A Green Eden! [Birdie]

[HILDA WILLENSTARK]

Standing by a Marine ship in the docks, her hook swords kept by her waist, Hilda stared out across the large town before her. Valkyn Arena, her hometown, the land where the strong lived at the expense of the weak. It was a vicious, brutal place where the only law was Survival of the Fittest. You fought, and you either got beaten back or climbed to the top at another's expense. A disgusting, lawless place if there ever was one, and definitely a place that needed Marines to sort out its crime. However, this place was not Valkyn Arena. No, it was just the opposite. Valkyn Arena was harsh and grey, but this land was beautiful and green. Valkyn Arena was a place of violence. This place was an Eden amidst the harsh lands of North Blue. It was everything Valkyn Arena wasn't.

So naturally, Hilda felt odd staring at it all. It was so drastically different to everything she'd seen before. Were there other islands this peaceful? Or was this just a bright spot amidst dark clouds? Regardless of which, Hilda couldn't help but feel enamored with this land, looking upon it with such glee and carefully suppressed energy. She could practically burst with glee, staring upon this green, beautiful, peaceful land. Barely able to contain herself, she looked back to the ship to see if anyone else was up and ready to join her on the island. She knew she was supposed to be on duty, but she couldn't help but feel excited standing here on such an amazing-looking island as Lyneel Kingdom.

"Is anyone else coming? Come on, come on! It'll be fun!" she cheered, hoping for someone to join her as she went on 'Patrol' of the island. Which actually just meant exploring and discovering everything she could about the island. She was still a young girl at heart, after all. Even whilst wearing the Marine uniform, nothing changed that.

[SAGA DELPHINIUM]

saga couldn't the minuscule pout that adorned her lips as she glared at any poor soul who scurried past her. the higher-ups just thought that they could separate her from her precious gabriel whenever they felt like it and she could barely contain the anger thrumming through her body.

and now she was stuck in lyneel kingdom, miles and miles and miles away from gabriel, ordering around marines who belonged to someone else! "honestly," she sighed, shaking her head once, before straightening up and ordering the new warrant officer who scurried past her to swab the deck.

why? because she felt like it.

she couldn't help the curiosity that swelled up inside her though, having never been to lyneel before another reason as to why being assigned there pissed her off and before she could stop herself, she descended from the ship and stepped warily onto the docks, her eyes going in every direction they could for a moment in search of any danger.

as far as she could see there was none but she refused to let her guard down. this place was crawling with men, all of whom she hate don principle but before she could dwell any further on that a voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"is anyone else coming? come on, come on! it'll be fun!"

she blinked, turning her head to one side to look at the red-haired girl who had yelled it. judging from her outfit she was an ensign and saga racked her brain to try and remember exactly what her name was.

williams? no, that was the warrant officer she had scared that morning.

warren? no, that still didn't sound right.

will...en..stark?

ahah! that sounded right.

"ensign willenstark, that is no way for a marine to be behaving in public," saga scolded, taking a few steps closer tot he girl.

[HILDA WILLENSTARK]

Normally, when Hilda acted like this, no one really tried to stop her. Most of them simply chose to acknowledge the fact that she was a little girl, gave her some benefit of the doubt and left her alone. Or alternatively, they simply asked her to restrain herself a little. But never exactly order her to with such a commanding voice. So when Hilda heard a slightly older woman call out to her and tell her that she was not acting in a manner befitting a Marine, Hilda wasn't one hundred percent sure how to react. Looking back to the woman, Hilda recognized her as the Commodore of 91st Fleet. However, beyond that her mind went a little blank. What was her name again? Well, in any case, Hilda felt her cheeks turn almost as red as her hair and straightened herself up. So straight in fact she looked slightly unnatural.

