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The Colours of Desperation; Haki SL
Topic Started: Feb 10 2014, 09:13 AM (1,232 Views)
Spunky Misunderstood Genius
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Before You Say “You cannot be here.”


"All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once. Am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day and everything changed."

Oi kid,” the man said to gain the attention of the 23 year old Apollo who looked as if he were 18 or less to the man, “you lost your will to live right? I'll give ya one. Now let’s get outta here. There is someone I want you to meet.


The man’s name was Zakar”, Apollo thought back, still trying to processes the last few days. Eight feet and three inches tall, he was almost Apollo’s height. His eyes were topaz, his hair black, and he was quite muscular last Apollo remembered. “He wants me to meet someone named Rezar. Yeah, okay… who the hell is Rezar? Why should I meet him?” Honestly the thought of being around other human beings, ones that were alive, was the only reason Apollo accepted Zakar’s offer. “He introduced me to his only two crewmates, Katari and Bathymaas.” Now those two females, Apollo was happy to meet, at first.

Katari was blond haired, hazel eyes with a slender build. On her stomach she had a tattoo of the sun, which she did not mind tattooing onto Apollo’s back on request along with various other tattoos. While Katari stood 8 feet tall, Bathymaas stood only 7 feet and about 8 inches. With dark brown hair, greenish gold eyes, and an athletic body, Apollo though of her as a beauty. No they were both beauties, then again he had been living alone on an island for 15 years.

Anyways, those two beauties had a personality that was anything but. So Apollo did his best to avoid them, up until Zakar left to run an errand, leaving Apollo with the two of them. It was probably every man’s dream to be left in the situation Apollo was in, but it was actually a nightmare for Apollo. Instead of fulfilling his wild fantasies, they opted to toughen Apollo up, get him healthy, and get rid of his awful pale tone on his olive toned skin. They did a good job but Apollo was still a long ways in achieving those three goals.

Apollo had been laying on his bed talking out loud this whole time, so when he heard whispers he immediately shut up. He didn’t want Katari and Bathymaas to think he was crazy, though that would have been a fair of assumption. Apollo jolted up hitting his head against the ceiling, forgetting the bunker where is bed was in was not tall enough to accommodate his height. The whispers grew louder, so Apollo decided to ignore the pain and listen carefully.

What do you think Bathymaas?
Honestly, I think we are lost Katari.
Fuck it, the it’s impossible to navigate the grand line. No navigator known to man could do this!
Look, Zakar gave us an eternal pose, let’s just use that to get to him.
No, destroy it.
Are you mad?
Zakar sees me as an incompetence, I will not use that and prove him right!

Apollo no longer felt like listening to their boring conversation, it was still morning and he was hungry. “Hey, morning Katari, Bathymaas. What’s for breakfast?” Apollo said nonchalantly after just breaking and walking through the wall that stood between the bunker and where the two women stood. In a hot white flash, Apollo was flying through the air. His landing, already determined, white sand.

How many times do we have to tell you? Use the damn door!” Katari scolded Apollo. “Shit Katari, how are we supposed to get him back aboard? If we get any closer we might crash the ship.” “Let him swim back!” Katari responded with a pompous attitude. “And the sea kings?” “Sheesh, do I have to think of everything?” By the time, Apollo managed to dig himself out of the sand, Katari had just come from the storage room. “Here,” Katari begun as she started to throw various items and clothing towards Apollo, “we’ll meet up later. Tootles~

Apollo felt estrange. Rage was starting to fill him up. “Did they really left me on another forsaken island?” Apollo looked around, he saw no people or houses for miles, just white sand, white caves, and in the far distance white grass. “What kind of hell whole did they threw me into” Apollo wondered. The ship Bathymaas and Katari was on did not seem like it was slowing down, he was to be stuck here, probably for another few years Apollo figured.

Curiosity finally got the better of Apollo causing him to start surveying the items thrown to him. An iron knife and axe. Clothing, which Apollo decided he would not wear. Apollo liked his shendyt, he wore it most of his life, what other clothing would he need? The jewelry caught his eyes so he adorned his body with them. “Promise me if you ever get into trouble you’ll put on the coat!” Bathymaas screamed as she, Katari, and the ship was about to pass over the horizon. “Go to hell you two!” Apollo answered in anger and examined the coat Bathymaas spoke of.

Okay the coat looked amazing, it was as if Apollo held the night sky in his hands. Apollo stuffed his coat with all the items, save for the bandana which he wrapped over his left bicep, then draped the coat over his shoulders. “There better be some life on this island, or else those two better hope we never meet again”, Apollo swore as he headed inland.

Edited by Spunky Misunderstood Genius, Feb 10 2014, 09:25 AM.

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RM SL and Route Roll


The giant, rainbow cloud was hovering overhead as it always did, and far below, staring up into the colorful, fluffy mass, was Julia. At first she had been in love with the cloud. She could still remember the childlike wonder and joy she felt when she first spotted it out on the horizon. It was the first time since she had accidentally landed herself in the horrible stretch of sea that was the Grand Line that she had felt any sort of good emotions. She made it her mission to sail to it, to see it up close. She ran herself ragged running up and down the Skipjack, a Marine ship that she had technically stolen that was far too big for her to manage on her own, trying to get it to go towards the big, rainbow cloud. Somehow, she managed to crash the ship into the shores of Gesso. Not giving a second thought to the condition of The Skipjack, she scrambled overboard and ran a ways in land. There she stopped, out of breath, and looked skywards at the cloud. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen, and suddenly she found herself not hating the Grand Line so much anymore.

And then, after having only a few precious minutes to enjoy the cloud’s splendor, it smote her with a torrent of thick, white paint all over her hair and face. And now, several days later, Julia wasn’t so sure she liked the cloud so much.

Well, regardless of her feelings on the cloud, she was certain that she didn’t like the locals. Already Gesso’s unique culture had taken a toll on her: She now wore her vibrant, pinkish red hair in a bun, both to keep it out of reach of snippers and to hide the fact that was already somewhat tattered looking, and all of her attire was now completely snow white. She still had a backpack full of changes of clothes, but they had been since torn into scraps and were being used for trade. Al always held onto the money, and he was still holding onto it wherever he was, so she was beliless and had nothing but her colorful clothing for barter. Although she didn’t trade or interact much with the locals. Instead she spent most of her time pacing up and down the shoreline, keeping an eye out for a ship that might be able to take her off this island. Julia was no helmsman, nor was she a navigator, so setting sail in the Skipjack by herself again was out of the question.

Julia looked down, away from the cloud, and her eyes went wide. There, out on the horizon, was a ship! She took off running towards it, kicking up a flurry of sand behind her. She still couldn’t swim (and the Grand Line was no place to learn) so she had to stay on the beach, but she tried to get as close as she could without getting her knees wet.

