Chapter 10 - We always get the Crazies
The tension in the town had rose considerably with the appearance of this armed crowd. The people were obviously afraid of what they were capable of, fearing for their own lives and those of they cared for. To mess with slavers was a death sentence for any ordinary person.
But since when was this crew ordinary?
Itzal and the others just stared on at the advancing group, not at all fazed. Itzal remained completely expressionless while observing them, he didn't really seem to care about their appearance, well apart from possibly beating the crap out of them for being slavers in the first place. While on the other hand Arabella just looked plainly bored. Zarina and Francis examined the group thoroughly, checking their numbers, weapons and movements. They were far more cautious about the whole situation then Itzal or Arabella were. They both knew Itzal was capable, they had a feeling Arabella was confident in herself too but Francis and Zarina would have to move carefully.
But clearly not cautious enough since the one leading the group noticed Itzal and the others. Glaring at them he barked over to them, "You got a problem with us?!"
The towns folk all retreated toward random buildings for safety, not wanting to be caught in their sights next. Luckily for them they weren't going to be their target by the end of this.
"We do, yeah." Itzal replied nonchalantly, Zarina and Francis turned to look at him with looks that said are you serious?
Arabella on the other hand just burst out laughing. "Oh man! You really don't give it a second thought do ya?! Hahaha!"
Itzal just looked between his three comrades, "Well it's true. They're slavers, of course we'd have a problem with them." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Francis just turned back to the slavers, folding his arms, he paused at what he saw, which went unnoticed by the others. "Well shit…" He murmured to himself.
Zarina shook her head, "Itzal, you are correct but you don't need to be so blunt about it. We could have worked around the situation to gain a greater advantage."
She was quickly interrupted by Arabella, "But where's the fun in that? Take them head on, straight down the middle and hopefully get a good fight out of it."
Zarina just looked her way without turning her head to her, judging by the happy smile on her face and neutral expression on Itzal she had a feeling her words going to get very far with these two.
She stood up straight and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Why do I even try." She paused, "Now I have three of them to deal with." She mumbled at the end. Why was she being paired with so many crazies recently? Was this her punishment for some horrible crime she committed in a past life or something?
"Uhh, guys?" Francis attempted to get the groups attention but Arabella spoke over him.
"I admire the attempt but I'm not the kind of person many people can handle." She said it with such pride too. "Stick around long enough and you'll learn that!"
"Get in line, I have two others I have yet to learn how to handle first." Her response got a small chuckle from Itzal. It was obvious who she was referring to. A certain two trouble makers that helped her escape a prison convoy.
Arabella feigned hurt emotion, leaning back and placing her hand on her heart. "I'm wounded! Am I not important enough for you to consider me? How could you?!" A fake expression of sadness written across her face before she peeked an eye over at Zarina, a small playful smirk slowing forming.
Itzal just laughed at the exchange while Zarina sighed in defeat. Poor woman.
"Guys!" Finally gaining their attention the group turned to Francis to see him pointing toward something.
The group all turned as one to see the bald headed leader almost explode with anger, his face a bright red. You could see the vein on his about to pop. I guess being told someone has a problem with him then be blatantly ignored could piss someone off.
"You have a problem with me punk?" His anger directed at Itzal more so than anyone else. "Well now I have a fucking problem with you!" He stepped closer to the group, glaring at Itzal, not taking his eyes off him.
"Was it you who messed with my ships?!" He asked furiously, spitting as he spoke. He clenched his firsts slowly, cracking a knuckle or two as he did. Regardless of Itzals answer it wasn't really going to defuse the situation.
Francis and Zarina had hoped Itzal would be tactful with the situation but Zarina knew it wasn't going to go that way.
Francis was beginning to realize how this whole song and dance was going to go. He had to admit, Itzal was as simple as he was complex in character. An odd but interesting character.
"I didn't have anything to do with those ships." Itzal began but Zarina and Francis didn't hold their breath. "But my first mate did."
