Marines weren't the kind of fodder Kuina usually cut up, but in practice, it was disappointingly similar to cutting up pirate fodder. Weaklings, she decided as Wado glided through their white-sleeved ranks, will be weaklings, no matter their allegiance. But it felt good to be able to move freely again; so she made use of it as a stretching exercise, working out the kinks in her arms. The marks the ropes had left were already fading.
"Lieutenant!" the marines screeched, nursing their wounds. "She's a demon! An ice witch! We can't defeat her!"
"What did you say!?" the Lieutenant yelled, his face livid in anger. "Pick up a gun and shoot yourself right now. That's an order! I don't need weaklings under me!"
The marines, fools as they were, obediently aimed their guns at their own heads and were about to fire. This was why she had never understood marines. She slid her sword into Half-Lift and aimed a glare at the Lieutenant.
Ace was faster.
The Lieutenant whirled around, saw him coming, and slammed his ax hand at the boy's head. It slipped through a ball of flame. He turned full circle as his balance was upset, then roared like an enraged gorilla and tried again. This time two tendrils of fire wrapped themselves around the blade and turned it into a glob of molten metal.
The man took one look at his melting hand - and screamed like a little kid. Kuina scoffed. What a weakling.
"You're doing it wrong, stupid!" Ace frowned. "The marines are supposed to shoot the pirates! Not themselves!"
"Why, you good-for-nothing," the Lieutenant bellowed, "you have no right to oppose me! You don't have any rank at all! I'm Marine Lieutenant Ax-Hand Morgan!"
"And my name is Ace. It's very nice to meet you!"
And he slammed a solid fist into the Lieutenant's stomach. The man, three times his size, crumpled into the dust with ease.
"Wait!" someone called. Kuina glanced over her shoulder with a twinge of panic. "Don't move, or I'll shoot!"
They had left Coby by the wooden post, one hand pressed against his wound to staunch the blood flow. Now some other kid was standing beside him, a gun grinding against his pink hair. Ah, the kid who had set her up and who had dropped by every other day to sneer at her. He never did have the stomach to hang around for more than five minutes, though - a single glare was enough to send him running. She relaxed her sword slightly. The bullet wound was more of a danger to Coby's life than this over-privileged pansy.
"Ace..." Coby mumbled. His eyes flashed with determination, and he sat up taller beneath the gun.
"D-d-don't move!" the Lieutenant's son shouted.
"I'm not afraid of death!" Coby shouted even louder.
Ace stepped away from the Lieutenant and grinned full on at Coby. "I know. Now hold on just a sec - this is the hard part." He took a deep breath, then deepened his fighting stance, right arm wound up behind him and left hand gripping the shoulder. "Mera Mera no..."
"I said don't move!" the pansy shrieked. "Can't you hear me!?"
"Wha - aaaaah Ace! Ace, behind you!"
"Dad, thank God! Hurry!"
The Lieutenant rose up like a shadow behind Ace, his blunted ax raised high above his head. Kuina whirled her sword through Lift and Landing. When she was done, she watched Ace from the corner of her eye.
"...POW!"
He threw his fist forward. A flash of light erupted from his punch and hurtled itself through the air, straight into the pansy's face. A little poff! sound.
Kuina discovered with no small amusement that the Lieutenant's son did inherit something from his father, after all. They both screamed like babies.
"Nice!" Ace chuckled. "I knew you were strong, Kuina!"
The Lieutenant careened into the ground as well, unconscious, her sword's mark engraved deep across his chest. At the same time, his son dropped the gun and collapsed from sheer panic, foaming at the mouth. The fringe of his blonde hair was singed, but the rest of the burns were superficial and would heal in days. So Ace's power was limited by distance, huh. Kuina raised an eyebrow and slid Wado back into its sheathe.
Well, now. That was a pretty good fight. She yawned, and promptly asked the leftover marines whether they wanted to become diced meat or if they preferred to kindly bring her some food.
Not much interesting happened after that. The marines, as it turned out, were thankful for the whole ruckus, and Coby was quickly buoyed to a hospital and treated. The rest of the town insisted on giving them a "proper hero's thanks," which meant a lot of cheering and clapping and shaking hands with every able body in the vicinity. Kuina was just glad for a proper meal, a good bath, and a real bed to sleep in. (Rika and her mother were alive and well, too, and they smiled freely - and that was good, that was as much of a "thank you" as anything.)
The next morning, after breakfast was had and final pleasantries were exchanged between them and the townsfolk, they sneaked into Coby's room at the hospital. He was doing great, he told them; the wound would heal clean.
"We're going to the Grand Line next," Ace said next. "Have you heard of it?"
