Here's Chapter 12 ! Yay!
Well guys, I'm starting to have a problem. My mind just won't stop thinking up future events, alternative endings and unusual changes. I've already thought about circumstances years and years later in the plot of the story, and when I get round to them I want to change and alter them again. My typing just can't keep up with my mind. It is a very frustrating business.
I don't know One Piece, and I would like to give my congratulations and condolences to Eiichiro Oda. It must have been a lot of hard work to write One Piece, and it doesn't even feel close to being finished. Wow! I love your story, but do you never stop to take a break? I'm worried, but even so...Please don't stop...
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Tashigi's Heart: The Depths of Nothing
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The key to the success of this mission was calmness of mind and body and absolute precision. There were five of us who were sent down to investigate and fetch the Red Leopard Eel and her nest from our keel. The men all looked very hardened and strong. I felt tiny compared to them, but I wanted to do this. To long have I just studied and not be able to go out and do the practical things I had always dreamed of doing and now this was my chance.
Glancing down at the water from above, now with intention of swimming in it, I suddenly felt it didn't look as beautiful as it did before. The sun still shone brightly and the water glistened with it's light like a mirror, but that didn't hold back my feeling of dread. I know what sort of beasts live in these waters. One deep breath... "Whu-p" I looked down. Now this was it.
"Haah..." I breathed out. "Time to go." I said as cheerfully as possible.
"Wait, you're really coming with us?" Some of these sailors had never met me, so they didn't know what to expect.
"Yes, of course." I said with no hesitation, "Now remember not too much movement or it might bring up the bigger fish."
I strapped my sheath onto my back with Shigure inside it, absailed down a rope from the ship and slipped into the sea. The water was so cold, I could feel my muscles seizing up and trying to clamp down and stop moving. Even with the diving gear we had on, that was supposed to make you feel warmer in the water, I found my limbs began aching and my feet wanted to curl up and not move at all.
I grabbed a hold of the rope that had been thrown down to me and attached it to the nets. We were making sure that once we did have the beasts that they would have no chance to escape. Picking up the breathing equipment that was handed to me I placed it firmly over my face (I had managed to get a hold of some goggles with my prescription), and pushed my head underwater. If I was going to be a leader that these men wanted to respect then I would have to do my duty without hesitation or fuss.
We had brought down with us some devices that (cannot be named because their names are classified) and nets attached to the pulley system, and our weapons of choice. We kept close to the ship's hull and swam slowly down. The water pressure was becoming thicker and heavier.
I wasn't used to this. I think I'll practice depth diving and swimming with mysword a little more often. I trained with weights and swam with them on multiple occasions. But if this was tiring me out, how was I supposed to fight with anything? If I could barely lift my own sword, what would happen in a real fight? Right I need to practice swimming with weighted clothing.
We were within eyesight of the nest now. And the Adult Red Leopard Eel was nowhere to be seen. If we were lucky and the young eels were still in the early part of there hatching stage then we wouldn't have to worry about them breaking free of their transparent egg. We got up close and a young man, whose name I don't remember, held up a small light to the nest. We could see the damage these sea creatures had been doing to our ship, eating away at the exterior. Thankfully they hadn't eaten through it completely, or else we would have started to sink already.
I motioned for the men with the dislodging tools to come to the front, and get to work with removing the nest. They were very good and precise, and the rubbery egg quickly came off. Now that I could see the thing up close I would have to say it had to be 2.5 meters in diameter. It made me feel so tiny next to it. What was really strange is that it didn't seem to have any particular shape, as in, when it was pulled one direction it morphed into one shape, and then changed again when pulled into another. It doesn't take us long to wrap up the one massive egg inside the nets, and once that was done those who were one top were able to pull it back. (they had lowered the snail again to check and scope out the dangers)
I couldn't help, but wonder. Where the adult Red Leopard Eel had gone? Curiosity got the better of me and I swam further down so I could get a good look at the ship. This breed of Eel was extremely protective of their nests, and had to be around here somewhere. I flipped over, my face looking up to the ship and the lighter water above, I could see head or tail of the Eel anywhere.
