†A Little Furry Surprise†
The Whitebeard pirates made preparations for up coming missions, unexpected battles, and just to bulk up on inventory. Medical supplies, ammunition, food, and miscellaneous items that others need. As they shop and barter with merchants and other shop keepers in Shyreen; one child is watching with fearful eyes.
Misty has never dreamed that a such well known and powerful pirate crew would dock at a small, remote, and almost unheard of island. Whats more, the locals thought its a brilliant idea to hold boxing matches in makeshift rings and invite them for some fights. Pirates(other than the Whitbeards) are becoming more aggressive and unpredictable to show off or, as Misty would say, get stupid.
Scared and on edge, Misty wonders down to the docks in order to avoid them and see if there is something for her to eat via food creates. Since she doesn't have a single berrie on her or the skills to steal from venders that watch like hawks for would-be-thieves. After a few minutes of searching, she finally found a large pallet stuffed with food items that appear to be ready for loading. Misty did a quick scan of the area to confirm no one was around, did she finally began foraging inside the large bundle. Carefully opening and closing lids, sniffing bags of fresh fruit, or ripping open packages of meat and taking huge bites out of them; Misty hummed in satisfaction.
But half way through her little feast a sudden chill shoots down her spine. Pausing in mid-bite Misty looks up. Seeing no one is coming from the front or either of her sides, did she finally check behind her.
Coming face to face with a marine. Mirroring her shocked expression just before her instincts kicked in hard and fast. She bolted as he sprinted towards her while yelling to stop. The chase was on but Misty had a better advantage for she could zip into smaller nooks and crannies and knew the layout better than he did. It only took a few minutes to lose sight of him but she didn't stop until reaching the deepest part of the cargo area. But as luck would have it, she suddenly finds herself in front of Marco before tripping on a piece of rope. Sending her down and hard as the marine spots a better target; the commander. Seeing this as her opportunity to escape, Misty scrambled back onto her feet and dashed off towards the cargo maze.
Minutes later, she began slowing down and catches her breath while scanning around. Seeing no one had followed her Misty jogged to a open create and plopped herself inside. Lowering her guard completely while laying down on some soft blankets. Fatigue catching up to her she unknowingly falls asleep just as the create is loaded onto a ship.
†Later that night†
Misty is woken with a start when she's thrown to the side very hard. Followed by another hard lurch to the opposite side. Dazed from being thrown around, Misty tries to gather her bearings as she waits for the dizziness to subside. But just as her head stopped spinning, Misty is thrown once again to the right and tumbles out of the box with other stuff that was inside. Rolling away and coming to a abrupt halt when hitting into a wall; the small girl finally let out a pained moan.
'What on earth…?' Misty thought as she shake out the last of her dizziness. Misty's heart skipped a few beats as she process the scene. 'You're kidding me?!'
Far as the eyes could see the little girl could see was rows of shelves, creates, barrels and other items that can be found inside of ships. Everything she's seeing, screams lower deck storage room but in her mind refused to believe it. She's supposed to be in the harbour, not in a ships storage unit! Swallowing her last bit of spit, Misty carefully stood up. Slowly scanning the room as she inched away from the create, taking in the fact she's actually on a ship. Misty took a few deep breaths to gather her thoughts.
'Okay maybe I can-' Her eyes snapped open as she heard muffled noise. Male voices approaching the room. She didn't dare to move just as light poured into the nearly-pitch black room, making her flinch from such bright light. After adjusting to the light Misty glances towards the source of the light, the main doorway. She froze as all her theory being on a merchant ship is dashed into a million pieces.
'Oh. No.' She gasped.
Thatch, the commander of the fourth division with 'fire-fist' Ace, are walking into the room while chatting up a storm. Both completely unaware that a child is near by, watching them intensely as they rummage around in a few boxes. In panic, Misty turns on her heel to hide back into the box but she accidentally runs into a empty barrel in the process. Sending her and it to the floor with a almighty sounding thud.
"What was that?"
Focusing on the pirates she became paralyzed by fear. They are honing onto her with surprise, confusion, and perhaps a hint of threat in their gazes. Thatch, however, soon sneers when realizing she isn't a threat as a light hearted chuckle passes his lips. Ace follows the commander by grinning madly at the same conclusion.
