A Similar Path.
Chapter 2.
Is There a Doctor in the House?
Silva was once again sat in the drinker's pub, and was becoming painfully aware that he couldn't leave the island until he either made friends with someone who owned a boat or earned enough to buy his own. With his limited social skills he felt the latter would be more likely to come first. Behind him a large man with a gnarled beard and long jacket stomped towards him.
He surreptitiously glanced back at the incoming figure. He was definitely a pirate, or at least the 'I bought these clothes in a costume shop now I'm gonna do me some plundering' kind of person that passed for pirates round here. Silva didn't bother asking the guy if he had a bounty, it was obvious he didn't. Just another guy trying to make a name for himself in the local area as quick as he knew how, by defeating someone people were already talking about. The straw hat guy had already moved on so Silva was the only one left with any kind of reputation.
Even though he had only taken down two small time pirate crews, Silva had somehow gotten a reputation with the locals as a powerful pirate hunter who was invincible. Silva shook his head at the thought of it, the Gusha Gusha no mi did have some extraordinary plus sides; he was impervious to swords and bullets but when something hit him, it hurt like hell and if it hit him hard enough could cause some major internal injuries. Only his skin was like steel his insides were still squishy and delicate.
"Oi! I'm talking to you pip squeak." The pirate bellowed behind him. Silva focused on what was being said. "I said 'that's my seat'." The pirate grinned coldly underneath all of his facial hair, waiting for the reaction.
"Oooh dammit not again." The barman whined throwing the rag he was using to dry a glass at the floor.
You gotta be kidding me. Silva thought lowering his head. It's not worth the hassle. He stood up suddenly, causing the pirate to jump back a couple steps. "You're right this is your seat." Silva tried to look as genuinely embarrassed by the 'mix up' as possible. "I'll go sit somewhere else."
"W-What?" The pirate stuttered, taken aback by the response, it wasn't what he had expected. "I mean er. Yeah you better do." He turned and raised a triumphant fist at his crewmates who let go of their sheathed swords and cheered.
Silva walked over to the bar and ordered another drink. The barman leant forward over the bar. "Thanks chief." He said mopping the beads of sweat from his brow. "Last thing I need is another fight going on in this place, especially now that the marines are on the island to make sure the buggy incident doesn't happen again."
"Aw come on darlin' there's no need to be like that." The voice came from where Silva had been sitting before. Silva swivelled on his bar stool to see what was happening. The bearded pirate captain was holding a red haired girl by the wrist. The rest of the crew had surrounded her, blocking her exit.
"Let go of me." She said struggling to free herself from the leering pirates grip.
Silva took a swig of his beer then placed it on the bar and stood up. "Sorry guy, but I can't jus' sit by and watch this. It ain't right." A look of understanding spliced with depression spread across the barman's face he slowly sank down to take cover behind the bar as Silva turned his attention back toward the pirates.
"That's it!" The girl shouted. She grabbed the arm of the pirate holding her wrist and swung him over her shoulder flinging him into a table of glasses on the other side of the room.
After a moment of stunned silence the rest of the pirates closed in. She kicked the first pirate to approach hard in the shin then floored the pirate next to him before grabbing the hopping pirate by the head and slamming it, into and through, a nearby table. Silva watched in stunned fascination as the pirates were knocked down one by one.
On closer inspection Silva became aware that the girl was quite attractive, she was about eighteen and her red hair was cut ear length, she was quite tall for a girl at around five foot nine and had lightly tanned skin. She wore a white T-shirt that was ever so slightly to short for her and black cargo shorts that tapered just above the knee, on her feet she wore black ankle high boots with steel toe caps. The thing that stood out most to Silva was how her almost obsidian eyes sparkled while she fought, she was obviously enjoying it. Silva watched in awe as the girl smacked around the grown men with ease. The captain had just gotten up from his impact at the beginning of the fight and snuck up behind the girl with his curved blade readied, he was lazily smacked aside and into another table by Silva who was also approaching the girl.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Those were some impr-"
"Get the fuck off me perv!" She spun round and knocked away his arm in a single fluid motion, in the same motion she swung her leg up with full force. Her eyes widened as she saw he wasn't one of the pirates but it was too late to stop the kick now. Her eyes widened even more as her leg hit Silva in the crotch, her eyes watered as it was like kicking an anchor, Silva's eyes also widened then crossed momentarily before he slumped bow legged to his knees. The girl grabbed her shin and hopped around the bar until she bumped into the bar itself and tumbled backwards over it.
