Fandom One Piece Marines: Misfits

[Hanarei]

Of Entertainment and Eager Optimism
Timothy N. LeBlanc and Vivian J. Cunningham
​

Spoiler: Introduction

The ocean waves struck into the sides of the Prospect, a small lightly armed Marine Transport Vessel. A ship once having gone through several pirate conflicts the vessel had been repaired and converted as a way for the Marines to send goods through less dangerous stretches of sea for the Grand Line. The crew of Marines were a rather hardy batch mixed with some newer recruits along side a few more veteran Marines who, while not the most powerful and outstanding, had plenty of experience to pass on to the newer recruits. Despite the ship having several crew members onboard, the vessel was oddly rather quiet. It seemed most had ducked away keeping as low profile as they can focusing on their duties and staying above on deck or in their quarters as possible. They were avoiding something horrible that lurked on the ship. One of the most dangerous things to ever be transported on the ship. The very mention of it a horror show for any Marine.

No, not the prospecting Misfits... the Marine Children.

Fourteen in total, all as wild and unruly as possible. With their parents actively working with the Marines it has allowed many of them a certain level of freedom far too dangerous for their own good. They demand entertainment, food, games to play, talking endlessly about pointless things. Ranging form the ages of six to twelve they all had their own form of cruelty they could inflict on those who were put in charge of watching and entertaining them on this four day journey. Those two lucky Marines were Timothy and Vivian. A normal transport wasn't often meant to entail other work, but that didn't stop Captain Behab from assigning them to do it. The one claimed to be an entertainer after all and the other more then eager to help out. He wasn't going to toture his crewmembers and lower their moral when someone else could handle it. As a higher up it was all in his power to make them do all the work.

"Hey lady! Lady! Red Red Lady! Can you play the Baby Shark song agaiiiiiiiin! Please.... another time!" The little eight year old girl was jumping up and down her long brown hair kept up in pig tails wearing a rather simple white and red striped shirt and pair of brown pants.

"That song is stupid... you're stupid for playing that song! I want to hear some more rockin music not stupid kiddy stuff." The twelve your old boy spoke clearly putting on a tough guy act likely sparked on from seeing some older kids back on his home island and trying to mimic them. His rather dorky little glasses helped him to see as his grey shirt and dark blue pants were clearly his best attempt to look tough despite how plain they were.

"Hahahaha Mister Timmy I wanna play giddyup again can I ride on your back while you clean the floor again?" A rather excited six year old girl stood laughing excitedly watching him with her pink shirt and matching pants looking almost as if she was wearing a onesie.

The area they were in was the mess hall converted into a rather makeshift play area. Various toys and drawings were scattered all over the place with things quickly being brought out as soon as they were put away and cleaned up. It wasn't exactly the biggest location either just having enough open space with the table pushed to the side to support the children running around or any instruments to be put in place. A few lights managed to keep the room lit up well with no way for the sun to come in naturally. The only thing that seemed to ever come into that room was the cook who was very swift in coming in, placing down the kids and the two Misfit's food and running off avoiding being caught up in the children's evil games. A sudden knock could be heard on the door as the individual knocking didn't dare open the door.

"Ship arriving in port in about 30. Have the children ready and up on deck for their new caregivers to pick them up. You two can head off once we dock. Told to 'go to the little rock in the festival' not sure what the hell that means but that's what message we got."

@Xcelgamer @AllHailDago

**********

To Fear and To Avoid
Heartfilia "Juicy" Freesia and Merryn Cooper​

Spoiler: Introduction

The Abyss was a Marine ship to behold. An older ship now, its appearance was far from telling of such a fact. The entire front of the ship was reinforced with metal serving as a vessel designed for breaking through the ice, or any ships that dared to stand in its path. It wasn't a very usual ship to be sailing in the much less crazy portion of the Grand Line but it was just simply a pit stop to their ultimate goal in the East Blue. It was a rather length detour over-all, but considering who was on board (or more particularly who they were related to it meant such a detour was necessary. Commodore Vasco Dagama wasn't to pleased but he wasn't going to raise a huge fuss, not after the Admiral had helped to get his expedition approved in the first place. He was much more worried about that 'other one' if anything.

Heartfilia had generally found herself avoided by the members on the crew. It wasn't so much that they weren't into her, they were more then attracted to the rather blatant 'show' of an outfit she had. They knew better then to mess with an Admiral's daughter. It was practically asking to get yourself reassigned to some horrible island if he found out... if she didn't get you in her own way first. She was nothing but trouble. It's likely in part why the nickname 'harpy' was spread talking about her in whispers as soon as anyone was mentioning the idea of going up to her and talk with her. It naturally didn't work on all the crewmates as plenty of them thought less with their heads and more with their... well they didn't think much.

Merryn on the other hand was avoided for a whole other reason. She was... extremely odd to say the least. While not the most welcoming of people, its the rumors that had passed on from others who had been with her that soured her reputation. So many 'stories of a madwoman' as they would call it uttered from her mouth. It had all but taken on a life of it's own. It didn't help some of her conspiracy theories had managed to come off poorly in the game of telephone of which "Snake people from deep sea were planning on releasing chemicals into the water to turn all the Fish People Orange" just to name one thing it had mutated into. The crew were the naturally curious type but there was a limit to just how much 'risk' they were going to take that she might suddenly pull explosives out of her jacket and attempt to blow them all up so some 'insert animal creature here' wouldn't take her.

A knock could be heard on Heartfilia's door as a voice came through.

"Excuse me Miss, we will be arriving shortly at Leaning Rock Island. The Captain asked that you get ready as soon as you can so we can quickly get supplies and head back off. You are to meet at the center of the Festival at their little leaning Rock replica" The female sailor spoke up adjusting her glasses having been sent primarily as a way of 'keeping someone stupid' from getting in any trouble wearing a standard Marine outfit with her black hair kept up in a pony tail.