There it was.
You could practically hear the vein pop from all the way over here.
"So it was you! You bastard! Do you know who the fuck you're messing with?!" The bald guy raised his arms, preparing himself for a slaughter in his mind. "I'll fucking skin you alive you son of a whore!"
Arabella, Francis and Zarina reacted by placing a hand on their holstered weapons, ready to spring into action. Although Zarina and Francis were a bit more worried as opposed to Arabella who looked like she was waiting for them to make a move so she could move herself. A small child bursting with excitement it would seem.
Itzal didn't seem to even register the threat, he just blinked at him.
"But you're a slavers group, of course we'd try to stop such acts. Slavery is the biggest insult to those who seek freedom!" He said it like it was obvious, once again. "Freedom is the most important thing an individual can have but people like you try to ruin that for others."
Zarina and Francis hid a small smile, they were really starting to understand Itzal every moment they were with him. Even Arabella had to give the guy credit, he was spot on after all.
What came next nearly nobody was expecting. Itzal shifted his stance, stepping ahead of the others by only a foot or so. A large quantity of steam immediately radiated from his body, his skin going red from the heat he generated.
"Pocket Burst!"
Itzal condensed a ball of heat energy into the palms of his hands before firing both off in the direction of the group.
Leaving the crowd around them in shock.
The bald headed leader of the group dodged the strike that was meant for him however his allies behind him weren't so lucky. Two of them took the strike of one of projectiles before it exploded in a small radius, scattering across the ground in both in pain and a daze.
The other landed in between a group of three before exploding, this one was less damaging than the first as it mainly stunned them and knocked them over.
The slavers, townsfolk and even Arabella were surprised by Itzal. The crowd broke out in whispers of is that a devil fruit? The bald leader just glared at Itzal with even more hatred for daring to attack him but also for surprising him with a devil fruit.
Arabella just examined Itzal, giving him an up and down, 'Gotta admit, I wasn't expecting that…' But she quickly turned her attention back to the slavers at hand. 'I'll ask more about that later on.'
The only two who were surprised were Zarina and Francis. This actually wasn't the first time they meant a devil fruit user besides Itzal before. But that was a story for another time, they had some issues to deal with right now.
"You're really pissing me off kid, you know that?" He paused, carefully examining the Itzals appearance. He smirked, "So we got ourselves a monk of the Order of the Angels do we."
Now Francis could join in on the confusion, he'd never heard of that group before. The only one not surprised was Zarina, she figured Itzal was from such an order, not specifically that one but his appearance gave her her suspicions.
Itzal just shrugged it off, "I'm done with that Order, I'm never going back." He said it like fact, which it was. Once place on this planet Itzal wouldn't be seeing again.
The bald headed leader laughed, "I doubt they'd let someone like you leave that place. I bet they'd pay a pretty penny for their adultescent escapee back." He mocked Itzal. "I wonder if they'd pay the rates of the infamous slaver Drake for bringing in a run away!" Finally introducting himself by name.
This actually made it a bit mad, which surprised Zarina since she was the only one to really noticed the anger expression Itzal displayed for a brief moment. Itzal didn't get mad easy.
"All the more reason to fight then!" He shouted before spring into action and rushing at Drake. He was countered as Drake rushed at him as well, they both clashed, arms slamming into each other.
Everyone else prepared to fight the rest of the others group while these two went at it. The townsfolk evacuated from the scene, retreating to buildings much further away from the chaos.
The fight was on.
"Tiger Uproar!"
Drake shifted his free arm to a low angle and rushed upward toward Itzal with extreme speed. Itzal barely dodged the underhanded strike by pushing off the clash and leaning back, the blades on Drake's gauntlet sailed right past his field of view.. The strike was clearly aimed for his guts and chest. He'd have to be weary of that sneaky strike.
