X-X-X-X-X
- 3 Years Ago
Nike was bleeding.
It wasn't a life threatening injury by any stretch of the imagination, but it still hurt like a bitch and would pull at the most inconvenient times, periodically flooding her vision as she ran.
It was hard enough to fight when you weren't doing it partially blind.
She heard a soft whistling sound from behind her and ducked, throwing herself sideways to avoid the massive battle axe, which sank a foot deep into the trunk of a nearby tree trunk with a loud, reverberating thunk. Scrambling through the mud on her hands and knees until she could get her feet under her again, she took off in another direction.
The forest was oddly, ominously silent except for the heavy rasp of her breathing and the thunder of her heart in her ears. Her lungs burned, sweat plastering her shirt to her back and stinging her head wound and her eyes, but she didn't dare slow down, not even to wipe the blood from her eyes.
That is, until she felt something catch her foot, and suddenly she was tumbling to the ground, hands flailing as she tried to right herself. When she came to a stop she lay completely still for a few seconds, wheezing, then tried to push herself to her feet, but her left leg would no longer support her weight and she sank back down with a yelp of pain. Her fists clenched, arms shaking as she pressed her forehead into the dirt.
From behind her came the mad cackle of her pursuer.
"Done running, girly?"
She gritted her teeth, prepared to drag herself to her feet and face her death with dignity, but she didn't get the chance.
"Yes."
Nike sagged, a sob of relief leaving her in a rush as she heard that ridiculously reassuring voice. From the tree line stepped Drake, who cast her a quick glance as he approached. She watched his eyes narrow through a fog of pain, blood, and tears, before closing her own as she felt the edge of his cape brush against her arm. He stepped around her to face her attacker, eyes flashing.
"What are you waiting for, boy?" From the shadows emerged a giant of a man, who hefted his battle axe over his shoulder and smirked triumphantly.
"Oh, nothing." Said Drake, his eyes slowly changing to orange.
"I was just contemplating how best to disembowel you and make you feel every second of it."
X-X-X
- Present Day
Nike was bleeding.
Drake spun around as the sharp scent of copper filled his head, holding the pirate attacking him at arms length as he sought out his sniper.
There, across the clearing, Nike was facing off against three men. She'd already taken down two others and had just smashed one of those standing across the face with the butt of her rifle. The second of the men danced away, a knife that shone dark and wet with blood held in his hand. Nike spun, teeth bared, ignoring the gash on her arm in favor of shooting the man point blank in the face.
She turned to the last pirate, a vision in bloody-chaos, and he dropped his weapons and fled.
Drake couldn't help the manic grin that spread across his face, even as he absently snapped the neck of the man he was holding in favor of walking across the clearing with single-minded focus, intent on wrapping his arms around his sniper.
What he wasn't expecting was for her to twist in his grip, sweep his feet out from under him, and slam him to the ground, a pistol pointed square between his eyes. He laughed outright at her perfect execution of a move he'd taught her, looking up into her stunned expression, before she rolled her eyes and straightened up, offering him a hand.
When he was back on his feet he chanced a look around.
The rest of their crew were cleaning up the stragglers from the failed ambush, picking over bodies to make sure no one had been accidentally left breathing.
Oh no, Drake had made it quite clear the kind of person he wanted to send back to Kaido alive.
Off to his right, Nike made a huffing sound. He turned just in time to see her shoot one of the men laying on the ground in the head. When he had stopped twitching she looked up, meeting his gaze head on.
Drake felt a rumble of pleasure bubble up from deep in his chest as he looked at her, smattered with blood, pupils blown from adrenaline, wearing his mark with pride.
A perfect little pirate queen.
He was drawn away from her by the arrival of his second, Decker, who was dragging along a barely conscious man by the scruff of his neck. By the look of the man's fur ruff he was one of Kaido's man-made zoan users, which made him the perfect messenger.
Decker dropped him unceremoniously at Drake's feet.
"This is the last one, Boss." He said. Drake nodded, nudging the man onto his back with the toe of his boot. Wheezing, he looked up at the Supernova through blood-shot eyes.
"I have a message I want you to relay to your master." Said Drake. The man bared blood-stained teeth at him.
"Get bent, Red-Flag." He managed shakily.
A sharp click announced the arrival of the barrel of Nike's rifle coming to rest point blank against the man's forehead.
"Show some respect, you pathetic piece of shit." She snarled. Drake fought not to grin.
"Are you gonna make me, One-Shot?" The man on the ground sneered. The unfamiliar nickname made both Nike and Drake pause, and the man continued.
"Oh yeah, Kaido-sama knows who you are, little girl. He knows all about you. So posture all you want, but we both know you won't do anything without your precious captain's say-so." He laughed weakly.
"Actually, I'm kind of tempted to let her do whatever she wants." Said Drake lightly. The man turned wide eyes on him and Drake grinned, letting his own eyes bleed orange and his teeth sharpen to wicked points.
"Now, about that message."
X-X-X
"So, 'One-Shot' Nike. Has a nice ring to it." Drake said conversationally from where he was laid out along his bed.
Nike, who was seated at his desk going over a set of charts listing their available stores, looks up at him over the rim of her glasses and scowls.
"Where the hell did that even come from? I wasn't aware I even had a nickname." She grumbled, sounding decidedly unhappy about the whole thing. Drake grinned, before reaching for his bedside table, from the drawer of which he pulled a sheaf of parchment.
"I asked Frost for the newest Wanted Posters. Look what I found." He waved it around a little and Nike, curious, stands from his desk and moves to sit on the edge of the bed by his hip, snatching the piece of paper from his fingers.
"'Wanted, Dead or Alive, Member of the Drake Pirates: 'One-Shot' Nike. Reward: 30,000,000 Belli.' What is this shit?" Nike reads the text under the artist's rendition of herself, the reference taken sometime during their stay at the Sabaody Archipelago, and glowers.
Drake laughs softly.
"Seems the Marines have increased your bounty." He teases. She glares at him, crumpling up the wanted poster and chucking it across the room, where it landed perfectly in his waste basket.
"Utterly ridiculous." She grumbles, making to stand, but Drake catches her wrist, tugging her down to lay next to him. She goes without a fuss, kicking off her boots and setting her glasses down on his bedside table.
"I kinda like it." He admits as they get settled. She snorts, snuggling up under his arm with a contented sigh.
"You would." She says.
He laughs quietly, rubbing her upper arm with one hand, fingers gently outlining the bandage he knows is there, hidden by her shirt sleeve. The reminder of the wound brings a frown to his face, but then he remembers that the woman at his side has suffered through worse.
She hadn't complained then and she doesn't now.
"You're overthinking again." She mumbles. He looks down to find her halfway asleep, cheek resting on his chest.
He smiled, leaning his cheek against the crown of her head and closing his eyes.
X-X-X-X-X
/AN/
To those who have been waiting for this update for 2 years, I am sososososo sorry.