Yet another day... Linnea was done with simple, straightforward training, she yearned for a different kind of improvement. The kind that could only be accomplished through on field experience instead of simple stranding herself on an island all by herself hoping it would make her stronger. It might, but it defenitely would not be the best way to go about such a task... There was much she could learn from on field experience, and she could never neglect that side of her training. Today she found herself without food at her room to eat breakfast, and eager to munch on some fresh fruit, she headed outside to the market, reflexively tugging on her hood bashfully once she found herself surrounded by more people than she'd like. As always she never let anyone get too close to her nor did she allowed many people to see her face but then again she wasn't even the only one to do so...

She bought an apple and a peach and ate both in turn to compliment her breakfast, quickly heading away from the crowded market almost as soon as she arrived. The day was somewhat cloudy and a soft, gentle breeze flew through the air against her face, earning a faint smile from the archer who simply brushed her hair behind her ear, further concealing it under her hood, and proceeded to eat her breakfast while walking through the least frequented streets, glancing at the little shops on one side, butchers and fishermen carrying their wares around, and took in the sights of the villagers going about their daily business.

Predictably for an Island named "Karate Island", there were also plenty of Dojos and warrior schools, and seeing both armed and unarmed martial artists walking around was a common sight. Perhaps she might also benefit from training her unarmed techniques from the people of this island, even if her own Kuja training was just as good if not better, her teachers all pointed out the importance of experiencing different fighting styles. But as she pondered where to start her learning experience, Linnea narrowed her eyes to a dust cloud up in the distance as she started hearing a rumbling noise. This rumbling got stronger by the second as the dust cloud got closer, and while that happened she finally started hearing panicked screaming from the populace. People were desperately trying to get out of the way from a stampeding herd of wild boar!! Each of them was roughly the size of a human teenager, thus even individually any of them were perfectly capable of goring a human being. Wasting not a second, Linnea drew her bow with an arrow, and took aim at the frontmost boar leading the stampede. As the arrow whizzed through the air, it finally lodged itself in the boar's eyes while its friends simply stampeded over him and kept charging, getting closer by the second.

"Tch... I better get outta here.", she thought out loud upon noticing there were too many boars for her to kill them all before they got close to her. Quickly leaping onto a pile of crates and from there to the roof of a small shop, she narrowly avoided the stampede. Loading another arrow into her bow, Linnea looked through the dust cloud and shot another arrow, taking down yet another boar...


Used 2 arrows


OOC: Killed 2 boar

Having received another few days of leave, and feeling much more capable than he had the last time he'd visited Karate Island, Hoshikita had traveled here to once again attempt to defeat the karate master: Mr. Miyagi. Before he headed down to the dojo however, Hoshikita was keen to have a quick bite to eat and maybe an early afternoon drink to help loosen him up. He was making his way towards a bar he remembered being near the dojo, and whistling softly to himself as he walked down the path. The sky was blue, and Hoshikita thought he could hear the cry of a blue jay in the distance. The air still had the taste of the ocean, and Hoshikita breathed in deeply and tried to let the fresh air permeate through his body. Truly, it seemed to be a peaceful day and Hoshikita didn't want to spoil it just yet with a no holds barred match against a karate master.

The bar he was heading to had just entered Hoshikita's vision, and he picked up his pace a bit, rather eager to enjoy the bright blue sky with a cup of sake. As he drew near however, he heard a rumbling off in the distance, and looking over in that direction for a cursory investigation, he saw a large cloud of dust off in the distance heading his way. As the cloud grew closer, it became apparent that it was caused by a horde of rampaging wild boar. Their thundering hooves shook the ground as they approached, and Hoshikita watched the people around him begin to scatter in a panic. Hoshikita let out a long sigh and looked longingly over to the entrance of the bar as people ran out and away. "Guess my drink'll have to wait." He said dejectedly, disappointed that one of his precious days of leave would be tainted with such a presumably uncommon disaster. Still, even if he was on leave, he was a marine and he had a duty to protect the innocent from danger.

