The Marines who'd rescued Allen were on a direct course to Water 7, a place he'd never even heard of. He supposed it was better than sitting on the island waiting for another way out. The pirate ship that landed there had too big of a hole in the hull to make it far, and the ship they used to bring acolytes to the island was capsized not far away from the pirate ship. There were always row boats, but that was too dangerous, besides if he fled the scene and marines showed up, its hard to tell who would have taken the fall for what happened.

As they arrived in the strange looking town, Allen decided it was in his best interest to stay out of trouble. He was told he could join the marines, but nothing could really be made official until they got done with their business. Business which was confidential and would get him hurt or killed if he tried to help, or so they told him. Allen accepted this fact, and was told he'd be contacted before the ship left Water 7 so he could join them for the return trip.

There was a cafe nearby that Allen spotted, and he decided he'd try to get a warm drink, seeing as it was a bit brisk outside. Hot cocoa was always one of his favorites anyway, so he really didn't need an excuse to go have one.

He was given a good bit of change for his efforts in capturing 'Crimson Blade', which should make finding something to do without getting into trouble fairly easy. That was of course so long as nobody started anything.

Allen sipped his hot cocoa at a table alone, just trying to kill some time.

WC: 300

A young man was panicking, he arms sort of flailing as he sprinted away from his chaser. From roof to roof he ran,but his pursuer kept on him. He tried juking her using quick turns and hijacking row boats in water seven's river. But each time she kept on him, her blue eyes trained upon him like a monster after it's prey. Just as quickly as he started down river, she sprinted down the hill as well taking long strides with each step. The young man running turned at a fork and sprinted off on his own once again. Reina with one bound leapt over the river's mini ravine, barely avoiding the boat's curved tip as it went down hill once more.

The two of them ran for several more minutes while a blond haired girl stayed on them. She had a worried look and despite how nimble she was, she didn't have the ability to do the same acrobatics as Reina, so it was difficult for her keep up. While she was going by rooftops, Lana was running the long way around at each and every turn.At the end of the chase she found Reina pinning the young man in front of a cafe. With all her speed at the last second, she lunged forth and grabbed reina's arm as it was cocked to slug the kid lying on his stomach. " No you promised you'd be nicer reina!" she yelled, holding onto the red head's arm for dear life.

Reina let go of the tension in her arm and slowly let her relax too,but she turned to her friend with a deeply carved scowl upon her face. " What do you mean nice? He friggin tried to stab me with a broken bottle". Lana closed her eyes tight and shouted at her again, " You know he's a scrub weakling. don't go overboard again"! Reina eyed her for a second longer,but rolling them at her. She sighed and held out her hand, a gesture to lana which meant, " Gimme the rope dumbo".

Lana happily obliged her request with a giddy bounce in her steep. The young man's arms were securely fastened behind his back, both arms bundled and wrapped together by the rope. Reina directed her to go with an exhuasted look upon her face and slouched into a nearby chair across another man, but she was too anoyed to really take notice of anything as she breathed heavily and tried to regain her composure. Lana waved back at with a cheeky grin, " Play nice now Reina".

Word count:441
Lana is my npc shipwright

Allen could hardly blink as the scene before him unfolded. A quiet street quickly burst to life as some scared looking crook ran from the valiant flames of justice. There was a man with a look of sheer terror that was unbecoming for someone who looked like him. He was a street ruffian, it was easy to tell with one look, and he was scared shitless because he'd messed with the wrong person.

Allen laughed aloud as she tackled him in front of the cafe. What luck! Front row seats to cold, hard justice! As the girl was bout to pound the guy to a pulp, another girl showed up and stopped her, reminding her she was supposed to be nice. Allen's ears perked up when the girl retorted he tried to stab her with a busted bottle. He'd have not let him go so easily for a move like that, she had every right to at least get a few blows in.

Though she surrendered, and instead took her giddy little friend's advice and tied him up instead. Unable to look at the guy, or perhaps because she didn't want to risk pounding him still after he was detained, the girl ordered her friend to take him away as she slumped into the chair across from Allen.