"It's a little stowaway." His smile grew and this mirrored to Ace's face as well. "A very cute one, if I may add." He said teasingly. Glancing over his shoulder, Thatch expressed a simple order to Ace via hand signs and hushed whispers. Misty couldn't hear whats he's saying but she guesses its to tell the others. Her suspicion is confirmed when Ace nods and rushes out.
She didn't bother to hide again since he see's her and has a better idea where she's at. So, Misty stood up again while inching away from him as he continued his advance. When her legs hit the create she fell on top of it, but quickly regains her footing before he could attempt anything. Misty, however, stops moving when he ceased his advance. She tensely watches his every move in full knowing that he's a lot stronger than she is in her current condition.
"Take it easy kid!" Sensing Misty's nervousness, Thatch spoke very gently at her. "I don't want you to get hurt, please relax." He showed his hands in hopes that'll calm her down. However, it did the opposite.
Misty mistook his gentle gesture as a threat and hightailed it to the door, barely avoiding Thatch's hands in the process. Bolting out of the room in record time and enters a long and wide hallway. Misty didn't slow down or stop running despite hearing Thatch yelling stop. When reaching a set of stairs to her left, Ace suddenly reappears at the last step and he isn't alone. She recognizes the new face instantly. It's Marco.
Misty stumbled backwards then quickly hitting the wall in front of the stairs. She quickly glances around to find another escape route but to her dismay, there really isn't one. Besides the stairs that'll lead to Rodger knows where, there is a closed door off to her left. However, she isn't dumb enough to see if its a room or not. Chances are high for it being locked or just leading to another dead end; which right now, she wants neither option.
"That's the stowaway!" Ace stated. Getting her to refocus on the pair in front of her. Wide eyed and scared, Misty swallows hard as the blond smirks in recognition. "Kinda awesome isn't it? I mean how many kids end up in there!?" He adds.
"She's a first actually." Marco mused as she stands up. He squats down and rests his arms on his thighs. "But come to think of it, I'm sure I've seen you before." Tilting his head to the side Marco grins. "You're the little girl that ran into me this afternoon," His grin becomes larger as Misty tenses up and bites her dry lip. "And managed to bring a marine on my hide as you ran off. How rude!" He jeers.
Thatch, calmly walking towards the group, lightly chuckled. "Oh ho!~ So she's the reason for that fight." His friend nods whilst keeping an eye on the little girl, who in turn watches Thatch. He smiles. "Now why would the dogs be interested in you?"
Just before Marco could answer, the door opened right next to the girl. The person that had opened it didn't have a chance of figuring out whats going on as Misty flies by. By the time he realizes his mistake she's already past him and is making up time towards the upper deck where she'll get off this blasted place. However, another crew member leaped out and managed to grab her right leg. Causing the small child let out a very high pitch scream and unwittingly, pushing her to the last line of defence.
Without warning, the little girl began transforming into a medium sized, white and grey snow leopard cat. The effect of this unexpected event was immediate. The crew member loosens his grip from shock which allows Misty to sprint away on all four legs. Running at a higher speed then before, she can zip by confused members without much effort while ducking into narrow places, small gaps, and even leap over boxes to slow down her perusers. All she had to do was jump ship and land onto the harbour. Simple.
Well, that was her plan.
After a harrowing ten minutes of running terror, Misty has finally reached top deck. Where more pirates(assuming they've been alerted) greet her with nets and other items that'll either stun or catch her. She quickly weasels her way though and rushes to the stern of the ship where she's confronted by a unexpected, but deadly, glitch. The port she'd been on for the last two days is now a small spec in the horizon as the ship continues her voyage.
'…N-no!' She wailed inwardly. 'I can't be here! They have to bring me back! They have to-'
Without warning, Misty felt a sudden serge of pressure rippling throughout her body. Like the rock crushing waves mercilessly pounding upon large cliffs, rendering her to collapse. Feeling weaker and weaker from this unknown force, the once fluffy, active, and unpredictable snow leopard quickly reverses back into a small, thin, and helpless child. With a dazed and frightened expression while becoming like a rag doll. Limp and not able to stop her fall.