Hoshikita fixed the collar on his dark green Hawaiian shirt before dashing towards the approaching stampede in an attempt to stop it. As he closed in, he heard something whizzing past him, and suddenly the first boar in the line had fallen dead with an arrow lodged firmly in his skull. Another arrow flew by and pegged another boar as Hoshikita drew in at about a fifteen meter distance from the boar. From there, Hoshikita would unleash two powerful Rankyaku's horizontally across the stampeding attackers. Regrettably, the best course of action was to stop the boars by any means necessary, and Hoshikita didn't exactly have many skills that would help him divert the boar back to the forest or any such things. Instead, he was forced to end their lives as quickly and painlessly as possible with the help of his powerful legs. The blades of wind soared through the air towards the boar, and each of them took out four of the creatures a piece. Almost instantly, the stampede had been quelled, and Hoshikita breathed out a sigh of relief. Perhaps now he would be able to get back to his drink.

312.5/350:

The archer didn't wait a single moment... As soon as she stepped onto that roof she had already drawn three arrows and lined up a Trident attack, preparing to aim at all the enemies and take down three of them with one fell swoop. A few moments too late and somebody might have already been gored before the stampede could be stopped. But then something else happened... An interference, and for once one she might appreciate: Suddenly an incredibly tall blonde man (actually he just had freakishly long legs) wearing a hawaiian shirt stepped into the fray, right in the path of the rampaging herd. All in all a terrible idea, and Lin let out a "tch" feeling someone had just walked into the wrong place at the wrong time. But the man didn't seem scared... Quite the opposite, as she activated her Kenbunshoku Haki to scan her surroundings, the ranger noticed he was incredibly calm. Without warning, he executed two kicks towards the herd of boars, and much to her surprise his kicks projected air blades, the same kind some swordsman used. She had seen this skill being used by swordswomen back in Amazon Lily, but never Martial artists...

"Wow... Just like that...", though Linnea to herself out loud. Impressive... In a split second he had put an end to the rampage, and sighed relaxedly. But there was no time to rest, quite the opposite. After tugging on her hood as if to make sure he wouldn't see her face too clearly, she called out to the long legged blonde man, "It's not over yet."

With this, she turned towards where the stampeded had come from, arrow primed. Roughly 20 meters away from her, past a corner, two more foes for them to face: Tigers. No doubt they had chased after the boars, and with them all dead they would likely try and hunt the humans instead. Cats had a strong hunting instinct after all. With her Haki, she could clearly see and antecipate the two animals' movement, and from her high ground she quickly let loose an arrow seemingly aimed at nothing. But a Tiger popped into view just as the arrow approached the corner, clearly embedding itself in its neck. Roaring in pain, this tiger was doomed to bleed out, but he was still moving and would likely managed to keep doing so for a good while...


Used 3 arrows total


OOC: All boar dead; 1 T2 Tiger mortally wounded


Used Kenbu Haki B-rank; 25 Haki stamina Remaining.

Hoshikita had already turned around and was starting to head back to the bar, hoping that the bartender would be back soon enough to grace him with a drink. As he was walking though, he heard a strange stretching sound up above him, and when he looked up he saw a young looking woman holding a bow taut and at the ready. Hoshikita realized that she must have been the one who had taken out the beginning wave of boar, and he wondered what she was aiming at now that they were all lying on the ground some yards away. He turned around to get a look, and for a moment he saw nothing. He stood there confused for a split second as the arrow sailed past him and towards an empty corner when suddenly a massive tiger peeked its head around the corner and the arrow lodged itself in the beast's neck. Hoshikita's jaw dropped in surprise and he took a step back, looking up to the woman and then back to the tiger. He was utterly befuddled as to both why there was a tiger here, and how that woman had known it would be there. Hoshikita didn't have much time to wonder though, as despite having an arrow lodged in its neck the tiger was still on the prowl.

With its neck dripping red sanguine liquid onto the ground as it bounded forward, the beast made its way to Hoshikita in an attempt to lash out at whatever was near it to sate its anger. The tiger lunged and took a swipe at Hoshikita with its massive claws while it was still in midair. The marine lieutenant would have none of that however, and he quickly threw up his left leg and tensed the muscles in it to harden it to the same point as steel in an instant, causing the claw to push Hoshikita to the right and out of the way as opposed to tearing open his leg and leaving a gory mess behind. Hoshikita then skidded to a stop, focused on preventing the tiger from turning anyone else into a gory mess before it bled out, but his focus was drawn by a loud roar from a few yards away. Out of the corner Hoshikita could see another tiger bounding towards him, and in a panic Hoshikita shot up into the air with a Geppo. The two tigers slammed into each other as Hoshikita shot off above him, and they started tangling with one another for a moment as Hoshikita continued through the sky onto the same rooftop as the woman he had seen wielding the bow. "I can see why you wanted to stay on the rooftops" Hoshikita said jokingly, breathing rather heavily and placing his hands on his knees.

