The Task:

Puck sometimes wished she was a more introspective person.

She knew the how and why she’d gotten to her current predicament, which is why any other normal person could have seen where they went wrong and therefore would have had the answer to ‘So what would you have done differently?’, to which the answer was undoubtedly not ‘Welp, ah wunna got caught, das’fer sure.’. People, especially the marines, tend to frown upon such thinking, believing it to ‘criminal logic’. Puck didn’t apologize for it, nor did she believe she had to do so. Okay, so maybe bringing the moonshine she’d bought back at port wasn’t the best idea, and she’d planned on keeping it to herself, but…well, she was a sharer, and sharer’s shared. And there was nothing more pitiful than a dejected marine, especially one that was stuck on guard duty. So, hey!! Just a couple drinks with this one guy, right?

The next four that came by were understandably upset, but only because they hadn’t been invited. Puck didn’t mind sharing, as they all looked miserable. Night duty was a crap detail, everyone knew that, but coupled with the time limit they were given to head to a place called Shadowmoon Island and all the superstitious nonsense that were circulating the rank and file and…well. People were on edge, that much Puck could see. Not having experienced such feelings, she took it upon herself to ease the tension, to bring back the comradery that she loved so much when she was a part of an actual crew. And so, okay, maybe it got a little out of hand. Maybe, just maybe, Puck had manhandled the irate navigator of the ship that had stumbled upon them, and maybe she was now cooling her heels in the brig because of a string of decisions she took upon herself to make. But it was for the betterment of the crew!!

No one listened. Most snickered, but that was because she didn’t have pants on. She blamed the moonshine, which the navigator took, having other marines search her belongings to confiscate any items that were deemed ‘unworthy of a marine’, or something to that effect. Also, the navigator’s name was Hampus Ahlabo and no, he didn’t like his name shortened to Hammy. In fact, he hated it, which only made Puck use it more, each time more sing-song than the last. Even so, Puck pursed her lips as she lay on the uncomfortable bunk that took up most of the space in her cell, her eyes closed and squeezed shut in contemplation and thought.

Nope…she just couldn’t see where she went wrong.

No matter though, she was one of several hundred marines that were headed to this island, so she doubted that any disciplinary action would stick. And if it did, Puck was confident she could talk her way out of it. It wasn’t serious, by any means. Once she explained her side of things all would be made right. So deep in thought about how she was going to smooth talk her way out of this one that she barely noticed the pants that were thrown into the cell, having been opened by one of the marines she’d given a fair share of moonshine to. They landed on her face but it was a good five seconds before she slowly lifted a hand to grab them, and then a few more moments to realize what they were. Yellow eyes shifted to the marine, who was smirking in her direction.

“Got lucky Puck,” he jerked his thumb out towards the exit to the brig. “Hammy says he’s gonna let this one go, but only ‘cause a group of us talked to him about it. Mad as hell about the nickname you gave him though. Think out of everything that’s what he’s mad about the most.”

“Pffft,” Puck raspberried, standing up in one smooth motion and slipping on her pants and clasping them on. “Tell dat’ol blonde tit ta slacken up. Maybeh he runnin’ tings bettah he’wun have sucha down crew. Den he wunna beh neddin’ meh ta’pick tings uppa’bit. Daft, tells’ya.”

The marine waited as Puck gathered herself up and walked behind her as they exited the brig. She had only been in there for the night, which was a good thing because Puck was honestly making plans to break herself out if she was to stay there any longer. She could deal with a lot of things in life, but boredom was not one of them. The cool salty air hit her like a welcome friend after years apart and the dark skinned marine took a moment to breathe it in. It was moments like these that she remembered she was just a recruit now, and her responsibilities weren’t near that of her former position of Lieutenant. Grunt work, grunt pay as her father said but it was water of a duck’s back for Puck.

“Puck!!” A voice rang, to which Puck stood at attention. She’d heard enough of this particular marine’s voice to know it by now, and while she stood at attention (she was being addressed by a superior officer after all), she still wore a cocky smirk as the blond navigator came into view. He got in her face for a moment before looking her up and down, then giving a sort of helpless gesture. “Vice-Admiral Sara Dooperman has requested your presence when we land. You are to meet her in the town of Shadowmoon. No deviation from this task, understood?”

