Chapter Fifty-Five: Nameless


Dear Alice,

Yeah...You'd probably be a pretty bad one. Anyways, I highly doubt this kid could EVER beat my crew.

I'll be coming to pick you up soon, so be ready. Where're you staying?

Stay out of trouble.

Ace


The message was short, but it was enough. I was huddled in Roxanne's room when Polo came flying through the window. It was a great relief.

I hadn't slept normally in the past few nights. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Jane, and Simon, and Dr. Stein...and all the others. I was too scared.

It was like I was back in the cage already...

"Red, you still with me? What's with the smile? It your boyfriend?" Roxanne asked, leaning over my shoulder, trying to read Ace's message.

I grinned like the Cheshire Cat, making her raise an eyebrow.

"I'm going to meet Whitebeard."

"WHAT!?"

"Yep. My old captain, Ace, joined his crew...and now he wants to see if I can join the family."

"So...You've got a bounty of B 100 000 000...Akagami Shanks is your Uncle...and you may be joining Whitebeard's crew?! Man I wish I had your life."

Hearing this, I snorted, "If you knew half of it, you'd love this little Inn."

She gave me a look of disbelief, but left it at that. We spoke for a while longer, until the sun began to set, and I decided to call it a day.

I headed down the hall towards my dingy little room, trying not to shudder as I walked through the lounge; passed Simon and his circus.

I felt Polo move closer to my head from his place on my shoulder. 'Tamer' looked at Polo with an almost hungry expression. I gave a sharp glare in his direction before going up the stair and into my room.

Ace was coming soon...I only had to wait a few more days...maybe they'd leave by then.

I curled up on the bed, clutching Polo like a teddy. The old bird looked happy enough. He was a smart little fellow.

"Craw?" I took it as something around the lines of 'Are you alright, Beautiful, All-Mighty Alice?' Of course, I'm not fluent with bird-tweet, but hey...That's why cats eat them.

*Yeah...I'm a little freaked out.*

He made a twittering sort of noise.

*Some of the people in this building have done terrible things to me. I can't decide whether or not to leave this Inn and find some where else to stay...What if they recognized me? They might just follow me...*

Polo patted my head with one of his wings, twittering in a comforting way.

Such a good little birdie.


"Seeya Rox...I'll be back in a few hours."

"Eh, where ya goin'? I need someone ta hang out with..." She said, looking up from the knife she had been sharpening.

I'd noticed over the past week that she was quite good with the sharp blade. She took to throwing it at a dart board across the room, always hitting it dead-centre.

She could do it without looking.

If I were to ever start my own crew, she'd definitely be in it. Maybe even my first mate...since Tiger was taken...

Stupid Straw-hat...stealin' the hot tiger-guy from me.

I grinned, "I'm going to see if I can get a sword...or something...and then I want to get some new clothes."

Now that I was entering Grand-line, I knew it would be better if I had clothing for different kinds of weather. It was unpredictable out there, and you never knew when that balmy tropic day would switch to polar ice-cap weather.

I went out the back door, so I could by-pass walking past the Circus Pirates parked out in the lounge.

Entering the streets of Loguetown, I took in the hustle and bustle. Everyone was going somewhere, and there were far more people here than on any of the islands I had recently visited.

I allowed myself to wander through the crowd, before I spotted a clothing store that looked cheap enough for me.

Sure I had enough money, but I didn't see the point in wasting it. I would only get my clothes bloody sooner or later.

Ah...that was a cheerful thought.

Entering the store, I quickly moved towards a rack of plain T-shirts, selecting a few black, green, blue and a single red shirt. I got a hand full of long sleeved shirts and a couple thick, warm sweaters.

Next, I browsed through the shorts and pants, looking for something I could easily fight in.

I picked a few pairs of jean shorts that went to my knees and didn't restrict my movement. I also grabbed a couple black tight-like pants, a couple pairs of jeans and a few pairs of track pants for comfort.

Then, I grabbed a pair of boots that went up mid-shin. I like boots...when I have to wear them. Most of the time, I'm happy barefoot.

Smiling, I headed to the counter and quickly paid for the clothing, shoving it all in my bag.

I wandered through the streets for another hour or so before I found a weapons shop.

Blades gleamed brightly in the light, flashing as I stepped inside. The owner of the store, an older looking man glanced up at me for a moment before he began to smirk.

"Hello young lady? Are you interested in anything you see?" He asked in a slick tone.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm sorry, but I've only gotten in here. I haven't gotten the chance to meet any of your weapons..."

"Meet?" The man asked himself, before he leaned on the counter.

I turned towards the closest shelf. Gently, I placed my hand on the hilt of a nearby knife. Nothing.

I walked along, keeping my hand in contact with each weapon as I passed. Nothing seemed to draw my attention.

I moved onto a rack of swords and did the same to their hilts.

I was nearly halfway through all the blades when I felt it.

A slight tug brought my attention towards the hilt in my hand. The hilt was worn with age, but not use. No one had touched this blade in a long time.

The man behind the counter seemed to notice that my attention was now focused on the blade.

"Ah...I see you've noticed that sword..."

"Yes...do you know who created it?" I asked, slightly curious as I drew the blade from its sheath and saw no markings from its maker.

It was a shame. The blade was beautiful. It gleamed in the light, with such a bright shine it almost appeared white. The hilt was wrapped in a slightly worn red ribbon.

The sheath was plain black, but it was wrapped with a similar red ribbon.

"How much is it?" I asked, smiling slightly. I loved the sword already, but I couldn't truly tell what it was like until I learnt how to use it.

My Uncle had taken it upon himself to teach me a thing or two about swords while I was on his island. He had taught me a bit about swordplay, and a bit about swords themselves.

This was a high quality blade; whoever made it had known what they were doing. I noticed, however, that it was surrounded by cheaper blades, a few damaged, rusted, or made by people who often did shoddy jobs when creating their swords.

"900 000 Beli."

I snorted, "Do you think I'm stupid? Clearly this sword isn't worth that much." I let the lie flow smoothly, acting as though I knew exactly what this sword was.

"E-Excuse me?"

"I'm not blind. You've put this sword on a rack with poor quality weapons, meaning it must be poor quality itself. Its a nameless blade made by a nameless creator. Get real."

He chuckled nervously, squirming under the offended glare I gave him. I hopped this whole bluffing thing worked.

"Ahah...sorry. I think I may have mistaken the price on this blade for another...This actually only costs 100 000 Beli."

I grinned then, tightening my hold on the weapon, "That sounds about right. I'm glad we both realized it was a mistake before I got ripped off...right?"

He nodded quickly, and I let out a snort of laughter before handing him the money.

I then waltzed out of the shop with my nameless blade.

"Well then, dangerous weapon resting on my hip," I said, addressing the blade, mostly because I was bored and kinda lost, "We'll have to earn you a name now, won't we? I mean, I, Cheshire Alice, can't go using a weak blade, now can I? Especially since we're going to be part of Whitebeard's crew now, right?"

Of course, the blade didn't reply. Someone else did.

"Oh! So that's what the Young Miss calls herself now? Cheshire." A sing-song voice said from behind me, "It suits you."


Sorry for the wait! I've been working with my other stories and dealing with some problems...

Anyways, please review...we're only three reviews away from my 100 goal!