Judging by the grumbling that I could hear downstairs, the guys had finally made it back to the cabin. When I had arrived about ten minutes ago, the LB's crew had taken one look at my scowling face before quickly scrambling to re-heat the leftover stew. I had ignored all of them as I stalked up the stairs to the room I was sharing with Shanks. And closed the door gently. Honest. No clue where the giant crack it was now sporting came from. Nor why the all of the pictures had fall off the walls. Freak earthquake, maybe?
I quickly adjusted the small tank-top I was wearing before leaving the room and heading back downstairs. When I appeared, Shanks looked up and raised one crimson brow at me. There were small flecks of blood on his shirt, but otherwise he appeared completely unaffected by my punch. LB, on the other head, scowled at me and opened his mouth. It was almost comical how fast is slammed shut when he got a good look at my outfit. And it actually was comical watching him try (and fail) to hide the fact that he had bitten his tongue in the process.
"Where are ya goin', Mama?" Eli asked innocently from where he sat in front of the fireplace with his brother.
"Reconnaissance," I answered simply. "Our time-table was severely pushed forward this afternoon."
"Wha' d'you mean by tha'?" LB asked, almost managing to talk normally around his swollen tongue.
I couldn't help but smirk at him. "I'm stealthier than all of you, so I get to check out that building that you guys discovered yesterday," I answered simply as I crossed the room.
LB scowled at me as he dropped onto the couch. "And how the hell do you think you can scout anything dressed like that?" he all but growled.
I looked down at my body. I was wearing my gray tank-top, the bottom of which barely fell past my bra-less breasts. My gray shorts didn't cover much more, starting just under my hipbones and ending where my thighs began. With my hair falling freely down to my waist and no other clothing on, I could see how the Little Bastard was confused. We were, after all, on a Winter island. Which made it a damn good thing that my Cat-Form was fully adapted to cold climates. When I said as much to the LB, his scowl melted into a look of interest.
"And what type of cat do you transform into, Senpai?" He almost sounded like he could care less about the answer. Almost. "A snow leopard, or something?"
Shanks wasn't quite able to stop his laugh, but he managed to turn it into a cough. A glance at Elle's face told him that she was fighting the same amusement that he was. When she was little, Elle had hated the fact that she could only transform into a house-cat. Captain Rodger has quickly changed her mind when he told her that her small feline form only made her power all the more amazing. So for the past twenty years she had never confirmed nor denied what type of cat she could transform into. This poor bastard's reaction to the fact that his beloved Senpai was a female Marine would pale in comparison to what he would do if he found out that Elle in her cat-form didn't weigh fifteen pounds.
Elle cleared her throat before she answered the kid's question with one of her own. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She smirked at him before walking over to Shanks. "Take care of the boys for me?" she asked him in a low murmur.
Shanks couldn't stop himself. He leaned down and lightly brushed a kiss against her full lips. "Anything for you, Kitten," he said just as quietly. "I'll teach them how to play poker," he added in a normal volume.
Elle let out a small chuckle and lightly squeezed his hand. "Just make sure you lay out the rules clearly, Shanks," she said, a wicked glint in her eyes. "My boys like to win. At any cost."
A laugh burst out of Shanks as he turned to glance at his sons. "Of course they do," he said proudly. "They're just like their mother."
Elle gave him a wide smile before she walked outside. The kid quickly stood up and ran to the window. He looked out side, cupping his hands around his face to see better. When he pulled away with a deep scowl, Shanks laughed again. Even if Elle hadn't been a white cat that could blend in perfectly in the snow, there's no way that the kid could have seen her unless she wanted him too. Elle might be famous as one of the most blood-thirsty and violent Marine Officers, but that was a carefully constructed diversion so that no one would realize just how sneaky she could be.
Kid threw down his cards (in disgust) before linking his hands behind his head. He eyed (glared at) the two boys and the large piles of money in front of them. They were, what, ten? And novices! How the hell were they so ((incredibly)) good at poker?! This was supposedly their first time playing (please let it be their first time...)! How could two ((evil gremlins)) amateurs beat every single member of his crew?! And they even beat Kid! An (okay) incredible poker player, usually! Even ((Red-Hair)) that bastard was loosing to them!
Kid lowered his arms to cross them in front of his chest. It was down to Red-Hair, Killer, and the ((evil, evil gremlins)) twins. With that last hand, Kid had had a good (decent) chance at staying in the game. But no. Somehow those ((evil, evil, evil gremlins)) kids were able to beat him! And look at their (stupid) smug faces! They knew that they were beating (thoroughly thrashing) all of the (adult!) men there and they weren't even trying to act (even slightly!) modest!
