Glory Island Arc
"Heated Brawl in Mira's Cabin! Taya, the Feisty Cook with a Fiery Attitude!"
Gooma went flying out his seat when Taya smashed the plate of food right into his face, the force behind the push enough to throw even his large frame to the floor. Eric and the other two pirates were quick to their feet, their panicked eyes watching as Gooma cough and gagged on some of the leftovers that had obviously gone into his throat.
"Big mistake, you stupid girl!" Eric roared, yanking the cutlass from his side and slicing up to strike Taya's face.
She dodged the attack with ease and had already positioned herself to crack a fist across Eric's jaw, when suddenly Gevin shoved her aside and slammed a fist right into Eric's face. The pirate stumbled from the hit and then two more quick jabs before being knocked aside.
Taya grunted as Gevin moved in on her target, but then turned to the other two pirates that looked ready to attack, one of them holding a dagger in his hand as he leered. With a smile, Taya waved them on and they both moved in for the attack. She dodged the first one's lunge and easily sidestepped the dagger that the other pirate swung for her stomach. Not missing a beat, she squared her feet to the floor and was ready to send them both packing with an attack, but yet again, she was interrupted.
Kyler came flying in out of nowhere with a punch to the dagger-wielding pirate's throat and then struck the man with three rapid body blows before sending him flying with an uppercut. The poor pirate flew through the air and eventually slammed through their former eating table. Meanwhile, Yevin was hammering the final pirate with strong punches to the jaw before hitting him square in the stomach with a punch and then ending it with a body-rocking jab across his face.
"A fighting family?" Ches crooned with a smirk as he watched the display. "That's not something you see every day."
Atori chuckled a bit. "I knew there was a reason why I wanted to come here!"
Ralli just watched with wide eyes, his smile growing with each punch the family threw out.
Taya growled in anger and glared down her three brothers with stormy blue eyes. "Why did you idiots get in my way?" she demanded. "I had it under control!"
"You're the idiot!" Kyler fired back, his own blue eyes matching hers with anger. "You didn't have anything under control! You could've been killed!"
Taya was ready to scream her head off in response, but didn't get the catch before a gun shot went off. The whole cabin seemed to freeze from the explosion of gunpowder and it wasn't until Taya caught the glimmer of a bullet headed her way that her body suddenly ran cold. Her instincts roaring to life, she angled her body to dodge the bullet and had already locked eyes with the assailant to beat the living crap out of him. But the bullet never got a chance to soar on past her before a massive frame suddenly moved in its way. The bullet struck with a bloody crash in the shoulder of a huge, built man that looked more like a human refrigerator. He looked like a much older and stronger version of the twins and was dressed in a simple white shirt and black trousers with a cook's apron over the front of his body.
"D-dad!" Taya hissed with fear in her eyes.
And down on the ground, Gooma growled like a rabid dog as he still held the smoldering gun out for another shot. "You damn cooks can die!" he roared and started to pull the trigger, but didn't get the chance to fire because Kyler swooped in like a blur of gold and kicked his gun away at the last second.
"Not again, you piece of shit!" the blonde man roared with as much deadliness as an enraged lion. He struck down and took a firm hold of Gooma's shirt, ready to pummel the man into oblivion, but was halted as his father spoke.
"No," the man called, his voice a deep and rocky baritone, The big man obviously showed no concern for the bullet wound in his shoulder and instead stomped right over to Gooma, who looked beyond frightened under the man's sight. Despite his size, he swooped down to grab a firm hold of the pirate's shirt and lift him up into the air, holding them there like he was a feather. "How dare you shoot at my little girl, you waste of a man?" he growled like an angry grizzly bear. He pulled back one massive fist and allowed his steel eyes to cut Gooma apart. "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you and won't think twice about it!"
Gooma seemed like he wanted to say something, possibly plead for forgiveness, but didn't the chance before the man's large fist crashed into his skull. The punch sounded more like a gunshot and the force behind it was enough to send the fat pirate soaring across the restaurant and crashing out of the double doors. And hardly five seconds after Gooma had been sent flying, Kyler, Yevin and Gevin tossed out the rest of the pirates.
