A/N: Yet again more tumblr shenanigans spawned this, there was a few months where TsumeYuki and I were bad influences on each other hue hue hue~
My Tumblr: fanfiction-by-abalisk
Leith scowled, glaring into the middle distance as she contemplated her predicament.
She'd been minding her own business on the Moby Dick, intent on taking a nap somewhere, preferably one of the crow's nests so she could take off her shirt without any gawkers (not that she minded too much, but she liked having quiet time to herself every now and again). When suddenly her vision had gone... weird.
There really was no easy way to describe it. Wobbly? Hyperfocused? Washy? Bright? Dark? All at once?
In any case, she woke up in a place that very obviously was not her ship.
More importantly, she was wrapped from leg to shoulder in a creeping vine that was intent on dragging her into some sort of pitcher plant. Upside down. Achingly slowly. Like a frog caught on a slow-motion camera.
"Balls," she growled, huffing as the vines tightened further around her arms and midsection, hoisting her another few centimeters.
If it were anyone else, the scene would probably be hilarious, and from another's point of view it probably was.
But for Leith it was just... boring. And sad.
"So this is the way I go, huh?" she asked no one in particular, trying to ignore the sticky vine that was oozing juices—which would no doubt have tried to digest her by now, if she hadn't covered herself up to her neck in Armament. Leith staunchly refused to acknowledge the plant, as the tail end slapped and stuck wetly to her cheek. "I'm gonna die as plant food, after all that bullshit..."
"Excuse me?"
Leith blinked at the interruption, a feminine voice cutting through her depressive thoughts. Glancing up—or down rather, she tilted her chin to get a glimpse of the speaker.
A young woman with bright crimson hair gave her a wave, she couldn't quite see the details of most of her face since it was in shadow from her deerstalker hat. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, you know... Just hanging around," Leith murmured, feeling snarky. She noted that her hat had survived the transfer, only it was sitting on the dirt of the jungle floor, not far from Miss Red's feet. "You mind picking that up for me? Dirt's a bitch to scrub out of the white..."
The stranger complied and padded it down to get rid of any scuffs, it probably didn't do much, but it was the thought that counted.
"Would you like some help?" Miss Red asked politely, after giving her hat the proper attention it deserved, and Leith noted there was some dry amusement behind her tone.
"Sure," Leith shrugged—well as best a shrug as she could muster—the vine was tenacious, having added a few extra loops in the middle of their conversation, "I'd rather not be the star of some weird hentai if you catch my drift."
Oddly, she did indeed seem to "catch her drift" because the choking gasp she gave was nothing but recognition.
Leith was sure the last time she checked, hentai wasn't a thing here. Sure, they had nudie mags... But every universe should have those, it was like a perverse requirement. Hentai on the other hand was an international catch-all term for anime and manga pornography from Earth... not whatever-the-fuck you'd call One Piece-land.
She frowned.
I'm missing something here, she thought, giving a squeak when the vine shook violently and suddenly plummeted, the ground rising up far too quickly for her liking. Leith closed her eyes in preparation for impact...
Only for slender arms to catch her with only a grunt at the strain, Leith was mildly impressed.
As such, she gave her savior a look, intent on saying something witty like, "my hero" or anything equally asinine, only for the words to die in her throat.
Yellow, hawk-like eyes stared unflinchingly into her own.
Leith gulped. "Why Grandma, what large eyes you have..."
The woman promptly dropped her.
Guess she wasn't a fan of Grimm Tales...
xXx
"So, let me guess," Leith stated, giving the fire pit a customary poke with a stick she found, "Reincarnation?"
The red head, who'd introduced herself as simply Riskua, nodded emphatically, "How'd you guess?"
Leith snorted and motioned toward her face and eyes, "People freaking wish they could have coloration like that back home. No way in hell that's a natural thing on Earth."
Riskua nodded again, something behind her eyes clearing. She smiled and pointed at Leith's head in turn. "What about you? I'm pretty sure I remember white hair not being a commonality."
"Marie Antoinette Syndrome," Leith supplied, and when Riskua tilted her head in question, she frowned, "Probably... or it's Anime bullshit. Haven't quite figured that one out."
The red-haired woman placed her chin into her hand, staring at Leith in interest. "So you weren't born here?"
"Nope," she said with a pop, jabbing her fire brand deeper into the coals. She really didn't want to expand on this conversation, it made her want to rub at her old scars. As it was, she settled on scrubbing at the one over her nose.
"Wormhole, maybe. Or summoned in a demonic ritual—hah, that would be cool." Leith chuckled at her own joke, but the laughter was forced and half-hearted, she went back to making sparks in the fire pit, digging her branch viciously into a bed of coals. "Haven't figured that one out either. Though, I don't really get the chance to question it often, to be honest," she said soberly.
Riskua opened her mouth to ask another question when she was interrupted by the sound of rustling brush. Both women tensed as the sound drew nearer and Leith noted that the other woman reached for her daggers.
Only for Ace to stumble out of the bushes.
"Red, I—" he started off confidently, then did a double take at Leith, his expression turning baffled, before frowning in suspicion, "Who the hell are you?"
He was staring intently at Leith's right shoulder, specifically at the Whitebeard tattoo there.
Leith blinked languidly, appearing unperturbed. Though internally she was freaking the fuck out because, What the hell, why is his tattoo different?! "The Queen of England, who the hell do you think?" she snarked.
Riskua gave a chuckle.
God, it felt good having someone get her jokes.
Ace apparently wasn't up for playing, because the look in his eyes became downright dangerous. "You're no Whitebeard Pirate, I've never seen you before."
The silence in the clearing was profound. Riskua was now giving her a suspicious glance.
Leith unfortunately, couldn't help but grin in response, her smile feral. "With a crew of sixteen hundred can you really say you've met everyone, Hot Stuff?"
He growled. The temperature, which was already stifling due to their jungle environment, began to rise further.
"Cool your jets, Turbo, I'm getting there," she griped, wiping the smile off her face with some effort. Leith shoved her stick into the flames, divesting herself of her only 'weapon'. Because no matter how much her bloodlust wanted her to, she wasn't going to fight two people she just met.
Especially, if those people might be the only means of her getting back to her own version of One Piece-verse.
Leith thought it best to start things light.
"Hell-in-a-handbasket, it's weird seeing you with a different arm tattoo," she blurted instead, staring at the bold letters of "ASLR" on his left shoulder.
Ace's expression turned uncomprehending. "Huh?"
Okay... so maybe not as light as she thought. She was terrible at this.
"Let's try that again," she grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose in embarrassment. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes and giving the two before her a flat stare. "Hi, my name's Leith and I happen to have had a dimension-hopping accident, please direct me to my own universe, where my own version of Ace and the Whitebeards reside."
Riskua and Ace turned to stare at one another.
"Please consider," Leith continued, giving a grimace and shooting them both a pleading look, "I'm not crazy. And please don't catch me on fire, I like my skin where it is. Thanks."