Kid turned his gaze on his second. The masked man gave a small nod as he gathered the cards and started to shuffle. It was all up to Killer. The Pride of the Kid Pirates (of Kid himself) rested on his shoulders. It could not have fallen on a more worthy man (except for Kid, that is). Killer had just finished dealing when Red-Hair's ((stupid)) head jerked up and looked at the window. Heat was standing next to it, having lost fairly early (first). Red-Hair pointed at Heat (hey, rude, much?) and demanded that he open the window.
Kid turned his glare (scowl) on Red-Hair and started to ((snarl)) ask what the hell the Emperor thought he was doing, ordering Kid's men around. Before Kid could get more than two words out, a ((scary)) heavy feeling burst from the other pirate. Kid's mouth snapped shut as he realized what had just happened. Red-Hair had just used Haki to get his point across. Obviously, this was serious. Kid turned to tell Heat to listen to Red-Hair, but his ((spineless)) man was already tugging the window open. No sooner had the blue-haired man opened the window half-way did a red and white blur dive through.
A ((fucking)) cat? Red-Hair had ((fucking)) used Haki to get Kid's (his!) man to open the window for a motherfucking cat?! Kid opened his mouth to berate (snarl at) the Emperor, but no words could escape his (suddenly choked) throat. The cat was moving, slowly growing larger. And there, crouching in the middle of the living room floor of ((fucking))Emperor Kaido's cabin on some ((fucking)) useless island , was Benineko Elle. His idol's feline form was not some (vicious) big cat. Oh, no. Kid ((fucking)) idolized a. House. Fucking. Cat.
This was not turning out to be a good week for the pirate newcomer (fucking understatement of the century).
Shanks was so engrossed in trying to figure out how the twins were thoroughly beating all of the older men that he almost missed her approach. So it was a very good thing that on some subconscious level, Shanks was always searching for Elle when she wasn't around him. He had felt her approaching very quickly, a feeling of—pain?—something heavy weighing her presence down. Shanks had acted without thinking when he ordered the Voodoo-looking guy to open the window she was nearest. When he had felt the upstart novice try counter-act Shanks' order, he had acted without thinking. He used a small amount of Conqueror's Haki to command the room. And when Elle had sailed into the room and stumbled when she landed, all Shanks could see was the blood covering her side.
Shanks was on his feet and heading to her before she finished shifting into her human form. Elle pressed her hand against the bleeding wound on her ribs, her teeth gritted against the pain. Before he realized he was talking, Shanks was ordering the men to grab some bandages and wet cloths. Elle held up her hand, her yellow gaze snapping to his.
"No time," she said through gritted teeth. "Give me your shirt and let's get back to your game."
Shanks didn't hesitate; just quickly removed his shirt and put it around her. Elle started to stand, but her legs shook. Shanks scooped her up and walked back to the table, clenching his jaw. Why did her wound have to be on her right side? Shanks sat down with Elle on his lap, her wounded side pressed tightly against his bare stomach. If he wasn't this close to her, Shanks doubted he would have heard her small whimpers. No, Elle just schooled her face into calm and wrapped her right arm around Shanks' waist. With her left, she picked up his cards.
"Clean up that blood and get back to the game," she commanded, her deep voice strong despite the pain he knew she was feeling. "They'll be here any second now."
Sora and Eli—when had they gotten so close to Shanks?—nodded and hurried to their seat. In fact, everyone was jumping to obey her orders. Even the kid was wiping the surprise and disappointment from his face, picking up the masked man's cards. The masked man was shutting the window again, the rest of his crew hiding the last traces of Elle's blood. Shanks followed Elle's lead and helped her hold his cards. No sooner had the last bloody rag been thrown in the trash did a series of loud bangs ring out from the front door.
The kid jerked his chin at his masked lieutenant and the blond man opened the door. Standing on the other side were two armed guards. They were both so plain and unassuming that Shanks didn't even bother getting a good look at them. They both jerked back a step at the appearance of the large masked man standing in front of them, but quickly regained their composure and sharply asked if anyone in the residence had seen a fluffy white cat, possibly injured, around. Shanks slid his gaze over to the other pirate, his muscles tensing as he prepared to fight.
The younger pirate turned around and scowled at the two men. "Why the hell would a cat be here?" he snapped, his non-eyebrows drawing together as he glared.
Elle scoffed and added, "My kids are allergic to cats. So if you're missing your little kitty, you better find it before I do." The smile on her face almost made Shanks' blood chill and, judging by the pale faces of the guards, had a similar effect on them. "Now leave. I've got some money to win back." Elle turned away from the men, effectively dismissing them.
