Eyes wide, the young woman's blue irises still rested on the tattoo before she let out a "Holy shit!" She's already robbed a lot of people, probably pirates among them, but I'm sure she hasn't stolen anyone that notorious. No, something of the sort was actually missing from her collection.
"I hear that a lot, even though I'm saying 'hello' or 'how are you?' prefer as a conversation starter," said Marco and looked into the bright eyes of the woman, whose face was almost written with the flash of inspiration. "I would like to know why people basically declare shit sacred when they see me," he thought out loud and raised his hand to show that he wanted something to drink. Turning back to the young woman, he smiled. "I rarely have the opportunity to ask questions, it's more likely that people avoid me. But since you neither flee nor drop dead, you can certainly answer my question," he continued and found it almost funny that she only now recognized him, when she had already looked him up from the bottom up earlier. Maybe it was the situation she was in before, though he found it surprising that she still wasn't showing any of the usual signs he was familiar with. But that would certainly change soon if he thought he knew what was coming. At the thought of it, the amused expression on his face disappeared, was replaced by a rather bored one and so he braced himself for an apology from her, which would surely follow immediately. Basically, it was always the same dilemma when you recognized him, stuck in a similar situation as her and so he was of the opinion that it was certainly not different here or would behave.
"Maybe because holy urine doesn't sound quite as good and isn't as expressive," she answered his question against his expectations. She put her fingers to her chin, tapped them a little and seemed to be considering almost seriously. Looking at Marco again, her serious face gave way again and she couldn't help but laugh softly. Her counterpart didn't seem to have reckoned with her words and looked almost stunned.
The first commander needed a moment, but then laughed himself while the hand of the stranger went into her pocket and pulled out the purse that she had stolen from him. "There is nothing missing. If I had known who you are.", she started, but stopped and then grinned slyly in his direction. Throwing the bag in his direction, she shook her head to correct herself. "... No, I would have stolen from you anyway," she continued, amused, it was she basically didn't care who she took the money from. Especially in a situation like this, where she really needed it urgently, like now, there were only a few things against a theft.
"Pretty cheeky, but thanks."
He caught his belongings, took them back with him and didn't even count them. His interest was in her and less in the money, of which he basically had enough. With the ordered sake in hand, he watched Kyra, who had meanwhile turned back to her food, eat her meal. She reminded him a little of Ace wolfing down the meal. The portion she could apparently swallow wasn't from bad parents either. The corners of his mouth turned up and he shook his head in amusement, she seemed to have similarities in character with him. "By the way, I'm Kyra," she introduced herself between bites and turned her head as soon as she had let the last ball of rice disappear in her mouth. Swallowing the bite and taking a sip of sake, she turned around on her stool to face him.
"How are you?" She grinned, he said that he preferred such a conversation starter. With a smile, he followed her example and now turned to her completely. "I'm Marco, but you know that by now. I'm doing pretty well, apart from the fact that you messed up my schedule and set me back on it," he told her, which made her head cocked. She caught on to what he meant pretty quickly, then smiled apologetically. "Wasn't my plan, but I didn't think you'd find me that quickly, let alone look for me or we'll meet again," she explained, not apologizing directly for the simple reason that she did not sorry. However, she already had an idea how to make amends. After all, it wasn't every day that you met such a well-known pirate who didn't break her neck for her deed. She had heard rumours, of course, talked about the crew of the famous Whitebeard and things could have ended pretty badly when she thought about it. "So you think that I'll just take off my clothes and be fine with that?" he asked and had to admit that the day, which had begun so monotonously and routinely, took and had taken a pleasant turn. "If I had known who you were beforehand, I probably would have hidden myself better," she smiled. "I'll make it up to you," the thief then explained directly and Marco excitedly raised his eyebrows, waiting for what came to mind as compensation.
"You must have been running errands, right? Since you were so gracious as not to kill me and invited me, I'll help you with that. Just tell me what you need," she suggested, actually seeming to want to take responsibility for her actions , which surprised him a little. "I haven't come across a thief with a conscience either," he voiced his thoughts, which made Kyra shrug. "I'll be stuck here for a while anyway, so I can also make myself useful. On the one hand, that would be a nice change from my rather dreary everyday life here. On the other hand and for your information... Not all thieves are just bad," she had to laugh a little and slipped off the stool. "Besides, we don't want you to get in trouble for wasting your time with someone you don't know," she continued, winking mischievously and stretching with relish. She was full, her thirst was quenched, and she had escaped from her pursuers. Well, most of them at least. So it was a good start to the afternoon after all.
