Man, you had no idea how frustrated I was when I was writing this chapter. Seriously, I was like AHH! WHAT THE HECK! Yeah, I was really frustrated. XD
Note: For those of you that haven't noticed already, I tend to update every ten days, (eleven for the different time zones people) twelve to fourteen if I'm really really really frustrated or lazy. XP I tried aiming for a week but that's never going to happen.
Thank you to the following people for reviewing: Juliedoo, Origami44, Ashlyn-i, Trich, and cOOkieGirl1718.
You get cookies and love from me. X)
Note #2: Please leave a comment! (I'll cry if you don't. Xl) The crying thing was a joke, lol. But anyway, again, please review. I would like to feel some love. XD
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece! I only own my beloved character and plot. :P
The Cat's Predicaments
Chapter 3: The Foolish Feline
Kyrano Island was in sight.
Felicia could see the island's dark shape. A couple more hours and she would arrive at treasure island. She had dubbed Kyrano island treasure island due to the fact that it contained treasures. It was a 'tradition' that she always did whenever she went treasure hunting.
Thinking about treasures made her excited. The woman had a huge love for them. People called it greed but she wasn't willing to admit to it. She just really loved treasures.
It was midnight when Felicia finally arrived and docked at the island. Because of the fact that she was on a new island, she decided to explore.
From the info she got by reading the map that she had stolen, Kyrano island was a doughnut shaped island; it resembled a doughnut so much that it even had the hole in the middle. The island contained two towns: Sodom, which was on the left side and Gomorrah, which was on the right. The hole in the middle of the island was a small lake and was a tourist attraction. The docks (the closest location that Felicia was near from any others) were located on the bottom half of the island while the upper half contained a huge forest. The rest of the island was covered in lush green grass with few forests here and there, and the edges of the island were sandy beaches.
The red X mark (the sign for the treasure) was planted in the middle of a huge forest that she had noticed earlier and was labeled as 'The Cushite Forest' on the map. It stretched from Sodom to Gomorrah, covering more area than any other forests and in the smack middle of the forest was a small clearing just like the hole in the island.
The woman, who decided to explore the towns for any info or news, stuffed the map back in her bag and began her walk to the first town, Sodom.
...
Usually there would be some activity in a town during night whether it was bars or late night shops but Sodom wasn't like that. Sodom was different. Every shop was closed, even the bars. There were no lights, causing the town to be covered in darkness. The streets were empty and there was not a single sound.
If it wasn't for the fact that she could hear the faint heartbeats from the nearby houses, Felicia would've thought it was a deserted town.
Seeing that there was nothing much to do and no person to ask questions, Felicia hurriedly got out of the quiet town and headed for Gomorrah.
Gomorrah was the opposite of Sodom at night. Gomorrah's streets were filled with bright lights. There were stalls on the side of the streets, selling all kinds of things. The streets were full of people and filled with the noise of chatter and occasional laughter. It was loud and lively.
"Umm, excuse me. Do you know how long it takes for the log post to set?" she asked a nearby stall owner.
"Traveler?" he questioned while examining her.
Felicia nodded.
"The log post takes two days to set," the man said.
"Thanks. Also, I was wondering about the town Sodom, how come-"
"How come it's so quiet?" the stall owner said, cutting her off.
The woman shuffled, a bit annoyed at being cut off but nodded.
"Sodom is a day town," he stated while he adjust the display items on his stall.
Felicia looked at him questioningly.
"Travelers," he muttered in annoyance but continued, "Sodom is only active during the day and when it hits night, they're out, done. They won't open, at all, and no one is awake. Gomorrah is the opposite; it's a night town. We're active during the night, and when it hits day, we're also out. Like Sodom, we don't open once we're out."
"Oh," she said.
The stall owner rolled his eyes. "There, I answered all your questions. Now go away. I have customers to tend to," the man said, shooing Felicia away before she could ask another question.
The woman's annoyance grew but she didn't say anything and instead looked for someone else to ask.
While she strolled along the streets, she noticed that male, female, adult, young, all kinds of people were awake in this town. Felicia felt like she fit in with the town a bit because like her, they all thrived during the night.
After her conversation with the stall owner, Felicia felt a bit curious about Sodom so she decided, painstakingly, that she would sacrifice her hours of sleep to explore Sodom. Hopefully, it would be worth it. Plus, she still had questions that no one had answered yet.
...
Felicia's stomach growled while she walked the streets of Sodom. She hadn't eaten anything the previous night and she was too busy exploring the day town to stop for a bite. Sodom was different from Gomorrah. Instead of modern and casual like the night town, everything was refined and elegant.
The woman had come to the conclusions for the two towns; Sodom was the one with all the fancy shops, expensive restaurants, elegant bars while Gomorrah was the one with all the rickety stands and stalls, casual places to eat, and bars that tended to be filled with fighting.
She had wandered around the town for the entire morning after her trip to Gomorrah and felt the sun's burning heat though she didn't mind at all, in fact, she enjoyed it. Summer, the island's season, was her favorite though she mentally made a note to change clothes when she got back to her boat. Her dark black jacket, slightly thick pants, and winter gloves with fur lining were starting to make her sweat.
Felicia hated to admit it, but she regretted choosing to explore Sodom. She could've been off somewhere sleeping right now.
