[CENTER][h1][color=B3ADAB][b]CATHERINE CORIANDER[/b][/color][/h1][/center][hr][b]Marine Base E-50, Conch Archipelago, East Blue – 16 Years Ago[/b][hr]Heels clacking together, hand raised into a salute, a pair of pink eyes under a Marine cap gave a firm gaze. [color=2596BE]“Ensign Truuni Culveri, reporting for duty, sir!”[/color]

Scratching at his salt and pepper goatee, Commodore Ryu Burnet [13th East Blue Marine Patrol Division Commanding Officer] mumbled, “You’re gonna have to change out of that basic Marine gear. You’re an officer now, we’re going to need to be able to spot you easily in the thick of it.” Arms crossing over his black and blue button up, he admitted, “I figured a sailor of your sorts would jump at the chance to wear whatever the hell you want.”

Truuni gave a smile, [color=2596BE]“Sir! The outdated sexual harassment is amusing, but not appreciated.”[/color] There were a few fragments of laughter, bolting out at the sudden bluntness of Burnet’s new second in command.

“Well, that’s one thing about you that isn’t green,” Burnet admitted, noting her turquoise hair tied into a ponytail. Turning to the staffing officer overseeing the personnel change, Burnet demanded, “Get me a guy Ensign, I can’t hit this one.”

The round faced man balked. “Sir, you shouldn’t be smacking around anyone.”

Whipping out a pair of tonfas, Truuni grinned, [color=2596BE]“Don’t worry about me, I can take it!”[/color] There was a flash of brown, and the clattering of wood on wood. The air rushed with impact, ground crunching under the weight of the blow. Bruises started to form on Truuni’s forearms where her tonfa’s had struck her body, blocking Commodore Ryu’s quarterstaff.

The staffing officer pointed a finger, searching for the words to note the harsh treatment, but Burnet was more concerned with something else. “Novice. Roll with the punches, you’ll take less damage.”

Truuni’s eye bore into him, a look he could never forget. [color=2596BE]“Sir: my men are right behind me.”[/color] Burnet glanced to see a handful of soldiers having jumped back out of the way, though when Burnet’s quarterstaff struck out, they would never have scattered fast enough.

Burnet’s expression didn’t change. Running a hand through his thinning hair, he slipped the quarterstaff back into the loops of his justice coat. “That was a test: you passed.” Turning his gaze on the rest of his new men, he demanded, “Anyone else want to introduce themselves!?” The snapped to salute, their silence speaking so many words. Starting to turn off, Burnet said, “Be careful girl, you’ll be done in by that eagerness of yours.”

[color=2596BE]“Not if I can help it, sir.”[/color] Truuni countered with a coy smile.[hr]The tone of next few years had been well set by that initial meeting. Burnet had his strength and his wisdom, but Truuni wasn’t afraid to challenge him, even if it mostly tried his patience. It was hard to say if either was learning much of anything from the other, for their contrast only made them dig their heels in deeper, but that exact fact made them a talking point of the local Marines, the pair of interest for their almost universal dissonance. It was joked about that if they ever agreed on anything, snow cones were being served in hell, the dessert ironically being one thing they both admitted to enjoying (the syrup topping flavors was another matter entirely).

It was two years into their assignment on the patrol ship that Truuni came to Burnet’s office, slamming an inventory sheet down on his desk, following it with her Marine cap, the hat taken off her head for the indoors and plopped onto the table. [color=2596BE]“They’re definitely swiping rations! These numbers aren’t adding up!”[/color]

Stuffing the rest of his granola bar into his mouth, Burnet grumbled, “You don’t need to be doing inventory more than once a month, unless we’re making a supply run.” Truuni’s mouth hung open, eyebrows narrowed in anger and disbelief as she pointed at his wrapper. “Calm down, Marines don’t ration out granola bars, there are mine.”

[color=2596BE]“Oh, right.”[/color]

“How many times have you done inventory this month?”

[color=2596BE]“Never mind that! Rules are rules for a reason aren’t they? I swear, half the guys are getting rounder by the week! If this keeps up we’ll be rolling them into battle!”[/color]

Burnet held his chin in contemplation. “If we set up the hammocks, do you think we could use it and launch them like a giant slingshot?”

[color=2596BE]“...Sorry, this is serious, I shouldn’t have joked like that. But sir! We’ve got an audit coming up too!”[/color]

Burnet leaned back in his chair, shrugging, “Yeah, missing supplies ain’t great, but they aren’t going to care about a number that could have come about through a rounding error, or just scrapped out because of mold or pest damages. Some late night snacking isn’t going to raise any eyebrows. And it’s not too costly at the end of the day, if the Government couldn’t pay for it with their Heavenly Tributes rolling in then the world has bigger problems.”

