With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
~Eleanor Roosevelt
The next day, Minette was not expecting Zoro to return with more apples. She had been so scared of the man who was so generous enough to give her something to eat that she had been impolite. Not sharing a single word as she scoffed down and savored all of the five apples. Yes, she had offered one, but she still felt guilty for eating in front of him as he just watched.
The board expression on Zoro's face gave away no emotion the entire morning. Making it hard to tell if he was actually okay with her eating all of the ship's apples. He was a suspicious character indeed, but as he promised, he did not try to hurt her nor poison her as she found out a few hours later when he left. He was just being kind for a reason Minette could not understand.
Shouldn't he not want to come back after she had pinned the blond man to the wall the other day? Shouldn't all of the crewmen be searching for her, cursing her in their heads and damning her to Hell for doing such a humiliating thing to one of their own? They have all the right to be furious and murderous - after all, they were pirates - so wouldn't they want to see her suffer?
Throughout the night of the day she was graced with Zoro's gift of apples, Minette was sure he wasn't coming back because of those things; and come next sunrise, she saw no sight of him. There was no one standing on land, just a few feet from the dock. No one stretching and yawning. No one scanning the trees and waving to her once she was spotted. There was none of that.
Coming to the realization that Zoro was not coming back set the small girl's heart aching. She always knew that the game of Life was meant to be played alone. She always knew that whoever was next to step into her life and made her care for them or look forward in their return would disappear like everyone else.
Spiralling into a forgotten depression despite the warm sunrise, Minette's heart ached even more. She shouldn't have taken those apples yesterday, she shouldn't have even climbed down her tree to greet the stranger because deep in her heart, she knew that it would only bring pain latter on. At least she was able to let go of that pointless hope she subconsciously developed yesterday easily because it was so small. That little light of hope she had unknowingly developed was so small, fragile, and breakable - just like her. She was a fool to want to keep its warmth.
"Oi."
Minette froze, the sudden voice startling away her darkened thoughts and she could feel that small shimmer of hope warm her heart little by little once she started to comprehend the voice. But she didn't want to believe it, she didn't want the hope to grow and blossom into a beautiful flower only to be stepped on latter. Perhaps if she stayed where she was he would go away in realization that she wasn't going to come down.
After a moment of no response, Minette heard Zoro sigh but not the light footsteps of retreat. Instead, she looked down to see him sitting under her tree, the light brown sack from before lumpy with more food resting by his side. She felt her eyebrows knit together in confusion as she watched him cross his arms behind his head and stared through the forest.
It was silent between the pair as she watched him examine the area. Breaking the still silence, Zoro said, "I can't hear anything. You still alive up there?"
She gave no response. Why wasn't he going away - she wasn't going to come down. Just give up, she thought, it's useless to try and get close to me, I know your game. Please just leave before I get hurt again.
Just like before, it was as if he had read her mind. "We're not going to leave you behind on this island, you know. We may be pirates, but we aren't going to let a small girl defend herself all on her own on this island." Zoro snorted before continuing, "Nami wouldn't allow it, and the captain… well, he's excited to meet you."
Minette gave no reply as she thought about his words and she suddenly became frightened. Upon first seeing the small crew, Minette had assumed that Zoro was the captain because he looked the part but now she hadn't had a clue as to who he was. It could be anyone of the boys.
"But," Zoro said catching Minette's attention, "there is something else on this island, isn't there? Something ruthless and big enough to demolish an entire village, even drive away the birds."
Sighing, Minette climbed down, giving up in seeing that he wasn't going to leave and that there was no point in putting his trip to waste. She knew how this was going to end for them, a brutal and ruthless beating before inevitable death by sharp teeth ripping flesh from bones.
Once she was sitting on the lowest branch - just a foot over Zoro's head - Minette sighed, "N-No," her small voice cracking from misuse. It being so light, Zoro had to strain his ears to hear it. "N-Not drive out. Eat."
Zoro looked up at her from the statement, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he looked up at her. "It ate all of the birds?"
She nodded.
"And the villagers? Where did they go? They had to have left, right?"