The large man turned away from the human trash that had been taken out and locked eyes with his daughter, who'd gained tears in her eyes from watching her father get shot. The man shushed and cooed to calm her and moved in for a hug, but was dismissed as Taya took an enraged step away from him.
"Why'd you do that!" she cried. "I could've dodged the bullet, Dad! You didn't have to save me! None of you did, dammit!" She stomped her foot with anger as she glared down all of her brothers and father. "How many times do I have to tell you that I can take care of myself?!"
The man looked like he'd been slapped in the face. "Taya, you're my little girl. You can't take care of yourself, yet!"
That just poured gasoline on top of the fire. The girl growled with anger and shoved her dad aside before rushing through her brothers and sprinting out of the door. Gevin looked like he was ready to run off in pursuit, but Kyler pulled him back. "Just let her go," the blonde demanded with a sigh. "You know how she gets when she's angry. She'll come back after a little while."
Begrudgingly, the bandana'd twin agreed and moved to help Yevin pick some of the mess off of the floor. Their father looked over the scene with a scowl and then muttered something to Kyler before walking back into the kitchen. From that point, the rest of the restaurant seemed to fall back into order, surprisingly enough. Most of the customers went back to eating as if nothing had happened while others seemed to be rejoicing in the fact that they'd gotten a show.
"Deepest of apologies all around!" Kyler called with his patented fake smile on display. "For the next twenty minutes, we will not be taking any orders! And anyone dissatisfied with the service is welcomed to a refund!" The blonde went on, trying to smooth things out for the customers.
Meanwhile, Ralli got out of his seat, his eyes trained on the door where Taya had just run out of. Atori watched him for a long moment, but the brunette could practically read red eye's mind and didn't bother asking where he was going. He only announced that he'd be back soon and walked out of the restaurant in pursuit of the feisty cook.
The search for Taya took less than five minutes thanks to Ralli's sense of smell. She was standing in an alleyway, back against the wall and head drooped, though if it was from crying or just thinking, Ralli couldn't tell.
He took a step towards the girl and before he knew it, her neck snapped around to glare at him, her eyes making him take a cautious step back as she leered. Red eye quickly brought up both hands in a sign of harmlessness and said, "H-hey! I didn't mean to surprise you or anything. I'm not going to hurt you!"
She watched him for a long moment before scoffing. "Just because I'm a girl, I'm supposed to think that you can hurt me?" she hissed with a cold tone. "I'd like to see you try!" Ralli just swallowed dryly and held her gaze as she watched him and when he made no move at all to attack, she scoffed again. "Either tell me what you want or get lost." She leaned back up against the wall, looking away from Ralli as if he weren't there.
Ralli chuckled at that and moved closer to the girl, leaning up against the opposite wall with a smile on his face. "That sounds like something Ato would say," he muttered to himself and then shook his head when Taya looked at him as if he were crazy. There was a long awkward pause as she just looked at Ralli and Ralli tried to remember why he'd come in search of her. "Does that happen a lot?" he asked lamely after not being able to think of anything else to say.
Taya just watched him with disinterest. "If you mean fights in the restaurant, I'd say at least one a week. Either it's me or Kyler. Though, the twins did take down a set of rowdy pirates once. Is that all?" She looked about ready to walk away and Ralli blurted the first thing that came to his mind.
"It wasn't your fault!" he exclaimed, shocking the both of them with his own words. She watched him skeptically, but a bit more interested so he continued. "It, uh, wasn't your fault what happened to your dad. He just didn't read the situation well, I guess. I, uh, think you could've beaten those pirates on your own, too, by the way. I was watching and every time one of them came at you, you seemed perfectly positioned to dodge or even counter them. Even with that bullet, you looked ready to dodge it and attack, but your dad got in the way. And I'm sorry he had to get hurt." He chanced a glance up at Taya and was relieved to see that some of the storminess in her eyes had evaporated.
She smiled a tad bit at Ralli and said, "Thanks, for thinking I could do it." And on a second thought, she added, "And don't be concerned about my dad. I'm pretty sure a train could run him over and he'd be feeling fine the next day." She laughed at her own metaphor and then watched Ralli for a long hard moment. "What's your name?" she finally asked.
