging herself to remain calm and wait it out. It wasn’t that she hated snuggles, she could snuggle Rosalina all day… but they were indeed reserved for her one-and-only.

The moment finally came when Gabriel released his grip on her and Danielle sprang to her feet, instantly moving backward away from him, lest he try and do that again.

“Okay!” Her exclamation was both with relief that the awkward hug was finally over, and eagerness to move forward with whatever plans he had to teach her things. The party was an interesting suggestion, and if she were being honest, she had no idea what to expect, other than Hariyama’s delicious cooking. At least, she hoped there would be some of the latter.

“Alright,” she nodded, “I’ll tell them. Gather them all up and get it over and done with just once. What kind of skills do you want to teach me?” She asked, now starting to worry just a bit as she hoped it wouldn’t be too intense like their last training session.

Most importantly… ”No needles.”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #4

“No needles”
With the look of a kid, that just found out there won´t be any Christmas this year, Gabriel nodded, and accompanied Danielle out of the infirmary. Once behind the door however, he paused, tapping her shoulder gently, to get the treasure huntress´s attention.
“Just, give me a moment please.”
Disappearing in the corridors of a ship he barely managed too explore himself, the Professor sent Hayden to look after Eponine while he´ll be gone, before grabbing a thick notebook and pen from his new cabin.
They were leaving the island in hurry, but fortunately Niko and Hariyama managed to salvage his books and notes from their old ship.
“I wrote a training manual for you.”
Gabriel explained, when he returned back with his prize.
“I based it on the Blazing Sword techniques from…”
He paused, realising, that Danielle´s interest in history was focused more on valuable objects than ancients school of martial arts that died out centuries ago.
“I mean, it contains the training and techniques you practiced with us so far, plus something you can do on your own when you´ll…”
He paused, having a hard time saying these words.
“When you´ll leave. Don´t feel obligated to follow it it´s just…something I though you could find helpful in the future.”
Putting it into her hands, the Professor climbed up on the main deck, where the rest of their crew was spending their time.
“Guys, Sigrid! Danielle has something she would like too tell you!”
Raising his voice to capture their attention, Gabriel watched as their faces were turning towards them. Some confused, some, like Namkhai´s hopeful. Only Beast looked sad as she already knew what was going to happen and she didn´t feel prepared too heart it for the second time.
“Awoooo!”
She whined, resting her large head on her front paws.

[Bobbie]

Feeling a gentle tapping on her shoulder, Danielle stopped and turned to look at him, before nodding in agreement. As requested, she waited for his return and didn’t move from her spot as she watched him disappear down a corridor and round a corner.

Hayden was happy to oblige as he quite tired from tending to everyone’s wounds and injuries. Being no certified doctor, he wasn’t entirely confident in his abilities, but he seemed to have enough know-how for some basic treatment. Being asked to go and sit with Eponine was a bit of a relief as he knew she would be asleep and he would have some peace and quiet.

The treasure huntress looked at Gabriel as he returned, her gaze shifting to his book for a moment before going back up to his eyes.

“For me?” It was a bit of a shock, she certainly didn’t expect anything of the sort and she had never seen him working on it. She then grew silent as he began to explain, and he was right - she did not have much interest in history if it was not for the sole purpose of an item’s value on the market. Danielle tried to feign interest, but was clearly not very successful as Gabriel redirected the focus of their conversation to something that she could relate to more easily. Sword techniques.

It was clear that he struggled to accept what was happening and even say it, but she waited until he could, taking it in her hands as it was offered.

“Thank you…” she stared down at it as the Professor went up the remaining steps onto the deck. Her heart beat powerfully in her chest and the simple gesture of giving her this gift caused a lump in her throat to form, her brow arching with sadness as she pursed her lips to stop herself from slipping down a very steep slope of sobs and despair once again.

I hate that this is so painful. The thought came to her from her subconscious, a part of her feeling that it was wrong. Perhaps she shouldn’t leave… perhaps Rosalina wasn’t worth more than these people…

The Professor raised his voice on the deck and Danielle flinched. Steeling herself for the announcement that she was about to make, she hugged the book close to her chest for a moment, her back to the opening that would lead up to the deck, and she took a deep breath. Now was not the time for doubts.

Turning, she hurried up the stairs to emerge beside Gabriel and she looked at the people present. There were only three faces that were missing - Henry’s, as she knew he was dead; Eponine, who was resting in the infirmary; and Hayden’s, who must have been lurking about somewhere around the infirmary after playing doctor. Surveying her audience, she avoided letting her eye linger on one person more than any other, but as her gaze fell upon Namkhai, the hope on his face was undeniable. Feeling a tight stinging sensation in her chest, she quickly averted her gaze and she avoided looking at Beast entirely, knowing that her large eyes will make her heart crumble.

