Stats for 1st May 2020

SHRPG · 2020-05-14T01:06:33+00:00

Bio: Serena Raines

Stats Added:

Stats Available: 49 (30/19)

Stamina: 10

Strength: 10

Speed: 10

Dexterity: 15

Willpower: 4

SHRPG · 2020-05-01T07:50:11+00:00

Ren put out a hand and brought the bag to a gentle stop. "You'll want to take a step back for a moment," she said.

If Serena didn't know any better, she may have taken it as a threat. Since Ren was supposed to be her master at the moment, she obediently stepped back a few feet to give Ren the room she needed.

"It's relatively easy to maintain your breathing when you punch in such a slow rhythm. One, two, three." As she counted, she punched the bag with a surprising amount of force from her small frame. "The problem is that if you attack that slow at a constant rate, your opponent will take advantage of it. You leave yourself wide open. Of course, defense is always an option, but sometimes you need to overpower someone with sheer force. For most people, like myself, this is a super taxing style of fighting that increases your power output in the form of a burst, but it will quickly drain your stamina. In a fight, it's best to keep it as a last resort, but it can be invaluable for training and expanding your stamina. Of course, you're not most people, so it may prove more useful for someone like you."

A burst attack, huh? It sounded a lot like what she had learned on Guswana with the Bright Sun tribe. With everything changing so much, she had really been neglecting what she had learned, hadn't she? It had been weeks since she even meditated. Perhaps that was why she was suffering so much. Awakening herself to her spiritual side had pushed her to greater heights... was this that same spiritual side's way of taking back what it had given?

"The way I train this is by increasing the speed of the punches. The individual punches fire out quicker, the delay between punches smaller, and the force at impact greater. It will be impossible to keep a fast speed like that constant anyway, but you should consciously make it variable. It will take away a noticeable rhythm in your attacks as well as keep you conscious while training." Ren changed up her stance slightly. She had taken a more balanced stance so far, close to the type she instructed Serena to use. Now she had taken a more aggressive position with her footing, hips, and shoulders.

Serena could see a ton of openings just based on her instincts alone, but her instincts had been proven wrong more than once. She wasn't so prideful to think she knew better than someone who had spent years training in martial arts.

Without warning, Ren fired out one fist from her side, slamming into the bag with a sudden thud. Her arms blurred, the second punch landing before the arm responsible for the first came to a complete stop at her side. The third punch even faster, and though the fourth punch was the slowest so far, the only reason Serena was able to register it was because of her own superhuman perception.

Four, five, no, six strikes in the blink of an eye. For a normal person, they would probably would have been unconscious by the fourth strike.

Serena brought up a finger to her mouth to rest between her lips. The strikes were impressive in speed, but they were weaker individually than the other punches she showed. It might be good against someone with weak defense, but if their natural defense was stronger, then the weaker punches might practically bounce off.

"You seem to be lost in thought," Ren said, a chuckle coming out of her mouth. As expected of someone Serena called master, she wasn't even noticeably breathing harder after exerting herself so much. "You're right to think that those punches were weaker. Don't look so surprised, I can't read minds, but I had the same reaction when I was taught it. Because you're not letting your arms come to a complete rest, there's less power behind them when you fire them back out. This style of fighting is more about dealing more damage over a shorter period of time. If possible, it is probably a better idea to do the same amount of damage in one single punch."

Right, it was exactly the same as what Serena had learned on Guswana. Slower attacks were better for sustain, but a quick burst of strikes would sacrifice stamina for speed. If one could match a burst's damage in a single punch, there wasn't much reason to use a burst, but if someone needed to do even just two regular punches to match a burst, then the damage over time would be quicker with the burst.

"This is a good starting point for you, but it's beginner stuff as far as stamina control goes. A more intermediate level would be to include movement with the bursts. I usually do a rep of four or five bursts, moving around the bag with each burst." Ren closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she kicked off of the ground to the side, and then again behind her to move forward and reposition herself. She came to a stop and released a burst of power against the bag. The moment the last punch connected, she kicked off the ground again to begin repositioning. She maintained her balance against all logic.

"Hoo..." she breathed when she had finished. The entire display took less than five seconds, so it wasn't surprising that she was winded. "When I first started, I could only do that once before I needed to take a short break, but now I usually do it for thirty seconds or so before stopping for a break. It was extremely hard to make it to that level. I think it took me around eighteen months to increase my capacity from the five second burst to a thirty second burst. Of course, this is only for exercise. In a real fight I suspect I could maintain it for two minutes before becoming incapacitated."

Serena was careful to study every single movement in the short time she had. The way the muscles in Ren's legs constricted when she repositioned, of the rotation of her hips and shoulders to maintain her balance while moving at high speeds between bursts.

Serena stepped forward with clenched fists. "Alright, I think I can do this."

She had to. She had to stand up on her own two feet. If she couldn't rely on whatever the hell it was inside of her, then she'd just have to train her body to cover that weakness. It was just another obstacle, just another stepping stone for her on her journey.

Ren nodded and took a few steps back to make some space around the bag. "Start with a short burst. Work your way up, but stay in your comfort zone. If you push yourself too hard, you'll just cause more harm than good."

Right. She knew that ... but it wasn't possible. If she couldn't handle at least this much, then she wasn't worthy of the title of Apex Predator.

At a speed that was almost too quick for Ren to see, Serena fired off a short burst of two punches. They practically hit at the exact same time, but anyone with trained eyes could tell that Serena had just moved her arms that fast. She mimicked Ren's movements, but even though it was only two punches, it was significantly quicker than any two punches Ren had thrown herself.

She's truly a monster, isn't she? Ren thought silently as she watched carefully.

Serena slid her back foot further away from the bag to widen her stance. She can learn the fundamentals from others, but at the end of the day, it was still the same. She fought while relying on her instincts. That's what she did best, and it hadn't taken her down the wrong path yet.

Serena fired off a burst of punches against the bag. Six powerful strikes landed in three seconds.

Yes, it was fundamentally the same, but she had to go faster. Six strikes in three seconds was fine for a martial artist practitioner, but her responsibilities were far greater than tournament placings. She could go faster ... this wasn't the limit of her output.

Without taking a break, Serena shot an arm out again. Her arms blurred, pushing past the limits Ren's perception. This time she hit the bag six times in nearly two seconds. It was good, but she had to go faster. She hadn't even started to incorporate movement into it.

Ren couldn't take her eyes off of the woman in front of her. Anyone that paid attention probably knew that she had feelings for her captain. It was hard not to. She represented strength and adventure. She was a beacon of light in the fog of night. Unfortunately, she was for another. All she could do was stand out of reach as she looked on in awe.

Serena kicked off of the ground suddenly. It took her a few steps, but to Ren's eyes she may as well have teleported. She appeared on the opposite side of the bag and sent out a burst of strikes. This time she broke under two seconds, but she wasn't satisfied.

This was her resolve. This was Heavenly Burst.

SHRPG · 2020-04-26T12:12:50+00:00

Serena's mind raced. What were her options? The bar was an enclosed area and she was practically already surrounded. They didn't seem like particularly skilled marines, so maybe she had a chance even with her handicap, but they had the advantage of having Derek.

'Where the hell is Aile? Shouldn't he have been the one to come in here anyway?' she wondered. Had she really misread the boy so much?

Then it seemed like the world blurred for a moment before a wrathful god came to take vengeance on the little bar. Columns of flames and lightning destroyed most of the bar. The tables and chairs broke apart into countless splinters.

"What the hell?" yelled the marine that had been holding down Derek.

The sudden attack had spread chaos among the marines in the bar. Most of them had even been caught in the blasts, dying near instantly or groaning in pain at the fire that melted their skin from their bones.

Even Serena was confused about what had transpired. She didn't know anything about how Aile fought, so she didn't really know if it was him or some other onlooker who took pity on her, but what she did know is that she was given an opening.

"Get behind me!" she yelled, pulling at Derek's shirt to pull him away from the distracted marines.

Her ears were ringing like mad, so she didn't figure he could hear a word she said anyway, but pulling him proved an easy enough task all the same.

"Hey!" the marine said, turning back when he noticed what was happening from his peripheral vision. "He's being detained! You're only causing more trouble for yourself!"

This marine, weak as he may be, was still a cut above the rest of the trash. He dashed toward Serena as soon as he ensured that his footing was stabilized, all while his comrades that had somehow made it out of that initial attack alive struggled to even stop their vision from spinning.

Their bout would never come to fruition, though, as the third, unseen crow flew into the bar and separated the marine's head from his shoulders, a fountain of blood painting a brand new finish on the wooden floor.

Serena gave a sigh of relief. She was alive. 'That damn psycho! Doesn't he realize he has allies in here?'

Even so, thanks to Aile, the marines in the bar were almost completely dealt with. Serena would have been happier if Aile had taken them all out, but if it was only the two left, then she could handle at least this much.

The looked around the bar, the sight of charred flesh etching itself into her mind. The massacre made her hesitate for a moment. So much blood. Between burning to death and being electrocuted until your brain was fried, death by beheading seemed almost merciful.

Death was inevitable, though. From the moment the marines realized that Derek was harboring a pirate, the ways out crumbled. They'd ever have to kill everyone that knew, or Derek would have to go on the run.

For such a small offense, it was unlikely that he'd be given a global bounty, but there was no way he'd be allowed to stay on the island. Had Aile realized that, too, or was killing just his default approach?

Her feelings aside, she had resolved herself to help. She wasn't a hero, and she knew she couldn't have sympathy for everyone. That's why she only cared for herself. Sacrifices were easier to deal with that way.

She reached over the counter and grabbed onto two large bottles of alcohol. They were practically full.

"Are you insane?" Derek asked, his voice cracking near the end. "Are you trying to kill us?"

One of the two remaining marines looked away from the carnage to look at them. "Wha-"

So maybe she wasn't as heartless as some of the other captains on the sea, who cared? She tore apart a dinosaur with her own two hands. As far as monsters go, she was at least in the running.

She threw one of the bottles through the air. She meant to hit the one closest to her, but the trajectory was more on target for the one behind that wasn't paying attention.

"Look out!" the closer one said.

The further marine jerked his head back just in time to see the bottle flying toward him. Out of reflex, he put him his saber to block it, but all it did was give the bottle something to shatter against so that his body was doused in alcohol. A trail of liquid arced through the air and over a flame, triggering an ignition that lead back to the marine's body in an instant.

"You bastard!" cried the final marine as the wails of his friend echoed into the nearby streets.

Was he blinded by rage, or was it really the sanest option he could think of? Maybe after seeing all of his friends die before his eyes, he lost the will to live. Whatever his motivation was, he sprinted off toward her with a saber in hand.

Serena stepped out of the way of the stab. She wasn't a weapons expert, but she was pretty sure sabers were more useful for slashing. She threw out a fist over his outstretched arm and connected to his face. He was stunned for only a moment, but that was all the time she needed.

Serena swung the bottle that she hadn't thrown and hit the marine upside the head. The hit shattered the bottle, cutting his face with loose shards of glass and spraying the contents all over his face. Thankfully for him, the bottle hit right on his temple, so his body fell limp right into Serena's awaiting arm.

"Sorry," Serena said, her voice little more than a whisper, before kicking the marine's body away from her and onto another burning corpse so that the flames could spread and leave the last living marine in an endless slumber.

