Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. All rights reserved to Eiichiro Oda.
~}(){~
To your grave I spoke,
Holding a red,
Red rose.
Gust of freezing cold air,
Whispers to me,
That you are gone
Spent a lifetime of holding on,
Just to let go.
I guess I'll spend another lifetime,
Searching for a new hope.
~}(){~
PART I: The Hawk and its Child
CHAPTER I: Innocence
All my life I've been to scared to share my opinion because I always worried about what other people would think. I wanted to get along with everyone so I would always mold my opinion to match others. Well I'm tired of that. I want to say my truths too. I'll say that quietly though. I don't need to yell my opinions to world rather just being honest with them is enough.
I. am. Fearless.
The sound of the wagon, bumping up and down the pavement lulled the little girl to sleep. She dreamt of nothing, always just plain white. It didn't scare her though she always found such a sleep calming.
The wagon halted to a quick stop and the little girl bumped her head on the wall in front of her, waking up suddenly the girl allowed herself to elicit small shriek, but quickly bit her lip to quiet herself.
It was a too sudden of an awakening, however such irregular patterns of sleep were regular to the girl and she had to silence herself immediately for she couldn't get caught.
She had conditioned herself to wake up at certain times and to sleep quickly in order to maximize her times of rest to ensure a productive tomorrow as she has important goals and ambitions to fulfill.
If the men upfront found her back here behind the potatoes they would make her get off, and she would have no choice but to return back to town. She couldn't bare the thought of going back there. So she sat there quietly rubbing her throbbing head, and waiting for the wagon to start again.
She could hear some soft murmurs outside. Curiously, she placed her head against the wall to hear what was going on and what exactly was the cause for this abrupt halt, she hopped her earlier shriek had gone unheard and the men weren't about to check the wagon for a little girl.
"Did you hear that noise?" One of the men had said. His voice was snarly. She decided right there that she did not like this man very much. Any man with that kind of hostile voice could only be composed of dishonesty. The girl lived alone and was independent, she only had her own quirks and instincts to go by and the reason that she was alive to this day was her keen perception of a person by the tone they carried in their voice. It never failed her before and she knew his personality, specifically what wold happen if he caught her. The man would not be understanding to her predicament, she could tell him her sob story and he would throw her out without a second thought, she needed to get past him.
"You're just imaging Ale, let's get a move on and deliver that fruit to the pirates." another man spoke, his voice was gruff. He seemed like a straightforward man to her. She decided that he was the voice of reason between the two.
"I'm just getting paranoid Jack. We risked our life stealing that fruit, I just don't want to lose it. We would lose a lot of money" Ale whined.
The girl edged away from the side, could the sound of her hand banging against the wagons headboard be the reason for this stop after all, what was this talk about fruits..? She was under the impression this wagon only has potatoes.
Pirates? Pirates were ruthless people who ravaged all meat from villages and structured their diet mainly around the meat, not fruits. In any case she was very confused.
Why was a fruit so precious to savage pirates? She remembered her mother telling her about expensive fruits that only grew in warm climates like mangoes, a delicacy she had never had the pleasure of tasting.
They could never afford it and no wonder! The price seemed to be quite the load from the men's squabble.
All this talk about fruits and subsequently the thoughts that invaded her head right after caused her stomach to rumble reminding her she hadn't has a decent meal in weeks.
She dismissed the thoughts of the fruits and pirates, and looked around the wagon; and caught sight of something green sticking out of one of the potato bags. The only other cargo in the wagon were the raw potatoes, so naturally, the one odd produce stuck out to her like a sore thumb and she grabbed it out of the bag.
It was jade green and very smooth. It oddly resembled a mango, but it was not yellow. While turning the mango-looking-fruit around, her stomach gave away again, and she decided to eat it. As the most primeval instinct of a human, she needed to do what she could to satisfy her hunger so all thoughts of possible repercussions for the time being, left her notice. She was more worried that her stomachs rumbles would get louder and louder and she'd be thrown out anyways.
She rapidly peeled the skin off, noting how tough it was to remove, and took a bite. There were no words that could describe the taste of the fruit. It was the most disgusting thing she had every eaten, the vile taste encompassed her mouth and filled all the small crevices, it moved down to her very core and began moving throughout her body.
