It all went to fast, even for him. The giant swung his hand and got a surprise slap on Mihawk's already injured body. They had been fighting as the new shichibukai talked to the giant, saying they should get rid of the old shichibukai giving the new world a chance. His name was Ryuzari Maki, and played all his cards dirty as he slowly got Kuma to agree with him. They had been attacking Mihawk and caught him by surprise, and Kuma didn't use all his power. But as Mihawk by accident scratched his bible he had been charging against him with incredible speed.
Ryuzari was the one who took Doflamingo's place as he disappeared. Nobody knew what happened to him, or where he took off. But the marines searched everywhere after him for over two years without result. So the simply decided to let someone else take his place. Mihawk was still confused by why he simple left. He must have had a reason for doing so.
The mans hand hit him spot on and sent him flying so fast he had to cling to his hat and robe. He felt a wound aching on his chest, and saw how blood dropped away in the wind as he flew. His face expression was still the same as always though. It was painful to be beaten, but his face never changed. People thought he was numb.
He felt himself become more sleepy as he lost blood. He didn't want to sleep. He couldn't really do anything, he would just fly for three days and three nights if the saying was true. Three days and three nights. He could be way out of grandline before he landed.
–
"Ugh..." she groaned as she felt the sun burn in her eyes. Her mouth was dry and tasted like salt. She turned from her back to her stomach and coughed up water and blood into the sand. Where was she? She looked up, seeing nothing but giant trees reaching for the sky. The beach was wide and covered with pure white sand, and she tried hard to get to her feet.
She was shaking. They waves had easily ripped off the oversized coat she got from the marines on their ship, but she didn't really think it was so bad to get out of there once in a while. They were... Nice, I guess but they were not very fun to be around. They just did chores all day long, unless when they ate. And when the real navigator took a sleep for just ten minutes, the ship managed to sail into the calm belt. She thanked God for not letting any seamonsters eat her alive.
She was only there to make some extra money as a worker. She didn't consider herself as a marine at all, since all she did was the jobs that nobody else had time to do. Like scrub the deck, cook, help the injured and so on. She stood up on her shaking legs, and saw a path leading into the forest. The forest was thick and green, and when those trees was that big she didn't want to know what kind of weird monsters that lived in there.
She walked towards the path, dragging her feet in the sand. Her shoes were wet and not very comfortable, so she took them off and carried them. Even if this should be the last thing to care about, she hoped she would find a shower so that her hair wouldn't get all salty. On the marine ship they always offered her a shower. They also wanted to help her dress.
Her feet were covered with sand and dust from the forest path, and her red hair was wet but drying. She wore a blue linen and a short shirt along with a pair of very high socks she got from a young marine. She had a cap too, but it fell of and she didn't bother saving it. She wanted to save her own life instead.
The forest was filled with life as she herd birds sing, and felt the fresh scent of flowers flow through the air. The sun was peeking in through the green leaves and it turned out to be a very nice place. She came across rocks shaped like leaves, something she thought was very cool. She picked up some and placed them in her shoes. The soil was soft and very nice towards her feet, so she didn't take her shoes on.
The castle grew bigger as she approached it, seeing the grey brick wall rise high above the ground. It looked old and abandoned since all the flowers around it had withered in this very nice climate. The gigantic door into the castle was place on top a set of stairs, and all this walking had made her legs hurt. She wasn't in the mood for climbing stairs, but what other choice did she had?
Once at the top, she panted and knocked on the door. She herd the echo inside, but not an answer. Maybe this place was abandoned after all? she thought and sighted. Now what? She sat down and leaned against the door. She had to go back to the beach and see if she could find a boat, or maybe spot a ship and grab their attention.
She was shocked as the door opened with a loud crack, and she fell backwards against the hard cement floor. She didn't want to walk barefoot on this cold floor, she thought and poured the rocks out of her shoes. They were still wet and a bit sandy, but still better than nothing.
"Hello?" she shouted into the hall, hoping to hear someone call back. But all she herd was the echo of her own voice.
