Patrol was actually the most job you could actually do, which is something learned the hard way. Everyday was the same thing day in and day out. She awoke at the same time as everyone else, washed up at same time as the other women, and ate the same day grub everyday. In all honesty she didn't mind it all too much as far as stability went. There were always these horror stories on the grandline which made a little monotony look like heaven. Truth be told, there was not to be said about patrolling the slums either. After the incident most of the low lying thugs really didn't mess with her.

Rogers and co tended to lock them up or give stern warnings due to their experience, but she was a little too trigger happy. Well maybe for the first day she thought, but after that she mellowed out and just followed orders. The good thing which came out of the experience ofcourse, was the actual go ahead to take her Old Reliable on patrol and keep it on her person in the barracks. Just before today's patrol she was addressed by Rogers before the morning march, " Hey sassy pants. Where's your rifle at"? Reina's eyebrow rose at the question. She saluted him nonetheless and straightened at being addressed, " I've no need for it Sir". Rogers shook his head and in a sense, facepalmed gestured with his fingers toward another npc for a rifle. The cadet tossed the rifle to Rogers and he in turn handed it to Reina. No, rather he shoved it into her stomach with a scowl, " Remember what I've said 1,000 times about following the rules, miss"?

Reina reluctantly hugged the rifle and accepted it. She placed its butt in the palm of her hand and rested it against her shoulder as the march began. As usual she and her squad came at the same crossroads and split,but this day she was in the care of her superior. Curly mustache barked orders at various vagrants who jeered at him. Most of those who met her gaze didn't hold it for long. Mothers pulled their children away from the streets with an air of tension, drunks pretended to be looking at the ground the moment they saw eachother, and the thugs generally retracted into the shadows. So damn lonely...

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Reina was dazed and out of it during her marches as she became more acclimated to the routine. Often times she'd have a glazed in her eyes staring off into space at any given time. Her body present,but mind off elsewhere, she'd often bump into whoever was in front of her during their morning and evening march. So today, one week after arriving in Alabasta Rogers decided to treat her during the mid day meal. She didn't quite understand why he would pay for her lunch, as evidenced by her confused expression, but she gladly accepted the free food.

Her usual lunch spot was a sandwich shop set up by the wharf. It had the best tuna sandwiches since the shop owners made it their daily routine to procure fresh ingredients. Fresh bread, fresh fish, fresh smiles, was their slogan. Rogers and Reina found themselves seated on cheap bar stools with 6 inch sandwiches loaded with lettuce and tomato. " So miss sassy pants, how you liking it on the grand line"? Reina was pensively chewing her food when the question came up,but out of habit she quickly turned to answer him when she realized having a full mouth would make that diffucult. " It's frustrating and annoying Sir,but it's getting easier to get used every day". He shook his head as he chewed his food. " Reina what do you hope to accomplish"? She sat there and thought carefully about the question, raising a finger to answer. Then lowering it after drawing a blank. " Change to the world with my two hands".

Rogers nodded his head and smiled eating his sandwich, " That's fine,but you must open your eyes to the situation at hand. How can you change the world at the top of the food chain if you let your self gloss over what's happening before you very eyes"? Reina stopped to ponder what he meant, even going so far as to put her sandwich down. Her eyes widened,but she didn't particularity know how to answer. All she could do was shrug her shoulders and lower her head. " Now now that's not the spirit sassy pants. What I'm getting at is if you want to change the world, you first have to pay attention to it. Stop being complacent during our marches and realize you've got it good in Alabasta. There are people on this very island who've got it worse than ye and people further along this stretch of water who wish they could have the luxury of being complacent". With that he ruffled her hair a bit and headed back to the return point, leaving the beli for the food on the counter. Reina frowned at him for treating her like a kid, staring at him as he left before returning to her meal.