By this time, everyone in the cafe was watching the show, and clapped as the bad guy was taken away. Allen giggled to himself.

"Your friend is a little soft-hearted for criminals. I mean don't kill the guy, but you gotta teach him a lesson." He laughed, trying not to spill his hot chocolate. "Sorry, my name's Allen, I'm new in town with the marines. Though with current circumstances I guess I'm not technically a Marine yet." He added, not wanting to make it sound like he was a marine or had some kind of authority when in reality he didn't.

WC: 330
TWC: 630

Reina slumped in her chair, slumped a little lower at the attention given to her. It was just her job and she assumed most reviled her or thought nothing of it, but she supposed it wasn't too odd for them to be a little happy at the capture of a baddie. Her face sort of flushed, she heard the guy sitting a few feet away from her chuckling at the contrast between her and Lana. She perked up and straightened out in the seat, with a puzzled expression for sitting across from a fellow and intruding in his space.

She nodded at the mention of his name and rested her chin on the table, still somewhat panting from the chase. " All'in eh? Well mister laughing pants my name's Reina", she gestured to herself with her index finger to her forehead. As her arm when limp she took a good look at him, curiously drawn to the mark on his left cheek, she sort of traced the air with her finger. The shape and design puzzled her even more, bringing up a surge of rude questions to her mind before she momentarily snapped back out of it.

With both hands she pushed herself back up and took criss cross apple sauce position on the seat. She looked aimlessly at a random corner in the room, for a good thirty seconds with her index finger to her cheek. Then suddenly the tension died down once more and she looked back at him. " Ehh well I'm new in town too. From the north blue, was sort of a street rat myself until an officer in the marines recruited me". she said with a smile. " But sorry for being somewhat wordy mister,but what cha mean by being with da marines but technically not one yet"? As she was about to wait for his response a maid walked up to her and started taking her order.

Reina didn't order much, just a cup of orange juice and a browny. With the beli slapped on the table, the maid on roller skates scooted away and reina began to drink her juice intensely. " But hey regardless of yer answer mister,  tis really alright. This island is basically a criminal's dream land. So as real marines we get to kick ten times the butt"! She flexed her arm and slapped her bicep with a grin, awaiting his answer with brownie crumbs on her chin.

Word count:413

Allen blushed as she seemed to be tracing his scar with her finger. He'd been used to people just outright mocking it, but what she was doing was... different. He didn't get the sense she was doing it to be rude, or to tease.

"It's a long story, I kinda just got picked up by them on their way here." Allen explained, not wanting to bring her down with the nitty gritty details. "A bunch of pirates wrecked my home, so now I'm just sorta here with them." He explained. He wasn't sure if it really made a difference to her. She told him that this island was apparently a place where criminals ran rampant. That didn't sound like something he'd really be excited about, though he did think it might be a good thing too. He figured he could do something to show the marines he meant business, and he was going to be a valuable asset to them.

"Hm, ten times the butt you say? Well then what are we waiting for! Sign me up to kick some butt!" Allen said excitedly. He wasn't sure really what butt there was to kick at present, but if Water 7 was really as lively with criminal activity as Reina made it out to be there really shouldn't be a problem finding something to do.

Allen didn't plan on getting into trouble, but he figured it wasn't really getting into it if he just helped resolve it. He smiled at Reina, laughing as he motioned to his chin, "You got a little on you there." He said, trying to get her to wipe her chin of brownie bits. She was a bit of a wild card, but right now Allen was game for anything.

WC: 304
TWC: 934

Reina listened intently to his story, a worried look momentarily came across her face before quickly becoming slightly suspicious. She sat down, watching for any changes in his facial expressions while nodding at each paused he made. He seemed a bit uncertain about everything,but not in a lying sort of manner she concluded. " The question is, what is he not telling me." she said under her breath with her arms crossed, as he spoke of his current predicament and desire to kick butt. Naturally she nodded at his statement about the crumbs on her chin for just a moment before realizing her mistake. Her eyes widened and she quickly grabbed a napkin with a nervous laugh, " so there is haha, uh ehh blah".

