iiILurvePancakesii: Haha, yeah, things could get complicated :)
Savage Kill: I don't know, CAN you ask about why a catapult? Haha, just teasing. I really have no reason for it, except for: Why NOT a catapult? It's something no one's done before, so I suppose that's why the idea appealed to me so much. Plus, I feel as though "being found on a piece of driftwood in the middle of the ocean" has been done too often, and that was my original idea. As for Apollo, yes I did name him after the Greek god of the sun; can you tell why Aerie is named Aerie? I plan on him staying on the ship. I'm trying to make the chapters longer; the reason they're so short is because of a lack of time between swim team, work, and most importantly, church. I do have a ten-hour car trip tomorrow, so I'm thinking I'll either have one long chapter or a couple short ones. However, the next chapter will be up either tomorrow or Sunday. Thanks so much for the review! Did you know you're the first person to ask about the catapult, and what happened to our dear friend Apollo? I really appreciate your support!
Chapter 7: Wanted Dead or Alive
A couple of weeks passed before Aerie even knew about her bounty poster. When she did hear about it, she was training again with Marco. The commander decided today that she practice standing on her hands for as long as she could. And if she fell, she had to start over time-wise. So, there she was, upside-down and red-faced when Eric rushed in to the room, along with two other crew members. He was holding a wanted poster featuring a picture of Aerie riding Apollo looking down at the street below. The crew was wearing big smiles, but Aerie doubted it was because of her bounty.
"Now we can have your party!" Eric proclaimed triumphantly, as if it was his bounty poster. Ah, there's the reason. The crew had yet to throw a party for Aerie's arrival, upon Eliza's insistence that they wait until her injuries had healed a bit more. The Red Bull Pirates had done quite the number on her, and fighting Carlyle hadn't made things any better.
Aerie pulled a face, still standing on her hands, and Marco snorted through his nose. "Don't count on it, yoi," he said.
"Who issued the bounty?" Aerie asked, more like gasped.
Eric shrugged. "Didn't say in the article. The only thing it said was that 'Golden Eagle' Aerie along with the Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Thatch, wreaked havoc in a port town, injuring a Marine captain and destroying a legitimate business place in the process."
I'd bet my last beli it was my father. No doubt Carlyle reports directly to him. How else would he know how upset my father was about my supposed death? Aerie wondered to herself as she shifted on her hands. Her core and arm muscles were shaking horribly, and she felt as though she wouldn't be able to stand like this much longer. So, while the men were discussing the possibility of a party, she collapsed on the mat.
Marco looked down at her and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to leave you like that, yoi." Aerie groaned in response and glared at him. Wearily, she pushed herself to her feet to get a better look at the poster closer.
Hey, seventy-five million isn't bad, she thought proudly. So, adding that to the Dodger's bounty, I'm currently worth three hundred fifty million beli. She grinned to herself. Then, she deflated a little and her smile disappeared. Of course, nobody but Pops and the crew knows about that.
Marco and the others watched the different emotions flicker across Aerie's face as she thought. "Eh, what do you think she's thinkin' about?" Eric whispered.
Another member, Paul, shrugged. "Who knows, mate? She's a woman. You don't ever want to get in the head of a woman."
All four men were startled when Aerie suddenly spoke up. "All right, guys. You mentioned a party?"
~...~
When the five brought up the question of a party to Eliza, all of them were surprised when she actually agreed.
"Really?" Eric asked, suspecting a trap.
"I don't see why not," Eliza said with a shrug. "I mean, she's been off of the medication for a week now (not that it stopped Thatch), so as long as Pops is okay with it, I am. But," she turned to Aerie. "Do try not to overdo it, lass. I'd hate for ya to get sick so soon after gettin' out of the infirmary."
Naturally, Pops was thrilled with the idea of a party. The rest of the crew was as well. Any chance to drink and go crazy, they would take it.
Just like with meals, parties on the Moby Dick were absolute chaos. Crew members danced around in crazy circles as musicians played classic pirate tunes. A crowd favorite was Bink's Sake, which had the entire crew singing along. Each pirate, save some of the more sensible ones, had a tankard filled with the drink of their choice. Pops have an entire urn filled with, from what Aerie could tell, sake. Some of the nurses and doctors were cautioning against him drinking that much, but the giant man waved them off.