She shook her head, "Eaten."
Remembering the sack of food when her stomach gave a growl, he handed it to her and she quickly dug out an apple before biting in. Zoro watched her eat the apple slower than yesterday but still at a faster pace than normal. With his face turning to one of deep curiosity, he said, "What is on this island eating everything?"
Swallowing, Minette hesitated on taking another bite, not looking at him as her heart started to pick up pace again, she said quietly, "P-Pirates…"
It was quiet again and before Zoro could ask anymore questions, Minette grew anxious, "Th-that's why you n-need to go. I-If they found you a-and your crew, you'll be eaten. Go now."
It was quiet again as Zoro thought, but then he chuckled, catching Minette's full attention and crossed his hands behind his head again. "No way, Shrimp."
"B-But-"
"Now that I know that there is a real threat on this island, the whole crew will want to fight. If there's a challenge we won't run away, we'll fight and grow stronger. That's just the type of pirates we are. Plus, what did I say before?" He glanced up at her with a smile, her face full of surprise as he said, "We aren't leaving this island without you, got it?"
It was nightfall.
Zoro had returned to the ship after Minette was finished with the apples but had kept the orange he had unknowingly grabbed as well. She didn't want to eat the orange remembering how the blond man had seemed to be attracted to them somehow. And so she held on to it, starting down at the orange fruit that seemed to be almost too big for her hands.
Oranges were Shi's favorite food. She used to steal them from the village's local market whenever they were heavily in stock and wouldn't mind if one or two were missing; but Minette never understood why oranges were so special to her younger twin.
"What is it about oranges that you just can't get enough of, Shi?"
"It's not what I like most, Minette. It's what the orange gives me."
"And what does the orange give? Relief from hunger?"
"No. It gives me a happy memory whenever I eat it."
"What does it make you remember?"
"You, Minette."
"What?"
"On the outside you are tough and strong. Upon first meeting you, people think you are a juvenile almost instantly. But when someone peals back that layer, they find that you are more unique from any other fruit, you have many different sections of yourself that you choose to show people if they've become close to you. Then, once you have been stripped of your sections, there is nothing left but a tiny seed. So defenceless now that your peal and sections are gone, you can't help but want to push everyone else away in fear they will just hurt you in the end. Are you starting to understand now, Minette?"
"Are you calling me weak, Shi?"
"Ah, I see you still haven't shed your peal yet."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, Minette. The orange means nothing."
But now, being without her thoughtful twin, Minette was finally starting to understand. She was exactly how Shi had described her to be, and along the way without her sister, Minette had somehow lost her peel. It was probably snagged on a place Minette could not go back to, making her layers exposed. Upon first glance from strangers, she was no longer seen as a juvenile but as the small little girl she really was, though, she was not entirely defenceless without her peal.
She was sad to admit, but some of her sections were also lost in a place she could not return to as well. She had lost a good majority of her instinct to fight instead of flight, she had lost all of her confidence, and almost all of her childish spirit. Now, all she was left with was the sections of herself that were never going to leave - the sections that were obvious and not at all hidden from others - scared, nervous, curious, sheepish, lost, and thoughtful.
Shi was right, Minette thought, I am an orange above all things. The one word that does not rhyme with anything but has the sweetest taste of all.
She wasn't thinking a few days ago when she had taken those oranges before pinning the blond man, the memory just never surfaced until now and she couldn't help but wonder why that was. Could it be because she was starting to regain hope? Could it be because Zoro had given it to her without knowing he had grabbed it? Or was it because nothing else was clouding her mind other than why she didn't devour the orange when she retrieved it out of the sack.
Whatever the reasoning, Minette's mind immediately went blank and her blood ran cold from hearing something snap below her. It wasn't anyone from the ship in front of her because she had watched them settle in for the night a few hours ago and because it was coming from the opposite direction. Looking down, she saw the same cannibal pirate from the night before. She went to grab another pinecone when she almost lost her balance on the branch and had to quickly wrap her arms around the tree trunk not to fall. But not falling came with a price.