"M-My apologies, Commodore!" she started, raising her hand into the customary palm-inward salute as a sign of respect. Her face still possessed a slightly goofy grin though, making it clear she was still quite excited about being here. "It's just that I've never been away from Valkyn Arena before, so I got a little carried away..." she admitted to her superior in some sort of vain attempt at an excuse. It wasn't a very good one, admittedly, but to Hilda it made absolutely perfect sense. After all, she'd always been on Valkyn Arena. Seeing new places like this was absolutely thrilling. Seeing the Commodore stepping towards her, Hilda continued to keep her hand up in salute, staring up at the slightly taller Commodore. For some reason she seemed far taller than she actually was.

"Um, is there anything you want me to do, Commodore?" she asked, sort of moving the topic away from her over-excitement. Well, she was eager to do work at any rate. After all, she was a Marine now! She had to do Marine stuff and help people!

[SAGA DELPHINIUM]

she watched as the girl straightened up and her cheeks turn red with a little amusement. she may have been in a bad mood and she may not care about anyone but gabriel and her fellow kuja but it didn't mean that she couldn't find amusement in the ensign actually, it did, but shhhh.

ah. that did explain a few things. the girl was new to the area like saga was and the feeling of excitement and curiosity at entering a new place was one that saga knew very well, having come from amazon lily after all. "stand down, ensign," saga said after the girl had asked if there was anything saga wanted her to do. "and come with me into town. we should get to know the area we are to be watching over if we are to be any good."

and with that said, she set forward at an easy pace, somehow managing to still look, well, intimidating to those she passed. she didn't wait for the ensign, not really caring if the girl followed her or not, despite having given her the order to do so. going into the kingdom was more for saga's own benefit so that she could get rid of her own curiosity and maybe get a souvenir for gabriel~!

just the thought of being thanked by gabriel for bringing him back something caused her cheeks to flush and a spring to enter her step.

she couldn't wait until this stupid mission was over so that she could return to her love~

/coughobsessioncough

[HILDA WILLENSTARK]

For a moment Hilda hesitated, staring up at the Commodore curiously. Did she tell her to stand down? Hilda blinked a little incredulously, but kept her smile as she proceeded to lower her saluting hand and relaxed her body. Man, talk about tough. Keeping a straight back was difficult! Come to think of it, she wasn't aware she even slouched. Or maybe it was just unnaturally straight. Yeah, that had to be it. Definitely that. In any case, looking back to the Commodore, she listened as she was told of how they were to... Head into town and explore? Hilda's face brightened up immediately. This was exactly what she wanted! The Commodore may have seemed scary at first, but she was a really, really nice person!

"Aye aye, Commodore!" Hilda responded with a smile, almost laughing in glee. Hilda was easily amused, it had to be said. Of course, it wasn't like she was completely ignorant. As soon as she started walking with the Commodore, she began to notice an odd change about her. Though her eyes were forward and the Commodore definitely tried to maintain a threatening, authoritative look, that look slowly began to change. Whatever the Commodore had been thinking about, it seemed to make her flush a little. She even began to walk differently. Hilda restrained a girlish giggle, somewhat amused by it. She didn't fully understand why the Commodore acted that way, but it was cute!

"Commodore, is there something on your mind? You look red!" Hilda asked innocently as they walked about. The idea of authority, beyond the fact that authority was supposed to be listened to and was generally taller than you, still had yet to embed itself in her mind. She saw no problem in asking her superior questions and treating her like a new friend. Especially if they were personal questions. Hilda, of course, was always Hilda. Even if she was in what was considered the most extremist of the Marines' Fleets.

[SAGA DELPHINIUM]

saga flushed even more at the ensign's giggle and question, turning her head away in an attempt to hide it. of course, turning her head away would make it more obvious but saga wasn't one for small details like that. "n-not really. its just hot out," saga lied, cursing herself for stuttering and cursing the fact that just as she was finished speaking a strong wind blew, causing shivers to race through her body.

great. the universe was out to get her today, wasn't it?

she suppressed a sigh and picked up her pace as they entered the market place of the town, looking anywhere but at the slightly shorter ensign walking next to her. the market was bustling, people moving back and forth from stall to stall in a type of organized chaos that she hadn't seen in a long time. the valkyn arena was just plain old chaos to the point where she had to stay inside the marine base for a few months when she had first arrived there so that she didn't have a panic attack with all the new people crowding around her.

and even then, she holed herself up in her room and refused to see anyone besides gabriel and the rare doctor who was worried for her condition.

