Chapter 4: A Bounty Hunter

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters

'Techniques'

Techniques not while in use

West End of Peatee Island, Onboard the Daring Rogue, Midnight

The people on board must have heard the struggle since they were all facing the gang plank with weapons drawn.

Just like Kaina said, most of them looked like your average pirate. Some were big, some small, some had swords, and others had guns. The only ones I was worried about was the scorpion who stood next to where his captain was seated on a crate at the stern, up the stairs and above the lower deck.

I ignore the riff raff and address the captain directly. "Captain Amadeus Dare I presume. Or do you prefer 'Crusher' Dare?" I didn't think it was possible for the criminals to become even more aggressive, but they seemed only a moment away from charging me when I said the pirate's name.

"I don't know who you are boy, but you must be the dumbest son of a bitch in the South Blue if you knew who I was and still walked on my ship." The captain didn't seem worried at all by this intrusion. I guess he was sure he'd just kill me and toss me into the ocean.

I'd make it clear that wasn't happening. "Well, I know you didn't ask but my name is Hoshi. And I don't think I'm stupid. I'm just doing my job." His scowl deepened and his crew showed a mixture of curiosity and worry. "I'm a small town sheriff, but recently I've taken up bounty hunting. You two," I say pointing up at the captain and first mate. "have some decent prices on your heads." I maintain a cocky smirk this entire time.

I wanted to make it seem like I was just a no name bounty hunter until I was sure I could take them all. If I revealed that I was here for Kaina and the Gladly Circus and fail then it will come down on them. I'm confident in my abilities, but I'm still weakened from my near death experience.

"You've got quite the mouth boy. We'll show you that you need more than wanted posters if you want to be a bounty hunter. Kill 'em boys." With their captain's call to arms the group of pirates rushed towards me.

I decided that my first priority should be to clear the mooks. "I'll show you how serious I am." With that I lifted my right leg and quickly kicked parallel to the ground. My foot moved at imperceptible speeds.

'Rankyaku'

A sky blue blade of wind shot from my leg and collided with the pirates. The half in the front were slashed by the attack and landed unconscious, but the others were thrown back and collided with the other side of the boat with enough force to cause the ship to rock back and forth. Only five of them remain conscious and only two could stand. I could still see the look of utter shock from the leaders at my display of power.

I dashed at the two pirates standing close to each other. I leap at them kicking the one on the right with a flying roundhouse from my right, and continue my spin a slam my left heel into the last one with a straight kick before landing.

I turn to the captain, "I hope you realize now that I'm more than a wan-" I stop when I suddenly realize that Conroy has disappeared from his side. As soon as I realize that I leapt forward in a front flip. Seeing the Vice-Captain just as he missed me with his blade. "I heard you liked to attack from behind, like a coward."

I guess that got him since he rushed at me, slashing and hacking. I was able to keep up well even while not being at full strength. He landed a few shallow cuts on me, but I was able land more and harder hits.

I don't know if I was getting cocky, my body being weaker, or a combination of both but Conroy managed to compromise my footing by tripping my right leg with the haft of his polearm after I block one of his strikes. He wasn't in a position to capitalize on it so I wasn't worried.

That was when I saw Dare out of the corner of my eye. He was still standing at the stern of the ship but he now wielded a cannon on his right shoulder. He braced it with his right hand with his left on the trigger, and the barrel was aimed directly at me.

There was no way they knew about Soru and that without proper footing I couldn't perform it. And without it I won't be able to dodge it and defend myself effectively against Conroy. The vicious Vice-Captain chose this moment to speak. "See you in hell, bounty hunter."

In my moment of indecision the red ringmaster pulled his trigger. In that second though, I saw something that froze me in place.

'Daring Cannon'

Kaina's Air Door opened in front of me and I leapt in just before the shot hit me.

I landed on the odd deck as I see a cannonball ripped through the railing and part of the edge right where I was standing.

I then see Kaina's hand in front of me, I take it and she helps me to my feet. "They'll know you're helping me now." I was still worried what might happen if we don't succeed.

"A thank you would work to ya know." She has a sarcastic grin on her face.

I suddenly feel embarrassed. "Sorry. I do appreciate you saving me. I'm just a little worried."

With an easy smile she claps a hand on my shoulder and says "I was worried too, but then I saw you fighting. Even more than that though I listened to what you had to say. I won't let these bastards poison our memories of the circus anymore, and I won't sit on the sidelines and let someone else risk their lives to help us. At least, not without helping.". I could see the determination in her eyes, and just like when she pulled me off of that road, I knew there was no arguing.

With a sigh I gave in. "All right, Conroy isn't as fast or hitting as hard as he was after all of the hits I got him with. You handle him while I take on Dare. Whoever wins first will come help the other." I say with a confident smile. She responds with one of her own and a nod.

The pirates have pushed themselves against walls, wary about surprise attacks. We quickly go over a strategy, and put it in action.

As quick as she could she opened a door facing the scorpion and I went first.