She coughed into her hand as she cleared her throat, hacking a loogey across the room and into a garbage bin. " Listen up, I may not understand what's going on with cha man,but I heart you wanted to fight and that's good enough for me"! She swiftly circled the table and grabbed him by the shirt collar with one arm, " Aight we're gonna get you all suited up officially and start rounding up more baddies. I could use the help since these lazy ass government cronies ain't doing a thing"!

Just as she was all fired up an angry Lana barged in behind her and gave her a slap on the back of the head. Reina turned around with an annoyed expression, letting go of allen's collar to find Lana with a scowl on her face again. She backed away from lana, scratching her head. " uhh well you see it's not what you think I swear lana". Lana stared at her with a deathly glare, eyes trained on her with a focus she only had when building ships.

Reina started flailing her arms, " Okay okay I'm sorry just don't get so upset with me please"! She clasped her hand together begging for forgiveness with a postulated bow. Lana walked up to her and dragged her by her ear, swinging around the table and sitting her down on the chair across from Allen again. " Don't just go around calling the government guys bad! DO you want the wrong person to over hear you dummy"? Reina shook her head. " And another thing! Don't go around make life decisions for people! I'm sorry sir, my friend here is a bit too eager to fight sometimes. I'm lana and you might be"?

Allen stumbled behind the girl as she pulled him by the collar. It certainly wasn't something he was used to, and she was taking the role of some sort of over-bearing wife. He was stunned when her blonde friend came back and began to scold her. Though he could see why she might have thought it wasn't Allen's decision, he was being drug by the collar after all, she wasn't entirely correct in assuming this isn't what he wanted.

Lana plopped Reina back into her chair, rather satisfied that she'd stopped what she thought was a grave mistake. Allen tried to fight a laugh as he took his seat again.

"My name's Allen Yagami, and I am perfectly fine with whatever plan Miss Reina had. I do enjoy a good fight myself, though I'm not entirely sure where we were going. However what I do know is that I'm not yet a marine, and any bad-guy squashing I do currently might be spun to make me look like a vigilante, or worse." Allen explained. He did want to join the marines, and he expected his induction to be at the 80th Branch back in the west blue on the return trip. Though if he got it settled here in Water 7, he supposed it wouldn't be all too terrible. Actually it'd be a bit more convenient. Sure, Crimson Blade's capture netted him a good bit of beli, but he wasn't sure he would be able to make it last as long as the marines were going to be here in Water 7 before leaving. They were vague about how long they'd be staying, and even vaguer about their mission.

Allen shrugged then smiled, "If it wasn't what I wanted I'd not have gone along with it, but I thank you for the concern Miss Lana."

WC: 323
TWC: 1,257

Lana sighed a little bit in relief, but still firmly held onto reina's shoulders to keep her in check. The red head sort of sat there and smiled, hoping to not incur the wrath of her friend or anyone else that might be in the cafe. They listened intently to Allen's story, some what intrigued by his story. Reina sort of punched the air at the mention of enjoying a good fight, looking back at a rather concerned Lana who was taken aback by both of them. But neither girl was entirely sure what to say since he still seemed rather conflicted. They peered at him for a few seconds as he explained that it was actually alright, that he wouldn't have gone if he wasn't interested. " Uhmm, well that's good. I'm just sort of confused by your story. You don't seem all that interested to do anything or rather..you seem sort of lost", Lana said with her finger to her chin.

Reina nodded in agreement with her arms crossed, before looking him in the eyes. " Well this place is rather okay for getting instated in the marines. But it's controlled by a Shishibukai, so the laws and regulations are really relaxed here. So if you wanted proper training and advancement opportunities, being here might only be interesting if you were interested in cypher pol or Enies lobby in particular".
Lana herself took a seat up in between the two and a pensive look on her face.

" Honestly I don't know where you come from Allen,but this place was never that lawful to begin with. I myself survived by joining a dock under the protection of the shipwright association here in Water 7. Many people usually go to different trade unions and guilds for protection", she said, resting her chin on her hands, looking to Allen as well.

