Visiting the past (open)

Ever since Bonnie had been sentenced to death and began her life as a shinigami, she would use her free time to visit the world of the living. She had a secret agenda every time she would make these visits, she had always wanted to know about her legacy, did people still talk about her? What happened to the mother vanguard? These were questions that Bonnie had always pondered on.

Today was Bonnie’s first time visiting Europe, she had heard of a naval museum that was dedicated to the royal navy and decided to see what all it had to offer. When she arrived he noticed several old paintings on the wall, two of which caught her eye immediately, one was of the old man who had served as her captain when she was first assigned to the mother vanguard, and the other was a painting of her, it was done the day she was announced the new captain of the MV.

As Bonnie wondered around the museum she could feel the eyes of people falling on her, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to visit the museum in her gigai. The proud pirate queen shrugged off the feeling and decided to join one of the tour groups. Eventually the group made its way outside to the adjacent docks, what Bonnie saw next brought tears to her eye, there it was before her in all its majesty, the Mother Vanguard. The massive ship looked just like she remembered, and as the group walked off, she stayed behind and just stared at the ship.

Kaede walked on her hands along the ground, biting her lip hard to keep her concentration. Her short green hair, which usually framed her small face now hung towards the ground, swaying with every step she took with her hands. Her pale blue eyes, which looked green every time the shadow of her arm crossed over her eyes, flicked from object to object as she passed them. The young looking woman bent her legs in a ninety degree angle to keep herself balanced, fighting off the urge to start doing acrobatics.

She was bored. Truly she was, otherwise she wouldn't be allowing the blood to rush to her head. It might help her thought process and allow her to bring her captain a new invention. She didn't find it likely though, seeing as her over excitable and mad captain probably thought of everything there was to imagine. He was quite brilliant, she must admit, even if he was quite annoying on occasion.

Kaede flipped off her hands and whipped her hair back into place. She climbed the stairs swiftly and efficiently to the second floor. She was glad the humans couldn't see her. Except perhaps the little girl in the corner, but she just thought it was humourous that someone would walk on their hands like that for so long. As she let her blood drain back to her the rest of her body, she felt light headed and grinned. It was such a high. She giggled and wandered for a while longer.

Finally she found herself with a group of tourists. She'd not brought a gigai. She didn't like wearing the fake skin over herself. So she stood, with these humans, invisible in the group as she stared at the things within the museum. She smiled, "Such beautifully magnificent things you can create, you humans."

Thinking she was alone, Bonnie nearly leapt out her gigai at the sound of a voice from behind her. She turned quickly to the voice, almost without thought “WHATS THE BIG IDEA SNEAKING UP ON SOMEONE LIKE…..” she stopped mid-sentence as she noticed the girl behind her was a shinigami, one that she had yet to meet. Bonnie looked around momentarily to notice an elderly couple staring at her as she yelled at what appeared to be nothing to them. Bonnie composed herself and smiled at her fellow shinigami “thought I was the only one here.” She said quietly.

Bonnie turned her head slightly to look at the mother vanguard, she thought about what the girl said, and then turned her attention back to the girl, she was wearing a vice captain’s badge, but from the angle Bonnie was looking she couldn’t quite make out the division “She sure is a beauty isn’t she? I haven’t seen this ship in I don’t know how long. It’s nice to know it’s in good condition.” She smiled for a second and then continued “I’m Bonnie by the way. Vice captain of squad one. I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

She giggled at the faces of the humans and of the other shinigami. She, herself, was surprised as well but she hid it with a bright delighted look. While her antisocial attitude was constantly in place around her captain, she was a very happy young woman. She bounced on the balls of her feet with a soft 'pat pat' of her shoes on the ground. She didn't wear the standard shoes issued, not that most people bothered her about it. The shoes she wore were a deep blue, putting more colour into the drab black and white outfit she wore. The blue matched the sash tied on her zanpakutou.

"Sorry did I surprise you? I didn't know if anyone else would be around. I guess I didn't expect anyone to hear me," She gave another bright and bubbly smile and looked back up at all the artwork. Humans were absolutely magnificent when they lived long enough. She wished she had done something in her human years. It would have been so worth it.

Kaede nodded slowly, her pale eyes flicking over the details of the art. She had never seen this ship. She wasn't often there on breaks, and she certainly didn't get to see artwork in the museums around the Earth. She wasn't much into it. She nodded though, admiring the beauty of humankind's creation. She looked back at the other girl and smiled again, "I'm Kaede Ryu. I'm vice captain of twelve. Nice to meet you!"

She had heard of Bonnie. Everyone heard of everyone. As she recalled, she was only a bit older than she. She didn't know her full story, but she doubted anyone else knew her story either. She was just a little girl who struck out against being a young ghost who had done nothing with her life before. it was small.

Bonnie greeted her fellow shinigami with a bow, once again everyone looking at her as though she had a mental disorder. She looked around to see all eyes on her and face palmed “crap I keep forgetting you’re not in a gigai” she said softly. Bonnie had heard the young girls name thrown around before in a few conversations and reports, though she had never met the squad twelve vice-captain in person.

Making sure not to draw any more attention to herself, she began to walk towards a less crowded corner in the museum, as she walked, she motioned for Kaede to follow her. Once the two were in the corner, Bonnie spoke softly “so what brings you to Europe?” she asked. Bonnie looked down into the display case that was before her, it contained various sabers that the naval officers used to carry with them during ceremonies. It was almost surreal to think that these sabers could have belonged to people she once knew.