Ralli offered his own wide smile and stuck out a hand. "Teko C. Ralli, next King of the Pirates!" he proclaimed.
If Taya was shocked that he was a pirate, she didn't show it. She stuck out her hand to grab his and said, "Call me Taya and I guess I'm the Princess of Mira's Cabin!" Another moment of silence fell between the two before she asked, "Why'd you come out here to tell me that?"
Ralli just shrugged. "Felt like the right thing to do, I guess. I could tell that you were sad because of what had happened to your dad and I know how that feels – to watch someone get hurt for something that you started." He shrugged again, not really knowing what to say.
Taya sighed deeply. "I hate that my dad had to get hurt because of a fight I started, but it's just…I just can't stand it! I hate it, Ralli! People like that pirate are the worst kind! They don't respect anything, they don't care about anything, they think that they can just do anything and it not matter. They don't take the time to think about things to understand how much love, or time, or care someone puts into their creations. They just stomp all over it as if it's nothing. Well, not on my watch, dammit!" she declared her fists clenching at her sides.
"Every supply is necessary, every item is crucial! Nothing should ever just go to waste in the kitchen! It goes deeper than just time and preparation, it's that extra special bit of love you put into every meal that counts. And when people like him stomp over that, all of that time just goes down the drain. I'm a cook! I love cooking and would do it all day every day if I had to! I put everything I have into every meal I create, a special amount of love and attention for every single item! So when I cook something, it had better be eaten!" Her fist slammed into the wall behind her, and Ralli was shocked to see the spider webbing of cracks from the impact. "I don't pour my heart and soul into a dish for it to just be sent to the trash because of preference. You'd better have a damn good reason for not eating my food unless you want to taste my fist instead. Those bastards, they just…they just…!"
Taya threw her head back in anger and just screamed to the top of her lungs in frustration. Her voice boomed through the alleyway like thunder and Ralli cringed in pain as Taya's shriek nearly turned his brain to mush. It wasn't normal at all. It was like the banshee's call before someone died; it just struck without warning and wreaked havoc on anything that dared to hear it. But after nearly ten seconds of the terrible shriek, Taya stopped, breathing heavily to recover from the scream.
Ralli pulled himself from the ground, not even realizing that Taya's scream had made him retract so much, and just looked at her with wide eyes.
"That. Was. Awesome!" he finally said, hardly able to hear his own words thanks to the ringing in his ears.
Taya just smiled and laughed nervously with embarrassment. "Sorry," she said. "Sometimes I do that just to clear my mind. It works wonders most of the time."
"I'm pretty sure you can clear everybody's minds with a scream like that!" Ralli cheered, rubbing at his ears absently. "How can you do that? It was so loud!"
Taya's nervous laugh persisted and she even blushed and replied, "I-it comes from my mom's side of the family. All of my brothers can talk and yell really loud too, but I think I'm the only that uses a scream like that one. Sorry again, by the way."
Ralli just laughed at her embarrassment. "No problem!" he cheered. "So, feeling any better?"
Taya stopped blushing and laughing long enough to think over the question and she smiled wide when she realized that she actually did. "Yeah, lots better actually. Thanks, Ralli."
"Anytime!"
The rest of the day went swimmingly for the crew. Ralli returned to Mira's Cabin with Taya and joined his friends back in their seats. Soon enough, the cooks began cooking once more and the brothers were back out on the floor serving up customers like there was no tomorrow. The crew got to experience Mira Cabin's food firsthand and was overly happy about the taste, especially when they'd learned Taya personally prepared just about all of it. The girl had only been able to take a few minutes away from the kitchen to accept their praise for the food, in which she'd met Ches and Atori, before running on back to continue for the day.
Ralli had completely forgotten to ask if she'd be coming to tonight's Fight Night event, but just shrugged the thought away as the trio left Mira's Cabin.
I'm sure I'll see her around, and maybe –just maybe – she'll want to join our crew, he thought.