267.5/350:

The tiger roared angrily but no matter how much he raged, his attacker was beyond his reach. So he lashed out at the next target he saw, the long legged man who was still there. Linnea would ordinarily be worried but after this guy just stopped a rampaging horde with two kicks, she really didn't. After enduring a claw strike without even a scratch, the man came up to the roof to join after doing something incredible, jumping off the air itself! Who would have though some people could do such a thing? First FLying Slashes from his legs, then stepping off the air. Linnea was impressed, no doubt on that. Could she be able to learn how to do something like that? No, it probably required longer legs than she had. Indeed, she had long legs compared to most other girls, but nothing like him:

"Yeah... Still, your legs are incredibly powerful.", she commented, clearly amazed by the feats he could pull off, glancing his way for a moment and flashing a gentle smile, "To think you could jump off the air itself..."

The two tigers had wound up crashing onto each other and with that fought viciously, but the previously wounded tiger didn't stand a chance. His angry rival just bit its wounded throat off. The ranger just looked at the animal calmly, knowing that there wouldn't be any way to get the tiger out of here. She had to kill it quickly and put it out of his misery. As the tiger walked around the street, he was obviously looking for a way to climb up to meet them, but it would have no time to do so. Taking a deep breath, Lin pulled an arrow and steadied her aim, reading the beast's next move and shooting the arrow right where his eye would face. With a single, killing shot the animal rampage was seemingly stopped. She looked up at the tall blonde man to flash a friendly smile before bashfully hiding back under her hood:

"Thank you for the help!", but then she gasped as she suddenly felt something, as if she some troubling gut feeling had just struck her mind.  It was much bigger than those tigers! A lion? Thats what it the aura looked like anyway. There was a lion on the prowl roughly forty meters away, prowling through the city. The people were already hidden thus he didn't have anybody around to kill, but he would eventually find someone, "Wha... We're not done yet...!"

Pointing towards where she felt that aura, she started heading there to see what was happening, glancing back to see if the man would join her. Hoping to get the animal by surprise, she opted not to run and approach it at walking pace, following a path along the rooftops instead of the streets...

"I'll try to take it out from afar...", she explained her plan. Though she didn't know if she'd be able to instantly kill such a large animal from this distance, Linnea still had to try it... It would be much better than letting him rampage like those tigers.




Used four arrows total

OOC: All boar dead and tigers dead; T3 Lion Alive

Kenbu Haki still active

After being complimented by the young woman on the rooftop, Hoshikita scratched the back of his head and smiled. "Ah, that? That was nothing." He said, obviously trying to be modest, but not overly exaggerating. That had actually been one of the more basic of his skills, and while a back in Logue Town he never would have dreamed of such feats they now seemed common place to him. He looked over to the tigers who had been fighting each other and saw that the uninjured one had easily come out on top and was now clawing its way towards them in an attempt to reach the two. Hoshikita was about to hop down and knock the tiger out, but he heard the same sound as before of the woman pulling the string back on her bow, and he decided to just stand and watch as the arrow flew through the air right into the center of the tiger's face. Hoshikita whistled in admiration of her skill, and wondered exactly who this woman was. She seemed quite skilled with that bow, and while she probably wasn't on the level of Captain Maria, Hoshikita would have to think twice before taking her on.

Hoshikita hadn't been able to see her face under her hood, but she looked towards him and flashed a smile from beneath the brown cloth and thanked him before hiding under the fabric once again. Hoshikita was about to reply but he was cut off by a gasp that came out of her mouth and she looked rather concerned. Hoshikita turned around behind him to follow her gaze, but there was nothing other than continued rooftops and rice paddies as far as he could see from his vantage point. The woman stated that they weren't done yet, and Hoshikita wondered what she meant by that. Perhaps she had heard more tigers in the city, and they needed to pursue them. He looked back to her as she was pointing in a certain direction, but she dashed off before Hoshikita could question her. The young marine was confused and curious so he continued to follow her across the rooftops, easily keeping up with his long strides and powerful legs. He heard the woman say something about taking "it" out from afar, but he wasn't sure what "it" was. "Where are we going? What's it?" Hoshikita asked loud enough for her to hear as he ran, deciding it would be better to ask now than just continue following blindly.