”Heeey! Wait! Come back! Take me with youuuu!!” She shouted as loud as she could, but had no idea if her voice had managed to reach the ship sailing away. She then remembered something else, a figure that had been moving towards the city. Was he from that ship, was it going to come back for him?

Julia spun around and spotted Apollo. To be honest he looked completely shrouded in darkness, but against the white background of Gesso he stood out like a sore thumb.

”Hey! Is that your ship?!” She yelled while running towards Apollo, though she didn’t even wait for a reply before making her plea, ”Are they coming back? Make them turn around, please!”

She wasted no time in explaining the situation. Surely Apollo would be understand from her tone the absolute direness of her need. And it was dire! She really, really didn’t want to be stuck her much longer, or else she’d have to start selling off her underwear.
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As he walked inland, Apollo could not help but find himself tugging on the edge of his coat, inwards, towards himself. This act caused the coat to hug his body, in a caressing manner, more and more by the second. It was clear, Apollo was using the coat to comfort himself. Who would blame him though? Everything as far as his eyes could see was white, it was an endless nightmare. One that made Apollo feel alienated and scared. It made the fact that he was alone again more apparent to himself.

Like many others would in his situation, Apollo created a place in his head where he could just retreat into when real life was just, too much to handle. Apollo created his 8 years into his isolation. He was only 16 then, but he had reached a point in his life where he would either have killed himself or lose himself to insanity. Apollo was left with one more choice, to lock himself away and continue "living". It was a hard decision to make and for the rest of his time in isolation he often pondered on whether he had made the right choice. Although by then, and even still now, like a bad habit, Apollo would retreat whenever he felt like what he was feeling currently.

This very moment was no exception. He was starting to slip into that very place.

Heeey! Wait! Come back! Take me with youuuu!!

‘A repressed memory? Is my mind taunting me? Or have I finally lost it?’, Apollo asked of himself.

Hey! Is that your ship?!

Different words, yet same tone and pitch, and the more Apollo contemplate on what the hell was going on, the more it became a possibility to him that... it could be a real person talking to him. Still unsure, Apollo spun around in disbelief and fear, to confirm whether the voice originated from his head or not.

Are they coming back? Make them turn around, please!

The words sounded like something he would have said, on the day his mother left on her ship, to sail back into the main land leaving him to be the sole survivor of a civil war from where he was from. A survivor the world probably did not know of. This whole trip down memory lane, it tugged on him and his emotions, but what he saw with his eyes did so more.

Apollo took a step back, pinched himself, and forced himself to blink a couple of times. When all else failed, Apollo reached out to poke the red haired woman, to confirm that it was not a trick of the mind. ‘She felt real. Could there be more? Was there a civilization of humans on this island?’ wondered Apollo as he looked around, with high hopes, only to be disappointed.

Forcing his emotions away from the surface, Apollo decided to try to befriend the red haired woman. 'One company is better than none', a fact Apollo knew all too well.

Playing back the question the woman had asked of him, Apollo couldn’t help but look towards the shore to confirm what the woman was talking about. There were no ship as far as his eyes could see, and by squinting and placing his hand over his eyes, the only ship he could see was the ship he had gotten kicked off of. A second later it disappeared over the horizon, completely.

You have an amazing pair of eyes to still be able to see that ship,” Apollo stuttered until his confidence build up, “sadly that ship will not be returning anytime soon…if they can help it at least.” If Apollo’s posture did not reflect how powerless he was to change the fate of that ship, his tone sure did.

Apollo was sure he had messed up. He had disappointed the red-haired woman. 'Surely she would not want to be my friend', Apollo concluded.

Apollo crouched down so that he would be at the same eye level as the woman before him. “Er…before you leave me,” began Apollo assuming the woman would walk away, “can you explain why everything is so white?” Apollo waited for a response but then he thought of a better request of her, “No wait, first… if any, point me in the direction of society!

Edited by Spunky Misunderstood Genius, Feb 13 2014, 08:19 PM.

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"..."

Julia waited for what felt like an eternity for Apollo's answer. She waited, silently and hopefully, even as he poked her. She remained still even as she noticed that he was quite the giant compared to her, and that was fairly frightening. But she said and did nothing, she wasn't going to do anything that might upset her only hope, after all. So she waited, lips pursed, hands gripping her shirt anxiously, hoping that she had just found her way off the island.

Only to be disappointed.

She was usually pretty polite, but after Apollo gave his answer she let out a deflated sigh, and Apollo could practically see the hope in her eyes dying out; being replaced by crushing disappointment.

"Oh..." Was all she could manage out as she tried to recover from the bad news. She stared at her feet, her shoes and ankles dusted with the cursed white sand. She wondered how much longer it would be until another ship came so close to the island, how much longer she would be trapped with this white sand, how much longer she have to worry about someone shaving her red hair off while she slept. And then she realized she had been staring at the sand for a while now and suddenly felt a little awkward. She looked up, intending to say goodbye to the man, but instead she found him crouched down and looking straight at her.

At first she was surprised that Apollo didn't seem to know where he was, but then she felt as if there was a bond between him and her now -- they were both strangers to this island, and they were both, as far as Julia could tell, stranded. Maybe they could help each other out! Sure, Julia didn't know a thing about what this guy could do, but two heads are always better than one.

"Oh uhm, well..." Julia looked upwards and pointed to the sky, specifically at the rainbow cloud looming overhead. "I don't really understand how or why, but that cloud rains down white paint over the entire island, so everything is painted white."

"According to the locals, it happens every three days..." Julia trailed off a bit and looked back down to Earth. She seemed to ponder something for a moment, and then gently shrugged her shoulders, "Hmm...I can't really remember when its supposed to rain next. I haven't been keeping up with the days I guess."

She was starting to get a little preoccupied with trying to remember when the next rainfall was supposed to be, but then she remember Apollo's other question, "Oh, there is a town, but..."

"You don't really want to go there if you can help it." She warned, "On this island, the currency is colors. So instead of using beli, you have to trade with colored objects, or tubes of paint, I guess. I've been able to survive for a while selling scraps of clothing but..."

She shook her head and her tone changed from something neutral to something clearly upset, "Some of the people here are awful! They'll cut scraps of of your clothes off when you're not looking, and they've even snipped off pieces of my hair! It's awful!"

She sighed again and shook her head once more as she remembered all the times the locals had wronged her, "Anyways, you were headed in the right direction if you want to go to town, but I don't really think you'll like it there."

Julia paused. She had said quite a mouthful but there was something she wanted to say that she had yet to, but now that she had painted Gesso in a pretty poor light, she felt it was a good time to say it, "So, if you don't want to stay here, do you think we could work together to find a ship off of here?"
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The red-haired woman’s question reminded Apollo that he did needed to get off the island. There were people he needed to see and meet, people who were farther down along the grand line. Both of which required a ship. “Alright, but a ship should not be a problem. Although I specialize in dismantling, building a ship, a good sturdy ship is not all that hard for me. I think our biggest problem would be finding a navigator, unless you are one.