I have a bad feeling about this. Where did you go? I turned around again and looked down into the sea depths. Was that movement down there, or was it my own imagination? It was so dark I couldn't make it out. What if she didn't leave? What if she had been taken by something else? Well I think it might be time to go.
I swam upwards breathing out slowly as I ascended. I couldn't shake off the terrible feeling of something coming after me, chasing me. I could just make out the rest of my team at the side of the boat climbing up. That was good that means the mission in itself was completed with no casualties.
For one foolish, stupid moment I glanced down, (or maybe it was wise to) and saw a huge tentacle reach up from the dark depths it was only about 5 meters below me, without a second thought I dislodged my Shigure and swung it down using my own body movement in the water to help it swing.
Fighting in the water is a lot harder than it looks, since your body needs the central force of gravity for balance, hard swings and stable footing. Being underwater gives you nothing, but flexibility. And when fighting against an invertebrate a human is at a massive disadvantage.
Author note: (Unless he is made of rubber)
My sword came down on it's tentacle and cut through it. I didn't bother congratulating myself then and there, this was just one tentacle, there was bound to be more coming. I swam upwards as hard as I could for the ship, but it was then that I noticed the darkness of the deep sea seemed to be moving and seething. How big was this beast?!
Something latched itself onto my ankle, and started curling up my leg. It was tugging me down preventing me from going any further. My sword sliced through the rubbery substance again, but there was no break in-between the attacks now. Fear began to brake into my mind. There was no way I could fight this thing off all by myself, and if I don't get back to the ship I'll be putting everybody else in danger.
I cut away the nearest tentacle and stole a glance at the shimmering surface. Well it wasn't shimmering it was obstructed by an arm of the beast after me. It was HUGE about 4 meters wide. There is no way I'm going to survive this... I'm not going to make it. How can I cut through that?
The giant tentacle came down on top of me, the suction pads immediately latching onto what it found, across my chest, around my back, then up in-between by legs and around one of them. I had always been quite athletic but never been able to split my legs very far apart, but now I wasn't given a choice. I felt my right leg clunk out of place as it made space for the tentacle to move around. The pain was excruciating.
"AHHHH!" I screamed under the mask, that was surprisingly still on my face, and it held me tighter. My right hand and arm were still free, and I kept on cutting into it, but it felt as if I wasn't even doing anything. Not even slowing it down one bit. I could feel the suction pads moving becoming wider as they spread over my body. I felt them clamping down and …
A sharp pin-like needle feeling cut in through my clothes, through my skin, and into my back, neck, chest stomach, leg, and other parts. My entire body froze, and numbed, my legs and arms twitching uncontrollably. I could feel myself relaxing against my will, and the hand which gripped my sword was beginning to release.
No! no! Don't let go! I won't give in! I want to live! I had too! Just don't let go!
Was it me or did everything look a little darker? I started to feel no pain at all. A weird feeling of happiness kicked in as I started to relax. This had to be some sort of drug that gets put into the creature's food to stop it from fighting back. My legs gave a final few kicks then my entire body relaxed, and my hand let go.
No! not now! My mind screamed at me, but there was nothing I could do. The pressure of the large tentacle lessoned and removed itself completely. In that brief moment of numb freedom I was able to glance up again for what I thought would be my last time. The ship was already gone. That was good, they had managed to get away.
I new something had grabbed me again because I moved suddenly in the water, being pulled quickly this way and that, but I could feel nothing. I watched as a very small worm-like tentacle wound itself up my leg around my body and then my neck and pulled me down, down wherever that was. It worked it's way into my mask and the water got in.
Well this was it. My mask came completely off and thus rendering me blind. It didn't matter any-more that I couldn't see. There was no way I could get out of this one. Since I was in no control of my systems any-more a few seconds later my useless body breathed in water for oxygen. The burning feeling filled my chest as I began to drown. And the world went dark, as my body went into panic mode from the loss of oxygen.