Meanwhile at the other door two marines stood nerviously playing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The two frantically played match after match managing to match eachother several times. Rock, Rock, Paper, Rock, Scissors, Scissors, Paper, Rock and Paper... DAMN! The more meager looking guy looked in horror having lost the game trembling as his scruffy brown hair looked as if it somehow god more disheveled from the loss. The bigger man breathed a sigh of relief pointing to the door sternly as he backed away moving behind the corner. The timid looking Marine appraoched reaching out to knock, hesitating for a good minute before knocking lightly.

"Miss Cooper we are arriving soon please head up with your things to the dock to depart as soon as we land. Your to meet at the festival by their festival Rock... copy statue thing..." The words were spoken rather sheepishly as he backed away scooting back away from the door uncertain if he was heard though fearful the door might swing open and he might get shot up or exploded or something.

PlusUltra AtlannianSpy

**********

...and So The Crows Run Scared
Silas Rotherwood​

Spoiler: Introduction

"Alright Silas, I want you to wait here! You arrived a bit early so that means you get to play my second in command here! Just stick here in this spot by the Rock. I'm going to try and get everyone a nice gift alright? Ooo! If you can, keep up that scare crow stick. That seemed hilarious when I read your profile and scare the bejeesus out of them! They should be in their marine outfits and I told them to meet up here so they should stumble by you at some point. It will be so funny, make sure to tell me about it when I get back!"

Those were the words Suri had left Silas with after their very brief meeting. It had been nearly twenty minutes now with no sign of Suri nor of the others. The crowd of people had all but walked by either seeming to not notice Silas as anything beyond some weird scarecrow or looking on a bit scared by his more intimidating appearance. A local blue bird flew down from its perch on the Little Rock landing upon his shoulder, tilting its head as it eyed the man up rather curiously not at all seeming scared by him at all. What had started as one bird turned into two as a Red Robin flew down joining him on the other shoulder. A yellow bird glew down landing upon the man's head, bouncing about on his head chirping excitedly seemingly finding this new perch oddly protective as people tended to keep a few steps away from him.

Had Suri gotten lost? Was it even the right place? It was hard to tell just what was going on at the moment as Silas was left momentarily to his own devices with a few bird friends to keep him company as a festival played out around him. The only thing that as evident is he had arrived early and with who was supposedly their captain (whether that could be trusted or not was hard to say) missing now after telling him to wait it was up to him if he would wait it out or explore.

pbtenchi

**********

Leaning Rock Island and the Great Festival
Everyone
​

Leaning Rock Island was practically the definition of a backwater island. Its very namesake towered above the land sitting merched on a plateau. A giant bolder easily the size of a large ship shaped nearly egg shaped was left tilted to one side appearing ready to fall off from the plateau at any moment yet seemingly stuck right in place. It was an interesting sight for sure, though one that you would seemingly grow tired of after a minute of staring at it. For the people of the island though in their minds it was their claim to fame. The great festival held this time of year!

The town itself was built on a light slop with small plateaus acting to level out the ground of which more buildings could be put up. A total of five levels rising up the slope with the largest being the very top. The homes themselves were decently sized being quite nice though a bit dated in appearance. Built long ago when the island once served as a testing ground for some Marine Ship prototypes that have long since been moved elsewhere. Outside of the town there was an ample forest surrounding it. What had once been shipyards could vaguely be seen with the buildings long since overgrown by nature. The rest simply seemed to be wooded and sloped upwards all around besides what appeared to be a small barren section on the north east side opposite of the town where it seemed no trees laid of which the town's mine entrance was, along side a rather rough looking system of rocks making that section of the areas coast a rather dangerous looking place to approach from without being grounded or torn to pieces.

The wavy path that was their cobblestone streets were lined with blue paper banners that were sprawled out from lamppost to lamppost. Very festive games and activities were set up on each section from 'bobbing for rocks' to 'pebble skipping'. There was 'Rock Dress up' to 'Target Practice' (yes using rocks). A cooking contest to see who made the best soup using a rock in it! A rock-n-roll concert that was... well it could of been worst it was pretty mediocre. A rock stacking competition, a rock punching competition for the more daring! Sit on the big rock for as long as possible and you win if you are the last one! Spinning rocks, Floating Rocks, Flying Rocks, Sinking Rocks. There were rocks everywhere with the most insane and convoluted games or contests people could think of to live up to their village gimmick.

If there was one thing to note though despite how silly it might look the people were genuinely having fun. For them the rather mundane life they lived on the island anything to celebrate was great. They had to live off fishing or mining to make it by, something of which were just barely profitable enough. Tourism was their own Ace in the Hole to try and spur in some wealth to help keep them thriving. A rather foolhardy way to try and make an extra buck but it surprisingly seemed to work to a small extent... as small of one that might be.

Upon the top level was the magnum opus... the statue! A simple replica of the giant rock sitting on top of their island. The suppose meeting spot of 'Misfits' where their captain would be waiting. Around the rock many of the villagers were eagerly talking with various shops and stalls set up with food or 'collectables'... mostly rocks. A stage was set up of which various local bands could come up to play... not being incredibly good but many weren't that bad. It was there that Silas had been left behind and the others would eventually need to get to for this 'meeting'. With no other Marines in sight in the village mostly being kept to the port it made it that much easier for them to spot each other... if they were in uniform at least. That... and so long as they didn't get themselves caught up with the festivities before reaching their destination up the hill further back in town.

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Meanwhile at the other door two marines stood nerviously playing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The two frantically played match after match managing to match eachother several times. Rock, Rock, Paper, Rock, Scissors, Scissors, Paper, Rock and Paper... DAMN! The more meager looking guy looked in horror having lost the game trembling as his scruffy brown hair looked as if it somehow god more disheveled from the loss. The bigger man breathed a sigh of relief pointing to the door sternly as he backed away moving behind the corner. The timid looking Marine appraoched reaching out to knock, hesitating for a good minute before knocking lightly.

