Honest Lie

Raine just sat in silence for a few minutes staring in disbelief at the picture on the bounty poster. While the person in the image was too clouded by dust, debris, and blood splatter to clearly identify much aside from the crazed smile the killer wore and the bloodied sword, the uncommon pair of hazel and scarlet heterochromic eyes staring directly back at her immediately let her know just who it was. Her gaze slowly traveled down the paper being held tightly in her grasp as if it would fly away at any moment as she read each word carefully:

Wanted

Dead or Alive

"The Little Hellion"

20,000,000

Still in disbelief, she continued to read the section of the bounty poster listing the person's crimes: 'Suspected of destruction of a Marine base and the slaughter of all those within as well as laying siege to multiple towns'. "I don't believe it. But this sure is convenient; I could use an extra 20 million beli.

Shaad had been conscious for a few hours by this time, having awoken in the middle of the forests with no understanding of why he was naked. After brushing off the leaves and dirt from his skin, he immediately started an extensive morning workout, a luxury he'd forgone the past few days. Within a couple of hours Shaad had already expended every bit of energy he possessed, constantly pushing himself further as his body cried out for him to stop. Striking out with his palm, Shaad ripped through the tree trunk of a towering tree. Tearing the stump from the earth, roots and all, with a follow up strike, his body froze, chest rising and falling heavily with each deep breath taken, before he ultimately fell, no longer able to hold up his own body, face first into the dirt at the center of a newly created clearing spanning nearly three square acres easily.

It took a few minutes for Shaad to regain enough energy just to get up. Covered in sweat and grime, he lugged his tired body like a sack of rocks until he reached a flowing river, following the rushing stream until he came upon the thunderous waterfall pounding onto the rocks at its base and keeping the river charging forward.

Shaad launched himself onto the largest rock at the waterfall's base, landing softly on one foot. But, while he thought he'd made it, the force of the water was more than he'd anticipated and pushed against his balancing leg, causing his foot to slip from the unsteady and slippery platform. Caught off guard by the sudden fall, Shaad's head slammed against the rock as he fell, dazing him as the heavy flow of the water pushed him down and away from the falls. Unable to swim, he would've doubtlessly drowned had he not reacted quickly enough to bury his fingers into the boulder and pull himself up against the force of the waves and into a seated position on the same boulder as before.

'Ugh, I just got this manicure. Now, it's ruined.'

'Boo hoo, ya pansy.'

'Hey! I should destroy this entire waterfall for making me look like a fool.'

'Yeah, blame water; that's not foolish at all.'

'Just shut up.'

Shaad snarled in frustration at the recent happenings - as well as at losing an argument with himself - as he took some deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself and empty his mind, letting the water cleanse him of impurities both internally and externally (streaming the dirt through a few uncomfortable crevices as he sat bare assed on the rock.

A mass of terrified screams echoed from nearby, disrupting the serene harmony that had settled over the area. Even muffled, the frightened yells would not be completely drowned out. After listening to the piercing pleas echo for a few seconds, Shaad's eyes shot open. His eyes though were not filled with panic or worry, but annoyance. "How am I supposed to concentrate with all that noise?" he rhetorically questioned to himself, choosing to ignore it until a distinctly female voice screamed out in abject terror. "I really should just ignore it, but it's rude to leave a lady in distress."

"Yeah, and letting the dudes die is completely admirable."

"You know, I'm gonna kill you one day."

"I dare you."

Shaad refocused himself, relenting that he was stuck with the voice in his head (a negative byproduct of being stranded on an island alone for over three years), before rushing off in the direction of the shrill cries at breakneck speed. Moving rapidly through tree trunks, Shaad arrived within seconds, easily spotting a hulking, muscular animal covered in brown fur growling ferociously at a lone woman on the ground trying desperately to create distance but too scared to stand up and run. Shaad landed on a high branch of a nearby tree and, without losing momentum, rocketed himself into the unknown animal, sending it flying with a powerful shoulder ram and forearm shiver combination.

