Chapter Text
It's a beautiful sunny day on the tropical shores of Southern Island, a tiny village island nestled within the Sol Dimension. The ocean stretched endlessly beneath a sky painted in brilliant shades of glistening blue, its waves lazily rolling onto Seagull Beach in sparkling ribbons of white foam. Seagulls drifted overhead on the warm sea breeze, occasionally calling to one another as they circled above the shoreline. Standing proudly in the middle of that beach was a raccoon kit only seven years of age.
Her name is Marine, and even months after the biggest, and so far only, adventure of her life, it continues to replay in her mind endlessly--retrieving the Jeweled Scepter from Captain Whisker, sailing the seas with Sonic, Tails, and the princess of the Sol Empire herself, Blaze the Cat, and even ragebaiting some shark robot of whose name she doesn't remember. She's still completely obsessed with it... but after months of retelling the story to anyone with functioning ears, more than a few people had suggested, some politely, some decidedly less politely, that perhaps Marine should stop talking about it every five minutes.
However, this only made her want to prove herself. If everyone thought she was just some loud little kid who got lucky one time, then she'd simply have to prove otherwise. She'd spent the past few months training her new power, and she's returned to Southern Island with her SS Super-Marine jetski watercraft parked just offshore so she can be alone to train, wanting her skills to be a surprise.
The captain always needs a dramatic reveal.
"Orright... day number..." Marine utters, glancing down at her hands as she silently counted on her fingers.
One eye twitched.
She started over.
Then again.
Finally, she throws both hands into the air. "Agh, who bloody cares?! I got TRAININ' to do!"
She immediately plants her feet into the sand and claps her palms together.
"Roight, then. Time to focus..." Marine says to herself as she squeezes her eyes shut.
Focusing.
Focusing.
Focusing.
...
Still focusing.
The only things occupying her thoughts were how much she was trying to focus and how annoying it was that focusing required so much focus.
A vein twitches on her forehead.
"GAHH!! I CAN'T DO IT!!!!" Marine shrieks as she claws at her head angrily, pulling at her boomerang-shaped pigtails. "Why can't I focus?! It seems so bloomin' EASY for everyone else, but when ole' Marine has a go at it, suddenly me BRAIN don't wanna WORK!!" Marine rants to herself, pacing back and forth on the sand as clouds of sand come about due to her stomping about. "It's not FAIR!!!"
Marine then kicks a clump of sand out of anger, with the wind blowing it back onto her. Sand blasted her eyes, got into her mouth, and somehow found its way into her ears. Marine sputters and coughs loudly, stumbling backward while frantically rubbing at her face with a "Ptth! Ack! Blech! Yucko!! 's loike eatin' bad chitlins!"
Tears well up in her eyes from all the sand, but once she can see again, she looks down at her clothing and sees that it's all completely covered in sand. Her eyes widen before she meticulously dusts herself off quickly, every last speck she can find. After making sure every part of her has no more sand on it, only then does she allow herself to exhale in relief.
She plops down in the sand now, the beach seeming to be much quieter than usual... the distant crashing of waves... the cries of seagulls overhead... the rustling of palm leaves swaying in the breeze... all usually loud sounds are suddenly quiet compared to hearing her heart in her ears, unable to concentrate or calm down.
She DOES, however, remember what Blaze had told her; deep breaths in, count to ten, deep breaths out. Marine crosses her legs in the sand, looking down at her lap, beginning to take a deep breath, the salty sea air hitting her lungs... hold it for ten seconds... and exhale. Once she starts getting into a rhythm of this, she closes her eyes gently, holding one hand out, palm to the clouds.
Nothing happens for a moment, and she starts to believe she's doing it wrong. She's been training it ever since she first used it against Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega, but that was in desperation then. Had she messed up? She starts to panic again, and just when she's lost all hope, she hears sloshing water right next to her ear. Her eyes open, and she looks at her palm, smiling.
"Aces an' apples, it's happening again!!" Marine cheers, pumping her other fist into the air. "Now lemme try and..."
Marine, in all her excitement, tries to force the water to do... something. Though she scrunches her face, grits her teeth, and tries to flex and stiffen her arm as best she can, the water ball doesn't change.
