Disclaimer: I own nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not the characters, not the universes, probably not even the general idea.
This is the first story I've even attempted to write, so be gentle please! Enjoy!
Lucy Heartfilia sat on the bench near the harbor and sighed, tipping her head back. She couldn't believe that everything was just so boring. There was absolutely nothing to do in this town. She looked at the clouds drifting across the summer sky as she imagined the adventure she set out to have, but hadn't come across yet.
"I was promised a famous pirate harbor, not some lazy RESORT TOWN!" she yelled at the sky, throwing her fists akimbo. A few of the passers-by froze wide-eyed at her outburst, and Lucy's face flushed bright red. She lowered her arms and rubbed the back of her head, bowing slightly in embarrassment. Getting over the shock, the commuters continued on their way, leaving Lucy to sit in silence. Not that silence was what she was looking for at all.
The minutes passed like days, and Lucy shut her eyes on the dull town surrounding her with another sigh. She didn't know how long she sat on that bench waiting, but finally, finally, the newspaper bird fluttered down to perch on the bench next to her.
"Where the hell have you been? I've been waiting forever!" she chided the animal.
The bird just turned its beak toward the clock tower, which clearly read three o'clock. Lucy's eyes followed in that direction and her jaw dropped.
"Seriously? It's only been that long? Of course you're on time," she muttered as she tucked some coins into the bird's bag.
"Bwaaak!"
"Sorry to imply otherwise."
The bird picked a newspaper out of its pouch and dumped it unceremoniously on Lucy's lap as it took off to its next delivery. Lucy just grinned as she watched it flap toward the open ocean.
"Silly bird," she said as her eyes followed its path until the sun's glare forced her to look away.
As she looked down at the newspaper in her lap, her grin widened and she flipped eagerly through the pages until she reached the newly released and updated bounty posters. Attached to each poster was the story of why the bounty was registered or increased and she quickly thumbed through the images until she found one the trouble-makers she was searching for.
"What did the idiots do this time?" she whispered.
Her grin stretched wider and wider as she read the report of the pirates' latest adventure.
The Strawhat Pirates, along with the Heart Pirates have once again wreaked havoc on Marine controlled territory…
…five hundred million beli worth of damages done to the base and surrounding town…
…Strawhat Luffy fingered as the reason for the region's recent food shortage…
…Cat Thief Nami of the Strawhat Pirates spotted striking Bepo of the Heart Pirates repeatedly with lightning while screaming obscenities…
...citizens have been obsessively listening to the Soul King's music since the event…
…reportedly the notorious captain of the Heart Pirates, The Surgeon of Death: Trafalgar Law, was spotted wearing nothing but a pair of women's undergarments during the escape from…
Lucy's shoulders shook from the effort of holding in her laughter, and tears were pushing at the corners of her eyes from her mirth. The tremors built until she couldn't hold it any more. Loud bursts of laughter tore from Lucy's throat, startling the people walking on the street again. This time she didn't feel any shame, though. She gathered the newspaper in a neat role and stood with another burst of giggles.
"These guys are the absolute best! They're always good for cheering me up!"
Lucy wandered through the harbor town looking for something worth doing with a new skip in her step. She didn't really feel like shopping or eating, as it wasn't anywhere near dinner time. She made it to an overlook on the mountainside with a view of the harbor and nearly the whole town, and looked out over the peaceful streets.
In the morning, Lucy packed all her, rather meager, belongings in her pack, Lucy checked out of the inn and made her way down the sloping town toward the harbor. She wasn't overly eager to go out to sea again, but her adventure wasn't shaping up to anything in this town.
"I'll be more careful this time," she murmured to herself as she walked. "Last time I didn't check all the information and ended up crossing the sea in a dinghy. That won't happen again. I'm never going to trust anybody else to book my boats for me. Ever."
Lucy's muttering dwindled until no sound was passing through her moving lips, and soon she found herself in sight of the docks. There were quite a few ships getting ready to set out, and Lucy thought that she might find one to take her somewhere interesting. The tide was almost ready to go out, so she had to hurry if she wanted to get out of this town.
She was so engrossed in looking for a suitable ship that she almost rammed into a group of squealing girls. Thankfully, she was jolted back to awareness by a particularly piercing shriek.
"SHAAAANKS!"
'Shanks?,' Lucy thought. 'Isn't he one of the Four Emperors? What would he be doing here?'
"His hair really is as red as fire!"
"The scar on his face makes him look so mature!"
"Even without his arm he's sexy!"
