Red Despair

The boat pulled into harbor finally, having drifted through the seas to home. Well, what was once home anyway. Every time she thought of it, bad memories followed. Waves lapped against the hull of the ship. The woman was surprised how busy the harbor was; a veritable center of trade. Had it always been like this? She disembarked, the small sailing crew watching worriedly. Was it that bad? Rhi overheard one of them saying she had screamed in her sleep a few nights in a row when moved closer to the islands. Rhiannon would admit that the nightmares had increased when she sensed how close they were. For now, she'd focus on resupplying the ship for a trip home and gathering what additional information she could. Her devil fruit had turned up some odd and intriguing articles of course; namely one that mentioned Her. The pirate shivered as she once again forced down a rising sea of memories, fear, and unbridled terror. With those cheerful thoughts, Rhi blended into the crowd, making her way through various establishments. It was going to be a long day...

Stepping over the charred and desolate remains of what was once the place she called home Boudicea allowed her eyes aimlessly wonder as a deep seated feeling of longing surged to the surface, memories of a time long lost to her, a time she herself had buried deep within her mind began to brake forward forcing tears that refused to fall began to build up just beyond her stone cold gaze. How long had it been since she last stepped foot on this island, how long had it been since she allowed herself to remember the simpler times, how many years has it been since that unfortunate accident that cost her everything.

Swilling the sorrow that struck a deep impact into her very core, She took a step into the house and nearly lost all semblance of composure when her eyes fell upon the remains of two charred dolls that layer just between what was the living room and kitchen. Crouching down she gently picked up the dolls, allowing a ghost of a smile cross her face as she finally allowed the memories of two young redheaded girls playing outside with the dolls.

It seemed Rhi was a glutton for punishment. Instead of simply gathering intel and restocking at the bustling harbor, she would head further inland. Rhiannon would learn quickly that it wasn't all as it seemed. While the port and shops were filled and busy, stepping beyond its boundaries returned her to the charred, grizzly scenes she remembered. Rhi ignoring a growing migraine as she plunged forward stepping over ash and decomposing ruins. Once or twice she heard a sickening crunch under foot; she hoped that it wasn't what she though it was. At the very least, she could confirm that the island wasn't entirely rebuilt. Truthfully, barely anything beyond the well-placed port and accompanying businesses had restarted.

Still, she ventured even further, picking her way among the wreckages. Was leaving it all untouched a monument to what happened? Rhi didn't know. Yet, she found her hands shaking suddenly, her headache worsening threefold. Why was that happening?

Having lingered and wallowed in her past home long enough, Boudicea gathered herself, before placing the charred dolls upon on of the remaining unburnt shelves in the lounge room. Just as she turned to disembark and possibly finally let go of this place, she paused as the sound of foot steps echoed throughout the house, indicating that someone had entered behind her. Mentally yelling at herself for making such a mistake in her emotional state, she slowly drew her sword as she felt her devil fruit began to bubble and bristle under her skin.

Stealthy making her way towards the entrance with the intent of burning whoever dared brake into her once beloved home, however who she saw made her freeze in place and her once burning blood run cold as ice, for no matter how many years may have passed, no matter how many faces and people she have meet, she would never forget the person standing in front of her.

Dropping her sword to the floor creating an audible "clatter", as the shock she was feeling completely overwhelmed her leaving enough room for her to lowlely mutter the name of the one person she thought she’d never encounter again. "Rihannon!!!"

Why had she wandered into this home? Maybe because it provided some vestige of a simpler, happier time. Something about the charred, hollowed out structure felt vaguely familiar; once again, Rhi pressed on against her better judgement. Wandering through the desolate, slowly collapsing location still didn't offer her any clues she could rely on, though her pounding head worsened with each step. She stopped, leaning against a wall for a second to steady herself.

Only to spring back as the wall crumbled to the ground, the home shaking a bit. Rhiannon supposed that she shouldn't be surprised; one good sneeze might send this whole place crashing down. With that she turned to leave, before hearing the sound of footsteps. Another person was here? Why? She didn't see anything valuable within the space. More importantly, why was a sense of existential dread creeping over her?

She turned back as the footsteps came to a halt. Immediately her knees began knocking as sweat poured down her face. She took a shaky step back. Then another. Then one more. Then she fell to her knees, her legs failing her as that hated burn scar pulsed painfully; as did the others, hidden from view. "Stay...away..."