Wanting to push the advantage Drake attempt to punch his blades into Itzals. However Itzal spotted his body shifting for a punch. He grinned, Itzal leaned his body side ways as the blades moved by, the tips of one of the claws barely grazing his arm.
Itzal ignored that however that and countered him, his over stretched body being a perfect target.
"Pocket Burst!"
Itzal formed a small pocket of heat in his hand and rammed it into the chest of Drake, burning a layer of his clothes off before sending him tumbling backwards.
Drake quickly caught himself and stood ready for Itzal.
Itzal was about to charged Drake but was about to be cut off as the two in command, the fishman, leapth at Itzal. Arms outstretched for a strike.
"Gong Quake!"
But before Itzal could react the strike clanged against a metal object. To the fishmans surprised he had been blocked by an enormous ax.
Itzal saw who had jumped in for the save and smiled. "Thanks for the help!"
Hidden beneath the ax was none of other than Arabella standing strong with a smile of her own. She didn't respond to Itzal but she made sure her next phrase was loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Never. Interfere. With. Another. Persons. Fight!" With her surprising strength she rammed the fishman with her ax causing him to skid backwards across the ground quite the distance. "You're dealing with me big guy!"
She placed herself between Itzal and the fishman before now addressing Itzal. "You got to the boss man before I did! So make sure you beat him." She didn't take her eyes of the fishman who returned her cheerful gaze with a stern expression.
"I was going to!" Was all Itzal replied with before turning back to Drake. "Good luck!"
With that Itzal leapt at Drake, heated fist at the ready. Luckily for Drake he blocked it with his gauntlet which dispersed most of the impact and heat.
Arabella and the fishman didn't bother to monitor the other two, they had their own fight to deal with.
"The names Ruin," The fishman introduced himself before getting into a power stance. "Lets us begin."
Arabella stood up straight, tossing her ax onto her shoulder before smirking at the fishman, now known as Ruin, "Arabella, pleasure to beat you." She left herself drop her guard, or at least appear to drop her guard.
Not liking the insult the fishman charged Arabella again, mindful of her ax and its positioning this time.
"Fist of Temi-Gong!"
Not mindful enough as Arabella swung the ax off her shoulder and straight into the ground in front of her, planting her ax head in the ground by her feet. Not having time to slow down or change his direction Ruin ended up punching the ax instead of Arabella.
Surprising the impact actually created a small shock wave that stunned Arabella, if she had been expecting that it wouldn't of gotten her. Using the opportunity Ruin pulled both his fists to his sides and fired them at Arabella.
Instinctively Arabella pulled her ax out of the ground and blocked the duel strike with her wide ax head but the force sent her flying backwards into the wall of a building, smashing into the wall and kicking up some dirt.
Ruin looked on at his opponent who looked up at him from her position in the wall.
She smirked, "Not bad." She said before pulling herself from the wall, leaving an Arabella shaped imprint on the wall before it collapsed behind. The fact it collapsed meant that for a brief moment Arabella was supporting the weight of the small wall on her shoulders.
Arabella quickly shook off any rumble on her before charging at Ruin, swinging her ax behind her.
"Crazed Cyclone!"
Arabella came to sudden and unexpected halt in front of Ruin while she swung her ax almost a full three hundred and sixty degrees around her before she slammed her ax into his upper torso.
The impact was so big that even for a fishman of his size, especially compared to Arabella he was thrown across the street and through a wall on the second story of the building. The roof of the same building collapsed as well, completely wiping out the second story.
After a few moment Ruin appeared at the hole in the wall with a wound across his chest, looking down at Arabella, his gaze showing his anger toward her.
All this did was make Arabella' smile wider.
During this whole ordeal the other remaining slavers had charged at Francis and Zarina expecting to take them down easily. They were sorely mistaken.
There stood Zarina and Francis, back to back. Weapons draw and at the ready for the next attempt. A rapier in Zarinas hand while Francis held a saber and pistol.