'Soru'

I sped at the theif at blinding speed. I kick my left foot straight up to hit his spear out of the way. With my left still in the air, my right lifted from the floor. Body twisted so that my chest faced the deck, and I fired my right foot into my opponent's sternum. The force of my attack cracking the wood behind him and making him cough up blood.

Using Conroy's body as leverage, I aim my body so my legs were directly over my head. Still in flight I thrust my hands at the ground.

'Geppo'

I shoot away from the ground as I push off the ground with my hands.

Kaina follows my attack by throwing three knives in rapid succession. The killer manages to deflect the first two, but fails to prevent the third from sinking into left shoulder. She doesn't let up the pressure as she comes at him with a blade in both hands. I catch them locking their weapons together just as I reach the apex of my leap.

When I'm level with Dare I use Geppo and rocket towards the pirate. I spun in the air landing a hard dropkick on his cannon that he used to defend himself. The force of the strike still shattered the wood the captain was push up against.

I backflipped away from him, using his firearm as a platform.

The criminal looks slightly winded and spoke. "I see you've managed to convinced that girl to betray us. I'll teach her a lesson after I kill you." The man's words caused a voluminous rage to boil inside me.

"Betray you? How can she betray you she has never had any loyalty to you in the first place. To be honest, I couldn't care less if your bounty was a billion or none at all. I'm doing this to free Kaina and the others, and for the satisfaction of kicking your ass." I let loose on the pathetic tyrant.

The scum's face contorts in rage and he bellows, "If that's how you feel I'll enjoy this even more." and with that he charges at me, now wielding his cannon as a club. He raises it high over his head to slam down on me.

'Daring Smash'

I quickly dodge out of the way of the attack, sidestepping it to the right. The weapon crashes into the helm and completely destroys it, leaving a huge hole in the floor.

Using his vulnerable position, I spun to my right and swung my leg on the same side and launched a massive wheel kick at my opponent. The attack collided with his face, once again sending him flying back into the wall. His nose now crocked, his mustache frayed, and his gun out of his hand.

"I certainly enjoyed that Dare." I said as I ran at him, launching attack after attack. He tried to break my barrage, but he couldn't keep up with the speed and power of my kicks.

The ringleader surprised me by putting up no defense when I slammed a kick into his gut. Despite coughing up blood the huge man gripped my ankle hard. A wicked grin spread across his face, and with both hands on my leg the pirate spun me around and threw my at the mast.

I caught a glimpse of the fight on the lower deck as I was flying overhead.

Both combatants had multiple small cuts on them. Conroy has pulled the knife from his shoulder, causing the wound to bleed harshly. Kaina's hair has come untied and now clings to her sweat drenched face.

It seems I was lucky enough to catch the end of this fight.

Kaina pushed the young man back against the wall with a kick. At an incredible speed she launched four blades at the criminal. He raised his staff to block the attack, but the juggler succeeded in altering the blades flight path by hitting them with an additional four knives she tossed almost immediately after.

Two daggers pierced his shoulders and the others in his thighs, causing him to scream in pain. The weapons struck with such force that they stuck the pirate to the wall.

Before the man could struggle out, Kaina ran forward. "I'll end this now, you scum." She roared and stopped in front of him. She grabbed the wall on either side of his head.

'Door Knocker'

With incredible force she slammed the doors she made out of the wall into Conroy's head, crashing them as though they were symbols. With that Conroy's limbs went slack and he fell unconscious, and Kaina was left breathing heavily.

Before I could be too satisfied with her win I saw Dare pick up his weapon and aim it at me. "I'll kill you this time brat. And after that I'll make examples out of a handful of those carnies, so these bastards will learn not to test me!"

My wrath reaches its limit and I prepare my final attack. My feet hit the mast and I used it to leap right back at the madman, shattering the area I leapt from. He loaded a special shot into his weapon as kick my leg in his direction.

'Daring Firebomb'

'Rankyaku: Shooting Star'

The pirate fires his cannon as I shot a much more focused and less wide blue wind blade.

My Rankyaku hit the bomb causing a huge explosion in between us, rocking the ship and obscuring our view of eachother with fire and then smoke.

When the smoke quickly cleared Dare looked all over the ship for me, but I had disappeared from sight. Until I called out to him, "I'll show you what happens to weak men like you when they start to think they rule the sea and her people." from my high position fifteen meters above him.

Dare looked up just in time to see me use Geppo to launch myself down at him. Increasing my speed rapidly as I go. Dare tried to use his cannon as a shield again as I began to front flip through the air continuously. I began my Rankyaku as I went, making me look like a blue spinning firework.

'Rankyaku: Falling Star'

The back of my foot slammed into Dare's weapon. The force of my kick and my Rankyaku shattered the weapon in two, allowing my foot to connect with the top of the pirate scum's head.

He was sent crashing through the floor from the force. The power was so great that his body punched a hole straight through the ship and into the sea.

I stood there for a moment. I never had a chance to really test my power when I was a small island sheriff, so I was happy that it was enough to take down what was considered a strong opponent even in a weakened state. I'm glad I was enough to help them.