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I was being dragged up a beach by something. Was I dead? No, if I was dead then my arms and legs in my new body should be working. I still felt numb all over, but my eyes were working, and the sun was still shining. The shadows were long, and I could see a human-like shape walking beside me. I say it was human-like because in this light it looked like it had six arms. Maybe I was just going crazy, having been saved from the clutches of the ignominious squid, I was thankful to this thing, but it looked like another sea monster.
It dropped me very unceremoniously onto the ground. Thankfully it didn't hurt because I was still under the influence of whatever was injected into me. And then he pulled me into an upright sitting position and had me slouching against something. Now that we were above the murky water I could see that he didn't look that different from the creature I had just faced before, having a very squid/octopus-like appearance with six arms with suction pads dotted about over, under and around them. This had to be one of those fishmen creatures. I had never seen one before up close. Who was this guy and why did he save me?
He dropped a sword into the ground in-front of me. Wait! Shigure! He had Shigure! He must caught it when I dropped it. Wow, what a stroke of luck. I'm never this lucky.
He lifted four of his many squid like arms and folded them above and across his chest. "You're lucky, I got curious and swam up just in time Marine!" He lifted his top pair of arms and crossed them over his head and looked very proud of himself as he leant back on the fowl smelling rock face. I knew normally this sort of thing would bother me, but right now I just felt relief and thankfulness for just being alive.
"Your friends were able to go, but I saw they left you, so when I saw your sword fall I thought nice sword who does it belong to. Then I noticed you. What is a woman doing fighting a sea king all by herself? Even our mermaids have better sense to swim away when they come near, but you human women are crazy. Nami was weird like that too, but not as crazy … " He was extremely talkative and my mind just couldn't keep up with what he was saying. I could feel the ground underneath me, and I could twitch my fingers and toes feeling was coming into me quicker than I had excepted.
My eyes glanced around trying to take in all my surroundings. All the rocks was covered with seaweed from every visible angle, and it stank as seaweed only does when it has been drying in the sun for hours. That's good my nose still works. Did he like that smell? Fishmen were weird.
But my thoughts weren't dwelling on thanking or congratulating strangers for their bravery. Now that I was out of the cold water, pain began to rip though my arms and tingle in my skin. I moved one arm hesitantly then the other, it was okay to move. I then pulled off the top half of my tight long-sleaved diving gear very carefully, and see thousands of little hooks had been in bedded into my neck, arms, hands, and chest. It took my many years of harsh training and discipline to not just scream out in shock and horror, or maybe I was just tired. I reached out for one of them to start the unpicking process.
"I wouldn't do that," He tilted his head a side, "if I were you." the fishman stated with mouth left hanging open in-between his sentences.
Now it was time to test my voice. "W … why sh..sh..should.. dn't I?" I don't know why, but I've never been that good at concealing what ever is on my mind. "Th .. they are po...oison...ous righ..t? I shou...ld ge..t them out as so..oon as pos...sible."
"Yes, but now ya're out of the water and sun drying it can't harm ya the same way." he paused and wrapped his arms around his body, legs, head, and then at last chin, and then scratched his forehead. Gosh, It was so hard pay attention to anything he said, he was just so weird. "It is supposed to itch ya humans to sleep, but then you wake up a few hours later." he then lifted his head right up from his thoughtful position and stared right at me. "If you move them, or try to dislodge them the tips will break off in ya skin, and BUUURRHSA!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin at his sudden outburst. Calm down calm down... He was just being stupid. "W.. what do...oes Bur..hsa mean?" I asked as calmly as I could. Come on mouth work properly.
"BUUURRHSA! BUrhAs? Buhasr? Hubasr? Buursha? I don't know." He gave me what you could say might pass for a grin, "Ya will die. And not live anymore, and dream of fish, and scaly tails wrapping around yours, and baby fish, and eggs,..."
For some reason my facial expressions seemed to be working. I could feel my muscles in my face again, and I think it showed some of my disgust. I am not one to hide my opinion from someone if I think they needed to hear it, if I thought that their conversation wasn't worthy of my attention and this topic was one what I would definitely deem unnecessary. But my stupid mouth wasn't working very well.
"...and more fish, food, and more money and more mermaids... I never got one to like me..." He put his hand thingys over his eyes and started to cry.