“Me?” Her dubious tone was echoed in the looks of the nearby marine that were around them. Hampus seemed to agree with this, though he merely gave a shrug at her confusion. “Why me?”

“Do I strike you as someone who would question the Vice-Admiral’s orders?” Hampus growled, his eyebrows stitched together in irritation. “Do us a favor Puck, and just follow these orders. I’m sure even a slacker like you can pull it off.” A pause, then he turned on his heel and started to walk away before he stopped and turned his head, talking over his shoulder. “Oh, yeah…I confiscated all your moonshine, among other material that was far too…graphic. The booze was better than I expected. Though you’re still being fined, so kiss your next paycheck goodbye.”

Puck drooped visibly at this, her bottom lip jutting out before she stuck out her tongue with all her might at Hampus’ back. A few marines snickered but stopped just as quickly as the blond navigator stopped, indicating he’d heard them. Bodies dashed to get back to duties, and Puck was left to jam her hands in her pockets and head towards the smaller boats that would take them to the island. It hadn’t been too long since she’d seen Sara Dooperman, having trained with her some in the past, but at least she’d be a familiar face, one that appreciated Puck’s own sense of humor and outlook on life. Plus she was extremely easy on the eyes, and her form was something Puck remembered drinking in at every opportunity. As the island came more into view and the boats were deployed Puck wondered what the Vice-Admiral could possibly want with her, and if it had anything to do with the pair of panties she’d stolen from Sarah’s room the last time they’d spoken.

Probably not, but it’d be a fine last memory.

This ship wasn't something that she had liked about the marines after all, it couldn't even sail straight for all the pennies in the world, the base structure was wrong, at least to the point that her dad had made to her about how boats are created and how they're structure is everything. Plus she wished more than anything that she could just be in Paradise again, even with work had called that didn't mean that she needed to attend the call.. did it? Ough this was all too annoying had she thought as she heard the waves crashing into the ship about halfway up towards it. It's light wooden floors and it's painting scheme with green blue and yellow always reminded her of her own ship, which was wailing straight behind them.

Before she had left the island of Water 7 to get summoned to Shadowmoon Island she had gotten a new recruit, she didn't really recognize who the person was, the appearance of said person ringed in her mind, she knew she had seen her somewhere else before, but she didn't really know where. Had her latest fight and her new training regime put her off? She barely even knew the name of the person, but she knew she had worked with her before. She was a beautiful woman after all, as long as she could remember where she had seen her before this all could be so much easier!

As she looked over a few files that she had brought from her ship before climbing on the horrible escort ship that was bringing her to the south blue she found her, the darkly tanned woman with a luscious and well trained bod, a woman which seemed to have something going for Sara herself. The woman's name was Amelia DeLioncourte, but she hadn't known her by this name, at least not having it as being a direct trigger to her memory if she saw it. She always knew her as Puck, or Snow Black, but never Amelia. Another thing she noticed is that she had gone up in rank to then later get demoted, which she thought was a shame for all that's worth, but Sara knew that she needed to mold her back into the iron strong defense that she had become as Puck had become a greater rank in the marines forces than she could think that she would.

Sara knew her to be quite.. troublesome with other people at times though, especially people like Hampus, which made her more and more anxious to how she was handling it on the other ship, and it almost destroyed her fiery soul from the inside when she heard that they weren't going to land until a few more minutes, the closer and closer they got, the more it hurt. She was soon going to see her old colleague again! Seeing a friendly face on the seas is always nice after all, especially after all her days of sailing, she would know something like this.