He landed softly on his feet while the large beast careened through a couple of trees. "Are you okay?" he asked the woman, turning around to check on her. Still in shock, she simply gawked and stammered momentarily before everything about the situation - the predatory, monstrous animal and the sudden appearance of a scary strong, completely nude young man - just overwhelmed her and she ran away screaming without looking back, leaving only a couple of rifles and disturbed grass in her wake.

Shaad stood confused at her reaction for a second before ignoring it in favor of finishing off the attacking beast. He followed the trail of destruction only to find that it had somehow disappeared. A quick scan of the area yielded no results and Shaad quickly gave up the venture as something else attracted his attention. "Aah, aren't you adorable?" he fawned upon spotting a small, brown little furball, only slightly larger than his fist, with two big eyes staring directly at him. He slowly approached the cute animal, extending his arm to pet it, when it suddenly grew into the hulking monster from before, a vicious beast over two times the size of a bipedal bear. Towering over Shaad, the beast released a vicious growl, bearing its sharp teeth in raptorial aggression, but Shaad just stared back up at in wonder with stars in his eyes.

"Cool; I want it." he stated, his voice relaying his infatuation with the strange animal, but any further action was stopped as the beast lashed out with a swipe of its large paw, prompting Shaad to jump back to avoid it, the stars no longer in his eyes, replaced by a more dire expression. "Looks like you need to be trained."

"My thoughts exactly. There you are." The voice came from behind Shaad, but when he turned to investigate the source, something hard whacked him over the head, returning the stars to his vision as he fell unconscious. The mysterious creature, meanwhile, hopped off into the distance, once again an innocent, cute faced little animal.

Shaad didn't stay out for long. How could he with the rocks jabbing into him and every uneven plane so easily distinguishable to his aching skull as it jostled along the rough, jagged contours. He attempted to reach out and stop his body's movement, but found his arms tied securely at his sides with his ankles similarly bound together. His voice was a bit groggy when he first spoke. "Why is it I'm unconscious most of the time we're together?"

Raine donned a confused and innocent expression as she stopped dragging the tied up Shaad and naively responded, "I don't know what you're talking about. You must make a lot of bad decisions."

"I'm guessing me being naked is another bad decision? Last I remember, I was fully clothed when you knocked me out last night."

"Don't ask me; I don't know what kind of kink you're into. Maybe the animals stripped you while you were out." she proposed as if she honestly didn't know how he ended up like that.

"Dammit; those were new clothes, too." Shaad grumbled.

"You should thank me." Raine muttered, thinking Shaad couldn't hear her.

"What!?" he exclaimed before he finally focused on a more pressing issue. "Where are you taking me anyway?"

"To get the bounty on your head, of course."

"Huh!? Bounty?"

Raine could hear the genuine confusion in his voice so she stopped again, throwing Shaad against a tree and pinning him down with her heel. "Yeah, it seems your actions finally caught up with you." she stated, flashing the bounty poster to him.

"That's not me. I haven't done anything that would warrant a bounty." Shaad declared while looking Raine directly in the eyes, hoping she'd be able to sense his honesty and sincerity.

His hopes seemed to have been dashed when she just scoffed. "You don't think destroying two towns is worth a bounty just because you happened to not kill any civilians? What about the Marine base that you razed to the ground and all the marines you slaughtered like animals?"

Shaad was genuinely puzzled at the accusations being levied against him as he just stared at Raine, his mind momentarily boggled.

"Wait! I couldn't have done all that. I've been stranded on an uninhabited island with just animals training for the past three years. The island I met you at was the first one I'd been to since ending my training a week earlier."

"That excuse is pathetic; I know about every island in West Blue, and there is no island with a flourishing ecosystem but no civilization. You were probably planning to destroy a city or two on my home island before you were interrupted by running into me and my trouble." Raine countered, not believing a word Shaad said despite the authenticity in his expression.

"No, I swear." Shaad pleaded, trying to figure a way to prove his innocence when a realization donned on him. "My dad. My dad must have had someone keeping an eye on me, and used his connections to get me a bounty. Those crimes sound like something he would do, too."

"So, you're blaming your dad now?"

"He's the one who left me on the island I was telling you about. There are a few people in his crew who could have easily kept him up to date about when I was about to leave and timed the crimes accordingly." Shaad vehemently protested.

