Time is Silver
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters. I only own Silver and the Doctor and the plot.
Chapter 2: The Break in the Routine
It was inevitable for her to meet up with a pirate. She was alive during the Golden Age of Piracy so it was of course, inevitable.
It happened on a fine Sunday morning when she was doing her daily rounds at the beach looking for tonight's dinner of crabs or shellfish whichever she happened to chance on first. She had memorized that today would be one of those days the whirlpools surrounding the islands would subside for exactly 10 minutes and 25 seconds give or take the number of milliseconds. It would happen quite soon actually. In a few minutes, the whirlpools would subside and she was in for a rare treat to see a calm ocean horizon.
The constant distant whooshing sound of the whirlpools churning up in the distance calmed down until only the gentle sounds of the waves and seagulls remained. The rough waves that constantly hit the island mellowed into little splashing waves that lapped up on shore. It was calm and it was a sight to see. A plain blue ocean that she knew was the reflection of the blue sky above.
Then suddenly, there was a disturbance. A white crest of dividing waters. A boat was approaching. Someone was trying to get to the island. It had been a full decade since she had last seen a boat other than the old dinghy the Doctor kept somewhere on the island so this very much startled her.
The only thing she could think of what was her mentor/parent-replacement/teacher had said.
"People out there will not understand what you can do. They will take advantage of it when they get the chance and the world will suffer. You must never trust anyone. Even me. For even I may fall prey to greed. You must steel your will against your own desires, Silver, for you are also not invulnerable to this human vice."
The Doctor has said this many times when she was younger and she had committed this to memory. She was not to trust anyone.
Then she had a moment of calm. She breathed out in relief when she realized that whoever was on that boat in the distance, they would never make it here. The waters here do not stay calm for very long and within a span of ten minutes, the waters would return to their churning whirlpool selves. A boat wasn't fast enough to get here to shore in time.
And that was where she was wrong.
Within a few seconds, the boat gained alarming speed and panic again rose up within her. Was the boat actually going to make it to shore on time?
As the boat neared, it was clear that it would within the 10 minute and 25 second timeframe. But just. The waters have already began to churn up dangerously as the boat had just made it into the 'safe area' of the bay and disappeared behind one of the jutting headlands. Silver felt cold sweat on her back and she was at lost at what to do. There was an outsider on the island.
"I have to tell the Doctor," her mind urgently told her and she ran off as fast as her legs could carry her to their home.
"But Doctor! It's the truth!" she persisted, "I saw it!"
"Impossible," the Doctor muttered as he wrote equations on the blackboard only he and Silver could understand, "Impossible."
"But Doctor!"
"Calm yourself, child," he snapped harshly and Silver shut her mouth in response, "Your power to control time is closely tied to your emotions!"
It was true. She could not afford to cause any distortion in time just because of her childish tantrum. She would calm down for the world's sake.
"Good," he said when he was satisfied with her behavior, "Now, a boat reaching here would be neigh impossible! Now go to the library to revise on the chapters we learnt yesterday!"
"Doctor," she said slowly, her pulse rate barely restrained from going crazy, "I know what I saw. I think we have to take action before it's too late."
The Doctor stopped writing on the blackboard and faced her with a stern expression, "I pray you're right child otherwise we may have just wasted precious time,"
She and the Doctor made their way to the beach that Silver had suspected the outsiders may have docked their boat and as they hid themselves in the foliage of the jungle, there it was, a tiny boat with a single sail lay moored on the white sand. It looked like it could just carry one person. It was a ridiculously small boat and doesn't look very seaworthy and by some miracle had made it all the way here.
Silver restrained the urge to look at the Doctor with an I-told-you-so look and instead approached the situation maturely. "There's the boat I saw, Doctor. That's never been there before."
The Doctor had fallen deathly silent, his eyes staring at the boat as if he couldn't believe it.
"What should we do?" Silver asked him.
"We should find this person," the Doctor replied but then changed his sentence, "No, I will find this person. You will go back home and stay hidden. I shall deal with him."
There was no telling 'no' to the Doctor and Silver reluctantly slunk back into the jungle and headed back in the direction of home. Yaniv meanwhile, despite being quite old at the age of 50 something, he was still quite fit and was very capable of tracking down one person. He would find this person and get rid of him himself.