As they got closer and closer to the bay Sara realized that she might need to send a memo to Hampus, plus she shivered of excitement to know how it had gone for her on the other ship after all! Hampus only words to her were "Not good... Not.. good" and then he had said that he needed to relay the message to Puck, after which he hung up. Her excitement almost overheated at this point as she couldn't really wait to meet an old accomplice in the field. As she walked outside to the great outdoor part of the escort ships flunky board floors she started to lean against the railing to watch outwards to the majestic sea, the home of many creatures. As they came closer and closer to the island she knew that she was about to meet someone which she had unfortunately forgotten amongst the climbing towards the greatest rank of them all, Fleet Commander. She wasn't really there yet but who says that her tremendous speed will stop now as to her abilities being the highest they've ever been? As they waved closer and closer she could almost feel the depression vibes getting thrown of the island and into their presence.

It seemed to have a dark glister over it, as if an aura engulfed it in darkness. Something wasn't right on this island and that was something Sara was sure off. When they started to disembark the ships as they had landed on the docks of the gloomy island Sara started running towards the other ship in a tremendous speed. When she finally got downstairs to the prison cells she found Ahlabo opening up the cell of her old friend. When she walked out both of them met with their eyes. Sara's cheeks blushed a bit before looking down towards the ground in a brief attempt of escaping the awkwardness of being the first one to speak when they are reuniting at last.

Glad to have you.. under my... banner again.. Puck" she said whilst she started to sprint away as everything got to her way harder than she'd expect, it wasn't everyday that she would find someone that she'd met before after all, especially when it was with someone that had made Sara curious of the life of other people, making her look more in to the depths in them than she had before. As everyone of her squadron lined up on the beach she realized that she had to do something about this island, and she started to think that it wasn't such a bad idea for them to call her anyways.

"Cadettes, grunts, goons, and my fellow accomplices in justice. Line up, we need a plan to go about this as effectively as we can. We need to clear the parameter and bring as much supplies as we can from our boat up to this thing and make up temporary living spaces, or you can sleep on the ship, your choice. Me and our newest addition Puck over there will help me set up a plan to reimburse this island to greatness. That's all for now, get started everyone!" she said to her squadron with a voice filled with determination and clean with justice, with a sense of leadership in the tones of it. Everyone followed command quickly and started packing up their things up on the darkly red colored sands of the beach that they had set up a temporary rendevouz point on.

As Puck started walking towards her she set up the map of the island on a commanders table, it was time to plan this thing out. "Help me with this would you kindly?" she said as she looked over to Puck and started blushing, albeit enough to stun someone temporarily she tried to simply communing with her newest addition, and she wanted her to prove herself so she could climb the ranks again. That would make Sara the happiest she's ever been, to see a friend trying and achieving. "And by the way... I miss a pair of panties still, and they disappeared when you made your leave from my squadron the last time.. any chance you know anything about that miss?" she said with a playful but yet irritated voice to her tone towards the young recruit.

The one thing Puck could appreciate is someone in command who knew what they were doing, someone who barked orders and knew, without a doubt in their mind, that those orders were being followed to the letter. She knew that she wasn’t like that, one of the overall major problems of her being a Lieutenant and just one of the reasons she’d been demoted despite her father’s position. And so it was that their Vice-Admiral singled her out, picking her among any others. The dark skinned woman could feel the jealous glares burning on her back, though she made no indication that it bothered her…probably because it didn’t. Jealousy was a wasted emotion, especially if it was for measures beyond anyone’s control.

She kept her grin less cocky when Sara spoke to her, bowing her head when the Vice-Admiral greeted her. She was happy she’d made an impression that didn’t involve anger or grievous accusations of sleeping with a superior officer’s wife. Then again she’d spent time with Sara on a more professional level before, as the two were rarely alone while they trained. Conversations were light, but Puck didn’t mind flirting with her eyes, nor taking in the cool, tall drink of water that was Sara Dooperman. Never did Puck think that they would be in a more personal setting, and even though the Commander’s Table was out in the open and in view of hundreds of marines, all running about and carrying out various tasks, Puck somehow felt like they were all alone as they spoke.

“Panties, ya say?” Puck raised a delicate eyebrow and pretended to think for a moment, looking to the sky while a finger tapped her chin. “Nay, can’t say’ah have. Sometin’be tellin’ meh ah woulda ‘membered ah pair’a yers. Figure’ya fer…what? Silk? Betcha’mah bottom beli dat ye got silk.” Puck winks, her yellow eyes meeting with Sara’s own golden orbs. “Good taste…ah imagine’, course.”