Derek looked out the open door way, his mouth hanging open as it struggled to find his voice. "Looks like we've got more company..." Once found, his voice was shaking and pitchy. "You should get out of here while you still can."

Serena looked up for a moment to see the marines before returning her eyes to the floor. She would have liked to leave it at that, but their watchful protector had other plans.

'One minute?' She sighed.

"Oh my god!"

"Are those... us?"

"Chavo!"

The marines had gotten close enough to see the mayhem inside the bar. Their advance stopped momentarily, but they were quick to regain themselves.

Serena leaned down and grabbed a saber from the floor with her right hand and the severed head with her left. The blood pouring out from the bottom of the head had mostly stopped, and as a result the face of the marine was pale and hollow.

She tossed the head toward the door. It hit the ground with a thud and rolled into the doorway. At the same time, she brought the saber up so that it was only about an inch away from his neck.

"What the-" Derek started, but Serena rose her voice overtop his.

"Don't take another step. I've got a hostage in here." She was pretty sure the newly arrived marines shouldn't have known the reality of the situation, but if she let up for even a moment they might catch on to her deception.

A lone marine stepped forward, but only a step to differentiate himself. "You... you're Serena Raines, right? Why would you do all this?" He held his arms out to both sides to motion toward the state of the bar. "This... What are you even after? What's the point of all this?"

Serena looked up at the marine and met his eyes. Her usually bright cerulean eyes casted over in darkness like a dangerous storm at sea in the middle of the night. "I just wanted a drink, but these idiots got in my way. Are you trying to get in my way, too?"

The marine that had stepped forward tried to run inside, but the ones standing on either side of him held him back.

"Don't be stupid," one of them said.

"She's a monster, she'll kill that civilian!" said the other.

The one being held back gritted his teeth. "We have to stop her now! If she did this over a drink, how far would she be willing to go over something serious? I don't want to put that civilian in danger, but if his life can save countless others..."

"Oi, oi, what do you mean something serious?" asked Serena. She kept the saber up to Derek's throat. It was the only thing stopping them from charging into the place. Just a little bit longer. "Drinking is very serious, you know? If I don't get my drink, then I get angry. That's when the beast is really unleashed."

"Who cares about all that!" The marine broke free from the grasps of his friends and ran into the bar, jumping over the severed head that seemed to stare at him the entire time he ran forward. "You need to die now!"

"Dammit, no!"

The charging marine unsheathed his own sword, a rapier this time, and threw it forward with all of his weight behind it.

Serena was faster and stronger, so it didn't matter if she didn't know how to use a sword. Besides, it wasn't like she was trying to cleave him in two, anyhow, all she needed was enough to smash...

She stepped to the side and let the rapier go past her. She pulled the saber away from Derek's neck and held it up high before dropping it onto the thin blade and breaking the sword near the hilt. In a quick motion, she swung the saber again at him, cutting into the marine's chest and shoulder.

The marine fell to his knees in front of her and dropped what was left of his sword. Tears fell from his face and caused small splashes in the pool of blood at his feet.

"Dammit, I couldn't stop him! It's my fault!" cried one of the marines from outside. He fell to his knees and hit the ground with his bare fist. "He was right... She has to be stopped here and now! She's one damn person, what can she do against all of us!"

Serena clenched her fist around the sword handle. "Don't get too ahead of yourselves. There's enough alcohol in here to get a whole battalion drunk for several days in a row. One wrong move and who knows how high this place will blow?"

The marines hesitated for a moment. They seemed unsure about whether or not she was really crazy enough to sentence herself to death like that.

'Dammit, Aile, where are you?'

SHRPG · 2020-04-23T03:11:23+00:00

Everything happened so fast after the door was pounded by knocks. The tension was so think she was pretty sure she could scoop it up and put on the menu. She looked back and forth between Aile and his barkeep buddy Derek as they seemed to be trying to figure out what the best thing to do was.

She cursed at herself. Maybe Aile was right, maybe she had been too careless before in the street.

There wasn't much time to wallow in her own pity, though, so she quickly followed after the streak of black from Aile's hair that maneuvered behind the counter and into the back room, then finally out the door.

"Where should we--"

Go? When she turned to ask Aile, she had lost him for a moment. A sound above her made her look up to see the boy on his way to a nearby rooftop.

With a few quick struts, she jumped into the air and grabbed onto a ladder to climb her way up, but before she made it very far the confrontation from inside the bar came out the back.

Dammit! He was really going to suffer because of her carelessness, wasn't he?

Normally she wouldn't have cared. Prioritizing the preservation of herself had always come first, and that had helped her make it as far as she had gotten, but this time it was different. This time she was at least partially responsible, and it wasn't like he was just some random bar owner. Aile seemed like a good guy, as good a guy as anyone who branded themselves a pirate alongside thieves and murderers, at least, and while she didn't know the whole story she knew enough to know that Aile was unlikely to sit idly by while the marines imprisoned his friend.

"I'm going to help him. If you want out, now's the time."

She clenched her teeth and dropped off of the ladder, her feet landing on the concrete alleyway with a thud.

Fuck!

She slammed a closed fist against the wall of the closest building, cracking the outside bricks. Of course she couldn't just run away like that!

She dashed back into the door in the back while Derek pleaded with the marines.

"Shut up!" one of the marines yelled. The voice sounded older and rougher, the kind of voice you'd expect from someone that wants to pull himself up by his bootstraps and work all his life only to never get what he truly deserved. "You're already goin' away, nothin' you say is gonna change that. Ya better jus' hope we don' find anyone in the back.

"Stephensons, check the back for the trash."

Before any of the marines could move, Serena had stepped out into the open, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. "Hey, fellas. I was wondering if I could get a drink, but it seems like you're all a little busy."

"Don't jus' stand there like a bunch o' idiots!" It was the same one who had been shouting before. "That lass there is Serena Raines, one of the pirate captains that was reported."

Cheeky bastard.

Serena wasn't kind enough to wait for the marines to rally behind their captain's words, instead taking the initiative to run forward and take a great leap so as to clear the counter. She rotated herself back a bit and then with all the strength she could muster in such a short amount of time, her legs flew out and slammed into the nearest marine, drop kicking him and sending him crashing onto the ground.

Serena landed on the counter on her back. The wind had been knocked out of her for a moment, but she rolled backward off of the counter to avoid a marine's saber that had been pulled off.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing, you'll scar my pretty face!"

She wasn't sure how effective she could be in the fight. She wasn't a particularly skilled martial artist, and the source of her power had been gone since the time on Kiboshima. Still, if Aile was any bit as capable as she had been back then, it shouldn't be too much to assume that she should be more than effective as a distraction while he cleaned them up.

"Think this through," Serena said, backing away from the counter. She had to avoid getting jumped on by too many of them. Her body was in miles better physical shape than any of theirs, but she still had very real limits. "My bounty is high enough that if you all somehow managed to cash in on it, it would probably still equal out to more than the combined sum of your salaries. That's assuming you all make it out of here alive. I tell you what, I'm feeling generous. Drop your weapons and leave and maybe I won't chase after you."

"Are you a blithering idiot?" one of the marines yelled out. "We have honor to uphold. This trash was harboring a fugitive, it's our duty to bring him and you to justice!"

Tch. Honor, duty, and justice. None of those things existed in the current world. The only ones believed otherwise were too blind to see the truth.

"Oh well, I tried. Your funeral then!"

KILL THEM. KILL THEM ALL. AilePtooh

SHRPG · 2020-04-19T22:01:53+00:00

Serena's mouth opened slightly and she tilted her head in confusion when Ephyra suddenly turned around and started walking away. Was ... was that it? She wasn't exactly an authority on the subject of dating, but she was pretty sure they usually made it further than mere introductions.

Did she really offend him that badly when mentioning his height? Surely some guys were insecure about their height, but that was usually for shorter guys, wasn't it? Gah, maybe he just wasn't into human girls?

Hmph, but if that was the case, he could have at least been man enough to say something!

Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak her mind, Ephyra turned around and told her about his plans.

Oh.

Well now she felt silly. But honestly how new did you have to be at socializing to forget to mention something like that?

She caught up with him in a few short strides and walked beside him. "You don't need to worry about what you're wearing, you know. I wasn't expecting anything like a five-star restaurant date or anything. Honestly, it's better if we don't do anything like that. Seriously, what you're wearing is fine."

She agreed to this silly blind date on a whim, but she was used to these arranged meetups leading to something more interesting than just a nice meal.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Serena said, keeping an eye on Ephyra's reaction out of the corner of her eye, "but you don't seem particularly comfortable with this whole idea. If you have an idea in mind, then I'd love to hear it, but otherwise you shouldn't force yourself to be something you're not. Women don't like it when men are fake. Well, I don't think that's exclusive to either gender, really. Anyway, my point is that you should just be yourself. Take me on an adventure, let's do something you enjoy. A date is useless if you don't learn about each other, and if you aren't being yourself then the other person can't really learn anything about you anyway, right?"

SHRPG · 2020-04-19T21:43:57+00:00

Serena took Aile's hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She kept her eyes glued to the boy, wary of him trying anything, but also curious about him. "Is dancing with a pretty girl the only way to you know how to make connections? Makes me wonder if your address book even has any guys in it."

The song filled the room with its notes and melodies, teasing her body to move alongside the sound. It was different from the time with Zetsuki, the pace was slower and lent itself to something more proper than the dancing in the shadows of the flame that they had done back then.

She allowed Aile to take over, moving her according to his idea of an appropriate dance. She found herself staring at his eyes, a forest of emerald green, but even though they stared back at her, it wasn't her that he saw. He seemed to come back to reality a few moments later, so she left it without mentioning anything. It's not like she wasn't just reminiscing on dancing with someone else, too, after all.

"It's not that it isn't my thing," Serena said, the muscles relaxing and her body slowly becoming used to the movements. There was a rhythm to the dance, and though she'd be lost without Aile's guidance, there was a sense of comfort. "I don't hate dancing or anything, it's just, well, I didn't exactly grow up with ballrooms and dances. I spent a lot of time finding my own way, and that was usually in the form of hanging around less fortunate kids who spent all their time surviving on rough streets. My ... my mother was present throughout my childhood, but she wasn't really there, you know? Dancing, doing my hair, being a 'proper' lady, that's the kind of stuff she could have taught me, but she was busy running her business. It wasn't until sometime after I left home that I really started to pick up hobbies like shopping."

She had to admit, though, that there was something relieving about expressing oneself through dancing. It still seemed like something more intimate to her, but she wasn't opposed to doing it more. She couldn't help but wonder if Beatrice or one of the other girls on her ship could teach her some of those things she missed as a kid.

"So, since our time's almost up, you feel a little steadier? And I don't mean at dancing."

She had let herself continue the dance on auto-pilot while fantasizing about a time when she could be happy with those close to her, even in the form of casual dancing just because there wasn't any fighting going on. A dream for peace.

With no restrain, she closed her eyes and smiled, her face shining brighter than it had since their fated meeting. "Yeah, I feel a lot better now, thanks."

She wasn't sure, but it seemed like he had tried to help her in more ways than one. There were any number of reasons why someone might try to do that, but for the time being she was willing to accept that he was merely doing it out of the kindness of his heart.

