Chapter Two
Ashley spent her day by Thatch's side. Wiping his sweat, giving him spoonful of water when he groans, and the rest of the time…simply watching him. At times trying to guess his hair color under all that blood, other times examining his tattoos and sometimes wondering about the faded scars all over his body.
She wouldn't, or rather, couldn't leave him by himself for more than five minutes. And like this, her day went unproductive.
Several times, Ashley caught herself flexing her fingers, biting her lips or twitching her feet and once Thatch unconsciously move, she tenses. She can tell that she was touch starved and it annoyed her to no end. She didn't need people! She would try to convince herself, but her excitement would soon smoother her irritation and she would be once again watching Thatch with bated breath.
Though, after a day and half of the night, her excitement started to fizzle out, leaving only tiredness in its wake. She managed to sleep for a couple of hours after casting a silencing spell on Thatch because the man could only be said to have a trumpet stuck in his throat.
The next day, Ashley woke up with aching muscles and black circles. Being worn out, however, didn't stop her from jumping to check on Thatch. She then lifted the silencing spell so she could hear his snores and be notified the moment he wake up.
"So, what do you prefer green tea or chamomile tea?" She asked the sleeping man while already preparing green tea. Loki meowed and clanged his plat in protest. "Ah, and of course tuna for you, my lord." Loki purred at her answer, making Ashley giggle.
Her amusement, though, was short lived. She could hear her wolf pack yapping and barking as they neared her house. If they could talk, they would be screaming "Danger!" which raised red flags in her mind. They were scared, and what can scare these seasoned pack of wolves could only be terrifying.
Ashley grabbed her staff and a mask, which she made of bones to add intimidation to her bearing and then ordered her wolf pack to stay by Thatch's side before racing straight toward the beach. Loki howled as his body enlarged to turn him into a black panther and he, then, swiftly followed after his master.
Once he caught up, Ashley jumped on his back. "You're not one to stay put, huh?" Loki growled an answer. The journey was short and what Ashley saw could only be described as worse than her speculations, even worse than her nightmares.
A fleet with a giant vessel in the lead.
Ashley's blood froze when the anchors, one by one, dropped with loud splashes and a hoard of armed pirates came ashore without even bothering to lift the sails betraying their hast. With almost thousands of people, you would expect the scene to be lively but no words were exchanged making the atmosphere bone-chilling. They all simply looked at the island with grievous expressions.
Then their Captain disembarked the lead vessel.
"U-Unbelievable!" Ashley felt her soul leave then returns quite violently that her core actually shook. The man towered over his crew and Ashley feared her beloved island would capsize under his weight and bearing.
"My sons!" The captain said, commanding everyone's attention. He needn't yell, cause his voice boomed all the way to where Ashley sat astride Loki, "Leave no stone unturned!" The order lighted a fire inside the crew and they responded with a deafening 'Aye'.
Ashley wavered. She has never been in the presence of so, so many people like this. Heck, she was isolated for the best part of her life. How can she confront them when only the idea of so many eyes focused solely on her made her legs quiver? But then again she had to defend the sanctity of her domain.
And as they marched with unsheathed sword toward the forest, she felt violated.
Her anger swelled and swelled till it submerged her anxiety. Fear, she felt and ignored as madness took over the helm. She would bring the damn sky down their heads before they destroy her land. "Loki, take me to the front."
Once in plain view of the trespassers, she get off Loki's back and roared "You can go no further than this!" Some of them were surprised, but the pirates taking the lead were calmer than a still lake. From the moment they landed, they knew someone was there, watching them from the shadows.
"Insolent! Don't you know who we are!?" An irritated yell sounded from the far back that Ashley didn't bother pinpointing its source as she was occupied holding a glaring contest with the Captain. Her blank faced held firm. She genuinely has no knowledge of who they could be. "We are Whitebeard pirates!" The voice proudly added as if their mere name give them a free pass anywhere and it normally does…just not today.
Ashley blanked. As far as pirates goes she only have ever heard of Roger Pirates and that because their captain has earned for himself the title of Pirate King and People were talking about him everywhere, even beside the barn she was forced to work at when she was a child.