"Stubborn old geezer," Eliza snorted, joining Aerie at her spot by the railing after getting dismissed by Whitebeard. "Give it a few years, and he's gonna be feelin' the effects of drinkin' so much." The redhead herself, along with Aerie, only had a small tankard, barely halfway filled. From this, she only sipped occasionally.
Aerie turned to watch the crew. "Looks like he won't be the only one," she said, motioning to the festive pirates with her cup. Eliza snorted again in agreement. Although some of the members had an inhuman tolerance for alcohol, the others did not and were already drunk, or at least tipsy. Aerie could hold her liquor pretty well, she just didn't like the taste and only drank on special occasions. She got headaches just from one because she was easily dehydrated, so she avoided it whenever possible. Plus, she did not like having hangovers.
After a couple minutes of companionable silence, Thatch strolled up to the pair, big grin on his face. "Aerie," he feigned a whine. "Why are you over here? This is your party, after all. So," he leaned over and grabbed her upper arm, "let's celebrate!" He brought her to her feet and raised her arm along with his other hand holding his drink. "To Aerie!" He shouted and the crew screamed it back to him. "Kanpai!" He threw his head back and finished off his drink. The crew repeated the saying and the action, and with that, the party resumed with more vigor. Aerie blushed a little, and jerked her hand out of Thatch's and sat down again.
"Aw, look Thatch, she's blushing!" Eliza chuckled, trying not to laugh at Aerie's face, which was growing more and more red. Thatch did not bother with holding himself back and laughed with all he had at his friend's embarrassment. Aerie could hear Whitebeard laughing in the background, but she wasn't sure if it was at her or at something else. She pushed her face into her hands in an attempt to stop the redness from further creeping into her cheeks.
Eventually, the party began to die down, and crew mates began either drifting off to cabins or simply falling asleep on the deck. Aerie began to nod off, but was shaken awake a few minutes later by a member named Matt. He looked really apologetic for disturbing her, and he said so when she opened her golden eyes to look at him. She waved it off, and told him she needed to go back to her and Eliza's cabin anyway.
"So," she yawned, "what was it you needed?"
"Ah," he said sheepishly, "well, you see, I'm on watch tonight and-"
Aerie cut him off. "I'm not taking your shift."
He shook his head and raised his hands. "No, no that's not it at all," he said quickly. "You see, it's just your bird."
"Apollo? What about him?"
"Well, he seems to have made the crow's nest his nest." Aerie looked up and sure enough, she could see the silhouette of Apollo against the stars, watching the sea and night sky. "I tried to get him out, and he nearly took my hand off!"
Aerie chuckled. "That does sound like something he'd do." She got up and walked over to a table covered with meat. "I'll get him down." She pulled out her whistle from under her shirt and blew into it. Apollo's head whipped around at the sound, and he soon glided down to land next to Aerie on the deck. She handed him the meat, and he responded with a happy chirp and gobbled it up. She coaxed him into laying down on the deck, where he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Matt looked immensely relieved to not have to deal with the scary bird, and he thanked Aerie before climbing up the ropes to sit in the crow's nest himself. Aerie sat back down and leaned against Apollo, falling asleep again as easily as the bird had done only moments before.
~...~
The next morning, a large commotion on deck woke Aerie along with several other members. She groggily opened her eyes to observe what was going on. Upon opening them, she was glad she only had one drink the previous night. Some of the other members looked awful, like they hadn't slept at all through the night. Nevertheless, they all gathered around Whitebeard's chair at the center the deck's center. There, a crew member Aerie had yet to meet sat in front of the giant himself, who looked solemn. The man looked grim as well.
"So," Whitebeard rumbled, "some punks think they can take my territory."
"I'm afraid so," the man confirmed. "They're not any small-timers either. These guys are a pretty serious force. The thing is, they're not even pirates. They're just a large gang working in the underground on the island. The governor is pretty concerned. They've gotten quite a few citizens on their side, too, tricked them into believing they don't need the governor or your protection." By now, Aerie had joined the semicircle around Whitebeard's chair. "They're terrorizing the citizens who don't agree too. The governor sent me to ask for your help. He wants to talk to you personally."
