The night before Reina had read a letter addressed to her mid day on November 1st, which was her reassignment form. The destination, Alabasta. She scratched her head and inquisitively read the rest of the letter, hoping for some sort of information on where she was headed. " Hey guys, what the heck is an Alabasta"? The other ensigns shook their heads and went about their business, leaving her slightly worried.

Before Reina had time to really process the reassignment process, she was already headed to the docks. She really grew fond of Logue town after meeting both Rear Admiral Cerulean Faith and the ornary Landru on Halloween. One was perhaps the first Admiral, hell the first commanding officer she could ever say she trusted. The other a fellow ensign minkman who happened to talk like an angry drunk even when he was sober. Logue town was a fairly stable town under Marine control, a place which was a far cry to the North blue where she had grown up.

Her head swayed to and fro as she took in the sights, logue town was a bustling town with happy people and busy people. One did not have to look far to see travelers clad in odd gear, some probably low key pirates which were indistinguishable from ordinary citizens. They had a skip to the beat, one you likely had before facing the dangers of the Reverse mountain and grand line. Reina was ambivalent herself, not knowing what to except herself.

The weather was nice, one could take a stroll and not have to wear excessive amounts of gear to protect themselves from frostbite. Nor did one have to cover themselves up in just as much clothing to protect themselves from the blistering heat. " Yes it's quite pleasant here", she said while covering her eyes and looking up at the deep blue sky above her. In the distance she saw the spot where Roger was executed.

She felt an alien feeling as she approached the platform, among the crowd. Most of the residents passed it without a second thought and tourists were busy admiring it. Reina's gaze was affixed upon the platform, astonished at the simplicity of it. Here the strongest and most revered man in the world was executed. Here the greatest dream in the world was born. Freedom, an ultimate freedom free from the oppression of both pirate and marine. After a few moments she walked away from platform and headed to the docks, not realizing how late she actually was. From midtown she sprinted downhill toward the marine control docks. The crowd too thick to move effectively, she ran toward a wall and began leaping from roof to roof.

With this she was sure she could make it on time and in fact she almost did, landing before the captain of her assigned ship with wild roll and coming to a screeching halt before him. Kicking dust up, she scratched her head and laughed rhythmically, coming off as slightly insincere, " Sorry sir, Ensign Reina reportin for duty Sir"! The captain did not budge, nor did he have anything more than a fixed scowl upon his face. His gaze affixed upon Reina he held his hand out, " Papers"?

Reina reached into her napsack and pulled the necessary documents for the officer, who nodded his head and let her upon the ship. She saluted him and ran up the draw board where she saw plenty of her crewmates all in a frenzied hustle. She herself felt slightly lost and it showed. She scanned her environment for some sort of cue, clue or indication of where she should go. It was her first time aboard a Marine battleship and she had no idea what to do. A man with a modest insignia for Leiutenant glared at her as she walked about like a lost lamb. " Ensign!" he roared. Reina turned about face to the stiff man who had so much energy,but so little feeling in his expression. She stood up straight and saluted him, " Ensign Reina Reporting for duty SIR".

He nodded and told her to go prepare the mast, to which she responded, " What's a mast"?

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The journey to Alabasta was both an Efficient and grueling experience for Reina. Her first experience over the reverse mountain was rather mundane in retrospect, for the marine battleship sailed up it with such ease. While the others did things with purpose, she could only watch with envy while she swabbed the poop deck. Her commanding officer reamed her on day one, nearly tearing her a new asshole with his aggression in the process. Most of the bystanders felt awful not being able to warn her in time,but they had little time while on board to help a green recruit out. The best they could do was try to avoid her mopping path when possible. For you see, her commanding officer instructed her to mop until the deck was free of shoe prints. A feat not easily done when people were walking about, doing their daily duties. Sometimes she'd become frustrated when people pushed food carts or walked over where she had just finished mopping. In that case she mostly received flak for expressions or tone of voice. Not used to being held accountable for small things like this even in the North blue, she begrudgingly mopped on. Most of her fellow ensigns tried to cheer her up, most emphasized the value of being on deck all the time. " Don't be so quick to judge lass. If you take the time to observe the people working aboard the ship, you may learn somethin.", he said with a wink.

Reina tried her best not to roll her eyes,but their advice was making sense at the weirdest times. The grandline was a volatile place which tended to result in detours from flash storms. For the most part their navigator was able to avoid the worst. Sometimes when she drifting off into lala land, she could see a giant cyclone raging in the distance. Dark clouds which eclipsed the sun, thunder which roared and lightning which danced in the clouds. Hail the size of sea monsters and hell even sea monsters themselves. When things weren't stupidly rough as she put it, she could see dolphins swimming in the distance and the backside of baby whales surfacing for air. The grandline was indeed chaotic and without reason,but there were times when it was pleasant.

As the sun began migrate out of sight and the sky turned bright orange, Reina sighed a bit of relief because now she could rest. Or so she thought. The waters rapidly became rough out of nowhere and storm clouds surged forth without warning. A den den mushi acting as a speaker for the ship's deck started to shout around 10 seconds too late, something her fellow marines claimed to be the difference between being crushed by the sea and surviving. In the chaos she froze, with mop in hand as the rest of the crew went to prepare the ship for the worst. A powerful gust struck her and in combination with the raging waves, she felt her starting to slide toward the edge of the ship. Without a second thought she lunged forward and threw herself down into deck as hard as she could; digging her nails into the boards futilely. In the chaos she concentrated and began to take in ship, surroundings, and its crew. The crew was fighting the winds on the other side of the ship, trying to secure the masts so the winds would not rip them apart. Using what she had witnessed over the past few days prior, she too fought against the winds together with fellow marines to tie down the mast and secured them in their retracted state. Even if it was only for a few minutes, she heaved with all her might and fought the slippery deck and unsteady ship throughout the storm.

At the end of it she found herself glued to one of the mast's lines. Her grip stuck as she trembled after the experience. The night was pleasant from the point on, with the storm clouds migrating south and the moon showed all its glory. Unlike the cities she grew up in and spent most of her days, the grandline's night sky was free of human light pollution, thus she could see the stars for their the splendor. And the moon itself, illuminating the deceptively calm sea below her. Slowly she worked herself back to a standing position and began mopping once more in the moonlight. The once mundane task now felt as calm as the rocking of the ship.


The next morning her ship docked at Alabasta's capital city. All around her she could see ships coming to and fro. Merchant, civilian, and Naval ships were coming and going in a constant stream. Reina's first step upon the aged deck was perhaps the single most calming moment of her life. While the others left in a steady and orderly fashion, she kissed the sandy deck and hurried to shore. It was a still a few hours before she would formally meet her new battalion,but for the life of her she couldn't remember his name. " captin..berry--no bearit"?

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