[HILDA WILLENSTARK]

Hilda couldn't help but giggle again. The Commodore was so cute acting like this! To think, Hilda had thought the Commodore was a strict, intimidating woman, but in fact she was actually a lot more like Captain Zenith! Always so clumsy and awkward, but in an endearing way. Not that Hilda knew the word "Endearing", but still. Walking alongside her Commodore brought them to the marketplace of Lyneel Kingdom - a packed area filled with stalls and sellers and beggars and hagglers. All sorts of people flocking to buy and sell all sorts of items from clothing to food and everything in between. Hilda gazed upon it in awe, more used to seeing stalls get kicked aside as people took whatever they wanted from the sellers. Valkyn Arena was like that.

"This place is nothing like Valkyn Arena..." Hilda remarked, letting out a low whistle in interest. She was impressed by the sight, at any rate. Blinking, she looked back to her Commodore with a smile. Hey, at this rate Hilda and the Commodore could practically become friends! Although Hilda still needed to figure out the Commodore's name. What had it been, anyway? Something with an S? An S and a D. The D-Surname ended in something sounding like 'nium'. Deltinium? Delinium? Delphinium! But what did the S stand for? Hilda was afraid she couldn't answer that herself, unfortunately. "Commodore Delphi! Are there places like this everywhere else? I've never seen so many shops in one place like this!".

It was rather odd how endearing yet off-putting such a statement was from a girl's mouth. On the one hand, it was amusing how childish and naive she was. On the other hand, the fact she'd never seen a marketplace like this all her life said a lot about Valkyn Arena and the place she grew up in. Worrying things. "Say, I bet they sell all kinds of food I've never seen before..." Hilda remarked, staring back across the marketplace. Only so many fruits and fishes could be found around Valkyn Arena. What other foods could be found outside of her home island? She wanted to know all about it!

[SAGA DELPHINIUM]

saga flushed again at the ensign's giggles and she wondered what was with her today. she never let others get to her like this and now she was letting some ensign make her embarrassed!

"it must be because of being in a new place," she thought, glancing down at the smiling ensign before looking ahead again and agreeing with what the girl said about it being nothing like valkyn arena. it was nothing like amazon lily, either, to be honest and a lot of the things confused her.

she flushed even mor at being called commodore delphi but the girl continued speaking before she could answer her, something about different foods. curious, saga looked around at the foods for a moment before something else caught her eye.

"ensign, why are those two woman arguing over that dress?" she asked, pointing to where two woman were shouting at each other over a, frankly, hideous lime green dress. "is it some kind of ritual for woman in the blues?" saga didn't notice how she was getting weird stares from the people she passed for that statement as she had never seen anything like it. the woman on amazon lily usually made their own clothing or they traded with one another. no arguments or fights ever broke out as beauty was strength on amazon lily and not pretty clothes.

[HILDA WILLENSTARK]

"Arguing? Ritual?" Hilda blinked as she looked over to the scene Commodore Delphinium was talking about - the sight of two women pulling at a dress, shouting at each other over it. Hilda stared, taking a few seconds as if to figure it out before looking back to the Commodore. "I think they're fighting over it. They don't seem very nice..." Hilda remarked with a frown, looking at the two women. It seemed very petty. Why fight so much over a dress? Was there something special about it? Could the dress secretly transform into a suit of armor? Oh, that would be awesome! But no, it didn't seem like the dress was anything special. It was just a dress, nothing more, nothing less.

