A Familiar Encounter.
Sarah came to for a moment. She was coughing, and she could feel and taste the saltwater that was leaving her lungs. Her lungs hurt with every cough. She was so weak that all she could do was tilt her head to the side as she coughed up the liquid that had invaded her body. When she was done she tried to look around. It was still so bright, and the sun felt warm on her face. She saw two figures, but her vision was blurry, and she was so tired. One looked like they were leaning over her, but with her vision blurred she could barely make out anything. The person in front of her was wearing something orange, and they seemed unusually white. This must have been the person she saw in the water when she was about to drown. The other was standing a little off to the side. They looked tall and thin, it looked like they were holding something long. She couldn't make out much more, and before she passed back out she heard someone say, "What should we do with her Captain?"
Sarah woke again some hours later. She recalled waking up earlier after she had survived that the sun was high in the sky, now it was lower. It looked like it would set within the next hour or so. She looked around, this time being able to see what was around her. She was on a beach of some kind, with some tropical trees behind her. She noted that she had been moved to an area that was shaded by the trees a little bit away from the beach. It was really beautiful, but it only confused her. Thoughts swirling through her head. How did I get here? How far is this from home? How am I even alive?
Before the last question could even be thought about more she saw someone walking towards her. She sat up abruptly, which caused her head to become a little dizzy. As soon as the bout of vertigo passed she noticed that she felt quite a bit better than she had in a while. Her hunger was still out of control, but that was something that she was almost used to, almost. Nothing could prepare her for the smell of food though. She smelled bread, and something else with a mouthwatering aroma. Her stomach lurched again, demanding her to eat. The pain grew so intense that she folded her arms in to her abdomen and she whimpered in pain. She was positive the person who was walking towards her could probably hear the loud protests of her empty belly. Then she noticed something on her hand felt off. She could feel something foreign on the back of her hand. She looked down and saw a needle with and IV tube had been inserted into her. She let her eyes follow the path of the tube to and IV bag hanging off a nail placed in the tree next to her. It was almost empty. Now it made sense why she was feeling so much better.
Still holding her uncooperative stomach she looked at the person who had finally made their way to where she was. She looked up from her sitting position to see a tall man. He wore blue jeans with dark brown spots in various places. He had on a Yellow hoodie. The arms and hood were black. The front of the Yellow hoodie had a familiar looking smiley face on it. She couldn't place it, but she knew she saw it somewhere. He had a hat the was round and a little large in appearance, it was white with a short-upturned bill that went all the way around. There were also brown spots on it similar to his jeans. He was tall and lean, his skin just a little tanned. His sleeves were pulled up to his elbows, and she could see that he had several tattoos showing on his hands and forearms. Sarah looked at his face, and noticed he was quite handsome. His lips were thin, but not in a bad way, he had a black goatee and sideburns. His eyes were stormy grey and intense, as if they didn't miss a thing, even though the small dark bags under his eyes indicated the man need to get a lot more sleep.
He squatted down in front of Sarah looking at her intently for a while. He finally broke the silence, "And who might you be?"
His demeanor didn't look threatening, but Sarah could tell instinctively that she shouldn't push his buttons. Not that she wanted to anyway, not when the main thing on her mind was getting something to eat. She opened her mouth to answer, but a low rough sound came out instead. She grabbed her throat with her hand realizing that the last week with very little water, and then swallowing all that salt water made her throat too dry to speak. She looked at the stranger trying to convey this knowledge with her eyes, and he seemed to understand. He sighed while nodding his head. He opened a bag he had on him that Sarah hadn't even noticed. He pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to her. She drank it down in seconds, and it felt so good. The liquid soothed her throat and it was cold. She thought to herself it was probably the best water she had ever had.
After she finished the water she went to answer his question, but he handed her something else. It was bread! Oh, sweet mother it was food, and she knew what it was this time. She swiped it out of his hands forgetting her manners. She was about to dig in when he interrupted her, "So it's been a while since you've eaten?"
She took a big bite and spoke as she chewed. "Yea, almost 8 days now," She explained with a mouthful of food not really caring if it offended him. He was lucky to be getting any answers now that she could eat. "Oh, and my name is Sarah." Her voice was still hoarse, but it was now possible for her to speak.
"Okay Sarah, how did you just appear out of thin air like that?" He asked with a suspicious look.
She was almost finished eating the bread already but stopped. "What do you mean out of thin air?"
"Well, I mean that My first mate and a couple other of my crew were looking out at the ocean and there was nothing there. The next thing they knew you appeared right over the top of the water and then started to sink. That is what I mean, Sarah."