"Miss Cooper we are arriving soon please head up with your things to the dock to depart as soon as we land. Your to meet at the festival by their festival Rock... copy statue thing..." The words were spoken rather sheepishly as he backed away scooting back away from the door uncertain if he was heard though fearful the door might swing open and he might get shot up or exploded or something.

The marine had good instincts because a second or two later the door swung open with nearly enough force to fly off its hinges as Merryn came bounding out. Unfortunately the marine's good sense was not quite enough to extricate him from danger quickly because Merryn advanced rapidly on him with her brown eyes glinting dangerously as she seized him by the collar of his shirt.

"Got'dangit! when you give someone a rendezvous point ya gotta speak in code!" Merryn hissed with narrowed eyes. "'they' could be anywhere! Listening to anything we say!" Abruptly Merryn leaned over the marine's shoulder to peer down either side of the hallway they were standing in as if searching for eavesdroppers. "Now I'm gonna have to get there early and set up an ambush in case it's a setup!" With a growl of frustration Merryn spun on her heels, marched back into her room and then burst out of it again, carrying a pack and an efficient looking rifle slung over her shoulders. Merryn was also carrying a stack of pamphlets that she rather forcefully pushed onto the marine. "Oh yeah you should take these as well," she said, her wrods rushed and tense. "They'll show you what's really going on around here, wake youup out of the dreamworld everyone's living in! The truth is out there!" with that Merryn brushed past the marine, hurriedly making her way towards the meeting place.

With the door now hanging wide open it was possible to see the extent to which Merryn had remodelled it during her stay. Most of it was actually farily neat and in particular the bed had been made with the kind of precision that might make a drill sergeant weep with joy. However in the corner of the room planks had been arranged over two barrels to create a crude looking desk, which was covered in stacks of newspaper clippings and papers, most of which were annotated with feverishly scrawled notes. Above the desk was what looked to be a cork board covered in photos, articles and other assorted scraps of paper and information, with strands of twine connecting them to each other in labyrinthine web in the centre of which was pinned a piece of paper with one word circled and underlined: "THEM"


Meanwhile the room's former occupant was already hurrying her way through the throngs of people enjoying the islands rock festival, her eyes flitting from person to person for signs of a tail. For the most part it seemed to Merryn that the villagers were harmless; merely sheeple enjoying their spectacle which the THEY had doubtlessly cooked up to keep them too distracted to uncover the truth. Still something about this whole festival felt fishy to Merryn, a whole festival about rocks? It was just too far fetched! Perhaps it was some kind of propaganda effort? Possibly meant to acclimate the populace to their future lives in underground slave cities where they would be forced to mine valuable minerals for the elites dwelling on the surface! Merryn shuddered at the thought, was there no where in the four oceans untouched by the sinister machinations of the shadowy cabals behind the scenes!? If she had time Merryn might have considered setting up here for a while and printing some pamphlets out; there might be one or two people among the unthinking masses here able to see the truth. But alas Merryn had no choice but to keep moving, if this was going to be her posting for a while then she needed to observe her future crew mates from afar to see if any of them were infiltrators there to spy on her.

Merryn found the rock monument easily enough, but didn't approach it directly, skirting around instead to take a seat at a pop up bar offering a wide range of "rocktails"

"Whiskey," Merryn said curtly, pulling her marine cap low over her eyes.

"On the rocks?" Asked the bartender excitedly.

"Neat," Merryn said with a frown as the man's face fell. When she had her glass of whiskey Merryn paid, took a small sip and then lifted and angled her glass so that she could see the monument in it's reflection.

Most of the figures around the base appeared to be ordinary villagers except for the scarecrow like figure wrapped in bandages- or wait was that actually a scarecrow? Had THEY figured out some way to weaponize scarecrows towards their fiendish plans!? Merryn frowned and for now decided to continue passively observing, at least the whiskey was decent.

 

[pbtenchi]

...and So The Crows Run Scared
Silas Rotherwood​

"Alright Silas, I want you to wait here! You arrived a bit early so that means you get to play my second in command here! Just stick here in this spot by the Rock. I'm going to try and get everyone a nice gift alright? Ooo! If you can, keep up that scare crow stick. That seemed hilarious when I read your profile and scare the bejeesus out of them! They should be in their marine outfits and I told them to meet up here so they should stumble by you at some point. It will be so funny, make sure to tell me about it when I get back!"

Those were the words Suri had left Silas with after their very brief meeting. It had been nearly twenty minutes now with no sign of Suri nor of the others. The crowd of people had all but walked by either seeming to not notice Silas as anything beyond some weird scarecrow or looking on a bit scared by his more intimidating appearance. A local blue bird flew down from its perch on the Little Rock landing upon his shoulder, tilting its head as it eyed the man up rather curiously not at all seeming scared by him at all. What had started as one bird turned into two as a Red Robin flew down joining him on the other shoulder. A yellow bird glew down landing upon the man's head, bouncing about on his head chirping excitedly seemingly finding this new perch oddly protective as people tended to keep a few steps away from him.

Had Suri gotten lost? Was it even the right place? It was hard to tell just what was going on at the moment as Silas was left momentarily to his own devices with a few bird friends to keep him company as a festival played out around him. The only thing that as evident is he had arrived early and with who was supposedly their captain (whether that could be trusted or not was hard to say) missing now after telling him to wait it was up to him if he would wait it out or explore.

**********

Leaning Rock Island and the Great Festival
Everyone
​

Leaning Rock Island was practically the definition of a backwater island. Its very namesake towered above the land sitting merched on a plateau. A giant bolder easily the size of a large ship shaped nearly egg shaped was left tilted to one side appearing ready to fall off from the plateau at any moment yet seemingly stuck right in place. It was an interesting sight for sure, though one that you would seemingly grow tired of after a minute of staring at it. For the people of the island though in their minds it was their claim to fame. The great festival held this time of year!