“Some of you may have heard that the visit to Rosalina’s father didn’t go very well.” Danielle didn’t really know where to start. She didn’t wish to pin all the blame on somebody else, as it was ultimately her choice, but her hand felt forced in the matter.

Closing her eye, she shook her head to start over.

“I appreciate everything that you’ve all done for me, and every moment spent with you will be a very special memory to me that I will treasure for the rest of my life, whether we cross paths again or not…”

That’s it, she thought, just ease into it…

“It has been decided that to further my relationship with Rosalina, I will no longer be travelling with you.”

As she paused again, she herself was struggling to get the words out, her voice shaking slightly as she tried very hard to fight back her emotions. Among those emotions was a hint of fear that if she told them the truth, they would do something to harm Rosalina and her family, something more than what Gabriel had already done by throwing Olivier out of the castle window.

“By noon, tomorrow, I must return home and carry on with my business, continuing my journey alone, while you all go on your way. I would be lying if I said I won’t miss you…” it was at this moment that she had to look down in order to avoid meeting anyone’s gaze. “But I am hopeful that we will meet again, perhaps after the wedding.”

Danielle raised her head slightly to look at everyone again, particularly at Beast, and then at Gabriel. “Until then, I would love to keep in touch with letters, no matter how long they take to reach one another. If that’s possible.”

She waited for any kind of confirmation that they could do that - or that they would even like to. Her greatest concern was that they would all take this against her and want nothing to do with her every again.

Then she offered her best smile in these circumstances and turned to everyone once more. “If you’ll have me until noon tomorrow, I would like to make our last hours together fun and memorable, without any doom and gloom.” Sighing, the blonde couldn’t help passing a glance over at the Professor, whom she had never seen to sulk so much, then at Beast. Without saying a word, she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows as if to warn her that sad puppy eyes will not be tolerated.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #5

The mood on their new ship wasn´t especially great. As Danielle announced she will be leaving them Beast whined and hid her face under her front legs.
“Was decided, not I decided.”
Snapped Namkhai, his previously hopeful expression twisted with rage.
“So I was right wasn´t I? That manipulative bi*ch is pulling the strings. Trying to isolate you from all your friends…”
As he was raging, Hariyama´s voice joined his.
“And who cares about what some fancy lady and her daddy decided? We might be beaten bad right now, but Michael is but a week away from here, Jan is in the East and Magnus is heading here as well! We can just wait month or so and we can take that girl with us and smash any marine that would be stupid enough to stand in our way!”
To support his words, Beast barked her approval, that however nearly disappeared in Sigrid´s booming voice.
“Why wait? I can be useless on the sea but there is no one who can stop me on the dry land. Just take the ship to the shore and I´ll bring you that princess of yours.”
Still feeling shame for her mistake during the last battle she was probably the most warlike from their group, but all fell silence after a single word from Gabriel.
“No.”
While he agreed with them whole heartly, the Professor could only imagine how painful this has to be for his puppy and since she already made her mind, there was no reason to torture her even further.
“Danielle has her way, and we have ours. So let´s give her a proper goodbye.”
His words didn´t sit well with them, but every single one of them respected Gabriel enough to stay quiet and follow when he wasn´t asking.
“Well, the Marines left this ship well supplied, so I can probably make a proper feast in no time!”
Hariyama grinned, walking to the kitchen, followed by frowning Namkhai, who suddenly stopped as they were passing around Gabriel and Danielle.
The Professor trusted his lieutenant with his life even he felt a bit uneasy when he saw him all hurt and angry about her decision.
“I promised myself to live without regrets and this might be the last chance, so…”
Out of nowhere, he used his only healthy arm to grab Danielle around the waist, giving her very passionate kiss.
“Take it as my confession.”
The Titan said grimly, releasing her from his hold s he could continue behind Hariyama, leaving there Gabriel with jaw dropped.

[Bobbie]

Danielle visibly flinched when Namkhai first snapped and she mentally kicked herself for poor wording. She was so careful, yet still managed to let something slip, and of course somebody picked up on it.

From that point, everything seemed to spiral downward as Namkhai began insulting her beloved Rosalina, and then Hariyama joined in with a plan to snatch the ginger up and defeat any enemies who dared get in their way. Beast supported this, and finally Sigrid’s booming voice filled the air with an eager rush for redemption and action. Through it all, she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

While the treasure huntress was touched that they all felt so strongly about her staying with them, the next assessment that was made by the Professor was accurate: this was incredibly painful and perhaps her silence communicated that better than her words ever could. Masking her sadness behind a deep frown, Danielle was torn. She grew far more attached to this little crew than she had ever intended to and she was now feeling the worst of that attachment as she was being forcefully pulled apart from it.