"The Grand Line!?" the little boy choked. "Are you crazy!? You're crazy! The world's strongest pirates are all gathered there!"
"Watch it, don't reopen your wound." Kuina smiled a little crookedly. "And world's strongest doesn't sound too shabby."
"Kuina-san, you're saying crazy things, too! Just the two of you would never make it!"
Ace laughed. "It's not going to be just the two of us. Don't worry, Coby! Focus on becoming a good marine instead - we'll be fine."
"But I can't help worrying about you, okay!? I can worry, can't I!? I mean, you're my friend! You are, right? Even though we just met..."
"Sure we are. It's sad we have to part so soon - but we'll always be friend!"
He looked up at the two pirates; and his big, childlike eyes began to water from behind his glasses.
"Ack," she muttered. "Hey, don't cry, you big baby. Marines don't cry. Or the good ones don't, at least."
"I-I'm sorry, it's ju-just, I never had friends before - I was always being b-b-bullied, and-and everything, but..."
Ace smiled warmly. Kuina looked at him - a pirate encouraging a boy to become a marine. The strangest thing she had ever heard of, and yet exactly as it should be.
"Coby," Ace said. "We came to say goodbye. We're leaving now."
"What!? But - just like that!? You can still stay!"
"No, we can't. One Piece isn't going to wait forever for somebody to find it. Besides, pirates don't stay in one place long. We're pirates!" as if it was simply self-explanatory like that.
"I never was fond of leaving things behind," Kuina agreed.
"But..." he sniffled.
She quashed a sudden desire to tussle his pink hair.
Ace got up and perched himself on the edge of the room's window, where the morning sunshine poured around him and traced his outline on the wooden floor. One hand rested on the cowboy hat over his head. His eyes were filled with laughter. "You're going to be a great marine. I can just tell. So take care of yourself while we're gone, yeah?"
Without waiting for an answer, he hopped out the window and started off toward the bay. Kuina followed close at his heels. She didn't look back at the boy in the hospital, but she listened. Waiting.
Two pudgy hands slapped against the windowsill.
"Ace!" Coby yelled, his voice triumphant and loud, in a flurry of blankets thrown aside. "Thank you for teaching me to live by my dream! Thank you so much! I promise - I will never forget you, for as long as I live!"
Ace slowed and turned around, and he smiled so radiantly Kuina was compelled to spare a glance over her shoulder at the view. Coby was giving them the standard marine salute.
It jarred her for an instant, the salute - before, as a citizen, marines had meant upholders of the law. When she became a bounty hunter and the name of Yuki Onna spread, marines had looked upon her with fear, and she had regarded them merely as her source of income. In the Lieutenant's hands, she had viewed marines with disdain and annoyance. And now marines were, by definition, enemies.
But here was this boy with the kind of potential she would have given anything to bestow on another boy, years ago, and who could tear past his meekness and his fears and salute two pirates he hardly knew. He wasn't crying anymore. His smile matched Ace's, and the happiness was true. So, Kuina thought. So. In the end, it doesn't matter. Dreams will be dreams. No matter the flag they fly under. And with that she mentally shrugged the whole matter off and hoisted her flag, with its skull and crossbones, and left him to his own flag of white and blue.
Ace waved. "And I promise that we'll meet again, Coby. Later!"
They found Ace's little skiff waiting for them at the mouth of the sea, and then - under a clear sky, with the cry of seagulls in the sweet fresh air - they were off.
"Wait, I'm your only crew member? It's just us!? I thought there were other pirates!?" Kuina wailed.
Ace laughed. "No, I was planning on getting a few more members before entering the Grand Line - so you're my first crew member! Aren't you lucky?"
She managed, just barely, not to strangle him.
"It's not lucky at all! How will we get anywhere on a tiny boat like this!? We didn't even bring any food or water!"
A fat drop of water splashed on her cheek. She glanced up and noticed dark clouds gathering fast overhead.
"Oh, for the love of - now a storm's coming. This ship won't last. We need to dock at an island and wait it out!"
"What?" He blinked at her innocently. "What's wrong with this ship? I like this ship!"
She sighed. "Listen, Ace - the last time I sailed in a tiny boat in the middle of a storm, I almost drowned. The skiff I got after that was better, but the marines confiscated it. The future pirate king needs to get a proper ship. Let's dock."
He huffed. "Fine. Where do we go?"
"Nearest island, obviously. Don't you have a map?"
"Whaaaaat, a map!?" He scrunched up his face. "But they're boring! With a map you always know where you're going to go, and that's not an adventure anymore!"