She was very afraid of the dark, and didn't like the thought of walking around in a giant dark castle very much. She opened the door to the fullest, so that all the light that could would shine in and lit up the path. It was a deep hall with torches hanging on the wall. They were covered with a beautiful spiderweb, and a red carpet was on the floor. It hadn't been walked on for quite a while. She walked up to where the castle spread into to different ways, but what caught her eye was the size of everything in here.
A drawer was placed as a decoration in one of the halls, and it seemed to be oddly big. It wasn't big if you compered to the hall, but it was big to her. It seemed a bit oversized, just like the rest of the castle. This discovery made her walk further into the castle. It was just a long hall that lead to a staircase, and the steps seemed bigger than usual. Something that didn't surprise her as she thought this entire building was oversized.
She wandered into a room that was lit up by the pale sunlight as it filtered through the old windows. It was a big, beautiful room decorated with statues, a high ceiling with murals on it and chandeliers hanging from it. Even if they were old and covered with dust and spiderweb they still glistened slightly in the sunlight.
Her eyes were dancing around the room just as if she had found a treasure, this was lovely! In the middle was of course a very large and long table, and the chairs were bigger then her. The ones living here must have been giants, she thought. She saw another big door in the end of the room, and couldn't help but opening it. It lead out to a very large balcony that had an outstanding view. It showed the forest from above the treetop, the blue ocean and the sky that was lit up by the sun. It felt good having the bright sun warm you after you had been walking around an a very grey castle. There was also a giant paw print on it. But she didn't really think it was odd after seeing this castle.
She turned back into the castle, trying hard to find something that looked like a bedroom. After walking around in the halls, the end of it had a door on it. She reached for the handle and pulled it open. She was met by a very big bed in the middle of the room, and a window on each side of it. A pale white drawer was to her right, a next to that another door. The bed was two steps up on a little 'scene' and it looked very nice. There was a full body mirror next to a closet and it had old pictures stuck in the frame.
She walked over to the second door, and it led into a bathroom. The sink was beautiful and the tap was made out of gold. The bathtub was also white and had a old, pink shower curtain hanging from the ceiling. The tiles on the floor was lightly purple and she was shocked that nobody lived here. This was a castle built to fit a royalty!
She then came to think of the pictures hanging on the mirror. She ran out of the bathroom and grabbed them all. There was eleven pictures, so she sat down on the bed looking on them. The first picture showed a beautiful woman with a long dress, and her hair was curly and black. She was standing in the forest, and had a smile painting her lips.
The next one was the same woman with a man, and he was probably one of those who lived here. He was at least one and a half meter taller than her, but held her lovingly in his arms. They both smiled towards the camera, and looked so happy together. She knew that she had seen that man before. Somewhere. But where? He was wearing a black tuxedo, and his hair was short. The pictures was black and white, and made it harder.
Then she herd a noise bounce from wall to wall, into the room. She gasped and looked up, but it was all quiet. She put the pictures away, and slowly walked out of the room. She tried to be as quiet as possible, but gasped again as there was smoke on the balcony. The ran over, just to see what it was and found someone lying there. At least she knew who this was. This was Hawkeye Mihawk, the famous shichibukai and the worlds greatest swordsman.
Mihawk's eyes shot open. Every single part of his body was aching like if someone pounded on the with a hammer. His chest was poorly wrapped with a white fabric that was ripped from a tablecloth or something. He was lying on something soft, and had to force himself into a sitting position in order to see were he was. The room was quite big, and he was lying on the bed in the middle of the room. He saw his robe on a hook on the wall, and his hat too. His sword was place neatly in the arms of a little girl.
She was sitting with her back against the wall, her head down as he herd her calm breaths. She was sleeping. He felt hungry, but noticed a plate with a steak on it next to his bed. He studied the girl as he reached for the plate. He didn't eat it, how could he know it wasn't poisoned? But of the look of her, he couldn't suspect something like that. She was obviously just what she looked like. A little girl.
Her hair was red and a bit frizzy. She had the sword wrapped in another cloth, and held it tight. He could guess why. She would wake up if he tried to grab it. She was afraid he might kill her. He looked down at the steak. His stomach growled after the long and painful light, and he couldn't take it anymore. He picked it up with his hands and started to eat. It tasted good, and he ate it all up fast. He wanted more, but his body was still aching and he didn't know where the kitchen was.