"As far as I'm concerned, we can start right away, I'm done here," she explained, pulling Marco out of his thoughts about her, just after the last sentence. The blond haired nodded and did it to her right after he had drained his mug and paid. Kyra waited for him to lead the way and followed him outside. The heat struck her again, she had almost forgotten about it in the ambience and she let out a sigh.
"You don't really seem to like the hot climate," Marco noticed, of course, and casually pulled out the list that included his part of the errands. "Nicely put. I hate areas like that. I prefer an icy climate," she replied and stole the deputy's parchment at the next wink. "Show me," she gave him to understand and Marco raised an eyebrow, could only shake his head while he watched the young woman studying the piece of paper. He really hadn't met a girl like that before. Brash, outspoken, and unlike others of her gender, she neither feared him nor hit on him.
"We should have that together quickly, no problem." She looked up at him with a broad grin, as he towered over her quite a bit. A quick tap on the nose made it a little wider. "Keep at it, otherwise you'll lose me and I'll be gone faster than you'd like". Her cheeky mouth took over. She craned her head in the air for a moment, sharpened her sense of smell and just walked off as soon as she handed the piece of paper back to the pirate. Marco examined her and immediately understood that she either had devil powers or had a damn good nose.
Keeping up with her wasn't difficult, even if she was moving quite quickly. The crowd avoided him even as soon as he entered the busy street, so all he had to do was follow her light blue hair that bobbed up and down between the people. The idea of being able to do his errands faster with her was a good one.
However...
He hadn't forgotten the incident that had brought them together, so he wondered if she wasn't being a little carefree walking the streets so openly after that event. When she reached a house, she stopped. "This is where you get the medical stuff. Bandages, solutions, and all that stuff on the list." The smell of disinfectant was more than evident, she thought. "What kind of devil powers do you have?" he asked, putting his hand on her back and pushing her into the building . He didn't want her to sneak away after all while he ran his errands inside. Besides, she would be more conspicuous outside than in here next to him. There was no longer any doubt that she had a good nose, but he didn't believe that a natural sense of smell was that strong. So fel powers were the only thing that came to mind next.
"I have a roommate whose nose is pretty good," she explained, wrinkling it as soon as they entered the room. He looked at her questioningly as he handed the list to the clerk, waiting for the items to be gathered. "Husky," she explained with a smile at his look and looked around a little. "That explains your behavior in this weather," he concluded, while she began to roam through the store and look at the various bottles. "Some abilities and characteristics are transferred from the beings that are absorbed into us when we eat them," she nodded and waited for Marco to finish. He could only agree, he knew that too well and knew what she was talking about. "And what keeps you on this island?" he asked, paying for the errands when they were stowed and nodding to the seller before taking the bags. He remembered her saying she had no options at the moment and while he ran his errands he might as well have a chat with her.
"Oh, my ship went on a diving course in the harbor basin. I don't know anything about carpentry, so I'm saving for a new one," she shrugged as they stepped out onto the busy street, seeming to take it easy. "Why are you stealing from the population?" the deputy smiled and stepped outside after her. His eyes darted around the crowd, but she still seemed unconcerned about being spotted. "And apparently foreign pirates," she added, turning up the corners of her mouth again. "Actually, I only steal from those who can afford it. I leave people who have little outside," she explained to him and indicated to follow her. "How long have you been here?" he asked, following after her, almost automatically keeping his eyes open so he wouldn't get caught up in anger. It was seldom that he cared about anyone other than the crew and asked so many questions, but he felt the need to find out a little more about them. "I can't be more specific than a few weeks. I didn't count every day, but with my luck I still end up as a puddle on the sand that you can scratch me from one day". She stopped and Marco noticed that they had arrived at the outstanding accounts, more precisely at the herbs. As he passed his list again, he watched as Kyra unobtrusively reached into some handbags and stole from the people in her immediate vicinity. "It's a shame we're not on a winter island," she added, as if nothing had happened. She was really talented, no one seemed to notice.
Although he had to admit...
If the phoenix hadn't been inside him, he probably would have realized too late what had happened to him and he certainly wouldn't have suspected her. There were just too many people on the street for that. At the same time he found her rather careless considering her current situation. It's almost as if the incident from earlier wasn't a lesson for her.
In the first few moments they spent together, he couldn't classify her into any category of human being. But what he could tell for sure was that she was acting very young. Partially teenage in character, perhaps in the lifespan of the firecracker of the crew. Based on her experience and one or the other act, however, she had been doing these activities for a very long time and was certainly older. In any case, her appearance didn't tell him much about her actual age. He had no idea why, but his gut told him that she was, or could become, quite useful, and it wasn't just her good nose. Taking the bags again, he took his eyes off the blue-haired one for just a moment and when he turned to her, she was gone. "Well?" he murmured with a questioning look and looked around in all directions, but she couldn't be seen.