It felt nice to banter with someone who didn’t have a stick shoved up their ass like Hammy did. It was in Puck’s experience that any of your average marine were of simple wants; a living to feed their family and good times with their comrades. Puck remembered liking Sara as she felt like someone she could talk to without worrying about social norms, strict as they were when they involved the marines especially. If there was one thing Puck held dear it was the ability to simply act like herself around anyone at any time. She never told her father that being demoted was probably a good thing, as she was yet unable to give orders or handle responsibility without trying to think of the marines she was sending to do any given task. Puck liked to go with the flow, which was probably a bad idea for someone in charge.

“So, yeah…” Puck drawled out slowly, looking down at the map her superior officer had laid down on the Commander’s Table. “Heard’lotta scuttlebutt ‘bout dis place. Haunted, if’n ya believe da’talk. Looks de’part, least.” Puck took a moment to look out over their surroundings, feeling a light chill up her spine. “’Course, low recruits such’as yers truly dun get all’da details.” Puck stopped, her eyebrows furrowing a moment before she sat her butt on top of the Commander’s Table, leaning back on one hand as she looked back at Sarah. “Fer’dat mattah, whatcha’be tinkin’ ah can do ta’help?” Puck’s whiskey-on-the-rocks voice dropped an octave. “Jes’a recruit, savvy? Whatcha wan’meh ta’do?”

"Well Puck, we could always go and check out the island to see what the population says about all of this haunted shenanigans, and maybe we could read up a bit on the different legends of the island as well whilst we are doing all this." she said as she looked up to meet with her accomplices eyes. All the grunts was about to finish setting up their tents and the basic workshops so that her trusted blacksmith could continue working on her special gloves.

As she realized that she was in the wrong outfit she went inside to equip herself the ordinary black slick attire that she usually wears, with all of her bling rings and gem patented shoulder pads. Aaaah, all better. Alright you ready to go Puck? If you're weaker than I remember you to be I can always protect you.." she says with a flirty tone towards her darkly tanned friend. Her blushed cheeks had started to fade away at this time as they proceeded to walk towards the town through the dark colored mist that perceived the woods that surrounded the island after the small beach area. There was a path of stone pavement as if it had been chopped out in the ground though, which lead straight to town.

In the town the citizens were heavily encouraging them to stay out of that place, as it is said to be haunted by the several people that disappeared yearly. While this information got dropped more and more to them Sara started to realize that there needed to be something else going on around here other than it being haunted, maybe another devil fruit user? But.. how could they do something like abduct people? A warping fruit maybe? Sara would have to think about this more before bringing it up to Puck as she would see it as a way of being sure that they're information and choices are 100% correct. As they walked in to a bar when the sun started to set to try and find more information they instead ended up buying a little bit more than they could drink, thus leading to them returning several gallons of alcohol back to the camp.

This no doubt increased the morale but it also kept people working. Puck had one hell of a mind, even though she tends to use it for things that wasn't smart enough for her taste. It was her idea after all. After they take a deep swig each as they sit around the bonfire they've created in order to relax they start to think about getting a guide to get over to the haunted mansion, even though people seems to not have the best feelings towards that place there should always be that someone which sacrifices their life for a thrill, so they just needed to find someone like that, or someone that was extremely stupid. After all this Sara's body was more tired than it should have been, as she wandered into her tent she laid down to inexplicably pass out faster than expected by anyone. As her glittery eyes started to be able to see again she realized that morning had struck again, not because it was very bright outside because of the mist and the dark atmosphere of the island, but it was still noticeable that it wasn't night anymore.

As she left her tent and went out to find Puck she instead found a whole lot of hungover grunts and goons. When she finally found Puck she only had a few words to speak to the young lady. "Let's go, it's time to find a guide."

It's too bad this was such a low tier task in the Blues because you both RPed well together. A nice read, honestly.

To both of you:
100,000 Beli
1 SP
0 Bounty (no enemies or actions that would cause someone to mark you for bounty)
10,000 EP (gave you a bump in EP for your effort)