Apollo paused before he continued. The red-haired woman had just revealed how much she disliked the town to him, and he was about to suggest they go there if she did not have the skills to navigate a ship. Apollo was trying to be considerate of her feelings but, he truly could not fully understand them. He never had to go through something as she described, not even something remotely similar. He had already disappointed the woman, he did not want to force the girl to go back to some place she disliked, and at least that he can relate to. Although what choice would they have?

Unless you are a navigator, we will need to go to town” Apollo finished. Still crouched down to the red-haired woman’s eye level, Apollo took off his coat and threw it over the red-haired woman. Apollo couldn’t help but laugh at the scene, the coat was huge on him, on the woman, enormous. “Someone told me that this coat would protect me from trouble. While we visit the town, I would like you to wear it”, Apollo placed his hands on the red-haired woman’s shoulder to reassure her as he told her, “Between the coat and myself, no one else will cut your clothes or hair.

Satisfied, Apollo smiled and nodded at the woman before letting go of her. Apollo looked up towards the rainbow cloud as he stood up. Without making a sound, Apollo repeated what the red-haired woman said about the rainbow cloud, and how its rain would paint everything white. “If karma is a bitch, what does that make irony?” Apollo said in a low whisper. “Oh yeah, we’ll probably be needing wood if I am to be building a ship. And shelter from the rain, would be some other good reasons to go back into town.” Apollo added encase the woman revealed herself to be a navigator, as he shifted his gaze from the rainbow cloud back to the red-haired woman. “Apollo. My name is Apollo” Apollo revealed to her.




Meanwhile…



“Wahhh?!!!” Three ladies cried simultaneously at what they had just been told. “N-Nuu” one said after, “You can’t!” followed after that. It was clear that these three ladies were upset if not enraged and in disbelief. They scanned the man who delivered them the bad news, wondering if they can change his mind by force. The slicked back, golden yellow haired, seven feet tall, muscular, short neck, blushing middle age man scratched the back of his head as they did, thinking that they were just checking him out.

“Now ladies,” the man replied, now stroking his mustache that seemed similar to how one would look like if a bomb went off near it, “I still intend to keep my promise, but right now this takes the highest priority! I cannot turn my back on a fellow mate who could be in trouble.” The man’s words were said to gain the ladies sympathy, but he had failed.

One of the ladies let out a sigh of exasperation and moved quickly to close the distance between the man and herself. “We are tired of swimming in circles in this small pool, and walking around this small ship, and getting hit on by your men. We want to go explore a lively island. Meet cute boys”, lectured the lady that was now in front of the man. “And we want to go shopping!” One of the other ladies added. With all that said the lady in front of the man motioned an attempted to smash the glass shoes the man was wearing only to make contact with the ground.

The man waved his hands in front of him, frantically as he took a couple of steps back from the approaching furious ladies. “Ladies lets calm down now, I’m sure there is an island nearby were you three lovely mermaids can enjoy yourselves while my men search for our fellow mates”, plead the man.

Purupurupuru… purupurupuru … purupurupuru …

The playful and scared attitude the man had was replaced with a serious and scary attitude within minutes after answering the den den mushi. The mermaids’, all together with their intentions resolute, approached the now serious man and began to throw punches and kicks, one after the other, at him. The man did not budge nor made any signs that he was in pain as he took every blow dealt.

The man grinded his teeth in anger, mostly likely because he had to tell the person on the other line of the den den mushi to hold for a second. The man let his anger go before turning his head towards the mermaids. A glance, one single glance was all it took for the mermaids to stop their attack and retreat.

They mermaids sat back down into the pool in the center of the room, their legs turning back into beautiful and colorful scaly tails. They stared at the men, with eyes filled with fury, as if they were saying ‘This isn’t over’ to the man who’s back was now towards them.

“Sorry about the interruption, please repeat yourself”, the man urged of the person on the other line of the den den mushi.

“C-Commander! … We’ve found it. We found Skipjack.”
Edited by Spunky Misunderstood Genius, Feb 16 2014, 04:35 PM.

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"Uwaa!" Julia gasped as Apollo laid his coat over her shoulder, her cheeks turning pink; not from the kindness of his gesture, but from the sight of what he was wearing underneath it -- nothing but a skirt, it seemed. She couldn't help but notice its colors, colors that, while not extremely bright or vibrant, would still catch the local's eyes. She feared the worst for her new companion, but at the same time she couldn't find the strength to overcome the awkwardness of returning the gift. So she instead wrapped the coat tightly around herself and forced a smile and a word of thanks, while inwardly praying that Apollo wore underwear beneath the skirt.

"My name's Julia, and I'm not really a navigator." With the tail end of the coat dragging along in the sand, Julia began to walk ahead of Apollo and towards town, sighing dejectedly, "So I guess you're right. We'll have to find someone to navigate for us. C'mon, I'll take you to the town."

She crossed her fingers underneath the coat and sighed again as she trudged onwards towards Turpintown. She was glad that Apollo was with her now; glad to have someone to share the burden of being trapped with, but at the same time she really didn't think it would be wise to get her hopes up: her opinion of the townsfolk was a pretty poor one, and she half-jokingly, half-unfortunately-seriously thought that if anyone actually had the capabilities to sail off this island, they would have done so long ago. And she couldn't help but think that if Al were with her, she'd be in perfectly capable hands. No doubt the man would have devised some scheme -- an exploitative and embarrassing scheme involving her in some way, but a scheme nonetheless -- to swindle a ship and a crew out of the locals, and they'd have been off this island in a day. Why was it she was so useless on her own? Before Apollo came she didn't have any real plan, and within seconds of teaming up with him a plan was already in motion. It was a really sort of frustrating and depressing thing to think about, and since she didn't want to be in an even worse mood, she tried to forget the troubling subject by striking up a conversation with her new comrade.

"So Apollo, you said you can build us a ship, right?" She asked, turning her head around to look at him as she spoke, but kept her legs moving forwards. She waited a bit for him to respond before continuing, "I actually still have the ship I came here on, though I crashed it onto the shore. But, you should be able to fix it, right? I think that would be easier than building a brand new ship."

"The only other problem with it is," Julia began, not thinking quickly enough in time to stop herself, "It's technically a stolen marine ship, so it has all the marine symbols still on…it…err…"

She stopped herself, but far too late. She had already revealed that she was a criminal. Too paralyzed by the potential gravity of her error, she only stared at Apollo and watched his expression closely, nervously chewing on her lower lip, and prayed that she hadn't just blown her chance of getting off of Gesso. She prayed even harder than she had when she was praying for Apollo's underwear.
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Apollo nodded, answering the red-haired woman, named Julia, question. It didn’t take Julia long after to quell Apollo’s curiosity about the reason behind her question. The fret Apollo could hear in Julia’s voice, since she asked her question, possessed Apollo into confirming her assumption in an optimistic manner, despite having not seen the condition the crash ship is in, “That’s great news, Julia. I'm sure I will be able to repair that ship of yours sooner than I would be able to build a ship from scratch. Ha, we will probably be out of here in a jiffy.” Apollo’s expressed optimism seemed to be for naught as Julia revealed to Apollo, something that probably has been troubling her for quite some time now. It caused a prattled response from Apollo, “…A stolen marine ship? Are you telling me you stole a marine ship? Like the ones with marine soldiers in them? The ones that houses marines who go after pirates? You've stolen, sailed, and crashed... a marine ship?