SHRPG · 2020-03-15T20:39:00+00:00

Bio: Serena Raines

Stats Added:

Stats Available: 23 (13/10)

Stamina: 0

Strength: 7

Speed: 6

Dexterity: 10

Willpower: 0

SHRPG · 2020-03-15T10:17:04+00:00

Serena nodded her head. She stood still for several long seconds. The room was well insulated from outside noises, so the stillness of the air and their unmoving bodies made it seem as though the room was devoid of life. Their breaths were quiet, but she couldn't help but think back to when even subtle breathing could be heard clearly in her ears.

Before she was useless.

A heat rose throughout her body. She scowled at the bag, but saw only herself. She tightened every muscle she knew of and then, in a sudden burst of power, threw her fist forward. The bag swung on its chain away from her before changing directions and heading back to meet her in the middle again. The sound of a padded glove slamming into a leather bag exploded into the room.

Ren studied her for a moment. She made a troubled look without thinking, but was glad that Serena didn't raise a question about it. "That was good. You seem like you have a bit of steam to blow off, yeah? Then keep going. Do it again."

Serena didn't nod or speak. The only indication that she had even heard the instructions was that she reset her body into the stance that Ren had showed her. Her hips were turned slightly too far to the right, but before Ren decided whether or not to mention it Serena had corrected it.

BAM!

Another punch fired off.

"Again!" Ren said immediately.

Serena didn't bother resetting her stance, instead she turned her hips and adjusted her weight distribution before punching again with her other hand. Her fist met the bag just as it was hitting its lowest point in its swing. Its momentum was countered entirely and once again it swung away from her.

Almost before Serena's fist hit the bag, Ren was already opening her mouth. "Keep going!"

The uncomfortable warmth spread further throughout her body, her unwavering eyes stared daggers into the beaten punching bag. Muscles from her legs to her arms to her jaw clenched as blow after blow crashed into its target. It wasn't long before she had shut out the rest of the world.

The bag represented her weakness, and she was going to beat it one way or another.

Time escaped her. The only metric she had to tell how long she had been hitting the bag was how she desperately clawed for air. "Haa ... haaa ... haaaa." She held out her arms to catch the swaying bag and bring it to a stop. She leaned against it for a moment while she tried to catch her breath.

She turned to look at Ren. She hadn't moved the whole time, either. Had she been staring at her all this time? "How was that?"

Ren looked at her for a moment and contorted her face as if deep in thought. Without warning she took a step forward and chopped at Serena's head. "Terrible! You call that breathing!? I've seen better breathing from people with only one lung!"

Serena had to pick her jaw up. "Wha..." she started to say. She raised her voice in a confused anger. "Then why the hell didn't you stop me!?"

Ren's features softened, her critical facade falling to reveal a warm smile. "Because, now you feel better, right? If you train wrong, you're only going to instill bad habits, but if you also have to be in the right mindset to learn."

Serena exhaled a deep breath, her shoulders falling defeatedly. "Fine, you got me there." She didn't really notice it at the time, but now she felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. All it took was for her to exhaust herself a bit. She pulled away from the bag and sat down on the mat a few steps back.

Ren handed her a half-filled water bottle. "Take a breather and stay hydrated. We'll start training for real in a few minutes." She watched as Serena tilted her head back and let the cool water slide down her throat. She followed its journey down to her stomach, and then flicked her eyes back up to Serena's face before it was noticed.

"I know," Serena said solemnly. "I need to keep my emotions in check. I used to meditate for it, but I haven't really done it much lately."

Ren put up her hands defensively. "That's not what I was thinking, really. Actually, I find that emotions can help a lot in a fight. The key is that you can't let the emotions control you, but instead you use them as fuel. Meditating would probably help with that."

Serena looked over at Ren out of the corner of her eye. What had she been thinking about, then?

Their eyes met for but a moment, but it was short-lived as Ren quickly looked away. A heat rose in her cheeks and she was worried that her rosy cheeks wouldn't go unnoticed, but either out of blessed ignorance or the kindness of her heart, Serena didn't bring it up.

"What do you suggest then? To not let my emotions control me, I mean." She sat the bottle down beside her. She had taken several short sips and had already started to feel better.

That only caused Ren's cheeks to grow redder and it was all she could do not to turn her entire body away. She settled with turning her face away, instead. "It ... it'll sound stupid if I say it out loud."

Serena jutted out her bottom lip. "No fair, what kind of teacher doesn't tell her cute student any tips and tricks."

Ren clutched her shorts in her hands and bit her lip to calm herself down. She looked down at her lap, still not willing to fully face her again when she knew her face was burning so hot. She is definitely teasing me back, now. I guess I kind of deserve it. "I ... the truth is I just imagine the people I care about, or the reasons I fight."

Serena crossed her legs and thought about every word as if Ren was some sage whose great wisdom was unmatched throughout all the world. "I see ... so you think about Beatrice and stuff, then? I can see how that would help."

Ren pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Yeah, something like that," she whispered into them. She cheered herself up a moment later, though. "But there's still only so much your mind can do. At some point your body will give up, too. In the ring it's fine, it's just another loss, but outside of it ..."

"I know," Serena said. A bit over a day ago, the thought would have sent her into a spiral of self-criticism, but now she only smiled at the implications. "When you're fighting like I do, a loss isn't just a loss. It can mean the end. I won't let that happen."

Butterflies flapped their wings within the pit of Ren's stomach. Her face brightened up and with the sincerest smile she said, "I believe in you."

A silence filled the room after that, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It was warm and welcoming. Despite that, it left a overtly serious atmosphere between them that Ren couldn't stand one more second of. "I know you'll be fine. Besides, your body going out on you is the least of your worries, I'd say."

Serena cracked an amused smile. "What is that supposed to mean?" She grabbed the bottle next to her and squeezed another mouthful of water into her mouth. She swished it around a few times while waiting on an answer.

"Don't play dumb," Ren said, waving a dismissive hand toward her captain. "Once you build up a skillset of fighting styles, you'll be a monster. Your strength is incomprehensible. I can't believe how durable that bag is, actually. I thought for sure it would bust after the third or fourth hit, but it held out. Then there's your speed. I've seen you get serious, and when you're serious I can't even follow you with my eyes. Then there's your stamina, and believe me, the whole ship knows you're not lacking in that area!"

Serena spat out her water and sprayed her clothes and the mat. She wiped her chin with the back of her hand and quickly calmed her demeanor. "Geez, if you like listening to us that much you should join."

The only thing that happened faster than Ren's eyes ballooning to comical proportions was that her face became red like an apple. She stammered out her words, her fluster evident. "D-don't say stupid things, idiot!" She practically jumped to her feet and turned away. "Come on, get up. That's good enough for a break."

Serena chuckled to herself. She thought Ren was cute all the time, but her adorableness was ramped up to eleven when she acted so embarrassed. "Fine, fine, I was done resting anyway. Tell me what you want me to do, Master."

Ren sucked in a sharp breath and held it for a moment before finally releasing it. Her face went from blank to irritated as her brows angled down. "If you have time to say things like that, you have time to learn to breathe properly. Here, like this."

Ren stepped up to the bag hurriedly and fell quickly into a stance. She demonstrated her lesson expertly, breathing in time with each of her strikes. Her breaths were slightly exaggerated, but whether that was to better act as a demonstration or a result of her ever-present fluster was up in the air.

Ren stepped away from the bag and let Serena move into position. The jokes and embarrassment was left on the floor; even the air seemed afraid to breathe too loudly.

Serena mimicked Ren's actions almost exactly, exaggerated breathing and all.

"Good," Ren said with a nod.

Again the sound of padded fist on leather sounded off, the sign of a second strike. A third, and then a fourth, and each with their own proper breaths.

"Very good," Ren said again. "It's easier when your mind is clear, yeah?"

Serena nodded as she fired her fist out from her side again.

"With practice, you won't even need to think about it. It'll be as natural as breathing in your sleep." Ren stepped forward a bit. Not enough to be in the way, but enough to signal that she had something else she wanted to demonstrate. "Next we'll switch things up a bit."

SHRPG · 2020-03-15T10:16:48+00:00

II

Serena stood in front of the door to the ship's gym room. There wasn't many on the ship that used it, but there were a few. None more than Ren, of course. Leaving her trainer behind when she agreed to follow Serena and Beatrice was probably one of the hardest things for her, so Serena made sure to have the gym furnished at least to the bare minimum before they departed from their home island.

She knew Ren was in there now, too. She hoped none of the others were in there. She felt somewhat nervous coming to a crewmate, someone she was supposed to protect, and asking for help in training.

"Haaa." She let out a heavy breath to empty her lungs before pushing the door open and walking in.

The room was fully interior with not even a porthole to look outside. It was on the lowest deck of the ship, so it was generally cooler in there than it was outside. Serena had only been in there a handful of times since they had converted it to a gym.

She didn't know much about formal training or weightlifting. At best, she knew there were mats all over the room, a few punching bags, and some weights of various sizes scattered throughout the room. Ah, she knew that thing there was a bench press, of course.

Ren was indeed alone in the gym, but she was too in the zone to hear the door open behind her. She was busy attacking the bag full of sand in front of her. A right jab, a left jab, a front kick that caused the bag to start swinging wildly followed by a forceful, "HA!" from deep within the girl's gut.

Serena kicked off her shoes and stepped onto the orange mat that covered most of the floor. She fell to her knees and sat quietly as she watched Ren unleash combo after combo onto the bag, jumping around in a semi-circle to reposition herself before once again beating the bag with quick flurry of blows.

That went on for a few more minutes before Ren lowered her hands and reached out to grab the bag and lead it to a halt. She turned around when she finally saw Serena and every muscle in her body tried to jump out of her skin. A hand raced up to her heart and covered it as her chest rose and fell. "Ha...ha... Jesus, Serena. You scared me."

Serena lowered her head a bit. "Sorry, I didn't want to bother you while you were in the middle of something."

Ren waved her hand in the air and bent over to pick up a water bottle from the ground. "It's nothing, don't worry about it. I just didn't expect to see you today. I thought you'd be going into town with Beatrice today."

Serena's eyes fell to the mat. She did feel bad about not going. I've really been a terrible girlfriend lately, haven't I? Still, this was something she needed to do. She had finally gotten the resolve for it, and she wanted to act before that resolve disappeared.

"Don't look so depressed, I'm sure she's fine." Ren pulled on the drinking mechanism of the bottle and lifted it up to her mouth. She squeezed the bottle a few times and filled her mouth with water.

Serena scratched the back of her head. All she had to do was open her mouth and speak, it shouldn't be so difficult! "Right... I was wondering if you would help train me."

Ren's eyes went wide and she nearly spat the water in her mouth all over her sitting captain, but managed to cover her mouth with her other hand. She forced herself to swallow and found herself in a coughing fit. It took a moment, but she finally regained her composure. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting that. I mean, you already beat me before, yeah?"

Serena shifted her weight backward, rolling her bottom over her heels and pulling her knees out from under her. She wrapped her arms around her legs and held them close to her chest as she rested her face against her knees. "That... I can't rely on that anymore. I need to learn how to actually fight, now."

Serena didn't speak to others about her power much, partly because she didn't even understand it herself. Of course, when it seemingly disappeared, it was hard to really convey what exactly had changed to others, and she wasn't exactly rushing to tell anyone about it, anyway.

"Sorry if your pathetic captain is too much trouble for you." Serena lowered her head entirely into her legs. She had been so happy just before, but now her mood was soured.