Silva slowly rose to his feet still cupping the origin of his pain. At that moment several marines barged in through the front door.
"Everybody stop th-" The marine stopped mid sentence and stared dumbstruck at the carnage. Most of the tables were smashed and bodies were strewn about the floors, chairs and one was even dangling from the chandelier. The girl was still lying behind the bar gripping her shin and using language that would make a sailor blush. The barman stood up to see Silva at the centre of the bombsite that was his bar.
"You've destroyed it. You bastard it's ruined." He pointed accusingly at Silva who was unable to speak on account of him still being winded from his recent injury.
"You're coming with us." The marine said clutching him by the arm and dragging him out the door. He was in too much pain to put up any kind of resistance.
(-)
About half way to the marine base Silva recovered from the below the belt shot he had received and took this opportunity to bolt. He yanked apart the rope that bound his hands and sprinted out of the marines grasp. They instantly began pursuing him. He sprinted down the damaged street he had fought on the other day and past the smashed fountain, heading down the street to his right. While running he saw another figure running toward him with another large mob of marines behind him.
The figure was a man in a black and grey hooded top with the sleeves cut off, he had baggy grey camo cargo pants tucked into brown leather knee high boots. His face was obscured by the hood and a red balaclava which had rope cross stitched across it to look like a mouth, as the man quickly got closer he could see his bright green eyes which almost glowed in the depths of his hood. The two men followed by equally large crowds were converging on the same point which luckily for them was a T-junction.
They both turned down the connecting road which caused the two large groups of marines to form a single massive force. The man who was now running alongside Silva glanced across at him, although you couldn't see his expression in the shadows cast by the hood the movement of facial muscles had the same effect on the balaclava which moved the stitched mouth into a smile. He then pulled the circular shield off his back and gestured a hand over it before Frisbee-ing it out of sight onto the roof of a building. He then gestured a hand ahead of him, air appeared to form a small flowing ring on his palm and a whole framed by a green glow appeared on the ground where his hand was pointing. The man jumped into the air and placed his hands and feet together in an over theatrical diving position then disappeared into the whole which closed up behind him. Silva's jaw dropped and his eyes bulged in a combination of shock and anger he couldn't draw his eyes away from where the man had been running next to him.
He managed to drag his gaze back to the road ahead of him just in time to see the building he ploughed into. He smashed through the wall shattering the entire side of the building; the marines following him slid to a halt in unison and watched the two story building collapse. Silva was pinned down by the rubble his head just about poked out above the debris. He looked up at the roofline, his vision was blurry but he could just make out the outline of a hooded figure that raised his right hand and gave a little wave. Silva responded with a gesture of his own, though his only consisted of a single digit.
(-)
In the temporary marine base that had been thrown together, Silva sat on an uncomfortable wooden chair staring at the ceiling. He was trying his best not to make the situation any worse by doing something stupid like talking.
"Well, this is your lucky day kid." The marine said closing the door behind him. "Due to your recent help with catching some wanted pirates and because the guys in the pub were also pirates we have decided to let you off with a fine. That being said you will still need to pay for damages to the bar. The abandoned house you ran into was scheduled for demolition which means you don't need to worry about that. So all in all." The marine finished tapping away at a calculator. "You need to pay fifteen million beri."
"What! No way you gotta be-" The marine raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Yeah. Fifteen million. Sure."
(-)
Silva rubbed his wrists and shielded his eyes from the sunlight. Sighed, and then began walking to the drinkers pub to let the barman know that he needed to collect his money from the marines. A task that he personally felt was a bit too much like rubbing salt into the gaping wound to his wallet. At least he didn't end up in prison that was a relief, but he still thought about all the money he had lost, at this rate he would never get a boat. It was getting quite late, the dark orange sun was slowly sinking into the horizon and the townspeople were going home for the night. Silva walked happily through the empty streets then stopped, suddenly. He glared at a figure in a courtyard adjacent to the road he was on.
"You!" He pointed at the hooded man and ran towards him.
"Oh it's you. They let you out then." His voice was muffled but was still perfectly audible, the stitched mouth moved as he spoke. "I thought you were a goner when tha-" A fist connected with his face knocking him backwards with incredible force. The man flipped over backwards placing a hand on the floor to slow his momentum. He righted himself and touched the point on his face that had been punched.
"I'm impressed. People are usually out after a direct hit." Silva commented as he loosened his tie. He unbuttoned his top two buttons and the buttons on his sleeves before rolling them up to elbow height. "What's your name?"
