Bitterness
Author's Note: Hey! Guess who's back from the dead! Yeah, school's back in for me. Whoo. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :D
Reviews:
UnperfectButLovingIt: Yes, here it is!
nightange1: Thanks for your advice! I will definitely take it to heart! I'm glad you like it!
AntonioBP: My original idea was somewhere along that line, so that's great! Thanks!
Elle-Procrastinator: Thanks so much for your review. It really helped me, and I promise that there's a lot more character development coming up for Silk. To be honest, I also like namaka-ship. I'd like to see if I can include that, too. Thanks again!
theheartstourniquet: Yes. They are crazy. And the 'other guy's name is Zoro. :D Just sayin…and yes. Tacos are quite amazing. Glad you like it!
Alfie Timewolf: Thanks! I'm happy you like it!
WARNINGS: One swear word, one sort of swear word, screwing around with time because I can, and a whole buncha fluff at the end.
Enjoy!
Chapter 12
"How do you know the name of our organization?" someone cried. Zoro's smile became feral.
"Back when I was in the same business as you, an organization tried to recruit me. A group that lies completely on secrecy. Where the members don't even know each other's names and go by code names. Baroque Works. Of course, I refused and the recruiter insulted me. So I killed him." His smile was now the pitiless, wide, friendly smile of an insane psychopath.
"Very well then. We have no choice," Mr. 8 said. "One more grave must be dug at Cactus Rocks!" I raised an eyebrow. So the spines on the cactus were gravestones, huh? Interesting way to display the town cemetery.
Thinking it over in my head, I decided that my chance to escape was shot. There was likely no way that I could get across the wide open space without someone spotting me, and I needed at least 3 minutes to get Midnight undocked and ready to sail. By then, the whole town would be after me. Not to mention a likely ticked swordsman. I was confident that I could hold off the townspeople. The ticked swordsman? Not so likely. Plus, the commotion would wake the others up. And I really didn't feel like high-tailing it out to sea today. Sure, I did that with the Whitebeard Pirates, but that was more like…how you'd chase your kid sister at Christmas when she stole one of your presents. Friendly, maybe a little competitive. With the newbies…who knows? Maybe one of them will finally get pissed off enough to start going for 'maim' instead of 'capture'. Or 'kill'. After observing the first mate for a week or so, I was pretty confident in my belief that he had two switches: 'off' and 'let's blow this shit to hell'. Anything in between was an impossibility for him. The guy was the embodiment of recklessness. His Captain was the human incarnation of stupidity.
In short, the two heads of the ship were idiots. I feared for the saner ones.
Knowing that I had no other way out, I jumped onto his roof, landing on my feet. Zoro looked up at me with a raised eyebrow, and I knew that he'd known that I had been just one roof over. The guy was a freaking psychic. And damn insane, too. Still, I figured that maybe he could use someone to watch his back.
"Figured you could use someone to make sure nothing screwed up," I said casually, toying with the handle of my blade. He grinned widely at me, and we both looked over at the crowd.
"Fine. But stay out of my way," he warned. I shrugged.
"Fine. Stay out of mine." I drew Sakebi, who hummed with excitement and bloodlust.
Explanation time. My katana, Shikaeshi no sakebi, was passed down to me from my father, when he…died. It's a cursed sword, but it always had been. My father was fond of telling me the legend that went something like this:
There was once a famous blacksmith by the name of Kaito. Out of the 63 swords he produced, 8 ranked among the 21 Excellent-grade swords. Sakebi's story began with a rather infamous pirate, who demanded a sword. He promised payment when the swordmaster warned his weapons didn't come cheap, but as always in these stories, the pirate didn't intend to pay. But Kaito knew that, and (because he was also a spellcaster) he wove an enchantment into the blade that would make it open to receiving his soul into the blued metal, so he'd be able to animate it to get his revenge.
Of course, the pirate refused to pay. Of course, Kaito put up a fight. But with his primitive blacksmith tools, it was hardly a fight. And of course, Kaito's body died. But his soul took control of the sword, and Sakebi cut the pirate's heart. Satisfied, Kaito moved on and his soul dissipated into the next world. But his moments of revenge and anger and the pirate's bloodthirst remained.
Every person who picked it up would be able to feel the remnants, and if the feelings were strong enough then it'd control you. Sakebi was cursed, and only the strong-willed could wield it. My father conquered the sword, which was more than could be said for me. Sakebi and I sort of had an agreement—we'd work together until we could avenge my father's death. Then…well, then I'd either be dead, or hopefully Sakebi would be in a better mood. It really had loved my dad. Which was great, because it didn't hate me as much.
Another thing: I had been born with two silver eyes, but in recognition to our agreement, Sakebi turned my right eye blood-red, to remind me of my mission. Being an enchanted sword of sorts, it was able to do so. I covered my right eye with my hair most of the time, because it drove people away, but when I was serious I often blew my bangs out of my eyes.
The bounty hunters didn't put up much of a fight, even when we split up. And to be honest, I don't think that either of us were really trying. I know I wasn't, and from the almost impish grin on Zoro's face, he wasn't either. I demolished my side, and he took care of his, before the Baroque Work's members jumped in. I leapt aside and let Zoro duke it out—he looked like he needed to get rid of some stress—while I quietly mourned my speedily disappearing freedom. I tried to figure out a situation where I could salvage my plan, but I couldn't find one that wouldn't have the Straw-Hats coming after my blood. Ouch. I started flipping my earring with a finger, wondering if I'd be missed if I went back to the Merry Go (the Straw-Hat's ship's name, which I found out on our way here) and went to sleep. I was still tired from the entire marathon and I decided that whatever it was, they could fill me in later.