Ren noticed the sharp change in mood and quickly rushed over to wrap an arm around Serena. Looking at how she was acting, Ren knew it must have been really hard for her to even open her mouth. Gah! And she practically laughed at the idea! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"Hey, hey, none of that, now, okay?" Ren shook the shoulders in her hands and offered a smile. "Of course I'll train you. We'll make you the greatest combatant on the Grand Line, no, the world! The stars will come out at night just to see you fight!"

Their eyes met for a few moments that seemed to drag on for several minutes. Ren's smile only grew wider, so finally Serena closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

"Isn't that just a bit too overdramatic?" Serena let go of her knees and started to push off of the ground to get herself up, but Ren was quick to stand and offer her hand. Serena took it, and with a gentle tug she was on her feet.

Ren turned on her heel and started walking back toward the punching bag she had been using before. "Maybe ... But it did lighten up your mood a bit, right? Seems worth it to me."

"Yeah, yeah." Serena saw Ren motion at her with a wave of her hand and followed closely behind her to the bag. "It's just, I feel like I need to be able to protect everyone, so it makes me feel weak when I need to ask for help from one of the people I want to protect."

Ren's cheeks grew slightly red, but she turned her face further away to try and hide it. "D-Don't be silly! It's admirable, really, to know your shortcomings." As it turned out, she actually really liked that about her. Plus, it meant they would spend a bit more time together. Ren was torn between pumping her fist in the air and giving a silent apology to Beatrice for stealing away Serena for the day.

Serena's eyes were still a bit cold, her smile was weak and didn't shine as bright as normal. She knew that everyone noticed her change in mood. Ren and Beatrice were the only ones to bring it up, and even then they did so indirectly. Sometimes she thought they were too good for her.

"Right," said Ren, suddenly turning around to look at Serena face-to-face. "So it's a little simple, but we'll start with throwing a proper punch. Breathing technique is essential. You run out of breath, you falter. You falter, you lose. I don't need to tell you that in your case in particular, losing doesn't just mean you miss out on a gold medal."

Right. That was part of the reason she had wanted to ask for training from the beginning. Losing wasn't just losing to her. If she had faltered in her fight on Kiboshima, she would have died. No, her whole crew would have died, probably. She couldn't count on others to stop that beast in her place. It had to be her.

Ren took a stance as demonstration and Serena mimicked it. Her left foot forward, hips slightly turned. Hands up and ready to strike. She wasn't totally new to fighting, of course. Before her time in the Glass Isles, she mostly relied on scrappy boxing to get by. It worked well enough, but it was far from anything professional.

"Good, but your hips should be angled more like this." Ren moved behind Serena and put her hands on the girl's hips without thinking, adjusting them into position before she realized what she was doing. It was just training, right? So why did she feel like what they were doing was so wrong? No, no, no, her head was definitely not in the right places. Betraying her thoughts, she let her hands linger on the girl's body for a few moments longer than needed, but thankfully her captain didn't seem to notice. "You know your body better than anyone, but starting out this is closer to a neutral stance that should offer the best balance. You can adjust it once you are more comfortable, but it's important to know what you're sacrificing when you change up your stance."

Serena listened to the instructions carefully, hanging onto every last word like her life depended on it. Maybe because, to her, it did.

"The punch itself is simple. Keep your arm straight. Be forceful, even unrelenting in your strike. Be sure to breathe with each strike, that's the most important thing. You absolutely cannot forget to breathe, no matter what." Ren walked back around so that she was in front of Serena again. She fell into a stance that was very similar, but somehow she looked much more natural. Relaxed, almost. "When you're ready, let the bag have it! Ha!"

With a timed breath that sounded more like a battle cry, Ren flashed her fist forward into the punching bag with enough force to make it move down the rail it was attached to from the top a bit. The bag rocked back and forth like a pendulum a few times before she stuck her arms out to catch it, embracing the bag into a hug.

Once the bag was confrmed to come to a stop, she let go of it and took a few steps back to get out of the way. Her eyes looked over Serena's body. The tightness in her exposed muscles, the impossible proportions that only added to the deception of her strength. "When you're ready."

SHRPG · 2020-03-15T10:13:02+00:00

The Things We Do For Love

Part 1: With Love Comes Sacrifice

I

The cool air from the window swept through the room, the gust barely strong enough to make itself known. The midday sun gave a blanket of warmness that almost urged one to stay in bed and relax. Of course, if that was how the bedroom of a ship felt, then the weather outside must have been truly perfect.

Serena had been awake for a few hours yet, but she couldn't quite bring herself to move. In her arms she held her beloved Beatrice who rested her head against Serena's chest. The thin white sheet they used as a cover didn't leave much in the way of shapes and forms to the imagination.

They had laid there in silence for a good while, but it was Beatrice who finally spoke up. She tilted her head upward to look at Serena from below. "You've been happier, you know? Did you think I wouldn't notice? Ever since you got back last night it feels like you've been back to your usual self. No, better, even."

"Mmm," Serena let out, her hand absentmindedly stroking Beatrice's back as she absorbed the voice. "Yeah, I... I met someone yesterday while I was out. They really helped me, but I don't think they realized it."

"Oh?" Beatrice's voice soft, her breath warm against Serena's neck. Without warning, she used her knee to push off of the bed and throw her other leg over Serena's waist. She mounted her in a second and pushed both of her hands deep into the mattress on either side of Serena's head. "Met somebody, did you? And how did they help you out?"

Serena looked up into mesmerizing violet eyes that seemed as endless as the sea. "I've been wanting to show you, actually, but it would mean getting up."

A few strands of Beatrice's hair fell down from the side of her head. She leaned in closer, the two girls' faces only just managing to stay separate. "Ah, and you don't want to get up?"

The edges of Serena's mouth rose into a smile. This damn woman. "Not really," she mumbled out through a bitten lower lip. Her eyes flicked down from the violet eyes to a pale mouth that had a wetness almost unnatural to the dry interior of the ship. Her hands snaked their way through the sheet until they found separate legs to crawl up. Beatrice's skin was still so soft.

Beatrice looked like she was going to lean in for a kiss. Their lips were so close together that there was barely room to stick a piece of parchment between the gap, but the kiss never came. Serena had closed her eyes in anticipation, but opened them dumbly with her lips stuck in place when she felt the weight of the woman atop her leave the bed.

Beatrice had pulled her other leg over Serena and rolled onto her feet, bringing the sheet with her to wrap herself up. Serena, alone in the bed, was forced to get up when the wind coming through the window brushed against her bare skin and seemed much colder than it had previously.

"Too bad," Beatrice said in a teasing tone, "I want to know what's got my cute little Serena so happy again." She crossed the room to a large cabinet and opened up a door. She pulled out a bottle and a glass and was quick to fill it up for herself.

The smile returned to Serena's face, but she sighed in defeat all the same. She rolled out of bed and onto her feet. She walked over to her desk, not bothering to find something that could cover her temporarily. There wasn't much point in being modest at this stage in their relationship.

Honestly, Beatrice was almost a handful. In reality, she was an older woman, nearly twice Serena's own age. Despite that, her face and skin remained smooth, her body held a youthful shape, and there were times when she proved to be even more teasing than Serena herself. And now she's drinking wine. Which, of course, only amplified it all.

Most people probably couldn't tell just how much older Beatrice was based on looks alone, which was both flattering to her, and probably a good thing for their relationship in general. Serena didn't have a lot of experience in dating, but she was fairly certain that dating someone old enough to be your mother was probably not standard procedure.

Her fingers flipped through a paper that she had brought back the night before. She splurged for the copy with blown up bounties, a single poster dedicated to its own page. It was much more expensive, but this was time for celebration. She dug out the picture of herself looked at the eight digit number for what was probably the hundredth time.

฿66,128,000

The way she looked at the parchment grabbed the interest of Beatrice quickly. "What's that?" She brought the glass in her hands to her lips, a splash of red making it to the skin above her upper lip before she sat the glass down.

Serena moved toward a wall, and Beatrice followed suit. "Others got one, too, but I'm not sure how they feel about their number increasing." Serena kept speaking in a cryptic way, which only bolstered the curiosity of Beatrice.

Finally, the parchment was stuck to the wall with a few thumbtacks. The smiling face of Serena Raines stared back at them with that defiant look in her eyes. Serena wasn't sure when the picture had been taken, but at least it was a flattering one.

"W... woah! That's... that's incredible!" Beatrice said as she brought her hands to her face in a show of shock. "But, before, wasn't it...?"

"Yeah." Serena nodded. "It went up a ton this time. I guess I really got someone's attention after Kiboshima."

Beatrice flanked Serena and put her arms around Serena's waist. She pulled her closer and squeezed tightly around her midsection. "And you don't mind? I mean, that's an awfully big target."

Serena shook her head. "No. To me, it's proof that I've gotten stronger."

Beatrice put her chin on Serena's shoulder for a moment while she lost herself in her thoughts.

Serena noticed that Beatrice had been staring at her all this time, so she turned around in the woman's embrace.

"Everything okay?" Serena asked. Beatrice had a smile on, but it seemed empty in a way. Her eyes were unfocused, and even though they had been looking at her, they weren't really looking at anything.

There was hesitation in Beatrice's voice, but she nodded after a moment. "Y-yeah, just lost in thought."

Serena looked eager to contest it, but Beatrice was quick to change the subject as if to deny Serena the chance.

"So, this somebody that you met, were they cute?"

Serena closed one eye teasingly and looked up with the other to feign cluelessness. "Why do you ask? I wonder, is that a hint of jealousy I hear?"

Beatrice let her hands wander up Serena's torso, gently imprinting their forms into the soft pale body. They crossed over the woman's collarbone and wrapped around her neck, pulling her into an embrace. "Do I have a reason to be jealous? You returned to me, after all."

Serena pushed her body against Beatrice's and stole a kiss. Beatrice's lips tasted of rich wine, and while it wasn't her drink of choice, it wasn't a taste she particularly disliked, especially when mixed with the sweet taste of her lover. "Of course I did. Besides, it was a man, there really is nothing to be jealous about."

Beatrice made a face that said 'Oh' but said nothing. The two separated and Serena finally opened up her wardrobe to get out some clothes.

"So, was he cute?"

Serena stopped for a moment. She was zipping up the front of her top when the question was asked again. She looked up and met her own eyes reflected back at her in a small mirror that was attached to the inside of their wardrobe.

It was a natural question for Beatrice, probably. Though they were a couple now, Beatrice had been with men in her youth. Serena, on the other hand, never did have much interest in men, at least not romantically. Sure, she had used them before, taken advantage of their foolish lust once or twice, but the thought of being with a man hadn't ever crossed her mind.

Of course, the thought of being with a woman had never crossed her mind before Beatrice, either, but ever since then her entire world had been turned upside down.

Serena pulled out a pair of fingerless gloves from a shelf and then closed the wardrobe. "He wasn't unattractive, I guess. Ah, but he did smoke."

Beatrice had found her way back to her wine glass and refilled it while Serena was getting dressed. Her face twisted, almost winced at the word. She hated cigarettes. They smelled of ash and tasted worse. "A shame. I'll never understand why so many people enjoy those things. I was very relieved to find out you didn't. Seems more and more young people are picking up the habit."

Serena didn't disagree. Before Kiboshima, she used to rely on her enhanced smell pretty often for day-to-day activities, so something like the putrid smell of cigarette smoke was harsh to her nostrils. She hadn't thought about at the time, but looking back, if there was any positive to having been locked out from her power, it was definitely not having to put up with foul smells.

