Episode 0 Flashback: For the sake of justice

"Where....Where am I". Worry, stress, fear, all these emotions circled around her, strapped to her white pants was a single long cane-like item, a beautiful red oak color. In her hands a single coat, gorgeous and expensive-looking, It seemed to be flawless in appearance, unlike the woman holding it. She was tall, slender, a little bit malnourished especially in her face. Every item of clothing she bore was torn in some way, covered in all different kinds of stains. Her white skin was darkened by soot, dirt and well, to be rather frank some of the mystery stains had a really odd odor. Her feet were the dirtiest, they were almost black, stained with a deep crimson crust. Her face grimaced with every single step, yet she continued forward. She looked bewildered, yet deep inside, she felt; free.

She had managed to stow away on a boat to this new sea, she barely knew about the place she had been in and now this was a completely different place. She had managed to flee from her..."Captors" but she was not foolish, she knew that they would be hunting for her. She had taken something precious from them, the coat within her hands as well as the cane that was now bouncing along as she walked. People eyed her up, they looked at her with disdain and disgust, she would try and try to garner information, people pointed to the signs but she could not read them. She knew at the age she was that being unable to read meant people viewed you as stupid, she had been made to feel this way her entire life and now that she was free, she refused to let people look at her like that, they could look at her with disgust at how she appeared. Dirt and grime washed off, being stupid, that was something that she couldn't change.

The darkened sky began to deliver its tears, gentle at first, umbrellas shot up all around her, but she welcomed the rain, within seconds the resounding roar of thunder shot through the air, the people around her charged off, the sky cried harder than it had in years, puddles formed almost instantly, the black-haired dirty girl fell to her knees, she swung the almost perfect coat over her head, her arms came around her in a way that was comfortable to the now drenched woman, as if the sky itself felt her pain, both the woman and the sky released an all-mighty cry, one of pain, one of heartbreak.



Thanks to the rain and the thunder, one could not tell that she was crying, other than the rise and fall off her chest, though this could simply be from the cold rain that battered her body.

The sound of rain and thunder hid the man's footstep, something was draped over her, something warm. She flinched as it touched her skin, her own jacket being protected by the larger overcoat. She didn't move, nor say anything. This was a kindness she had not been shown in a long time, in fact, she had never been shown any kindness. She was about to utter a word of thanks when the man spoke, loud enough to be heard over the thunder. "You know what it's kinda cold out here. Say how about we get you home. I shall escort you there I am a marine captain. You should not be afraid anymore." His words resonated in her head, "Home, Home, Home, HOME". Over and over again the word home filled her with dread. "No, no, Please, DON'T TAKE ME THERE" Her hands shot to the mans pants, attempting to grasp a bunch of material. "I don't have a home" she sobbed.

She would release her grasp, standing shakily, the puddle of water that surrounded her feet was now a mixture of brown and red, the blood from her feet mixing with the dirt of, well the soil and soot that followed her from where she had previously been. "I...I won't go back" she said backing up. She knew, well she had been informed of what marines are, though she was unsure on their purpose. She knew they were some form of authority, but she had been told that they were also the authorities that sided with the rich, the nobles. This man was one of those marines, the ones who would surely take her back to those who "owned her", to those she had stolen from and assaulted. "B...b....back..away....I don't...I can't go back.......s...stay...away" she uttered as she pulled her cane from her side, holding it in both hands in front of her as she continued to step backward. "I don't...I don't want to hurt you...I don't want to hurt anyone, Please...." she uttered. She was sniffing with almost every word, trying to fight back the tears, coupled with the pain of each step.

Her dark blue eyes studied the man, she was struggling to take in his appearance, with the rain and her physical state she was having a hard time keeping the man in focus, yet the cane that she held in front of her remained as a barrier, though she shook rapidly. As the man began to step forward she crisscrossed her feet, circling him like a lioness. She would not allow anyone to get behind her, even in this state. Yet as she took her fourth step, she stumbled, her knee slapped the ground sending a spray of dirty water into the air. She gasped in pain. She heard his words as she remained on the ground, though her body crumpled, her head did not, though her face was screwed up, her eyes did not leave his form. Though she held his coat upon her body. "W...what does that mean?" she uttered as she shook. Using the cane, she would slowly, shakily get to her feet. A single step forward was all she managed before she fell forward once more, this time in the vicinity of the man.

"You..a ship" she managed to utter out, her breathing was heavy, and as she spoke there was a rumble, much like thunder, though this time it came from below. Her gut created a boom much louder than any that came from the sky, she was starving, it had been roughly three days since she had eaten anything. "So...hungry" she exclaimed. She tried to steady herself, her breathing and the shakiness from the cold, alas this proved much harder with the roaring thunder, the cold air and the freezing cold rain that continued to blast the duo, "Th...Thank......you" she said gently, she would need his aid to walk, all of her strength was being sapped by the cold. "My...name....my name....is...Poppaleaf" she said softly, a semi smile upon her now cleaner face. The rain had done one good job, cleaning up her dirty puss.

Each step was painful, she said no words as they walked, but she kept her eyes on to this stranger who was helping her, he was handsome, or perhaps that was the fact her vision was blurry. She let him take her to his ship, she would suppose it was impressive, but then again she hadn't been on many ships, or seen many ships. Okay she actually had only ever seen one ship in her entire life, and it was the one she stowed away on. She was in so much pain, she could barely think. When she was taken to the small E.R. She sat ever so gently, the relief her feet felt was, well the truth was it was orgasmic. "Uggggghhhhhh" she said as she took a deep breath. She took a second, that turned into five minutes before she looked around. She went to the bathroom and found a wipe, cleaning herself up, In the E.R she located a sheet, removing all of her clothing she hung them around the room before draping herself in the sheet.