"Ah, piss." Marine sighs at this and instead tosses it at the sand in front of her dismissively.
But once it lands however...
SPLASH-KA-THOOM!!!
it causes a massive plume of sand to shoot up, farther up in the sky than she'd ever made possible before, and Marine's eyes instantly crack wide open as the seagulls all around begin to caw and fly off, startled. Her jaw practically smacks the sand with how much shock she's in.
"HOLY DOOLEY!!!" Marine exclaims, standing up frantically.
For several long moments, Marine simply stood there, the ocean breeze tugging at her pigtails. The seagulls she'd frightened continued circling farther down the beach, and the crater remained exactly where it was. Very real. Very large. And very much not something she'd ever managed to do before.
Marine then slowly looks down at her hand, mystified. "...I did that?"
The words practically leapt out of her mouth, barely a whisper. She stands there, looking at the massive hole in the sand as the cloud of sand above finally seems to dissipate. After this moment of contemplation, Marine snickers, a hand to her chin.
"Well, heh, of COURSE I did that! I'm the captain, after all! An' the captain HAS to have some bonza power! Why, I'm so good it scared ME!" Marine says to herself, her chest puffed out as she rubs under her nose. "Bloody oath!"
Marine claps her hands together, satisfied with this perfectly logical explanation for a seven year old, pointing into the sky with her eyes closed.
"Roight then... I needs to keep me informed on how I form these water thingies." Marine says to herself, poking her forehead. "Can't have the captain forgettin' important captain stuff."
Marine hurries over to where she'd left her supplies and dug through them enthusiastically. A moment later, she produced a notepad and pen with acapella fanfare, immediately dropping to her knees in the sand. The notebook already contained dozens of pages of scribbles, sketches, maps, reminders, and ideas. Some of them were useful... most of them were not.
Marine flips through several pages before finding a blank one, smiling. "Ah, ya bewdy!"
She clicked the pen dramatically, then began writing, her tongue poking out slightly in concentration.
"Captin's Log, number sixtee three.
The waters r geting bigger!!! And its FUN to make them! I cant WAIT to show Blaze and Sonic and Tails and EVREE 1!!
How too to make them!
Keep this gide for future refrinse!
Step 1: Maek shoore to FOCUSS!!! Breeth a little and connsentrait.
Step 2: Think REEEEAAALLY hard about water!!
Step 3: Let it flow owt! (like water get it? Im a bloody riot I know •‿•)
Step 4: It gets ezr the moar u do it! Practise EVREE day!"
...her handwriting is atrocious, and her spelling is somehow worse. Once she overlooks the notes and is content with the notebook, she pockets it and tries once again to form the water ball, following her own advice. She lets it flow, feeling as though her body is creating the water floating above her hand naturally.
True to her belief, this one was much easier to form than the previous ones.
She smiles at this and throws this one at the sand as well, but this one doesn't blow up as massively. Marine tilts her head, thinking. She approaches with a stick, bending down and poking at the small hole in the sand with it.
"Wait a sec, that's weird. If it made that massive sand-splosion the first time... maybe I need to stress me arm again?" Marine questions, forming yet another water ball.
This time, however, she didn't stop at just forming it. Instead, she keeps pouring energy into it. The water trembles as she does so, its surface beginning to churn. The sphere grows denser, tighter... the liquid starts rotating faster and faster while tiny bubbles appear all throughout it. Then more bubbles show up, and more... even more... the once-clear sphere became increasingly cloudy, condensed, and foamy, as countless microscopic cavitation bubbles formed within it.
Marine stares in awe at the thing floating atop her hand... it looks like it's alive, vibrating and very weighty now. She can actually FEEL it.
"Crikey..." Marine exhales. "you're a proper nasty one, aren't ya?"
She then grins and winds her arm up in wide circles, making a ring of the condensed water ball, making it bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until she can't make it any bigger.
"HERE WE GO!!!" Marine cheers happily before she throws it out at the water, watching it fly off.
Once it lands in the water, nothing happens for a moment...
THOOM...
CRASH-KA-SPLASH!!!