Meanwhile… (Location: Near Skipjack)


“I've gathered the remaining forty soldiers, Lieutenant Commander Kelly.”

The woman; who the comment was directed too and the only other person in the room, rose from her seat which was kept behind the desk. The lack of sizable windows and sunlight that shine through them, provided dim lighting in the room. Making it heard for the two to see each other clearly.

“They are lined up outside, waiting for your orders.”

Only after the man said the soldiers were awaiting orders did the woman made her way from behind the desk to the door the man entered. The woman left the dark room first, with the man who had addressed her following closely behind. The woman hastily opened the door at the end of the hallway, which led to the outdoor upper deck. Placing but only one foot onto the wooden upper deck, her eyes had already adjusted to the light and began scanning the stationary floating ship she was on, which was a few meters from both Skipjack and the shore.

Looking down through the railings she could see the soldiers under her command standing in attention. A devious smile spread across her face as she approached the upper deck railing. It was a short trip, shorten, with a hasten walk. It was obvious the woman was eager, and as she slammed her fist down upon the railings she now stood in front of, that fact was clear to everyone. The soldiers gaze quickly shifted from in front of themselves to where the woman stood above them.

The soldiers saluted the woman before they all roared simultaneously, “Lieutenant Commander Kelly!” The smile on Lieutenant Commander Kelly's face seemed to only keep growing at the response, the scene, and the seconds that past as she stood in command of the ship she was left in charge of, The Pumpkin Coach. “Lieutenant Ballometo!” The soldiers roared next when the man that had been following behind the Lieutenant Commander Kelly stood next to her.

“Fuck off Ballometo, your standing in my spotlight”, Kelly muttered to Ballometo so the soldiers would not hear. Ballometo turned and leaned against the railings with his back to the soldiers, “Sakaka Shakaka,” he laughed to Kelly’s 'kind' and 'caring' words. “Enjoy it while you can. I’ll definitely out rank you again after we complete our mission.” Ballometo said in the same snarling and mocking tone he had been using, since telling Kelly he had gathered the soldiers. As intended, Ballometo words seemed to get a rise out of Kelly, bursting her bubble. “Not this time around! I’ll forever outrank you!” Kelly lashed out, as if deep down she thought his words to be true.

Kelly reached out and grabbed Ballometo’s full body silver-colored coat, she stared into his goggles that covered his eyes and the ninja mask that covered his face. “And while I outrank you, you have to do whatever I say.” Kelly released her grip on Ballometo’s coat, she hated how Ballometo did not see her as his equal despite how hard she worked to be where she is in now. If they could not be equals, then she will be his superior, no one shares the same dream of becoming an admiral and shits on hers. "Now get out of my sight." Kelly added. Ballometo raised his hands in surrender and walked down stairs to join the rest of the soldiers, he had already gotten his fill for the morning.

Kelly took a deep breath, calming down so she can fully relish and bask at the dream like situation she found herself in, “Thirty of you will accompany Ballometo in his search in the water, the rest will accompany me on my survey of Skipjack. I want you all to remember, we are not only looking for the cause of Skipjack crash, we are also looking for its survivors.”




Meanwhile… (Location: Gesso Island Visitor Center and Dock)


“Less than two days? I see. Thank you.”
“No, thank you. It’s not every day we have a Commander of the Marines visiting our island.”
“I can see why.” The commander muttered under his breath at the depressing sight of what the island had in store for him. Having successfully securing the information of the island he turned to the four soldiers that were with him, addressing them, “I want one of you guys to report back to Lieutenant Commander Kelly about how much time we have left till the next rain. I want the rest of you to get supplies and bring them to the ship, we set sail before then.” Referring to the next rain. The soldiers, having been told their orders, left the Commander to his devices, to fulfill them.

The commander rubbed his head in the hopes it would quell his headache as the medicine the doctor of his ship, The Pumpkin Coach, gave him sure didn't. He had been babysitting the mermaid sisters since the departure of the last island they had been on. Since he had received orders from his higher ups over den den mushi, he had his crew on high alert in the search for Skipjack, making sure that the mermaid sisters did not caught wind until it were found. And when it was, his plan was ready to be put into action.

He would have his crew babysit the mermaid sisters and tend to the Skipjack business, all while he sat down at some cafe and drink tea with crackers or coffee with pastries. The commander was sure, that would surely bring him some peace of mind till they have to set out once again. The commander rubbed his fingers deeper into his temples, there was one more problem he had to deal with before he can have his peace.

“This is the worst! This place is so bland." "And stupid." "Yeah, why would anyone want paint and scraps over beli?” complained the mermaids. Okay so the Commander had not one but three other problems. The Maui Sirens, an up and coming mermaid singing group made up of three mermaid sisters. The Maui Sirens all have an appearance of 16 year old but their age were at least three times that. During his last mission, the Commander promised to protect the Maui Sirens for the remainder of their tour, something he started to regret an hour after he made such a promise.

He had tried to back out of it, only to be offered a promotion at the completion of said bodyguard duty. When he denied that, he was then ordered to do it. The commander sighed, if you are of a low rank, your bound to be stuck with senseless task. If you are of a high one, lots of paper work. The commander couldn't help but think maybe this is the real reason why he needed some time to himself, to dwell in his memory and rediscover his love for the marines before he decides to retire.

A sudden gust of wind blew through the street they were all on, causing the Maui Sirens to shiver in their colorful short sleeved Aloha shirts and matching short-shorts. The Maui Sirens held onto their large straw sun hats, sunglasses, and chest as the wind got slightly stronger. The natives seemed to go on about their business as if the gust of wind was usual. “Agrahhhhhh!” The Maui Sirens screamed when the wind stopped. “That’s it, get us out of here!” The commander looked towards the Maui Sirens with a scornful look that was based on his change of mind on what the real the reason he needed the break again.

It was beyond the commander's comprehension on why anyone would want to hear the Maui Sirens voice. The commander fingers hovered over the pistol in the holster wrapped around his waist. The commander was on edge, if he didn't get a moment’s peace soon, he was sure he will shoot his eardrums or the Maui Sirens.

“Commander Manuel.” The commander heard and turned to where the voice originated from. The voice belonged to one of the six marine soldiers he had ordered to check the town ahead of them for any troublesome people as soon as they had temporarily docked with one of the his ship small boats.

