Bitterness
Author's Note: This one's a little shorter, so I'm posting this today. :D Oh, yeah. My review counter thingy seems to be broken—I only see 6 reviews…oh well.
UPDATE: Yay! The review-counter's not broken!
UnperfectButLovingIt: Here it is! I'm so happy you're so enthusiastic about my story!
Yamiroo Alice: I'm so happy that you like it! Thank you for the review!
Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 7
The docks sped towards her vision, and she saw Midnight. She raced across the docks and into the small 'caravel'. Once she was on, she grabbed the duffle bag, rushed into the cabins and found the navigation room. Dumping everything off, she started up everything. Luckily, the wind had picked up a tailwind and she was able to start off quickly.
She smiled softly, looking more peaceful than she cared to know. She adjusted some of the instruments, before pushing the 'Auto' button, one of the special features Pauli had created for her. Carefully, she touched the large screen in the desk, and a map of the Grandline came up. She zoomed in and then touched the screen with a special stylus and traced out a careful path to Reverse Mountain. The system beeped, and she grinned, scooping up the bags and walked to her personal cabin.
The room she opened up to was beautiful. A comfortable hammock swayed gently, suspended from the ceiling next to a window. A small closet stood, and next to it was a screen where she could change. A bathroom was directly connected to it, and it had the most amazing tub ever. A desk was pushed into the corner, with papers and books strewn about, and a small picture frame hung on the wall. She dumped her bags in the closet and pulled down the picture.
Inside the small time capsule, a man and a woman stood swinging a child between them. The man was handsome and smiling, the 'X' scar on his cheek giving him a slightly brash appearance. He looked lovingly at the woman, who was smiling back, the simple turn of her lips lighting up her face in a way that the photo had only captured a fraction fo that light. The small girl in between had a huge grin, obviously giggling with joy. It was a picture of what she had drawn, when her mother and father were still alive. Smiling, she talked to it.
"Hi Mom, Dad. How's it been for you two? Same old, huh? Well, I just came back from another adventure, and have I got the story to tell you guys…"
The Straw-Hats managed to get on Merry and set off, but they couldn't help but notice Luffy's downcast manner.
"Oi, get over it," Zoro said roughly, leaning against the wall. "You'll get more people for your crew." Luffy pouted.
"No, I want her on my crew! She's really, really strong!" Usopp shivered.
"Luffy, don't you know who she is?" Luffy shook his head. "She's 'Black Silk' Cain!" Usopp shivered, then started telling all he knew about the infamous pirate.
"She's a demon! She doesn't have any Devil Fruit, but she's so intelligent that she's got one of the highest bounties in the world! It's almost 400 million beli! And they say that she's not human—no one can be, with a bounty that high. Rumor has it that her father was Lord 'Akuma', a famous pirate born in Gold Roger's time! Supposedly, he took a block of alabaster, a piece of black silk, a ruby and a silver piece, and seaweed and poured Sea King blood over it, and there she was! Not only that, but she had fallen into the ocean when she was very little, and a Sea King nursed her back to health. She's a pitiless murderess and her thirst for blood can never be assuaged! Her skill with her sword is on par with lots of expert swordsmen! Not to mention that she can destroy a fleet of Navy ships singlehandedly and come out alive, and she hasn't even eaten a Devil Fruit! She's too dangerous!" Usopp finished, shivering. Luffy grinned wildly.
"That's why I want her to come on my crew!" he said happily. "Besides, she can't be as bad as they say. I mean, they said lots of stuff about Zoro and he's okay," Luffy said, patting Zoro's head. The santouryuu swordsman just grunted, trying to get to sleep and also processing what Usopp had said. That girl had spouted the same stuff that Sensei had always beat into his head, and the way she had deflected the bullet reminded him of Dracule Mihawk. Maybe…
Then Nami came in, with news about the entrance to the Grandline and its entrance.
Silk smiled as she saw the familiar shape of Reverse Mountain. She walked to the navigation room and switched off Autopilot. Reverse Mountain was tricky to navigate even for the computer that Pauli had installed, and she didn't particularly want to die. Also, there was a certain amount of respect that Reverse Mountain commanded, being the entrance to the Grandline, and also to her birth home.
Grabbing the wheel, she gently steered it towards the racing river. With a happy laugh, she eagerly started towards the top, where an old lighthouse keeper took care of a giant whale.
Silk wiped her forehead and pressed the button that would let down the anchor. The currents had been a little harder to navigate this time, but nothing she couldn't handle. She may not have been as freakishly strong as Whitebeard oji-sama, or either of her Nii-samas, but the ocean currents had nothing on her. Grinning, she ran out of the cabin and saw the familiar black head rising up to the sky.
"Laboon!" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth to make an impromptu megaphone. The whale turned around until his huge black eye saw her.
"BOOOH!" he called, and she laughed.
"Still that loud, huh? I swear, you got bigger since I was away!" she said, hugging what she could of the gigantic whale, who smiled and responded with another "BOOH!"
"Silk!" she heard, and turned to see Crocus on the cliff, waving. She laughed, using the grappling hook in her pocket to get her up there.
"Crocus!" she said, hugging the old lighthouse keeper. He laughed, and held her at arm's length.
"You look as healthy as ever," he proclaimed, smiling as he walked to his lawn chair. She matched his smile, sitting down on the hard rock.
"Same to you, and Laboon. You need to tell him to stop growing so big, or else he'll plug up the entire river and then where will I be? I'll have to cross the Calm Belts to get here," she teased, and he laughed, but stopped when he saw another ship on the way.
"Hmm? What's that?" he said, looking over with binoculars, but had to stop when Laboon let out a mournful "BOOOH!"
"Oh, no," Crocus said. "Laboon's going to get started…" he said, immediately starting up his island boat. With a grin, Silk jumped on as well, and they quickly navigated into the mourning whale's mouth.
Author's Note: And it's finished! A little foreshadowing, but I'm not revealing any secrets yet!
And I almost forgot—I'm still taking votes for pairings! Please, guys, let me know, otherwise we'll just have LuNa, and maybe a little Ronji. Who knows, right? ;D Luckily, I have lots of LuNa references on the 'net…but if you don't like the pairings I have up here, well then review and let me know!
