"We're not going to be able to make it all the way to the Archipelago, Captain."
"You've got to be kidding!"
Each member in Kid's small crew leaned over, staring at their log pose's needle spinning in circles. "We're almost out of fresh water, this storm's messing with the log pose, and we're going to start killing each other if we don't dock at the next island we see," Killer concluded. Wire and Heat nodded their heads in agreement, but Kid was still skeptical, per the norm.
"We're not wasting our time stopping on another island! Screw this storm, we're gonna keep going," the captain snarled, getting up and knocking over their table in the process. He stormed out the door, slamming it behind him.
"Keep your eyes out for any nearby land," Killer reiterated, following Kid out into the pouring rain.
"Why the fuck are we changing course?"
"There's an island on the horizon. It's in our best interest if we stop."
Kid frowned and stared out towards where Killer was pointing. "There's no good place to land. We'd crash the ship on the rocks before even reaching the island. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not die in a shipwreck. I can't swim, you know."
Killer sighed and nodded. "Trust me, I know. I wasn't kidding about the fresh water, though. Heat just drank the last of it."
"I'm gonna murder that little—" Kid started, but Killer cut him off again.
"See what I mean? We're all getting antsy. We need to stop, even if there's a risk involved."
"This is an awful idea," Kid mumbled, running his fingers through his wet hair and exhaling. "Whatever. We can crash at that island."
Just like the captain predicted, the Kid Pirates ran aground sharp rocks close to shore. "This is gonna take days to fix!" Kid complained, lowering himself out of their ship to inspect the damage done. "Wire, use what supplies we still have to temporarily patch the hull! Killer, look for some suitable building materials on this island! And Heat, since you drank all the fresh water, you have to find more!" he ordered. "I'm gonna go see if anyone lives on this tiny thing!" He waded through the water, looking and feeling weaker with every step. "I hate this fucking side affect…" he mumbled, finally reaching the sandy soil forming a perimeter around the landmass.
He wasn't in a position to make his way through the dense jungle on the center of the island, so Kid simply shuffled through the sand, hoping to run across inhabitants, or at least some stranded travelers who may have something of use. Nothing. His crew really was the only one stupid enough to try and land there. It didn't help that it was taking him forever to walk around the damn island. How long had it been? Two hours? Or maybe five? He couldn't tell with the rain constantly pelting him. And it didn't seem like he was going to be getting back to his ship anytime soon.
Between the shipwreck, the sea water, and the storm that had yet to stop, Kid was exhausted. He hated being exhausted. He hated feeling weak and useless. And he hated this stupid island. He trudged over to the base of a tree and laid down, out of the rain for the time being. He figured he'd try to get a few winks of sleep in, anything to get his energy back. He didn't have time to close his eyes though, because something pink caught his eye. Suddenly curious, he got back up and made his way through the rain towards the mysterious object. It didn't take long to get close enough to see that he saw a tail, and that it belonged to a small, beached mermaid. Her breathing was shaky, and her tail appeared to have been bitten once or twice, presumably by the sea kings that lived in the Grand Line's waters.
Maybe crashing on this island wasn't so bad after all. The crew was heading to Sabaody Archipelago, known for being an important location in the slave trade. A mermaid would sell for a fortune for sure. He could barter her off to someone, or maybe use her as a hostage to ensure their safe passage through Fishman Island into the New World. He'd have to take her back with him.
Kid reached down, grabbing her around the waist and preparing to hoist her over his shoulder with what strength he had left, but before he could, her eyes snapped open, and she flipped her tail, smacking his arms away. "Wh-who are you?" she asked, wincing when her injured tail fell back to the sandy ground. "Sorry…sorry…" she mumbled, looking away at the sand. "I didn't mean to hurt you…"
She was a curious creature, Kid decided. She was obviously afraid, but she also seemed to actually care about him, even though she didn't know anything about him. "I'm a pirate," he said, crossing his arms and flashing a smirk. "Headed for the New World!"
Her face lit up, not what he was expecting at all. "Really? Wow! You must be really strong if that's where you're going!" she gushed, her smile shining like a beacon through the pouring rain.
Her chipper attitude was magnetising…even moreso than his devil fruit ability. He didn't like it one bit. Or, maybe a better way of putting it was he didn't like how quickly she was growing on him. He was supposed to be the worst of the worst generation–someone who feared nothing and killed without warning, not someone who softened up to some overenthusiastic mermaid he found on the beach.
"You should get that treated," he said gruffly, gesturing to her tail. "How'd you end up here anyway?"
"I must have gotten bit when I was swimming around with my friends," she said sheepishly, forcing out a giggle, even though she was obviously in pain. She must be pretty clueless, since he had already figured that much out from just looking at her. She flipped onto her stomach and pulled herself forward with her arms. "I can try to find them, I just need to get back to the water–"
"Whoah, I said you needed to get your wound treated!" Kid snapped. At that point, he didn't know if it was out of genuine concern, or if he was still thinking about the potential profit. "Look, I've got medical supplies back on my ship. I'll carry you there," he decided, picking her up as gently as possible. She was awake now, after all, so he couldn't really carry her like a potato sack without her becoming too suspicious of his motives.