Through the crowd of girls who, quite literally, had hearts in their eyes, Lucy caught a glimpse of bright red hair and a strong jaw line. She hadn't seen many pictures of the Shanks, as he was legendarily elusive, but from what she knew the girls were describing him to a tee.
She wiggled her way to the front of the crowd and took in the sight of the famous pirate. A stray thought drifted across her mind before she focused entirely on the man in front of her. He was younger than she thought he'd be. Lucy wanted to speak to the celebrity, but didn't want to make enemies of every girl in the town. Obviously they wouldn't take kindly to someone standing out in front of their idol, and Shanks seemed to be eating up the attention. Lucy was sure she could catch his eye somehow, but not here.
She figured that since she was already near the docks, she'd just find his ship and wait until he was ready to set sail. If he wasn't leaving yet, she'd just go back and rent the room at the inn again. Plan in mind, Lucy was just about to step back and let the other girls fight for her spot in Shank's line of sight, but something jostled her from behind and she overbalanced. Pitching forward, Lucy threw out her hands and clenched her eyes shut, bracing for impact.
The next thing she knew, Lucy was blinking up at an outstretched hand. Brushing the dirt from the street off of her own hand, she took the one offered and was hoisted up and into the arms of a man. Surprised, Lucy startled and looked up into the face of her helper.
"Shanks!" she gasped. The red-haired pirate smirked down at Lucy.
"And what is your name, little kitten?" he asked with an elaborate bow and kiss to the back of her hand, sweeping his long coat behind him with a flourish. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she stuttered out her name. She honestly couldn't follow the rest of the conversation, but she thought that she somehow managed to nod and respond in the right places because she ended up with an invitation to a party that Shanks was hosting that evening on his ship.
Lucy spent the rest of the day floating in a dreamy haze. She drifted from place to place in the town, never really seeing where she was going or remembering where she had been. Her only thoughts were on the pirate with fire in his hair and adventure in his smile.
With a goofy look on her face, Lucy made her way eventually to the public baths to wash up and change before heading to Shanks' ship. As she soaked in the warm water, she couldn't help but to squeeze her eyes shut and grin as wide as she could. A tiny squeal escaped her as she thought of the possibilities the night could bring. She rushed through her ablutions and nearly ran to the dressing room in her excitement.
Lucy couldn't remember the last time she'd been this flustered. She looked at herself in the mirror, smoothing imaginary wrinkles in the one dress she owned. A slinky little black number, the dress hugged her curves in all the right places and highlighted the blonde of her hair.
"Old habits die hard, I guess. I can't go to a party without looking my absolute best. At least I never felt the need to be completely ostentatious like father did."
Lucy strutted her way up the gangplank and onto Shanks' ship with all the confidence in the world. She looked good and she knew it. Looking around, she noticed there were plenty of other girls aboard the ship mingling with the crew and other guests. Silently judging them for their obvious need to impress each other with not-so-subtle comparisons of jewelry and designer clothes, she allowed a small smirk to form on her lips.
As she wandered around the deck, Lucy was reminded of the parties and galas thrown by the upper echelon she once inhabited. It was interesting, she thought, to attend a similar event without being in the spotlight. She almost laughed at the irony that she was the one in the cheapest dress and the least make up when her father used to parade her around like a prize pony.
Her amusement only increased when a member of the wait staff blatantly ignored her as he passed by with a tray full of champagne flutes. She snagged one anyway, to his consternation, and giggled as he huffed and glided over to a much more flashy group of women. Her mirth was cut short by surprise by a rough hand on her shoulder and a husky voice in her ear.
"Kitten! I'm glad you made it," Shanks murmured only centimeters from her ear.
"Of course I made it. You invited me after all."
A smile stretched across his face and his arm found its way around her waist.
"Why don't we go somewhere a little more private?" He started to steer her toward the entrance below decks and his private cabin.
"Don't you have to go entertain your fans?" Lucy asked. He only chuckled in response and tightened his grip on her hip.
"You're the only fan I care to entertain, kitten," he breathed.
Lucy blushed and allowed herself to be lead into the privacy behind the door he held open for her. He motioned for Lucy to make herself comfortable and he went into the next room to grab refreshments. Sighing, she sat on the couch and hoped that he was asking her to join his crew or something instead of aiming for the one thing that guys are always after. She giggled to herself at the clichéd thought when he came back to the room with a bucket of ice and chilled wine. He smiled, and Lucy let Shanks think her mirth was because of his charm.
The truth was much worse.