The town itself was built on a light slop with small plateaus acting to level out the ground of which more buildings could be put up. A total of five levels rising up the slope with the largest being the very top. The homes themselves were decently sized being quite nice though a bit dated in appearance. Built long ago when the island once served as a testing ground for some Marine Ship prototypes that have long since been moved elsewhere. Outside of the town there was an ample forest surrounding it. What had once been shipyards could vaguely be seen with the buildings long since overgrown by nature. The rest simply seemed to be wooded and sloped upwards all around besides what appeared to be a small barren section on the north east side opposite of the town where it seemed no trees laid of which the town's mine entrance was, along side a rather rough looking system of rocks making that section of the areas coast a rather dangerous looking place to approach from without being grounded or torn to pieces.

The wavy path that was their cobblestone streets were lined with blue paper banners that were sprawled out from lamppost to lamppost. Very festive games and activities were set up on each section from 'bobbing for rocks' to 'pebble skipping'. There was 'Rock Dress up' to 'Target Practice' (yes using rocks). A cooking contest to see who made the best soup using a rock in it! A rock-n-roll concert that was... well it could of been worst it was pretty mediocre. A rock stacking competition, a rock punching competition for the more daring! Sit on the big rock for as long as possible and you win if you are the last one! Spinning rocks, Floating Rocks, Flying Rocks, Sinking Rocks. There were rocks everywhere with the most insane and convoluted games or contests people could think of to live up to their village gimmick.

If there was one thing to note though despite how silly it might look the people were genuinely having fun. For them the rather mundane life they lived on the island anything to celebrate was great. They had to live off fishing or mining to make it by, something of which were just barely profitable enough. Tourism was their own Ace in the Hole to try and spur in some wealth to help keep them thriving. A rather foolhardy way to try and make an extra buck but it surprisingly seemed to work to a small extent... as small of one that might be.

Upon the top level was the magnum opus... the statue! A simple replica of the giant rock sitting on top of their island. The suppose meeting spot of 'Misfits' where their captain would be waiting. Around the rock many of the villagers were eagerly talking with various shops and stalls set up with food or 'collectables'... mostly rocks. A stage was set up of which various local bands could come up to play... not being incredibly good but many weren't that bad. It was there that Silas had been left behind and the others would eventually need to get to for this 'meeting'. With no other Marines in sight in the village mostly being kept to the port it made it that much easier for them to spot each other... if they were in uniform at least. That... and so long as they didn't get themselves caught up with the festivities before reaching their destination up the hill further back in town.

The marine had good instincts because a second or two later the door swung open with nearly enough force to fly off its hinges as Merryn came bounding out. Unfortunately the marine's good sense was not quite enough to extricate him from danger quickly because Merryn advanced rapidly on him with her brown eyes glinting dangerously as she seized him by the collar of his shirt.

"Got'dangit! when you give someone a rendezvous point ya gotta speak in code!" Merryn hissed with narrowed eyes. "'they' could be anywhere! Listening to anything we say!" Abruptly Merryn leaned over the marine's shoulder to peer down either side of the hallway they were standing in as if searching for eavesdroppers. "Now I'm gonna have to get there early and set up an ambush in case it's a setup!" With a growl of frustration Merryn spun on her heels, marched back into her room and then burst out of it again, carrying a pack and an efficient looking rifle slung over her shoulders. Merryn was also carrying a stack of pamphlets that she rather forcefully pushed onto the marine. "Oh yeah you should take these as well," she said, her wrods rushed and tense. "They'll show you what's really going on around here, wake youup out of the dreamworld everyone's living in! The truth is out there!" with that Merryn brushed past the marine, hurriedly making her way towards the meeting place.

With the door now hanging wide open it was possible to see the extent to which Merryn had remodelled it during her stay. Most of it was actually farily neat and in particular the bed had been made with the kind of precision that might make a drill sergeant weep with joy. However in the corner of the room planks had been arranged over two barrels to create a crude looking desk, which was covered in stacks of newspaper clippings and papers, most of which were annotated with feverishly scrawled notes. Above the desk was what looked to be a cork board covered in photos, articles and other assorted scraps of paper and information, with strands of twine connecting them to each other in labyrinthine web in the centre of which was pinned a piece of paper with one word circled and underlined: "THEM"


Meanwhile the room's former occupant was already hurrying her way through the throngs of people enjoying the islands rock festival, her eyes flitting from person to person for signs of a tail. For the most part it seemed to Merryn that the villagers were harmless; merely sheeple enjoying their spectacle which the THEY had doubtlessly cooked up to keep them too distracted to uncover the truth. Still something about this whole festival felt fishy to Merryn, a whole festival about rocks? It was just too far fetched! Perhaps it was some kind of propaganda effort? Possibly meant to acclimate the populace to their future lives in underground slave cities where they would be forced to mine valuable minerals for the elites dwelling on the surface! Merryn shuddered at the thought, was there no where in the four oceans untouched by the sinister machinations of the shadowy cabals behind the scenes!? If she had time Merryn might have considered setting up here for a while and printing some pamphlets out; there might be one or two people among the unthinking masses here able to see the truth. But alas Merryn had no choice but to keep moving, if this was going to be her posting for a while then she needed to observe her future crew mates from afar to see if any of them were infiltrators there to spy on her.

Merryn found the rock monument easily enough, but didn't approach it directly, skirting around instead to take a seat at a pop up bar offering a wide range of "rocktails"

"Whiskey," Merryn said curtly, pulling her marine cap low over her eyes.

"On the rocks?" Asked the bartender excitedly.

"Neat," Merryn said with a frown as the man's face fell. When she had her glass of whiskey Merryn paid, took a small sip and then lifted and angled her glass so that she could see the monument in it's reflection.