"You expect me to believe this is all some conspiracy? With what purpose?" Raine bullied him with questions, pushing his head back with her extendable baton so he couldn't look away.

"To make me stronger. To harden my heart. You don't understand; I'm a failure in my dad's eyes because of how unconcerned I am with power and getting stronger. I just wanted to live a peaceful life, undisturbed by the drama of the family business."

"Well it certainly takes a cold person to slaughter hundreds of people without a care." Raine bluntly commented, tiring of Shaad's lies.

"I'm sure the Marines provided a description of the assailant; that can't match me." Shaad called out, confident this would finally show he didn't do it.

"Fat chance." Raine dashed his hopes with her terse tone. "The only Marine survivor is so traumatized he can only mumble the same phrase over and over."

"And do I look like a person capable of that? That's something my dad does to leave a message. He and his first mate are both capable of it."

"Then how do you explain this?" Raine shoved the bounty poster in his face again, letting him see his unique eyes staring back at him. She smiled triumphantly as Shaad could only stammer unintelligible words, unable to mount any sort of defense to the most recent evidence.

"Fine, turn me in if you must. But, I want you to know, I didn't do any of that and I'm saddened by the atrocious acts my father will so nonchalantly order in pursuit of his goals."

"Then, since you're such a good person, how about you walk yourself the rest of the way; I'm tired of dragging your lazy ass."

"Hey, I would've walked to begin with if you hadn't hit me upside the head; I didn't choose to be dragged along the ground. You should treat prisoners with more care." Despite Shaad having agreed to willingly being turned in to the local Marines, the tone of their exchange had taken a drastic turn. It no longer carried the serious, distrustful air of an interrogation and instead sounded almost like a friendly conversation between bickering old friends, even growing to a level of flirtatiousness at times.

"If this is supposed to be me, what's with 'The Little Hellion'?"

"And what would you prefer?" she questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"Wild Bull." Shaad answered with a smirk. "Cause when I get going, can't nobody keep up."

Raine tugged on the rope connecting to those binding Shaad, causing him to stop and turn to look at her. She sauntered to him and placed her index finger on the ropes over his chest, lightly tracing her way down as she spoke. "Oh I'm sure I could ride you into submission." she cooed seductively, biting her lower lip as she took a step back and let her gaze drift lower, continuing in a lusty and sultry timbre. "But, I do agree that 'Little' is a vast misnomer."

As Shaad was about to say something, she pushed him away and motioned him forward. They talked casually for a bit with Raine taking the lead in their walk as Shaad lazily lolled along, trying to conserve energy and none too keen on being locked up in a cell.

"Hmph, I don't feel your eyes staring at my ass." Raine remarked, looking back in time with a sudden stop that caused Shaad to almost crash into her. "Either something's weighing on your mind or you had some 'personal time' this morning.

Shaad was stunned by her thinly veiled innuendo, a wide eyed and flabbergasted expression on his face as he looked at Raine's hand floating mere centimeters from his family jewels. Time seemed to stand still for a moment as Shaad stared blankly, his eyes shifting from her lingering palm to her toying smirk and back, only releasing the breath he'd inadvertently held in when she clicked her heels and resumed walking.

"Nope, still carrying all that tension. You need to relax; maybe a big, burly guy 'll help you with that in prison."

"Don't even joke about that!" Shaad nearly shouted. "Being thrown in jail isn't some carefree vacation."

Raine just laughed him off, waving her hand dismissively before motioning him to be quiet. "Shut up; we're coming on the Marine base. If for any reason I don't get my money you can say goodbye to your little friends and any hope of a future." She warned in a tone completely unmatched by her threatening words.

Having heard similar statements throughout his life, often times from his own father, Shaad remained unperturbed, quietly remarking. "Fine, you'll get your money, but I need you to get something for me, too."

"Clothes?" Raine joked.

"That would be nice, but I had something else in mind."

A/N: The second installment of my first story, Crimson Pirates, will premiere next week, and will be updated every other week. Thanks for reading; enjoy the weekend.