He pressed his remaining hand over the deep cut across his face, the blood already having fallen down to his mouth and chin before he tried to shield himself against the pain. Hours had passed since he last received it; an unforeseen strike with a blade, which was nearly aimed at – but seemed to miss – his eyes, when he attempted to dodge its sharp end. During that period of time, between the attack and its wound, everything seemed to speed into chaos: the angry shouting, the smashing of random objects - bottles, lamps, chairs, the frantic attempts to get away from the violence and confusion -
And in the midst of it all; her disappearance.
If only he paid attention to what the sea had kept trying to teach him, all along. If only he had thought it through…if he had stopped it from happening, while he still had the chance. He should never have given in, in the first place. Then he wouldn't have met her, and suffered for it. And then, he wouldn't have lost her, for ever.
Six months ago…
At four in the afternoon, under a mostly clear, blue sky, the docks were reasonably busy as people ventured about their own business, carrying supplies and tools for the ships tied up by the harbour. It was a good time to start preparing for their next voyage, as one can never fully be aware of the plans laid out for him by the ocean; with its indifference to those brave or foolish enough to cross it, whether a feared pirate holding the highest price on his head, or a simple trading merchant looking for different markets in order to sell his goods, abroad. And in addition, the captains saw to it that nothing was left to the last minute, before their journey could be resumed out into the wide open. After his men had loaded everything, one captain – a young, well-dressed man with black, combed-back hair – took the responsibility of making sure the crew members had already boarded the ship before it departed.
Quietly, he went down to the lower deck of the ship, and stopped at one of the doors that could be found there. Since yesterday, it remained that the crew seemed too restless to want to go back to their cabins on this floor; meaning that he had to somehow negotiate with them just to keep everyone together. Raising the knuckles of his right hand, he tapped on the door and waited. A female voice called out, from inside.
'Yes?'
'It's me, the captain. Do you mind if I come in?' There was a moment of hesitation, before he received an answer.
'No, I don't mind.' Gripping his fingers around the door knob, he pushed open the door to step into the small room. The young woman had just closed one of the drawers in the desk opposite her bed, when she looked up at him.
'I was just looking around...'
'That's alright; it's your cabin, now,' he replied. 'You can do whatever you want. I won't stop you...' she found that the apathy in his voice (which she had taken notice of yesterday, when she joined) was fading, if only by a small degree. 'I only wanted to make sure you were on board, before we head back to sea.' The last thing he wanted was to discover that the newest addition to his crew was left behind. In spite of what the rest of his ship mates had thought.
'You can't be serious – we can't take her
on board!' 'Crocodile-san – that's Nico Robin!'
'It's too dangerous; we'll be stuck with a mad
woman!'(1) one by one, the men shouted their protests to their
superior, with the hope of making him see reason as to the
consequences of what he was planning. 'You're pulling my
leg…are you saying I'm an idiot? I'm the captain; I'm 'Crocodile-san...' 'At
least think about it, first: if we take her along, what's the most
likely thing that could happen to us?' The men fell silent,
allowing him to continue on. 'Imagine how much our
reputation will improve with a member like her…people will be
scared shitless, once they hear that the Cosa Nostra pirates have the
Ohara Demon with them. Before, we could only dream of having a bounty
of ten million berries on our heads, let alone seventy-nine million.
As far as I know, it's rare to find a pirate worth more than fifty
million berries out there, except for those with more experience at
sea... But her? She's been wanted by the Marines since she was
eight – that's far longer than we've ever been chased by them,
since we first got their attention. And we do need another member to
our crew, after all.' 'So, by taking Nico Robin with us –
' 'If you'd like…you could even think of it as a new
adventure'. He added, giving the hint of a sad grin at the
once-familiar sound of the word. His comrades only stared at him,
trying not to shake their heads with pity and disgust for their
captain's attitude.
'So is everything – the bed, the desk, the chair, the entire room - alright? Not too shabby…or dull, for your liking?' The young woman shook her head.
'No, sir; it's fine.'
'Good, I'm glad to see that.' There was a short distance between the head of the ship, and its latest passenger. He smiled at her kindly, in the hopes of at least improving her current impression of him and his crew. I wonder if she knows about the "madwoman" thing… He thought. Their time with her hadn't even properly begun, yet the atmosphere on the upper decks already seemed tense, in regards to what was believed to be true about the new member. Poor girl. As much as he had felt a niggling doubt on its actual relevance, over the past years since he had first started his life as a pirate, the young man found himself disgusted with his ship mates' attitudes towards one whom they were meant to consider their "nakama". Didn't the great Pirate King believe in his comrades, up until his last breath? He vainly repeated this mantra – as he had done so frequently, in the past – in his mind; with the hope of proving wrong his own cynicism.
Nico Robin just stood there, silently. She had said yesterday that she was eighteen years old, which wasn't too far behind the captain's own age of twenty-one. For someone from the notorious island of Ohara, she looked deceivingly innocent; practically incapable of attacking anyone or anything let alone the world. I wonder if I'm making the right decision with allowing this girl on board…
'I'll be going back to the upper deck, now. You can return to reading, if you like, and no one will disturb you.'
'Yes, sir.'
'But if I need you to help out - ' he added, verbally (and mentally) reaffirming his position as the head of the group, to which she now belonged. 'Then I expect you to drop everything, and come immediately. Just so we're clear…' she nodded, as an indication that she had understood. He offered her another smile, before taking his leave and closing the door of her cabin.
Ohara Demon…he mused. Over time, we'll see what kind of a person she is. And then, we'll see what good will come, from having such a woman among us.
(1) I'm assuming that some rumours would have probably spread concerning Robin's personality, especially in relation to the price put on her head at eight years old and the tag line the World Government gave her of being from 'the island that was going to destroy the world'.