Most of the figures around the base appeared to be ordinary villagers except for the scarecrow like figure wrapped in bandages- or wait was that actually a scarecrow? Had THEY figured out some way to weaponize scarecrows towards their fiendish plans!? Merryn frowned and for now decided to continue passively observing, at least the whiskey was decent.

Earlier
The Outside View
On one of the first ships to arrive, a chore boy stood in front of a tall door. His hand was held in a position to knock, but it was frozen inches away from the wood. Buckets of sweat fell from the chore boy and soaked the ground. He'd been ordered to tell the room's occupant that the ship had arrived, but he couldn't even bring himself to knock. He'd heard some marines on break talk about the man behind this door, that he was a demon straight from hell sent to punish pirates and other ne'er-do-wells. It was told that he marauded the sea with a painted grin and a scythe that he used to harvest souls. It was said he could reach inside a man and stop his heart. That he could look at a man and see his darkest secrets. That he ate the flesh of his fallen foes. They said he'd joined the Marines simply as a way of transport, and had no respect for any marine, regardless of rank. One of the marines bet he could stare the Fleet Admiral in the eye. It was said that he was so powerful and dangerous he was being put on an experimental team of monsters, but kept as far away from headquarters as possible. The chore boy gulped in fear.

The door creaked open, and the chore boy fell back, letting out a cry of terror. A bandaged arm reached out at the child, but he pulled back. The hand paused for a moment, and then pulled back into the room. The door creaked close. The chore boy got to his feet. "Uhm Sir Rotherwood... We... We've arrived at Leaning Rock Island!" It started as a whisper but ended as a scream. There was no response from the room. "Sir?" still no response. "Sir?" Nothing. He knocked on the door again. No response. Against all his better judgment, he slowly pushed the door open. The room was empty. He screamed in terror loud enough to wake the whole ship. This event awoke something in the chore boy. In the far future, this chore boy went on to become a high ranking marine, famous for his weaponized scream that could destroy his enemies' eardrums.

Spoiler: Silas' Inner World

Silas heard someone at his door. This was scary. Why didn't they knock? He flicked through his book on social interaction. "Sometimes other people are too scared to take the initiative in a first meeting. In times like this, you should give them a friendly greeting." the book said. He opened the door, and the child on the other side fell back in terror. He reached out to help the kid up, but the kid pulled back in terror. The book didn't say what to do in a situation like this. He wanted to run away. But the door was the only exit. Wait a moment. The window! He quickly grabbed what few essentials he needed, and leaped out the window before closing it behind him.

Present
Silas reached the meeting spot and met with his new captain.

The Outside View
Silas stayed silent through Suri's rushed communication. Apparently absorbing it, but feeling no need to grace his apparent 'captain' with a reply. To any onlooker, Silas would appear as a man with his own plans that just currently happened to align with Suri's orders. He found a place and stood still, and just melted into his surroundings.

Spoiler: Silas' Inner World

Silas couldn't keep up with Suri's peppy enthusiasm, the manners drilled into him by his parents wouldn't let him speak until everyone else was finished speaking. But as soon as Suri had finished speaking she was gone! Silas decided to just obey his captain and do his scarecrow routine. He had read about the value of making an interesting first impression after all. And he liked being in the background like this. Not bothering anyone, and able to silently observe the various citizens of the island having the rock-based time of their lives. Various birds gathered around him, and he felt truly connected to nature. The world was a beautiful place, especially without him in it.

Silas felt at... peace...

And then Merryn arrived.

The Outside View
Silas kept perfectly still. There was nothing to give away his cover. He didn't even flinch when a crow pecked the side of his head.

Spoiler: Silas' Inner World

'Another Marine! This must be one of my new teammates. Time to surprise them!' he thought. But she was watching him. Cautiously. She was ready for him not to be a scarecrow and was ready to attack! He froze up. He couldn't move if he wanted to. This was a silly idea. Scaring your teammates is a terrible way to make a first impression! And now that he'd frozen like this there was no other way to introduce himself! 'Oh god why!'

Silas reached a decision. He'd just never move again. He'd be a scarecrow for the rest of his life. This way he'd never have to make an awful first impression ever again!

 

[PlusUltra]

Heartfilia "Juicy" Freesia
Tags: (Open)
Location: Great Festival Center, Leaning Rock Island

Freesia had been enjoying the trip in general, spending a relaxing time either sunbathing above on the deck with a chilled concoction of some sort or attempting to tease several of the chore boys to indulge her in a little pampering or teasing them for her personal satisfaction at their reactions. It was one of the later incidents that caused more than a few murmurings as the female sailor approached, something about the Harpie having snatched away innocent sailors to drag back to her nest, with the door being opened by a sweating man standing perfectly straight and rigid, beads of sweat from the nervousness and stress his predicament had him. Just over the man's shoulders, the form of Freesia could be viewed in a reclining chair, foot extended as a chore boy was applying a coat of nail polish but looking as if he had been asked to disarm a bomb and a look pleading for help towards the new female face in the doorway.

"Yareyare" the young beauty raises a mask and puts the glass in her hand down with a soft clinking "You are out of ice and spirits, so I had to improvise and have it on the rocks" it could now be seen what looked to be a handful of sparkling stones were resting at the bottom, several dried-up looking items around the table and a mass amount of bottles scattered around the floor of the room. Raising her leg high into the air to inspect the work the two men took this chance to scamper out, the painter still on all fours as the sharp clicking of Freesias fingers has him freeze. "Hmm, oh Ill have my stuff prepared, I packed light so it shouldn't take longer sure" a side glance can see several chests heaped in the corner making the term light debatable and relative. "Though speaking of supplies, I do hope I can get some light shopping in, well in between the festivities, of course, the entire concept of this new assignment is absolutely titillating".

Without any more words, she slides her boots back on slowly over her feet and finally stands, walking over to the door with a sway but not before throwing a playful wink at the marine with the daunting task of fetching all the belongings, walking past the woman she couldn't help but smile and attempt to make small talk as she worked her way above deck, curious about this festival and want to hear a little more about what was entailed.

