Interlude: An eye in the forest
Straw Hat runs into the forest to find the one who has attacked him. His mind is drifting away. He is unable to form coherent thoughts. All of it does not add up. Straw Hat is not sure what he should feel or think - or do. Everything he is doing right now is out of pure instinct. He just feels like he should chase the person. He should be frightened and excited, but he feels nothing.
Soon, civilization is far behind; the extensive forest lies in front of him. Straw Hat stops abruptly. The person is somewhere around.
"Show yourself!", he points out.
He can hear bushes rustling to his left side. However, there is nothing. A noise from the right side! Nothing there. Then, there is a noise from behind and Straw Hat quickly turns around. He punches a tree and it falls down. To his disappointment, there is nothing behind it.
"Damn, you're good at hiding. I think I've never been a good seeker. Hey, let's cut the chase. You kinda distracted us from Berserker", Straw Hat mentions.
There is no answer though. He is alone. And this is troublesome. Not even any animals are around. He just knows it or rather senses that there is no sign of life here. Just as Straw Hat decides to go deeper into the forest, he hears something… big coming in his direction. He clenches his fists and prepares himself for whatever approaches.
A large boar boasts through the woods it is heading towards Straw Hat at a dangerous speed.
"Wait, you're not the one I'm looking for! Heh, it is still looks like some fun", Straw Hat says.
The boar that is approximately as high as the surrounding trees lowers its head and charges at Straw Hat. It smashes his head against him, although Straw Hat grabs the horns and slows the charge.
"Kuh!", he groans as the giant boar pushes him against a tree.
Nonetheless, Straw Hat pulls the thorns aside and soon the boar falls to the side. He has tamed the beast.
"I'm sure you would do great for a grand banquet. Definitely gonna take you home later", he states.
Straw Hat moves around the giant boar which is unable to stand up again.
"Well, I'll come back later, don't ya move away in the meantime!", Straw Hat exclaims as he runs deeper into the forest.
After some while, he finally comes to a halt. There they are. The person is very close. Somewhere here.
"You're still pretty strong", a voice acknowledges.
Straw Hat instantly looks towards the source of the voice. He is disappointed. It is not the voice he was hoping for.
"You're not the one I'm looking for", he retorts.
"You're right. I'm not quite the one who you are used to, and I never will be", the voice responds as it rotates around him.
Straw Hat follows the noises of jumping and running and rustling, but suddenly a clear cut in the air rushes towards him. He easily evades it by moving his head aside. Same goes for the two other attacks.
Three trees are cut in half and they crash on the ground near Straw Hat.
"Stop those plays and show yourself", he expresses annoyed.
Straw Hat dodges one tree and punches the other blocks the other two trees with his arms before he throws them away.
"Hmph, directly to the point, eh? Haven't changed at all, but you should always pay attention to your environment", the voice replies.
The voice is right as another tree from behind lands on Straw Hat and he is unable to dodge it, thus he is fully hit by it.
"Ah, come on! Come out! This is hilarious", Straw Hat complains.
As he struggles to get the tree away from him, the shining tip of a sword appears in front of his face. He stops struggling and up to the one holding the sword. It is too dark to see the face, but the person glares at him with only one eye.
"Hopefully I can find the way back after this…", the voice sighs.
They drop something heavy next to Straw Hat. He looks at it and notices that it is a bottle of… sake? The person sits down in front of Straw Hat and pours the sake into a small cup. They put it in front of Straw Hat and grab the bottle in exchange. The person directly drinks out of the bottle while all Straw Hat has is left with his cup.
Straw Hat looks at the cup, although he is actually thinking intensely about… something certain. Something is there so close, so important, but he cannot grasp it.
"I… I can't else but think I know you. You are very important to me. I know you liked alcohol a lot, you were always serious and very honorous, but often very kind and caring", Straw Hat tells the person.
They continue drinking out of the bottle without answering him.
