HERE'S MEEE. I'm back, even though I never really left but eh. I didn't use a lot of cursing in the first chapter so anyone who doesn't enjoy that could get a feel for the story and know if they wanted to continue. This one will have a little bit more cursing, but nothing extreme. I hope you all enjoy!
After a very odd and complicated night, Emma woke to the sounds of grumpy morning pirates. She got up, nearly tripping before remembering she was wearing one of the pirate's clothes. Benn didn't tell her who's they were. She thought about changing back but that plan was soon scratched when she saw her still-wet outfit.
I look so stupid and tiny! Who am I kidding? I am stupid and tiny.
Getting over the clothes she went out to try to find someone. No sooner did she open the door did she hear familiar laughing from behind her. "You-you look . . ." Shanks gasped for breath. Emma stuck out her touch childishly, which the redhead quickly returned possibly when an even more childish expression.
"Shut up! It's not like I packed for a trip!"
"But we have clothes more your size, why'd you take mine?" He laughed again.
"Wha-yours!? You have an evil first mate!" How could Benn tell her this was all they had? Evil man! Shanks gave her a smile. "Benn is secretly a genius prankster, that's nothing compared to some of the stuff he's done. He may seem like the only one with some sense but don't be fooled! I'll grab you something, just stay here." Benn showed up soon after Shanks left. "I was hoping you'd walk on deck before someone caught you," he gave a mischievous grin.
"To think I thought you actually were the serious one!"
"I don't think there is a single person on this ship who doesn't have some kind of thing they do."
"I almost walked on deck like this! I would have looked so dumb!"
"That's the point."
Emma glared. Benn grinned, holding his cigar between his teeth. "Here, Emma. These should fit better. Thanks for that early morning laugh Benn, I needed that."
"My pleasure, Captain." Emma stuck her tongue out again before going back into the room to change. She heard Benn and Shanks talk about today's plans before a single pair of steps left. The clothes weren't very pretty, but they did fit perfectly. She walked back out to see Shanks learning against the wall, waiting. "Thanks for the clothes, they're a great fit. I heard you and Benn talking about a 'new island' as you said it. What does that mean?"
"We're a pirate crew of a substantial rank, you know that. So despite the fact that we never intentionally cause harm to innocent islands they're still scared to have us anywhere near them. We need another drop-off island for our stuff. That's what we were doing at your island before we caught wind of Marines and had to head out. We had made peace with the leaders of your island so we didn't need to hide, but when we go to a new island we hide the boat and a small group normally goes out. It's normally me and Yassop since he's the only one out of the three that isn't a giant."
"Makes sense. Can I come?" Emma asked suddenly.
"What, why?"
"I don't have clothes, and I really don't want you coming back with pants like those and expect me to wear it," she said while pointing to his current outfit.
"Oi! There is nothing wrong with this! Besides we don't have a boat, you'd have to swim a good ways so we don't risk being spotted. We don't know if they have homes on the outskirts of the island so we can't even get close. Can you swim?" Translation: Do you have a Devil Fruit?
"I can swim, and considering you have only one arm I feel like I should be able to keep up."
He grinned at her, "if you say so. We're leaving soon though so I hope you're ready."
"You're going to go like that? Don't you know how obvious it is?" Shanks didn't even have a hat on, letting his blindingly red hair out for all to see.
"I can't swim with a hat, so I have no choice. I'll just keep my head down and wear my cape so no one can tell I'm missing an arm, also keep my hair over the scars," he shrugged. "I'll probably be caught but I need that to happen so I can explain to the mayor of this island. Much better being caught just being here than to make a scene."
"If you say so. If we end up getting mobbed I'm blaming it on you," Emma warned while poking his chest.
"Sure thing!" He caught her wrist and spun her to face the door to the outside. "Let's go!" They walked outside and as far as Emma could see there was nothing but ocean. How far are we actually swimming?
"Cap'n!" Came the familiar voice of Yasopp from above. The pair looked up to see the blonde climbing down. "Island's out there. We're getting into the average telescope range so we should hurry up." Yasopp didn't seem to have anything other than a sealed bag in his hand. How could he see anything?
"Okay then. Emma, you ready?" Shanks had a devious expression that Emma was wary about.