Reina sighed, she was unsure of what to say. " You don't necessarily have to worry about catching bad guys here on water seven, as they typically tend to be from all walks of life. I don't just go looking for trouble, but it ain't in short supply here or on the Grand line". She got up for her seat and signaled for Allen and Lana to follow her. " If you want, we can go get you officially enlisted or talk to the marines you said dropped you off on the island".

The two girls looked at him like he was crazy. He could see why. Normally one pursued fights with reckless abandon or not at all. Allen was itching to fight, but he as also not looking to get into any trouble for doing so.

The girls told him if he wanted to, they could go talk to the marines he'd come with, but then he thought for sure he'd get into trouble! Their mission was top secret! He wasn't even sure he was supposed to say they brought him here.

"Ummm, maybe lets not go talk to the guys who brought me here." Allen said with a nervous laugh, "They seemed a bit on edge and I don't think they'd appreciate me bringing girls back to the ship, probably assume I'm trying to show off or something." Allen admitted. They were a macho lot, not really Allen's type, but they saved him and he was grateful. Though, they didn't so much save him as they did pick him up. He was sure he could have gotten to another island without them, but it sure as hell wouldn't have been easy. He was a decent navigator, though he'd not really been in charge of steering a ship before. Their whole trip here he knew exactly which way they should be going, and when they were hitting unnecessary rough waters.

"If there's a recruitment office in Water 7, maybe that'd be the place to go... unless you think that might be considered undermining the men who brought me here..." Allen rubbed his chin. He didn't want to offend anyone, but then again he was sure they'd be happy he was out of their hair. That is accept for their captain. He seemed to really enjoy picking Allen's brain, but he supposed it wouldn't change anything if he went ahead and enlisted himself. "Yeah, maybe that'd be my best bet."

WC: 334
TWC: 1,591

Reina and Lana looked at each other with rather impatient expressions as Allen contemplated what he would do. The red head's gaze was affixed upon the contemplating allen, her arms crossed and eyes trained on him like a hawk. Lana on the other hand was trying to calm reina down, or rather slow her pace down. The one thing she was afraid of, was not being able to do anything when she got annoyed. Sure Lana could keep a Reina who was not fixated on a goal in check with a smack upside the head,but not when she grew impatient. Her strength and actual focus would make it impossible to get through to her.

Reina once again walked up to allen, looming over him as he mentioned something about macho men and showing off. Her arms crossed and fingers tapping, she was getting rather antsy. Lana tried to warn Allen as he rubbed his chin, flailing her arms and trying to send him signals to stop thinking and come with them. But allen thought too late and instantly Reina used her strength to scoop him up at the waist as she headed out the door. " We're headed to the office to get you officially enrolled Allen". Reina said with a hint of frustration in her voice. She squeezed his waist to make sure he knew it'd be futile to get away with a fight. " Then we're going to see those marines and set them straight".

Lana in the back was laughing nervously. " Hey hey reina, no need to look for an excuse to fight that badly", she said nervously. But alas her words fell on deaf ears.

Allen's thought process didn't seem like it really took that long, but Reina looked like she was going to blow a gasket, and Lana did her best to calm her down. Though, it wasn't likely that Reina could be calmed down, so really Lana was just holding her back for the time being.

Allen laughed nervously as Reina approached him, thinking maybe she was going to smack him or something. However what she did was a bit more embarrassing. She grabbed him and threw him over her shoulder, claiming she was going to take him to the enrollment office, then they'd go 'straighten out' those marines that'd brought him here. He wasn't sure what she meant, but it sounded like she was going to fight them all. Allen swallowed a lump in his throat as he thought about the scene.

"I really don't need to be carried Ms. Reina! Really, it's a bit embarrassing," he said, squirming to try and get free. She squeezed harder, and so he stopped fighting her. If she was so dead set on carrying him there, he supposed it'd be best not to fight her on it and just accept her for what she was. She had good intentions, that's what mattered.

Though he didn't imagine many people would take Allen seriously if they say this, he really didn't care. He was used to be disrespected and mocked, underestimated sorta came with that. Lana then confirmed that she'd be looking to fight whomever was on the ship that brought Allen here, telling her she was just looking for an excuse to fight.