"I don't think this is a good idea, Ralli?" Ches commented, walking closely to Atori as red eye led them through a thick forest of trees. Though it was still day, the trees cast a darkness over the area that was giving the navigator the creeps. "I know you want to see this spirt, Ralli, but how are we supposed to know if she's hostile or not? We are walking right on her territory," he reasoned and then nearly jumped out of his skin when a bird suddenly rushed through the trees.
Atori just rolled his eyes at Ches's behavior. "You were the one that asked Kyler about the spirit. You should've known that Ralli would get all worked up over it later," the brunette said and nearly tripped when Ches latched onto him when a rustling came from the bushes. "What's your problem? Are you scared of forests or something?!"
Ches was shoved aside by Ato, but kept his eyes trained on the environment around him as he walked, hands in his pockets as if he was ready to pull a knife at any moment. It had been a while since leaving Mira's Cabin and it would be another few hours until the start of Fight Night. So, with nothing else to do, Ralli demanded that they go out into the woods to search for the Spirit of the Trees. At first, Ches had been willing, but upon seeing how dark the thick forests were, he was quite reluctant.
"It's not that I'm scared of forests!" he demanded in response in an effort to save his shame. "It's just…I don't like being in dark forests. I guess you could say, I'm not a fan of the unknown and this forest is teaming with the unknown."
Atori opened his mouth to speak, but closed it a few times, completely at a loss of words for a response. After a while, he just shrugged and continued going. Another couple minutes passed before he opened his mouth to speak again. "Ralli, where are you taking us?" he proclaimed, but was silenced as Ralli shushed him.
The red eye suddenly stopped and held out a shushing finger to his friends as he looked around the darkness of the trees, his ears twitching as he tried to catch a hint of something. He was even sniffing wildly, obviously taking advantage of his Devil Fruit power to try and detect anything. After nearly a minute of standing there, Ralli nodded his head over to the left and waved them on.
"Do you think he really knows where he's going?" Ches eventually asked, seeming to have calmed from the nervousness of being in a dark forest.
Atori just shrugged. "This is Ralli we're talking about. I honestly wouldn't trust him to lead us across a bridge, but seeing as our navigator has a case of the frights, someone has to do it."
Ches scowled for the first time at Atori, though it faded the second Ato looked his way. "I don't have the frights," he demanded and then grunted when Atori just smiled wickedly at him. "And what about you? Why couldn't you take the lead?"
"Don't feel like it," was his instant response.
"Do you ever feel like doing anything?" Ches asked with a layer of sarcasm in his tone that he suddenly wished he hadn't used.
Atori looked over at Ches for a long moment, not necessarily glaring like usual, but he didn't look all too happy either, which was obviously making the knife thrower nervous. Finally though, he said, "I do things when I feel I have to. Less chance of messing stuff up."
Before Ches could even form a response to that, Ralli shushed them again. When the duo looked over at the boy, he was crouched down in front of a bush. He waved them down to his side and once they took position, he pointed into the bush, indicating for them to go through. Truth be told, Atori was surprised Ralli could hold this amount of concentration on something that didn't involve fighting.
The trio moved on through the bush, moving as carefully as possible so as not to alert anyone. After a moment of crawling, their heads finally popped out of the other side and Ralli was grinning like an idiot when he looked into a nearby tree. Ches and Atori followed his gaze and were shocked to their souls to see a woman clad in a white, long-sleeved gown with bare feet. Her hair was a flowing, brilliant brassy color and a small flower peeked out of the gown upon her shoulder as she sat up in a tree.
She was lazily humming some kind of tune as she looked into a flower in her hands, but then her eyes cut down to the trio's heads sticking out of the bushes and even Ralli was shocked that she'd seen them. Unlike the stories had explained, the girl made no move to run though. She just watched them for a long moment before smiling politely. "You've finally made it!" she chirped.
Ooooh! Some spirit of the trees action now! And how about the feisty blonde, huh? Too bad her family kept getting in the way. I was hoping to see what Taya could do. XD As if I don't already know! The story probably seems all over the place right now, but the next chapter is going to tie everything together for this arc. Believe me.
See ya next time!