"Why is she going?" Yasopp wondered.
"She needs clothes and doesn't agree with our fashion sense," Shanks answered. Yasopp scoffed. "Clearly she understands nothing!"
"Ha. Totally. You were wearing your name across your forehead yesterday! I'm almost 100 percent sure the only reason you aren't right now is because you need to stay low, right?"
"No!"
"No?"
Yasopp gave in. "Whatever! Let's just go."
Shanks, and any other crew member close enough to hear the conversation were on the verge of tears from laughing. When everyone calmed the three finally decided it was time to start their swim. One by one they all jumped from the lowest deck when suddenly: "COLD!" Before Shanks even knew what she was doing she had curled around his shoulders to stay as far above the water as she could.
"Emma! I am not going to swim with you on top of me like this!" Yasopp was having the time of his life watching the events fold out in front of his eyes. Emma took advantage of him only having one arm by wrapping the arm he would peel off back around him when he went for the other. He sighed. Yasopp laughed. "Not moving!" Emma stated.
"Oh really?" Shanks gave the same mischievous smile from earlier. Emma narrowed her eyes before giving a cautious yes. "Ok then." Suddenly her support vanished into the water and forcing half of her to sink in behind it. Just when she thought at least her top half would be safe she felt a hand grip her ankle tight enough to ensure she wasn't escaping before yanking her completely under. "No!-" Was all she was able to manage before the rest became a gargled mess. When she finally swam back up to the surface she saw an innocently smiling Yonko with a still-laughing-his-ass-off sniper staring at her.
"It's easier to get used to water after you've dunked your head under," Shanks said as if he didn't force her under.
"I was mentally preparing myself."
"Looks like you weren't fast enough. C'mon, we need to get going before we're spotted anyways," Shanks said before swimming off at a surprising speed. It seemed to take ages to reach the island and Emma was nearly exhausted having not expected a man missing an arm to be so good at swimming. Should've known!
They walked up on a beach that seemed to be blocked out by a forest but Emma could make out a few buildings not far away. "Phew! Didn't get wet," Yasopp had pulled out a gun from the bag he had earlier and spun it on his finger. She heard a metal on metal sound to see Shanks had somehow hidden his sword and it was now unsheathed as he dumped the water out of its sheath.
"You guys just take out your weapons like that! What if someone sees?" Emma frantically looked around.
"We used Observation Haki before we did anything, no one is around," Yasopp explained.
Oh, right. She forgot about that. "Is there a way to mask your presence though?" She asked curiously. Yasopp looked to Shanks who was the Haki expert. "Really depends on who's using the observation and who's trying to hide. If someone who was extremely in tune when their Haki were to shroud them selves in, mental armament haki I supposed is what you'd called it, they could hide from observation Haki from someone not as in tune. But really the person with the stronger Haki would always come out on top in something like that, so no one's out there," Shanks assured at the end of his explanation.
"Well there you have it. If Shanks didn't see anyone then no one is out there," Yasopp finished with a shrug. Emma had actually forgotten this was the man many believed to have the most powerful Haki because of his lack of a Devil Fruit while still managing to be among the emperors. How had she gotten so comfortable with a pirate like this so quickly? She supposed it was because they both had a very childish personality despite their age and the fact that Shanks didn't go around terrifying his crew into submission.
"We should probably dry off before we go anywhere," Shanks said while hiding his sword back into his cloak. So they sat on the rocks and talked until they were dry enough to walk around in town. They stood, Yasopp stuffed his gun away while Shanks readjusted his sword and swiped his bangs over his scarred eye. "This island has a lot of fishermen so there should be plenty of good rowboats around. Yasopp I'm going to stay with Emma so I trust you to find something that will work," Shanks told the sniper.
"Right. You two have fun~" The blonde joked before turning and running as fast as he could when Shanks gave a playful glare.
"Okay let's go!" Emma said while dragging the other man by his arm. When he didn't budge she looked questionably back so see him staring off and focused on something she couldn't see. Emma immediately worried something was wrong but when she voiced this worry he just smiled and said nothing was wrong. "Let's go then! This is the first time I've been to a different island! I want to see stuff!" This time the one armed man followed behind her without question as they waded through the tall grass of the forest. Emma was still caution but she figured if it was something really bad then Shanks wouldn't have kept going.