The impact of the highly condensed water sphere hitting the ocean causes the water to implode around the impact point and before bursting back outwards, A massive column of spray erupted skyward. Sunlight passes through the countless droplets while rainbows appear instantly, tiny bands of color that dance throughout the mist with each individual droplet acting as a prism to reflect that light outwards. The entire spectacle shimmers like liquid glass. Marine cheers at this, leaping into the air repeatedly.
"YAHOO!!! BLOODY RIPPER!! THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!!!" Marine exclaims, her heart beating as fast as it can go. "I WANNA DO IT AGAIN!!"
And so, Marine, highly energized in this moment, forms another water ball above her palm, stressing her arm and continuing to form it. Feeling it get actually quite heavy in her hand, she tries to hold it up as best she can, having to actually brace herself due to how large and heavy it is. She looks around for something to test it out on, eventually finding one of Eggman Nega's robots, deactivated.
It lays half-buried in the sand near a cluster of rocks, rusted and motionless. Judging by the faded paint and corroded metal plating, it'd probably been sitting there for months after one of Eggman Nega's schemes had gone spectacularly wrong.
To Marine, however, it looked less like scrap metal and more like an opportunity to prove herself.
"Orright, robot! Prepare to feel the wrath of the great Captain Marine!" Marine cheers as she runs over to the robot at top speed. Once there, she thrusts her hand out onto the robot, smacking it with the water ball. "TAKE THIS!!!"
The heavy sphere in her hand becomes a massive sphere of water and... does nothing for half a second before it
KER-SPLASH-KABOOOOOM!!!!!!!
detonates in a highly violent manner, sending Marine flying through the air towards the water, pinwheeling endlessly.
"AAAAIIIEEEEEEEE—!!!"
At this point, she's far too surprised to be afraid, loving the thrill. Then Marine makes the mistake of looking down, seeing nothing but water, her eyes firing out of their sockets.
"OH SUGAR HONEY ICED TEA-- NONONONONONONONO—"
Marine, panicking, flaps her entire body in a wild and frantic manner, including her tail, and after the panic fades away, she realizes she isn't falling anymore. She stops flapping her arms and legs, instead focusing on flapping her tail from side to side... however, this lands her splashing into the water. Thankfully she'd learned how to swim on her own, and quite well at that, so she's back on shore in only a few minutes, wringing her pigtails dry as she's disgusted at how wet her clothes are.
"Augh... me socks're all drowned rats now." Marine grumbles, shaking herself off like a soaked dog, before her eyes widen in horror. "CRIKEY!!"
Without hesitation, she digs into her pocket, and her paw emerges holding her notebook... or rather, what remained of it. The pages are all soggy, ink bleeds everywhere, and the entire thing looked as though it'd been dunked in a bucket and held under the water for several hours.
"No..."
Marine's ears droop, and she falls to her knees in anguish.
"No no nOOO!!! DAMMIT!!" Marine shouts in dismay, throwing the soaked notepad on the ground as tears immediately fall from her eyes, pulling on her pigtails. "SOL, I'm such a daft blighter!! I shoulda taken it outta my pocket BEFORE hittin' that dumbarse robot!!"
As the notebook had opened when she threw it on the ground, a page tears loose and flutters away in the breeze. Marine just watches it go, a piece of her soul going with it. The notebook is currently flopped open on the page containing her guide, but it's completely ruined. The anger has left her now, leaving only the sadness in its place. She eventually huffs, wiping her eyes with the back of her glove.
"Guess hindsight is somethin' I need to work on as well..." Marine mumbles, sniffling.
For several moments, she sits quietly beside the ruined notebook. Despite her anguish, the beach had become peaceful again. Waves roll onto the shore, the sun continues shining overhead... however, interrupting the peace is a seagull that lands nearby and immediately begins investigating whether or not the notebook was edible.
Marine looks at it and glares, waving at it. "Oi, piss off! Can't you see I'm grievin, ya feathered rat?!"
The seagull caws and flies away, causing Marine to pout once again. ...then, remembering that seagulls can fly, her expression shifts. Slowly. Thoughtfully. Her gaze drifts back toward the ocean.
"Wait... was I flyin'? How in the heck...?" Marine mutters to herself. "It weren't me TAIL doin' the work, and I flap my arms all the time! So maybe..."