Her stomach rumbled again, breaking her train of thoughts.
She sighed and obliged to her stomach's wishes, heading to a small restaurant nearby.
"Welcome!" a high pitched voice shouted, causing her to flinch uncomfortably.
"Party of one?" the host asked.
Felicia nodded.
"Right this way."
The black haired woman was led to a small two person table.
"Your server will be right with you," the host said and left.
The woman quickly scanned the menu and picked some pasta with a name that she couldn't remember.
While waiting for the waiter, she looked around.
The inside of the restaurant was painted cream white and chandeliers that shined dimly were hung on the ceilings. The chairs and tables were the same as the one she sat at, all black except for the white clothing covering the table's surface.
All in all, the restaurant gave off the same feeling as the town did.
In the corner of her eye, she could see a man approaching.
"Are you ready to order?" the waiter asked.
"Yes, could I get the uh, pasta that has the white sauce with the, uh, melted cheese?"
"The Sodom's signature pasta?" he suggested.
"Yes!"
"It'll be coming right up," he stated and collected her menu. Seeing that he began to leave, she spoke.
"Uh," she said quickly causing him to stop and look at her.
"I was wondering, do pirates tend to visit this island often?"
"Pirates? Pirates never dock at this island," he answered.
Satisfied, Felicia said her thanks and the waiter left.
Moments later and having been served her food, she thought about what she was going to do.
Instead of grabbing the treasure now, Felicia could grab it later. Knowing that pirates haven't appeared on Kyrano Island for a while made her relax a little, but the thing that made her the most relaxed was the summer heat. She could spend her time on the island relaxing and basking in the heat.
Though somewhere in the back of her mind, Felicia knew that it should be treasure first and relaxing second, but she didn't want to waste a single moment on this island. If there was one thing that Felicia loved more than treasures and jewels, it was summer.
...
Night had hit and Felicia had changed into a black button up shirt with sleeves that reached to her elbows , white cotton pants, and thin black leather gloves.
With her eyes closed and her long black hair spread out, she had simply lain there on the soft sandy beach near her boat. She was basking in the heat and quietly listening to the sound of lapping waves.
She knew that she would have to get the sand out of her hair later, but at the moment she didn't care.
Peaceful moments without any nightmares rarely came for her and she was going take advantage of this rare moment.
So Felicia lay there all night, not moving one bit until she fell asleep when morning came.
...
Felicia was woken up by a huge explosion somewhere near her. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and got up. She could see smoke rising in the air.
A bit ticked at having her sleep be disturbed, the amber eyed woman headed towards the direction of the smoke, intending to yell at whoever caused the explosion.
Felicia made sure to keep a safe distance away from the small waves of water washing up the beach, she didn't want to be caught in them, considering the fact that she would become an anchor once she was dragged into the ocean.
While Felicia walked along the beach and got closer to the docks, she could see that the smoke was coming from one peculiar ship.
The woman stopped and gazed at the ship from a distance. The ship that harbored the smoke and probably the culprit of the explosion as well was probably the biggest out of all the others at the dock. It towered over the normal ships and it made her think that her small boat was pathetic in comparison to the huge ship.
What also stood out about this ship was the fact that the other ships were nowhere near the huge ship, as if they were avoiding it.
Felicia had a nagging suspicion about the huge ship, a suspicion that included pirates owning the ship. But she didn't know any pirate crews that were big enough to fit the ship, at least none that stuck in her mind.
Wary, Felicia decided to drop the issue and instead got ready to travel to the Cushite Forest; knowing that once woken up, she couldn't go back to sleep.
...
Felicia had finally arrived at the Cushite Forest after the hours of hiking from the bottom part of the island to the upper part. She unconsciously brushed back a strand of hair that had entangled itself on her ear cuff while she made sure that her mask was on securely. Whether it was pirate hunting or treasure hunting, she preferred to be masked. The fewer people who knew her identity, the easier it was to stay out of trouble; her alter ego tended to make a lot more enemies than she usually would.
Dressed in a regular all black outfit that she usually wore as 'Cat' and with the mask on tightly, she was ready to head into the forest. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt like she was missing something but couldn't remember what.
Felicia, knowing that every step brought her closer to the treasure, began to pick up her pace. Her heart started beating with the familiar excitement of treasure hunting and her fast pace of walking had now turned into a run with silent footsteps. As she drew nearer and nearer, her heart started to pound even faster. And when she dashed out into the open area of where the treasure was...Felicia was crushed by the sight in front her.
"Well, what do we have here?" an amused voice said.
There in the small clearing, a blond haired man stood a couple meters away from her with a group of pirates (his crew mates, she assumed). His half lidded eyes gave him the look that he was half asleep, and his face was expressionless except for the slightly amused grin stretched across his face and there was a large blue tattoo on his chest of a cross and a crescent moon mustache attached to it.
She recognized the man's face, she had seen it on her stack of bounty posters, he was Marco the Phoenix, First Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
And he and his crew mates were all surrounding an open chest, the treasure chest.
And then the reality hit her, hard, crushing her even more. Pirates had gotten to the treasure first, they had gotten there before her.
And the waiter said that pirates never docked at Kyrano Island.
Beta'd By: (The Awesome) Everlude
(So awesome that this space is reserved for only her!)