Trying not to gag she grabbed her mouth. The wagon started moving again, and she slowly let go of her hand.
It seemed like her stomach wasn't satisfied by that heinous taste and so it rumbled again. She didn't want to eat whatever that was but she needed to suffice her hunger quickly or the men would find her. Holding in tears she engulfed the mango-thing quickly.
I will not cry, a mantra she often told herself to seek temporary solace or maybe it was just to delude herself into doing things she otherwise would never do, either way it was effective.
I. Will. Not. Be. Weak. I. Refuse. To. Be. Weak.
Her body refused her will, and tears of hurt, anger, and confusion slid down her face. The fruit definitely went bad, for it was causing small shock waves, generating from the pit of her stomach to slowly reverberate throughout her entire body, the waves getting stronger gradually and she could only feel immense pressure, increasing towards her finger tips.
This was too much for a six-year-old child. How could mama leave her in this cruel, cold world. The little girl wallowed in self pity. She was so emerged in herself pity that she did not notice the wagon come to another halt. She also did not hear one the men approach the door of the wagon.
She only came to her senses when she saw a pair of snake green eyes stare at her menacingly. The glare was filled both with surprise and self affirmation although the little girl could not internalize the second emotion just yet.
The eyes pierced her body and she suddenly felt very small, she had been caught but her mind and body were slow, due to shock waves still vibrating within her. She couldn't process the situation before her except for the fact that she needed to run, this was the bad man she singled out, she was in danger. Her body wouldn't listen to her, not when whatever she ate was ravaging through her body and manifesting around her organs, she felt suffocated and frozen. Would this weird sensation ever subside or was she poisoned? Dropping dead right now didn't seem like the worst outcome, in fact she silently prayed for it.
"Well Jack, look at what we got here" Ale said.
The burly man waited for his partner to come around to the wagon and in those few seconds, assessed the situation for any and all potential damage caused by the stowaway.
Slowly, his beady eyes moved from her shell-shocked expression to her surroundings and in doing so, noticed something that made his stomach drop. The peels of the very fruit they made a deal for that day was on the ground directly in front of where she was kneeling and off to the left near her shin.
Ale's mouth dropped open, stunned at the sight. The one thing they saved and found, was now consumed by this child who could do nothing to compensate them for such a loss.
Jack came into the scene a few seconds later, and he too, upon seeing the young girl and what was on the floor by her knee, dropped his jaw too, eyes widening with fear and anger. He was the voice of reason, the one who stayed calm in any unforeseen event, the calmer of the two.
But despite his collected personality he did not expect that the grand earnings he would've made from the fruit, that would surely cover the finances for his family for life, to be destroyed at the hands of this youngster.
The girl blinked her large eyes, dumbfounded at the expressions of the two men. She was oblivious to the situation and had no idea about the impeding predicament.
She had enough sense to tell they were unhappy but she was not able to fully gauge the extent of their anger as she thought she had just consumed a mere fruit rather than anything more significant.
The shock waves returned to small, dull aches across her torso, still present but not enough to have her a standstill, she could move now, she could fight. The odds didn't look too bad, and she was quite agile. This agility could have her slipping easily between the two men at the right time.
"You… you little bitch!" Jack shouted glaring at the young girl, bringing two of his skinny hands and placing them on either side of his head, the veins underneath his thin, pale skin pulsating quickly.
"Do you have any idea how… what did you just DO?" Jack edged closer to her, putting one knee in the wagon, the floor boards creaking under his weight. He brought himself to her, his hands shaking with anger, stretched before him and grabbed the collar of her sundress tightly.
"The Speedwagon pirates were willing to pay me 10 million berries for that fruit, between me and Ale we would've been set for life on that deal. YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING!" he shook her roughly, her body moving with each jerk harshly effectively disorienting the girl as her head snapped back once more.
" Oy, Jack. Let's make her puke it, at the very least we can't let her walk away with that power."