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It was around mid afternoon until anything actually happened. From lunch on, was the same marching up and down the streets of the slums while vagrants yelled obscenities Reina and her group. During the meantime she did start to notice small changes in how people in the slum were actually acting. Every now and then she'd actually catch a small blurry shadow on the rooftops of old abandoned buildings dashing from one end to another. Other times she catch someone actually peering from the edge of a corner, before running away. All this lead to their first encounter with actual trouble in a week. A group of three adolescent children were seen running from a small fish stand near the wharf. Immediately the marines began to give chase except Reina who this time actually looked toward a roof to actually see someone quickly run, it was another kid. Before she could say anything the other girl in the group grabbed her wrist and pulled her along, " Don't get distracted, we gotta get those juveniles"! Reina reluctantly let herself get dragged along, before picking up the pace and dragging the other female marine without a moment of hesitation. " Sir, it's possible this is just another bait, shouldn't we take more caution before following them"?

Rogers nodded with a smirk,but continued forth nonetheless, " We've no choice sassypants. We may not be omnipresent,but it's our duty to take on problems before our very eyes". With no complaint Reina kept up the pace dragging the other girl in tow until they reached a dead end at the slum wharf. Two kids split off toward the docks and one took a sharp left and headed into a warehouse. Rogers signaled half the squad of marines(5) to go after the kids at the dock and for reina and the rest of em to follow him into the warehouse. Situated outside of the door the kid went through, he signaled two to circle the building with his index index and middle finger held together, gestured to both directions. He then signaled reina to kick the door in, who nodded before hopping a few times. With one breath she spun to roundhouse kick the wooden door off its hinges, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. First she entered, followed by 4 other marines including rogers. Two were armed with a flintlock rifle and one a single shot flintlock pistol. " Come out come out where ever your are, kiddo. We just want to talk", she said as her voice echo'd throughout the building. The pitter patter of footsteps could be heard through the room, small shifts of wieght and wood creaking from the nearby crates. " Oh you come in peace? What of the guns you faker"? Reina cautiously walked forward,but she did not activate her haki, for she felt it was not needed. As a sign of good faith she approached an open space with her arms raised. All around her she noticed metal girders leaving to a second floor and broken windows letting in a cold breeze and the sounds of the ocean.

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The kid who split off on his own came of the shadows smoothly, armed with a flintlock rifle trained on Reina. His right eye trained on her head and his aimed surprisingly steady for a child. His breathing was not rhythmic though, he was definitely a little unsteady and holding his breath. " You all put your guns down or the read headed whore gets it". Reina did not show any anger, nor did she feel any. She did not make a move forward,but neither did she back down. As usual once her focus was attained, she did not lose it. Her eyes trained on his own without a shred of emotion. She was having flashbacks of herself at that age, when she met iceheart. She had no intention of dying,but neither did she plan on hurting the kid. " Reina don't make any sudden movements you hear?" said rogers, as he signaled the others to drop their own weapons.

" listen child, I know how you feel. You're poor and hungry right? Come back with me peacefully and I'll buy you and your friends food". She said, with a simple smile. The boy's eyes furrowed and his body trembled with rage. In that instant Rogers lunged forward, swiping reina's legs to send her falling to the ground. The boy grinned and whistled with a complete change in tone. He threw down a smoke bomb and two kids in above the grouped marines opened fire. " Take this fuckers! You'll never catch our brother"! Two shots rang out, followed by frantic escape of the two kids. " Reina was shocked, she sat there in disbeleif as rogers was yelling orders she didn't fully register. Everything sounded like it was far away. One of the other marines slapped Riena's face, to which she only rubbed her cheek. " On your feet, we're going after those punks"! The man was furious and had blood splattered on his shirt. Other marines from the previous group had the other two kids from the dock pinned to the ground and in cuffs. She knew there was no turning back now and headed toward the door after acknowledging her fellow cadet.

She and rogers ran toward direction from which the first kid with the rifle came from, along side the other cadet. Against her initial judgement she invoked her kenboushi haki, with that a glow in her eyes revealed the general direction of the fleeing child, who was referred to as brother. Reina lead the charge, twisting and turning through back alley of the streets before finally cornering him in a dead end behind a restraint. He was surrounded by three 8 foot walls and slanted roof protruding over him. " End of the line, kiddo" said reina. She said, pushing her fist into her palm and alternating that to crack the knuckles on both hands.