Around them lay the slavers comrades, eight to be precise, who had attempt to attack them first. While they were tougher than the marines Zarina had faced before she still managed to fend them off, even if she was having help.
"Impressive sword technique Zarina." Francis admitted to her, "You're better with a sword than I am." Zarina didn't reply, she was too busy controlling her breathing. Even though there was less of them than the marines they were stronger, they were tiring her out so she didn't respond to Francis.
Francis on the other hand wasn't tired from the fighting but he did have a few small minor cuts and scuff marks. He was more struggling to beat them with his skills alone. They were better sword fighters than he was, Francis wasn't really a gifted swordsman. The only advantage he had was the fitness training the marines did. He was physically stronger than they were but they could out fight him.
Luckily for the both of them were the other lacked the other succeeded, so they were successfully holding off the advancing slavers.
Once the commotion had begin another small group had come to reinforce the main one meaning Francis and Zarina still had another fifteen more to go.
"We'll make it." Francis reassured Zarina, it wasn't much but anything to help keep her going.
All Zarina did was nodded which gave Francis all the affirmation he needed. At that moment another two slavers charged on Zarinas side.
She blocked the first one that was ahead of the other by letting him strike her rapier and using the momentum to drive their swords downward. Using the advantage Francis spun on the spot to face the two slavers that were targeting Zarina.
With his guard down Francis simply pistol whipped him across the face which knocked him sideways a bit. This allowed Zarina to swiftly slice him across his thigh. He yelled in pain before falling over clutching his leg.
This however left Zarina open to the second slaver as he went for an overhead swing. "Die bitch!" He roared in anger, obviously pissed off that they were losing to these two.
He was blocked by Francis' saber however, blocking it by holding the saber sideways at head height. Zarina glared at this one for calling her a bitch but she didn't say anything. That's an insult to be called a bitch by a slaver, the lowest kind of scum.
She retaliated by slicing the back of his arm which caused him release his sword from his grasp. The slaver gritted his teeth in pain before a shot rang out.
Francis had swung his pistol and ended up shooting him in the other arm making it so both of his arms were useless. This one collapsed beside his comrade groaning in pain trying not to scream at the pain.
Zarina and Francis returned to a back to back stance, waiting for the next ones to try them both.
"Teamwork, am I right?" Francis quipped, joking how they took those two down way faster together than alone.
"Right." Was all Zarina replied with as she regained her composure, fixing herself and stance, trying not to show weakness. 'I get through my whole life up until recently not having to fight. I spend a few days with a duo of crazy and my life is turned upside down to a whole new reality.' Zarina sighed, exhausted by the whole ordeal, deadpanning at the slavers around her.
They both waited for the next brave souls to try them when a large crash was heard. They both glanced over to see Itzal standing up from the remains of a destroyed house, Drake looking at him not too far away not looking too good himself. He was far worse for ware than Itzal was, Itzal didn't even seem fazed by this guy.
"For a brat you're not that bad," Drake huffed out, he clenched his fists with anger. "I think I'm starting to like the idea of killing you. You're not worth the hassle of sending you back to the Order."
"You couldn't do either." Itzal stated, he didn't mean it as a taunt. He was stating it like a matter of fact. He wasn't going to die here and there was no way he was being sent back either.
Drake just smirked at him, "Too bad."
"Tigers Hunt!"
All of a sudden Drake disappeared from Itzals view. Itzal readied himself as best he could. At that moment Itzals instincts kicked in, he leaned his head to the left. He felt a rush of wind pass him.
Spinning to where the rush of air was heading he saw Drake reappear, his back to him.
"Impressive kid, not many people can't survive a tigers hunt." He turned to face Itzal. "You survived but not without a scratch." He positioned himself again, ready for another attempt.
Itzal quirked a brow before placing a hand on his neck and collarbone. He immediately knew what he felt on his shoulder, a small trace of blood. A small, shallow but clean cut from Drakes claws.
Itzal ignored the tiny wound ready for Drake to move again, he had an idea on how he could end this but he needed to lure Drake into a false sense of security.