"My sister can punch harder than you. And the name's York White. I'm guessing you're still mad about before huh? Mr… uhm I didn't catch your name either."
"Silva. Silva Rook, it's a pleasure I'm sure. Now we gonna do this or are you gonna flit off somehow like you did with the marines?" Silva cracked his knuckles and smiled. He didn't necessarily fight out of anger. He genuinely felt a fight could tell you everything you could want to know about someone. "I wanna find out who you really are."
"How could I refuse such an interesting proposition?" York took off his single strap bag and threw it into a corner. "Whenever you're ready."
Silva ran toward his opponent, York did the same. Silva swung a straight right punch which was dodged and followed by a high round house kick toward his head; he brought up his arm and blocked with his forearm then quickly went for a left handed hook. York anchored his foot on Silva's blocking position and black flipped off him landing a few foot away. He immediately jumped five foot into the air and attempted a flying kick which was punched away with enough force to spin him round and unleash another kick in mid air with his other leg. The second kick connected with Silva's chest making him stagger backwards. He quickly regained his composure and respond with a torrent of rapid punches that made him appear to have more than two arms.
York gambolled out the way and was immediately back to his feet. He ran up a nearby wall as Silva charged towards him and flipped backwards over Silva's head then kicked him in the ribs. The impact knocked the wind out of him for a second, This guy is good. He thought as he blocked a quick succession of airborne attacks.
Suddenly Silva picked up speed, he punched with his left hand then quickly spun round and connected a back handed fist with York who attempted to block but was knocked sideways anyway. The hooded man flew toward a wall with enough force to smash through it, as he hurtled toward the building he quickly gestured toward the wall with one hand and toward Silva with the other. Silva noticed the small ring of air like before and a whole opened up in the wall, outlined in blue this time.
Silva looked down in time to see York come out of a green trimmed hole in the floor in front of him and uppercut him in the chin lifting him off the ground and up into the second story of the building behind him. He shook his head and pushed of some of the debris, he thought there was a ringing in his ears but it turned out to be the screaming of the woman whose bedroom wall he had just burst through. He stood up and dropped down out of the hole he had created with his entrance. The screaming woman fainted when the excitement all became too much.
"Hmm that was… interesting." Silva said cracking his neck as he and York circled each other. "How'd you do that?"
"It's my devil fruit ability. I ate the ana ana no mi. It allows me to create portals between two flat surfaces. It's how I escaped the marines earlier. I'm guessing you have a devil fruit of your own as that was like punching a battleship." He replied flexing his fingers experimentally. The two men were still smiling, well Silva was and York's balaclava was, so you would have to assume.
"Gusha Gusha no mi. I'm like a human hammer." Silva looked up at the darkening sky. "So now we both know each other a little better. You wanna go all out?" York nodded his green eyes glowing brighter in the moonlight.
York made the first move this time and sprinted toward Silva with unbelievable speed, he was just a blur. Silva responded instinctively, "Gusha Gusha Piston." He fired out the metallic pillar toward the incoming York who jumped up so he landed on top of the attack and was taken toward the wall of the building behind him. He quickly gestured with both hands a hole opened up behind him. He appeared behind Silva and planted two feet into his back knocking him forwards then fell back through the hole appearing out of the wall and getting ready to punch Silva in the face.
Silva looked up with a grin then grabbed him by the face, yanked him out and slammed him into the floor, "Gusha piston." The pillar extended once more and hit York in the stomach but just pushed him through a hole he had made in the floor and out of the hole he had just been pulled out of. The pillar slammed him into Silva's back, which was like being put in a trash compactor, the force knocked Silva forward his hand returned to normal. York landed on his feet and drew two tanto blades from the sheath's on the back of his belt.
"Oo getting fired up." Silva smirked. York quickly put a portal behind Silva and underneath himself, he came out of the portal upside down slashed Silva across the back producing a fountain of sparks then disappeared back down the hole just before Silva swung his fist round to find nothing. York shot past him from behind and slashed his back again. Silva crouched placing both fists on the floor, "Gusha Gusha Lift." Two pillars pushed against the floor and raised Silva high up above towering buildings. His hands returned to normal for a moment. "Gusha Gusha Jack Hammer." Silva unleashed a torrent of punches which all extended out into pillars and hit the floor with such speed he looked like he had several arms. York slid and weaved round the attacks which tore up the stone floor beneath him. Silva landed with a booming thud, amongst the shattered rocks protruding from the ground.