A short while later the girl was on her path towards the large rock monument, a playful look in her eye and side glance to several curious admirers and several bags in the crook of her arm from the numerous stores visited along the way with several more on a few of the younger citizens of the Island in tow that had been requisitioned for 'essential marine services'. So, all in all, she was enjoying the atmosphere and had eventually come to rest in a cafe area of the center with a mountain of a milkshake in front preparing for what is to come.

 

[Hanarei]

Earlier...

To say her fellow Marine was a bit terrified was an understatement. He practically froze as Merryn had charged up finding no way to plausibly escape in time as he had hoped. She was even more nuts then the rumors said. He looked nervously shaking his head a bit waving his hands to his sides. It was clear words weren't an option with her as she was rambling on completely absorbed in some clear crazy talking points he really didn't understand and what he did understand all but flew over his head but how completely mad she seemed to him. Was she... actually an alien in disguise? Was that what she meant by speaking in code? Wait... why was he thinking some crazy stuff now! Was it infectious her seeming insanity? A worried look lingered on his face as she hurried off to grab her things only to return stuffing a large number of pamphlets into his arms nearly faltering back as it was thrusting onto him. The truth? Was she just the first wave of crazy interstellar travelers seeking to overthrow mankind?

"Uh oh.. um.. have uh... have a nice day?" He spoke not really sure how to respond holding onto the pamphlets. Still holding onto them he shuffled over to the room glancing inside to see how perfectly clean it was... so perfectly... the only sign of her insanity being kept in the cork board. Them? He knew it, she had to be some alien specifies seeking to take over the world.. clearly some sort of... bird type creature! That was the only reasonable explanation!

AtlannianSpy

The woman looked on at Freesia still with a rather scolding look partially due to what she had seen. Whatever poor sucker took her on was going to have a hell of a time it seemed. At the very least it wasn't her problem. She would have to deal with the 'Marines' who had given into the harpy's little games though. They would learn to regret what they did along the way if the seeming stress of serving her wasn't already punishment as it was. Biting back any harsh words not wishing to allow her to cause any more damage then she already has. They had far more important things to do then get bogged down due to one little troublemaker that had far too much pull then she should.

"I see, I'm sorry to hear that. i'll see if we might be able to obtain more before we leave port. I wasn't given any orders in regards to a time frame for you to arrive by so what you do is up to you. The only risk is your Captain's impression of you I would imagine so do whatever you view is right." She spoke as the woman moved to set off as she was quick to stare daggers at a few of the men who were left behind the room clearly venting her frustration out at them as another hurried out carrying her belongings at the very least to carry them onto the dock. He wouldn't be allowed to go any further then that.

PlusUltra

Present

While an air of excitement around the leaning rock monument continued to flourish with the ongoing festivities, beneath it a far more sinister presence hung low just out of sight of most. An intense stand off between Merryn and Silas. It was if there was some sort of stand off, two gunslingers on guard ready to draw when the time was right. Both seemed to acknowledge each other's presence though both reading each other in far different ways. The civilians crossed paths disrupting their view momentarily time from time as time was practically standing still between them. Who would strike first? Would the conspiracy nut spring to action to murder a harmless scarecrow, or would the reptilian spy-crow jump into action to take away their biggest threat?

"Hello there! I see you are the type that likes whiskey on the rocks! Haha, its always good when its on the rocks, not just cause you know the festival but it just makes it better! Neat gun too, I haven't seen anything like that! We rarely see too many Marines around here now a days though they come around enough I see their weapons and I haven't seen one as nice looking as yours." A voice spoke up as it seemed a rather enthusiastic teen. He seemed to be around 16 though having a younger looking face. It was clear he was in decent shape sporting a rather light looking white shirt and knee length black shorts. His hands were mildly rugged clearly doing some sort of physical work on the island. It was clear he didn't really know much about liquer as much as he was trying to create a conversation, conveniently blocking her view from Silas unintentionally.

"What is it like being a Marine? Is it true you get to explore all around the ocean and see various places? Do they give you different weapons? I always wanted to own a gun but my da... my parents didn't like the idea of me having one. Says its more of a pirate thing but I told them Marines used them too! Speaking of do you think I'd make a good Marine? I was thinking of joining up though my folks were always hesitant on me doing so. Say its dangerous and I'm safer here but I don't really like being here on this island with its dumb..." He spoke hesitating as he got a glance from the bartender before changing his tune a bit. "... I mean... just not really into the stuff around here even if its kinda nice." He spoke trying his best as to not upset the bartender who clearly knew who he was.

As the boy rambled on seeming to act as a distraction, Silas was approached by what seemed to be a strange man. Dressed in rather baggy cloths filled with straw, a cloth mask over his face with two holes for eyes. He looked over holding a box in his one hand. He lifted up his partially chewed up long brim cap to stare up at him looking fiercely at him despite the clear height difference between them. While his face wasn't visible with the mask on it was clear he wasn't very happy.

"Excuse me, this is MY spot as the town Scarecrow. I've had this spot now for 6 years running! I'd appreciate if you move your keester outa here so I can get to work!" He spoke pointing over with his white gloved hand to usher him away. The man quickly plopped down the box not even waiting for Silas to respond as the box was opened with a box with the words 'Tip the Scarecrow' etched on a white card. He pulled out a wooden looking pole, snapping part by part out until it stood roughly six feet in height. Two pieces for a stand were taken out forming what was meant to mimick a post with another section of wood he was carrying placed on top to act to wrest his arms.

"I said skiddaddle! This is my business-crow spot!" The man spoke clearly looking annoyed waiting for him to move to set up fully to collect what was his usual festival 'earnings. A strange thing to see given the need to link everything to rocks.