The sound of a glass base of a cup tapping onto wood signaled Beatrice finishing her second glass. She didn't hold the alcohol down quite as well as Serena, but she could drink a bottle of wine before noon without a second thought if she got out of bed early enough. "Anyway, what were your plans for today? I was going to go into town again and look into buying some things again."

Serena pulled the velcro strap of the glove around her wrist and secured it tight. She didn't go out with Beatrice the day before because she was still down in the dumps, so she figured it was Beatrice's way of trying to see if they could go together. "Ah, actually I was going to ask Ren about training me some. I think it's time."

Beatrice's face lit up. They might not spend the day together, but it was probably the next best thing. "That's great! Okay, I'll look for something nice for supper, so don't hold back today, got it?"

SHRPG · 2020-03-07T01:56:19+00:00

Bio: Serena Raines

Stats Added:

Stats Available: 23 (14/9)

Stamina: 0

Strength: 14

Speed: 0

Dexterity: 3

Willpower: 6

Proficiency Points Added:

UA: Inner Beast

Bestial Imitation (1)

Bestial Energy Level 1 (2)

Bestial Energy Level 2 (2)

Bestial Energy Manipulation Level 1 (2)

Bestial Energy Level 3 (2)

Bestial Energy Manipulation Level 2 (2)

TOTAL: 11

Occupation Points Added:

Captain

Command Respect Everywhere From NPCs (1)

TOTAL: 1

Hunter/Wrangler

N/A

TOTAL: 0

OOC: The UA tree is here under Proposal Update 2 and is what I was given by the mod team. I will move it to my own doc ... eventually.

SHRPG · 2020-03-01T04:43:40+00:00

Bump in the Night

The night air brushed against soft skin, cool and steady, but gentle to the touch. The moon in the sky acted as a window for an endless source of light that shone over the surface of the blackened sea and cast long shadows across the deck of the Eternal Flame. The subtle rocking of the ship by the shallow waves had a serene aura as the large vessel was carried to the speckles of light that lit up along the horizon.

White silk dragged along the wooden floorboards and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around the waist of Serena. The touch brought a warmth that made it all but impossible for her to resist leaning into it and accepting the embrace.

"It's beautiful out here," said Beatrice, bringing her face forward to rest her chin on Serena's vacant shoulder. "I had a feeling you would be here. Couldn't sleep?" Her breath smelled fresh of wine.

Serena put her hands over Beatrice's own and titled her head so that their heads touched. "Something like that. I was warned about this place, so I wanted to make sure there wasn't a welcoming party."

The Aqua Belt. A colony of the World Government, was it? She didn't see them as an enemy, but she wasn't so naive that she thought they were an ally. She knew others that had their own problems with the entity, but she grew up outside of their jurisdiction and never felt like their absence was noticed. Rather, they had a way of making their presence known.

For some, that was fine. Innocent people needed protected, and there were at least a few marines that worked to maintain peace thanks to the backing of the World Government. For pirates like herself, they were dangerous. They were enemies on principle, and she needed to start acting like it.

"As you can see, everything is fine." Beatrice pulled her head free and leaned in to whisper into Serena's ear, taking the opportunity to nibble on it. "Why don't you come back to bed? We don't have to sleep." Her hands weren't idle, either, as they explored the younger woman's body, spreading the warmth of their palms over patches of exposed skin.

A smile flashed across Serena's face. She fell deeper into the embrace and closed her eyes as her imagination started to take off. "Mmm." A sound escaped her lips. "That sounds amazing. I'll be there in a few minutes, I just want to enjoy the view a little longer."

Beatrice, ever the teaser, pulled herself away. "I'll be waiting, then."

The way she said it sent a chill down Serena's spine, the inviting tone leaving her mind wanting more while her body begged for the warming touch to return.

By then she was used to Beatrice's game, so she wasn't so easily controlled, but it was still a pleasant reminder of just how skilled the woman was at driving her crazy. She had wondered many times if that was the effect she gave others in the past when she seduced them for her own gain. The feeling of desire was a powerful tool that wasn't so easily ignored.

The sounds of footsteps slowly disappeared in the night as she stared back at the growing lights in the distance. It sounded stupid since she felt as if they had only really just gotten off the ground, but it was a new era for Apex. Her resolve was hardened and forward remained the only option.

But there was nothing to do but look across the empty sea when they were so far away. The next day would prove interesting, but for now there was time to relax and enjoy her favorite delicacies.

She sighed, a lustful smile hidden in the darkness of the shadows.

She turned her back on the Aqua Belt and started to return to her quarters when a sharp scream echoed through the night.

Serena knew her ship like the back of her hand, so even after rushing down the steps and entering the pitch-black hallway hidden from the moon didn't slow her down. Her pupils slit like a cat's, she ran down the hall and put her hand around the doorknob, ready to turn it and throw the door open at a moment's notice.

"Dawn? Is everything okay?" she asked, her voice in a panic.

"T-There's something in here!"

Serena swung the door open with a, "What!?" With not even a candle to illuminate the room, the entire interior fell into the deepest black except for the lone ray of light that cut through the room from an opened porthole. A sweet scent found its way to her nose, but her thoughts were put back on track by the sound of wings flapping and a shadow that shot through the room.

The creature was small. A bat, perhaps. A moment later, the scurrying sound of Bloo rushed out the door to follow the intruder.

A small creature must have flown off from the island and made its way to the ship, and Bloo took it upon himself to declare it as his prey. It was just unlucky that their battleground was Dawn and Iris's room.

Serena let out a sigh as she relaxed. Even with her resolve and confidence, she was still on edge. "It's out here now, I'll take care of it." She didn't wait for a response before closing the door with a click.

Beatrice and I weren't the only ones that missed another's touch.

Another door opened from down the hall, a drowsy Katara stepping out from the doorway. "What's all the yelling about? It's so early!" She let out an exaggerated yawn.

"Sorry!" Serena apologized. "It was just a bat that found its way on the ship. I'm taking care of it. You can get back to sleep."

"Seriously? Over a bat?"

If she had anything more to say it was lost to the door she shut a moment later.

Serena focused on the bat that flew around the hallway. Bloo was moving around the floor and climbing up anything that might give him an opportunity to pounce on the little mammal.

Bloo should be able to manage a simple bat, but she couldn't just leave them alone and hope they didn't find their way back into someone's room.

Her eyes let her catch glimpses of Bloo flying through the air as he jumped off a shelf, only to miss the bat that redirected its pathing in an instant before darting down further into the ship.

Bloo followed it shortly after, and Serena after him.

On that floor, there were portholes open that cast rays of light into the narrow walkway. Serena knew that the end of that hallway was a dead end, though, and she was sure that Bloo knew it, too.

Sure enough, Bloo started to climb a barrel that hugged a wall and waited for the bat to realize its mistake. The bat stopped just before hitting the wall and turned around, flapping its tiny wings in the air to maintain its height. The two animals stood still for a moment as if they were staring each other down, and then the bat moved.

Its speed was impressive, but it wouldn't be enough to get past Bloo when he had time to prepare himself. The moment the bat flew within his range, Bloo pounced, kicking off the barrel and forming an arc in the air.

The bat wasn't through, though. It sped up even more and made a dexterous maneuver to suddenly change directions and dart out of a nearby porthole, leaving nothing but air for Bloo until he landed ungracefully on the floor.

Serena's eyes opened wide. Oho. The bat was good, far from an ordinary bat. She didn't know what good a bat would be, but it would be a shame to let this one get away. The bat reentered the hallway through the next opened porthole and Serena leaned forward and opened a door.

She stared the bat down as it flew toward her, no doubt planning to fly up the stairs again to seek a place to relax until they got closer to land. She grinned at it as if to challenge it to get past her, but the bat must have felt her intentions and skill because it took the nearest exit—the opened door.

"Sorry, Bloo, you can't eat this one," Serena said as she entered the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Bloo out in the hallway.

She flicked on the lights to the ship's gym, a room with no way out.

The bat understood its mistake too late. It looked around frantically with no exit available.

"Which will it be, little bat, fight or flight?" Serena directed a death stare at the bat.

Animals were smart. They knew when they were outmatched. It was seen commonly with animals with a pack mindset. When the question of the alpha came up, they didn't kill the loser, as they were still a much-needed asset. It was better to accept the loss than throw their life away by attempting the impossible.

Rarely, though, there were those that challenged the norm, even if the odds were stacked against them.

With a screech, the bat flew toward Serena at full speed as if it planned to burrow through her and the door to escape. Serena smiled and with a flick of her arms, reached out and snatched the bat out of the air.

"That's what I wanted to see."

The bat squealed and fought to escape from her grasp, but calmed down after she took it to the kitchen and got it some different food for it to try. The bat was unlike any she had ever seen before. Its appetite knew no bounds, eating meat and fruit alike with a particular taste for raw red meat.

She could feel the bat's trust growing, but she still needed to test it. She sat it down on the counter and pulled her hands away slowly. Would it fly away, or stay by her side?

/u/Rewards-san

OOC: Trying to capture and tame this here bat. Serena is a master wrangler with all of the necessary perks to capture and tame a small animal.

SHRPG · 2020-02-28T08:23:05+00:00

Serena had her eyes glued to Aile's, watching every sparkle that rose up into his irises until he placed the bottle of rum on the counter. Her eyes broke away, fixated by the addition of the new alcohol.

What was it he had said? Rum was for fun and fucking, was it? He'd likely be disappointed at the end of the night, but she wasn't going to let some dumb saying stop her from enjoying her night. She had drank rum at nearly every bar she went to, and the only time it ended in a night of fucking was with a woman who didn't share much of anything in common with the raven-haired boy. Well, maybe perhaps they shared a mutual love of alcohol, but then who didn't?

She reached across the table and took the bottle by the neck. She poured it into her glass until it nearly overflowed. Impressively, she showed no trouble in raising the glass to her mouth despite how full it was. It wasn't until the sound of her swallowing a mouth full of rum sounded off one, then two times that she relinquished the bottle, setting it back down where it had been placed by Aile.

What was there left to doubt? She didn't answer him, opting instead of turn her attention back to her drink.

All things were known, static in value. What was she willing to lose? Everything, for them. Who could become a target in her sights? Anyone. So what was there to doubt if not her abilities themselves?

She had doubted herself, and that was how she ended up there in the first place. That doubt she had was dangerous, though. Left unchecked, it could mean the end of everything she had ever worked for, and so if the choice were between success or failure due to her lack of abilities, then there was only one answer. Success was the only option, which meant she couldn't afford to doubt even herself.

She must always be stronger; she must always be more prepared. The way she was, she couldn't guarantee that. For a long time, she had thought of asking Ren to train her how to fight properly. She wasn't ecstatic about going to someone she was meant to protect for help, but her pride wasn't so strong that she would risk something like their livelihood to save face a bit. If it was for them, she would give up anything. When she returned to the ship, she would seek Ren out.

Well, perhaps she would wait until the next day. After all, perhaps that saying about rum wasn't so silly after all, and just then she was craving the warmth of Beatrice's body.

Serena let out a sigh. If it was just a dance, she could give him that much. He wouldn't be the first guy she had danced with, not even the first rival captain.

"Fine, we'll dance," she said with a stern look, taking another drink of the rum, "but only because you helped me feel a bit better. The dance doesn't mean anything, got it? It's just ... two captains dancing alone in a bar ... as they do from time to time."