The orange had slipped from her hand and fell straight down, bouncing on the pirate's head before crashing onto the forest floor.
Minette's heart sped up with terror as she watched the man slowly glance up and when he saw her, a huge smile flashing his sharp teeth spread across his face.
"I finally found you." The pirate's voice was deep and rough as he reached behind his back. Minette was too scared to move despite watching the man retrieve a pistol from his waistband and point it at her. "There's nowhere left to run when I have this," he chuckled as Minette started hyperventilating. Her mind was racing for an answer, a solution to get her out of the situation, but she could find none. Sitting in a tree and being held at gunpoint gave her no outlet to escape. She was target practice now.
He gave no other words as he cocked back the hammer and wasted no time in trying to shoot her down. Hearing the loud gunshot and a sudden pain in her right leg, Minette was so startled she fell from the tree, crashing into other branches, getting small cuts on her exposed face and neck as sharp sticks poked and scratched her. The air was knocked out of her lungs with a hard landing to the forest floor. A harsh thud sounded as she landed and started wheezing, trying to get the air back in its rightful place in her body but soon felt strong hands wrap around her slender neck.
As the hands gripped her throat tighter and tighter, Minette's head was under such a strong amount of pressure, she felt like all of the veins in her head and eyes were going to pop at any moment. She was going to die starting up the smiling pirate strangling her.
Through her muddled mind, she could still hear the pirate speaking to her. "My captain's been looking everywhere for you, Little Girl, but I'll have to say, hiding in the trees all this time was a good touch. How long has it been - a year we've been searching for you and now I finally get to bring you in. Oh, how happy the captain will be when he sees an exiled pirate has finally caught you in order for me to return to my rightful post."
Minette, gasping for breath and clawing at his hands, came to a stunning realization that no one knew what this pirate was doing right now or cared where he was on the island. She could fight him without the fear of anyone missing and going to search for him. A new light of hope sparked in Minette's eyes as she quickly ripped one hand away from the man, grabbed the first thing she felt on the ground beside her and bashed it against his head with as much force and with as much strength she could muster. But even when the man was rendered unconscious from the blow, Minette couldn't stop herself from straddling his chest and bashing the object into his head over and over again. She couldn't see through the tears that suddenly sprung to her eyes, but she could feel the warm blood getting flung onto her face and clothes from her violent attack; though, even then, she didn't stop. Thoughts of Shi raced through her mind, of her death and how her angered and frustrated feelings towards it were suddenly taken out on the man below her.
Crying and out of breath, Minette stopped her movements and looked at the man below her. If she could even call him that anymore. His face was not a face anymore. It was a pool of brainmatter, blood, and crushed bone fragments embedded into the ground. Looking at the weapon in her hands, she found that it was just heavy chunk of wood, blood and bone sticking out of the bark.
Realizing what she had just done, Minette leaned over the side of the body and threw up. Never has she seen such a horrid sight in her life and she was even more horrified that she had the strength to do this to another human being. Sure, it was out of self defence but her own rage mixed with anger and fear is what caused her to kill him.
Sniffling, she stood and stared down at the faceless body. She can't just leave him here to rot. Zoro would find him in the morning and not ever want to see her again and she can't barry him anywhere on the island because she didn't have enough time before sunrise to make the hole big enough. There was only one option.
Knowing the man was nothing more than dead weight, making dragging him to his final resting place impossible, Minette rolled him towards the docks, hopping none of the crew members from the ship she wants so badly to escape with do not see her push the body into the deep water.
Standing straight, Minette panted heavily, still recovering from being strangled and slowly made her way back to her tree. A sharp pain in her leg from being shot in the calf becoming stronger and stronger with each passing second, but the bullet only grazed her making it not life threatening.
After burying the brain goo, blood, and shards of skull, Minette was too weak and too tired to climb back up the tree and just fell to the dirt. Too tired to stand any longer and blacked out. She was unconcerned about the nightmare to come and more with the fact that Zoro may come in the hours of sunrise again and find her like this.
At least he would not see the damage she conflicted upon the attacker…