Walking back to the deck, I found my pack in the kitchen where I had put it and pulled out my medicine. I poured enough for about an hour or so's sleep, but my hand slipped a little and a touch more medicine slipped in. Figuring that it wouldn't make much of a difference, I poured water in it anyway and slipped it. When that was finished, I washed the cup and climbed back up to the crow's nest. My boots were still there (yes, I had walked around the town barefoot) and so was my book. I considered trying to read some more, but the medicine was pretty fast-acting. Already on the brink of falling asleep, I leaned against the mast and pulled my legs towards me, before the narcotics covered me in sleep.
After seeing the old guy in rollers get blown up, we decided to set sail with all possible speed. Nami stayed behind for a bit to comfort Ms. Wednesday and Luffy ran off to find Sanji and Usopp while I went to pull up the anchor. The big duck was there, and I pulled up the anchor without much difficulty. Something was bothering me, though, like I had forgotten something.
But that part was quickly squashed in favor of attending to the present, as Nami and Vivi came (and found the duck), and Luffy dragged in Usopp and the love-cook. We sailed out of the bay pretty easily. That is, until the strange woman came.
"Oh, my. You guys are pretty lucky," she said. I looked up, hand on my katana hilt, while the persistent voice that had spoken up was still saying that I'd forgotten something. I squashed it again, while she continued speaking.
"HEY, MY HAT! NOW YOU'RE ASKING FOR A FIGHT!" Luffy raged, while Usopp agreed with him…from behind the mast.
"What are you going to do?" I asked him, feeling a sweatdrop slide down the back of my head. The lady said something about an easier route, and Luffy refused to take it. Of course. Unfortunately, that was my captain.
Eventually, she left, and Ms. Wednesday (who's actual name turned out to be Vivi) collapsed, saying that she didn't know what side the woman was on.
"It's okay. We're used to scheming women around here," I said, looking pointedly at Nami, who wasn't looking. Instead, she asked something else.
"Hey…where's Silk?" Immediately, the voice in my head turned into an alarm. Silk had joined me in beating the crap out of all the bounty hunters, but after that she disappered…where had she gone? Her boat was still with us, so she couldn't have just gone on her own…right?
We searched for her, and Luffy looked a little relieved when Nami found Silk's bag in the kitchen. Knowing Luffy, he already thought of her as namaka, which meant that no matter what she did or what she said, he'd keep running after her. He was a persistant idiot like that.
I tried to think of a place where she would have gone, but I couldn't think of any. I decided to go up to the crow's nest, since it was my turn at watch. I had one foot in when I happened to look up and there she was, curled up and leaning against the mast. Her shoes and a book were laid neatly next to her, and her head rested on her arms.
"Hey, guys!" I called down to the others. "I found her." They relaxed and started off to whatever they were doing.
I sat next to her, wondering what she was doing up here. Light breaths made her shoulders move up and down rhythmically, so she was obviously sleeping. Carefully, I shook her shoulder. She didn't move. I shook it harder. This time, she stirred.
"Wha-?" she muttered, uncurling a little.
"Oi, what are you doing up here?" I asked. She took a few seconds to actually register that I had said something.
"Zoro?" she said, squinting at me, her words badly slurred. I felt a little bad for waking her up—she looked completely out of it. "Whadja say?"
"I said, what are you doing up here?"
"Came up cuz I was tired. Why?" she yawned, her eyes half-lidded. I stared at her for a second. She seemed so…vulnerable, like a little kid. It was weird. Shrugging the feeling off, I answered her question.
"Because we were looking for you, obviously," I said, letting a note of irritation creep in. "Why didn't you answer?" She shrugged.
"Didn't…didn't hear nuthin. Took too much medicine," she answered slowly. I raised an eyebrow. Who took medicine to go to sleep?
"Well…next time, let us know, alright?" I said a little testily.
"F…fine," she yawned again. "Prolly won't be a next time…"
"Why's that?" I asked, curious. Her dull grey eye swivled in my direction, then turned back out to the horizon, unseeing.
"Cuz…can't stay long. Can't ever stay too long. Don' wanna. And…and…they might find out," she finished, curling back up. In a few seconds, she was fast asleep again. I stared at her. In the tired, half-awake state she had been in, it was almost as if…she was open. I leaned back against the mast, looking out at the ocean and not seeing any of it. I was too focused on what Silk had just said. They might find out…what was that all about?
"Just what are you hiding from us?" I asked quietly, but she only answered with more steady breaths.
Pretty soon, I joined in.
Author's Note: And we end on a highly fluffy note. Thank you.
Yes, I know that I skipped a whole bunch of action and dialogue, but for the fight scene, Silk can't exactly hear Zoro's awesomely funny comments ("Careful there. The floor has been cut right though." *walks away*). For the rest, I'm tired and I want to get this chapter done with because the Little Garden arc is, I find, more interesting. So, sorry for Zoro's slight OOC-ness with not paying attention at crap and whatnot. Oh, and there's an unguarded moment with Silk! Yes! Foreshadowing rules!
...Crap, did I just spoiler something? Oh, well. It's sort of blatantly obvious anyway.
Another thing: so, I read through your reviews and no, you guys want me to stick to the plot as well as I can. So, the next stop is Little Garden! See ya all there!
This is Will, signing out.