AtlannianSpy pbtenchi

At the nearby Cafe, two men approached Freesia both looking overly excited. Clearly both were on the younger side likely still in their late teens. One wearing a blue shirt with a rough etching of their town's prized leaning rock while another wore a red shirt with a bunch of rocks with the words 'rock star' etched below. The two looked onboth dark haired boys staring at her holding up a rock both looking rather well polished to the point of seeming rather unnatural.

"Hey miss you are very pretty! Take my rock as a token and maybe marry me!" The blue shirt boy proposed holding the rock out in what appeared to be some island tradition for proposing marriage.

"No! take mine instead! Mine is bigger" The other red shirt boy retorted holding his up. The other pushed his away to show his as the two began pushing back at one another.

"No mine is bigger... shut up Derek thats why ma calls you a damn liar." The blue shirt spoke as the two began to get in a scuffle pushing and getting into a bit of a fight between one another fortunately being more of a shoving match then an actual brawl. The two clearly brothers while interest in her seemed much more infatuated with beating the other. Boys will be boys one could say.

PlusUltra

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Merryn Cooper
Merryn was immediately on guard as soon as the strange boy approached her. Who was he? a Spy!? A distraction for enemy agents moving in to apprehend her!? A salesman of some kind!? Merryn was about to make an excuse and relocate when the boy offhandedly mentioned her drink and something inside of Merryn snapped. Spy or no spy this kind of ignorance could not be allowed to stand unquestioned.

"Alright ffirst of all kid this-" Merryn picked up her glass and held it up for him "Is neat, not on the rocks. You can tell because nobody's RUINED perfectly good whiskey by diluting it with a bunch of cruddy ice that numbs the taste buds so you can't pick up the subtler flavor notes!" Without warning Merryn seized the boy by the jaw and poured the whiskey into his mouth. "Notice how it feels like the inside of your throat is melting?" Merryn asked. "That's how you can tell it's good whiskey. If there was ice in the glass you'd wouldn't be in as much pain right now and therefore not receiving the full whiskey experience!"

Hanarei

 

[pbtenchi]

Silas Rotherwood​

The Outer View
Life flushed back to the corpselike man, as he stretched and shook unnaturally. The myriad of birds flew away. He stared down at the professional scarecrow, light glinted off his red lens. It was impossible to guess what the giant of a man was thinking as he stared down at the man. Was he angry at being disturbed? Was the man below his notice? None could say for sure. He muttered something impossible to make out and vanished at monstrous speed.

Spoiler: Silas' Inner World

Silas couldn't take it anymore. His team was scary, his captain had abandoned him, and he couldn't even do nothing without being a nuisance to people. He felt like he was about to fall over, but that would cause only more issues. That's it. His fight or flight response triggered. He murmured a quiet "sorry" before he sprinted off as fast as he could, crying his eyes out. Now he was disobeying his captain's orders by leaving the meeting spot. He just couldn't win.

 

[PlusUltra]

Heartfilia "Juicy" Freesia
Tags: (Open)
Location: Great Festival, Leaning Rock Island

Freesia looks on with amusement as an elongated spoon dance between her fingers, her cheeks within her hands, and elbows propped on the table as she takes a long drink from her drinks straw. She makes no move to interrupt the small fight breaking out after all boys would be boys and the presumed siblings were definitely a quaint treat. The various traditions of this place were another point of entertainment, the rocks where cute but they lacked the luster of a fine gemstone in how it would catch and refract the light within for the scintillating patterns. She internally debated how to proceed, sure she could just watch for a bit but after a while maybe she might throw in a word or two? Accepting the items straight up would have all the trouble of that wedding tradition which wasn't her style.

"They certainly are shiny and both have impressive size, but Marine tradition does mean sailing off to lands unseen which do make marriage dreadfully hard...that's not to say I won't ever be back to this place, it would really be no fun to leave you all awaiting that, at least not without any good memories to hold it over right? Tough decisions, I do wonder if little old me could handle too big boys like yourselves" a feigned look of innocence as she raises a finger to her lips, putting on the appearance of somber contemplation for a short while.

 

[Hanarei]

The teen hadn't at all been prepared for what he had gotten him into with the conspiracy lady. That bright eyed and bushy-tailed boy was suddenly greeted with a rather grumpy voice explaining to him. Despite the harsh voice though it only caused him to slightly step a little back still seeming excited even if perhaps a bit more uneasy. What really put an end to it was being suddenly taken hold of by his Jaw. He looked all but confused as the whisky was suddenly poured down into his mouth. The liquid burned as he was given freedom only to suddenly cough, gasping out as it felt as if his throat was burning. Clearly not someone who ever really drank at all making it all the worst for the poor inexperienced lad. He coughed out as if to expel the liquid though it had all managed to slip down his throat still tingering inside.

"Uuuuug... I... I see, sorry." He spoke out with a bit of a raspy voice trying to regain himself a bit in the process. Another cough escaped out from his lips as he tried his best to recover from the ordeal a bit shaken though not completely deterred. Perhaps not getting into conversations about liquor was his best option? She was much rougher around the gils then he had really thought. He looked to her seeming to be a bit more cautious with his approach.

"S....so... I mean it's not the most common thing to see Marines dock here briefly but they don't usually actually come into town all that much when they do... are the Marines moving back shop here? I heard they use to use this island for some of their research and development way back in the day, that old base is still there on the west side of the island even if its abandoned from several decades ago. Ah! Is that it? The island could use the Marines back here! Its been a little rough lately with the mines starting to dry up! Not to mention I'm sure that would open recruitment up here!" He spoke out seeming excited again just by the thought of it. He wasn't going to let the small hurdle of a first introduction defeat him!

AtlannianSpy

It was as if the world itself was playing a cruel prank on poor Silas as he continued to run from the disaster today was. A slightly plump man suddenly walked forward pumping into Silas as he had made his escape. The thin mustached man grumbled standing up as he looked at him suddenly pointing both his fingers towards him. He looked almost like some stereotyped villain with his red button up jacket and mostly bald head outside a few strands of hair that managed to stand up tall each curving 90 degrees pointing completely different directions from one another.