I didn't have a ton of time to think about it though, since I did just blast a hole in the ship. We were beginning to take on water and we needed to act.

I jump off the upper deck and quickly enlisted Kaina's help. "The ship's taking on water. Can you get the treasure out while I get the people." She doesn't say anything and instead nods before crouching and opening a door through the floor. Going down and closing it.

I moved quickly and began lifting the pirate and taking them to shore.

Between the two of us we managed to get the money and pirates off before the ship sank. It did take me a moment to find Dare's body in the water though.

After doing some checking, of the twenty-four pirates five were dead, Dare among them. During my training at the Navel Base there was a battle with a large group of pirates. This wasn't my first time killing, but I still not used to it. My master said I shouldn't get used to it.

Shaking off my thoughts at that moment I turned and spoke to Kaina. "Um, sorry about the ship. I couldn't hold back after hearing what he said and I didn't thin-" I was cut off when she wrapped her arms around me tightly. I could see her shoulders shaking as she let silent tears pour out.

"Thank you. Thank you for saving the circus." She thanked me in between sobs.

I didn't say anything as I simply hugged her back. Trying desperately to give the support she has been robbed of for years.

We stayed that way for a few minutes until she eventually pulled away, looking up at me with a satisfied smile on her face. That was the exact moment that my fatigue finally hit my, and my body fell unconscious.

Kaina's worried face being the last thing I saw.

Barranum Town, 15 Hours Later

I woke up on my back of a soft wool bedroll. Green canvas stood a few meters above my head.

I sat up slowly and realized that I was once again in the backstage area of the circus. My makeshift bed was near the entrance and pushed up against some boxes. I tried to stand up in order to find someone, fighting against my stiff muscles and empty stomach.

Before I could make it to my feet though the young fire breather from last night. He was clearly shocked to see me up and about and rushed to get me to relax. "Mr. Hoshi please don't get up. You fought too soon after only barely recovering from starving. Please, sit and let me get you some food and water."

I couldn't say anything before he goes back into the stage and out of sight. I decided he was right and sat against the crate beside me.

Only a few moments later the man came back carrying a large jug of water and a tray covered in fried ham, scrambled eggs, and a stew. Without thinking too much I grabbed the items from his hand when he brings them close. Giving him a quick thank you before I began to scarf down the food and chug the water.

He chuckles upon seeing my enthusiasm and answers my questions before I could ask them. "Kaina told us what you did after bringing you here. Everyone in the circus is super grateful, we know we can't repay you." He sits cross legged and bows his head deeply.

I paused my gorging to address the young man, still with a mouth half full of food. "No no, you guys don't need to repay me. I couldn't let those pirates keep holding you guys hostage." I finally manage to swallow my food and keep the conversation going. "What's your name? How is Kaina? Where is she?"

He responded quickly, "I'm Manti. After bringing you here and telling us what happened she said that she was going to take the pirates to the sheriff's office and tell them the whole story. She told us to stay here and take care of you." he looked nervous after he said this, and I had a feeling I knew why.

"Manti how long have I been unconscious and how long has she been away." I say with a deadly serious tone.

The man fidgets for a moment before finally giving in and telling me. "About fifteen hours."

My body's poor condition was ignored as I shot to my feet and cried out "Whaaat!". I stomped out of the backstage and into the main tent, with Manti calling out behind me. I ignore him as I walk out of the tent, and I see the remaining twenty or so carnies gathered around a cooking fire and eating.

I begin to question them when they noticed me. "Why has Kaina been at the sheriff's office for fifteen hours and you guys not done anything?" Suddenly all of them became sheepish and a few even began to look ashamed.

A short old man with a fishing hat stepped forward with his cane. "I am Toma Gladly, the true ringmaster. Since the day they came to kill my brother, abuse my circus, and use Kaina, she has told us to trust her to handle it. It was my greatest shame that this young girl, whom I have come to consider a daughter, had to bear the weight of her family's lives. But I have watched as that young woman has done things that have disgusted her and yet she has never lost that love of wowing the audience. It may not make sense, but I trust her to do what she believes is right."

I stare at the old man for a moment. I think I half understood, but regardless his blind trust in her doesn't give him all the information.

"I understand you have come to trust and rely on her a lot, but I'm a sheriff just like the one she's talking to. If he's been holding her for this long it probably means that he's interrogating her. Trying to get her to admit she was a willing partner, and with only pirates, who would try and make her look like a criminal, theirs a good chance she'll be thrown in prison with them." I saw them all look surprised by this. All of them began to mutter about not wanting to let that happen.

I calmed them down and told them to follow me.

Author's Note

Oops, left the unedited draft up for quite a while.

A lot of combat in this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed my style of writing them. As you can tell, Hoshi's techniques have a star theme. I really enjoy Falling Star, but I will say it's not his ultimate technique as of now. Think of it like what Gum-Gum Rifle is to Gum-Gum Bazooka in early One Piece.

I did have some trouble coming up with a few techniques for Kaina. Open for suggestion.

Hope you guys like this chapter as much as me. OCs, Devil Fruits, and islands welcome.