Frost took a single step forward before he looked up them. His golden eyes blazed in anger only a moment before anyone had time to react. Then his shape burst to the sky and crushed the three men in front of him. There was a momentary pause before the rest of the robes moved. The Leviathan destroyed each man with ease.
The elder robe—the head priest—watched with his arms raised. "Our god will save us from the horrors of our world! Our god will cleanse these demons from our lives!"
The beast's eyes flashed with fury. "Don't touch my sister!" it rasped before bellowing.
"Sister? He never told us about that," Kid growled.
"That's the first time we've heard it speak as the Leviathan," Killer mumbled.
A piercing roar split the air, forcing everyone to put their hands over their ears. The Leviathan tore through each robe that stepped into its path until only the head priest remained. There was a single snap and the legs fell over, detached from their body. The Leviathan's wrapped around the stake holding the woman up and pulled it safely into its coils. The end of its tail cut through each rope holding the woman up until she was freed. It turned its gaze to the pirates behind it and growled.
"What the hell is wrong with this bastard?" Kid hissed. A moment later, its tail came down on the spot where the pirates had been a moment before. "I am going to rip every one of those goddamn scales off your skin!"
"Wait!"
Everyone stopped at the female voice. The woman the Leviathan had rescued slowly walked around until her hand was on the underside of the beast's neck.
"What the hell is going on?" Kid growled.
She looked beaten and barely able to stand with small trails of blood sliding down her frame, but she looked up at the beast and started to speak. "You can't fight them. Turn back before they get hurt."
The Leviathan watched her closely before its form began to change. It shrunk and grew paler until the expert was standing in its place. He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so glad we caught up to you," he muttered into her shoulder.
Kid pointed his gun at his crewmember, ignoring the touching reunion. "What the fuck is your problem, bastard?"
Frost angled the woman away from his captain. "I'm sorry, Captain. I did try to warn you that I couldn't control myself when in that form."
"Don't give me that bullshit! You listened to the bitch when she told you to change back!" Kid's anger was at a breaking point.
Frost moved his hair behind his ear and pointed to the small orb imbedded within the band around his neck. "She placed this on me to keep me from going out of control. She's probably the only one who can control me."
"Explain who the hell that woman is."
Frost pulled the woman around so she was leaning against his side. "This is Flame. She's my sister."
She bowed slightly. "I'm very sorry you had to come rescue me. I was careless."
Kid scoffed. "Of course you were, bitch. That's why I don't let women join my crew."
Frost made an awkward laugh. Flame looked at Killer and said, "You would not have noticed had I not been captured."
Killer looked between the siblings. He knew something was not right. "So it was you that took his place. Why?"
"I don't want women on my crew," Kid interrupted.
Frost looked off to the side. "Well…" Killer let out a breath of frustration. He knew something was going to happen. Frost let go of his sister and started to pull his cloak off. After his vest had come off, Kid's fury began to grow.
Frost put her hands in front of her. "I didn't mean to lie to you, Captain. I really did want to join your crew though."
Kid fired two shots at his female strategist. She jumped out of the way with her sister. "You fucking dared to step on my ship after all your lies, your jokes, and your screwing around when I had made it clear on multiple occasions that I do not want women on MY CREW!"
"Captain, please-"
"No!" Kid cut her off. "You are going to be killed. Right. Here!"
The Leviathan shot up into the air with the woman on its back. It changed so suddenly that no one could stop it. True to its information, the Sky Leviathan swam as if the air was water.
Kid fumed on the ground, watching his precious beast and strategist disappear, perhaps for the better.
Killer stood silently on the deck as Kid paced, his irritation almost palpable. They would be reaching the next island in a few hours and it was likely the expert and her sister would be there. The rest of the crew was unsure of what to make of the situation. They had grown accustomed to the strange antics of the strategist of the Kid Pirates and now they knew that it was all a lie. No one was sure if they could trust the female beast.
"Captain," Killer started.
"Not now," he hissed back.
Killer sighed and walked back into the ship. That expert caused enough problems as a man on their ship. What would happen if he came back as a she? He placed a hand against his helmet. The expert was causing far too many problems, even when he wasn't on the ship. He stopped in the training room. If he couldn't stop thinking about what happened, then he was going to distract himself by fighting. He slipped his shirt off and readied himself for training. The only sound in the room was the thump as Killer landed on the floor from a jump.
Killer paused in his mock fight when someone entered the room. Heat took a few steps in but stopped before he reached Killer.
"…That boy really was a girl?" he asked, unsure of himself.
Killer sighed and turned away. "Yeah. We didn't have a clue."
"The captain's going to kill her when he finds her." It came out more like a statement than a question.
Killer crossed his arms. "Most likely." He turned slightly to look at his crewmate. Heat was staring off to the side, his feelings about the event clear. Killer walked towards him, passing him to grab his shirt. "She may have helped us before, but we don't know what else she lied about. She just as easily could be from a rival pirate crew."