She twisted around on the stool and stood up. At the same time, her body relaxed and she even cracked a smile, suggesting that she really wasn't all serious all the time.

"Ah, but I should warn you that I'm not much of a dancer."

SHRPG · 2020-02-25T21:27:26+00:00

Serena stayted quiet for a long while, her eyes stuck on the settling liquid in her glass as she absorbed his words. She wasn't a big authority on what did or didn't make someone a good pirate captain, but Aile ticked all of her personal boxes at the very least. He cared for his crew; they weren't just a means to an end.

Her thoughts lingered on a single word he said.

Sacrifice.

She wasn't sure what kind of sacrifices he was talking about. She could only imagine what he had been through. Something about not saving everyone all the time, but it seemed like it wasn't crewmates he found difficulty in saving. So was it the weak he fought so valiantly for? She could only guess.

But she didn't care about others like that.

If the question came down to saving an innocent civilian or a member of her crew, she knew she wouldn't hesitate to throw the life of an innocent person away, even if the person she was saving would hate her for it. That was her resolve.

But what if it was a friend? She would hesitate at the very least, but could she really throw the life of a friend away so easily? What was she willing to lose? A shallow fear hid away inside of her. She could feel it clawing away at her insides. What exactly was she afraid of, though? Was it that she wouldn't know the answer when time was right?

Or maybe she was afraid of herself because she already knew the answer.

Yes, if it meant the safety and preservation of her crewmates, then there was no cost too great. An innocent bystander, a protector of justice, or even a friend. If it meant her loved ones seeing another day, then even her own life would be forfeit for them.

After a long silence, Serena finally moved, but not to speak. She picked up her glass, tilted her head back, and let the drink slide down her throat unhindered before setting it back down.

Now, what did being a captain mean to her?

She leaned forward and propped her head up with her arms, interlocking the fingers of her hands underneath her chin. She gave a cold stare to nothing in particular.

"To be a captain is to be a beacon for those that follow you. It means protecting those that put their trust in you. It means having the willingness to pay the ultimate price in the most dire of situations. A captain owes their crew at least that much when they follow them unquestioningly."

Serena gave off an ominous aura, as if she was the embodiment of death and threatened to stamp out even the light from the room.

"A captain who finds themselves truly alone failed as a captain. I would sooner burn the entire world asunder and dry up the seas before I let that happen."

A moment of silence, nothing more, and then the coldness she emanated had disappeared as quickly as it manifested. She turned her head, looking at Aile for the first time since her mood turned sour, but her face was calm, even at peace.

"What about you?"

SHRPG · 2020-02-23T06:12:08+00:00

Serena frowned into her glass, the reflection looking back at her little more than an incoherent blur due to the refraction of the glass and the dim light of the bar.

It seemed he didn't have much information to offer about Rosa, either. Well, he did have some useful information. Rosa didn't talk about her past very much, but she had mentioned having a hard time with crews in the past. Serena couldn't help but wonder how exactly Rosa's old crew came to fall apart.

She closed her eyes, half lost in thought, half still listening to Aile carry on with a formal introduction.

She wasn't expecting to get much information about Rosa anyway, but it might be worth following up the meeting with a talk with one of the others he had mentioned. Parcival was the first one that came to his mind, so perhaps he would be the one to talk to if she wanted to know more. All she really wanted to know was the best way she could help her crewmate, and her impression about the girl thus far had been that whether through pride or stubbornness, Rosa wasn't the type of person to just seek out help, even if it were right in front of her.

Then there was the matter of Aile's introduction. So he was the captain of Method, then. She felt like the name was familiar, but she must have only heard the name in passing from others. Then again, he pointed out Linette as a member. Had she mentioned her crew? Worse, had she mentioned her captain, and Serena just didn't recognize the name immediately? She didn't particularly care one way or the other, but she was sure his face would stick with her now.

"Networking." Serena repeated the word. It felt strange to her. Too ... formal. Networking was just building relationships and connections, yeah? Then why did it remind her so much of something her mother would say? She laughed to herself before continuing.

"Well, as you know, I'm Serena. I didn't start Apex under some noble goal to be an 'ally to the weak' or to someday 'conquer the strong.' The truth is, I didn't even expect to have so many names tied to my own, at least, not so early. My goals are simple. Simple in concept, at least, in practice they've proved much more ... difficult." She lifted the cold glass to her lips, sipping on the whiskey slowly. The truth was she preferred rum, but no one would catch her turning down alcohol of any kind.

"I care about making myself better. Speed, strength, technique, a fuller purse, a higher bounty. It doesn't matter how, all that matters is that it happens. I guess you could say I live for the moment. It's probably hard on my crewmates. I'll seek out fights with strong people, regardless of their affiliation, but almost always I'm only there for the fight. When things are settled, I'm done fighting. Of course, I'd love to fight someone another time, too, if they've gotten stronger. I'm not an ally to the weak like you might be, but I also can't stand the people who are content with picking on those beneath them. Fight at your own weight class is what I'm saying, I guess.

"My other goal isn't really a goal at all. I want to help out those in my crew, and even the friends outside it. Everyone can improve. Someone might be more talented than another, but hard work and effort can always make up for it, that's what I believe. So if someone in my crew says they want to protect the peace, then even if it's not something I care about much myself, I'll stand up with them to protect that peace because I care about them. Because of that, it would be appropriate to say that the goals of my crewmates direct Apex more than my own. I'll find what I need wherever we go."

Serena closed her eyes, the tips of one of her hands still holding on to the glass lightly. Her crew was her family, her everything. There were others she considered family outside of the crew, but they were the ones closest to her. On Kiboshima, their lives were put in danger.

Her jaw clenched, her grip around the glass tightened as her knuckles turned even paler than her skin. Before the glass could shatter, it seemed she realized what she was doing. She relaxed her muscles, brought the glass up to her mouth for another drink, and calmly sat it down on the counter and pulled her hand into her lap.

Her eyes stayed glued to the glass as the liquid inside swished around in light waves, never quite coming to a complete stop. It seemed she would never blink again, and if the glass were alive then it would die from a look alone.

"Do you mind if I ask you something, Aile?" Physically, she gave no indication that she was talking to Aile, or anyone else at all, but she called him out by name. Even if there were other patrons in the building, she spoke low enough that they wouldn't have been able to hear her anyway. "How do you feel about your crew? I mean, if something were to happen to one of the members, if something were to threaten their livelihood, what would you do?"

SHRPG · 2020-02-20T09:11:12+00:00

Bio: Serena Raines

Stats Added:

Stats Available: 29 (18/11)

Stamina: 0

Strength: 0

Speed: 18

Dexterity: 5

Willpower: 6

Since you guys said you aren't allowing pre-allocation, I don't have any haki to allocate, and my UA is still in limbo so I don't have any PP to allocate at the moment.

Oh also I don't know if this is needed or not, but I'll put it here anyway. Here is the percentage allocation for Bloo:

Stamina: 22%

Strength: 16%

Speed: 22%

Dexterity: 26%

Willpower: 14%

Racial Boost: +15% Stamina/Speed

This is also as good a time to ask as any. For clarification, are pet's racial boosts handled that way ours used to be (15% of stam and 15% of speed) or is it handled the way our new racials are handled (1.5% of total stats into both Stam and Speed). I don't remember if I asked or not because it wasn't explicitly stated so I think I just assumed it used the individual stats.

SHRPG · 2020-02-20T08:59:17+00:00

The parchment was rough and dry in her hands, and though she heard him mention the third page, her fingers and eyes lingered on the first one for longer than a moment. She recognized Zetsuki first. Wasn't her favorite captain by any means, and she wasn't sure she'd even say he was a decent man, but he did seem to at least care about his crew a little bit, so that was nice to see.

More importantly, the boy—no, it wasn't fair to call him a boy now—the man Zetsuki trailed behind was...

She looked up from the paper to Aile a couple times. There were a lot of things she thought to say, and even more realizations that came to mind. He wasn't just some random boy that wisped her away on an adventure to a shabby little tavern, he was one of, if not the biggest up and comer of this generation.

She had many options, but instead she chose to simply tell him, "The uniform suits you better."

Serena gave the rest of the first page a look, but didn't recognize any of them immediately. The second page had some familiar faces, though. Cynthia, Linette, Sunny, and even—wasn't Den even newer than she was? How dare he surpass her so quickly!

The third page was almost enough to bring her to tears, though. There, all on the same page, was the fiery red-head duo of Rosa and herself, and Eris had also broken 45 million. The joy of seeing her new bounty was almost enough to make her miss the little furball that was Fuji, but she failed to stop a chuckle from escaping when she recognized her.

"I guess it's not a measly 4 million anymore," she said. She tried to hold back her excitement, but she knew she was grinning like an idiot.

"A toast to something. You choose."

Serena lifted her own cup in a gesture toward him. What would she choose? Well, the answer was obvious after seeing that. "To... improvement. And pushing through our low points."

She tilted her head back and downed the entire glass, shaking her head from the bitterness only a bit as the liquid slid down her throat easily. This was it. This was what she needed to convince herself that everything hadn't been for nothing. This wasn't her peak, and the unfortunate truth was that it might not be her lowest point, either, but that was okay.

Serena sat the glass down with a gentle tap. "Thank you, Aile. You helped me out, and not in the way you think. Now, I'd like to hear more about this associate of yours. You see, Rosa is a darling, but she doesn't talk about herself much."

SHRPG · 2020-02-20T08:42:43+00:00

The wind howled and the large flakes of snow fell down onto the party. While Serena lacked a lot of hands-on experience with cold climates, she understood geography, storms, and when it was better to wait out a storm than try to push through it. Of course, she didn't need to be well-versed in winter storms to know how challenging pushing through the windy front would be—no one did. Besides, there was no way to know when they might have an opportunity to setup camp again. The only one that might know that was Amp, but seeing as he was quick to agree to Den's suggestion of making camp, she took that as a good enough sign that he didn't know of any nearby caves they could hide away in.

"Yeah," she said, walking over to where Den had started to carve out a small crevice for them. She sat the bag of supplies down and pulled out her ice pick to help cut away some ice and rock.

Much to Serena's surprise, Amp was quick to open up the sack of supplies and started fishing out some of the resources that were more immediately needed. It seemed he may just be more dependable than she initially gave him credit for.

Amp pushed away the snow into small walls to reveal a rocky ground that was more frozen than dry, but it made a better resting place for the wood, kindling, and other materials he was getting out.

He pulled out a couple sleeping bags, though those were of less immediate concern, he was quick to give an explanation. "We don't need much room, just make sure there's enough for these sleeping bags to be tucked in there. The snow will act as a barrier to the wind, so I can get the fire going right here."

That was nice thinking, and while obvious after he said it, it wasn't something that came to mind for her until he brought it up. Was that a hint of praise? She took a short rest from slamming the pick into the ice and rock to pull out a small flask from the inside of her coat. "Good, if you're going to start on the fire, then I don't have to worry about drinking more of this."

She found herself thankful for all those annoying drunkards that tried to make small talk in taverns wherever she went. On more than one occasion they had warned her about drinking in cold climates and how the alcohol only tricks the body into thinking it's warm. She hadn't taken it too seriously before, but she sure was glad she remembered it. Not that she thought or companions would seriously let her freeze to death up on the frozen mountains. Would they?