Lucy knew there was something wrong the moment the red-haired pirate used his body to block her view as he poured the wine he offered her. She hadn't survived on her own the past few years by being naïve. She knew she was attractive, and her relative destitution guaranteed her presence in some of the seedier parts of various towns. The tricks of drugging unsuspecting women were not lost on the wily blonde.
She knew something was seriously wrong when Shanks' eyes narrowed dangerously as she refused the wine on the grounds of having had too much champagne on deck.
She knew she was in big trouble when he signaled to something behind her and a pair of rough looking hands grabbed her by the upper arms. She struggled against the tight hold, but only ended up earning herself a violent backhand to her cheek.
Lucy gasped and clenched her eyes shut against the sudden pain in her cheek and tilted sideways losing her already precarious balance in her heels, forcing her captor to take most of her weight. When she opened her eyes again, Lucy realized two things.
One: she was in deep shit. She never imagined that her adventure would involve being held against her will by one of the most notoriously strong pirates ever to sail.
Two: said pirate who held her against her will was most definitely not one of the most notoriously strong pirates ever to sail.
She watched as 'Shanks,' real name unknown, pulled his left arm out of the sling holding it across his stomach underneath his clothes. Her eyes grew wide and all the things that didn't fit suddenly clicked into place.
Why would Shanks be in this backwater town anyway?
Where was the rest of his famous crew? Yasopp? Beckman? Why would he be here alone?
He's too young.
'I should have known. Why didn't I realize? Why didn't I figure it out until it was too late?'
Fear drained the color from Lucy's cheeks as the cruel edge to the imposter's grin intensified. Pushing past the feeling, she gritted her teeth against the bruising grip on her upper arms. She didn't know what was going to happen to her, but she knew that she would fight it with everything she had left. She got her feet back under her and stood a little taller, narrowing her eyes at her captor. She still had a couple of tricks up her sleeve.
Seeing the new surge of determination in Lucy, the fake Shanks' hand flew out and grabbed her face. He dug his fingers into her cheeks, forcing her mouth open, and shoved a bitter powder onto her tongue with his other hand. Lucy tried to spit it out, but a hand on her cheeks relocated to her jaw and forced her head back and her mouth closed and she could feel the cold trickle of the drug as it slowly flowed down her throat, aided by the influx of saliva in her mouth.
Satisfied, the fake Shanks released Lucy and took a step back grinning. Lucy coughed and gagged, trying to expel some of the drug, but the powder's sedative effects were already working.
"That should keep you quiet, kitten," he laughed. "I didn't think you'd be quite so feisty. That was my mistake, I guess, but I had to get you to cooperate. I couldn't have you running out to tell those other girls about me, you see."
Already, Lucy could feel the drug clouding her mind and stealing her coordination. Her ankles weakened and her weight fell once again on the man standing behind her. Mortified, Lucy could only blink slowly as the image of the man in front of her came in and out of focus.
"This ship will set out tonight due for the market in Vista Village. Surely even you know what the main commodity is in that town."
Lucy could hardly form a coherent thought around the effects of the drug and the panic induced by his last statement. Her head lolled onto her shoulder and the will to fight dwindled in her eyes.
"Yes. I see that you do know. You and all of these other lovely ladies will be sold to the highest bidder once we reach Vista Village! Of course, I'll take the time to sample the wares before you're given to your new master." He ran a finger down the line of her jaw and tilted her head until he hovered over her face, his lips brushing against hers. "You did catch my eye, little kitten."
New tears ran down the tracks on her cheeks as Lucy was manhandled to the couch. Through the numbness of the drug, Lucy felt the man's hand groping up her let and under her dress as the other found its way into her hair and gripped the blonde locks tightly. The jolt of pain from her scalp pulled her partially out from the drug's influence.
Her tongue felt like lead in her mouth, but Lucy forced it to cooperate with her lips and throat to form words.
"Let…go of…me…you...CREEP," she growled. She blinked and shook her head in an effort to clear some of the cobwebs from her mind, but the drug was still strong in her system. She tried to kick out and buck him off but her muscles wouldn't listen to her.
The redhead only laughed and pushed her more firmly back against the cushions of the couch. His malicious smirk widened at the mix of fight and fear in her eyes.
She'd pushed too hard. Lucy couldn't do anything while she watched the vicious glint in his eyes grow sharper and his pupils dilated in obvious lust as his wandering hands gripped and groped across her body. She squeezed her eyes shut in a grimace as the slave trader's tongue licked up her cheek, tasting the tears there.
Fear and desperation warred in Lucy's mind until there was only one thought left.
'HELP ME!'
I do have the next chapter written, but I would like to know if anybody would like me to continue this story. Thanks for reading this far!
