Blue eyes hid behind closed eyelids. Soft feminine snores escaped chapped pink lips of a sleeping human. Her lanky form dangled loosely over the thick tree branch that was her shelter for the past several days. Her face contorted for a moment, then relaxed. Not even a moment later, she scrunched up her face again, a foul odor shooting into her nostrils and to the back of her throat. She half sneezed and awoke from her deep slumber, groggy still. She didn't bother to move from her sleeping position just yet as her eyes were still adjusting to the brightness of the midday sun. From her laying position on the branch, she could faintly see a black smoke rising in the sky. Figuring that the nearby village might've accidentally set fire to one of the houses, perhaps not completely dousing a campfire, she closed her eyes once more and let herself drift off.

Eustass Kidd was utterly bored. He sat on a stump, hunched over watching his handy work burn their pathetic buildings to the ground. His first-mate, "Massacre soldier" Killer, walked over to his Captain casually, blood splatters in various places of his body.

"You don't seem to be enjoying yourself, Kidd," He stated.

"Ch. This is the second pathetic island we've landed on here in the new world. What is it with these weak people?"

"Hm, perhaps we're just unlucky. Or lucky one way or another," Killer folded his arms over his chest.

"Ugh!" Kidd ran both his hands back and forth through his hair, vigourously out of frustration. He stood and stormed off towards the edge of the forest.

"Where are you going?"

"Seeing if this shithole has anything better to offer!" Killer let out a heavy sigh and cracked his neck to relieve some stress.

For the second time that day she was rudely awakened. Her ears rang and her head pounded with irritation as someone cursed and stomped around the forest as loudly as they possibly could. She gave a short sigh and assumed no one would be able to see her at the height she was on the tree and remained there, resting.

Kidd froze in his place. He'd been making so much noise, he almost didn't hear it. He looked around the area, and seeing no one, he huffed in irritation, thinking to himself that he must've been going crazy. He plopped himself on the soft grass and leaned back on his hands. He closed his eyes and let his head roll back, taking in a moment of comfort as a gentle breeze rolled by.

"MmmM,"

Kidd's eyes snapped open. Since his head hung back, looking up at the sky, he laid eyes on a sleeping figure in the tree above him.

"The fuck..." He stood up and backed away a few feet, in order to get a proper look. A young woman graced his eyes. Her figure, though lacking any healthy body fat or muscle, struck him as lithe as she lay on her stomach, one arm underneath her head as a makeshift pillow and the other left to dangle. She wore nothing but a fitted turqioise tank top and torn shorts. A long leg folded itself across the branch, preventing the lower half of her body from falling as she let the other bare foot dangle carelessly. "Oi," He called lazily. She stirred slightly, but didn't move any further, "Oi, woman!" He got an angry grunt in reponse to his calling. He finally got fed up and kicked the tree, knowing just from a glance that she didn't have a single piece of metal on her to yank her down with.

"Kyaa!" The girl landed flat on her back and groaned. With difficulty she sat up, rubbing her back, "Owww~ What was that for? I was only sleeping!" Her royal blue eyes met his dark maroon ones. Now that she was at ground level, he could see the strangeness of her hair. It was a natural dark brown color at the roots and reached her mid back, but the bottom half was dyed an aqua blue color and held back in a hairclip. She gasped and he smirked at her response. Did she finally realize who she was talking to? "I swear I haven't taken anything from the village today!" She blurted.

"What," His eye twitched with annoyance.

"Y-you are from the village right? I haven't taken anything today. I-I've been sleeping," She pointed at the branch she'd previously inhabited.

"I'm not from that shit village," He answered her flatly.

"Oh..." She cleared her throat, "Then why'd you...ya know...wake me an' stuff," She scratched her arm nervously, averting her gaze from his harsh glare.

"Who are you,"

"Huh? But you didn't answer my-" She gagged and choked, his hand suddenly encircling her neck and squeezing.

"You don't ask the fuckin' questions, bitch! Now answer me!" He squeezed again tighter this time, sure to leave a bruise, then loosened his grip just enough to allow her to speak.

She coughed at first, "U-Umi! Lazulius Umi!"

"What are you doing here if you're not apart of that village,"

"I-I'm just a stowaway! I just board random people's ships and travel," She struggled to breath for a moment, "travel to different islands that way,"

Their eyes met again and this time Umi didn't look away. Something in his eyes made feelings hidden deep within her swell with longing. Precious dreams and emotions she kept locked away for years bubbled to the surface. The long dead desire to fight the world, reanimated itself spreading through her bones and sending shivers throughout her body.

Kidd rose his brow at her sudden change of aura. He could almost feel the familiarity of murderous intent rise within her, but it was too weak to challenge him. He was almost surprised when she grabbed at his wrist and squeezed in an attempt to get him to let go. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips; A chuckle rumbled in his chest, bearly audiable at first, but soon became a thunderous roar of maniacal laughter. This woman was definately amusing! She was the best thing in the last two islands! She was the only thing that dared to fight back at him! Her! An underweight, starving, incapable of combat, woman! This was absolutely rich!

"Tell ya what, woman," His laughs died down into chuckles, "You lifted my mood! And for that I'll give you a head start,"

"Wha-"

He roughly squeezed her neck again, "Don't ruin it, damnit!" Once he knew she would stay quiet, he continued, "Our log pose is going to set sometime later tonight when we're probably going to be passed out. So naturally we're going to leave by noon tomorrow. If you can stay alive and avoid me and my crew until then, we'll leave this island without actually killing you," His smile widened at the thought of his new game. He tossed her carelessly on the floor a few feet from him, "Now go. You've got twenty minutes before we start runnin' after you,"

Umi, in the middle of her coughing fit, rose to her feet and bolted away from him, not daring to look back. Even as she ran further and further away from him, she couldn't escape the memory of his cold laughter, ringing in her ears. She nimbly made her way to a deeper part of the forest, easily dodging large roots and using low branches to help her hop over obstacles. Even after this, his game and the rough way he's treated her, she couldn't fight the urge of her impulsive thoughts. For a brief moment she wondered what it'd be like to fight along side him, facing an army.