Allen let out a small laugh, "Don't worry Lana. I think if the men are smart they'll apologize and beg for mercy before they try and fight her." Allen said, though it was hard to take him seriously atop the woman's shoulder. He rubbed the back of his head and tried to imagine what would happen if Reina showed up onboard their ship and demanded some sort of apology.

She'd probably have no problem doing it. Sure they were tough and rugged guys, but Reina was fierce with her words beyond comparison. She seemed very determined, and Allen felt like if she said she was going to do something, there wasn't anything really stopping her. Lana could slow her down a bit, but it was only delaying the inevitable.

WC: 414
TWC: 2,005

Within a few minutes the trio reached the marine headquarters at Water 7. Due to its location, it was a rather meager place if you could even call it that. The windows were all busted due to the locals not having much faith with those stationed here. The paint job has long since lost its luster, it being riddled with cracks and being white washed due to the ocean and exposure to the sun over time. There were no guards on active duty, for that was only something done at night when the worst offenders came out to play.  The sign marines hanging on by one chain and the grass outside being dried and yellow, barely hanging on by a thread. The dock leading up to creaks louder the closer one gets to them. This office is one you might consider to be abandoned considering the condition that it's in. Stationed next to it is the World government building, with a paintjob that was worth more than the marine building altogether. It shined in the Water 7 sun and seastone lining its exterior.

As they ventured in, the place itself would be no larger than 200x200. Two or three offices with a receptionist desk in front and  some worn down jail cells with rust toward the back. The woman at the front was named margie, she was an older obese woman who had no desire to do anything by man her post and look at magazines all day. Even her den den mushi was in disrepair, the little guy shriveled up and the shell broken. A giant pile of work stacked next to her and garbage lying about, mostly food and a few drink bottles. Hunched over the desk and leaning on her arm, she lied there blowing a bubble while licking her finger to turn the pages on the Grand line fashion magazine. Reina plopped Allen on the chair and slammed her palm on the woman's desk. " Hey Marge, I need new application for this fella over here".

Margie didn't move as she continued to chew her gum. She had a glazed look in her eyes and an uncaring attitude toward her. So much so that the didn't even bother to move. " Lana, would you please get him the forms?", without hesitation she stayed low and started to make her way to the back where they had the forms. It was not a hard task,but it was something one needed to be acquainted with if they wanted to find the forms in this mess. Reina on the other hand placed her hands on the woman's magazine. The old woman popped up right away with an annoyed expression with reina,but she herself was suddenly in fear as her book started to go up in flames." If you don't have that paper work done by the end of today, I'll lock you up". The woman nodded and stuttered a few winded gasps before taking her papers to the other side of the room in a hurried fashion.

"Once you're done filling out the papers Allen, We'll be going back out to meet those guys who'r giving you trouble".

(you may control lana to finish the next scene before leading me to the docks )

Allen hadn't even realized they'd arrived at the marine office. The shoddy looking building sat like some sort of monument of the past, a relic from a time long gone. Allen was a bit disgusted with the look, and it only furthered his desire to become a great marine. If this is how Water 7 treated the marines, he could understand why the hell the marines who'd brought him had some kind of top secret mission. Probably here to sink this whole hell hole to the bottom of the ocean.

It became evident this wasn't a well kept office when he was place in the chair and the floor creaked as though Reina nearly put him through it. To make matters worse, the receptionist didn't even seem to care someone had strolled on in. Allen frowned at her as she chewed her gum loudly and pretended not to hear Reina.

Lana rushed off to get whatever paperwork, and Reina threatened the portly woman behind the desk, pretty effectively so because her carefree attitude quickly turned to fear and understanding. Allen smirked. Reina was crafty. She had Lana distracted with other things so she could be vicious towards the woman without getting a scowl or a coaching. Allen liked that.

It wasn't but a short moment before Lana returned and papers were handed to him. He stared blankly at them for a moment, skimming them once over. Most of the fields he quickly scribbled 'not applicable' into, as he had no next of kin, home, or even an emergency contact. Allen frowned. Instead of not applicable he jotted Onyx Island into the home field, hoping that maybe one day he could call it home again.