"Tigers Hunt!"
He did it again, as Itzal expected. Use the move that has the best chance to hurt Itzal and keep him safe as well. Luckily for Itzal he was fast enough to dodge it again as he shifted his lower body to avoid being gutted as he felt the wind rush past. However he did feel a slight graze of the claws but again nothing to worry about.
Drake reappeared behind Itzal, "A tiger doesn't give up so easily."
Itzal and Drake once again readied themselves.
Further away from them was Arabella and the fishman, Ruin, were clashing once again. Arabella had such a joyful expression on her face, she was getting a kick out of this. This has to be some of the best fun she's had in awhile. Ruin on the other hand looked displeased.
"That all you got big man?" She joked. Arabella quickly slammed her ax head into the ground which caught Ruin off guard. She quickly punched Ruin in the chest which only knocked him back a few feet but that was enough.
Arabella threw herself around the handle of her ax, planted both her feet securely onto the ground before she grasped her ax handle tightly.
"Erratic Tremor!"
Arabella dragged her ax head through the ground with such force it sliced and shattered the solid ground beneath them. She brought the ax upward and gave Ruin an uppercut with the ax head.
The strike cause Ruin to spat blood before sliding backwards again. He recovered quickly recovered however so he quickly pressed the attack by stepping toward Arabella.
"Gong Quake!"
He prepared for a strike to Arabella's core but before he could attempt it Arabella moved first. With her ax overhead from the uppercut strike she lined up her ax.
"Deranged Meteor Impact!"
She brought her ax head down but on its flat side. She jumped up high with a single leg above Ruin and slammed the flat of her ax down on Ruin. Smashing him into the ground, stuck between the force of Arabella's ax and the earth beneath them.
After Ruin didn't react in anyway Arabella raised her ax from on top of him. The sight of Ruin made Arabella giggle. There, stuck in a small crater, was Ruin face planted into the ground. Completely unconscious.
"You were a fun training partner Ruin." She shouldered her ax and began moving away from him. "But I have a disdain for slavers. This was inevitable."
And that's her fight done with.
Zarina and Francis were just about wrapped up as well. Only two slavers remained.
Both groups stood side by side watching the other. Zarina and Francis didn't bother to attack, they didn't need to. After all they were playing defensive this whole time they weren't the aggressors in this conflict. Even if they really wanted to give it to these slaving scum.
Neither of them broke focus but you could see Zarina was getting pretty tired by now. She'd worked up quite a sweat this fight. A fact she also loathed since she really wished she was fitter than she currently was.
One of the slavers charged Zarina seeing her as the weaker link of the two. Zarina gritted her teeth, she was so sick of this.
But he was intercepted by Francis who stepped in front of Zarina. This surprised her for some reason, sure they'd been working together to fend of these slavers but to see how he'd willing put himself in danger for her sake.
'This guys… Why do they keep doing this?' Zarina thought to herself, clutching her side. 'Why do these guys keeping protecting me? Francis, Rob and Itzal… ' Zarina paused for a moment, 'They don't owe me anything.'
It had been a bad move to lose focus since the slaver had been expecting this, quickly changing target he swung his sword upward clashing with Francis' blade. However Francis had been caught off guard so his saber was launched from his hand.
The slaver capitalized on this by headbutting Francis, knocking him to the ground. He raised his sword to kill Francis.
Zarina surprised herself by digging in deep and moving over quickly to intervene. She stepped close to Francis' position. She quickly thrust her rapier at him, grazing his face.
It wasn't much in terms of damage but it caused the guy to flinch, this gave Francis an opening. He kicked the guys right leg out from under him causing him to fall to one knee and catch himself with his free hand. He looked up to see Zarina standing over him, she swiftly smacked him with her rapiers guard across the face causing him to collapse to the ground.