Linnea couldn't help but cast another admiring look his way after his answer... Wow... THAT was nothing? Either he was being really shy and modest not unlike what Lin herself was, or he had a lot more where that came from, and for some reason her thoughts leaned towards the latter. Long legged people were really amazing, Lin was certainly impressed, that's for sure. If anything, it gave her a warm and pleasant reassuring feeling to find that man opted to join her even though he clearly lacked the same skill she did; he trusted her enough which was a good sign, and if things went south she'd be a lot more confident with two against one than if she had to fight by herself. That Lion was far larger than a regular one and would likely pose a proportional amount of challenge to overcome. His praising whistle made her blush slightly, but then she was hidden under the hood so he probably wouldn't see it anyway.

He followed her easily enough with his proportionately long stride, and after walking a few meters forward through the rooftops she had a clear enough angle to look at the Lion which wandered around the square beneath them. It was barely visible due to a few obstacles in the way, but if one looked clearly enough they might see it. It was a damn big Lion after all:

"There, can you see it...?", she pointed at the direction of the massive beast once the man questioned what "it" was, "I don't remember ever seeing a Lion that big..."

It was larger than a grizzly bear, and would likely tear her in half if it got a chance to claw her. After what she'd seen that man due to the tiger she wasn't sure the Lion would still be able to kill him outright, but it might certaily still be dangerous... Locking her eyes onto the prey, Linnea drew an arrow. The Lion was still prowling around behind some obstacles, and even if she might not get a clear shot from this place, she liked those odds better than getting closer and possibly alerting the beast to their presence. If it was hungry and it didn't see any more meat around, the two of them would likely be seen as prey. Nocking her arrow, she took a deep breath as the lion was currently scrounging something behind a little cranny, keeping its head and upper torso hidden. She wouldn't get a kill shot, but she could hopefully wound it enough. Restoring her Kenbunshoku Haki but at a slightly lower level than before, Linnea used her aura reading so ensure her target would be there once her arrow hit him, and with that, she let it loose. The arrow flew and sailed through the air before embedding itself in the Lion's rear, impaling its glute and no doubt limiting his mobility and causing a great deal of damage. It roared in pain and instantly looked towards the two:

"I couldn't kill it... But that shot should slow him down enough to finish the job safely.", she commented almost like a shamed apology for failing to get the kill.


Used five arrows total

OOC: All boar dead and tigers dead; T3 Lion wounded and slowed down with arrow to the leg/glute

Kenbu Haki re-activated (15/40)

It was only a few seconds before Hoshikita was able to answer his own question, and he saw a massive lion, looking to be roughly half the size of a house from the marine's perspective. He'd never seen a creature so large in his life, and he wondered how exactly it had found its way into town. The young hooded woman looked over to him, asking if he could see it and referencing how she'd never seen a lion that big either. "Yeah, I see it alright. Guess we better do something about it." Hoshikita said dejectedly, realizing that he certainly wasn't going to be getting his drink any time soon, if at all. He'd been frightened enough of the tigers, and now they were dealing with something nearly twice their size. Still, there were innocent townspeople in danger and he couldn't exactly stand idly by and still feel proud calling himself a Marine. Hoshikita was about to ask the woman what she thought would be best to do, as she seemed to have some skill and experience in hunting creatures like this from what Hoshikita had seen, but when he looked over he saw that she was drawing an arrow and he decided to keep quiet in an effort not to break her concentration. He watched as she let the arrow fly through the air and he watched the lion take the hit right to the...ass? Hoshikita had to question the woman's motives in shooting the animal in the ass. After all, it was just an innocent animal, and he didn't believe it deserved to be given such a low blow. The lion had roared in pain, and the young marine even felt sorry for it, despite the destruction it had been causing. Hoshikita had seen the woman's earlier skill with the bow and how she had been able to strike the tiger between the eyes and in the throat with her arrows, and he could only assume that she had done it on purpose. Hoshikita was even more horrified when she seemed disappointed that she hadn't killed it with her arrow. Had she been attempting to shoot it up the ass so hard it died from shock? Hoshikita couldn't be sure, but he figured he shouldn't dwell on the subject.

