A Summer Splash Charity Fund Raiser

Z.Z. flashed her bright smile at Alaina when she offered a rematch. "Oi, ya gonna make it wort me while!?" She said, knowing that Alaina wasn't going to make another outrageous bet as much as Z.Z wasn't just going to step in the ring with her. Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about that as she found Cassie to be giggling and quite thrilled with Z.Z The pirate girl appreciated it greatly and took a seat next to her, pulling out a biscuit she nabbed and chewing on it.

"Oi, yaya!" She said. listen ta dis one, eh! Tinkin 'bout where I'm from. Ahaha!" She slapped Cassie's back and smiled. "Cah'n says I'm from da sea, so dat's where I'm from, eh!"

Shifting her gaze around, she looked at Cassie and then Alaina and then the papers. "So den, Yaya want to know what is goin on 'round 'ere. Nosy 'e be, eh! Too much fer is own good, ya know? Eheheh!"

"I would make it worth your while, yes as long as your side of the bargain made it worthwhile for me." Alaina answered with a smile. Even though she lost last time she felt more confident this time. She had more ring experience under her belt, including a win against someone who didn't fight as fair as she'd like. However, if she couldn't get Z.Z away from Fathia it would be a moot point.

"We were just talking about organizing a fund raiser for charity." Alaina said in response to Z.Z's inquisitive looks at her papers. "Its mostly boring stuff, I was putting Cassie to sleep talking about it. I'm sure she'd rather hear what its like being from the sea, as would I!"

Z.Z laughed incredulously at Alaina. This girl was way in over her head. "Oi, ya got a nudder ring for meh!?" The pirate said, flashing a grin. "I'll 'ave one fer each o me fingers and won't I just look so grand!" She said, wiggling her fingers at Alaina before looking at Cassie. "I'll be one o dem fancy, pretty girls, so sweet, ahah!"

"Ah, ya?" Z.Z said, taking another look at the papers. Z.Z nudged Cassie. "Oi, dis one she's really generous! Chairtable, even! Eheh." She looked back between Cassie and Alaina and stepped away from them.

"Da sea, da sea." She said as she rubbed her chin. She looked up. "Oi, yaya! 'ow's dat sea, eh? Da waters and da freedom, ain't notin like it in dis eart." She said, grinning widely. "Salty smell and da birds caw cawin, crystal blue as far as da eye can see and da sun beatin down." Z.Z rubbed her arm. "No better life dan one o da pirate if ya ask me. Dis place, be no good compared a dat, ya!'

Cassie nodded. It had seemed like Alaina had carried a grudge against the sea-girl, but it seemed to drop pretty quickly. She was pleased. She wanted to hear more about the sea!

"I bet! How long have you been a pirate?" She asked, with the saccharine, hospitable tone of a mother playing along with a birthday clown's act. "And what brings you to dry land? And what's the most fun thing you've ever done as a pirate?" There were so many questions!

Alaina had her paperwork completed and was ready to go. As much as she wanted to talk to Cassie she also wanted to put distance between her and Z.Z.

She opted to stick around a bit. "I guess I'm curious as to how different piracy today is as opposed to piracy of the old days." Alaina asked Z.Z to try to be polite. It seemed to make Cassie happy at least.

"So Cassie, before we got distracted I also wanted to ask you about wrestling and stuff more, if you don't mind of course."

"Long as I can remember!" Z.Z chriped and proudly thumped a fist against her chest. "Me an cah'n known each other fer as long as dat too!" Though Fathia was older, Z.Z couldn't really remember a time when she wasn't at Z.Z's side. In fact her first memories were more or less of their encounter.

Z.Z flashed a smile at Cassie and pressed her index finger against her lips. "Shhhh, dat one's a secret, matey." She said. "Oi, don't ya tell eider, yaya!" She barked and waggled a finer up at nothing. "Funnest ting?" She said.

Raided a boat full o toys once. Dat was pretty fun. I tink cah'n was after sometin else but she let us keep dem toys for as long as we cared to. Sword fightin wit fake plastic swords's pertty fun, eh!?" She said and made swishing sounds as she waved her extended arm in front of Cassie.

"'Ow?" Z.Z said, scratchin her head. "Ah, well, all tings considered, I guess it ain't be dif'rent. Most a dem guys dey use day gun now. AK's what dey call it. Fathia, she don't care for it. Don't mean she ain't gonna use da rep." Z.Z said and shrugged. "Cah'n's crafty as a sea dog and salty ta boot!"

Z.Z looked at Alaina and tilted her head. "We jus' 'avin some fun." She said. "You gonna get as bent as a cutlass and you gonna regret it sometin fierce. Stick ta enjoyin life stead oh pissin it away. Friendly advice." Z.Z said with a smile as she pulled her bandana over her eyes and then slipped it back into position like she was tilting a hat.

"Got places ta be, eh? So, I guess i'll be seein ya 'round!" Z.Z added with a friendly wave. "Or, not, hopefully if ya got any of dem brains in ya!"

Alaina smiled as nicely as she could, waving at Z.Z as she made her departure. "You'll see me again, count on it." Alaina said, all while thinking about how much Z.Z and Fathia got under her skin. She couldn't stand either of them. Raiding boats is just stealing things that aren't yours and terrifying crews of people transporting goods as far as Alaina was concerned.

"Cassie, I'm sorry. I usually don't let people get me bent out of shape and I swear I'm a nice person but Z.Z just... I dunno." Alaina said to Cassie before trying to change the subject, sort of. "Is it all right if I ask you a training related question?"

"Guns, oh no!" Cassie put a hand over her mouth and giggled. She was enthralled by ZZ. She loved listening to her talk. So much that she'd nearly forgotten about Alaina until ZZ left and Alaina picked up where they had left off.

"What? Oh. Sure! I don't know everything, but I know some stuff. My friends are really good, though, very knowledgeable. What's the question?" She smiled, and resumed eating her noodles.

"Sometimes I'm stuck trying to balance conditioning and mat skills. I feel like I need to spend way more time with mat skills, but if I ignore fitness I lose out on power which is really all I have going for me it feels like." Alaina said with a sigh.

"I was lucky enough to bump into a nice veteran who helped me a bunch a while ago but I still get hung up on dumb stuff sometimes." Alaina added with a nervous laugh. She didn't want to bore Cassie, and hoped her questions weren't annoying. Sadly, Alaina couldn't speak with the strange accent Z.Z did that seemed to draw in Cassie's attention so well. "I invited her over for dinner, and still have to contact this personal assistant of hers."

Cassie always liked to talk shop, although her own area of expertise was specific to grappling. She still felt like a novice in many other ways.

She nodded along with Alaina, her big green eyes attentively fixed on her until she was done. "Wellllll... I don't know if I'm the best one to ask for that!" She laughed. "I'm definitely not big and strong or anything. I go by my school's philosophy, which is that instead of running for your cardio, grapple. Instead of lifting weights to get stronger for grappling, grapple. I try to get my workouts with the technique, but technique is really all I have going for me. I'm in good shape, and I'm stronger than I look, but I could probably do better..."

She wagged a finger at Alaina. "Actually, my friend Taylor is the best person I know for that stuff, coming up with training plans and everything. She's really awesome, she's helped me a lot, or at least tried to. I've been telling her for ever that she should try to get a degree in kinesthesiology or something. She'll tell you that you have to do what works best for your body, and what you want to do. Like, she wouldn't have me lifting weights and trying to turn into some big muscle-girl or something, because that wouldn't really help me win. Maybe it would help you, I dunno. Are you worried that you've plateaued with your training?"