"Yes! Gigai-less, I don't like them, sorry. They make my skin crawl," Kaede laughed, giving a small bow in return to Bonnie. Her expression remained friendly and open as she pulled out of the bow and offered a handshake before remembering that she wasn't visible and sighing. It was frustrating if she called too much attention to others, especially when she was having such a good time meeting them. Her expression briefly showed her irritation at her invisibility and cleared her throat, dropping her hand before it could be taken, "Sorry. We don't need two greetings, that would be ridiculous. Excuse my brief thoughtlessness."

She followed the other woman, acknowledging that because Bonnie was in division one it meant she was quite possibly more powerful than her. At least, in authority. She wouldn't dare challenge another lieutenant with her blade unless they were a traitor. Or if she were a traitor, which was hardly a possibility. Her loyalty was a strong thing and near impossible to break. That was besides the point.

"Oh nothing. Just a job I finished up about an hour or two ago. I don't get many days off 'round the Soul Society," She shrugged, paying more attention to the moth that fluttered around in the ceiling lamps than the art now. She was so easily distracted sometimes when she was presented with new information or meeting someone. It was a hastle and she wondered if she suffered from what the humans called ADD. Or perhaps it was ADHD. But she didn't know what would be so wrong from suffering from addition. And she wasn't sure what ADHD was either, or why it was so prominent in children, according to doctors and parents.

She physically shook her head, "What brings you here, then?"

Bonnie chuckled to herself “just stroking my ego” she said in response to Kaede’s iquiry as to why she was here. Bonnie slowly turned away from the saber display case and pointed to a painting of herself “that was painted the day I was announced captain of the mother vanguard….the boat you saw in the painting earlier.” She explained. Her eyes darted around the room looking for other things to brag about or show off.

She thought for a bit, there was so much to show. Eventually she spotted a case that housed one of the cannons from the mother vanguard. “that over there is off the ship to. I really wish I remembered where I told my crew to hide her.” Bonnie looked down at the floor, thinking about what condition the ship would be right now. “so much gold” she murmured thinking about the loot that was still on the ship at the time.

Kaede quirked her eyebrow as Bonnie mentioned her ego. She didn't see how visiting a museum would be stroking an ego. At least, unless she was an artist. When the painting of Bonnie was pointed out, the small girl widened her eyes. Had she been a pirate? She liked pirates. They were so interesting and they did so many dangerous things with their lives. She bounced up and down excitedly, "So you were a pirate? Like, an actual pirate? With a cutlass and black sails?"

She admired the cannons with round eyes, practically purring at it. She frowned and looked up at other vice-captain curiously, "But if you told them to hide the ship, how can they have cannons here? I mean... Did you lose the cannon and they found it or did they find the ship and bring it back here?"

She was asking too many questions. She was always asking too many questions, and sometimes that could be an issue. But she didn't care right now. This idea was plaguing her mind. How had someone gotten a cannon without finding the whole ship? It was just... not possible. She linked her fingers behind her back and made an expression that looked like a mixture of a frown and a pout. Of course, she didn't care much about the gold that was mentioned. It was only natural for gold to be on a pirate ship.

Bonnie chuckled at Kaede’s reaction, it had been a long time since Bonnie had been called a pirate but it made her feel good. “I didn’t start out as a pirate, I was a captain of the royal navy until…….” Bonnie paused mid-sentence as she got a mental flashback to when Rhim sacked the MV and killed her crew. She looked back up to Kaede and smiled “long story short, I took the Mother Vanguard for myself and became a pirate. No black sails, I left the ship as is, it was much more deceptive.”

Bonnie looked down at the cannon and smile “this cannon came off the ship before I became a pirate, new cannons were made for the ship, and this was one of the ones that got replaced, I guess the navy never melted it down.”

Bonnie wandered off, nearly forgetting that Kaede was still with her, it had been so long since she had seen any of this stuff, it was a blast from the past. She eventually made her way to a small case that housed several medals, they were arranged and labeled to show off what they commemorated.

Kaede purred out the appropriate "oo's" and "aww's" when necessary, nodding and following Bonnie around like a little puppy. She was satisfied with the way of things. A pirate ship captain and proof it had happened. She silently wished she could go on adventures as a pirate. Maybe she could in a gigai. Or with some of those special humans that could actually see her.

She started walking on her hands again half way through, looking at all these items from a new perspective. Her excitement shone like a bright light. It wasn't because she was an art museum and had some time off, but because she was in the presence of what she deemed royalty. True, there wasn't really royalty around but Bonnie had done something with her human life that others hadn't. She'd had excitement.

"Are these all your medals?" She asked from beside Bonnie, viewing them from upside down still.

Bonnie stared at the medals and let out a small sigh “I wish I knew. I know I won several of these back in my day, but there is no honest to goodness way to tell if I personally wore any of these.” Bonnie turned to face Kaede and tilted her head a bit at her fellow vice captain’s odd stance. As Bonnie turned away from Kaede, a small shimmer in the case next to the medals caught her eye.

Bonnie rushed eagerly over to the case and let out a small cry of joy. Sitting in the display case was Bonnie’s first saber she had received when she joined the academy and above that was a medal in the shape of a star, in the center was an aqua colored anchor. The tag in front of the medal read “Kidd Outstanding service star” it was a medal dedicated to her, never in all her years would she have thought that the navy would honor her, a defector, and a pirate with a medal. “I don’t believe it” she said softly, looking at the medal.