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Just as she was about to turn her haki off, she did take notice of two kids skulking on nearby roofs. " So you set another trap"? The boy trying to feign fear, shook his head and backed up against the wall. Reina in one bound kicked off on wall and performed a backwards aerial somersault to the adjacent roof to find the kids up there. They impulsively went to fire their guns,but reina used foot work coupled with a lunge to the left to dodge the poorly aimed shots. Ending up behind a metal exhaust for the restaurant, she took note of their position on the forward wall and sprinted out and jumped from one roof to the other as they reloaded their guns. With a quick swipe of her sword, she slashed the rifles in half. Using her free hand she grabbed both by the collar and tossed them off the roof and into the hands of the marines cornering the ring leader.

Leaping down herself, she ended up right next to the kid. He retracted further away from her with a knife in hand. Rogers walked up without hesitation once he knew the coast was clear as was stated over his den den mushi. In his hand a flintlock rifle, one he was loading. The boy's eyes became wide in reaction to the gun. " So you know what this is punk? It's the gun your lackey used to kill my cadet". His eyes trained on the kid, gun cocked a moment later. The boy shook his head, " I didn't do anything. i-i-i--iii didn't mean to..please don't killl me". Rogers didn't say a word, moving his barrel to line up with the kid's head.

Reina couldn't help but feel bad for the kid, she herself sort of frozen as the scene unfolded. Her breathing slightly uneven, she said, " he's just a kid sir. let's lock him up". Rogers did not answer her, his gaze affixed upon the kid. " Tell that to my downed cadet, sassy pants". Just as he was about to pull the trigger, reina kicked the gun out of his hand and grabbed the child and held him at her waist. With one bound she backflipped on the roof and left the scene without a word. Rogers stood there with his arm held out, his index finger motioning as if it were pulling a trigger. " Why isn't my gun firing. huh cadet!"?

Reina didn't pay any mind to the leiutenant and kept sprint forth, from building to building to create distance between them and the other marines. " Alright punk, how do we escape this"? she asked,before taking a leap of faith into a nearby bale of hay.

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Upon landing in the bale of hey, she held his mouth shut by placing her palm over his. Using her sixth sense, she could feel the pitter patter of several non distinct marines converging on the area. One particularly bad presence was radiating just behind her, which was most likely her lieutenant. She felt awful for running off with this fugitive,but she couldn't let a kid with an expression like his die so early in life. She believed children all deserved a second chance, as what was given to her as a child. The boy shook himself from her grip, pushing the hey away from him to get some breathing wrong. " Why'd you save me lady"?

Reina didn't answer right away, it wasn't her main concern at the moment. Without another word she grabbed him by the waist again and hoisted him up in one go. By this time the sun was already setting and the air was starting to get cold. Using her haki and the boy slowly made their way from the crime scene. Ducking behind small walls, hiding in houses, gardens and alley ways. The marine force was never too far away though. They weren't necessarily on her trail,but they certainly were more active. Every now and then she'd hear rogers running frantically in her direction, just inches away from finding her several times. If she and the boy were hiding behind a crate, he often was just inches away,but always happened to be called away by the beckoning of another marine. Most of the time it was merely some random kid who wasn't the target, leaving the lieutenant even more furious than before.

The duo crept away everytime until they finally found a manhole and descended into it. " Phew...other battalions were starting to converge upon us. At least we got extra time now". she said, ripping her sleeve and wrapping a bad cut on her arm from all the running around. The boy pondered for moment, out of breath and not sure what to say. " We should lay low at my hideout. What do you say"? Reina shook her head as she tightened the fabric wrapped around her arm, " Don't mistake my mercy for naivety. Since you're fine, we're going our separate way kid". Without a second to spare ran off looking for the next manhole. The boy snickered with and pulled out a baby den den from his cot pocket. " She's headed toward the north end pa".

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