“All clear, no suspicious figures were found. The town's outpost reported that there have not been any pirates ships or pirates on the island in months.” The soldier who called out the commander’s name said as he approached the commander to hand the wanted posters over. “Good job men. As a reward for the outstanding work you guys have just done, you guys can accompany the Maui Sirens into Turpintown. I'll follow shortly.”




Meanwhile… (Location: White Meadows just outside Turpintown)


…Looks like I’ve teamed up with a badass.” Apollo teased, pretending Julia was bragging about having stolen a marine ship instead of fretting over it. Resorting to the way he acted as a kid, Apollo blew a raspberry as he ran past Julia. “Watch out, here comes Julia the badass. She sails the grandline in her victims’ ship. Her latest one, the very marines who chased her to the ends of the world!” Apollo shouted until he was out of breath. Apollo fell down, and laughed. “I’m guessing you have a bounty on your head, how much?” As soon as he finished asking, Apollo jumped up and started running again, as if he really didn’t care how much it was.

Apollo wasn’t sure what was overcoming him but he felt great. Even though everything lacked color, it was still filled with life. The white meadow grass underneath his bare feet and toes, to the white colored rabbits, horses, and birds that hopped, roamed, and flew around, it all made Apollo realize this place wasn’t all that bad. Still, Apollo was in no way looking to prolong his time on this island anymore then it need be, but he did plan on enjoying his stay. This was the sanest he had been in years, he felt lighter somehow, as if a burden was lifted off his shoulder, especially when he caught a glimpse of a what he thought to be a town not too far out from where he was.

Apollo stopped running and brought his hands over his eyes to see if he could make out what he was seeing well. If it were a town, it was surely large, covering a great deal of land with its buildings seeming similar to every other, at least from what Apollo could tell. “Hey, is that it?” Apollo inquired of Julia pointing to what he was looking at in. Whether it was a town, whether it was the town Julia was going to take him to or not, Apollo mind was set on it. "We should ask around for when the next rain will be. Oh and since I haven't seen how bad the ship condition is, you should probably tell me about it. I'll make an estimate of how much of what we need. From there we can find how much they cost on this island." Apollo expressed with low priority, as this was it, the moment of truth, at least it was for him. Apollo turned to Julia, and flashed his daring smile of his. “Hehe, race ya there.
Edited by Spunky Misunderstood Genius, Mar 5 2014, 12:09 PM.

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"Errr…"

Julia's initial fears of scaring away, or worse, antagonizing her new companion had faded away. Now, she feared that this Apollo guy might have a bit too much admiration for her. His accusations of her being a badass brought a faint pink hue across her cheeks, and even though his account of how she had obtained the Skipjack were more or less true, she didn't like that he was painting her as some sort of vicious pirate. The young girl who had spent days moping aboard an empty marine ship, hopelessly sailing the Grand Line, was certainly not vicious, and she would rather have people think of her as nice and friendly anyways.

She watched him worryingly as he ran around on the white beach, wondering why he was getting so excited and wishing he would stop with it. But before she could tell him that she was not a badass, he asked her about her bounty and then ran off.

"It's uh…2,750,000 Beli." She called out after him, wondering if he had heard, though at the same time she sort of hoped he hadn't. Even if she didn't consider herself a badass pirate, a bounty that low was pretty pathetic, and even she found it a little embarrassing that she was worth so little. Though, she would rather have never gotten a bounty on her head in the first place. Well, she didn't want to risk him singing anymore praises about her "badass" exploits, so she hurried to catch up with him.

"Listen okay? I might be a pirate but don't tell anyone, alright? I-I'd rather not be one anyways. It's a long story," She had caught up to him to give him a brief lecture, and then paused as she saw the town up ahead. The sight filled her with a sense of dread and she clung to Apollo's cloak for protection. If only it had a hood to hide her hair. "Yes, that's the town." She shuddered.

"Well, the boat looks kind of okay, but I think it might have gotten scratched up or something, uhm…" She didn't want to admit that she knew very little about boats, and to be honest she hadn't even given the thing a look over her shoulder once she had climbed off of it. Thankfully, Apollo saved her from her ignorance by offering up a race.

Maybe if she had been in better spirits these past few days, or maybe if it wasn't a town full of color-obsessed, hair and clothes snipping weirdoes, then Julia would have taken him up on the offer. As it were, however, she really didn't feel like doing anything fun, "No, that's okay. I, uh, ran this morning, so my legs are sore."

Hopefully he bought her lie, though why wouldn't he? She was going to suggest he go and run ahead if he wanted, but sudden flashbacks of evil men and women with scissors flooded her mind. Having Apollo standing next to her, with his impressive stature and all, would no doubt drive away some of the snippers. Gulping, she called out to him before he could run off without her, "L-Let's just walk into town together, okay? There's strength in numbers after all, and people might want to snip off pieces of your, uhm…"

Her eyes trailed down to his shendyt and hesitated, "Your…kilt?"
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Kilt?

Apollo responded as his eyes followed Julia’s eyes down to his shendyt. Apollo smiled, then he frowned, finally he half-heartedly smiled and returned his eyes and attention back to Julia. “No-no. I am not wearing a kilt. Kilts are much longer, and kilts have a tartan pattern on them”, Apollo said, pointing to his knees while he talked about the length and after, the material itself while he talked about tartan pattern.

This is called a shendyt.” Apollo added before his voice trailed off, as if there were more to it than he was telling Julia. Apollo’s whole demeanor changed at that instant, “Yeah you’re right. Let’s walk into town together. I rather not have people snip off pieces of my shendyt. It’s…it’s special to me.” The emotional whiplash Apollo was going through made him feel uneasy and impatient. “Alright then, let’s go Julia.

The whole walk to the outskirts of the town Apollo kept quiet. Save for the involuntary movements towards various sounds, Apollo’s yellow eyes were kept fixated on the approaching town. No thoughts went through his mind during this time. He kept himself out of his head; tensing his bare feet with every step he took onto the dry meadow grass and kicking small rocks that he stepped on. Apollo’s hands were kept in his shendyt pockets. He took deep breaths in the hopes that they would stop the uneasy feeling. When Julia and Apollo reached the outskirts of the town, Apollo finally decided to talk again.

Heh, I thought the world was breathtaking… in a different way than this.” Apollo said looking at the rainbow cloud overhead and around at everything white, trying to spark a conversation with Julia to make up for being so quiet. As he waited for Julia’s input, Apollo decided that this conversation might lead to talks about what island they were from and been to, so he changed the subject, “What do you think about the coat?

After some time, Julia and Apollo were approached, surrounded, and halted.

“Stop right there you two.” Said a marine soldier. He was accompanied by two others that were in uniform but not that of a marine soldier, plus it was white. “Yeah, stop right there. We are one of Turpintown’s outpost platoon.” One of the two others said referring to himself and the other other. The two that accompany the marine soldiers had name tags on their uniform, but it too washed out of its color making it require one to really focus to see what the engraved metal name tag said. The once inaction people who worked in the outpost, station all around the town, were quite ballsy now that marines were on the island and working with them for the meantime. So ballsy in fact that one of them pushed the marine soldier out of the way and told him that he will handle this.