"You missed." York said with a cheeky grin. He spun each of his tanto blades in his hands one after another. He gestured at the floor and behind Silva. Nothing happened; he looked up at Silva who smirked.
"Oh yeah!" He punched forward. "Gusha piston!" The attack caught York's shoulder with a crack as he narrowly avoided the full hit.
"Taking away the floors flat surfaces. That's clever." York said rotating his injured shoulder. "Looks like this is the last push." He was a blur as he darted straight at Silva; he ran up his chest planting a foot in his face then pushed off into a back flip while simultaneously throwing his shield onto the floor. A portal appeared on the shields flat surface which York disappeared into.
"No way." Silva shouted, annoyed but impressed. He looked around quickly but couldn't see York anywhere.
"Yo!" York came out of the sky with his blades ready, swinging them as one. Silva looked up just in time to see him. York managed a single slash which snapped the blades clean off and was instantly punched in the stomach the fist then became a pillar that smacked him through a wall into the empty town hall. Silva looked down at the two blades that had stabbed into a wall after they ricocheted of his face; he felt a shooting pain in the right hand side of his forehead. He touched his face then looked at his hand, blood trickled down his fingers. Dammit. He fell forwards with a tin like clatter.
(-)
Moon light flooded into the courtyard from the opening above, York and Silva sat back to back in amongst the wreckage from their fight. The ground was a cracked mass of rocks protruding like stalagmites. The buildings around the courtyard were littered with holes and fractures with two blades sticking out from the final attack.
"That was fun." Silva eventually said. He was still slightly out of breath but the minute nick on his forehead had clotted much to his relief, he hadn't seen his own blood in a long time.
"Yeah." York let out a little laugh then winced clutching his stomach. "I would have had you if you weren't built like a tank."
"Yeah maybe. We'll never know will we." He looked up at the stars.
"To hell with that. I'm gonna get some better equipment, instead of those fragile pieces of shit. And when I do, it's gonna go differently." He spluttered, coughing up some blood and spitting it onto the floor. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I came here lookin' for a doctor. Jack Bluedock. I had ideas of becoming' a pirate and thought a doctor, as talented as this guys supposed to be, would come in useful. Couldn't find him anywhere. Illusive bastard. I can't get off this rotten island anyway as I got no boat and lose all my money in fines." He punched the floor which produced a boom and a perfect fist shaped indentation in the rubble.
"I've got a boat. You know. If you need a ride out of here. I'm leaving in a day or so. Meet me at the port if you want to come with. It's the least I can do for shredding your fancy man blouse." York stood up still nursing his ribs. Then he picked up his shield and hurled it into the air, it disappeared into the distance then York disappeared moments afterward.
(-)
Silva slowly stumbled into the bar as a stumble was all his aching joints could take. If I'm gonna do this pirate thing for real I gotta get in shape. He walked up to the bar and knocked on the wooden surface, chipping a few centimetres into it. "Yo, anyone here?" The barman walked out then quickly turned to walk back through the door. "Hey Ossan, I got a message for ya'." The old man flinched. "No not like that yuh' moron. The marines said if ya' want the money for the damage ya' gotta fetch it ya'self." The old man turned round looking more pleased at this part. He hurried past and out the broken door.
"Hey." The voice came from behind, it was female and he recognised it. Silva turned round to see the red haired girl from before, though she looked different. She was smiling now instead of the terrifying angry face he had seen before. She looked at the cut on his head. "Have you had that treated? It might only be small but it could get infected then your head would fall off." She thought it was funny. Silva just looked panicked.
She walked over and pulled a piece of cotton wool from a bag on her shoulder. She leaned past Silva and grabbed a bottle of vodka from behind the bar and tipped some on the wool. "Hold still." She prodded the alcohol soaked wool onto the tiny wound. Silva's screams could be heard in a two mile radius. "Oh man up you big baby. I'm a doctor." She said when she'd done. Silva had fallen off his stool and was shielding his head. He shuffled crab like backwards.
"Devil woman. You jus' bring me pain." He whimpered. "Wait did you say doctor?" He shuffled closer again in much the same fashion. "I've been looking for a doctor."
"Jack Bluedock. Medical genius." She grinned and held out a hand.
"What?"
A/N: Hey thanks for reading hope it was ok. Thank you Cocoasit for my first character and what a character she is, I was very happy that I got such a good one straight away. If there is anything not right about her please let me know and I will do my best to fix it next chapter. Please review and submit characters. Peace.