Eye of the Storm

Sunny Skies
They had arrived. It took a while, but here they were. Skypeia. It was a beautiful place, if not secluded. A perfect spot for someone who wanted to hide from the world for a bit. She wished that she had found it sooner. Even if the locals were wary of her, the seclusion and scale of the place meant it would be easy to find her own little corner.

"Oh well." she murmured to herself. Stalling any longer would be pointless as she could feel the betrayal of her pacifist mindset lurking close at hand. "Shall we meet the locals?" Yesenia asked her compatriot. Noting that he too was sizing up the surroundings. Otherwise, they could walk into a trap and this whole endeavor would be pointless. The woman had no interest in becoming a prisoner. There was too much left to do and she preferred the current stability she had over a cell. Not this place would have such things. Probably. Not waiting on Erin's answer, Yes begin walking, her parasol out as she blocked the glaring sun. One that was made all the worse by their position in the sky.

"I've always wondered what kind of people live up in the sky." Erin responded as he walked beside Yesenia. He lacked a parasol of his own but had fashioned a few palm fronds together and used his devil fruit to float it above his head. The walk through the jungle was long and quite boring for Erin. Though the few animals they had seen had been quite interesting it was mostly just greenery and a large ball of gas in the sky. "I don't think we've spoken much before we were assigned this mission." Erin spoke, attempting to spark up a conversation to possibly make the trip less boring. "What were you doing before Frederick invite you to his crew?" He questioned, turning to look down at her.

Yesenia peered up, moving her parasol so that her view was less obstructed. "Constantly moving. People didn't desire my company," she stated flatly, "surely you can figure out why that was the case." Despite finding the Redbeard Pirates to be a decent group of people (so far), she couldn't easily shake her deep-seated cynicism. Being tossed out of towns and deceived by people she thought were trustworthy had a lasting effect on what was already a fragile psyche. It didn't help that the screams of her family haunted her dreams, their fixed faces of terror resulting in persistent insomnia. She sighed heavily. "What is it that you want to know...." Yes asked, her tone moody. The jungle served as an excellent example of humanity's twisted ways. Thick branches and vines choking the life out of other plants as they all clamored for the sunlight.

"Your devil fruit I assume." Erin spoke rather seriously."Or maybe this moody personality of yours." He joked, letting out a little sigh. "I can only really make guesses Yesenia, it's not like you've really opened up to any of us. I mean that might have something to do with your past I guess." Erin half spoke half pondered. Though as he looked down he noticed she was hiding behind her parasol. Though it was because of their height difference Erin assumed she was also using it as a way to keep him out. In one quick and surprising motion he plucked the parasol from her grasp and closed it before placing it back in her hands. He then adjusted the massive palm frond umbrella to blot out the sun for both of them. "I want to know why you're always hiding from the crew, both mentally and physically. We're partnered up on this mission, least we can do is get to know each other. We're in the same crew after all."

Yesenia glowered at Erin as he handed her the closed parasol. She was clearly not amused by his antics. "Maybe because I'm afraid of being sent away again. Maybe because I'm afraid that I'll break and never reset. That I'll be a berserker until the day someone strong enough comes along and kills me," she snapped. Yes realized that she remained closed off, not wanting to share her history out of fear of rejection or being manipulated. Too many false friends and open hostility had made her wary of human interaction. There were days where she wondered why she even bothered to join the crew. Regardless, her moodiness was only exacerbated by a continued lack of sleep due to all of the memories haunting her. She had only started to realize that some of them weren't her own. She had a long road to travel and there was no rest for the weary.

Erin nodded. "I know how you feel. I was once scared of myself, still am a little. I killed without remorse, without a single thought. I made a spectacle of it. The thing is though I look back on it with disgust, it was me. There was no outside thing manipulating me, just a lack of respect for life." Erin spoke sadly, leaning down as they walked to meet Yesenia's eyes. "It might not be the same as what you're going through but I think I can understand you if you do want to talk to me." He spoke as he stood back up. "It's awful to have those feelings bottled up inside, Id've probably gone mad if Thatch wasn't there for me." He muttered, the last part mostly to himself.

Her moodiness abated slightly upon hearing this. Even though she was still guarded. It wasn't the first time that someone had sang that tune to her. The other times she listened and it ended with betrayal. She had no desire to walk that road once more. Yet her she was listening to her new partner. "Look. I killed people. Not just any people. Imagine waking up and finding your entire family butchered in the worst way possible? While realizing you're unharmed with every ounce of blood on your person not belonging to you. Then you wonder how you can be so certain that it isn't your blood." she retorted before letting it sink in.