Danielle’s ruby eye glistened as she looked at Gabriel the moment he spoke and silenced the protests from his crew. She appreciated that, unsure of how much more of it she could take before changing her mind and going down a darker alternative. Olivier already faced The Professor’s wrath once, after all, surely he should know better than to defy him again… perhaps it will take some time for Rosalina to grieve the loss of her father, but she’d be there to comfort her and keep her safe.

Hariyama’s voice reached her ears and her thoughts were interrupted. Taking a deep breath, she offered a little smile in the hope that perhaps they could enjoy a proper feast together. The large man’s grin even made her chuckle, having always thought it was such an admirable quality that the man appeared to be at such peace while cooking. Other than martial arts, it was as if that talent was his own treasure.

How ironic is it? she wondered to herself as Hariyama passed and Namkhai followed behind. What started out as a quest for literal treasure will end with me leaving the real tre-

Danielle’s thoughts were forced to a halt a second time, this time by Namkhai, as she suddenly felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull her close. Instinctively, her hands rose in defence, but the shock and surprise of what happened next left her too stunned to push against him with any real force. He kissed her... he actually grabbed her and kissed her. Time slowed down and she considered it, but she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to. Nevertheless, she wished she had a handy skillet to swing at him for that stunt.

Once it was over, the blonde stared at him in disbelief as he turned his back to her to continue after Hariyama. Her cheeks were burning as she licked her lips, then she shook her head and wiped her mouth in the back of her hand, her frown returning into something of a glare.

“Ugh, damn gorilla…” she growled and muttered beneath her breath, but that was all she could do before she turned to see Gabriel. The expression on his face made her freeze for a moment, and then she resumed her usual angry self.

“Control your subordinates, will you? Or do you allow this to be common practice from that baboon of a man?” It was her turn to snap and did so loud enough for everyone to hear, venting her frustration. “It was not reciprocated!” She let out a huff and now avoided looking at anyone, her attention down on the training manual, nervously flipping through the pages and enjoying the cool gust of wind that came from them to cool her flushed face.

“We may as well do something useful until Hariyama has everything set up and the food prepared. Walk me through some of these.” Training was as good as a distraction as any, she figured.

Hayden had come to the entrance once he heard all the commotion, leaving Eponine for only a second - and he picked the right second to see Namkhai’s bold act of bravery. However, unlike his rage-fuelled sister, he had a big stupid grin on his face, his eyes following Namkhai. It was a pity Barbossa had to leave, he’d have been so pleased to see that. Turning, he descended the stairs to head back into the infirmary and continue watching over Eponine, knowing that when Danielle left, he would need to as well.

“She totally kissed him back…” he quietly whispered to himself.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #6

The Professor was left speechless by the scene that unfolded in front of his very own eyes. Not because he wouldn´t expect such behaviour from Namkhai, for that he knew the reckless Titan way too well, but because he was pretty sure he saw Danielle kissing him back. Was it only his mind playing tricks on him because of his wish for her to stay? Was she second guessing her choices? Did these two had a secret affair without him noticing? These and many other thoughts ran through his rather confused mind, until the treasure huntress herself put an end to them by her angry rant.
“Hmmmm”
Gabriel growled, upset that there was a mystery in front of him that he didn´t have an answer for.
“Did you…”
He almost made the biggest mistake of his life, asking whatever he saw was real or not, but than he immediately forgot about it, when Danielle mentioned that they might use the time for her training.
“Oh, that´s an excellent idea!”
Gabriel´s face suddenly brightened, not just because they were talking about his favourite subject, but because even short additional training was increasing chances of his puppy surviving in the outside world.
“But what should we…of course, let´s start with your movement skills. Alright, if you turned to page 87 in your manual, there is technique called Huntress Hop, I…tried to name these things to suit you, because the original names were…well, anyway it´s technique based on misdirection and tricking the opponent into seeing things that don´t exist, first of all, take your sword and try to attack me.”
Letting his injured arm rest, the Professor took his own stance with his healthy arm forward.
“The pattern of your attack isn´t important. What is important is for you to keep moving fast and pushing me to defensive. Then, without losing your speed I need you to jump to the opposite direction as fast as you can, attacking me from there.”
He summed up what was written over four dense pages.
“If you are interested in the internal working of your muscles and breath you can find the diagrams on page 89.”

[Bobbie]

Hearing what The Professor was about to ask, Danielle pushed on with her request for training, pretending she heard nothing and maintaining an angry frown that seemed to be permanently stamped on her face.