Marine comes to a realization, grinning. Ideas are a dangerous thing, but especially if they come from her. She takes several steps back, all the way until her back touches a tree. She then takes off running, as fast as she can go. Once she reaches the shoreline, she takes a leap of faith into the air, expecting to fall, but she flicks her tail repeatedly, causing her to fly into the air. She looks around at this, smiling widely.
"Woah..! Holy.. I'M FLYIN'!! I'M FLYIN'!!!!!" Marine cheers happily, her arms pumping into the air. "TAKE THAT, TAILS!! I CAN FLY TOO!! HA HAAAA!!!"
...and then she begins to sink.
"Crud."
So, thinking fast, Marine begins to kick her legs quickly, running in the air, and to her complete surprise, it kinda works, seeing as she begins to float slowly downward as opposed to just falling. She turns in the air, attempting to head back to the shoreline, but just before she can reach the beach, she manages to hit the water again. By the time she paddles back to shore and drags herself onto the sand, she was soaked all over again. Water dripped from her ears, her clothes clung to her fur, and her shoes squished loudly. Thankfully she's wearing rubber gloves so those aren't too difficult to dry.
Marine grabs one of her pigtails and wrings it out, then she wrings out the other. Then she carefully wrings out her tail, with the amount of water that comes out of it being frankly concerning.
Mumbling under her breath, she sits down heavily on the beach. The excitement from her discovery still buzzed beneath the frustration, because despite the repeated crashes...
She'd done it.
She'd actually done it. She could fly. ...kinda.
The beach had grown considerably calmer since she'd arrived earlier that day. The sun was beginning its slow descent toward the horizon, painting the ocean in shades of gold and orange. Every wave seemed to catch the light differently, causing the sea to sparkle like molten treasure stretching all the way to the edge of the world. A gentle breeze rolled in from offshore, palm fronds rustled overhead. Seagulls had largely returned to their usual business, since Marine wasn't blowing the sand up with water anymore.
Marine wrings out her pigtails one last time, then sighs. The excitement from her discoveries still lingers, warming her chest whenever she thought about them. The water powers, the flying... and she tries not to remember foolishly attacking the robot and causing a giant explosion.
Still.
She'd made progress today. Real progress. Her tail slowly sweeps across the sand behind her as she listens to the sounds of nature, her ears moving about as she sits still, a rarity for her. For once, however, she isn't thinking about training. She isn't thinking about powers. Or flying, or Captain Whisker, or even adventure. Her thoughts drift elsewhere, to a couple of people she met months ago.
Marine looks up to the darkening sky, seeing the first stars appearing overhead, tiny pinpricks of silver shining against the deepening blues and purples of a natural night sky.
"...Sonic an' Tails are a right proper good team, ain't they? Crikey, they must-a been ace cobbers since I was bein' carried by the stork. Those two are practically brothers." Marine says to herself in a quieter, softer voice, contemplating. "Meanwhile Blaze an' I... didn't get on real well. I know she likes me now, but... it feels like... we don't mix. Y'know what I'm on about, Moon?"
The luminous giant moon in the sky gives no answer, but Marine seems content regardless, smiling.
"Aww well, it takes a lot of humility to be such a great captain!" Marine admits, brushing under her nose for a moment. "...but I can't take ALL the credit. Not when Sonic's a bloody ripper bloke, zip-zoomin' all over the place! Tails, that dag, can make all these AMAZING vehicles with a choc-a-bloc box o' scraps! An' Blaze... she's the princess, mate. Got more firepower than a kajillion flamethrowers, she has."
Marine, after some silence, looks down at the sand. The wind blows through her fur, and the sounds of nature sound off. She slowly frowns, remembering the worst part of her adventure. "...will I ever be enough for her? I mean... she did call me a nuisance..."
Almost as quickly as she can blink, Marine stands up.
"Hold on a minute, what am I sayin'?! ME, not good enough!? ME, a nuisance?! Enough o' that waffling, Marine! She'll be apples! I got more trainin' to do!" Marine exclaims, smacking the side of her head repeatedly.
Yet before she does, she smells something positively divine, her tail and ears sticking straight upwards. She takes a deep sniff, and feels her stomach begin to growl. It's a smoky, savory, utterly delightful scent that carries itself from... HER house??