"What happens if she isn't?" his question was forced. Killer paused in his movements. "What if her gender was the only thing she lied about? She said—"
"Heat." He stopped talking when Killer spoke his name. "Questioning authority will only frustrate Kid more." He placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it was that simple, it wouldn't be so difficult for everyone right now. Kid was betrayed by someone in his crew; he wants revenge now. As his crew, we will follow where he goes and fulfill his orders."
Heat bowed slightly. "Of course. Forgive my questioning." He excused himself and left quietly.
Killer breathed deeply. She was causing worse problems than he had thought.
The island they docked at was quiet. Very few villagers walked through the streets. Kid frowned as he looked around. "What the hell is up with this place?" he grumbled.
A tumbleweed blew past them. It felt strangely eerie.
"Did they hide when they saw our ship?" Killer muttered.
"Killer. Take some of the men and look around. Something isn't right about this island."
The group split up, some men going with Killer and the rest following their captain. Each street Killer's group passed was as empty as the one they travelled. The sound of boots trampling the ground echoed for a moment before fading again. Killer motioned to the men and they dashed after the noise. It was as if the sound was always one street ahead of them. The group broke up, moving down separate streets to block of the people who were still running away.
Killer glanced up at the rooftops to see a red shape flash past. A moment later, shouts could be heard. Whatever he was chasing was on a hunt for the red shape. He used a lower roof to vault himself up to the rooftops. The shape had moved to the rooves further away from him, but he could almost make it out. He jumped back down to the street when he saw a group of men standing in the road.
They turned to him, holding their weapons up. "Who are you?" one shouted.
Killer bared his blades. "What happened to this town?"
They gripped their weapons tightly. "It was abandoned years ago. We took it up as our base, pirate," someone else spat.
"I see. Then you are no more than bandits." Killer's disinterested tone set them off.
They brandished their weapons, running at him with yells. He easily tore through each man who challenged him. His fight was no different than the training he had been doing earlier. A bullet tore through his arm and he let out a hiss. He had been so caught up with the swordsmen that he hadn't noticed a gunner hiding around the corner. Before he could get rid of the nuisance, the gunner burst into flames, his screams echoing around them. Every person stopped in fear and glanced around.
A red and orange beast dropped to the dirt in front of Killer. Its eyes were narrowed as it looked down the bandits. Small flames appeared around what Killer realized was a giant fox. It had orange fur covering its body but in place of the white he would have expected was bright red fur. The part that had frozen him was the five tails flared out in anger. He immediately thought it had to be a devil fruit user.
The small flames shot out at the bandits. Each man that got hit would burst into flames. Killer snapped out of his daze and took out the ones who were quick enough to dodge the fire. Soon it was over and he faced the strange fox. It stared at him so calmly, almost as if it was on his side. After a moment, he placed his blades away and knelt down to look into its eyes. They were golden and they continued to stare back at him. He looked away from its gaze, examining the rest of it. Strangely enough, he couldn't find a mouth.
He lightly placed his fingers where the mouth should have been. "You aren't a normal fox," he muttered to it.
It shook its head and took a few steps back. It stumbled and almost fell a few times. That was when Killer noticed the trickles of blood escaping from beneath its fur. He walked to it and put his hand against its side to stop its movements. He was careful to hold his wounded arm away but the fox had noticed. It leaned around him and blew air softly over the seeping wound. He flinched at sudden heat over his skin, but stared as he watched the blood stop flowing and the wound start to close. It wasn't completely healed but he was still amazed by this fox. Before he could say anything to it, it dashed away.
He ran after it. It tried to jump up to the roof again, but it missed, slamming into the wall instead. It barely landed on its feet before crumbling to the ground. Its chest was heaving; it was clear it was in pain and yet it was still trying to escape from Killer.
"Stop moving," he growled.
It shook its head lightly.
"Why are you trying to get away from me?" He didn't expect an answer from the fox. "Are you a devil fruit user?"
It paused as if unsure it should answer. Slowly it nodded.
He let out a puff of air. That was one question he had an answer to, but he had many more. "You fought those bandits for me. Why?"
It turned its gaze away.
"Why don't you just change back into a human so I can talk to you?"
It tensed and shook its head harshly. Clearly it was afraid of something.
"I won't attack you," he muttered. He placed his hand against its head. It looked into his eyes as if searching for the truth. "I promise."
I held onto this chapter for a little while to see if I would gain a few more reviews. Thank you Guest for pointing out my error. It is duly noted.
Did anyone guess about Frost and Flame? Who would like to harbor a guess for who the strange fox is?
I hope all of my little monsters are enjoying the story. The little ghosts need to drop a review in at some point, however. Levvi out.