Ale was standing behind Jack calmly, his eyes were glassy, snaking over the girl. Something about his demeanor had the little girl very uneasy. Often times when people do not act the way we perceive them to be, it creates discomfort at the fact that we cannot predict their behavior. Here, Ale was supposed to be the overly emotional man, the one to beat her to a bloody pulp, but he was composed and just standing there, emitting a chilly aura.
The girl shuddered under his gaze, she was scared at how cool his voice was and how finite that sentence was.
What power?
What fruit in the world is worth 10 million berries?
Such an amount was much too grand for the girl to envision, the idea that a fruit could be worth 10 million berries had her stomach in a knot, she was angry. If only she knew, if only she stole it instead of carelessly eating it like a fool, she would be the one basking in an unlimited amount of wealth.
Roger knew she needed that.
Jack turned to look at his partner, shaking his head he said "We can't. Once she ate the fruit, the power was transferred to her, if we kill her the fruit will grow somewhere else-
He turned to look at the now trembling girl, her eyes as wide as saucers
But, it looks like she has a nice pair of eyes don't ya think Ale? What color are they now.. lavender?"
Ale squinted behind the man "Hell if I care."
"Oi, oi the deal with the pirates are is off..
Clicking his tongue thrice, like the sound adults make when making remarks on how downhill the new generation was heading, he continued
but east of here, we can sell her to the black-market slave traders. The ship goes right to Sabaody, and if we hurry we'll make it in time for the auction. Those eyes of her will have her going at a good price, she wouldn't go for 10 million but maybe 4 million."
Ale wasn't impressed, but how could he be? Settle for a measly 4 million after he was all but hell bent on buying his wife the house she always wanted? Settle to be mediocre again?
Humans are affected more intensely by loss and grief then by happiness, similarly to how gaining 5 berries after losing 10, wouldn't make one happy is how Ale felt in that exact moment.
"No. There is no guarantee she'd even go for a 4 million. Look at her, she's filthy and all her bones are popping out. She can't do work, its better we just throw her over the cliff and let her drown."
Jack turned his head to Ale with a disapproving look
"Ale I get that you're upset, have you forgotten that I too, share this predicament? In any case, lets try to sell her if it doesn't work out well work her to her bone without food until she collapses on her own."
Ale acquiesced at that, he knew at the end that Jack was right.
"I'll go cancel the meeting with the pirates then, watch the girl until I come back and then we'll head east, it's a day and a half by horse and they'll be in the harbor for 2 days. We'll just make it."
"Oi Ale."
"Yeah?"
"Don't kill the girl when I'm gone."
An hour since Jack left, the girl found herself outside of the wagon, face down in the dirt sideways so half of her head was embedded in the now, soft earth. Her elbow was bent hideously back and no longer maintained the basic L shape, but was much more dislodged, sporting a number of bruises darkening by the minute across the length of her arm. The rest of her body seemed, for the most part and although bruised, not broken.
This is him holding back.. the child bitterly thought. She dealt with pain like this on a daily basis where she used to live, some of her bones had healed oddly over time and others seemed to never have healed properly due to the immense amount of bone fragments lodged awkwardly and a lack of sufficient medical care.
She tasted copper and dirt in her mouth, her eyes were closed and she just laid there in the position she fell from not too long ago, waiting for the next round of kicks and punches and head bashing.
The pain today, seemed less vicious and intense then it did months before. She must have been immune to the attacks. The idea of immunity to physical attacks on a 6 year old showcased a sliver of human depravity, at least on this part of the Grand Line.
crick crack crick
The sound was too low to be heard by Ale who was now walking slowly toward her, but it was evident to her ricocheting throughout her body and along the length of her miniature frame.
Each vibration eluded from her core seemed to speed up and collect on her broken arm, the noise was odd but comforting and with each crick she felt pain subsiding. The weight of the punch becoming smaller, her body, denser.
This was the first time she'd ever have felt this sensation, it was odd but it felt comfortable.. weird.
It was as if such a sensation, had been with her all throughout her life as she did not feel scared or uneasy, instead she turned her head to the most broken part of her body, the one calling for such a noise and the site took her breath away.
Slowly her blue and purple bruises were fading and the swollen ligament was decreasing in size, the swelling was going away right before her eyes as if it had been time lapsed for 6 months, the color was clearing fast and her arm was slowly, returning to its original shape.