Whitebeard stared at the man and said nothing. After a moment, he raised his eyes to the horizon and glared, as if he could see the one earning his wrath. The crew stood silently, waiting for their captain's orders. Aerie was curious to see if his anger was as swift and unforgiving as it was rumored to be. He considered islands under his protection a part of his family, and no one messes with the Whitebeard family.
After a few more minutes of dead silence (except for Apollo waking up and walking over to Aerie and pushing his head under her hand), Whitebeard finally spoke. "Well," he said, "I guess we'll just have to do something about that, now won't we?" The crew didn't need to be told twice. Immediately, everyone began moving around the ship moving sails, adjusting the rigging, and preparing the ship to turn nearly one hundred eighty degrees to reach the island. The division commanders all came forward to sit by Whitebeard as they thought up a plan. Aerie helped with the preparations, and once that was done, she stood awkwardly off to the side of the ship. Soon, the commanders agreed on a plan and they dispersed across the deck. From what Aerie could overhear from some of the crew, the island was close by and they had an eternal pose.
Thatch and Marco came to join Aerie, Thatch wearing a big grin and Marco wearing his usual lazy smirk.
"Ready for this, Aerie?" Thatch asked. "Now you get to see some action!" He cracked his knuckles excitedly.
"Hopefully you two won't get your butts kicked like last time, yoi," Marco drawled.
"Shut up Marco! That was one time! And we won, didn't we?"
"If I remember right, Aerie was the one who won. All you did was get thrown around."
Thatch huffed, his mood ruined. "Whatever, Marco. Once this is done, I'm going to track down that crocodile guy and see how well you do against him."
"Just be sure he doesn't corner you first in some run-down tavern, yoi."
Aerie chuckled at this last one and Thatch feigned shock. "Don't tell me you're siding with him, Aerie!" Aerie shrugged with a smirk. "Oh, fine, I see how it is. Nearly get killed with a girl, and what does she do? She goes and sides with my rival!"
"Who said we were rivals? I don't even consider you a threat."
Thatch placed a hand over his heart and dramatically turned away. "Marco, you wound me."
"It's good for you, yoi."
"How is this good for me?"
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
"...a lesser man would have killed you by now. Why do I keep you around?"
"I'm the first division commander, yoi."
"...ah. That makes much more sense than what I originally thought."
Marco quirked a brow and opened his mouth to retort, but Aerie beat him to it. "Thatch thinking? That's dangerous." Marco laughed at that last one and clapped Thatch on the back.
"Wow, a real mouthy one, isn't she, Thatch? I think we've ruined her. She used to be so reserved and polite. Now look at her." He smirked at Aerie. "She's daring to exchange banter with the rest of us pirates, yoi."
Aerie shrugged. "What can I say? Got to practice it sometime in case I ever need it in battle. Might as well do it here with you, pigeon."
Thatch laughed. "Got you there, bud. See, this is why I don't want a Devil Fruit. Too many opportunities to make fun of them."
Marco laughed good-naturedly with him. "Very true. Though, I would much rather be a Phoenix than a giraffe or a Pegasus." Both Thatch and Aerie could agree on this one. The three continued to make small talk, then Aerie asked what they were planning to do about the gang at the island they were stopping at.
"Go in, beat them up, then continue on our merry way," Thatch said simply, as if that solution would solve all of their problems.
~...~
It took them three days to reach the island, which was called "Steamworks". As soon as the ship docked, Apollo flew off to see if he could hunt for some food. From what Aerie could see on the deck of the ship, its main industry was machinery, hence the name. Big crates were carted on to equally large cargo ships by robots. Automatons, along with other types of robots, walked along the docks. Aerie couldn't see many live men, though. What's up with this island? She thought, but didn't ask, even though Marco was standing right beside her.
Down on the docks, there seemed to be some sort of commotion. Both robot and humans split into two separate lines, making a clear path for the item causing the disturbance. Through the path came a carriage being drawn by two mechanical horses. The carriage stopped at the dock the Moby Dick was occupying, and the driver, a man, quickly got down and opened the door, standing respectfully to the side. Out of the carriage stepped a man and a young woman. The man looked up at the ship, using a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. He waved up at Marco with one hand, upon the arm rested a cane. Marco waved back and signaled for the other men to lower a gangplank to the dock. He moved away to give more orders, and Thatch joined Aerie by the railing.