Watching as her estranged baby sister collapsed and began to rapidly backpedal away from her with a look of pure terror etched upon her face, something that struck her immensely and caused the once buried memories to burst thought her mental shield. Images of a angry wild and ghostly flames consuming everything in its path sprang into her mind forcing her to visibly shake her head to rid herself of the image especially when the image of a small red headed girl was seen screaming in agony clutching her face.

Successfully clearing the hunting images from her mind, Boudicea lifted a trembling hand in the direction of her sister but quickly dropped in as Rhi flinched as if struck, something that pierced her heart tremendously. "Rhi". She whispered out her sister’s name wondering aloud if this was some sort of illusion her mind had created to torment her for returning here Ill-prepared.

Gathering up enough courage she began taking steady yet shaky steps towards her sister, paying very little mind to the tears that were streaming down her face. "I don’t know if your real or simply an illusion created by my mind to torment me". She started as she slowly made her way towards the backpedaling woman. "But it doesn’t matter". She paused to try and find the correct words, words she had been holding in for years.

"Rhi, I’m so sorry". She stated as her legs gave out from under her causing her to fall just short of her sister.

While the memories finally left Boudicea, they only began for Rhiannon. It was as if her vision was split; On one side, she saw her sister reaching for her, Rhi flinching backwards on instinct. On the other side, Rhi saw things no human had any business seeing. Monsters, nightmares given form, terrors that tormented incessantly. The woman clutched her head, biting back a scream, her backward motion stopped as all she could do was focus on the building stress upon her mind. Teardrops of blood and water coated the ground between them, falling silently.

"P..lease..ju..st.....le..ave.." Her mind, no longer able to cope with the visual, visceral onslaught, shut down, Rhiannon falling forward as she passed out.

Crumbling Conscious
Watching as her sisters chest rose and fell in a peaceful manner as she slumbered away, Boudicea couldn’t help the soft gentle smile they played on her face as she stroked the soft hair of her beloved sibling. Pausing mid-stroke the once gentle smile slowly began to dissipate as she recalled the terrified look that Rhi held previously.

"I’m so sorry I hurt you like this Rhi, my beloved sister". Boudicea whispered as she softly cups Rhi’s face before looking around the destroyed room that once belonged to the both of them in their younger years, memories of a more pleasant time began assisting her mind as tears unconsciously began falling free from Her eyes.

Rhi's thoughts drifted in this unconscious state, unaware of the affection her sister showed. Instead, they replayed buried memories of simpler times. Cute little dolls that the two dressed up; a bustling town full of friends and family. Their adorable, welcoming home was the cherry on top. She idolized her sibling back then; popular, generous, athletic, and beautiful. Yet she always made time for Rhiannon, despite her sister dodging suitors wherever she went. While not wealthy, they were comfortable, with always enough food to go around, and a little extra for niceties like toys.

When did it all fall apart? That day; the day when Boudicea found and ate that odd shaped fruit. The morning had started out auspiciously enough; the usual gamut of waking up, eating breakfast together, and walking around town, greeting neighbors and the like. They had plucked the fruit from a patch it was found in before bringing it home; then out of curiosity, Rhi's sister ate it. Nothing happened at first. Rhi, curious about what was for dinner, started to leave the room. Then the temperature rose; she would turn as the ghastly flames leapt upwards and outwards, striking her. Their uncontrollable nature meant they went everywhere. Soon it felt as if everything was burning.

Boudicea would her unconscious sibling stiffen before shuddering.

Meanwhile, a crewmate disembarked, landing on the port below. It wasn't like Sir Rhiannon to take this long; she was one of the most efficient people in the larger organization. Had something happened? They looked up, seeing their fellow crew members' worried expressions. With a curt nod to them, the figure was off, ranging out their senses before finding a trail to follow.

Having felt that she spent enough time watching as her sister slept, Boudicea after ensuring that her sister was safe and secure inside the house decided to step outside for some fresh air as being inside the remains of her old home and seeing her sister again after so many years had taken a great toll on her mind.

Perhaps it would be best if I leave now to prevent things from escalating further was the thought bouncing around Boudicea’s head as she aimlessly strolled throughout the desolate town of her ancestral island. Quickly shaking that thought away as she knew that if she did leave she might never see her sister again and might never get the chance to repair their damaged relationship, something she desperately hoped to do. Whilst occupied with her thoughts she failed to notice that she was absentmindedly walking towards a figure that shouldn’t have been on the island as very few knew of its location.

