Hey there! I don't think I'll be able to finish this story before I leave on vacation. But I'll see how far I get and then, when I come back, I give you plenty of chapters! So enjoy!
Disclaimer: Yeah...I don't own One Piece...
Caout stared, utterly confused, at the figure standing in front of her. When she had heard that voice, she had expected some big, scary and super menacing figure to be its owner. She thought she was about to face off against whoever "they" had sent after her.
She hadn't expected a little girl…
The girl looked to be just about Caout's age. She was standing several feet away from Caout, her hands on her hips and frowning. She had waist length pink hair tied back in a ponytail. She stared at Caout with her cerulean blue eyes, half closed as though she was tired. She had on an orange, sleeveless, knee length dress with a white bow around her waist. Around her neck was a silver chain, with a circular pendant hanging off of it. Caout stared curiously at the girl's arms. Her left arm had a scar in the middle that ran from the top of the arm all the way to her elbow. It looked as though someone had sliced her arm open at some point. In the middle of the upper half of her right arm was a decently sized gold band that clung snugly to her.
But what interested Caout the most about this girl was the fact that she was barefoot.
"Excuse me," the girl said dully, "Could you not stare at my feet? It's kind of weird."
"Sorry," Caout said, though she didn't stop staring, "Man, did you feel that wind? It blew me clear out of the tree! And now, it's so peaceful…"
"Mother Nature is unpredictable," the girl replied, still emotionless, "Plus, the higher up one is, the stronger the wind feels…"
"Huh…" Caout said as she looked up at the branch she fell from, "That would explain it…Good thing I didn't die!"
Caout laughed and then turned her face towards the girl. She was still frowning at her, her face looking like she couldn't care less about anything.
She's a mystery girl... Caout thought. So calm and cool…Weird.
"Now what are you staring at?" the girl asked, her voice still the same.
"Are you tired or something?" Caout asked, "You sound bored…And your eyes are half open."
"I feel perfectly fine," she responded, "Now, I'd like to know why you were eating the fruits in those trees. Don't you know that they belong to someone?"
"Yeah, I knew! The lady said I could have some."
"The key word there is some," the girl said, "You had a little more that some."
The girl motioned around her, pointing out the trees that Caout had stripped bare. Caout looked around and smiled sheepishly. Maybe she had taken advantage of the woman's offer…Just a little…
"It will take forever for these trees to replace those fruits," the girl said as she shook her head, "They have a lot of work ahead of them. And that woman lost a lot of revenue because you decided to be a pig…"
Caout growled at the girl. It was annoying enough that she was insulting her. But it was twice as bad because she was saying that with such a monotone voice!
"So who are you supposed to be, huh?" Caout asked, a little pissed off, "That lady's employee? Or maybe her daughter or something?"
"I'm an orphan. I'm nobody's daughter," the girl said bluntly.
Caout rubbed the back of her head, a little embarrassed.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said kind of nervously, "If it makes you feel better, I'm parentless too…I guess…sort of."
The girl looked Caout over. She took a few steps towards her. Caout tensed up a little, wondering what the girl was going to do. When she came within a couple feet of Caout, the girl stuck her arm out. Caout looked down at it curiously and back up at the girl's emotionless face.
"I'm Nyshairyn Tide," she said, "I'm eight years old."
Caout's eyes widened slightly from surprise. But she took the hand and gave the girl a firm handshake.
"The name's Listerra D. Caout! I'm eight, too!"
The girl named Tide broke her arm free of Caout's crushing grip. Caout smiled while Tide rubbed her hand.
"So…Ny-share-rin?" Caout enunciated slowly, "That's a pretty odd name, isn't it?"
"And 'List-terra' isn't a weird name?" the girl said back, also enunciating the name.
Okay, it was official now…Caout wasn't fond of this girl.
"Don't make fun of my name!" she shouted at Tide, "You know, just for that, I'm only going to call you Nyshairyn! Don't ever expect to hear your first name out of me!"
Caout turned away from Tide, her arms crossed in front of her.
"Very well then," Tide said, "I'll only call you Listerra."
"Fine, you weirdo Nyshairyn girl!" Caout said.
The silence between them lasted around ten seconds…
"So," Caout said suddenly, turning back around, "Why are you barefoot?"
"I like to feel the earth beneath my feet," Tide responded simply.
Caout looked at Tide…More like stared. She had a look of utmost concentration on her face, as though she was pondering something really important. Tide was about to ask what was going on when…
"I never thought one existed…" Caout said in awe, "So, I'm not sure what to call you…"
"What are you talking-?"
"You're a hippie…"
Tide stared dumbfounded at Caout. Well, one really couldn't tell she was dumbfounded. Her face was still blank…No emotion…But she was dumbfounded, alright!
"But you're not a hippie either," Caout said to herself.
Caout closed her eyes, apparently in an intense thinking mode. Tide half-expected smoke to start pouring out of the girl's ears. Then, Caout's eyes snapped open. She smiled broadly and clapped her hands together.