He whistled appreciatively upon seeing the island. "Now, that's impressive," he said.
"You mean you haven't been here before?" Aerie asked, turning to look at him.
"Nope," he responded with a shake of his head. "The last time the crew would've been here is before I joined."
Aerie pondered this as the man and young woman walked up the gangplank to the deck of the ship. Both were dressed expensively in silk clothing. The man wore a black suit with a white shirt, white gloves, gold cufflinks, black top hat, and a black bow tie. His hair was grey, along with his curled mustache. Over his right eye sat a monocle. Aerie thought he looked rather ridiculous.
The young woman was dressed similarly. She wore a purple silk dress with gold accents. Her dark blonde was perfectly fashioned into curls that gracefully tumbled down her back. Her nails were neatly manicured and the makeup on her face just right. One thing was for sure, both of these people reeked of wealth.
"Who're they, do you think?" Aerie quietly whispered to Thatch. For the moment, the couple had their backs turned to the pirates at the railing. Thatch shrugged.
"That's the governor of this island, Sir Charles DuBois and his daughter, Lady Isabella," Izo whispered as he came up to the two of them. "Charles himself is tolerable, but his daughter..." He let the sentence trail off as Isabella turned to look at the trio, as if she knew the topic of their conversation was her. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of baby blue. They might have been able to make any man fall at her feet if there was a pleasant emotion behind them, but at the moment they were locked with Aerie's own golden orbs, and the pirate could feel nothing but disgust and contempt coming from those eyes. She gave Aerie a once-over and smirked at Aerie's supposed lack of wealth. Immediately, Aerie clenched her hands into fists at her sides and clenched her jaw. She hated it when rich people looked down on others because of their social status.
Izo's hand grabbed her upper arm, just as she was considering saying something nasty. "Not worth it," he muttered lowly, barely moving his lips so Isabella couldn't read them. Her smirk grew when she saw Izo having to restrain Aerie. Finally, her eyes landed on Thatch, who was leaning against the railing with his arms crossed. They widened and she quirked an eyebrow at him, but still said nothing. After another moment, she turned her head back in the direction she was originally facing, where Marco was walking toward them, a calm smile on his face. Aerie knew how Izo would have finished his earlier sentence: she's a royal pain in the ass!
"Sir Charles, welcome," Marco greeted the governor pleasantly. He turned toward the daughter and his smiled faltered a little. "And I see you brought Lady Isabella with you. How...nice to see you again."
Aerie couldn't see the girl's face, but she imagined she wore a sultry smile with the words she spoke next. "Lovely to see you again, too, Marco," she cooed while extending her hand. He bent over and kissed her knuckles like a true gentleman. Aerie had to physically restrain herself from gagging.
"Charlie!" Whitebeard boomed from the center of the deck. "Come over here! Word is you're having trouble!"
Charles nodded solemnly. "You heard correctly, Captain Newgate. But," he glanced around the deck, "I was hoping to discuss it in private."
Whitebeard waved a hand dismissively. "Say no more. We'll talk in my quarters." He rose to his full height of eighteen feet and led the governor into the depths of the ship, leaving Isabella on the deck. She sauntered over to Marco.
"My, my, it has been a long time, Marco. How long has it been since we saw each other last?" She asked smoothly.
"I'd say about six years, Isabella," he answered stiffly.
She hummed in agreement and turned to where Aerie, Izo, and Thatch were still standing. "I see you have gathered new crew members. Or do you still call them your family?"
Marco made an attempt at a laugh. "Of course we do. Pops adopts us, so we are his children."
Isabella made another hum as she slowly advance on the trio, like a cat on it's prey. She stopped in front of them, blue eyes gleaming dangerously. "Good day, Izo," she said silkily, extending a hand.
Izo did not kiss it. "Isabella," he said rigidly.
"You look well."
"Likewise." There was no compliment coming from either side of the exchange.
Isabella next fixed her eyes on Thatch, completely ignoring Aerie. "Who do we have here?"
"I'm Thatch. It's a pleasure to meet you, my lady," he said kissing her hand like Marco.
