The Hunt for Blue October [Adventure]

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experience is wasted on the old

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A might Marine vessel lulled slowly towards the port of the remote island. Normally such a vessel wouldn't come to such a small port but as they had run on a reef a few clicks off the shore they needed to drop anchor. The repairs would probably take a while so the young son of the ships Captain wanted to take the time to stretch his land legs.
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"Cadet Kipper! A loud voice called from the quarterdeck of the ship. The young boy with wild white hair stopped short of the railing on either side of the gangway. Turning he saw the massive silhouette of his father, his figure blurred out by the sun placed behind him. His father had always called him cadet, even long before he had intentions of joining the Marine's. Kip always suspected it had to do with his father's only experience administering authority being in the military. Snapping his heels together Kip rose his hand to his brow in a familiar salute. [break][break]"CAPTAIN!"[break][break]
"Don't trouble the locals and stay within eye shot of the mast.
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"Sir, yes sir!" Kip called out before completing his salute and turning to vanish down the gangway before his father could give him any more orders. It was usual for him, his fathers minimalist concern. He was a high ranking Marine officer, he couldn't expect him to hover over his every movement. All the same he didn't want a parent of that sort. He respected his father, a man of power and conviction. A true Marine through and through, even into his family life. But it was because of this that Kipper fell so naturally into the role. He had wanted to be a Marine for so long now and now that it was almost upon him his father seemed to have tripled his efforts.
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The Pronto family name ran long in the military. Kips father, brothers, uncles, his grand father and even HIS grandfather had been Marines. Good ones at that. It was a lot to live up to but Kip intended to put surpass them all. The name always got him looks, attention, attempts at nepotism but Kip turned them all away, wanting only to live on his own merit. That's why he insisted on his own combat training. Pulling out his Yo-yo Courage, a wide white disk, Kip began playing with it before he even left the dock. Slipping his finger into the fitted steel ring that ended it's cord Kip let the disk fly.
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Working with the extended strings and added weight of his weapons required a lot of practice to get used to. That's why Kip always seemed to start playing with them whenever he was presented with free time. Repetition made for excellence and if it took ten thousand hours to master a craft then he had a long way to go still. Having only fourteen years under his belt made achieving over a year of Yo-yo play seem all the further ahead of him. Courage skipped onto the old wood of the dock, the mechanical whirl of it's barrings working away was only magnified by the surface. Twitching his wrist Kip brought the Yo-yo flying back towards him but instead of catching it allowed it to fly over his shoulder. A slight twist of his wrist and the weapon rocketed out again, under his arm and past his side to skip to a spinning stall on the wood again. Kip almost missed the old ship coming in to dock opposite the large military vessel.

[attr="class","jartoxtag"]RINGLEY BARNUM

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experience is wasted on the old

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The dock lost it's interest fairly quickly, the hollering of his father's crew became the same annoying buzz it always did after too long out at sea. Thankfully Kip had anticipated that such a thing would happen and had snagged a chart to the island off the command deck when his father hadn't been looking. He planned to do some exploring of his own despite his fathers instructions. It wasn't like the island was overly large. Even if he wandered off too far to see the sails of the ship he'd still be well within distance to hear the ships horns if it came down to it. He headed north, along the beach his yo-yo bobbing happily along with him as he went.
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He didn't have to go far before adventure found him. His eyes were focused on the sand as Courage left small twin divets in it with each decent. It was the voice that had caught him off guard. Kipper stopping in his tracks, looking up to see the source of the voice that was calling out. It was a boy, couldn't have been too far from his age and seemed to be lost. Kipper was honestly surprised that the boy wasn't native to the island himself. He knew he heard his father talking about what little traffic the island got, of course at that he was more complaining for the difficulty of finding repair supplies.
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"Um...no?" Kipper half responded. Jabbing a finger at the fluffy white sails complete with the Marine's crest over it's span. "I'm just passing through." The soon to be Marine examined the young boy for a moment. It was odd for someone their age to be out and about alone. Blinking his half drooped eyes he reached his hand into his pocket and produced the folded map he had swipped earlier.
[break][break]"I should be able to help you though. What are you looking for?"

[attr="class","jartoxtag"]RINGLEY BARNUM

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experience is wasted on the old

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The question seemed to confuse the lost boy more than he thought it would. Of course he had to have at least some idea of where he was to have gotten this far. The name of the lake he finally managed to muster together didn't seem to ring a bell. The fish certainly caught his attention. It sounded like a sight to see at the very least, the lakes own personal sea king. Hopefully a fraction of the size if he was lucky. But if people were going so far as to avoid the lake...
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"No quite the contrary. I'm here on an emergency repair of my fathers ship." Kipper pointed to the sails just on the horizon. "We ran up on a reef and it damaged the hull. We're on course for Marineford, I'm starting my training when we make land." The young recruit pocketed his yo-yo as he spoke, his voice ringing with an air of importance to his personal mission to begin his career. Kip brushed his hand off against his chest before offering his hand to the other boy.
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"Coyote was it? My name is Kipper Pronto. I'm going to be Admiral one day." He spoke as though he had already received the title and was just on his way to his own ceremony. Coyote seemed like someone who could understand such a goal. He had traveled such a long way to challenge a fish many had ran from. It was commendable. A slight smile formed in the corner of his lip as he lifted the map to hold it between them.
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"I'll help you find your fish. Under one condition..." Reaching back into his pocket Kip slipped his finger into the ring of Courage and whipped her out in a flourished loop over his shoulder and back into his hand. He knew what he was doing today. At the very least he wanted to see this fish. "I'm coming with you."

[attr="class","jartoxtag"]RINGLEY BARNUM

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experience is wasted on the old

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Kippers smile widened still at Coyote's especially positive response to his proposal. He certainly took great pride in his craft. One could only imagine how excited he would be when he actually landed the fish. But it wasn't just his personal aspirations that seemed to drive him towards the goal. His mention of the island's residents not having to be scared anymore was not lost on the young Marine. It showed a level of the anglers character that Kip could certainly coincide with and made him want to help in the quest all the more.
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"Right." Kip spoke simply as he firmly grasped Coyote's hand, an all to familiar gesture but it served to solidify their alliance. The Marine's smile faded back to his default expressionless state that had been refined into his system over the years. "Must be one heck of a fish to cause so much suffering." Taking the map in his hands Kipper unfolded the worn paper revealing a detailed topographical map of the small island. Thankfully it was a smaller island, it would have been a whole other adventure had they ended up on a vast island such as Alabasta.
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"Add-mur-el." Kip sounded out for his companion, though not with a tone of arrogance or judgement. He could tell that Coyote wasn't as verse in the ways of the world as most people he came across. "Admiral is one of the highest ranks a Marine can hold. They are responsible for the lives of many Marine's and can insight real change in the world." He could almost feel the over-sized coat weighing on his shoulders already. With some examining of the map and looking up from time to time Kip gauged their location on the map. Knowing they had laid anchor on the east side of the island the Marine was able to get his barring in relation to the map.
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"There's no names on the map but from the looks of it..." Kip turned and held the map open so that Coyote could see the landscape. With his thumb Kip pointed to a large blob of blue at the center of the island. "There's only one body of water really worth calling a lake. I'd bet a weeks worth of latrine duty that's where we'll find your fish." Without waiting any longer Kip quickly folded the map and made his way inland, the beach firmly at his back. They had a bit of a hike ahead of them but nothing that would be too trying from what he could tell. Plunging into the plant life of the island Kip glanced over his shoulder to Coyote, not missing a step as he did so.
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"You aren't from anywhere around here are you?"

[attr="class","jartoxtag"]RINGLEY BARNUM