Silver was neck deep in a book on mathematics and she had done so purposely to avoid thinking of the Doctor. She was worried sick of him. Even though the Doctor had been hard on her and seemed cold most of the time, she owed him a lot. She loved him like she loved her parents. The Doctor was the only person in her life now literally. Now that that Doctor had gone off on his own to deal with the potentially dangerous outsider, she couldn't stop thinking of the many things that may go wrong. She kept calm though. It was vital that she kept calm. She couldn't go and make irrational decisions and go against the Doctor's orders for it could make things worse than they already are. The best choice was to sit tight and wait until the Doctor returns. The least she could do was to make sure that she didn't do anything to disrupt time by accident.
After precisely two hours and thirty six minutes, she heard the sound of a door opening and closing. The Doctor has returned. Joy and relief coursed through her and she had to restrain herself from going overly emotional. She had to keep calm. It was good that the Doctor has returned. Maybe she should welcome him back and also ask him about the outsider.
Just as she was getting up from the armchair she had been sitting in, the library door opened and closed quickly and in strolled the Doctor.
"Doctor," she said allowing herself to make a rare small smile.
"Silver you must stay in the basement," the Doctor's voice was urgent and serious that Silver's smile was immediately wiped off her face, "You are not to go out unless I say so."
"What happened?" Silver frowned feeling that something was wrong.
"Just go."
"Does it concern the outsider?"
"Yes," the Doctor replied pushing her to the door that led to another part of the house, "You must go."
Silver did not press the matter further and obeyed. She only allowed herself a small glance back at the Doctor before hurrying towards the basement.
Now despite her many years of forceful teachings from the Doctor to remain emotionally neutral and stable at all times, she couldn't help but feel things. She was not a cold unfeeling person as people may understand but she was just restraining them. She also was naturally curious. So curious, in fact, she sometimes let her calm demeanor down just to allow herself a small relief of peeking or finding out things.
So being confined to the basement for her was just setting off a lot of questions. Why has the Doctor brought the outside here? What does he plan to do with him? What's going to happen to her?
She knew how long she had been confined in the basement alright. She had continuously kept track of time and she had an accurate internal clock. Two entire days and still no word from the Doctor. Did he intend on keeping her here forever? No that did not make sense. Surely, the Doctor wouldn't abandon her here.
A sliver of light startled her from her thoughts and it grew wider as the basement door opened. The Doctor stood in the doorway with a tray of food in his hands. Good, she was starving.
"Doctor," she said walking up to him.
"Silver," he replied back in greeting. The usual.
"Is the outsider still here?" she asked him taking the food tray and setting it down on a lonely old table.
"He is," the Doctor replied, "I must go and attend to him. Stay here."
"Who is he?" she asked.
The Doctor hesitated to answer. He gave it some thought. Should he tell her about him? "He is someone I knew from a long time ago. An old friend."
"He knew how to get here?"
"He is here by mere chance," he replied and Silver raised a brow. Chance? Luck? That did not sound like an answer the Doctor would give. He always had a straight answer for everything so this perplexed her.
The Doctor left her in the darkness of the basement to contemplate on this new information. She was curious of this old friend of the Doctor's but she would heed the Doctor's orders. She was to stay here until he said so.
A loud distressed scream resonated in the house that even Silver could hear it in the very bowels of the basement. She dropped her book in her surprise and she couldn't help but feel the same distress that was expressed in that scream. No one had ever screamed in this house. It was a quiet place with only the sounds from the sea nearby and the ticking of clocks to hear. This was out of the ordinary.
Something was wrong.
The scream sounded again making Silver shift nervously in her spot on the dusty floor. Instinct was telling her to investigate but the Doctor's orders were still fresh in her mind. She was to stay here.
And then again. The scream pierced the silence like a knife through her heart. It was heartbreaking.
Wasn't the Doctor going to do anything about this?
Then it hit her. The Doctor was out. It was a little past 10 in the evening and the Doctor should be outside for his nightly stroll outside on the beach on the other side of the island. Meaning, it wasn't the Doctor who screamed. It was that other person, the stranger, in the house that did.