Shanks chuckled and rubbed his face against her cheek, feeling some of the tension ease from her body as he did so. Shanks listened as the masked pirate offered to call for the guards if they saw a cat before shutting the door. Everyone listened with baited breath to the sound of their heavy boots descending the porch stairs before turning to look at Elle again.
Shanks expected the Cat-Woman to relax and finally let them attend to her wound, but she remained sitting up straight and staring at the cards in her hands. Shanks could see a fine sheen of sweat appear on her pale face, but otherwise she showed no outward signs of being injured. Her yellow gaze turned to the dark corner farthest from the table and narrowed. A low growl rumbled from her throat before she spoke.
"Kiri-Chan, stop hiding. I know you're there."
I could feel the tension rise in the room again as the dark shadows in the corner coalesced into the shape of a person. The person who appeared had achingly familiar eyes, but everything else had changed with age. Black hair that seemed to suck the light from the room fell over dark blue eyes and framed a pale face. The jaw that had been sharp and pointy as a child had eased into a strong, square line. The shoulders that had never been wider than mine probably matched those of any of the men already in the room. As the body slowly straightened from a crouch, I hissed in a small breath. When standing, the person was easily taller than everybody else in the room.
As children, Kiri-Chan had always been smaller than me in every way, despite the fact that I had never been what one would call 'large'. But seeing him as a man, I knew that Brutus had trained Kiri-Chan significantly to get him to where he was today. And though my heart ached for the friend I had once had, I knew better than to trust it was the same person standing in front of me. A lifetime of physical and mental torture could turn even the best of friends into mortal enemies.
When Kiri-Chan spoke, his voice could only be described as smoke and shadow. "I was wondering if you would notice me. Again," he added, his thin lips pulling into a small smile. "It's been a while since we've seen each other."
I snorted and subtly leaned more into Shanks. "Don't lie, Kiri-Chan," I said, unable to stop my small grin. "We saw each other earlier today."
Kiri-Chan laughed, the dark sound sending a shiver down my spine. "Right," he said, crossing his large arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall. "When you ripped Hebi-Chan's arm off and so graciously threw it at me."
I felt Shanks and the Little Bastard's gazes land on me, but ignored them as my grin widened into a smirk. "What did you expect?" I asked with a small shrug. "She was threatening Shanks."
Kiri-Chan let out another small laugh before any trace of humor fell from his face. "You probably shouldn't have done that," he said. "It practically screamed your identity to Master."
I shrugged again, gritting my teeth at the sharp wave of pain the movement caused. "He was going to find out I was here anyway."
Kiri-Chan let out a small sigh before his dark gaze landed on my children. I felt all of the hair on my body stand on end and it took all of my willpower not to growl at my old friend. "True, but your actions also brought your children to his attention." His words made me loose the battle and my growl filled the room. Kiri-Chan's gaze met mine once more as he pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket. In an irritatingly gentle voice, he told me, "Master has invited the three of you to dinner tonight."
Shanks' blood ran cold at the shadow-man's words and the urge to run him through with Gryphon almost became too much to bare. The only reason he hadn't moved was Elle was still sitting on his lap. Not ripping the shadow-man apart, despite the snarl she let out. Elle took a deep breath and Shanks felt her nails scrape against his bare back as her hand clenched into a fist. She closed her eyes for a brief moment as she took another, then let it out slowly. Her fingers opened at the same time as her eyes and softly rubbed the scrapes, almost in appology.
Shanks watched as a contemplative look appeared on her face. "What does the invitation say, exactly?" she asked calmly. "Word for word, Kiri-Chan, if you would."
The shadow-man, this Kiri-Chan, narrowed his eyes in confusion, but opened the paper and read, "My dearest Subject 67492, you are hereby ordered to attend dinner tonight, along with your male counterparts." When he was done reading, Kiri-Chan's gaze lifted back to Elle. "That's it."
The wide grin that spread across Elle's face made Shanks a little uneasy. "Well," she said sweetly, drawing out the word. "I mean, since I was ordered to appear, you can tell Master that we'll be there at nine sharp."
A/N: Hark! A new chapter appears! And with this, the beginning of the end approaches! And I couldn't be more excited! I've known how I wanted the climax of this story to play out pretty much since I started writing it, so I am so happy that we are finally getting close! Don't get me wrong, I'm thinking we'll have at least another 8-10 chapters. But we shall see.
As always, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it!
(Oh, and if you want to, be sure to check out my profile. I added an update tonight, including some super special news!)