Neither of them spoke at first. Kid just focused on taking one step at a time, since he was still exhausted from before, and the mermaid just watched him with wide, curious eyes. The rain finally started to die down as they continued on, but the wind picked right up where the precipitation left off. Consequently, he felt the mermaid start to shiver in his arms. He should've figured that she was cold blooded since she was part fish. "Hey…" he mumbled, trudging over to the more dense brush of the jungle and setting her down. He shrugged his soaked jacket off and draped it over her shoulders. "That should keep you a little warmer. I don't know how long it'll be until we get back, and I don't want you dying from the cold before then." He plopped down next to her and scowled out at the sea. It was his life, and a life he loved it at that, but this time it was too unforgiving for his liking.
"So what's your name, Mr. Pirate?" the mermaid asked, drawing the fluffy cloak more tightly around her shoulders. Kid glared over at her, not really in the mood to talk, but not wanting to pass up an opportunity to gloat either. His pride won out.
"I'm Eustass Kid. You're looking at the guy who's gonna take down the Yonko and become the Pirate King," he boasted with a sinister smirk on his face. "All four of them. Whitebeard, Shanks, Big Mom, and Kaido. You know about Whitebeard if you live on Fishman Island, right?" he asked smugly.
To his surprise, she nodded eagerly and popped her head out from under his coat. "So you want to be our island's new protector?" she asked, flipping her tail over and wincing again. Kid opened up his mouth to quickly disregard the idea, but stopped when he saw the pure excitement still spilling from her eyes. Even through her pain, she still seemed to have an overall good mood, not to mention a good opinion of him. Was it childlike ignorance, or did she know something about him that he didn't know himself?
"I…haven't decided yet," he eventually muttered. "I guess it depends on how well the government holds up during my reign…" He was planning on getting rid of that too, since it was a huge nuisance, but he hadn't quite figured out when he was going to do it yet.
"Do you have friends on your crew?" she asked again. He thought about it for a minute before relating the tale of how he met each of his crew members. To be honest, he actually enjoyed reminiscing once in a while. It was like this little mermaid was breaking through the tough front he spent so much time building and letting him show the side of himself he liked to keep hidden, and he didn't mind. He was still talking when the wind died down and the clouds cleared. It was only when the sun started to set that he noticed how late it was getting. "If you just want to sleep here, I won't mind…my tail doesn't look like it's going to get infected, and the bleeding's stopped," the mermaid said, laying her head down and curling up so her entire body would be covered by the cloak. Kid didn't see the ship, even after the air had cleared, so he figured that sleeping might be for the best. He could regain his energy and be ready to carry her the rest of the way tomorrow. He leaned his back against a tree and closed his eyes, falling asleep right away.
"Kid? Hey Kid? What's going on?" Killer's whispered voice and subsequent pokes in the arm slowly woke the redheaded captain up.
"What do you want?" Kid hissed, opening one eye and glaring at his first mate.
"We were looking for you, but we weren't expecting you to have…well…made friends…" he gestured to the mermaid that had apparently wrapped her arms around Kid's torso in her sleep.
"What the hell?!" he spat, pulling her arms off of him and setting her down beside him, drawing the coat over her shoulders again. "She's cold blooded or something. Probably needed my body heat," he said, looking over at Killer, who probably had some sarcastic expression, not that Kid could tell.
"Anyway, we found everything we needed and fixed the ship through the night. Did you have a nice nap?" Killer asked, voice still dripping with sarcasm.
"You know I get tired when I get wet!" Kid barked.
"Is that Killer?" the mermaid asked, pointing at the masked man. She must have woken up when Kid started yelling.
"You told her about us?" Killer asked, sounding surprised. "What else did you tell her, Captain?" Kid could practically hear the smirk forming on Killer's face, and the playful punch to the arm didn't help.
"Don't fucking touch me!" Kid frowned, rubbing his shoulder.
"You didn't seem to have a problem when she was touching you," Killer pointed out. Kid's face turned red as a beet, and he shut up before he was driven further into the ground.
"Did I do something? I am so sorry!" the mermaid sputtered, sitting up and gasping, drawing a hand to the wound on her tail. Killer noticed and picked her up immediately.
"You didn't say she was injured," Killer stated, starting to walk away, presumably towards the ship.
"You never asked!" Kid retorted, stomping after them. Or trying to, anyway. It was hard to get his point across when he was on the sand.
"Looks like you got stitched up nicely," Kid noticed, walking into the medical bay.
"A mermaid's tail tends to heal up really well," the mermaid said, patting hers for emphasis. "Mine probably would have been okay in a couple weeks, but it was really nice of you to help it heal up fast!" Kid swallowed. At first, he thought it was because she had called him nice, when he wanted to be anything but. Looking back though, he realized it probably was because of the genuine thanks she offered and the adorable smile that followed.
"I'll see you again in the New World!" the mermaid yelled from the water after Kid and Killer helped her off the ship. She waved one last time before ducking her head under the waves and swimming away.
"You know Kid, you never got her name," Killer slyly commented. "But are you sure you're okay with letting her go? It's…not like you."
Kid stared out at the ocean, watching the mermaid's pink tail flip out of the water every now and again. "Yeah…she's fine…" he mumbled. Killer chuckled, and Kid picked up on it. "Of course I'm fine! She's just a stupid fish! I'm not worried about her!"
"Of course you aren't, Captain," Killer chuckled. "Come on, the Log Pose is working again. Sabaody Archipelago is next up. I heard some of the other Supernovas will be there…like a certain Surgeon of Death."
"Trafalgar? I hate that guy!" Kid spat. Killer sighed. If there was one thing that made Kid mad, it was talk about any of the other nine rookies. He wasn't going to survive the next island if he wasn't worked up a bit. "What are you waiting for? Set the course for Sabaody!"
"Right, Kid."