She felt awkward, strange being in some new place, so instead of waiting for the man to return, she would locate the kitchen, easy since he had basically told her where it was. She walked in on the man preparing food."Thank you" she said. Colour had returned to her face, and she wasn't shaking as much. She had left her cane and coat in the E.R. "Could...Could I trouble you for some water" she said. She pulled the sheet across her to make sure she was not flashing the man any of her private areas. Tied at the top off her chest. "I...Ugh...Hmm, W..Whats your name?" She asked softly.

If the man were to look at her, the arms of the woman would be marked in white and red scars, welts that were maybe around four days old, looking more closely you could see above her chest and her exposed legs were also covered in marks, old scars from many years ago. Yet they seemed not to bother her, she simply gave the man a weak smile. "This...belongs to you" she said as she presented the man his marine jacket.

She could'nt help it, she had never been given so much food before. Her manners went out the window as she grabbed the steaming dumplings, she didn't even blow them to cool them down, they went straight in to the gullet, she oohd and oofted as the too hot to eat dumplings burned her mouth, but that didn't stop her, she threw some of the salad in to her mouth and drained the cup of water in one go. She continued to eat like a pig without stopping, without saying a word until the plate was licked clean. She would release a bit of a gassy burp, though she seemed to recover her manners and placed her hand across her mouth. "Pardon me" she said softly.

She looked the man over. She was trying to decide on what to say. She had never met a marine, she knew of them. She had been terrified of them for so long, her old masters had gone on about the marines and how if she ever ran away they would come for her, that the marines worked for the royals of the world, that they did whatever they were asked to do.

"Scuse me" she said grasping her stomach, she left the clothes that had been offered, for now, there was no chance she would be able to put them on. Her stomach had churned, perhaps she had eaten too much or too fast. Maybe the dumplings had been too rich for her empty stomach. She bolted to the bathroom, and in one swift motion, she skidded to her knees and emptied out most of the contents that she had just consumed. Wiping her face, she moved back to the E.R, picking up her cane she used it to walk back to the kitchen where she placed it against the counter.

"Turn" she said twirling her hand as she held on to the sheet. When the man turned she would place the new clothes on. "Thanks." she said gently as she placed her hand around the cane. "Your a marine, you...you work for the royals" she said softly before holding the cane up, "You'll take me back?" she asked, her eyes never looking away from him.

The young woman's face scrunched up a little bit as the man became rather passionate, yet she did something that she had never done before, or so it felt like she had never done before. Upon the man shout so passionately with such gusto that his justice is an Explosion.

"weeHEEEweeHeeeheeeheeWEEEEEHEEEEEwee...huh.huh WEEEEHEEE"

Her laugh was a combination of the word wee, which is funny in itself and crazy snorts and gasps. She couldn't help it. The man was a cringe in himself, the whole justice is an explosion trope was like a silly little catchphrase from those badly acted shows that the rich snobs her masters hung around with would constantly go on about. "Sorry" she said covering her mouth as she wiped away a small trail of snot and drool that escaped from her. She would try to present herself a bit more stable from this point on, she knew she shouldn't laugh at her "savior"

When he spoke of the bandits, she would look up to the ceiling, she doubted that those bandits were after her, she had only escaped like three to four days ago, she had been lucky and had managed to climb on board of a ship and stowed away. She didn't know where she was going, so unless her masters had contacted everyone in each blue who was in the slave-trading business she was at least safe for the time being. "Yeah" she said softly. "That sounds about right, they are probably after me" she lied. This was a good test, if he turned her over to the bandits they wouldn't know who she was, she could easily escape bandits with her unknown skills, but a trained marine captain? She may not be schooled, but she was smart in so many other ways.

"What are you gonna do against the bandits?" she asked. "Shouldnt you, as a law holder, use your explosion of justice to take them out?" she said, her knuckles whitened as she tightened her hold on to the cane. "Wouldn't it be easy for you to take em out? as a marine captain right? With your.....wait... she mused to herself for a second. "Your a captain? wouldn't uhm....where is your crew?" she asked in confusion, she hadn't seen anyone and hadn't seen any sign of others using this boat.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Poppaleaf uttered softly. She didn't realize that his crew had been killed. A pit churned in her stomach. She felt bad now for asking, but also for lying about being one of these escapees. Though alas she had said what she had said. Telling anyone about her "Masters" might mean the beli they would probably receive for her return would sway them. This was the safest way, for her. She sighed gently. "No, I don't know where I am. Or really where I'm going" she said, she would look around, though there wasn't much to look at. "When, Ugh, When my clothes dry....Sorry, could I have some more water, maybe a jug?" she asked her hand against her stomach, her other resting on the cane.

If he obliged she was given the man a good stare down, could she trust him, more so, why did she have this yearning want to help him avenge his crew. She wondered one thing though, He had said that he and his crew had all but defeated the bandits, but now there was fifty more on their way? is that what he meant? She felt bad about asking him, it would mean if there was fifty more filling the space of the dead ones it would mean well his crew died in vain right? She would take a deep sigh, clenching her cane. "I have to ask, you said you and your crew took them out, but what about the fifty you mentioned before? Are they still around? how many are actually looking for me now?" she asked. "I...I wanna help... perhaps, You and I can fight them.....I'm not too well, I have some skill" she said shyly, shuffling her feet as she mentioned this.