She looked at him. The wind whipped her hair across her face, and the rain struck against her skin like small beads of glass. Kuina closed her eyes for a beat to calm herself, leaned forward, said gently, "Ace..."
And cracked him over the head with Wado's scabbard.
"What kind of captain are you!?" she screeched. "You need to know where you're headed to sail anywhere! If you get lost out at sea you'll die in a heartbeat!"
"Hey, I'm not dead yet!" Ace whined, rubbing the lump on his head.
"And if you want to stay that way, take this oar and row!"
She hurled a wooden oar at him and scrambled to rig the sails. The waves were swelling larger already, pitching the boat back and forth and spraying both pirates with salt water. She picked up the second oar, then in one smooth motion swept it through the water and turned the boat around. The motion brought a wave slamming straight across them. The shock of cold water drenched her clothes, and she cursed.
"We have to go back to Shells Town. Ace! Get rowing!" She paddled furiously for five seconds before realizing she was turning in circles. She turned to him angrily. "Ace!"
"...mmmrreaeaaeeeeahhh?" he gurgled. He was draped awkwardly across the bottom of the boat, the oar limp at his side.
"What do you think you're doing!? We need to row!" She had to shout to be heard over the storm. The rain was officially a downpour now, slanted at a freakish angle by the wind.
"I got wet..." he moaned. He flailed weakly. "Can't move...sorry..."
"What!?"
"Devil's Fruit...the sea drains our power..."
"What do you - what!?" The words connected in her brain with scintillating sparks (ate a Devil's Fruit- powerless in salt water - just a boy - can't turn into fire - can't move - can't swim), and she threw her oar down in frustration.
"You idiot! Tell me that sooner!"
The waves rose high, much higher than before, and the little skiff plunged down from a three-foot crest dangerously. They were thrown against the side of the boat, where buckets of water slammed into them, and they came mere inches away from capsizing. Kuina growled and grabbed the scruff of Ace's shirt with one hand, the other firmly gripping the side of the boat.
"Ace, I promise you, if I die because of your stupidity I'll-"
And then the ocean rose up, curled around them a blue tongue so dark it was almost black, and swallowed them both.
The first thing she thought was: My captain is an idiot.
Her second thought was: So Devil Fruit users have a weakness, after all. I can use this if I have to fight one.
And then, finally, her brain woke up enough to piece together the more conventional first thought upon awakening after a life-threatening experience: One moment. I'm not dead?
"They're waking up!"
"Uwah! Uwah! What do we do!?"
"Sshhh, they'll hear! Go get her, quick!"
The three high-pitched voices grated against her ears unpleasantly. She moved to roll over, and was met by an extremely unpleasant leaden feeling in her limbs and sodden clothes. She grunted experimentally - her throat was raw and fiery with thirst.
Right, much too unpleasant for the afterlife. Time to get up.
Kuina cracked her eyes open and saw a figure bending over her, pale hands holding a flask of water. Cool fingers pressed against her forehead.
"You're awake," a soft voice said.
Her hands jerked automatically for her sword, found thin air. She growled and surged up from the sand.
"Oh! Do be careful, your condition is still not optimal-"
A wave of nausea smacked her in the face. She swayed for a moment, then stumbled down toward the ocean waves and threw up. So much for her first breakfast in weeks. She washed out the sour taste in her mouth with seawater. Only then did she look around and finally get her bearings.
This was an island. By some miracle, she had survived, and landed on an island. A quick scan of the rocky shore told her that Ace had survived, too - he was lying peacefully in the shade below a tree. The beach met a cliff face and a forest a few yards beyond him, and at its base, three little figures hid behind a boulder. The storm had passed. The afternoon sun was shining brightly.
"Please, lie down! You are not well."
A girl jogged toward her in soft, light steps. She was wearing a light blue tank top, a boomerang strapped to her hip, and a long skirt that elegantly flowed around her legs without getting in the way. She had pale blonde hair tied up into a ponytail. Her brown eyes were sharp and attentive, but with an underlying gentleness that spoke of warmth and comfort. Not a fighter. Kuina pushed away her residual queasiness and regarded her coldly.
"Who are you?" she rasped.
"My name is Kaya. I live in this village - this is Syrup Village, by the way. You must have washed ashore from a storm. The three children and I discovered you two here just now, and were administering emergency aid. Are you alright? Are you dizzy? Lightheaded? Do you feel discomfort of any kind?"
"I'm fine."
The water was offered to her. She raised an eyebrow at the stranger skeptically.
"After such an ordeal your body needs rest and hydration. Please drink this. It's not poisoned, if that's what you fear - I'm a doctor, so you can trust me."