"There!" Emma said after walking for nearly five minutes trying to find the right shop. Shanks had been walking with his head down the entire time forcing Emma with the responsibility of finding the shop. She immediately knew this was a good store from the first glance inside. Emma dug through clothes for a while until she was content with the outfits and went to try some on.
"Ugh, idk. It looks a little baggy," she said while standing in front of the mirror.
"You've said that about the last five outfits. I wasn't expecting you to take this long!"
"Fine! I just want to try on one last one and then we can go find Yasopp." Emma walked back into the changing room and was in the process of shutting the door when it was suddenly forced open and then quickly shut by the captain. "Hey! Get out-" the rest was muffled by a hand placed over her mouth.
"Was that-" she heard a voice outside say.
"Maybe," said another.
"Damn," Shanks whispered.
"What's wrong?" Emma whispered just as quietly.
"Oi! You in there! Come out now!" The first voice from outside ordered.
"Emma. They are two Marine Admirals, new ones, probably itching for a fight to prove themselves. They'll will recognize me as soon as I open the door so we will have to run, I don't want to fight them here. They are-"
"I'm not going to ask again! Now!"
"They are right at the door so I can hit them with it. Ready?"
No! Emma nodded, slightly scared something really bad was about to happen. Shanks forcefully and quickly opened the door buying them precious seconds. Emma ran like her life depended on it. Maybe it did. "Red-Hair!" An enraged voice came from behind as they ran through the door to the outside. Everyone outside stared at the pair running down the town like maniacs. Emma once again cursed her short stature causing her to have a harder time keeping up with Shanks' longer steps. Suddenly an arm encircled her and yanked her to the side just in time to miss a huge black mass that flew by. "What the hell? Another Admiral!" Shanks yelled and unsheathed his sword. The two that had been chasing them caught up while another, nearly ten feet tall, blocked the way back to the ocean. Connected buildings blocked their only other exits. They were surrounded. Bystanders were standing a good distance away as they watched the scene go down.
"Marines are supposed to protect from the destruction of pirates. But here you are fighting a battle you know will cause the destruction of not only all three of you, but also half of this town," Shanks said darkly.
"Well too bad you're wrong about that," the lone marine said. "You see that girl? She's the reason we're going to win this," he smirked. Now Emma was worried. Shanks only had one arm meaning he wasn't going to be able to keep a hold of her and fight. She was going to have to rely on herself to dodge some stuff. Great.
"If you so much as touch her I will personally assure your deaths here and now. That's a promise." He was using the voice again and despite the Admiral's tough act Emma could tell it bothered him. "Leave now and you get to live another day. Fight me, you might as well dig your graves now. I'll only show mercy to an extent, and once you try to kill me, that's when I stop. So think wisely." Emma shivered.
"Don't think that scares me. You're outnumbered."
"And you're outmatched."
Then everything went to Hell. Flames erupted from the ground as one of the two marines in the back ran for the attack, now also holding a sword. Emma ducked under the clashed swords of the marine and Shanks before leaping over the fire. The other marine that had chased them, she realized, was the one with the fire. As he waved his arms around flames flew from all directions and also exploded throughout the area Shanks and the marine were fighting. Somehow the Yonko still managed to dodge every single attempt at being set aflame and the extremely fast slashing of the enemy's sword. "I was hoping for a little more entertainment than this. Is this all it takes to be an Admiral these days? Pathetic." Suddenly the area was shrouded in black and then was clear again. "Oh? That's different. Afraid it won't help you however. Just because I can't see you doesn't mean I can't sense you."
The pirate suddenly went on the offensive. With speed Emma couldn't even keep up with he was suddenly right at the marine with the fire fruit and sliced his head out in one swing. All flames suddenly were snuffed instantly as his body fell to the dirt. He then suddenly leaped for the other swordsman who was trying to block the flurry of attacks in a sloppy, panicked way. His blocks were basically useless as he seemed to get slashed by every swings. Shanks hopped back and stood for a second as everyone stared at the marine. He felt to his knees in slow motion as he exploded in his own blood and felt apart in a sloppy mess. Emma nearly puked as a line of blood streaked itself across her face. "C'mon. Hopefully you will give me something, Big Guy. Your friends were no fun."