"Blimey, is that...?" Marine utters happily, beginning to drool and trill like a raccoon can.
She quickly runs off, nearly tripping over the sand as she hurries back to Windmill Village. The dirt pathways blur beneath her feet as she races between houses, her nose leading the way more effectively than any compass ever could. Warm lantern light spills from windows as the evening settles like a warm blanket over the village, painting everything in soft tropical amber hues. Villagers chat amongst themselves as they wrap up their day, though more than a few step aside when they spotted the tiny captain charging through town at an alarming speed. A couple of them even wave to her, knowing her very well.
Marine waves back without slowing down, continuing to rush. The smell only grows stronger... smoky... savory... rich... oh, it's definitely some kind of meat. Knowing this, her stomach growls so loudly she was fairly certain it echoes through the village. Then she rounds the final corner, sliding to a dramatic halt.
Once at her house, a quaint one story building with a blue shingle rooftop, she sees the Coconut Crew (a group of seven koalas joined together as a youth association) in front of her house, cooking the food she'd been following like a bloodhound. On the grill are spicy sausages with cheese stuffed inside, their crackling skin charring perfectly... thick beef burger patties cooked near buttered turkey tails, their surfaces glistening beneath a careful coating of seasoning, and king prawns, their shells turning various shades of orange and red. All of the meat is seasoned well, while a hefty pot of chili is being brewed on a side table.
Hot dog buns are being steamed and hot dogs are being boiled, burger buns are off to the side, assorted burger toppings, condiments, and grated cheese and crackers for the chili are on the other side, and a red liquid is in a large pitcher—looks to be fruit punch. Alongside the prawns on the grill are lemons and limes, allowing the prawns to soak in the citrus tang. They seem to be further apart from the other meats so there isn't contamination.
Marine's stomach practically churns with how loud it growls.
The koalas all heed this well-known noise (some of them jolting in surprise), looking over to see Marine running towards them as happy as can be, smiling at her.
"There she is." one of the koalas chimes.
Once Marine stops, she brings her hands up to her face.
"Crikey, mates!! What's with the feast??" Marine asks, very excited.
One of the koalas, with a straw hat on his head, a pair of green shorts, sandals, and circular glasses obscuring his eyes, adjusts his glasses as he looks at her.
"Don't you remember, Marine? It's the anniversary we blokes founded the Coconut Crew!" the koala chimes, before seeming to notice something. "...why are you lookin' like a drowned rat? Need more exercise, cobber?"
The other koalas chuckle at this, and Marine does as well, slapping her knee.
"Nah, well.. you know me, Kylok! I fell in the water ridin' the SS Super-Marine! Ole' girl still has a few bugs." Marine partially lies, scratching behind her head.
"Well dry up! We're almost ready to start eatin'! And we WILL start without you!" another koala, a snappier one with a purple vest that has black lining, the same sandals, and a straw hat sitting on his back, exclaims.
The absolute horror of this riddles through Marine's body, despite knowing that the koala was most likely joking, and Marine's tail thwicks to the side.
"Aye-aye, Daikun!" Marine nods with a salute and hurries into her house quickly, closing the door behind her.
Marine's house interior is, at first impression, clean. And she likes to keep it that way. Small but welcoming, the off-white walls having dark brown wooden support beams showing through the walls. The entrance has a green throw rug right in front of the front door which has white lettering that reads "WELCOME, MATE!". All of the windows have forest green frames which hold forest green plantation shutters, currently closed because it's dark out. In the middle of the room sits a desk with a yellow tarp that has a white line and dot design on it, and a razzmatazz rug beneath it, having yellow tassels and the same white design as the yellow tarp.
Photos are all over the walls, mostly of things around Windmill Village, but new photos are on the walls as well of her adventures with Sonic, Tails, and Blaze. In the bottom right corner of the room, a forest green bookshelf sits, holding assorted things- a few books with dark blue covers standing upright, a few books with burgundy covers stacked on top of each other on their fronts, a large light blue bowl, a beige Asian conical bamboo hat, and on top of the bookshelf is a wooden carving of a fish. Directly across from the entrance of the room is another window, and it has a barrel sitting next to it, a lit lantern illuminating the room in a nice warm orange.