“I don’t recognize you two, and we document everyone who lands here. State your business.” the outpost worker said as he motioned his hands. The other outpost worker ran back into the outpost in response.

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"A 'shen-deet'?" Julia repeated following his explanation of the exotic article of clothing. It was exotic to Julia at least, though to be fair she had only visited cities where everyone just dressed according to the latest, modern fashions. Even here on Gesso, the islanders dressed themselves much like she would have, if one ignored all the white. She had been introduced to fishmen culture as well, though she really didn't want to dwell on that thought, and for what it mattered she didn't think she could remember any of them wearing a shendyt. Perhaps somewhere out there was an island where people were eight feet tall and wore shendyts all the time. It sounded better than an island where people tried to steal the sleeves off her shirt.

"A shendyt…well, okay. Let's get going…then?" Her voice trailed off as she looked up at Apollo's face and recognized from his expression that he was upset about something. She was very familiar with an upset face. After all, the Skipjack had a mirror in the bathroom. Had she actually insulted him by calling his special shendyt a kilt? That sounded silly, and if she tried to apologize for that it might just make the sudden, awkward atmosphere even more uncomfortable. But if she actually had upset him with the kilt comment, then an apology was definitely called for! She continued onwards to the town, following a step behind Apollo whilst chewing nervously on her lower lip, wondering what she ought to do here.

"Should I apologize? What if he isn't even upset about that? What if he isn't even upset? If I jump to conclusions it could just make things worse, and I don't want this guy to hate me! He's my only chance of getting off this island, and if I stay here any longer I'm gonna run of clothes to sell. I-I may have to shave my hair or something!" She was quickly working herself up into a panic. Fortunately for the two of them, Apollo speaking up broke her free from her thoughts. Unfortunately, what he said didn't really do much to change the mood. What started as a sort of a thought provoking statement ended with a pretty mundane question. Julia couldn't help but think that he Apollo really didn't want to talk.

"Uhm, the coat's nice. It's very warm." She responded after a brief silence, during which she was pondering whether or not she should make any mention of his fist statement about the world being breathtaking. It had reminded her of her initial amazement at the rainbow cloud, and a lot of other amazing things she had seen on her adventures thus far, like people turning into slugs, men wearing suits of robotic armor, giant sea monsters…not to mention the giant of a man and his shendyt that was only a few steps ahead of her. There really were a lot of breathtaking things in the world, and most of them were probably in the Grand Line. That’s precisely why she wanted to go home.

And just as she was thinking about returning home, a group of men appeared who looked like they wanted her to go to jail instead. Some of them were the local police force who had never bothered her before, and some of them were, to her ever increasing dismay, were marines. Her whole body went stiff as she and Apollo were surrounded, and her lips began to quiver a bit from fear.

She gulped as she faced with the demands of the outpost worker. No matter what she said now, she imagined the question of how she had gotten to the island would come up, and then she'd have to show this marine a crashed, stolen marine vessel, and then she'd be in a lot more trouble than she was in now. Why did she have to have a bounty?! She had hardly ever done anything wrong! Maybe, just maybe, there was some lie out there in the universe that could convince these men to let her go. If only she could reach out and grab it. What would Al say?!

"I-I'm…w-we're…I'm a…k-kissing booth…technician."

She immediately realized that that was perhaps one of the dumbest thing she could have said. Or maybe even that was giving it too much credit. Perhaps it was the dumbest thing anyone had ever said in the whole history of the world. But somehow, it did seem like something Al would have said. Well, there was no turning back now.

"He's my…b-bodygaurd." She said, pointing up to Apollo with her thumb, and then tried to put on the cutest smile she could manage before saying, "I-It's only 500 bel-- er…1 ounce of…uh…brown paint for a kiss on the lips! W-want to try?"

Wherever Al was, whether he was somewhere in Hell or still kicking it back in the Blues, he'd be so proud of her.
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The outpost worker that ran back into the outpost came back in time to hear Julia’s offer. “Would I ever!” the returning outpost worker said as he approached Julia. “I never kissed a girl before or been with one. Please show me a good time.” Said the outpost worker that returned.

The papers that were in his hands now, but was not before he went into the outpost, was reason enough for anyone to suspect that those papers were the reason he went into the outpost. Of course the way he held them left their contents up to the imagination, up until he threw them up in the air and forcefully grabbed Julia and planted his lips on top of hers.

Apollo did not know what to think of this situation. The really horrible lie that Julia told not only made things worse for her but showed Apollo how nervous she really was around marines. ‘She really is a wanted pirate who rather not be one.’ Apollo told himself. ‘And since we are in this together, I should act the part of her bodyguard as she lied me to be.’

Apollo separated the outpost worker and Julia. ‘Ugh what should I say?’ Apollo thought as he tried to think of something a bodyguard would say. One would have thought it would come easy to Apollo, as he spent some years of his childhood in a palace, listening to bodyguards tell people the king was not in or some other bullshit lie. Though none of them seem appropriate for this situation.

“Well, what’s the big idea? She said I can kiss her.” The outpost worker had repeated over and over again while Apollo searched his brain for a practical response. Luckily for him the marine that was with them, provided a distraction. “The Siren Sisters are in Turpintown, we were assign to keep the perimeter safe. Get your act together and check to see if they have a bounty.” The marine solider said after jamming the thrown papers he collected off the floor into the kiss-frenzy outpost worker’s chest, who was now blushing from embarrassment. With his hands free, the marine solder raised his rifle at both Apollo and Julia. “No sudden movements while he checks the wanted posters.”

‘So that’s what was on the papers’ Apollo said to himself as he raised his hands in surrender, relieved at the news. Apollo had no bounty, so he was not worried at all. ‘Crap.’ He looked towards Julia, ‘she has a bounty though.’ Thousands of scenarios of how this situation would end flooded Apollo’s mind, and none of them ended well for either Julia or himself. Oddly enough the kiss-frenzy outpost worker reached the end of the wanted posters, shook his head no, and handed it to the other outpost worker.

The other outpost worker, who seemed to be filled with fear instilled by the marine soldier’s earlier words, despite them not directly said to him, approached Julia and Apollo as he held up each wanted posters to their face. The way the other outpost worker held the posters, Apollo could easily shift his eyes to its corners and see the bounties and the bounty holders’ picture. Apollo’s eyes widen and heart skipped a beat when a wanted poster of Julia was held up next to her face.

Again, they went onto the next poster as if the picture did not match up. The marine soldier noticed and noted Apollo’s facial expression. He spoke up after he lowered and handed off his weapon and after the outpost worker was finish going through the wanted posters. “Have you seen this woman before?” the marine soldier asked Apollo as he held up Julia’s wanted poster. Dumbfounded, Apollo looked at Julia then back at the poster, then vice versa a couple of times. Now that he thought about it, she didn’t look anything like the wanted poster, at least not anymore.

