For the last week and a half, harsh rain had poured down upon the soggy island almost without stop. As a result, mud slides had been occurring all over the two mile island recently, which was a new thing to the inhabitants, human and animal alike. Heavy rain pelted the widows of the small city, located on the sleepy island of Turtle Soup.
Despite all the rain, the slums of spine city somehow managed to retain its rather impressive collection of filth. It was almost as if the dirt and grime was as much a part of the slums as the rats, gutters, and gangs were. Somehow, the building's red brick had turned black over the decades. Black with what, no one was sure. Only, if you stared at it too long, you might begin to think it moved, as though the filth of the city had a life all on its own.
In one of those dirty buildings, a "transaction" of money was taking place.
"C'mon, John, your loans are due today. A thousand berri is all we ask. Ellen surely wouldn't like it if you didn't pay up. Tsuru wouldn't like it, either." The slim man gestured over his shoulder to the woman who was clearly the muscle. But not because of her build; which was, in fact, rather average, if not a bit slim. But rather her impressive height of six feet or so declared her the muscle. Or, perhaps it was just the cold, unfeeling stare she was giving him. Could have been either one, he decided.
Tsuru pushed off the wall she was leaning on, stepping into the dim shop-light. She ran tan fingers through her shoulder length, dark hair, clearing it from her eyes. For a moment, it slicked the soft strands back, before they spilled forward again, her bangs sliding back to their normal position, partly obscuring her dark green eyes.
"Now, now, Mr. Jennings, your darling daughter would be ever so distressed if you were to miss another payment. And we can't have that, now can we? Especially in her current state of frailty, that might send her back to the good doctor's ward," she walked closer to the man, tapping his nose with a single finger, making him blink and flinch. She had never liked intimidating innocents very much, but she was just so darned good at it, sometimes.
What was one to do, but follow their talents? Stupid mistakes were stupid mistakes. All she could do was to make the best with what she had.
John swallowed hard, determined, "Don't you dare touch my little girl you-you…" he trailed off, quickly reigning in his anger before if boiled over. "I-of course, I have the money here," John flipped over to face the cashier's counter he had been leaning against, popping the register open and digging around for a small bundle of cash.
Tsuru's companion spun around at the sound of the wooden stairs creaking. "Father? Are you alright? I heard yelling…" a quite voice sounded from the stairs. A teenage, frail-looking red head peeked out from under a worn, thin blanket. Her sickly pale hand gripped the stair's railing, her grip tightening as her brown eyes watched the two intruders. Pale lips were pursed, her face flushed beneath a canvas of freckles.
"I'm fine, Ellen. Go back to bed." Ellen looked warily at the two intruders, comprehending the situation quickly. Despite her young age of fourteen, Ellen was unfortunately well accustomed to the antics of the thorn gang. They were well known for liking two things- money and women. There were even rumors that the second in command, one of the only females in the gang, liked both of the gangs favorite things. But then, that was just rumor, and Ellen had never been one for gossip. Besides, no one had ever seen her do anything lewd, illegal, or violent…
Though she never said anything, Ellen strongly suspected that this was one of the reasons she was so high ranking, so feared. Because she didn't need to do any of that
"Yes, father…" she backed up, turned, and padded up the old stairs, stumbling only once. The soft 'click' of what must have been Ellen's bedroom door sounded throughout the quiet home.
With a slight glare, John turned back to the two, addressing the male. "Here," John handed them the bundle of bills. "This makes up for two payments. This month's and last." Tsuru's eyes watched the spot Ellen had been standing in for a second longer, before flicking them back to the shop owner. She hadn't looked too well. Vaguely, she hoped the girl would survive whatever illness that was plaguing her.
"Thank you, Mr. Jennings. We will return next month to collect your next payment of five-hundred berri." The smile of the slim man was slicker than oil, and John felt like he could slip on it if he tore it off the man's face and stepped on it. He ignored the urge to test his hypothesis.
He nodded, eyes set in stone, "Now kindly leave my shop. My home." Grey eyes watched the two leave the shop, his strong forearms crossed tightly over his dirty, stained apron. Damned bandits. They'd been here for years, like a festering wound in the heart of Spine City. He remembered the days when there was no Thorn Gang. Only, he wished Ellen could remember those days. But she was too young. He had never wanted his child to grow up, at least not like this.
Tsuru inclined her head toward the shop owner, before exiting through the wooden door and into the harsh downpour of the bone-chilling rain. She glanced back to see her companion, Jevona, following close behind her. Her eyebrow perked, seeing the sudden look of shock pass over his face.
"Jevona, what's the-" Tsuru was interrupted as a heavy something-or-other barreled into her stomach, a surprised expression crossing her features as she was knocked into a puddle of something she'd rather not think about. "What the-… would you get off?" A straw hat and the smell of the salty sea invaded her senses unapologetically.
"Wa-hoo! Meat! Meat, meat, meat, meat, meat!" The excited, young boy bounced off her, in a literal sense that made her stare, making a bee-line for the wooden door Jevona had just barely managed to exit from in time. Jevona glanced at her, a brow raised. What did she want to do about this… problem?
"Luffy, you idiot, watch where you're going!" Despite the fact that she was lying on her back, raining pouring into her eyes, Tsuru picked out the distinctly female and rather angry-sounding voice over the deafening rain.
"Hey, you okay?" A deep, male voice asked her.
Midoriiro glanced up to see a light-green haired man offer his hand to help her up. How cute. She nodded, but passed up Zoro's hand, preferring to get up without assistance from some stranger.