"You best watch where you walk or I'll send you straight into the wall.... huh wait a second now." He spoke as his angry tone quickly shifted lifting his fingers up to twirl at his long furry stache. He looked him up and down before lifting his finger up with a wide toothy grin on his face, minus the one tooth seemingly missing on the right side.

"You look quite intimidating friend... perfect for my crew... well my compatriots crew! Now now, don't worry about saying nothing right away now, I just want you to think about it for now. We are setting to make us a nice crew just traveling the world a bit... maybe making a penny or two here and there if you know what I mean. Someone like you could be particularly useful... if you get what I'm saying! Ehhh? Ehhhhhh?" He repeated nudging with his elbow before glancing up. He looked up shaking his head staring at him.

"Names Mister Shun... but yah can call me by my first name Rek. What is your name yah scary lookin' fella?" The mildly portly man spoke gently brushing his stash coming off almost like a used boat sales man.

pbtenchi

The two young men pushed and shoved at each other only to have their shoving match interrupted by the woman's voice. They blinked looking a bit confused staring at her as if forgetting the fact their argument had been centered around her. They blinked seeming to stumble upon realizing what it had started about. They looked at her then back at each other then to her glancing down getting a much clearer site of the fact she was a marine. It was practically plastered on her yet they had all but brushed it aside being far too focused on... other less virtuous things.

"But she is so damn cute..."

"Marine though..."

"Cute Marine though..."

The two brothers seemed to sigh grumbling a bit looking over at her and back at each other showing a great amount of disappointment. The amount of trouble they could get in or cause. Why couldn't it of been some random visitor and not a Marine!

"Ah well... that's a shame... really. I mean... we could make a memory right now if we start to..."

"Already late... and its not like she can come along." The other chimed in seeming a bit disappointed still despite trying to be a voice of 'reason' and the option of taking her with him (obviously since she would of picked him over his brother) wouldn't work now.

"Errrr... gah yeah shame sweetie!" Was that the term that the girls liked to hear? To late roll with it! "Maybe later!" He spoke with a smile that was more of an affront for the disappointment he felt.

PlusUltra

 

[PlusUltra]

Heartfilia "Juicy" Freesia
She chuckles before leaning over the table and kissing each on the cheek "Aww its ok shuga, Work-life is so incredibly demanding at times and if I miss this my next little appointment they do like to make a big deal about it." a soft sigh and shrug as she reminisces on the sacrifices of being a marine at times. Her smile turns mischievous for a moment "Though until then i am off-duty so I can have all the fun my little heart can take...we can always hope paths cross again for that however"

 

[Hanarei]

A New Ship To Port
Hazama
​

A little earlier...

While most Marines found their arrival on Marine vessels, there were some who were forced to take civilian ships... granted perhaps it was a bit generous considering the small transport vessel itself tended to lack people and instead a wide assortment of fireworks. Varying from rather interesting looking to many of questionable quality, the ship was loading with crates upon crates of them. It seemed rather outlandish for any backwater island to get so many with how costly they would likely be particularly in high quantity though the stock being shipped there was much more the 'questionable quality' type. The fireworks that had been made but had been marked as failing quality control checks. It still didn't quite explain how the island could afford them as even discounted it would still likely be rather expensive though it mattered little at the moment. Even the Marines really cared little for it though it served as the perfect excuse to carry 'him' on board. He was after all going to be part of the Misfits crew and why not have a 'guard' even if they saw little risk in anything going wrong.

Truthfully Hazama was probably making it a bigger risk, though the trouble he caused wasn't the type that had them overly worried he would unintentionally light the ship on fire. Even if he did its one less worry for them perhaps? Well perhaps that thought being more of a joke then meant to be serious by the higher ups who put him on guard duty. A two day trip with him and a small crew.

A rather stout sailor approached Hazama with a jolly wave. Named Eron, he had approached him on numberous occasions on the ship often pestering him how he was trying to start small chat that ended as quickly as it started. Clearly someone who was also fidgety by the rather small crew on board with little of anyone to talk to, particularly any who really wished to converse.

"We are arriving at dock now Haz! Once we are you are all set to leave as you like, not that I'm ordering you that you can you know... just sayin' what we were told by the officer about you traveling with us. Nice having you around!" He spoke quite chipper waving his hand in a rather poor mock salute as he ventured off to prepare to aid with the docking of the ship. Looking down upon the note Hazama had been given there wasn't too much to follow.

Meet up at the main square.
Get ready for a great blast.
It will rock your world!

Far from a very... formal communication from a Marine particularly one who was suppose to be in charge as well as lacking much detail with the communication now being three days old. Given the celebration in town and the way in which the decorations lined the street, it gave at least a decent idea where the main square of the town might be... perhaps?

simj26
*******

Present

The celebration going on was quite amazing given the fact the town itself was a practically no name island. So many people all happy celebrating making the best time they could of the day before it would sink back to the normal daily tedium. A few people shouted out at the obvious stranger to town trying to draw him into a shop though perhaps the thing that might draw his attention more was the portly looking fellow in a nice suit speaking to a giant... scarecrow? From a distance it wasn't hard to see the scarecrow fellow wasn't exactly the most comfortable as he got a used car pitch from the guy.

"...Now now! Its a deal of a lifetime. I mean don't feel stressed to say yes, though it is a limited deal I want you to be relaxed we could use one like yourself! All you gotta do is sign on the dotted line here and its all good and you are an honorary crew member I tell yah, never gunna be a deal this good ever again!" The man spoke leaning in closer to Silas as if applying pressure holding up a contract that had been pulled out to Silas seemingly through thin air. He was really hard set on getting him in not really being the best at reading Silas reaction... or perhaps more concerted about roping him into the deal.

pbtenchi simj26