‘What is going on? I’m sure this is her but, she does not look like her anymore. Okay. Maybe I’m going crazy. That’s it I’ve finally gone insane. No. I know when I first met her she looked exactly like the wanted poster, save a bit cleaner. Although now, now she looks like a complete stranger!’ Apollo pondered trying to make sense of what was going on.

“Well?” the marine soldier pestered. “She looks familiar.” Apollo responded truthfully. “Where have you seen this woman before? On this island?” the marine soldier said eagerly, as if this would mean a promotion if he could be the one to catch Julia the 2,750,000 bounty pirate. “No I don’t think so.” Apollo replied. “Think harder!” the marine soldier commanded of Apollo after grabbing Apollo’s arm with a tight grip. “I don’t know where she is.” Apollo answered, again truthfully, he really had no idea where the Julia in that picture went. ‘Maybe she pulled a switcheroo’ Apollo wondered as the marine soldier let him go. “What’s your name pervert?” ‘Pervert?’ Apollo repeated in his head contemplating on whether or not he should answer to that. “Zebulon.” Apollo lied, finally answering the marine soldier's question of Apollo's name, in the hopes that it would move things along.

The marine soldier squinted his eyes, as if he did not believe everything Apollo had told him. Despite the distrust the marine soldier handed Apollo Julia’s wanted poster and a small den den mushi, “If you see her, on this island, you use that den den mushi right there to get a hold of me. No need to let anyone else know. A pirate with that kind of bounty, I’m probably the only marine on this island that can take her down.” The marine soldier gloated. Apollo nodded and stepped behind the marine soldier and the outpost workers.

Satisfied with the plan he had set in motion, the marine soldier turned his attention to Julia. He eyed her for a bit before asking her the same questions he had ask of Apollo. Apollo rotated his hands egging Julia to hurry and answer the questions. Apollo wasn’t sure what was going on but it is not a discussion he could have with Julia with a marine soldier and two outpost workers around. He need to be alone with Julia, and maybe they finally would be after marine soldier’s little interrogation on this unidentifiable Julia before them all.

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"'B-Been with'?!" Julia paled and shuffled backwards so that she was hiding a bit behind Apollo. She feared that her apparent first customer didn't want just a kiss. "Wait! J-Just what do you-- Mmphf!"

Her fears were silenced by the worker's lips, and though she had offered all the men a kiss, him included, the way he had seized her shoulders and had pulled her into one of the most awkward kisses she had ever had the misfortune to receive made her squirm a bit in his grasp. An unrelenting storm of wet, puckered kisses assaulted her lips, and each time he kissed her he made a 'mwah!'. It was so ridiculous and he seemed so inept that it could have easily been a joke, but Julia was sure that he was actually trying as hard as he could. No matter what complaints she had about his kisses, she could clearly feel the passion behind them, and that only made them worse.

Needless to say, she was grateful when Apollo pulled him off her face, and with a disgusted expression, wiped the man's saliva off on her coat sleeve. Though, if every man on Gesso was a lonely as this guy, she felt confident that her kissing booth plan would work. That is, until the marine, who unfortunately had his act together, barked at the two outpost workers to get back to work. Julia's was stunned with fear again as the men began to sort through bounty posters, and she could only watch in terror as he flipped through poster after poster, sure that her name and face would come up next.

"Oh no, oh no! They'll see my poster! They'll arrest me! Then, they'll throw me in jail! I-I'm going to jail!" The poor girl began to shake beneath Apollo's coat. Where was Al? Where was Anne? She looked up at Apollo and whimpered quietly. There had always been someone else with her whenever she had been facing down adversity. Yes, she had more or less taken on the crew of the Skipjack by herself, but she hadn't even thrown a punch then, and she also had a great many reasons to regret her actions that day -- one of them being the crashed ship somewhere on the coast of an island that was currently occupied by marines. She needed Apollo to be someone who did something right now, but much like her, he was silent as the workers flipped through the pages. Her eyes began to water as she realized she was all but apprehended at this point. "It'll be just like with the fishmen! Except all the other prisoners will be murderers!"

But before she could linger on that awful memory for any longer, the one worker finished sorting through the whole stack of papers without recognizing her. That was certainly a cause for surprise; maybe her bounty wasn't large enough to warrant a poster in the Grand Line? Did it even work like that? The answer was decidedly 'no' as she saw her own poster in the other worker's hands, but once again, to her amazement, he didn't seem to be able to make the connection between the frightened, pink-haired woman in the poster photo and the frightened, pink-haired woman standing in front of him. Not even that disciplined marine could identify her. But never in one thousand -- no, one million years -- would she point out that she actually was the girl on the poster.

Julia's response to the marine's questioning went exactly as one would have expected: she denied ever seeing or knowing that woman on the poster, feeling very odd as she did so. She wasn't even wearing a disguise, was she? Just what the heck was going on? The marine instructed her to use the den den mushi he had given to Apollo should Julia turn up, and she nodded and hurried on her way once she had been given the go ahead.

"Oh, wait! What's your name girl?" The marine called out to her, having forgotten to ask during the initial line of questioning.

"Uh…Kathryn." She said after a brief hesitation. It was her mother's name, and was the first female name to come to mind other than her own. She had no clue how Apollo had come up with Zebulon, though. Maybe it was his father's name. 'Zebulon', 'Shendyt'…he was definitely from some far out island.

"Kathryn! I'll be sure to visit your kissing booth later!" Without even needing to turn around she could tell who had said that, and she winced at the thought of another kiss with him. Still, keeping up appearances was important when you were living a lie, so she turned around with a fake smile and called back to him, "Sure! J-just don't forget to pay for your kiss next time! After all, in Soviet Rushland, kiss pays you!"

Leaving the workers and herself entirely confused as to why she had just thought to say that -- she didn't even know if Soviet Rushland was a real place -- she turned back around and walked into the village, staying close to Apollo for a sense of safety.

"Th-that was so weird! How?! How did they not know it was me on the poster? " She asked in a whisper once the workers were out of earshot. "Well anyways, we need to find a navigator soon, right? I don't think we'll be that lucky again."
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Finally out of ears dropping range of anyone but relatively closer to Turpintown, Apollo was relieved and eager. Eager to talk about what was going on. “In Soviet Rushland, kiss pays you?” Apollo said repeated the odd and out of character comment of Julia’s; well not-Julia which would make it of her character? Apollo was definitely confused. “That’s what I would like to know.” Apollo said in response to Julia question.

‘Is she playing me?’ Apollo wondered. He needed answers, he needed them now, and not knowing anything instilled fear into Apollo. And fear brought about Apollo’s anger. “Okay start talking. You’re playing me aren’t you? You know what’s going on, stop playing dumb.” Apollo stomped the ground after he finish; coincidentally after his stomp branches of a nearby tree all fell down. Apollo’s eyes shifted from one corner to another a couple of times before he felt the need to defend himself, “Um uh that was, not my fault.