Just as she falls to her side pair of large hands gently hoist her up and into something solid yet warm. Misty flinches when a hand soothingly finger combs her tangled hair during of which; she begins hearing whispers of voices coming all around. To her frustration, she can't make out what they're saying. It's as if they are very faraway, yet close at the same time. Desperate for answers, Misty calls out to them. Pleading to stop and leave her alone but her voice is muddled, slurrying to the point of jumbled words. However, the hand that's been combing her hair stopped moving prior to cupping her small cheek.
"Its alright…rest now." A male voice urged, followed by a sharp pinch in her upper arm. Misty flinches and whines loudly. "Sorry sweetie! It's okay to sleep now. Shut your eyes…" Shortly after hearing the gentle command Misty's eyes uncontrollably roll back, sailing off into the dark oblivion all the while a single tear escapes her eye. Rolling down her cheek before losing consciousness.
After she becomes limp in his arms, Marco hands her off to Auru. Who conducts a quick check to see if the medication is giving her nasty side effects. He nods once. "She's under but I'll have to re-administer in twenty minutes given the fact she is a zoan devil fruit user."
Marco mutters a curse while turning around to his father, Whitebeard, who'd ordered Auru to sedate her, with a scowl. "She's down for the count but…" Moving to the side, he allowed his father to see her. Wincing when he hears his father hiss through his teeth.
Within seconds Auru is surrounded by Whitebeard's personal nurses. They carefully took the little girl out of his arms and rushed off towards the clinic with him close behind. Yelling others to clear a path or face a certain(and colourful) death. Normally some would disregard that threat but its soon clear that no one is taking this lightly. When the small group is out of eyesight, Whitebeard broke the silence with a clear, but stern, question.
"Where did she come from." Turning to his sons, he narrows his eyes dangerously. "And why is the brat in such terrible shape."
Thatch took one step foreword and cleared his throat. "Ace and I found her in the storage room, getting your favourite sake. When we saw her, it was clear she didn't want us to approach or help in any shape or form." He started off, nodding to Ace to continue the story.
"But it was by sheer luck that we spotted her! A large barrel fell after she accidentally bumped it over, making a loud thump as the result." He adds before looking into the direction the girl was headed. "As for why she's so…dirty; we don't know. As Thatch said, she didn't want to be anywhere."
Marco then took his moment to speak up as well. "She could be from the island we just left from as I had a rather…interesting encounter with her and a marine."
Whitebeard finally bellowed his famous laugh. "The brat is the reason that you fought eh?! Cheeky little devil!" Sitting back down on his throne the old man picks up his tankard and gulps down a hefty amount of alcohol. "Its been awhile since I had any wee ones on my ship so the brat can stay until we decide otherwise. If the marines are on her; find out why. Its rare for them to get involved in 'charity chases' unless there is another reason." He points to Marco as other commanders fan out to their own assigned tasks.
"I want you to monitor the brat for the next seventy-two hours. Thatch and Jozu can help out on your devision if need be but I need you to watch her." Narrowing his eyes, Whitebeard lowers his cheerful tone and switches into a more darker one. "You're the best reader for zoan users and can predict if she feels threatened or ready to attack. "
Marco nods as he too becomes more serious. "Will do."
Authors note:
-gasps very loudly- Whats this!? Another updated Misty fic?!
Yes my readers it is and one that'll work on more often. Simple reason being that this one has more of a 'correct' behaviour from her and I'll have a easier time coming up with chapters for it(not to mention I'd been away due to work and medical reasons). In my Canadian-ness ways, I'm sorry for not updating for about…two years? Maybe? (I don't know anymore because I have a memory of a goat) ANYways, I'll try to at lest update once a month, depending how busy things are at work and play(Xbox games). Again. I'm sorry.
As for the other ones(Sick Kitten, Blind Marksmen) I'll be re-doing them as well and slowly get back into them. Thanks to the OP updates; I have a better idea of how Law will interact with Misty and as well as Xander. So, please don't message me with a 'Update right now' in my reviews. I'm working full time(except Friday-Sun) in purchasing at my dads company and I have a life outside of the internet(shocking I know) and gaming.
So. Sit back, relax, eat some popcorn; and enjoy.
-VanArt94