Oh please: crying fishman, a hungry Giant Squid-thing (I never got to see the whole of it), a nesting Red Leopard Eel. What was going to come next? A singing sea shell? Today has been a bizarre day for abnormal encounters.
"I always wanted a family, but I'll die too... and never know the joy a..."
I zoned off for a bit my vision was getting blurry again. What was I going to do? And how was I going to find my way back to the Marines? I took a glance at my weeping saviour, No way he didn't mean any harm. If he had done he would have already hurt me by now. And he wouldn't have even tried to save me. He went out of his way to save me, which was exceedingly kind.
"...and pets to f...find and f...feed... a...and s...six swords to start collecting again..." He took another deep breath. "WAAAOOOOHHH..." ;(
"Excuse me, good fishman?" I interrupted his wail. YES, my voice was working again. "Do you say you used to collect swords? What type?" This was interesting, just stay alert! I had never heard of a fishman who collected swords before. Stay awake, find out information!
"Any!... it doesn't matter. My ooold swords were destroyed..." Any? What sort of amateur just collects six swords of anything.
He started mumbling through those...lips?... I wasn't quite sure what to call them. Maybe he was just a big liar with nothing better to do than create stories through that... The mouth, Large nostril?
"It was on that terrible week, when I was just minding my business doing fishing on the shore. And I made my pets favourite food! But he didn't come when I whistled." He opened that creepy cave of a mouth, "It sounded like this"... "*#$ ):) 0*0.#.!+-)=_(- _)!"
Uhhh! "NOT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" Wow, I actually had the strength to yell. What's that ghastly noise? It was giving me one massive headache, or maybe that was my yell that gave me a headache.
"And he didn't come... I had just decided to not let it go to waste and eat it myself, when a human interrupted my peaceful thoughts." he put on a deep voice that I suppose was to sound like a human, "Hey?!" 'He said to me' "Are you the one that blew the trumpet?" 'and I said "Ahhh? Who are you," 'but that's rude to ask first I said so,' "Me? I'm Ha-chan, but you can call me Hachi."
How long was this story going to last? …
"And then he insulted me by asking 'IF I WAS A MERMAN TOO' of course I was a merman! I'm a meroctopus man THAT is sooooo much better."
"But I was so polite and gave him a lift and sent him directions, to my bosses, captains,,., and he stabbed me in the back... no he LIED TO ME and said he was a marine! nnnooo,,, a guest,... that was it a guest. And murdered all my friends, no enemies, no all the fishman in the East Blue.." He circular mouth slapped shut as he began to commiserate over the past. They started quivering, "He said maybe he was a guest … "
His tentacles/ arms were flying, wiggling, flabbing about all over the place as only an almost invertebrate could, "MAYBE?" "But Arlong was not here, there, at that dreadful place, and he wanted to see them. Him. And to demanded a lift, no I convinced me... MADE ME DO IT!
I was really tired of this. Had this creature really saved me from that sea monster. He was acting like a wimp, and I had always assumed that fishmen were terrifying, manipulative, untrustworthy creatures. And here was one who couldn't even retell his own stories without ruining them himself.
"What has this story got to do with me?" I interrupted, "I want to thank you for you help earlier, but I have no time for these things. I don't mean to seem rude, but I'm more concerned about getting back with my crew-mates and my Captain."
"My name is Hachi! So pleased to meet a captain, no what, What is your name Marine? I help marines because that is what Arlong pirates do?" he paused, his eyes going wide. "Ah! No! not any-more!? Not since then!..."
He certainly was distracting I could give him that, but I was beginning to feel weak and tired. My neck, it was as if it had caught on fire, burning my neck befiely then my chest, then my arms, then back up to my neck again. It was a living fire, unseen running up and down my body with a will of its own.
I took in a sharp breath, "Please? Quiet, My neck is aching.." okay no more talking...
"Don't kill me for being polite! I said. And then he picked up his only sword. Just one! I have six to show you I said. I showed him all six. AND HE LAUGHED AT ME! No he asked for directions to Arlong and 'How to get to the village?' HOW. HE HAD JUST KILLED EVERYONE! and then he cut up all my swords and Said he 'didn't need three sword style to kill me. Just one sword would be fine' I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO INSULTED! No, he did use three-sword style...yes...no!"