She snorted at that, but took the water anyways. She watched the pale-haired girl from the corner of her eye as she drank.
From the trees, Ace made a grumbling sound and rolled over. Kaya immediately rushed to his side.
"You're awake, too. How do you feel?"
A noncommittal answer. Kuina approached at a cautious distance behind her, eyes flickering to the sword propped against a neighboring tree. Ace's cowboy hat swung from its hilt.
"Are you alright?" Kaya asked softly. "Can you hear me?"
Ace's eyes fluttered open, and he stared up into the sunshine and the girl's face.
"Oh, hello!" he chirped. He sprang up to his feet easily. After a second of looking around in a daze, he remembered his manners and bowed to Kaya. "My name is Ace. That's my swordsman. It's very nice to meet you!" He felt for his hat, saw it on top of Wado, and hopped over to it. He placed it on his head with a broad grin.
Kaya blinked in surprise, the whisper of a smile on her face. "Oh. It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Ace." She turned to Kuina with a faint cock of her head. "And his...swordsman?"
Kuina bowed her head slightly as confirmation. She handed back the water flask. "Call me Kuina."
Ace shook the last drops of water out of his hair and made a face at his waterlogged boots. "So what happened?"
"You were an idiot," Kuina immediately responded.
Ace shaded his eyes with his hand and looked over the beach. "Ah!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Our ship! It's totally destroyed, Kuina! Look!"
"That must have been a truly terrible storm," Kaya breathed. "Thank goodness you made it here. Come - I'll take you into the village. Carrot! Pepper! Onion!"
The three little figures behind the boulder flinched. There was a fierce whispered debate in three high-pitched voices about something like "Who goes first." Kaya sighed.
"I do apologize, they take after...well, their cowardice is certainly commendable." She stalked to the boulder and spoke in hushed tones something that might have been a threat. All three children squealed and dashed into the open at the same time.
"I see you are ready to greet our guests now," Kaya said, perfectly seriously.
"Hi! I'm Pepper!"
"I'm Carrot!"
"I'm Onion!"
"Are you pirates!?" they all shouted.
Kaya's calm eyes flashed suddenly - a flare of emotion that surged up for an instant and then retreated just as fast into the folds of her gentle brown heart. "You can't say those kinds of things to strangers," she chided. "It's not polite at all."
"But we are!" Ace laughed. "We're pirates!"
Kuina frowned, watching Kaya. "Actually, yeah, we are. Shoddy pirate crew right now, but a pirate crew still."
Kaya froze.
The three little boys gasped. Three pairs of little hands stretched out and held each other in amazement.
"...Really? But you don't have a pirate flag!"
"We're going to get one soon," Ace promised. "And a ship! Our old ship crashed, so our next one will be huge and awesome and Romantic!"
The kids looked like they were about to say more - but a long pale arm swooped out and herded them toward the forest path, presumably toward the village.
"It's time to go, Carrot, Pepper, Onion. Your parents will be worried about you."
"What!? But-"
"But the pirates-"
"Go."
They gulped, cast one last longing look at Ace, and scampered quickly out of sight.
"Aw, I wanted to talk to them more," Ace pouted.
Kuina regarded the pale-haired girl closely.
"So you two are pirates," she said quietly, her face an emotionless mask.
"Yeah!"
She turned her back on them and strode swiftly down the path after the kids, abandoning them. Her voice was quiet and severe.
"Please leave this village, then. I am sorry for the ship. But pirates - I refuse to see one ever step foot in this village." And then, her pale form already almost invisible in the foliage, her distant voice carried one last phrase through the air.
"I despise pirates."
Words of the Sheep: Kuina's arc is done! Rejoice! Hope it wasn't too much like a rehash of the plot - I actually wanted to skip the entire battle with Morgan, but Kuina needed to see Ace fight. The real fun starts now, though. Because from here on out, the differences start piling on and diverging more and more from the original manga. Care to guess how this'll play out? :p
Notes: Ace's Mera Mera no Pow! stance is identical to Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Pistol. Except I suck at names. (Pow!)
As Zoro's moves are often associated with demons and dragons, Kuina's moves have to do with Yuki Onnas (Japanese mythological demons who seduced men on snowy paths and drained away their life force) and birds. Lift = raising her sword, Landing = sheathing it. Lift, thrust, drag, angle of attack. Bird wing terms. I still miss Santoryuu, though...
Carrot, Pepper, and Onion are Ninjin, Tamanegi, and Piman. There's no way I can keep all that Japanese straight, though. So here. English-fied names.
...Kaya ended up being exactly like my older sister...why...
Kuina is 20 years old. Kaya is 16, Ace is 17.