She smiled demurely, but Aerie knew she was faking it. "The pleasure is all mine, Thatch." Aerie rolled her eyes. Isabella glanced at her, but her gaze did not remain there long.
"He's our Fourth Division Commander, Isabella," Marco said, walking up behind her.
She turned around with fake shock. "But, I thought that big fellow was. Oh, what was his name? Flynn?"
"Flynn died and you know it," Izo growled, not bothering to hide his emotions any more. Marco shot him a warning look. Meanwhile, Isabella acted as though nothing had happened and had set her sights on her next victim: Aerie.
"Well, well," she purred, narrowing her eyes. "Who is this? I do not remember her being here last time either. Do not tell me Red died and she is her replacement," she said, but she made it sound like she wanted that to be the truth. Red...does she mean Eliza? Aerie felt Thatch and Izo tense on either side of her, and Marco was about to say something, but Aerie stopped him.
"Aerie," she said coldly, extending a hand. "And no, I'm not anyone's replacement. I just joined." Isabella looked down at the hand held out to her with disdain. Clearly she did not like the gesture to be thrust out to her like she did to other people. After a minute of cold stares between the two, Aerie dropped her hand, but did not look away. The atmosphere became thicker and thicker as the men watched their standoff, but did not say anything. During this time, Apollo landed on the deck and began to happily munch on whatever poor creature he had managed to catch. Eventually, Isabella looked away.
"Well," she sniffed, "if you are not Red's replacement, then where is she? Hiding from little old me?"
Speak of the devil; at that moment, Eliza came out on deck, wearing a green sweater and jeans rather than her usual nurse's uniform. She was intently reading the clipboard in her little hands through reading glasses, eyebrows scrunched in thought. Isabella and Marco currently had their backs to her, but Izo, Thatch, and Aerie did not, and could clearly see the redhead. Izo's eyes widened a fraction and he stared at Eliza, as though willing her to look up and see the danger ahead of her. Fortunately, Isabella's attention was still focused on Aerie and not Izo, so she could not see his staring. Unfortunately, Eliza opened her mouth before glancing upwards.
"Hey, Thatch?" She asked, still not watching where she was going. Isabella's eyes gained a wicked gleam and she turned around slowly. "I'm sorry, but it seems I let yer physical expire. Do ya want to do it now or..." She finally looked up and saw the group standing by the railing. Her green eyes fell on Isabella's smirking face and her whole body went still. Her jaw clenched as she adopted a stony expression. "Isabella," she said evenly.
Isabella smiled a feral smile. "Hello, Elizabeth," she said with fake politeness, poison dripping from every word. "How does life find you today?"
"Just fine," she gritted out.
Aerie could see a fight coming and moved forward to grab Isabella's attention. "I don't think we were done talking," she said.
Isabella ignored her. "Glad to see you are doing well. Kill anyone on the way here?"
Eliza's eyes narrowed a fraction. "No, for yer information, I did not. I gave up that occupation."
"Really? From what I have seen, you did not." Eliza's eyes narrowed even more. "I am surprised your friends still want you here with that horrible thing in your past."
Eliza pulled her lips back in a snarl and showed some of her teeth. "You don't know anythin' about me," she growled. "Shut up."
Isabella took a step forward. "No, I do not think I will. I wonder why are you still here? You do know that you are still wanted within this country's borders, do you not? Your friends might have forgiven you, but," she took another step toward Eliza, "no one else here has."
Aerie could feel feel the tension in the air thicken as Eliza angrily proclaimed, "That wasn't my fault!" Was it her imagination, or did she see tears gathering in the petite redhead's eyes? She nudged Thatch in order to persuade him into taking action.
Just as Isabella was going to say something else, Marco stood in between them. He was furious. "Enough, yoi! I don't want to hear another word from you!" He glared at Isabella.
Thatch moved forward and put his hand on Eliza's shoulder, showing his support. "I think we should take care of that physical now," he said. He glanced back up at the blonde. "Nice meeting you," he stated flatly to Isabella, then turned Eliza around and slid his hand to rest between her shoulder blades, gently leading her to the safety of below deck. At that moment, Whitebeard and Sir Charles came back onto the deck, but not before Whitebeard got a good look at Eliza's stony face. He glanced up at the group and frowned at Marco, who tilted his head in Isabella's direction as if to say, It's her fault.