Despite the previous comforting sensation, NOW she was scared. Her body wasn't human. It was something.. devious.
She stared at her arm as it snapped back to its original form, effectively counteracting the prior distortion.
What did consuming that fruit do to her? She wished for a lot of things, money, power, to be an adult, and even her mama back but never did she wish to be a catalyst of some non-human thing. It was that fruit she ate earlier on, it modified her body somehow but how? Where was this power coming from?
30 seconds later, the pain was completely gone. There was no sign of it, her arm was normal as if it hadn't been twisted and snapped a mere moment ago.
She laid there looking completely flabbergasted and at a loss, in that time Ale came to stand beside her observing the change too, beady eyes intensifying with a dark look to see his work rendered meaningless.
"So the fruit had some crazy healing properties eh?"
Ale sized the girl up and down and grinned.
"Means I can do whatever the fuck I want and not worry about you dying on me?"
The girl turned her head slowly to face the grinning man and sat up, he's right. I might not be a human anymore, my body is messed now but at least I can't die.
Once she was fully sitting up she stood up, eliciting a soft crack from her knee joints as the nitrogen escaped through the kneecap space.
At her full length, her head was at his belt and she arched her neck all the way up to see his ugly face, first she stared slowly and then anger boiled inside of her. He was grinning because he knew he had the power here, he knew he had the authority and that she was nothing. She wasn't nothing though, she had a purpose to live, she had an ambition to fulfill.
But right now, what was driving her was making a small man like him pay and so she pursed her lips collecting the saliva from her mouth at the base of her throat and then launched the entirety of it right smack on Ales face.
It it his left cheek and started slowly dripping down.
She smiled to herself, since the encounter this was the only actual offensive move she made on her part and not only was it demeaning but it put Ale in his place, she wasn't about to get pushed around by this man not when such a larger one called for her attention.
Ale looked down at the girl and before even reaching up to wipe the spit, punched her hard on the left side of her head. The punch was the hardest one as he didn't hold back, he heard her skull crack and then she was flying to the far left. Her body rolling around until it stopped by the side of a large birch tree signalling an entry to the forest.
The girl shivered and slumped against the base of the tree, her head and mind were shaken up to an outworldly degree, she could not process what was reality and what was happening let alone who she was. She was just on her side her body cramping and her brains vessels popping.
but then,
crick crack crick
Her senses slowly came back, her mind unraveled itself and although the process was slow it was faster then how long it took for the arm to heal. Her brain automatically relocated herself and she came to and out of her prior disarray. Lifting her head she saw Ale edging to the wagon and he pulled out what resembled an ax, but the top part was not metal but instead was round and wooden.
...heh The girl marveled at her healing abilities but even she knew the constant pain and injuries she was suffering would only cause her brain to shatter, despite the power she was given an overuse for her little body would end up destroying her.
So she stood, and while Ale was was polishing off the ax-club she edged into the forest holding her throbbing head, she was still in pain but she could move.
Limping in, the little girl created an entrance into the forest, forcing her way through the little shrubs and bushes next to the tree, and then she ran.
She head Ale screaming, but she ran.
Her head throbbed with every step forward, but she ran.
Her sundress hooked onto near by branches and the sprigs cut into her flesh biting at her shoulders and calves, but she ran.
She ran all the way until she saw a tall, lean man in the middle of the forest, both his appearance and his actions had her at a shocked standstill.
The man had funny sideburns pointing upwards, around his body he was wearing a black and red ornate cloth type- coat with no shirt underneath coupled with a red and purple flower patterned sleeves, it was a foreign entire. His hat from her sideways stance looked wide brimmed and was topped with a large plume.
The mans strange attire was one thing, but what he was doing, was all something different altogether.
In his hand was an ornately decorated long blade, taller than the man himself who was well, pretty damn tall. The blade had quite the intense sheen, running jaggedly along its entire length, and on its hilt bore a a cross-guard which was heavily bejeweled. It looks magnificent to say the least.