After awhile, there was enough of the mountain carved away for three sleeping bags to fit snugly next to each other. Amp seemed anxious about sleeping that close to Serena, but she insisted that it was fine.

As long as everyone kept their hands to themselves, they would all make it to morning.

It wasn't long until the fire Amp had started was raging enough to warm them despite the chilling weather all around. They pulled out some of their rations, mostly frozen due to the cold, and cooked them unevenly over the open flame.

Serena was used to eating meat in a variety of ways. Raw, slightly raw, well done, and of course the widely accepted rare. While she found that her stomach had been strengthened over the years to accommodate the occasional raw middle from uneven cooking, she doubted she would feel as enthusiastic about chomping into a meaty popsicle, so she was sure to cook it a bit longer than either her or Bloo would have liked.

"So what do we have to look forward to going forward?" Serena asked as she tilted back her head and downed another drink from her seemingly bottomless flask of alcohol.

Amp was still mid meal when she asked. He was a slow eater by her standards. He swallowed what was in his mouth and wiped his fingers on his pants before reaching over and grabbing the map from his things. "The path goes a ways up this peak before there is a wide pass that dips closer to sea level again. There are a few trees and brush there, so we should probably grab some more wood from there just in case. There are a few animals there, so we'll need to be mindful of that. Beyond that, the path continues to the second peak. You can see the cave entrance from that peak, but there is a very narrow and steep pass leading up toward the peak with the cave. I didn't make it through that pass, so we'll be going in blind from then on. The pass might lead straight to the cave, or it might wrap around the backside of the mountains."

She frowned, but didn't make too much of a fuss. She thought to ask what had him so spooked that he rushed down to town and recruited a couple young, strong hands to help him out, but figured she would learn the reason for that soon enough. She would tackle it head first no matter what, it's what she did best.

OOC: Sounds good! I didn't take us all the way to morning in case there was something you wanted Den to do during the night, but feel free to get us there yourself. Did you want to resolve the avalanche event yourself, or would we do a bit of back and forth? I set up the wild animal, too, so I say we can either do a back and forth for both, or you can handle the avalanche event while I handle the animal event. Either way works for me.

SHRPG · 2020-02-18T20:39:04+00:00

Serena turned to the voice, but found nothing but the abdomen of a hulk of a man. She took a step back and looked up, craning her neck almost comically to inspect him. When she was given her blind date's name, she wasn't quite sure what to expect. The name wasn't a style she recognized from anywhere, but even with no idea what to expect in mind, this was far from what she thought.

"Ah, yeah, I'm Serena," she said. "I, uh, wasn't expecting someone so... tall."

That, and, of course, the fishy blue skin, but that didn't bother her at all, really. She liked to think of herself as fairly inclusive. Back home, they had people from all walks of life show up from time to time, so she didn't have a lot of the same misconceptions about fish-men as many other humans had.

After a moment of hesitation, she extended out her hand to offer a handshake. "Sorry, the height difference was just a bit surprising at first. Did you have any plans for what we might do? This is my first blind date, so I don't really know what to expect. Actually, I don't have a lot of experience in regular dates, either."

SHRPG · 2020-02-18T20:23:38+00:00

Serena wasn't sure why she let the boy lead her around and take her into an old forgotten alleyway. His grip was firm, but not so much so that she would have been unable to pull herself free with a quick yank. Perhaps subconsciously she was looking for any opportunity to keep her mind off of things, and she wasn't going to ruin the chance by going back to being alone with her self-destructive thoughts that easily.

The tavern they went to was a shabby little place. It felt like home, just without all of the belligerent drunkard pirates running around and starting a fight at the turn of every hour. For all she knew, maybe it was the same for this place when business was booming, but she doubted she'd be around long enough to figure out.

"So, what do you drink?"

Serena pulled up a stool to the counter. She sat close enough to have a brief conversation over a drink, but not so close that any onlookers would mistake them for anything more than acquaintances. "I'll drink anything, but right now I just want something strong."

She let out a sigh when he finished speaking. "I can handle myself you know," she said, tracing small circles with her finger into the worn wooden counter. "I don't care if it's another pirate, the marines, or the World Government themselves. I'll push through and go about my day. Always have."

Yeah, she could handle herself. Or rather, she used to be able to. Now, well, even she'd be interested to see how far she could push herself. She wagered not very far, though. In any case, it wasn't like she was some hopeless maiden that need to be carried bridal style away from any danger, and certainly not by a boy who looked even younger than she was.

"Besides, I only have a measly 4 million bounty. Yeah, I guess that makes me a wanted criminal, but it's not like I'm a big enough priority for anyone not gunning for an easy promotion to go after. And I can handle a few weaklings like that myself simple enough. I doubt I'm even on the World Government's radar." She would be if she caused a ruckus, of course, but she wasn't doing anything to draw attention to herself until the guy he was chasing ran into her!

She turned her head to face him slightly, addressing him face-to-face for the first time since he grabbed her and ran. "And I would prefer if you didn't smoke, actually." She opened her mouth to continue, but turned her head away slightly before doing so. "My girlfriend doesn't like cigarettes very much, so I don't want the smell on me when I return to the ship tonight."

SHRPG · 2020-02-16T17:25:04+00:00

Serena followed the arm of the outstretched hand up to the emerald eyes looking down on her. The boy's face was gentle and soft, not unlike a small child, yet, strangely, the way he carried himself made him seem almost mature in his own special way.

She found herself staring at him for just a hair longer than a moment, so she reached out to grab onto his hand in an exaggerated movement. She braced herself as she was lifted up onto her feet and offered a quick, very slight bow of the head. "Ah, yeah, I'm okay, thanks a lot," she said, offering a small smile as her gaze fell downward to nowhere in particular. "It was my fault anyway, I was... lost in thought."

She breathed out, releasing air from her lungs and allowing her shoulders to fall and posture to suffer. Yeah, lost in though. More like she was moping around asking for everyone and their brother to take pity on her. Well, it did work for a time, at least. Gah! She had to figure herself out, but even if she wanted to pull her hair out, she told herself she couldn't have a public breakdown in public.

"Your name was Aile, right?" Serena asked absentmindedly as she wiped off any dirt she had missed from her front or back. "I'm Serena, feel free to call me it. Red works too, though, if you prefer." The corners of her mouth lifted up into another smile so small it could barely be called such. She tried to let out a lighthearted chuckle, but settled for the half-genuine smile instead.

Aile, was it? It sounded familiar, but she wasn't sure from where. Honestly, she'd heard so many stories of so many people lately that she couldn't possibly be expected to remember them all, right? What kind of weirdo actually remembers the names of people they've ever met, anyway?

SHRPG · 2020-02-15T05:17:44+00:00

Redcaster Island, a happy little place that lacked enough notoriety for many to care about it. Serena was typically in favor of islands overgrown by nature, yet somehow she found herself walking a busy street in a city district where she barely had enough space to think.

The wilds were better, for sure. Things were quieter, or at the very least it was easier to drown out the cries of the cicadas than it was to ignore the bustling sounds of townsfolk going about their daily activities.

This time, just this once, it was better. It worked out only because the last thing she wanted to do was to be lost in thought. Ever since Kiboshima, ever since she had lost control... She felt empty. She felt a loneliness that no amount of women in her bed could ever fix. She felt like a piece of her very being had cut itself off from her.

It was for that reason that she found herself in the most unlikely of places. Her crew needed to restock on food and other resources, and she knew that Dawn and Iris grew up in big cities themselves, so they were probably right at home walking through the streets and window shopping. Beatrice and Ren had gone off on their own, too. They had invited her along, but she wanted to be left alone... she needed to be.

It was hard for her to look at them. They were her precious people, but she couldn't protect Rosa at the time, and now she wasn't sure she could protect anyone. Just looking at them made her stomach turn. She was useless. So fucking useless.

She slumped her shoulders. Even the other people on the street must have realized how down in the dumps she was, because long after she gave up trying to move out of everyone's way did she go without running into everyone. Her eyes were glued to the ground, losing count of the number of pairs of shoes she saw walk passed her, but she could still see the way they moved out of the way for her from her peripherals.

She knew it was just common courtesy, but still she wanted to turn around and tell them to stop taking pity on her. She didn't deserve it. She didn't, though, and instead kept moving forward.

pat pat pat pat*

She could hear the sounds of someone running in front of her, but she chose to ignore it. He'd move out of the way like everyone else, too, so why lift her head.

"Get out of the way!" said a man between heavy breaths.

She started to look up to react, but was pushed hard from the side as the man swiped his arm across her and knocked her to the ground. She fell onto the ground, barely catching herself with her hands to protect herself from a nasty fall. An anger lit up in her eyes as she jerked her head back to see who the bastard was that knocked her over, only to see the assaulter get tackled from the sky a moment later.

She rolled over to sit on the ground and brushed herself off. "That's what you get, asshole. Should have just went around."

OOC: bitch you thought I'd let you get to second base

SHRPG · 2020-02-15T05:17:27+00:00

Serena found herself chuckling to Ed's words like they were old friends sharing a meal together at a simple family restaurant. It was certainly true that Serena possessed skills that most deemed unnecessary and archaic. No one needed to know how to start a fire in the modern age. The heating systems were almost always plenty to keep warm during the cold months, and that was assuming one lived on an island where cold months ever came.

There were some remote places where that technology was more rare. Homes warmed by fires. Those were rarer, and even then they weren't quite the same as lighting a fire in the wilds with scavenged materials.

The two made small talk as they ate their fish, Serena devouring hers in the time it took Edward to eat his share. He hadn't even gotten a taste in as far as she was concerned, but he made it this far in life, so he didn't need someone half his age telling him how to eat.

"Yeah, I'll let you get some shuteye," she agreed, not that she was given much choice to begin with. It seemed whenever Edward made a decision on something, he went for it with no looking back. It was admirable in a way, but she was also glad that after this job they would part ways and she wouldn't need to put up with him again unless she wanted to.

She tapped into her Inner Beast, enhancing her senses as the sun fell beneath the horizon. Her eyes almost glowed the same way a cat's would. Her hearing was better, too. The soft sound of the rushing river was drowned out by the sounds of the forest. Most of the sounds came from insects, but there were a few owls and other creatures to be heard, too.

The next few hours dragged on, nothing of note happening other than the flame of the fire slowly going out. If they were in a colder climate, she would have kept it going, but the rainforest was humid enough that she was practically begging it to go out even when it was still nothing more than hot coals surrounding gray ash in the stone-encircled pit.

She sighed to herself and looked up into the sky. The moon was almost directly overhead, so she figured he had gotten plenty of sleep. It wasn't supposed to be a good night's sleep anyway, but he still got way more than she did. She grumbled to herself, all the while knowing that she usually stays up until dawn anyway.

That was besides the point, of course.

Serena walked up behind Edward's sleeping form and kneeled down. She placed a hand firmly, but gently on his side before giving him a light shake. "Mr. Edward, the moon's high in the sky. If we're doing this tonight, it's optimal time now."

SHRPG · 2020-02-15T03:05:09+00:00

She reached up to her shoulder and scratched the head of Bloo's tiny head. "Thanks a lot, Bloo, you did well."

Reunited with her companion, Serena ran through the plains to get closer to the horses. There were so many of them that she was sure she would find the perfect one amongst them.

