A/N- God I haven't written in forever.
This is entirely self indulgent, but I figured I could post it up on here just in case it scratches some weird specific itch for anyone else besides myself. I have nothing to say for myself other than I'm sorry mom, I'm sure this isn't what you think of when you call me a functional adult.
There's a tale that old men like to tell. Old men who spend most of their waking hours in dimly lit bars, prattling off their entire life's symphony to anyone who will listen and only pausing to soothe their throats with cheap liquor and greasy food; A tale of the seas, of battle, of how under certain conditions the roar of the sea and the roars of men can combine into something new- Something both harmonious and turbulent, with the clash of steel on steel as a stand in for percussion, and steady cannon fire replacing the beat of a drum. It becomes impossible to tell if the constant whooshing in one's ears is the sound of the sea, or the sound of their own blood rushing from the thrill of it all.
Eustass Kid wasn't one for the tales of drunk old men, but if he considered any of them to be true, it was this one, his face plastered with a manic grin as he relished the encounter with a navy vessel.
His moment of contemplation is short lived however, scowling as dark clouds approached the warring ships. Cursing the new world's bizarre weather patterns, Kid quickly and graphically dispatched of the young marine standing before him, and bounded towards his first mate as the wind picked up.
"Oi! Killer! Let's sink these fuckers and get out of here!" He hollered out, booming voice more than a match for the loud whistling of storm winds.
Killer turned to his captain, but before he could voice a reply, a deafening roar split the skies followed immediately by a blinding flash of light. The marine ship had been struck by lightning. Their opponents' vessel seemed prepared for such an event however, as a strange machination atop their main mast was sparking with life. None of the pirates were given a chance to question it, as another violent bolt of lightning assaulted the battlefield, decimating a portion of the Victoria Punk's main deck, and sending several members of her crew overboard, alongside several of their assailants.
Cold. Shock. Helplessness. Rage. These were the fleeting thoughts running through Kid's mind as he sank like a stone below the waves. He was barely conscious enough to notice someone grasping the back of his coat and lifting him back towards the surface, finally fading into unconsciousness as his body was draped over a large floating piece of the ruined deck. Killer, meanwhile, was busy using his captain's coat to haphazardly fasten Kid to the wood he'd managed to haul him onto, before clinging onto it himself and surrendering to the fact that their fate was now in the ocean's hands.
Waking up with a start, Killer found himself scrambling to his knees from beneath a small mound of wet sand. Fixing himself into a seated position, the massacre soldier took stock of his surroundings. Several dead recruits dotted the shoreline beside him, their bodies already beginning to bloat under the sun as small ocean creatures welcomed the feast. Among this sea of decay, a large, furred lump stood out atop a partially buried hunk of wood. Killer stumbled to his feet and rushed- or more accurately, limped his way towards what he feared would be Kid's dead body, his fears only gaining validation at the sight of the steady trickle of blood being washed away into the tide.
Swallowing down his fears, killer made quick work of the salt ruined coat with his scythe, noting that one of his blades had been lost to the sea, and revealed his captain's pale form laying still upon the driftwood. A large splinter of wood was present in his abdomen, the culprit behind the trail of blood, and killer feared the worst had really happened. Pressing two fingers to the large man's neck soon eased those fears, as a weak but still present pulse greeted his touch.
"Looks like even the sea kings would rather spit you back up, huh Kid?..." He sighed, standing back to full height and turning his gaze in towards land. Noting several smoke stacks rising into the sky, Killer decided that there were two ways his captain could survive this ordeal.
One, they wait for the ship to find them, assuming her and the rest of the crew including Doc Smock had survived the maelstrom.
Or two, they head inland and ask- or if necessary demand- that the resident medical practitioner tend to Kid's injuries.
Quickly realizing that there was only one proper choice to make, Killer positioned himself on Kid's uninjured side and slid his shoulders under his friend's arm, wrapping one of his own arms around his back and under his armpit in order to awkwardly hoist him upwards and drag him towards civilization.
The walk took less time than Killer had expected, a blessing of planning for the worst case scenario, however most of the houses they'd come across seemed to be completely locked up. Some chimneys puffed out smoke, indicating the inhabitants were in fact still present, and yet no one walked the streets or even peeked out from behind their curtains to take a look at the two pirates struggling their way down the streets. Bakeries and grocers had their signs flipped to "Closed", and all outdoor seating seemed to be abandoned.
Finally, Killer noticed the familiar symbol of a cross above a building's awning and, though it seemed to be some strange fusion of medical practice and beverage shop, he was relieved to find the sign behind the glass door set to "Open". As soon as he shouldered his way past the swinging door, a small voice piped up from the back of the room.
"Welcome to the Sip of Health, how may Beau serve you today?"
The rehearsed greeting came from a small woman who stood bowing behind the counter in a simple server's dress, a pair of large brown beast ears poking out from the top of her head. At first Killer thought they may have been part of some costume, but quickly realized they were a functional part of her body when one of them twitched slightly, its owner remaining bowed towards her new customer. Pushing the matter of her unusual appearance aside, Killer cleared his throat and moved to set Kid down onto a nearby table.
"Medical assistance, please. I'm afraid my friend is badly hurt."