Instead of questioning her motives, Hoshikita decided to just follow her lead and attack from afar. "No worries, he didn't look like a one hitter quitter anyway." Hoshikita said, looking over to the lion and readying himself to strike. He would try and stay away from the lion's genitals and anus however, and would aim to end its suffering quickly. The lion was rushing towards them, his speed still remarkable despite his hind leg not working quite as well as it should have been. Hoshikita wasn't going to back down though, and he began swirling his left leg for a small moment, gather wind blades around it and then sending out a powerful kick towards the lion. Just as the creature pounced, the tornado of wind blades had flown through the air and slammed right into it's face, mane and all. The force of the blast was enough to send the lion flying backwards into a building on the opposite side of the street, its mane now tattered and split apart and its face bleeding rather heavily. The creature wasn't done yet however, and it stood up with a glare in its eyes before letting out a low growl.

222.5/350:

The man seemed doubtful of her choice of target and then Lin would have been too if she'd been watching. But given how his head was hidden from view, she hoped this shot would at least rob their target of some of its mobility, which she expected to be plentiful given its proportionate size and highly developed leg muscles. Her teammate prepared his own attack, both of them were clearly aware than even with an arrow through the glute, its remaining three legs still would give it more than enough power to pounce onto the roof they were standing. At this point, the Lion attacked at surprising speed for the sorry state it was in, and she had no choice but to rely on him. Once more, the long legged man displayed his superhuman kicking ability by actually whirling what appeared to be a tornado of wind blades.

"Wow...", she muttered in praise, astonished as the wind made her hair and hood flutter around, enabling her to feel the power of the technique he was about to unleash even without taking her eyes off her foe.

Linnea drawed an arrow, getting ready for the finishing move. Once the Lion pounced, the blonde man reacted instantly, intercepting it mid flight with a tornado from his kicking leg!! She made a mental note not to mess with any long legged man she eventually came across during her travels, certain it would likely spell doom if she fell victim to similar attacks to those he'd displayed so far. The Lion took a literal tornado kick to the face and travelled a good distance across the square - being flung around in circles around the gale winds - crashing into a building. She could tell it wasn't dead yet, so Linnea simply nocked her arrow and prepared for a finishing blow.

It wouldn't be easy to take the foe down without weakening it first, and even though the man had inflicted a grievous injury with his kick, and as the creature got back up, she saw a way to cripple it further: As the lion struggled to stand up, she let loose another arrow that lodged itself neatly in its forward thigh, effectively crippling both his legs on one side. It visibly struggled to stand up but still let out an intimidating roar that sent a shiver down her spine. If she got clawed just once, she would most certainly die, and that ferocious roar reminded the Ranger of that fact... Still, the Lion now trudged forwards with a limp and Linnea prepared another shot, hopefully enough to kill this time.


Used six arrows total

OOC: All boar dead and tigers dead; T3 Lion wounded and slowed down with arrow to the rear left and forward left leg; slashed and bruised all over from Hoshi's attack

C-rank Kenbu Haki In use (15/40)

Hoshikita watched as after the lion stood, the archer next to him shot off another arrow that penetrated the lion's front shoulder, causing it to falter and struggle to stand. Despite the destruction it had caused though, the young marine couldn't help but feel bad for the creature. A proud and noble lion being crippled and maimed in such a way caused his heart to feel heavy, and he resolved to finish things quickly. "I see the blood drip from your mane." Hoshikita said solemnly, beginning a poem as he shot off with a powerful kick and sped towards the lion. "I feel your anger, and your pain." He said, twisting his body as he flew through the air and preparing for a powerful flying roundhouse against the lion in an effort to break through its thick skull and knock it out. However, once his leg made contact with the lion's face, he realized instantly that his legs lacked the sufficient power. "A regal beast, a migh-" Hoshikita started to say, continuing what was possibly the least awful poem he'd ever constructed, before being swatted away by the lion's powerful paw. Instantly, he felt a few of his ribs crack from the force and he was sent flying in a very similar manner as the one he'd just sent the lion in. He slammed into a nearby building, causing brick and mortar to fall on top of him as he lay on the ground in agony.