Allen stood up and handed over the papers. He gave the porker a knowing smirk and handed the papers over. "Careful with these, okay?" He said, getting a nervous nod before he handed them over.

"Well, I'm glad that's taken care of, but there is a small problem. I left my transponder snail at the cafe and have no idea whether or not the marines that brought me here are still even about. I was told they'd not wait for me long..." Allen explained, a bit angry at himself for dropping it. Though he couldn't think of where he'd have dropped it, though he supposed Reina could have shaken it free from his pocket somewhere on the trip over.

"We don't really have time to retrace steps looking for it... if they are leaving we gotta move fast!" Allen said, dashing off in what he believed to be the right way. He wasn't sure, this whole town seemed pretty circular, and it didn't help he was just carried from one location to another, so it was harder for him to say exactly which way was which.

"Crap." He said, bolting around a corner to see the cafe at the end of one of the blocks on that street. He kept running, his heart nearly beating out of his chest as he passed the cafe, glancing over to the table they sat at just inside, not seeing any snail. He rolled his eyes and nearly ate dirt as he came around the final turn. As he slid to a hault he saw the dock where the marines were parked, vacant.

"... Crap... I guess they..." he began, looking out to sea. "No... how could they be... out of sight... already?" Allen asked, his breath heavy and impeding his speech. He punched a nearby post. "Damnit, they never had any intention of telling me they were leaving. I should have known. That freak captain of theirs acted like this whole island was going to be some kind of test." Allen frowned, recalling some of the cryptic things he said. He acted as though he was unsure whether or not he'd see Allen again.

To be honest, Allen inferred he was speaking like this because their mission was dangerous, not because they were going got abandon him here. "Bastard... though I guess there's not much we can do about it now. I'm not even one-hundred percent sure they were even heading back to the 80th branch, that could have also been a lie."

Allen was more than cross with Captain Chase, and he'd make sure to give him hell if they ever ran into each other again.

"So, is there any marine policy against me helping you kick some ass, seeing as I've filled out the proper paperwork and all? I have no obligation to keep out of trouble, seeing as I was abandoned by the men who told me to do so." Allen explained, his irritation with them quite apparent. He hoped Reina didn't blame herself for Allen's losing the transponder snail. It was his fault. Just another bad thing that happened to him.

He was used to this by now.

WC: 834
TWC:2,839

The red head and blonde haired girls watched him going through his own. "hey Allen cal--m down...", Lana trailed off, her thought completely ignored as Allen rushed out of the shoddy office. He dashed and bolted from one street to another with a sort of randomness to his step. He was in many ways familiarly headed toward the docks,but he as an even newer comer didn't quite know where he was going from the looks of it. His movements had method,but they lacked certainty.

Reina kepted up by leaping from ledges and railings along the way, something someone with less experience would have slipped and fell from long before her. While Lana lead the way,her being naturally faster than Reina, she was able to keep pace with Allen easier than her. The two noticed the cafe and allen's reckless surveying of the area followed by a close call leading to the docks nearby. " Hey allen, calm down and wait up"! the duo shouted as the man who was audible weazing and heaving bigger heaps of air by the second. 

Moments later the two caught up with him, his speech was slightly disjointed between his heavy breathing as he tried to normalize himself. Reina smiled though, at his question of whether or not it was okay to cause havoc on the island. " Trouble huh? You're free to work with me if you like and I'll take responsibility for ya if you'll accept lead. Well that and so long as you're in the right I'll fight the world for your sake". She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, " This place isn't a good place to start your career off as a marine as you won't learn any of the real stupid and stuffy rules they have in store for you. But what you can do here that you can't on places like alabasta, is kick ass and no one will yell at ya for it".

Just then Lana yanked Reina's ear and dragged her off to the cafe again, " geezus woman. Can't you be a good influence even on new recruits? 5 minutes in and you're already giving him bad ideas... You're welcome to join us for lunch allen. It's Reina's treat". There Reina was, tears trickling down her cheeks and ear turning red from her subordinate's iron grip.


-exit-