In the top right corner of the room is a large crate with assorted nonsense in it, two large sticks poking out of it, requiring the lid of the crate to be slanted against it and pressing against the barrel. However, on the left wall is a wall-mounted plaque containing a pirate's cutlass, bigger than Marine's whole body, and her bed is sitting in the top left corner. It's a small bed, very neatly made, with three pillows and a memory foam mattress covered in a rainbow polka-dot sheet. The comforter is made of wool and cotton, and is a striking red color, contrasting beautifully with the rest of the room.
Once Marine trots over to the crate, she dries herself off, changes her clothes into a matching set of what she already has on, and races back outside, where everyone is still cooking.
"Oi, how much longer's it gonna take for the grub to be finished?? I'm so bloody ravenous I could eat a horse an' chase the jockey!" Marine proclaims, holding her stomach.
"We're about done, actually." Kylok states, checking the meats. "The meat's cooked just right."
"Aces!" Marine cheers.
She flips over to the table, sitting at it eagerly, with the other koalas beginning to set the table. The meat is all put on one big plate, and Marine fixes herself a plate first, since she's the captain, and she's not about to argue with tradition. She ends up getting herself two chili dogs using the boiled hot dogs, putting extra cheese on top as well as a squiggly string of mustard and caramelized onions. She gets a few prawns and turkey tails as well, and a cup of fruit punch before she sits down at the table, allowing the koalas to get their meals.
Marine goes for the turkey tails first, dipping them in a small cup of mayonnaise provided to her and eating it whole, only the bone making it out alive, and she trills happily, her tail wriggling.
"Mate... this is ripper." Marine utters, her mouth still full before she swallows it, tossing the bone behind her. "I 'aven't had these in AGES, but it's still succulent."
"I'm glad you like it, Marine! I remember you told me how much you like those turkey tails, so... I might have sailed off to a far-off island to snag some." Kylok explains, grinning with a burger in his hands.
Marine laughs heartily at this, smiling widely. "You sneaky snake!!"
Kylok merely gives a theatrical bow from his seat. Marine then looks at the chili dogs on her plate, the chili being a dark red color with kidney beans visible. It steams quite faintly, letting Marine know it's just right, so she takes one with both hands and takes a massive bite, nearly falling off the table with how good it tastes, her ears twitching as her eyes glaze over, blinking rapidly.
"I needa learn how to cook food one of these days!" Marine chirps, before eating the other half of the chili dog, and swallowing quickly. "Fair dinkum, if I could cook, I'd be makin' so many meals I'd be in debt from havin' to visit the grocery store!"
The koalas all laugh at Marine's words, and one of them looks to her. Immediately different than the others, he carries a more formal air to him. He wears a matching sky blue two piece uniform, consisting of a hat with a rim and a vest with a yellow collar and latches. He also wears brown shoes with gray soles, and his golden sheath carrying his sword is laying on the ground next to him.
"Marine, we could always teach you." he explains, his voice more posh and less accented than the other koalas. "If anything, I would be more than thrilled to!"
Marine looks at him, beaming. "Y'really MEAN it, Gardon?? You'd help learn me how to cook food proper-like???"
"Of course I would! I mean, you ARE the captain of the Coconut Crew, are you not? It would be only natural for you to be able to cook." Gardon admits, smiling.
Marine excitedly begins to swing and flap her arms as she squeals and giggles, too hyper for a proper answer, but this seems to satiate Gardon. However, Marine seems to calm down after a moment, eating a few prawns happily before she looks down, saddened.
"What's wrong, cobber?" Kylok immediately asks, having noted her suddenly dour expression.
Marine glances up, seeing that the others are already looking at her. Waiting to hear what's wrong, concerned for their friend. The sudden attention made her hesitate. Marine isn't used to talking about such serious things like this.
...and yet? These were her mates. So, she takes a deep breath.
"Mates? Do you all think... I'm too... much? For Blaze?" Marine asks gently. "I know I'm more hyper than a hummingbird drinkin' coffee sometimes..." Marine smiles faintly as this joke lands somewhat, a fee chuckles bubbling up around the table. "...but I'm tryna be better. An'... there's somethin' else I've been up to lately."
The koalas all lean in, interested.