Hoshikita wasn't one to lie down when there was a fight to be had, or after his poetry had been interrupted however, and he staggered to his feet admirably. He could feel his ribs shredding into his muscle as he stood, and he was bleeding from several open cuts on his body that he'd received after making impact with the building. However, his pride couldn't allow the lion to interrupt his recital. "A mighty king." He continued, finishing his line and coughing up a bit more blood. "Now just a pitiful, poor, miserable thing." He said, his tone implying one of sorrow rather than antagonism. After Hoshikita had spouted his line, the lion turned to him and roared, as if it had somehow been offended by the marine's poetry. The regal creature faltered for a second, but gained some footing and started charging the now bloodied marine. Hoshikita looked at the mangled creature before him and prepared himself to strike once more, hoping that the woman on the rooftop would provide him adequate support if the lion were able to complete its charge; which despite the crippling injuries sustained by the creature was still rather majestic and quick.

207.5/250:

This wouldn't be so easy... How could it? This Lion was by far the largest she had ever seen and even if this man also had the largest legs she had ever seen, he was still a man, facing a beast. He seemed to pity the creature, and then so did Linnea even if she struggled not to show it. But preserving the lives of the humans in this city came above preserving a random beast that managed to find its way in. The long legged man dashed in to finish the job, while Linnea simply loaded another arrow, waiting for him to unleash his finishing bow and keeping her own arrow primed and ready to attack, just in case. She couldn't shoot with her ally in front of her, no way, but what she could do was get the backup plan ready...

Her eyes widened with concerned urgency as her ally was intercepted in his attempt to kick the animal to death, and wasting not a single second, Lin reacted as the man got flung aside, shooting her arrow. But as she let it loose, she did something different: Flicking the projectile downwards with her thumb, she made the arrow spin around at incredible speed, hitting the Lion right between his skull and literally drilling a hole through its head, the rubble behind him, and finally a spiral shaped drilling hole on the ground behind him...

"It's over...", she said, taking a deep breath and look at the man once more as the dust subsided, "At least, i think it is this time."

The creature's aura had subsided, its voice had gone silent. But anyone would see that no way he'd be walking around with such a massive hole through its head. She dropped down from the roof and went over to the man, helping him to his feet with an arm around his shoulder:

"Are you alright?", she asked with a serious tone in what might be a silly question given how he obviously wasn't; but he managed to answer, that was a victory in itself. She would help the tall wounded man to the nearest doctor, keeping in mind where she had slain both the lions and the tigers. One of each had been her kill, and as such she was entitled to the spoils: Their pelt.



Used seven arrows total

All foes Dead

Used 60 Stamina:

-exit-

As Hoshikita was struggling to his feet he heard that same familiar sound of the arrow being notched in the bow, and he gained some confidence knowing that the woman on the rooftop was still there. He was readying himself to fight the massive beast once more, not wanting to give the noble creature such a sorry show in its final moments, and he let out a low animalistic growl himself as the creature began to roar.The lion's final roar was cut off by a powerful arrow drilling through its skull and into the wall behind it. Hoshikita was utterly shocked by the destructive force the woman had put into her shot, and he made a mental note not to mess with her in the future. He didn't want to risk getting shot by one of those arrows, that was for certain. So, still struggling to stay on his feet, Hoshikita stood up and started staggering over towards where the woman had just came down from the rooftops. She called out to him, questioning if he was alright, and Hoshikita gave a pained thumbs up to let her know that he was. "Yeah, or at least after I get a drink I will be." He said, chuckling with a pained expression on his face. There was still blood trickling from his wounds, and he could feel a sharp pain every time he twisted his torso the wrong way, but he still felt better knowing that the creature was no longer suffering.

Even though it had been causing destruction, Hoshikita was a very empathetic man. It was one of the main reasons that he had become a marine, and although he had known that the innocent townspeople needed protecting, the lion and the tigers and the boar hadn't truly been doing anything wrong. He thought that he would drink to their memory in a moment, and though Naga seemed to be set on taking him to have some medical attention, Hoshikita would bid her farewell and go find himself a drink. He'd bother with getting fixed up later, and it would be easier if he was a little less than sober. He lamented that he wouldn't be able to spar with Mr. Miyagi today either however, and he wondered why it was that every time he came to Karate Island he seemed to get pulled into strange misadventures like this.