"I'll give you something, alright," he said much too close and a sudden hand wrapped around Emma's throat. Without warning a barrage of red bolts struck the man and he, well, turned to dust. Emma fell a decent ways down and collapsed to catch her breath. She was shaking uncontrollably. This was the first true fight between powerful people she had ever witnessed in person and she was part of it. "I warned you," he grumbled darkly, sheathing his sword back. Shanks knelt beside of her. "I should've been more careful, you okay?" He asked worriedly, none of his previous anger present.
"Y-Yea, I'm great. Just kind of shocked, not hurt." He helped her up. They both looked at the many bystanders cautiously walking towards them. "Well this wasn't exactly the way I wanted it to go," Shanks swiped his hand through his hair. It fell into its natural place, exposing the scars. The townspeople didn't seem angry, and only slightly wary. A young girl had run up to them and tugged on Shanks' cloak. He bent down to be eye level. "Are the bad guys gone now?"
"Bad guys?" He questioned.
"They took my big brother! Mommy said they took daddy too!" The girl teared up. Shanks placed a hand on top of her head and wiped the hair from her face. "It's okay. They won't take anyone anymore."
"So-so they won't take Eric?" The girl asked happily.
"They won't take Eric," Shanks confirmed. A woman walked up and took a hold of the young girl's hand. "Sorry about Alexis. She's a very, um, outgoing child." The woman didn't even seem scared. Shanks stood. "What did she mean? They took people?" He asked.
"Those marines moved in to this island a couple months ago and took any men and children old enough to fight. They left the women here to take care of the children too young still. They tore families apart, but no one was able to fight them. Thank you," the woman smiled. "May I ask however, what is a pirate such as yourself doing on an island like this? We are near nothing exciting."
"We needed another safe island-"
"Captain!" Came a sudden voice as footsteps slowed to them. "I was on the other side of the island when I felt you use-" Yasopp stopped talking when he saw the sword wasn't hidden and his face was exposed. "What happened?"
"There were marine admirals here. They saw me and I had no choice but to fight. Seemed to have been the right choice though. They were recruiting this island."
"But that's only legal during times of war!"
"I know. It doesn't matter now though. They're dead."
Yasopp stared intently at the captain. "What's wrong with you?" Shanks' eye suddenly cleared. Emma hadn't even noticed that they were foggy until they weren't anymore.
"Woah! I was beginning to worry it wasn't going to wear off!" Shanks said suddenly more cheerful again.
"What?" Yasopp seemed to be less worried also.
"One of them had some type of fog devil fruit. I haven't been able to see for the past few minutes. Was kind of worried when it didn't instantly wear off after he died," explained Shanks.
"Oh! That's a relief," Yasopp breathed with a hand over his chest. "For a second I thought you were mad at me for something." Emma laughed.
"Is she okay? There's blood on her face," Yassop stated.
"What?!" Shanks spun around quickly to examine her face before realizing it wasn't her blood but that of the marine. Shanks then spun again to face Yasopp and whack him on the head. "Ow!"
"Don't say it like that you idiot! I thought she was hurt!" Yasopp began to laugh. "Sor-ry," he gasped in between breaths. "But is this island good now? They saw us so do we-"
"You can use this island for anything you need and for as long as you need," the women stated. "I'm Mrs. Canessa, Mayor of the island." Shanks smiled kindly at her. "Thank you."
"But if I hear that you did anything you better beware," she said and Emma wasn't sure if she was joking or not. Shanks raised his hand in innocence. "You have my word that nothing bad will come from me or my crew."
"Good," she walked off.
"Yasopp, you get a boat?"
"Yea, I left it at the shop when I ran here."
"Then let's go get it. Emma?" Shanks looked back to the woman, who was now clear of blood.
"Screw the boat! I still need to get the clothes!"
This didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it since I had it nearly finished when everything vanished and I had to rewrite it all. I had some really good lines in my first draft that I liked but can't remember :( Even though, I hope everyone liked it. The next chapter will probably take a little longer to come out but I'll try my best. Bye!