"What is it, Marine?" another koala asks, this one wearing pink-rimmed glasses with thick lens obscuring his eyes, a blue neckerchief, a khaki flatcap with a goldenrod pin on it, and matching khaki-colored moccasins.
Marine quickly devours everything left on her plate and downs her cup of fruit punch before she stands back and focuses, holding her palm up to the sky. And sure enough, the water ball appears again, with all of the koalas being both shocked and amazed, especially Gardon.
"CRIKEY!!" Kylok exclaims, adjusting his glasses. "You can do water stuff now??"
"Yeah!!" Marine chimes, throwing it behind her. "But I've been practicin' it basically all night. I also kinda figured out I can fly if I get a runnin' start, but it don't last too long."
The koalas all clap for her eagerly, and Marine can't help but take some bows, reveling in the attention. And yet, Marine sits back down at her seat, exhaling.
"But even with all that, I dunno if it's all... enough to join Blaze on her adventures. I dunno if me bein' a big ole' chatterbox what never shuts 'er trap is good enough to tag along." Marine mutters, hanging her head low as her tail comes to rest beside her chair.
For once, Marine didn't have a joke, boast, or dramatic declaration. Just... uncertainty. The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable though. It was thoughtful. The Coconut Crew exchanged glances. Nobody laughed, nobody dismissed her feelings... they simply considered her words. Then, Gardon reaches his hand out, placing it on Marine's shoulder, with her looking at his steady and reassuring expression.
"Marine, I have no doubt that Princess Blaze would LOVE to see how your skills have progressed. I would ask to help so I may aid you in refining your skills further, but alas I'm only skilled in swordplay." Gardon explains, looking off to the side.
Marine about says something before she gasps.
"STREWTH!! I'll be right back!" Marine exclaims, immediately running off into her house.
Once she grabs the pirate cutlass off of her wall, she returns outside, sliding to a halt, with the koalas all looking at her, and Gardon's eyes light up.
"I actually GOT me a sword! ..it's a pirate sword, but swords is swords, mate!" Marine cheers.
The other koalas wrap up the feast and begin packing things up, saving leftovers of everything as Gardon approaches Marine, smiling.
"Oh, that's wonderful! It's getting rather late, so we couldn't do anything tonight... but we can definitely begin your training tomorrow. And in secrecy, if you'd prefer." Gardon states, seeing Marine's eyes sparkle.
"YES!! I can't WAIT to finally learn how to use this thing!!!" Marine cheers, hugging the sword close to her chest.
Gardon chuckles at this, scratching Marine's head, but Marine hugs Gardon as tight as she can, causing Gardon's spine to pop in a few places as he grunts from the force.
"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!" Marine cheers before immediately pulling away. "G'night!"
And Marine dashes into her house, leaving Gardon outside. She hurries over to place the cutlass back on her wall mount, and snuffs out the lantern, cannonballing herself into her bed and getting under the covers, not even bothering to remove her shoes.
"I'm prob'ly not gonna sleep a WINK t'night!" Marine coos to herself, already anticipating her training with Gardon.
Three hard knocks on Marine's door hardly wakes the sleeping raccoon up, her snoring being quite loud as she drools onto her bedsheets, her limbs tangled in her comforter. One pillow is off of her bed entirely, and her hair is an absolute mess.
"Marine? Are you awake?? It's time for your training!" Gardon's voice calls out from the other side of the door.
Marine's ear twitches, and once she realizes it's Gardon at the door, and that he said the word “training”, her memory floods. Her eyes snap open, and she leaps out of bed quickly, before just as quickly making her bed and wiping the drool from her mouth, flicking it away with a disgusted yecch. She grabs the cutlass by the hilt and runs to her door, opening it and seeing Gardon there, holding his sheath in his hand, and Marine leaps out of her house, standing in front of him.
"Ready to be taught, Gardon! Jus' don't make it too boring, eh? I wanna be able to pay attention!" Marine chimes.
For a moment Gardon simply stares at her, then glances toward the house and back at Marine, noticing a small bit of bedhead still sticking up behind one ear.
The koala smiles politely, deciding not to mention it.