[color=2596BE]“But what about the integrity! Overlook one victimless crime here and they’ll be looking to see what they could get away with next!”[/color]

Burnet waved his hand, “Slippery slope. You’re welcome to try and catch them in the act, you know. Or work them harder, let them burn off that extra weight. Honestly, that’s the way I’d rather deal with it. Let ‘em know it’s wrong without actually making waves about it. You get those pencil pushers riled up and [i]everyone[/i] is going to have problems. Fuckers love assigning corrective action.”

Truuni’s face fell, the girl losing steam, her hand scrunching up her Marine cap. [color=2596BE]“What’s the point of Marines if not to uphold rules for peace and order?”[/color]

Burnet let out a low sigh, leaning in. “Peace and order is good and all, but there’s plenty of evils in the world that happen with all the rules going exactly as intended. I’m not stopping you if you want to take this further up the chain, but you better think long and hard about what the consequences will be. Hear me?”

Truuni shut her eyes, scooping up her cap and inventory sheet. [color=2596BE]“Loud and clear,”[/color] she said, turning off without as much as a salute. Burnet didn’t question it at the time, but she hadn’t been one to shed decorum before regardless of how she felt, not that he’d have brought it up anyway. For the first time, Truuni started to relax a bit, shedding her standard infantry uniform for more casual clothes. Burnet was glad to see her chill a bit, and their men took notice, growing a bit friendlier with her (though Burnet’s brow grew tired of shooting glares at those with burgeoning ulterior motives). Even so, he felt a certain sadness, as a bit of the honest childishness in her heart had been put to rest, seemingly for good.[hr] Slamming an empty beer mug down, Truuni suppressed a belch, instead snarling, [color=2596BE]“What’re they thinkin’ with Cholkin, huh? Like he can just schmooze on in from the Grand Line like the Seiryu position was fer him, when Rear-Admiral Honswore knows the East like the back of his hand! Just promote ‘im!”[/color]

Burnet chortled, “You can’t say a man deserves a double promotion because he actually replies to your fan mail.”

[color=2596BE]“It’s not fan mail it’s legi’mate suggestions to help the Navy run better!”[/color] Truuni scowled.

Burnet let a rare smile slip as he took another draught of beer. Truuni pulled her hoodie on a bit tighter, before mumbling, [color=2596BE]“Commodore, do you remember why you became a Marine?”[/color]

Burnet raised an eyebrow at the reference to rank, before insisting, “I’m old but I ain’t that old. I was kind of a small time thug in a big time city, and I knew it wasn’t going to leave me with much of a future, so I wanted to go somewhere where my strength could take me farther. It also cleaned up my act. All that stuff about justice...honestly I got sick of it before boot camp was over. Filled my head with so many ideas you’d have thought I was killed and replaced with the fellow you’re talking to, all the times I went on about being a good Marine instead of...”

[color=2596BE]“You’re a plenty good Marine,”[/color] Truuni finished with a pout. Burnet rolled his eyes. She didn’t catch that, but she did catch his expectant gaze. Taking another sip, she began, [color=2596BE]“I wanted to be a Marine because of my dad. He died as one when I was little. He didn’t even get to officer rank or anything, so I think I wanted to join to, like...not surpass him or anything, but more...make sure his death wasn’t in vain. He never accomplished much, but if he could inspire me to be a great Marine, then that’d make up for it, right? Then the Devil struck, and I figured I couldn’t wait any longer, so I lied about my age and enlisted at officer’s academy.”[/color]

Burnet stared into space for a moment, before saying, “You [i]what[/i]?” Truuni swirled the drink in her hand, Burnet realizing, “You only just now hit legal drinking age, didn’t you?” Truuni giggled. “You little hypocrite. Hyposhite even.”

Truuni giggled, slumping down onto the counter. [color=2596BE]“If I’d ‘a known being a Marine in the East felt more like community service sometimes, I mighta pushed to be assigned to the Grand Line...but don’t let that worry you, I’m glad to be here!”[/color]

Burnet conceded, “Yeah, peace is best. Don’t ever think otherwise.”

[color=2596BE]“Yeah...”[/color] Truuni mumbled, lowering her head. It was only the two of them here in their ship’s mess hall, and as Burnet allowed her to drift to sleep, it felt like it was only the two of them in the whole world. He would never admit that paternal inkling in his chest, not even to himself. To him, peace was the result of protecting what you cared about. In his days of watching his fellows in arms, men he’d broken bread and shed blood with, either fight and die heroes or become no better than pirates in lawless lands, he made a judgment call, choosing to protect them over the random innocent. He felt like it was his way of retaining his humanity, and sitting here, thinking of Truuni, now a Lieutenant Junior Grade, his silence had protected that humanity of his. Now he just had to protect her, and the rest of his men, as best as he could.[hr][color=2596BE]“What do you mean [i]leave it be[/i]!?”[/color] Truuni slammed her fist on Burnet’s desk, the wood cracking in half.

Burnet didn’t flinch. “That place is like a fortress and we don’t have the manpower!”

[color=2596BE]“We do! There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of people there willing to fight for their own freedom!”[/color]

“What’s the point of endangering the people we’re supposed to protect!?”