"I know!" she exclaimed, a twinkle in her eyes as she straightened herself out. Of course, it was only natural she was going to take care of issues. After all, she was a Marine! Keeping peace was part of stuff Marines had to do, so she was going to keep the peace! "Don't worry Commodore Delphi, I'll handle this!" she exclaimed. With a spring in her step she strode straight towards the two women who were bickering still over the dress, a confident smirk upon her face as she neared the both of them. She was sure of herself that she could sort out these problems with no hassle at all! Now getting quite a bit closer to the two than anyone else in the marketplace wanted to be, she took hold of the green dress in one hand.

In the other she'd drawn one of her hook swords.

"Aaaaaallrighty then!" she bellowed, getting the two women's attention as they promptly stopped bickering, a little more focused on the hook sword in her hand. "If neither of you stop fighting, I'll have you arrested for... Um... Creating a disturbance! So, either one of you let the other take this dress, or I'll get rid of it!" Hilda declared confidently, as if she'd solved the problem quite aptly. Holding the hook sword close to the fabric, she decided to wait for an answer. Of course, she failed to realize both women were more or less speechless at the sight of the weapon, far too intimidated to really dare say anything.

Trust Hilda not to fully understand social convention.

[SAGA DELPHINIUM]

"still. why would they be fighting over it? there's not point, really," saga said, still observing the two woman. was she supposed to do something like that when she went shopping? what if she had been doing it wrong this entire time?!?! what if gabriel thought that she was a fool for doing everything wrong and sent here away?!

just the thought caused a deep stab of pain to enter her heart and she rubbed sadly at her eyes. she was so intent on her thoughts that she didn't notice the ensign leave until the girl was already next to the woman, threatening to destroy the dress if the two woman didn't decide who would take it. she pushed her despair to the back of her mind and strolled forward, stopping just behind the ensign and glaring angrily down at the woman, who were now babbling once their shock disappeared.

this only served to irritate her further, and with a venom stemming from a woman in love, she said, "silence."

the two woman instantly shut up.

"now, neither of you are getting this dress," saga said, grabbing the dress from the two woman's limp fingers and handing it back to the merchant who was selling it. the two woman began to protest but saga's glare shut them up and with a hurried bow, they were both on their way. saga sighed an glanced at the ensign,

"ensign, put your weapon away."

[HILDA WILLENSTARK]

In spite of her attempt to get the two to cooperate, Hilda found that once they'd been given a chance to recover the two were babbling just like before, spouting things Hilda wasn't really paying much attention to. She was far too confused for that. Had she done something wrong? Wasn't this the best way to settle the argument? Hilda was confused. What if she'd done something horribly wrong? What if she'd made a huge mistake? She frowned. She didn't like making mistakes. Marines were supposed to not make mistakes, so they could make sure the peace was kept and justice was served and whatnot. She felt she still had a lot to learn. Fortunately, moments later, the problem was resolved.

The Commodore had decided to step forwards, her face looking quite intimidating as she stared down the two women into complete silence, taking the dress off of both the women before handing it back to the merchant. Oh, of course! The merchant! Hilda had forgotten about that. The merchants back on Valkyn Arena always faced so many problems Hilda hadn't even thought of how it might affect the merchant. So that was her mistake, then. After proceeding to hand the dress back to the merchant, the Commodore looked back to the two women and, with pure venom in her voice, told both of the women that they would not get the dress and to carry on. Not wishing to incur the Commodore's wrath, they promptly did so with only the barest of attempts to argue.

"Thank you very much Commodore Delphi. You handled that much better than I did!" Hilda remarked, though she still failed to see exactly why she'd gone so wrong. Upon being told to put away her weapon, Hilda didn't even think much of it, instead smiling wide and standing upright. "Oh, aye aye, Commodore!" she remarked, giving a salute before putting away the hook sword she'd taken out, returning it to her side. She smiled, looking at it with satisfaction in knowing justice had been served before looking back to the Commodore. "Marketplace seems all clear now! I heard this place has a King. Does that mean he lives in a castle?" she questioned, already back to "Yay, adventure!"-mode.