When he thought of it, he didn't know where he was at all. He looked at the girl again. He didn't want to wake her up. The best would be to just get his stuffs and leave. But that wouldn't be possible if he tried to pull his sword out from her grip. He was injured and the ache was affecting his ability to think clearly. He felt like sleeping. And since he didn't have any escape plan, and the knowledge of that she wouldn't be able to hurt him, he leaned back and tried to get some sleep.
But there was no way he could go back to sleep. The pain was unbearable so he sat up again. He leaned his back towards the wall, looking at the sleeping girl again. His eyes were caught by the sparkling drops on her face. Was she awake? Or did she really, cry in her sleep? Her once so calm breathing was now a shaky way to breathe. He cocked his head slightly, but just closed his eyes. Who was she? Why did she take care of him? If she knew who he was, she must've been very brave to even touch him, or his sword.
Her breaths were more shaking now, and he opened his eyed to see her tighten the grip around his sword. She was crying. But she wasn't awake though. If she were, she would hug something less sharp than his sword. She was shaking and hugging his sword tighter. He saw how the cloth was slowly falling down, and exposed the sharp blade right next to her face.
"Hey, wake up." Mihawk herd himself say, and she immediately woke up. She looked up and placed her hand before her mouth in a surprised gesture. Her eyes were red, swollen and wet. She quickly got to her feet and made a low cry as she cut her face on the way up. Mihawk didn't know what could've triggered this kind of reaction. She placed her hand on the wound, running into the bathroom. Mihawk saw her standing in front of the mirror, but then she closed the door. Now was his chance.
He tried to get up, but he started to shake as he pushed his injured body too far. But he kept going, and walked over to his robe and placed the hat on his head. He felt how the wound on his chest ripped open, and the cloth was slowly becoming red. He felt sweaty and weak, put picked up his sword and dashed through the door. The hall was long, and with doors along the side. But his vision became a bit blurry as he lost blood. He crashed into the wall, and fell helpless to the floor.
He felt how the room was spinning, and then saw how the girl bended down over him. Her eyes were still a bit red, and the wound on the cheek was still bleeding. But she helped him up on his feet, and he could barely see anything before passing out again the last thing he herd was her voice, saying:
"Don't worry, I'll treat you." she said before his vision became black once again.
"Hey, why'd you run off like that? You're hurt." he herd her whine and saw her as he opened his eyes. She was sitting on the bed just beneath him, and this time she had her wound badly treated. Just a small band-aid to cover a small piece of it.
"I can't stay here." he replied and gave her a chilling look. She didn't even shiver before she pouted her lips and answered.
"But Im the only doctor in miles, you'll die before you get treatment! And I don't want you to go dying on me." she said seriously and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Do you know who I am?" he then asked and crossed his arms across his chest.
"Yeah, who doesn't."
"Then why do you want to save me?" he asked her but she just kept giving him that look.
"Nobody deserves to die. I'd be a horrible person to leave you here to die." she said and frowned.
"I have to leave." he said again and closed his eyes.
"No, you can't! You're hurt, and you have to realize that!" she said and leaned forward.
She had a point. He could barely run through a hall before passing out. Maybe he should stay until he was healthy enough to walk.
"Why did you act so strange when you woke up?" he said and lightly tilted his head. She looked up with big eyes, and then looked away. This was probably a sensitive area. She looked sad, but then just tried to mutter the question away.
"N-nothing... You scared me, that's all." she said quietly and fingered her hand.
"You were crying. In your sleep. Bad dream?" he asked with a sound of tease in his voice.
"That's none of your business."
"Im going to stay until I can walk and get off this island. That might take a while, considering how far I got on my first try. If you're gonna cry every night you'd better tell me." he said with the same face he had been wearing for years.
"I don't want to talk about it, okay? It's just..." she started out but bit her lip and stopped. She wanted to tell him. She just wanted to tell someone, but she didn't want him to see her like a crybaby. She'd rather live with it then having people around her to see her like weak.
"Tell me your name then." he said and changed the subject.
"Juni." she answered and felt relief as he changed the subject. She really didn't want to talk about it, even if she wanted to get if off her shoulders.