[color=2596BE]“WHAT’S THE POINT OF LETTING THEM SUFFER WHEN WE HAVE THE POWER TO DO SOMETHING!?”[/color] Truuni roared, Burnet taking a step back, caught off guard by his junior. Her hand gripping the wood, she muttered, [color=2596BE]“This isn’t about food being pilfered, this is human lives being traded like goods. We can’t just let this go! We’re Marines! If someone’s in need, and we can help them, shouldn’t we help them?”[/color]

“If we threw ourselves into every little conflict, there’d be no Marines! At the end of the day, we’re outnumbered out there! We go through the proper procedures: report to the 55th and wait for instruction.”

[color=2596BE]“How long is that going to take!?”[/color] Truuni howled.

“We’ll just have to find out, won’t we?” Burnet snorted, turning to his Den Den Mushi. He felt Truuni’s eyes burn on his back before she stormed out. Burnet shook his head, finger freezing over the dial. He knew about this place before they even got close. They were profitable enough to bribe all the patrol ships nearby, but a storm had forced them into the area. Burnet wasn’t into looking for bribes, so he was going to keep his nose clean and pretend nothing was wrong, but Truuni didn’t know how the world worked, that even if they dislodged the slavers and rescued countless innocent people, the power vacuum would just be filled by another group and nothing would change. And on top of that, the other patrol ships would have it out for the 13th. They’d been pretty fortunate up until now, but Burnet wanted to protect that luck, in spite of the number.[hr]Hope is a terrible thing. The slightest bit of vagueness offered a hope just as slight. Seeing a small rowboat bobbing in the ocean in the path of their vessel, a wooden box jammed with spears and blades poked through the wood resting atop it, Burnet felt dread. In the wake of Truuni’s disappearance following her requests to the other men of the 13th to come with her to the slaver base, an offer not one man took, he feared the worst, but even now he couldn’t just accept how human sized that box was.

He had hope. And until that box was brought on board and cracked open, he’d been able to keep it. Seeing Truuni, he came to despair as that last bit of hope was gone. Burnet was proud to be strong, proud to be a rock his men could rely on. How could he be that rock when he was on his hands and knees, justice coat having slipped from his shoulders, the man unable to hear his own angered wails for the ringing in his own ears? But how could he regain that composure when he saw the frozen expression of his shipmate of 6 years? Saw her wrists bruised by the tonfas she swung to her last, the other wounds on her body well beyond the weapons stuck in her body as an intimidation threat?

His anger an inferno he felt might immolate everything, the 13th stormed the island, but their foes were already gone, the base abandoned. The Marines they’d bribed would look on the 13th just like Burnet had feared. Truuni’s solo effort was all for nothing. Or so Burnet was prepared to claim, until their search of the island turned up a number of folks in rags, dozens coming out of the woodwork. “You’re finally here! She said reinforcements were on the way!” Burnet felt his face tighten, unable to believe that Truuni legitimately believed they would come for her. “She never gave up, we owe her everything. We didn’t even know her name.” “Thank you, thank you!” came so many grateful words as Burnet’s men got everyone to safety. He’d rather they’d have thrown rocks: it’d have hurt less. He wouldn’t be able to listen to the commencement he got for dislodging the slavers, his promotion to Rear-Admiral being considered as Truuni got the standard posthumous double promotion to Lieutenant Commander. He wouldn’t accept it, resigning his position to eventually drift to Melody Island, a quiet place he could live out the rest of his days in peace. He’d tried to live as a good Marine, but even by his abysmally low standards, he was a bad Marine, one who couldn’t even protect what little he’d sought to keep safe.

Reaching for another bottle, all the ones that came to Burnet’s hands were empty. Slumping back into his seat, hand pressed against his face, eyes watering even as he tried to hold them shut, one last comment striking him from 12 years ago, words Truuni gave to alleviate the fears of the people she was trying to rescue when the claimed reinforcements never came.

[i][color=2596BE]“Don’t worry, they’re coming! My Commodore isn’t a bad guy, he won’t leave you!”[/color][/i] He fought his tears as easily as a leaf could fight the wind. “Stupid fucking girl.”

[i][color=B3ADAB]“You won’t help even one of us who needs you right now? Forget being a good Marine, what about being a good person?”[/color][/i] Burnet shook his head, “Damn the lot of you.”

Glancing over his shoulder at the quarterstaff leaning by the door, he knew he didn’t want to be in this dark room, but he didn’t want to go outside either. He didn’t want to do anything, he didn’t even really know what he wanted to do. Then the thought came, and he felt his breath start to steady. Wiping his face, he took to the sink, washing himself up. Changing out of his shirt, he picked the cleanest one he could off the ground, before heading for the door, pushing it open against the wind.

He still didn’t know what to do, but he knew what he wanted, and that was to stop feeling like this. So if he didn’t know, then he’d just ask himself ‘what would Truuni do?’ And even though she hadn’t been on this world in over a decade, he knew goddamn well what she would do.