"I know!" she exclaimed, "You're an anti-anti-hippie!"
One could probably hear a pin drop from a mile away…Yeah, it was that quiet in that forest…
"'Anti-anti-hippie'?" Tide repeated slowly.
"Well, yeah!" Caout said, "You're not really a hippie…But you're not really an anti-hippie either. So, you are an anti-anti-hippie!"
"…You do realize the two 'anti's cancel each other out. So technically you're still calling me a hippie…"
Caout scoffed at Tide. What a stupid girl! She couldn't possibly understand the highly intricate logic behind the more than fitting term. How sad…Caout pitied her deeply.
Tide shook her head slowly. How in the world did she meet the most…unusual person on the planet? Sometimes, she felt that someone in heaven had it out for her…She truly did…Why else would all the crap that happened in her life have happened?
What a weirdo…Caout and Tide thought simultaneously.
Somewhere on the waters, a few miles away from Garuka, was a decently sized boat. On this boat was a single man, lying on a chair, under the shade of an umbrella. He was humming softly to himself, a hand running through his greasy, almost white hair. If one would have seen him at that moment, one would probably be wondering the following: Why on earth is this man wearing a cloak on such a boiling hot day?
A familiar ring of a Den-Den Mushi broke the silence. The man lazily reached inside his cloak and pulled out the item.
"Reo," a voice said the second the man opened it, "Have you found that brat yet?"
"Sorry, Master," Reo said calmly, "I haven't run across her just yet."
"Damn it, Reo! You had better catch that bitch soon! I can't believe she was able to escape! Who knows how far she has gotten? She's been missing for a week!"
"Don't worry, Master," Reo said coolly, "I went to that island, Serafus. After all, it's closest to where we are so I would think she would head there first. I questioned everyone at the docks. A bunch of men said they saw a little girl fitting her description hopping inside a box and floating out to sea a few days earlier."
"A box? Great God, for all we know that kid is dead!"
"I wouldn't think so…After all, our little girl is pretty strong-willed. She is the Pirate King's daughter after all. She wouldn't get herself killed so easily."
"You had better be right…" the man known as Master growled darkly, "For your sake…"
Reo chuckled as he stowed the Den-Den Mushi back in his cloak. He was still surprised that the girl had managed to find a way out. Well, it was a clever ruse she pulled. And now he was on a retrieval mission…How amusing…
What was more amusing was how mad that man back on Serafus had gotten when he, Reo, had tried to take his boat. Said that that boat was his…That it was the boat he used to fish. He wouldn't be able to feed his family without it.
"I'm glad we finally came to an understanding…" Reo chuckled lowly.
If one looked closely at the bow of the ship, one might have noticed the stains on it…Dark stains that held a sickening odor.
"Why are you following me?" Tide asked for the umpteenth time.
She had thought that she had seen Caout for the final time when they parted ways in the forest. It took her merely a moment to realize that the girl was following her. Tide was beginning to think she was dealing with a stalker…She stopped and turned to confront Caout, who also paused. While Tide gave her the same look as when they had first seen each other, Caout smiled widely.
"Sorry," Caout said, "But you seem to know your way around here. I'm hopeless…"
"So, you want me to lead you back to the village?"
"Actually, I was hoping you could tell me a way off this island…Free passage, preferably…"
Tide sighed. What was with this girl? She comes to an island and has no idea how to get off it? How stupid could she be?
"Well, the port near the village is only for fishing vessels so you won't have any luck there," Tide said, "If you want a ship to another island, you'll have to go to the other harbor. But that's on the other side of the island."
"So you'll take me there!" Caout said hopefully.
"No," Tide said flatly, starting to walk away again. Caout ran in front of her.
"C'mon, Nyshairyn!" Caout pleaded, "I won't be able to find my way there myself."
"I said no, Listerra. There's only one clear route to the harbor and I am in no mood to use it."
"Why not?" Caout whined.
"I have my reasons," Tide said softly as she walked around Caout. Next thing she knew, Caout had grabbed onto her leg.
"But I've got to get off this island soon! You've got lead me to that harbor! Don't bother trying to give me directions because I'm hopeless. Please, Nyshairyn!"
"You'll have to find someone else, Listerra" Tide grunted as she struggled to break free of Caout's grip.
As the two argued, a muffled sound was coming from within the forest. Tide motioned with her hand for Caout to shut up. They both listened carefully as the sound grew louder and louder. Tide froze when she recognized the noise…
The shouting of men…
WHOO! You guys met Tide, who is my favorite character. Here's a little bit about her. She's two months older than Caout and just a bit taller. She has pretty long hair as mentioned in the story. She's constantly blowing her bangs out of her eyes. She has some things going on with her that you will slowly discover...She always, always has her eyes half closed and her mouth in a slight frown...No matter what...And she constantly speaks in the monotone voice...That's how she is...sort of...
I hope you enjoyed and once again...PLEASE REVIEW!