The man had such sliced through a giant sequoia tree, as if it was nothing as he was using the most minimal of motions, he was now chopping the smaller sections into even thinner and more uniform ones, who knows for what purpose, but the sheer diligence of the blade was beautiful. It was as if he was slicing through jello, no effort was needed and no friction was experienced. His stance had the girl captivated. He looked at ease and was working away at the tree with confidence but mostly, he had no ounce of care for anything.
She knew the forest was a privately owned property of the few royals that resided in the village, had he not thought about the repercussions?
The man finished up cutting pieces, she noticed that a half of the massive trunk lay cut off to the side, he probably didn't need that much wood as a half of the colossal tree could probably supply 3 families for life on fire wood on a winter island.
The man slowly turned around, noticing her presence at last and turned to face her.
As he faced her straight on, she immediately noticed his eyes and more so, the intensity of the glare. They were yellow but they carried the intensity of a hawk, as he continued to stare and analyze the child, she noticed the ebony rings surrounding his iris, and she then felt caught like a wild animal.
In a far worse trap that crossed any danger she ever found herself in, in the past or any danger she could rationally foresee. The fear she felt from the gaze alone had her trembling and heaving out choked breaths, she sweat dropped immensely and found herself unable to look away from the gaze although her body clearly suggested fear and to run.
But for some reason she didn't run.
She was scared, but she didn't run, it was fear but it was different from when she was with Ale moments ago, there was something stopping her from running.
So when he slowly acknowledged her and approached, she stared silently into those eyes.
Maybe it was the fact that she knew running wouldn't do any good or maybe it was that she felt drawn to his massive aura, it could have been a mixture of the two for all she knew.
A scream from the back however got the mysterious man to stop and turn his head, it was desperate and gruff
"GET BACK YOU BITCH! WHEN I FIND YOU I SWEAR YOUR DAMNED FRUIT WONT BE EVEN ABLE TO HEAL YA."
The girl stiffened visibly at such a claim, and then looked up as she felt the mans gaze land back on her, he was staring, an empty stare, but he most likely put together that the child was an escapee. He cocked his head to the side as he took in the child's battered appearance.
But before he could say anything, the girl spoke.
"Oi, old man you're strong."
The man raised his eyebrow at the claim, confused at the random proclamation and oddness of the statement he offered a silent nod.
"Say, can you kill that man for me?"
A/N
Hey there fellow one piece friends!
Let me give y'all a quick overview of this tale and what it entails, and what you readers need to expect/ know for the rest of this story. This is the first chapter to a very large multi-chapter story, as you can see it is going to be dealing with a lot of themes like child abuse, enslavement, and just human debauchery in general. The one piece world showcases a lot of this and so I thought I would try in my own way!
This story will start out as a relationship between the girl and Mihawk, what I want is for Mihawk to be a father figure for the girl. Mihawk, from what I know, lived alone until Perona moved in with him recently. I want him to take on this child, to help her grow and to ultimately train her into being a swordswoman while helping her hone her devil fruit which is NOT just a healing ability type fruit, there's more to it!
Eventually, after a healthy amount of chapters (I'm thinking 10) when the girl grows up, I plan her to be shipped with Zoro. I feel like a girl grown up with Mihawk would be the best fit for an OC for him. From there on the story will develop and eventually conclude, it has to do with many themes and so I hope to combine her past with Mihawks upbringing and just go from there.
I'm hoping that I can incorporate humor and romance properly, but that will be after I help her build a relationship with Mihawk. I've also thought of a lot of scenes for when hes helping her grow up in the castle and with those fighter gorillas!
All in all the fic will be multi faceted and this will be part 1 of 3 parts, part 1 will consist of her and mihawk cutesy moments (bubble baths, when she first gets her period etc.) and part 2 is when she'll meet Zoro and eventually encounter her past.
Sorry for the really long authors note but I just had to get a few things out there, I hope this first chapter was able to catch your attention and that you guys all let me know if this is something you find interesting, also drop any ideas too! I could always do with those.
I'm excited to finally post this because I have the majority of part 1 done! Yay!
Don't forget to REVIEW!
ONWARDS! (I'll be posting once a week on Fridays~)
p.s bonus for yall if you caught the Jojo reference ;)