"Well, thank you, Captain," Sir Charles continued talking, unaware of the silent conversation between Whitebeard and the First Division Commander. "I hope we will be able to solve this matter before this weekend."
"Indeed," the giant man rumbled.
"I also hope you and your men will be available for Isabella's twenty-fourth birthday party Saturday night."
"Sure, sure, Charlie. We'll be there. Just as long as there's plenty of food and drinks."
Sir Charles laughed. "Of course! I will have my staff prepare all week long. Let me know as soon as you discover anything about this gang or their leader. Come now, Isabella. We need to go home."
Whitebeard waved the pair away with a massive hand. As soon as they were off deck, he looked down at Marco. "Take the first division and spread out over the city. Search everywhere for this gang's base. We don't need to stay here longer than we have to." Marco nodded and set off to give orders.
Ah, so he doesn't seem to like it any more than the rest of us, Aerie thought, filing the information away for later use. The mammoth of a man turned his yellow gaze on her. "Aerie," he said, "once everyone is gone, I want to talk to you."
The deck cleared quickly. Once a crew member was given an order, he immediately set off to fulfill that order to the best of his ability. Soon enough, the deck was empty save for Aerie and Whitebeard, who had moved back to sitting in his large chair. She walked in front of him and sat down, wondering why he wanted to talk to her specifically. He stared at her, as if trying to see into her mind and soul. Aerie tensed, but did not drop her gaze.
He spoke after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "Aerie, my child, what has upset Elizabeth? She was fine before we docked, and she just left the deck with tears in her eyes. I hate seeing my children upset."
Aerie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I honestly don't know...Pops." The last part was added after a short pause; Aerie was still not quite used to calling the man her father. "It's just...as soon as she saw Isabella, she got all weird and quiet. And when they started talking, she became agitated with whatever it was Isabella said. I have no idea what it was, but I think it was something that happened between the two of them in the past."
He was silent as he thought this over. "I see," he said eventually. "And no one mentioned what is was they were talking about?"
"No, sir."
"Good. Probably best if you heard it from Elizabeth herself. Now," he leaned forward in his chair, "that wasn't the only reason I wanted to talk to you. I'm sure you're wondering why I put you in the first division so soon?"
Aerie nodded. "Yeah, I was wondering that. It isn't because of my fighting skills, is it? Because, according to Marco, I seem to be lacking in that department."
"No, no, you can fight just fine from what I hear. You see, the reason I want you in the first division is because of your mobility. Men and women in that division are usually the scouts of the crew. They often stay on islands we claim too, mostly because they are the most independent of the crew. Plus," he grinned, "it keeps you in plain sight for the government people looking for the other you."
Aerie mulled this over. "So, in other words, I'm capable of moving about myself, can handle my own in a fight, and am a criminal listed under two different bounties."
"Exactly, child."
Aerie shook her head, but smiled all the same. "Thanks, Pops!"
He nodded. "Now, go on. I'm sure Marco will need the extra eyes in the sky." Aerie nodded back and walked over where Apollo was laying down. He had finished his meal and was going to take a nap when Aerie hopped on his back and coaxed him into standing up. He made an unhappy noise, but complied with her wishes. The two took off into the skies, soon leaving the Moby Dick far behind them.
Whew! This one took forever to write! It's almost twice the length of my normal chapters, so I'm hoping to make this the new length. Just know it will take me longer to update when I write these longer ones. I'm hoping to make them longer still, but I realized it's been almost a week since I updated, so I ended it there. Kind of a cliffhanger, with the unanswered question of Eliza and Isabella and who is terrorizing the people of Steamworks. I'm also currently away from home on vacation, so I won't have as many opportunities to write. But the next one should be up soon. I won't give an absolute date, because our vacation schedule is still up in the air. Oh, and I think there will be a very special guest in the next chapter!
What do you think of the story so far? Too rushed? Too confusing? Let me know by reviewing, favoriting and following!
One more thing: if it crosses your mind, please pray for my sister. She's going off to college by herself far away from home. Just pray she will be safe in the big, big world all by herself. Thanks!
~Batsy