"You were always fighting with swords and carrying them around… yes, you had three of them. Three swords. The first time I didn't believe anyone can wield three swords at the same time, but you mastered it", Straw Hat continues.
Finally, the person sets down the bottle. The sake still drools down from the mouth.
"Looks like you really can't remember. That is right. I've been your friend in your life. I am not the person you're looking for. I merely inherited the combat spirit of him", the person explains while they take out another sword, "I only possess some memories of him. I must say you were quite good friends. However, I am not him. It is all in the past and you will never return to it"
Straw Hat looks down. He does not know why he is sad, but the statement seems to affect him more than expected. He is sad and very angry.
"Ringing some bells? Well, let's end it here all. I can't summon my full strength due to him feeling affection towards you. Coward. It'll be enough to kill you, though. If you would be the one I saw in the memories, you would not even had to lay a hand on the boar to get past him", the person states.
They stand up and put the third sword in their mouth. Slowly, the swords in their hands begin spinning. It gets faster and faster until a whole whirlwind is created that pushes away the tree above Straw Hat. Bushes in the range are blown away and trees are barely resisting to the force. Straw Hat is almost blown away as well, but he can resist. Holding up both hands, he looks out for the next action.
He clearly foresees how the other person will slice open his breast.
"Wait, don't!", he shouts to the person, but they do not stop.
"Santoryu: Three Thousand Worlds!"
The swords are enveloped by a dark aura before the enemy sprints at Straw Hat. He has almost no time to react as the opponent is tremendously fast. All three swords are aimed at Straw Hat and ready to slice him up. In the last moments, Straw Hat decides to hold jump over the person. For a short period of time, he is able to directly look at the attacker. What he sees baffles him.
It is a young girl, perhaps no older than Shirou or Sakura. She has short red hair and indeed wields three swords, two in her hands and one in her mouth. Her right eye is closed because of a scar, but apart from that she looks like an average young teenage girl.
At this sight, Straw Hat is ignited by sheer anger. The anger is so much that it is hard to contain it. He hoped for a certain person, but his hopes were crushed. The chances to ever have hope again were obliterated. He does not know exactly the person he once knew, but Straw Hat is absolutely sure that this person is not even close to his friend. The young girl turns around and rearranges her swords.
She spins them again, but much, much faster and directed upwards.
"Santoryu: Black Rope Dragon Twister!", she shouts.
The air above her turns into a strong wind, effectively creating a tornado. Straw Hat is caught up in it and blown away.
"I'll get you for sure! You have no rights to hold these swords!", Straw Hat shouts back.
He is high up in the air as gravity catches him again. He falls down back to the earth as he faces his opponent on the ground. Unfortunately, the unknown girl prepares for another attack as well. Despite of this, Straw Hat clenches his right fist and aims at her. He will not hold back. Not now that he knows who he is facing.
"Purgatory…", the girl calmly announces.
Recognizing what is about to happen, Straw Hat shields himself with his arms as he cannot evade it. Soon, the two would clash against each other and only the stronger one would emerge victorious.
"Onigiri!", the girl exclaims as she jumps towards Straw Hat going for an ultimate attack.
Suddenly, someone kicks the girl away and Straw Hat is pulled away with a strong force. He looks down and sees a chain around his waist. As he follows the path of the chain, he sees Rider and the others on the ground.
"Guys!", he happily says.
Apparently, Archer has kicked the girl away, but now is not the time to celebrate. Midair, the girl with one eye focuses on the chain.
"Santoryu: Thousand and Eighty Caliber Phoenix!"
Another set of projectiles cut the chains of Rider and Straw Hat drops from the sky.
"Damn you! I'll make sure to beat your ass", Straw Hat tells the girl before she vanishes into the night.
The others run to his help, but he is stuck in a tree.
However, he still sees the others. They all look surprised and look upwards.
"Hm, what's up with you all? Why are you- ", Straw Hat wanted to ask.
He notices just now that his arm is still stuck up in the tree. His arm just stretched very long.