What was it then?
Tilting his head a little, he put his hands on his hips and looked through the crowd again. Although he had everything, he had at least wanted to say goodbye. Apparently she wasn't the person for it. He went a few more steps and was just about to tick that off, but he couldn't force people when he was pulled by his arm into a nearby alley. Surprised, he dropped the bags and turned, ready to defend himself when he saw them. "What...?". But she interrupted him by holding her index finger to her lips and instructing him to be quiet. He looked questioningly at her when she pointed in the direction of her ear and an angry conversation reached his ears.
"Where can she be? The city isn't big and we've combed through everything. She can't just vanish into thin air," began the first angry voice and Marco saw two men standing in the market square out of the alley. You are where you have just walked. He recognized the first almost immediately, having been at the head of the pack at noon and presumably Kyra's main victim. "We'll find her. The island isn't big and there aren't a ton of cities on it either, so don't worry," the second guy, no less tall, said while the young woman eclipsed himself a little further. "I shouldn't worry?", the first snorted, while his eyes quarreled over the market place and he seemed to be looking for her. "This isn't the first theft in Sandercheeks and the government said they didn't have time for such small things. I have no proof that she started the other crimes, but if I get my hands on the little thief we'll know," he said. Marco concluded that Kyra had done a lot of mischief in the few weeks she was here, but was probably caught for the first time. "Did you commission the posters?" The next question reached his ear and he looked from the young woman back to the men who were getting closer and closer to the alley. "The description wasn't specific, but that's how I passed it on. It will be easy to find, because a few features were very conspicuous," answered the second, when the figures passed the alley, in which Marco now retreated into the shadows so as not to betray them.
The thief behind him sighed softly and he waited for the footsteps to disappear before turning to face her. "You seem to be in trouble," he said and to his surprise she shrugged. "The situation cannot be changed. It's annoying and I have to rearrange my plans, but that's nothing for you to worry about," she told him and turned around. "Come on," she said, motioning for her to follow. The 1st Commander followed frowning, he didn't know where she wanted to go now. He had everything and didn't have to hide, could actually go straight back to Moby Dick, but his curiosity carried him through the alleys behind her. While he could see her back, his mind wandered a little and the conversation he had just heard.
your situation.
All the circumstances that kept her here and the uncertainty of when she was coming from the island or at all didn't seem to bother her. She seemed to be looking at it all quite positively. This fact made him feel a little like wanting to help her. She didn't ask for it, quite the contrary, but it still made him feel bad about going onto the Moby Dick and leaving her here to her possibly ill fate. He didn't know her. His interest in getting to know her a little more, in knowing what was behind her character, which he was so bad at assessing, actually grew with the time that they had spent together so far. Many women would certainly have given up clinging to someone long ago or probably resigned themselves to being stuck here. She, on the other hand, would probably keep trying to get by. At least that's how he judged her.
Taking a fork, she stopped at a stand with books and the pirate stopped short. Looking down at the young woman, she smiled and pointed to the parchment in his hand, "At the bottom of the list was a little bit about books and there is basically everything your heart desires. The young man is the best bookseller in town," she said, pointing to the clerk, who laughed softly. Looking at the list in hand, he remembered writing it down, though it was more for his amusement than his were of monumental importance.
"You're quite observant," he replied, looking down at the books. He hadn't counted on her having a mind for such trifles and just when he thought he understood her a little, she did something that he did would not have guessed. "I'm a criminal, I have to be good at observing and memorizing a lot, assessing and of course thinking ahead," she smiled and watched as Marco began to fly his irises over the titles of the books. She couldn't find any books herself, but he seemed to enjoy browsing. He seemed to quickly find something that aroused his interest and so she waited for him to finish and release her from his service so that she could think about her current situation and come up with a new plan. She already had one or the other idea, even if the thick skin was definitely not an advantage. As a dog, she had never seen anyone here and perhaps she could wait until it all subsided before continuing with her work.
To her surprise, however, he handed her the lightest bags. "Help me take that to the Moby Dick and then you'll be released from your sentence," he explained at her questioning look. She cocked her head at first, but then nodded. "But I can't go out on the open road right now. Wait a minute," she explained and put the bags down. Marco saw how she closed her eyes for a moment and not a second later her body changed. Another blink later, a perfect thick-coated gray and white dog was standing in front of him. The bright blue eyes looked up at him and she gave a small snort of amusement as she took the bags in her mouth and then followed him. She was secretly excited to see what the ship of such a large crew would look like, which is why she gladly accepted the last part of the punishment.