She looked at him with complete shock trying to make sense of what was just said to her. She realized that he was looking at her with mistrust, which she found interesting, since she felt like she was the one in danger. "I don't know. Almost 10 days ago I went for a hike in the woods no where near any oceans or beaches. I became lost and after a couple days I had no food and little water. I thought I was dead and that no one would find me. Then Several hours ago a weird fruit fell on me and woke me up. I was so hungry I didn't care if it was poisonous, and I took a bite. After that things got…. weird." She tried to explain a little worried he wouldn't believe her. It would sound crazy, but then again, some people did just witness a woman appear out of nowhere.
While she was thinking about how crazy everything sounded he said, "Crazy how?" Trying to get her to elaborate.
"Well, um…. right after I took a bite the fruit instantly turned rotten." She saw his eyebrow raise when she said that, but she continued. "Then the world around me started to warp kind of. Almost as if everything around me was twisting. Next everything became dark, then I was in the water. I was so weak from everything I went through that I couldn't even swim back up to the surface. Thank goodness your friends were there. I'm assuming the person in the orange outfit saved me. Is that right?"
"Yes, that was my first mate Bepo. He swam in after you and gave you CPR." He explained, while Sarah thought about how familiar the name Bepo sounded. It was certainly weird that all these familiar things kept popping into her mind today, but she couldn't connect the dots yet.
She had finished her bread, still hungry, but thankful for the peace he stomach was finally giving her. Then the man in front of her pulled out a thermos of something else and handed it to her.
"This is broth. Drink it, but slowly. You've probably already ingested too much as it is after going so long without food. Just sip on it for now." She was surprised that he was helping so much, considering she could tell he didn't trust her.
"Thank you." She almost cried. Suddenly everything from the past 9 days was over. Even if her current company seemed leery he didn't seem like a bad person. His friend had saved her life, and they had taken care of her. Having someone right in front of her was comforting too. She wouldn't have thought that possible a week and a half ago, but she was now so happy to see another person. She held back the tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes. She looked him in his stormy grey eyes and said "Really, thank you very much. I don't know where I am, or how I got here, but this is the best I have felt in a long time."
At first, he looked uncomfortable when it looked like she was going to cry, but he relaxed a little when he realized she had composed herself. He also saw that she was genuine in her gratitude. "Well I think I might be able to answer the question as to how you got here. I'm guessing you ate a devil fruit. It must have some ability that allows you to..." Before he could finish she cut him off with a laugh. His eyes glared at her.
She was still laughing but saw his irritation. "Hahaha… I'm sorry, but that's funny. Devil fruits, ha-ha they don't exist. It's just something made up by a manga artist name Oda."
He glared at her more intensely, and she stopped laughing. What was this guys problem? Why would he get so offended? Did he really believe they existed? She straightened up and put on a serious face to avoid offending him further. "I'm sorry. I really am, but devil fruits can't exist in our world. That's like saying there is a nine-tailed fox, or that Pegasus was real, or that aliens built the Egyptian pyramids. I don't mean to offend you, but there has to be a more rational explanation."
He looked at her a moment more before he said, "Egyptian pyramids? Listen I don't know what you're talking about with tailed foxes, and pyramids, but I do know that devil fruits are real. It is one of the few ways to explain what you yourself described."
She sat there looking at him a thinking about what he said. Not sure how delusional this guy really was. "Okay, so let's say they do exist. How on earth could you prove it to me?" she was pleased with her response. Trying to think of the ways he would stumble through trying to explain how something that didn't exist did. She knew she might be pressing one too many buttons on one of the people who saved her life, but she couldn't help it. She took a sip of the broth he gave her, and it was so good. It made her feel a little bad about dashing this guys dreams of finding a devil fruit, but only a little.
He seemed a little agitated, but he rolled his eyes and left his squat to stand upright. He put his arm out straight in front of him, with his hand facing down towards the ground. She read the words death written on his fingers, one letter for each digit. Then everything throughout the day came back to her mind. Everything coming together like missing pieces in a puzzle. The weird fruit, the name Bepo, this man in front of her, and the way he was standing with his arm out. She knew what would happen next. She knew he would say only one word and what could follow it. She sat there frozen her eyes wide. She knew what was going to happen, but she couldn't bring herself to fully believe it.
He spoke, "Room."
As a small transparent blue dome sprang from his hand and grew larger until it had expanded past them a few feet Sarah said, "No. Fucking. Way." She could feel her jaw hanging open.
He looked at her and gave her a smug smirk. He looked pleased that he had won this debate so easily, but he didn't expect to hear her next words
"Law?" Was all she said, but it was enough to surprise the surgeon of death.