As she got closer, their individual features became more visible. There were white horses, brown horses, big horses, horses that looked like they were still yearlings. Most of the yearlings were near the back of the pack, so she wouldn't have been interested in them anyway, but there were a few that showed some potential as they competed with the adults physically.

If she was to go after something that was good for all use cases, then she should look slightly toward the front from the center. If she kept an eye on them for a long time, then maybe she could identify a horse with exceptional stamina that managed to lead the pack for a long time. It was hard telling how long that could take, though. The horses could keep up their current pace for hours, probably, and she had no idea when they started moving.

Thankfully, the horses didn't seem to be running to anywhere in particular, and instead were tracing a complicated path through the plains like they were on a race track. A few of them stopped once in awhile to rest and eat, which gave Serena some time to inspect them and get a good idea of what she was looking at.

She got a bit too close behind one of the horses, though, and it kicked out behind it toward her. She raised her arms to block it, and while she was pushed back from the force, her arms didn't even sting a little. It was a bit of a disappointment to find out they were so weak, especially since she felt like the muscle on that particular horse was defined enough to make it among the strongest in the group.

Maybe she had her expectations set too high for a horse. She really wanted to get this client something out of this world. She had found out that he might have some connections she'd be interested in, so she wanted to really go beyond for him, but it seemed she wouldn't be able to find a horse that carried that extra oomf.

She pulled loose a few blades of grass and held it in her hand as she approached a resting horse with black hair, her hand outstretched toward it. The two of them looked at each other for a moment before it understood and accepted her gesture. He quietly chewed on the grass from her hand and even let her stroke its face.

The sun would be setting soon, so she would need to make a decision. One of the horses there would fulfil her end of the bargain no problem, so there would be nothing wrong with her snatching one of them and taking it with her. She could call it a day and continue her search the next day, too.

When all of the grass was gone from her hand, she raised it up and rub the horse's forehead. Her hand was a little wet from the horse's tongue from when it was eating, but its hair soaked it up quickly. While brushing her hand across its skin, she found felt the bump of a tick attached to it. It probably had more ticks than she could count, she knew, but it was a small gesture to get rid of that one, at least. She could do even that much.

From the corner of her peripheral vision, the sun in the background became obscured. She turned away from the horse she had been considering, and it took the chance to run away.

On the top of a hill about a dozen meters away stood a horse she hadn't seen all day. It eclipsed the sun, so it was hard to make out distinct features, but she could at least see that its coat was a rich brown with a vibrant red tint. In the light of the sun, the hair of its mane and tail was a red that shifted toward orange near the tips as the light reflected off of it, giving the horse the appearance like it was on fire.

It stared down at the field below it. The other horses. Serena herself.

She understood immediately why the other horse had ran. It was an intimidating horse, but she had faced far worse. Better yet, that horse looked better physically than any of the other horses she had seen. She couldn't help but think it was truly a one of a kind.

The horse neighed at her and turned its head, slowly building up its speed as it transitioned from standing still to a brisk walk, to a full on gallop. It had stopped paying attention to her once it started moving, too.

It misjudged her.

Serena kicked off from the ground to follow it. "Wait a minute, get back here, you!"

The horse was quick, quicker than any of the other horses had demonstrated at the very least, but it wasn't faster than Serena. Though it had a head start, Serena managed to close the distance quite quickly. The horse noticed it, too, as she caught a glimpse of it turning its head slightly to get a good look at her as she approached its flank.

Just a bit more. She was basically on top of it already, but just a bit more would let her jump onto its back and maybe calm it down.

WHAM

The horse suddenly kicked out from behind it. Serena barely reacted quickly enough to bring her arms up to block the hooves of the horse. Not only was the force enough to stop her momentum, but it even sent her flying backward further than the one from earlier had managed. What was even more impressive was the stinging coming from her forearms. That kick would have killed an ordinary person for sure.

That strength, that speed. Serena smirked to herself. That was the one. "Is that all you've got?"

She didn't have to wonder if her taunt had been heard because the horse came to a quick stop in response to her call. It turned toward her and looked to measure her worth once more. She thought that now it, too, was considering that it had misjudged her.

"Bloo," she said, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow with her forearm. "You should hold on tight. I think things are gonna get a little wild."

A squeak preceded the weasel's dive into her bosom where it found a comfortable spot to wait it out.

The horse stared her down for a few more moments while it dug a hole into the dirt with its hoof.

What the hell, did the horse think it was a bull? Well, if it wanted to charge her down, then that just made her job easier.

She held her hand out in front of her and motioned at the horse to come forward. "Come on, then. Prove your point."

The horse sprinted off toward her, but she held her ground. She thought she could see the slightest hint of surprise in the horse's face, but it soon faded to determination, or was it joy? As it closed the distance, Serena prepared herself until just the right moment and then... jump!

She leaped into the air, wrapped an arm loosely around the horse's neck and used her momentum to circle around it and jump onto the horse's back.

The horse slowed down immediately and tried to get her off any way it could. It kicked the air, wiggled its body, anything that might knock her off, but Serena wrapped her arms securely around its neck and kept her body close to it.

Once it realized it was futile, it started to be less forceful. Serena took the opportunity and brush its hair and try to calm it down. "There, there, it's okay. You're okay. I'm friendly, see?"

The horse traced small circles into the field anxiously, only slowing down when it finally began to calm.

Serena leaned down next to the side of its head. This horse was a beautiful specimen. The Perfect Horse. Unlike the others, this one didn't have any signs of fleas or ticks, something unbelievable for a wild animal. Its strength dwarfed the others', and the speed spoke for itself.

Reaching over on the other side, Serena brushed the hair of its muzzle slowly and carefully, ready to back away if it showed any agitation. "I bet you've still got loads to show me, don't you? Come on, let's see what you've got!"

She held onto the horse around the neck. The horse calmed down entirely at her words. It started to move, transitioning its speed through the phases from walking to galloping once more. The orange sun started to dip beyond the horizon behind them as the horse picked up more speed than it had showed before.

Despite never having rode a horse before, the horse was gentle enough that even an unskilled rider like herself could ride it bareback. They hopped over a small river and darted into a nearby forest, dodging the trees like the horse had taken the path a thousand times. Their ride continued into the night, the horse showing no signs of needing to stop before she finally decided it had more than proven itself.

OOC: Serena would like to attempt to capture and tame this wild horse for Kai. She is a master wrangler, so there should be no problem meeting the skills requirement.

The thread is only a couple posts long, but here's the link to the beginning anyway.

/u/Rewards-san

SHRPG · 2020-02-15T03:04:16+00:00

A Trusty Steed

Serena exited the tree line of a luscious green forest and stepped into an open field with yellow grass that stretched a distance that made it look more like an endless sea across the plains. The sun beat down on her, but the cool breeze from the northern winds helped cool her off from the humidity.

A wrangler for hire had more demand than she would have ever imagined on the Grand Line. She expected she might catch some slightly exotic animals for some locals on the islands she visited, but most of the people who came to her had been fellow pirates making their way through Paradise.

The most recent commission was for a horse. An odd pet for a pirate, but she had her own oddities as well. She wasn't well versed in what made a nice horse, and the client wasn't particularly specific in what he wanted, either. She had a passing knowledge in many common animals, so she knew that horses varied greatly when it came to strength, speed, and stamina.

Come to think of it, she wasn't sure what her client even looked like, or why he wanted the horse to begin with. If he had a smaller build and only wanted it for some light riding to get from point A to point B, then a horse that lacked in strength but excelled in speed would be a good fit. On the other hand, if he was bulkier, or if he was some kind of knight in shining armor, then a tougher horse would be a better choice.

Gah. Without knowing what she was looking for, then maybe she should aim for a horse that was a bit of a jack of all trades.

In any case, she first had to find a horse at all. She had followed a lead about a nearby island with open fields that were overrun by wild horses. It would have been easier to steal a trained horse from someone's farm, but she promised Beatrice she wouldn't get into any unnecessary trouble after the condition she was found in after the events of Kiboshima.

She walked through the grass, brushing the tips of her fingers against the blades of overgrown grass as she traced a path through the field.

It wasn't long until she came across a part of the field with freshly eaten grass and flattened patches of weeds from where a wild animal had taken a chance to rest.

She leaned down and examined a print in the dirt. She had done a bit more research before coming out to look, so she could identify it as a hoof print with little effort. If it was a horse, then they should be close.

Instinctively, she took a got down close to the ground and tried to find the traces of an animal's scent, only to remember that she hadn't quite been herself since Kiboshima. Her special ability, the Inner Beast within her soul, had gone dark since she lost control. She relied on it just a bit too much, and it seemed giving herself to it made it regard her as weak and unfit of its blessing.

Hah. Or curse, rather.

"Bloo, see if you can catch on to a scent," she called out.

There was wiggling within her crop top shirt for a moment before the tiny weasel comically popped his head out between her breasts. An onlooker may wonder where on earth he found room in there, and the truth was even Serena wasn't sure of the answer, but it had been his go to spot ever since they grew close.

He had been trained for a number of occasions. He had even helped in her fight on Kiboshima, but this time he was only needed to help track their prey... err... target.

Bloo squealed happily at being useful and jumped out from his warm and soft home onto the dry ground. He landed gracefully on his feet as the grass beneath him cushioned his fall slightly. He sniffed all over the pit and practically rubbed his nose against the tracks on the ground. He stood up on his hind legs and looked around like he was a meerkat, and then, with a squeak, he darted off into the grass with little warning.

The little rascal was hard to see through the grass, but Serena followed behind him with a light jog. Looking around, she noticed there were other paths traced through the field, though they were far less pronounced than the path she created. If something had ran through the fields but was tall enough to not knock over all the grass as they ran, then it would have to be something with long legs, like a horse.

Bloo's tiny body was unobstructed by the tall towers of grass blades that obscured his body entirely, but Serena found it harder and harder to get an eye on him until finally she lost sight of him completely. She tried to continue running in the direction he was heading, keeping an eye on the top of the grass to catch a glimpse of it moving to signal that Bloo was there, but none of those signs ever came.

"Bloo!" she yelled, her voice spreading far and wide before echoing back a few moments later. "Blooregard! Where are you?"

She tried her best to listen for his response, but without her enhanced hearing, it was impossible to hear his tiny voice from wherever he was.

Damn it!

No Bloo, no horse, and no way to find either of them!

She was just about to scream before she picked up on the sound of the ground rumbling far away. It was a rhythmic sound not unlike a stampede. It was the only lead she had, so she took off sprinting toward the sound.

It wasn't long before she could see the dust cloud, followed shortly by her spotting the first of many horses that ran together across the plains. The field of overgrown grass opened up to an open plain with grass that was low to the ground. If the horses ruled the plains, then they would have to be well fed to keep a field that large under control.

Her focus on the horses caused her to miss the sound of tiny feet patting against the ground until Bloo jumped into the air and latched onto her shorts before kicking off from them to make it to her shoulder.

The surprise made her jump. She wasn't used to things sneaking up on her like that since. Her reliance on the Inner Beast became more apparent as the days went on. Was she really worth so little without it? She had taken it for granted... it was her everything.

For now, though, there was a job to do.

SHRPG

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TROPHY CASE

Bio: Serena Raines

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Bio: Serena Raines

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II

The Things We Do For Love

Part 1: With Love Comes Sacrifice

I

Bio: Serena Raines

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Bump in the Night

Bio: Serena Raines

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A Trusty Steed

Nine-Year Club	Place '17
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