Uneasiness gripped her as she thought on what to do. She just had to go and check to see if he was alright. It didn't seem right to leave him there in his obvious distress. But orders were orders. She had never disobeyed the Doctor and she didn't want to start now. She weighed the two on imaginary scales in her head. Which was more urgent?
She decided after some time that she would just go and peek. She would allow herself a short time to check and the stranger would never know she was there.
She tiptoed her way out of the basement taking care to not make any sudden movements. She managed to get into one of the main hallways without making a sound.
Now where would the Doctor keep their guest? Certainly not her bedroom. It was a mess with papers and books everywhere. The Doctor's room mirrored hers except that the walls were painted a grim grey in his while her walls were a brilliant deep blue. So their rooms were out of the question. It was no place to let a guest stay. So the only place would be the infirmary. It was kept tidy and clean in case of emergencies and there was a bed. That was where he would be.
So with a destination in mind, she continued to tiptoe her way to the infirmary dodging teetering towers of books and boxes.
Her luck (even though she didn't believe in luck) was good that day as the door of the infirmary was ajar meaning that she didn't have to deal with the creaky door thus giving away herself to the stranger. She slowed her breathing and approached the door and peered through the narrow opening. It was dimly lit with the gas lamp giving the room a slight yellow glow. She could see a person sprawled on the infirmary bed and her cheeks immediately flushed. He was shirtless. She had never seen a man without his shirt- scratch that, it had been a full decade, ten years, since she had last seen anyone besides the Doctor.
So this was the old friend of the Doctor? Even though she couldn't see his features properly in the dim light, he didn't seem that old. As old as the Doctor anyway. In fact, he seemed as young as her.
A strangled moan of pain escaped the man's lips and he shifted uncomfortable on the bed. He was in pain.
Should she check on him?
"No I shouldn't," she thought shaking her head, "It'll give me away."
But she couldn't just leave him like that. Can she? She peered through the gap again and observed that he seemed to be asleep despite the pain he was in.
"Just a quick check," she muttered quietly under her breath. This felt so wrong to do but it also felt wrong just to leave him there.
She opened the creaky door slowly to make minimal noise. She winced as a loud creak sounded from the door and glanced at the sleeping man to see if it had woken him. It hadn't. She sighed quietly in relief. She tiptoed into the room and knelt next to the man.
Now that she was this close to the stranger, she could see his face properly. He had dark hair like her but it was slightly wavy. Freckled dotted his face. He had fair skin like the Doctor. Hers was as brown as milk coffee. She silently admitted to herself that he was the most handsome man she had ever seen despite the lack of men she had seen. Sweat beaded at his forehead and his breathing was labored. His cheeks seemed to mirror her flushed cheeks in dim light. A fever.
She felt his forehead because the Doctor had done so whenever he suspected her to be sick. It felt burning hot under her hand. Then she realized what she had done then withdrew her hand. That was improper and also a very, very wrong thing to do. She then pondered that if he only had a simple fever, why did he scream?
She then spied two purple puncture marks on his left arm. It was covered with a layer of ointment but it had already dried out. Sandsnake bite. It would seem that the Doctor had already knew and put on the appropriate medicine. That would explain his screams of pain and the fever. She had the unfortunate experience of being bitten by one of those nasty burrowing buggers when she was 10 and she had been in pain for two entire weeks with a burning fever. Like him. She knew that she had to apply a new coat of that ointment onto the wound so that the pain would subside considerably.
She rummaged quietly in a few drawers and took out a small pot of smelly ointment. She then gently brushed off the remains of the previous coat of ointment then applied a fresh one. The effect was almost instantaneous as the man's breathing slowed down to normal and he loosened up and relaxed. She breathed out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. There, all better.
She put back the ointment where she had found it. Great, now she could leave. She turned to leave but then a hand gripped her arm. She let out a sharp gasp. Her heart was pounding. She had been found out.
"Thank you," a smooth voice said.
She gulped and nodded. "You're…welcome."
The grip loosened and he let go. She had to urge to run out of the room but she walked out as dignified as possible.
What would she tell the Doctor? She had been found out. Oh dear. Oh dear.
To be continued...