"I'm sorry, are you okay?"Nami asked. The pretty red-head had a genuine expression of concern set on her features. Despite this, Tsuru's instincts said something was wrong. She shook it off, deciding that this was the female voice she'd heard only moments ago. She didn't sound nearly as angry as she had a second ago, however. In the back of her mind, Tsuru wondered if this suspiciously genuine change in emotion is what struck her as odd. Most people didn't work like that.
"Fine," Tsuru flicked some of the dirty water off her shirt, picking up her heavy, oversized jacket and draping it over its accustomed perch on her shoulders. She straightened a few other aspects of her clothing, before glancing up to meet the two, eye to eye. Interesting. Although she couldn't place who the red-head might be, she knew she recognized the man with green hair. But, where from? She shook off the feeling, deciding to think about it later.
"Tsuru, do you…" Tsuru gave a sharp glance to Jevona, silencing him. There was no need for violence. Not only that, but Zoro gave off an aura that just screamed "don't mess with me." Not particularly surprising, given the three swords strapped to his hips, implying none-too-subtly that he was a fighter. He wasn't the only one that gave her reason to think twice, though. The happy-go-lucky boy made her double take, too, and she couldn't place the reason why. And that's what worried her. The way he'd knocked into her, bouncing around like he was made of rubber. "You…" Jevona trailed off, realizing that the question had already been asked. He gave an easily faked smile to the two, edging out of range of the swords. His eyes watched Tsuru, awaiting a command.
Nami frowned, "I'm sorry about that…" Over their shoulders, Nami glared at Luffy, who was flailing wildly as he talked to the disturbed looking shop owner. For the most part, the snippets of the one side conversations that Tsuru couldn't ignore were usually loudly screamed, basic words. Like "meat,' or "want," or even "why."
Tsuru smiled, "don't worry about it, miss." She glanced over to Zoro for a second, before settling back to Nami. "Please, don't let me and my companion keep you." She stepped out of the way of the two. "Have a pleasant evening…" Jevona sidled over to her slowly, watching Zoro. He was just… intimidating. Tsuru smiled, watching the two with a level stare, her hand out in a gesture for them to follow after their hungry captain.
Nami smiled, nodding her thanks, "you too," she wished, walking into the store, dragging Zoro behind her, who was watching them with suspicion. Tsuru held his gaze until he was force to turn to enter the shop. She frowned once the two were gone, pulling her eyes from the door to Jevona.
Tsuru gestured for him to follow and he did so without complaint, glancing over his shoulder once. The two left before the green-haired man and the red-headed girl noticed their absence, too busy berating their companion, who was currently shoveling an alarming amount of meat down his throat which seemed to be... expanding? This was something to be reported. Gerald would want to hear about this.
---Thorn Gang HQ, 21:00 ---
"Gerald, sir!" A rather short, conniving man turned around to face one of his lackeys and his second in command. He leaned back in his chair, knowing full well that in the dim light, neither of the two could see his face, obscured by the dark shadows. He liked it like that. He looked down to the two, steepling his fingers.
"What is it?" Gerald asked the out-of-breath lackey. The two must have run here. Tsuru stood tall and calm, hardly short on breath. She had always been a good runner. Even in those floppy, white slippers she always seemed to wear. He'd never figured out how she'd managed it. Eventually, he'd just accepted it as just one of "those things." Tsuru had a lot of things surrounding her were ultimately chalked off as just one of "those things."
"At the butcher shop, Sir…" he gasped, sucking down another breath.
"Did he give you trouble?" Gerald adjusted in his seat. That man was always giving them trouble. But how much trouble would he give if he accidentally broke his leg, or if, one night, his darling daughter was found, dead in one of the slum's dark alleyways? The world was a path of endless possibilities. And it was so easy for bad things to happen to unfortunate people…
"No, he had customers of a strange… caliber" Tsuru stepped in for the panting lackey. Her fingers were laced behind her head, and she stood tall, her breath barely more erratic than her normal breathing pattern. Which happened to be barely breathing. Sometimes, Gerald had to watch her chest carefully. To see that she was actually breathing, of course. She had a nasty habit of looking dead when she slept. It was a bit unnerving to anyone who wasn't used to it.
Gerald looked at her, considering her words. "Jevona, you're dismissed." Jevona turned quickly, making a hasty exit upon hearing the Gerald's rigid tone of voice. The Boss's stone eyes waited until Jevona left before saying, "These customers, were they pirates? Bandits? Officers?" He spat the last word. He'd paid off enough officers of the navy to keep the gang out of trouble, but you never know if those sneaky bastards were planning something. It was so hard to find reliable rats in the navy nowadays.
"It's very possible they were pirates, Sir. There were three of them, none past twenty. Two men, and a woman." Tsuru chewed her bottom lip, thinking of other details she could recall. She just wished she could place where she knew the green-haired man from.
Gerald stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What else?"
"The girl was a red-head, short shoulder-length hair. She was skinny, pretty, but otherwise average. The oldest man had light green, short hair, and one ear was pierced, he was tall, and fairly well built. Fighter-type, carried three swords with him, two black and one white. And the youngest boy had a straw hat. Black hair, gangly, still in the muscle development stage; he was probably no older that sixteen."
Gerald continued to stroke his chin, "Dismissed." Midoriiro turned to leave, heading back outside; intent on finding those could-be pirates. Something struck her oddly, like a good omen.
~~~ Hooray for re-writing this piece of crap…~~~
Oh, holy hell. She seems evil. I swear she isn't, though. Really.
I know, I know, tell me all about it in your review.