The trail had took them further then they had expected. They veered away from the rebuilt harbor and into the island's interior, revealing a decrepit, charred ruins. They paused. What had happened here? There were no reports of this kind of destruction on any of the newspapers and from the way it smelled, the place had been like this for a while. They pressed on, wariness increasing with each passing second. Nothing good would happen in a place l-

They stopped again, seeing a distant, walking figure headed in their direction; the individual seemed lost yet...familiar? They smelled a bit like Rhi. The crewmate moved closer, deciding to call out to them.

"Hey!! You there!! Who are you?"

Snapping out of her thoughts at the sound of another voice, one which she clearly didn’t recognize especially considering the island should be completely abandoned and near impossible to find without a old Log Pose. Glancing up she saw the person who called out to her begin to make their way towards her.

"That is a question I should be asking you, as your trespassing somewhere you shouldn’t". Boudicea replied as the internal fires once again began to burn in an attempt to break free and consume all around.

They paused as they sensed the figure's killing intent rise. They held up their hands as a peace gesture. "Relax, relax, I'm not here to do anything. I'm just looking for my leader. They should have been back a while ago," the crewmate commented. Now that they were closer, the familial resemblance was uncanny. Same crimson hair, same vermillion gaze, they even shared the bang covering a side of the face. Definitely related; it only added to the crewmate's intrigue.

"You look a lot like her you know."

Restraining in her killing intent and leveling a raised eyebrow upon the figure, Boudicea was momentarily taken back by the statement before narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Your Leader?" She questioned as her brain connected the dots for her as only a select few ever mentioned the similarities between her and Rhi.

"Rhi" Boudicea whispered out to herself in wonder as she tried to image just what her sister has been doing these past years for someone to refer to her as their leader.

"Yes, leader. She's in charge of our ship, and she was supposed to be back at least an hour ago. We have other stops to make," they pressed forward, seemingly encouraged by the drop in overt killing intent. They paused upon hearing the faint whisper. "Hmm? Did you say something? I'm sorry, I couldn't quite make it out."

Truth be told, the crewmate remained stumped on the similarities. Rhi never mentioned having a sibling. She never talked about her kin at all actually, now that they thought about it; most assumed she either didn't care or that something bad happened.

"Who are you exactly?"

"You know It is very impolite to inquire the name of others without first introducing yourself." was the smartass reply of Boudicea as attempted to stall for some time to think up a plan in the attempt to avoid having Rhi be taken away from her again, at least until she managed to fix their situation.

They frowned. Why was the woman acting so weird? First, she looked a lot like Rhiannon; too much like their commander to be not related. At least, if Rhi was a bit taller and decided to become an edgelord. Things seemed to calm down only for the figure to uncork a reply like that.

"Aithne is my name. Please, if you know where my commander is tell me; the whole crew is worried about her. She's not the type to just disappear like this," Ait said finally, stepping forward. Palpable anxiety was present in their expression.

Giving Aithne a blank look to hide the turmoil that was brewing within her mind, Boudicea began to mentally go over all her current possibilities, while weighing the pros and cons of each decision. Letting out a sigh as she already knew by denying Rhi’s apparent comrade the comfort of knowing she was safe would become a problem in the long run.

"You May refer to me as Boudicea, and if I’m not mistaken your looking for Rhiannon Correct ?" She questioned after introducing herself, wanting to make sure she wasn’t mistaken and wasting her time and possible putting her sister in danger.

"Yes. Sir Rhiannon," Aithne responded, "It's nice to meet you Boudicea. Not to pry, but are you...related to her?" Once again, they felt headway was finally being made, something they were grateful for. Hopefully it would lead to their commander's location.

Pausing and mulling over if she should answer truthfully or not, Boudicea silently gave Aithne a scratching look before begrudgingly acknowledge that it would be better to be truthful in this situation to avoid any confrontation which could potentially damage the remaining area and by extension place the unconscious Rhi in danger.

Sighing in annoyance returned her attention back towards Aithne before grumbling lowly to herself a few curse words. "It would be more beneficial to the both of us if I remained truthful" she started in a grumbled tone of voice. "I’m her elder sister, although our parting wasn’t the best so I doubt she would of mentioned me".