She had to get stronger... Granted, there were several things Lin still had to do but of all of those things, her strength was the one which stood out the most. If anything, being this close to the Grand Line kept that fact firmly engraved in her mind and would't let go of it no matter what went on in front of her. She wasn't ready yet; but she would be soon...

A good way for a warrior like Linnea to train would be to simply run through the jungle. Whereas most people would simply run, this young Kuja was a ranger who was at home in the wilderness, and took every feature of the envoiroment as a potential advantage to use in combat. Naturally, it would be preferrable to train in the kind of envoroment she planned on exploiting. Seeing the blazing sun beaming through the windows, Lin sighed and picked out a white outfit with the same style as she always wore: A short and flimsy dress with halter straps - this time without a hood - allowing for all the freedom of motion she could ever wish for. It also allowed the men she passed by all the freedom for oggling they could ever wish for; but Linnea had been raised in a wholly different culture, where her own style, beauty and comfort stood above how others might look at her.

She had a light breakfast consisting solely of an apple and some other fruits she'd bought yesterday at the market, then slung her bow and quiver around her back, and headed out. At this early morning hours, the streets looked pretty deserted save for the occasional fisherman heading off to into the sea... The crashing waves filled the air with the beautiful, soothing sound she so loved; and with a smile on her face, Linnea started her race. She didn't stay in the village too long, soon she headed towards the edge and past it, venturing further away from civilization and deeper into the wilderness, a not so dense jungle dotting the landscape for most of Karate island.

TWC: 312

The music of the ocean was gradually replaced by nature's own melody, the kind of sound she was used to hearing from her youth in Kuja island. Linnea quickly vaulted over the first obstacle - a large tree root - in a swift, fluid dash that didn't slow her down the slightest. When out in the wilderness like this, everything a was a trail for her. The first layers of dust and dirt slowly dotted her skin and outfit, yet this was only the beginning. After the initial sprint through the not so dense shrubbery Linnea gradually slowed down to a steady yet still decently fast pace better suited for a long endurance run. This was meant to be a long work out after all...

Birds, rabbits and all other kinds of small animals hurriedly got out of the way as if evading an upcoming stampede... Though Linnea was just a single girl, for some small enough enemies she might as well be. Quickly glancing around, she scanned her surroundings as if creating a mental map of traversable - preferrably runnable - terrain. If she was just going to be brushing aside vegetation and scaring bunnies this wouldn't really be any different from her average running exercises. Narrowing her eyes like a hawk locking onto its prey, she turned slightly left and ran upwards a fallen tree, as if dashing up a ramp and leaping off. With her ever focused mind, she adjusted her body according to what she saw below, and clearly landed on soft grass to break her fall, and keep running forwards at full speed.

Lin had to steer clear of a few more obstacles such as pitfalls, steep edges and tripping vines. Often enough she managed to turn these envoiromental hazards to her advantage, grabbing onto vines to leap over obstacles, climbing broken trees and running on branches instead. The bow on her back hung there unused for the most part, save for when she spotted a menacing animal eager to chase after her like food. Those times invited the greatest focus from the huntress; who knew survival of the fittest to be most important law for adventuring in the wilderness. Like a natural ranger, she'd draw an arrow and take aim in a single fluid motion, closing one eye before letting loose an arrow which flew on to pierce the target into submission. And before she knew it, a whole hour had went by as she went around the island...

Completely focused on her breath and ignoring the exhaustion coursing through her body, Linnea pressed on with legs that would have undoubtedly preferred to just fall limp like jelly... But she still had energy to go on. As the vegetation grew progressively less dense, she knew she was approaching the outer edge of the jungle and with it reaching ever near to the village she was staying in. Her body and clothing were now drenched in sweat, her platinum hair dripping the added trail atop her footprints, anyone could see that she was at her limit. Linnea was now basically running on willpower instead of stamina, but she might very well find herself needing to do the exact same thing in combat should things suddenly go south... For now, she was happy to just keep herself at peak physical condition. She ran straight through the streets, ever inviting the curious gaze from the inhabitants, until she found herself at the beach. Without stopping, she pulled off her bow and quiver and tossed them aside, stripped off her dress, and dove straight into the ocean....

"A long bath after an even longer workout... It's the best.", she thought out loud with a happy smile


TWC: 913


[EXIT]