"Wait? You said three-sword style?" I inquired, "Are you talking about Roronoa Zoro?"
"Yes, he is the human man with green hair." Tears continued to run down his face, "He cut me up real bad! With three swords, he cut all my swords in half. All six of them!"
So he had met Zoro too. Woah, Zoro got around quite a bit. I wasn't quite sure whether I should be impressed or mortified. If what this fishman said was true then Zoro had been more incredible than first impressions had made him out to be. "Did Zoro really cut down all the fishmen on your Island or are you just making it up?"
"NO! I'm not making it up. He had one sword first then his other friends threw him their swords. So he had three to attack me with. And before he met me, without me knowing he killed all my brothers at Arlong Park."
Arlong Park? Isn't that a pirates den? ... "YOU'RE A PIRATE!" I could feel a boiling anger rising inside me. Arlong park had been that place the Strawhat kid destroyed. This fishman had to have been one of the survivors. One of the Arlong pirates that had threatened the citizens of that area in the Blue Sea for ten years.
"Yes, I was … It was a wonderful life with lots of free money, and we only had to pay 5% of our well earned gold to the Marine Investigator. He was so understanding."
A marine... How shameful. It was horrid to know there were marines out there who had simply signed up for power and promotions, who cared little for the well-being of the common man and more about how he could fill his own pockets. "Tell me. Where did you acquire your gold from?"
"We travelled many places, to many Islands, and received lots of food and taxes from the townspeople." he smiled at this as if he was delivering good news. "Nami was so helpful back then the best navigator the Arlong Pirates have ever had." His face turned sour as he remembered the rest.
"And now the Strawhat kid has got her. He killed Arlong, destroyed our home, and stole her from the Arlong pirates." he took a deep breath, "We will never forgive the strawhat, even though Arlong was mean to me and they didn't kill me. We can never forgive the Pirate hunter!... Wait is he a pirate hunter? When he works for a pirate?... hum? Maybe... no..."
"He was a pirate hunter once, but now has abandoned that dishonourable trade for something far worse." I spoke into his musings.
So the Strawhat kid, Monkey D. Luffy also has the Arlong Pirates' best navigator on board their ship. I can now verify that there are four people that I know are a part of his crew. There is their Captain Monkey D. Luffy, then the Swordsman Roronoa Zoro, the Navigator Nami, and that man in black who was with strawhat, and Roronoa Zoro that night at Loguetown. The Buggy Pirates had had about a hundred men in the square that night, and the only members of Strawhat Pirates that I saw was those two. What sort of man picks a fight with a pirate gang when the odds are 30 to one. The strawhat pirates were very interesting.
I needed to get back as soon as possible. There was no time to spare. But I could still not move my legs, and I was beginning to feel really sick. The Fishman … Hachi? Was still recounting the events of his life and I could feel myself drifting off into sleep. He said this might happen right. I got some valuable information.
I need to get back. I need to get back...
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Well I hope you like that extra long chapter. It took me an excessively long time to write it. I kept on rewriting it because it just didn't flow well enough. I was going to have a fight scene for Hachi, but it all became very complicated and long so I just had her drowning and seeing blackness when he came in to rescue her.
I like Hachi as a character, and I think he is quite funny and simple, and he was the ideal Fishman to save her from this situation. I also liked the idea of having Tashigi being saved by another terrible pirate, just to stab her pride, not that she hadn't been hurt enough already.
I have found it to be hard to upload recently. My family is very loving, in your face, and wants your time sort of family. And since I had a little time during July and August to see them I went to visit. I did enjoy myself there, but found it quite impossible to get into the flow of writing when I was summoned every few moments to do or see something.
But anyway! Summer in the UK this year has been GREAT! I'm a white girl with a tan that would impress a black woman. If I dyed my hair Black I might be mistaken for an Indian. Or a Female version of Luffy.
:D
Please don't forget to... REVIEW! I love hearing from people like my stories. It really boosts me up!
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