A gasp left the employee as she witnessed the scene, and she quickly scurried off into the back somewhere without another word while Killer sighed in resignation. It appeared this wouldn't be going in their favor either.
Barely a minute had passed when the young woman returned carrying a hefty yellow case of some kind. Killer mentally thanked the stars when she opened it on the table to reveal various salves, bandages and medical implements. With practiced precision, she began to ready herself with gloves and whatever supplies she deemed necessary, before biting her bottom lip and carefully removing the hunk of wood embedded within Kid's torso. The pain seemed to stir him back to life, as a snarl crossed his features, and Killer prepared himself for the possibility of needing to hold Kid back. The poor woman working on him shot his face a nervous glance, before finally freeing his torso of the several inch long intrusion.
With the splinter out of the way, Beau gently cleaned the wound before retrieving a glass jar with some kind of green paste inside. She opened it, but hesitated before applying it.
"For... For the bleeding, and infection. It's very painful, but Beau promises it works" She explained.
"I see. Please do what you must, we aren't in any state to disagree..." Killer conceded, moving to hold his friend's upper arms down to the table in anticipation of a blind, pain fueled rage.
Nibbling her lower lip once again, Beau removed a wad of paste from the jar using a couple of cotton swabs as a scoop, and began packing it deep into Kid's wound. The effect was almost immediate. His eyes snapped open, bloodshot and confused, and a growl vibrated low in his chest, growing stronger as his muscles tensed under the pain. Killer held him down the best he could, as the dazed man began desperately to try and shake him off, kicking his legs wildly, digging his fingers into the table and yelling obscenities until fatigue and blood loss caught up with him again, and he was left a panting mess on the table by the time Beau had finished treating and dressing the wound.
She packed the jar away, and produced another one filled with a pale green ointment of some kind, setting it aside and beginning to gently clean all the other wounds present on Kid's body, including things they normally wouldn't bother with on the ship such as small nicks and scrapes. Kid's breathing slowed as she silently tended to him, delirious gaze trained on the stranger, and Killer relaxed his hold. Once Beau was satisfied that the wounds were clean, she scooped out a small amount of the light green ointment and began to slowly run it across them.
"Th-this one is good for smaller wounds. It only stings a little bit"
Killer simply nodded and allowed her to work in peace, watching Kid carefully just in case he needed to hold him back again. By the time she had finished applying the ointment to and then covering each of Kid's wounds, he had fallen into an uneasy slumber, and Killer found himself running on empty. He finally pulled up a chair to sit down and breathe. Noticing Beau moving towards him with a fresh cloth, Killer didn't resist as she began to silently clean all of his own exposed injuries, instead he simply watched her work, her small hands shaking the whole time.
"Are you afraid of us?"
Beau paused for a moment, eyes trained on her work, but her beastly ears took on more of a flattened stance.
"Yes" She replied, resuming administering ointment to the larger wound along Killer's outer calf.
"Then why assist us?"
"Because B-Beau is in charge of supplying teas and m-medicines"
Her answer made little sense, but he wouldn't throw their luck away over it, and so he allowed her to continue tending to him in silence. He had expected their best case scenario to be a reluctant doctor, only willing to patch Kid up in order to get them to leave and take their stench of death with them, not for someone to properly treat the both of them.
Once she was satisfied, she quickly packed up the kit and scurried off into the back, presumably to place it where it belonged, and returned to the main storefront with arms laden with blankets and pillows.
"Moving him m-may make things worse, so Beau is sorry he can't have a bed yet, but th-these might help" She stuttered out, Placing the heap of bedding onto a nearby chair and moving to prop a pillow under Kid's head, doing her best to avoid stirring the beast. She then set about covering him in a downy blanket when Killer rose to help her.
"It's alright, it won't be his first night sleeping on a hard surface, I'm sure he'll cope" Killer chuckled, musing that it'd been a long time since he'd had to help tuck Kid in like a child. "Besides, It's very kind of you to go this far for a pair of strangers who have nothing to offer in return. Speaking of which, how much will we owe you? I can't promise you payment until our comrades find us here, but once they arrive I'm sure we can cover it"
Beau simply blinked in confusion, tilting her head to the side.
"Payment? Beau never receives payment, no one does, we exchange things the way Master tells us to"
No forms of payment? Master? Killer pondered her response for a moment, finding himself more suspicious of this little island paradise by the minute, but his haki would warn him of any ill will from the woman in front of him, and so far he'd sensed none.
"Well, be that as it may... Thank you. At the very least, I owe you for saving my friend's life" He said, draping a blanket around his own shoulders before sitting back down.
"Ah- There are beds for patients i-in the back room, if you'd like to rest" Beau offered, hands clasped in front of her and gaze firmly planted on Killer's hands.
"Thank you for the offer, but I'll be more than alright here. I'd rather stay close, just in case" He replied, crossing his injured leg over the surviving one and leaning back in his seat. Beau shuffled over towards the door and flipped the sign to "Closed", not bothering to lock it before offering a short bow to Killer and making her way back behind the counter, retaking the same spot she'd held when they'd first entered her shop.
The last thought that crossed through Killer's mind as he finally allowed himself to rest was how strange it was for Beau to retake her place behind the counter in a store that she'd just closed.