"White-beard or White-pubic-hair I don't gave a fuck! Get off my island!" Ashley said, her staff held in front of her like a sword. Pirates has an excess of pride, they dislike being told off so she knew nothing she said would stop them from advancing, might as well go all way with hostile confrontation. Making them lose their cool, would probably make them irrational and prone to make mistakes.
After her declaration, you could hear gasps of various volume levels coming from the crew. They stood frozen with open mouths and bulging eyes for five seconds. Trying to decrypt what this soon-to-be-skinned person just said. Then the screaming, insults and colorful curses start raining down on her, she couldn't really make out what they said cause they all spoke at once but she could guess from their red faces that they weren't compliments.
Their voices were so loud, she felt her eardrums hurts. Was this a secret technique?
Whitebeard swung his spear and, in a matter of seconds, the crowd stilled. His serious facade cracked and then he start laughing. Laughing. Ashley had goosebumps.
"Do you have the ability to stop me?" He rumbled, with a smirk. It was an open challenge and the crew, used to their captain's antics, they stepped back. Some of them shaking their heads, others facepalming.
"Let me show you then." Ashley accepted the duel readily cause, now, instead of fighting thousands of people, she only has to fight a single one and if these people have one iota of honor they won't sabotage the duel or revenge their captain afterward.
Ashley made the first move. She chanted her spells, her soothing and melodic voice akin to a siren luring sailor to their gruesome death. The crew, non the wise how true their analogy was, start cracking jokes. Then the men's clothes fluttered as the wind's speed picked up pace. Its speed grew and grew till it created sandstorm, hazing their view.
Right after that, the earth shook and multiple vines as huge as their ship's mast emerged from the ground and swished like angry snakes flying toward Whitebeard. Whitebeard seemed more curious than concerned as with just a single wave of his weapon, the vines disintegrated into nothing.
In the shadow of the silence that followed her failed attack, Ashley's gasp could be heard but she swiftly continue chanting again. This time, her voice got harsher with higher notes mixed in which, at times, sends nerve-tingling shiver down everyone's spine and they watch bewildered as stones from all over the island came flying and started merging into the shape of a giant human.
The giant launched an attack right away, however, its movements were slow and Whitebeard once again ruined her plan with two blows. Ashley ground her teeth and let the aftermaths of destroying her stone golem pass, and the debris settle. "How dare you?" She husked, "Toying with me like this!" She felt humiliated.
"Throw your best hit, girl!" Whitebeard answered, ignoring her bruised pride.
Ashley's voice quieted down to an intimate whisper like that of a mistress revealing her most devious plans. The sea's level rose visibly to the naked eyes enclosing the crew's knees and dark clouds gathered over their heads. The clouds crackled, and lightening zipped through it erratically.
Oh boy, Marco thought. The woman was trying to electrocute them. "Pops-"
"I know," Whitebeard answered. He started swinging his spear so fast it created a wind current, then ended it with a Haki charged swing that won't cut and only hurl Ashley off her feet. And true to his speculations, the spell broke and the attack halted.
Ashley was thrown back and Loki broke her fell. Her mask disregarded by her side. She sat amidst Loki's warmth panting, each breath made hard to swallow because of her sore throat. Her opponent was so out of her league, he nullified her attack without breaking a sweat. He could've taking her life long ago, but he dragged this fight on and on, which she took personally.
"Interesting," the Captain said after a moment of simply watching Ashley and she bit her lips so hard she tasted blood.
She still had the will to fight. She was prepared and willing to take drastic measures to turn the tides of this fight, even if her forbidden techniques came with a heavy price. She won't stand to be humiliated. One more mocking word from their Captain's mouth, and she will obliterate the whole crew. Just one more word.
Thank you, Heart-throbs, for taking the time of your day and reading this Fanfiction.
The reason I wrote this story is because I want to set a routine, challenge myself a little bit and improve my writing. I appreciate critical reviews so if you guys caught a grammatical mistake or a plot hole, then please feel free to tell me.
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