The branches of the tree that fell down after Apollo had stomped his feet, remind him of the time when he tapped the bottom of a bottle as traditionally done so, only to have the bottle break shortly after. He was blamed since he was the last to tap the bottle but later everyone involved found out it was a defect in the bottle. Another time, during musical chairs, for some reason whenever someone participating sat down on a chair that Apollo previously sat on, it fell apart. A coincidence they blamed Apollo for but later found out another kid sabotage the chairs since he was not allowed to play. So this time around, Apollo was sure it was not his fault that the branches fell down. Like every other time, there had to be some logical reason behind such a coincidence.

Apollo shook his head, he was getting side tracked. “I don’t get it. Why are you telling jokes about a place called Soviet Rushland? Why don’t you look like the woman in this wanted poster picture even though you did when I first met you? What’s going on Julia, I need to know.” Apollo said, defeated. Apollo lowered himself to the ground, he promised himself never again to bring his legs up against his chest, wrap his arms around his legs, and sunk his head into the space between his legs and arms, and drift into the place he created during his isolation. He fought the urge but if Julia and he could not find the answers to their questions of what was going on, he would be left with no other choice but to return to that place; as Apollo was starting to feel as he did while alone on that forsaken island, eight years in.

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"P-Playing you? Wh- Whaa!" She cried out as Apollo's branch felling stomp also made her knees wobble as well, nearly knocking her off her feet. The sight of all the fallen branches and leaves made her understandably nervous, and she gulped as her eyes drifted back onto the man who had shaken them from their trees. Even if he said it wasn't his fault, it definitely seemed to her like he was angry enough to stomp branches off of trees. It was one thing to make her only hope of escape upset; it was an even worse thing if that only hope of escape was a powerful, eight foot tall man.

She could feel her muscles tense up and was hit with a rush of adrenaline. She feared his next act of anger might be directed towards her, but even though her body was readying itself for a conflict, she felt certain that Apollo could roll her up into a ball and slam dunk her into a Sea King's mouth if he wanted to. To her relief and surprise, instead of lashing out at her, the next thing Apollo did was to squat down and pout. It was such a disarming action that Julia had to take a moment to register what he was doing, but soon sighed, expelling all that previous tension -- most of it at least -- and then knelt down so that she was at eye level with him. She didn't have to lower herself that far, seeing as he was so tall.

"Apollo…" She began, placing a hand on his shoulder. If there was anything she was good at, it was being a nice person. Even if the week stranded in the Grand Line had worn down her spirit, it hadn't taken away her natural compassion. She tilted her head a bit to the side so that she could lock eyes with him, and put on a stern yet concerned look, with a matching tone in her voice, "Listen, I don't know where that Soviet Rushland comment came from. I've never even heard of the place, it just somehow popped into my head."

As she was explaining herself, she felt the urge to make another Soviet Rushland joke building inside her head, but she fought it off for now. And besides, Soviet Rushland wasn't the real issue here. It was that somehow Apollo had no clue who she was, or rather, where the old her had gone, apparently. It was a really weird problem for him to suddenly have, as aside from the corny jokes, she still felt the same as she always did, and didn't look any different now from when they had met, aside from the coat. When he had denied ever seeing her before, she had simply assumed he had been lying to the soldiers. Well, as weird as it was, she wasn't going to find a way off this island with Apollo in such a pitiful state, and she also didn't like it when people were upset with her.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but for whatever reason both you and the guards couldn't recognize my face. But trust me; I still feel the same. As far as I can tell, I haven't changed at all. Maybe you just need some rest?" She chewed on her lower lip nervously as she wondered how Apollo would take her attempt at consoling. If something truly odd was happening and her face had become unrecognizable, she couldn't help but fear that the man wouldn't just take her word at face value.
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[ *  *  * ]
Rest? Ah, yes.” By suggesting that Apollo should rest, Julia reminded Apollo he had not eaten for the day. “Maybe you're right. I haven't eaten breakfast or anything yet. Maybe I'm just delirious from the lack of food and water.” Apollo said trying really hard to believe he was so; anything to keep himself sane. Now that Apollo thought about it, before meeting Julia, his mind was plagued with funny Soviet Rushland jokes. ‘It stopped when I took off the coat. … No, that can't be it.’ Apollo told himself referring to the jokes and what was going on.

Apollo sighed, temporally putting away the whole you-don’t-look-like-Julia-anymore ordeal behind him. “Taverns, inns, and the likes are where people with sea legs (someone who spends a lot of time sailing the sea) usually spend their days when on land. We can start our search there for a navigator, and I can get some much needed food and rest.” Apollo figured and said. All that was left was to start moving again; Apollo pushed himself up off the ground, dusted and patted down his backside, and waited for Julia so that they could continue inward, side by side as they had planned to do so earlier.

After crossing a line with a sign that said “You are now entering Turpintown” on it with Julia, Apollo was a bit excited again. This would be the first time in so many years that he would be around so many people. ‘Freighting and exciting’ Apollo told himself. Instead of looking around to see what the town was like, Apollo was imagining it as he walked alongside Julia. ‘I bet there is food stands everywhere. Kids running around with smiles on their faces, and their parents running behind them. Hehe, there is probably some old drunk guy telling people stories and middle age men arguing over something pointless.’ Apollo imagined. Deep down inside, Apollo was hoping it was like home .

[Play ]

Finally opening his eyes to what Turpintown really was, Apollo could not help but restate what he had said earlier, “I thought it would be breathtaking, and less, creepy” Apollo whispered to Julia. Apollo was disappointed. Even if everything on the island was white, with some creativity the island inhabitants should have embraced it and turn the island into something that was breathtaking. At least that’s what Apollo felt, but being in ear distance of said island inhabitants now Apollo did not express himself so. As gloomy as most of them were, Apollo felt as saying such things aloud would quickly anger them.

Apollo tried to find some good points to the town like their architect. Apollo was impress with the building structure and architect; so impressed that Apollo wished that he had some sort of writing utensils handy. Although, Apollo unwished that wish after noticing that every building was a mirror image of each other. He no longer needed to take notes of the buildings, they would be forever imprinted in his memory.

[End Play]

Ouch”, Apollo screamed out… like a man, it was a manly scream; followed by a manly jump. “Something just pinched me.” Apollo expressed to Julia as he rubbed his buttocks. It was only when the pain went away that Apollo scanned the area for the perpetrator. “Forget it, let’s just keep on moving”, Apollo said defeated. No less than a few minutes later Apollo screamed and jump again. Like a manly man of course. This time Apollo wasted no time and turned around to find, nothing. “Something is pinching me!” Apollo swore to Julia before turning his backside to her, “Do you see something there?

Edited by Spunky Misunderstood Genius, Apr 15 2014, 12:01 PM.

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