The treasure huntress was quite glad that he was so easily blinded by the promise of training, but what started off as a quick distraction soon became something of genuine interest. As instructed, she turned to page 87 in the manual, her brow rising in surprise when she saw the detail that the manual actually went into. Her gaze only gliding over the words, she decided to listen to his summary of this technique instead.

“So you thought Huntress Hop would suit me… it makes me sound like a rabbit.” The blonde grumbled beneath her breath, unable to keep quiet on the naming choice of such a technique. With a sigh, she was focussed once more.

There was still one issue, however…

“But you’re still injured,” she uttered in genuine concern as she watched him shift his stance to keep his injured arm back. Nevertheless, she drew her sword and turned it in her grip to have the blunt edge of it facing him, hoping he wouldn’t notice that.

She then lunged at him with several quick, consecutive strikes that attempted to force him onto the back foot. Her attacks lacked the energy and drive to actually have any effect against her opponent, however, as she moved slower than she would in a real scenario. Her offence was hesitant as she didn’t want to accidentally cause any more damage than the man had already endured, her softer side holding her back from swiping with any real gusto. It was true that he was far stronger than her and anyone she had ever met; but it was also true that she had never seen him as wounded and crushed as she did on this day, both physically and emotionally.

If this didn't work, she'll just blame it on her own poor technique that required more time to master...

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Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #7

“I though it was cute…”
The Professor sulked a bit when Danielle mentioned the way he named her techniques and not in a positive manner. However, his expression lightened when his puppy expressed a concern about his current condition.
“Don´t worry about it too much. I am healing fast. Besides, I can be a good sparring partner even in this condition.”
He tried his best to calm her down, but it became obvious very soon, that it didn´t work as the treasure huntress not only turned her weapon with the blunt side towards him but was also pulling her attacks, without putting any serious strength behind them.
Hiding his disappointment behind perfect smile, Gabriel was dodging her attacks with barely any effort.
“No, no, this won´t do. You need to really go after me, if you want to reach the necessary speed.”
He advised, while letting her blade to hit an empty space again.
“So first of all, start using the sharp side. It´s a curved sword you will be of balance like this. Now…”
The Professor gently frowned, thinking what he could do to really push her into real attack, because it was obvious, that his puppy was simply too soft to try her best when he was injured like this. Of course he could try to push her with his own techniques, but what they were training now was purely offensive move, not counter offensive, so it would need a lots of planning on his side to pull it of properly and he wasn´t sure he was in condition to do that unless…unless there was much easier way to make her go all out against him, even if only for a moment. Something that would make her angry without risking he would accidentally injure her.
“start attacking for real, because if I´ll beat you, I´ll tickle you as an punishment!”
He whispered these words when dodging one of her attacks very closely, so no one else but her would hear them. After all, he didn´t want to hurt her or embarrass, only motivate.

[Bobbie]

Danielle frowned as he urged her to go after him with more effort, clearly not wishing to do so. As he told her to turn her sword the right way, she felt embarrassed and stupid, hoping that he didn’t think that she genuinely thought the sword should be used in such a stupid manner. Thinking about it, however, she wasn’t sure if she preferred it that way or for him to understand that she had a soft spot for him - at least while he was injured.

With her next strike, Gabriel dodged once more and moved closer to whisper his threat to her. Immediately, she moved away from him and her gaze followed his hand as if to ensure that he kept it away from her body. His words took her back to their first quest together when chasing after the amulet… the amulet that she lost somewhere on Shimoshiki before Beast and her fell into that sinkhole.

The treasure huntress was filled with nostalgia, but also anger. Anger that he would make such a petty threat in all seriousness and anger that it would soon become impossible for such a threat to be made again. She was determined to see them all again after marrying Rosalina, but she knew that it might not be possible… and as their final goodbye, that was what he could offer. A tickle.

You… creep!

Her thoughts were loud and filled with a rage that wasn’t only directed toward The Professor, but he was the target that she saw before her.

Glaring at the man, Danielle turned her sword with teeth gritted and threw herself into an assault that rained strikes and blows at Gabriel. “I!” she swung her sword at him with a forward lunge. “Will…” she only spoke after each slash, focussing entirely on her attack while it was being made. “End! You!” With the final word that she spat, albeit more bark than bite, the blonde kicked off the ground to hop in a different direction and attack him from a new angle.

She wasn’t thinking about it and just allowed her body to move on instinct, yet she still had a clear view of who was in her sights. Now standing behind him, she held her sword and launched a closed fist at him instead of a deadly blade.

As her knuckles were about to connect, Danielle’s eye widened and her attention was drawn elsewhere. She could have sworn that for a brief moment, something in her likeness was where she previously stood, carrying its weight toward her opponent but dissipating on contact.

"What the hell..?"

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Danielle: #fffd17
Hayden: #c3f8fa