Gardon nods and walks over to her, correcting her grip on the cutlass so that the guard is over her fingers before he gets beside her, pulling his own sword out, which resembles a Gladius. The whole blade is a nice amber-copper color, shining like gold. It's very well-taken care of.
"Right, then. Let's get cracking. First, I'll have you perform a thrust." Gardon states.
He holds his sword forward, before stepping into a forceful stab. Nothing flashy whatsoever, simple and effective. Marine, paying close attention, nods, realizing this isn't playing pirates and redcoats-- she's learning the basics of swordplay. She tests the weight of the blade by wiggling it slowly in her hand, nodding, and she looks forward. She holds the cutlass forward, stepping into a forceful stab, though it's not as forceful as Gardon's and the blade is off-center by a bit. Impressed and pleased, Gardon nods, standing regularly again.
"Great, Marine!" Gardon praises.
"REALLY???" Marine immediately cheers, standing normally as she beams.
"Really. Now, since you know how to thrust, I'll teach you how to parry next." Gardon says as he turns to Marine, holding his sword out. "Try to swing at me one time."
Marine nods, her grip on the sword like iron.
"Better get ready then, Gardon!!" Marine exclaims, brandishing her blade. "Cos here I... COME!!"
She lunges forward and slashes her sword using both hands on the hilt, but however, years of experience have trained Gardon for a novice to be so inexperienced. He easily slaps her blade to the side with his, the blades making a satisfying CLANG! before he quickly places his fist on her cheek, not striking, but letting her know he could have. Marine, frozen, looks at Gardon out of the corner of her wide open eyes.
"The most optimal parry window is right when you can see the swing about to happen. That precise moment is when you can move your own body, to either avoid, block, or parry. That makes a counterattack easier to perform, depending on the opponent." Gardon explains. He steps back from her, and Marine takes two quick steps back immediately, taking deep breaths. Gardon readies himself again, holding the sword out. "Again. We'll move on when you can avoid my counterattack."
Marine nods, using one hand this time and spinning the blade in her hand one time. She realizes that the challenge isn't to beat Gardon, to deny the parry, or even to simply win, but to avoid the counterattack. She gives him her most devious grin, something he should have been more aware of. She rushes him again, grinning, and once his sword moves, Marine's ears twitch.
That's it-- the exact moment his sword moves! The window of opportunity! Being a mischievous trickster, she swaps her sword into the opposite hand and punches Gardon in the nose instead of slashing with her blade, causing him to immediately yelp and hold it in pain with both hands, letting go of his blade. His eyes water as he groans in pain, wincing.
"Bugger..! Did you really have to punch me that hard..?!" Gardon exclaims, his eyes shut tightly. "Marine, that wasn't what I--"
When he hears Marine whistle, he looks to see that she's holding his blade as well, just the most wide, outrageously smug smile on her face as she points Gardon's blade at him and holds the cutlass over her shoulder.
"Worked, didn't it?" Marine utters, tilting her head to the left ever so slightly.
The realization slowly dawned upon him. She'd listened perfectly. She identified the objective, avoided the counterattack, and then solved the problem in the most Marine way possible; by ignoring conventional swordsmanship entirely. Gardon, actually somewhat intimidated by this, shakes his head quickly, taking his blade back and grabbing his sheath, clearing his throat.
"...Marine, I think you're gonna do just fine." Gardon admits quickly, nervously.
"YAHOOO!!!" Marine cheers happily, jumping up and down excitedly. Marine then sighs and looks at Gardon with big and wide puppy-dog-eyes. "...but I'd like a bit more trainin'. Pleeeaaasssseeeee??? Loike, REAL sword-fightin' techniques! I got thrustin' and parryin' an' all that, but I mean swashbucklin' “knight in shining armour” type swordplay!"
After a moment of thought, Gardon nods with a smile. "Of course! Just, uh.. no more punching me in the nose, please, mate? It's starting to swell."
Marine cackles at this, falling onto her backside as her laughter echoes into the sky. And yet, Gardon can't help a small chuckle as well. Like Tails, Marine is a prodigy, but only when she's allowed to do things HER way. And Gardon realizes that he'd just signed up for the most hyperactive private HEMA class he'll ever teach... and he hasn't even started his second lesson.
END OF CHAPTER ONE