Francis hastily rose from the ground, pistol still in hand. They both turned to the last slaver expecting to face him next but to their surprise all they saw was one unconscious slaver on the ground with none other than Arabella standing over him.
With her ax on her back she clearly walked up and punched the guy once to finish it.
She smiled at the duo, "Well done you two. Not bad at all!" She cheered them both on, not many people were brave enough to fight off a larger group of attackers like that.
Francis just rubbed the back of his grateful the whole thing was done while Zarina on the other hand looked like she mentally face palmed herself from frustration.
"With all them out of the way, you both want to go find your friend?" She gestured off somewhere further down the street. "He's somewhere down there."
Both Francis and Zarina released a heavy sigh, no use standing around here. Might as well find where Itzal had gotten off to.
Arabella stood waiting for them to join her which Francis did. He walked up, grabbing his saber off the ground first, holstered it and then turned back to Zarina. They both raised an eyebrow at her because she seemed to be deep in thought.
"Uh Zarina?" Francis asked her, trying to gain her attention. "Something wrong?"
"Very." Was all she replied with. After not getting anything else from that Arabella continued.
"And that would be?"
"Where's the other troublemaker gone?" Arabella didn't understand what she meant by that but Francis figured it pretty quickly.
"You mean Rob?" He questioned, she replied with a nod before continuing.
"He's nowhere to be seen and that's not a good thing. I may not have known him that long but I know one thing for certain. Never! Leave him to his own device for long. Otherwise a lot of trouble will come our way." Her tone of voice indicating she was absolutely certain in her words, spoke from experience and intuition.
Francis just laughed nervously at her statement. 'Why does she sound like his older sister when she says that…'
Arabella chimed in before Francis could break from his thoughts. "Sounds like a party wherever he goes." An amused grin spread across her face. Sounds wild in her mind.
Zarina just rolled her eyes and holstered her rapier. "We'll need to find him at some point." She stated before walking on past Arabella and Francis heading in the direction Arabella had gestured Itzal would be.
Francis and Arabella looked between each other before walking off after her. So they'd first find the original troublemaker and then find his partner in crime second.
Itzal dodged yet another strike from Drake. You could tell Drake was getting more and more impatient with every attempt.
"I'm getting fucking sick of this kid!" He yelled furiously at Itzal. "Are we fighting or not!"
Drake couldn't tell from his position but Itzal smirked at his words. He was getting angrier by the second and once someone gets angry they drop their guard ever so slightly.
"Tigers Hunt!"
Drake disappeared again but this time Itzal was ready for him, he'd examined his movements and the angles he'd strike from all his previous attempts.
Itzal planted his back foot and pivoted on the spot, swing his body around to the direction Itzal knew he was coming from.
"Scorched Earth!"
Itzal overheated his body to an extreme degree, his skin turning a scorching bright orange. But his hands turned a blistering white hot.
Itzal rapidly struck forward, pushing his fist and body weight forward anchoring himself to the ground like an immovable object, the ground under his feet crushing under the pressure he created. The ground itself even began to burn and sizzle. He didn't even look up to his outstretched hand as he just stood there for a few seconds.
After that, Itzal reduced his body temperature. He finally looked up to see Drake slumped over his outstretched fist, completely unconscious. Itzal rather comically let Drake slip off his arm and face plant the ground.
He'd ended the fight.
Itzal took a step back and observed the chaos he'd created. Around him were shattered walls and ground, evidence of each impact. If it was this bad here Itzal would have to wonder what kind of damage was further back in town from where they started.
"Itzal!" A voice called out to him, he turned to see who it was. Once finding the source of the voice he just grinned from ear to ear.
"Hey guys!" He waved them over, Arabella, Francis and Zarina all finally reuniting after their little brawls all over the place. Itzal could of sworn he heard Zarina muttering under her breath. Something about finding the first troublemaker?
First to speak up was Arabella who examined the state Drake was in. You could still see the sizzling steam coming from Drakes burnt stomach.
"Not bad buddy. You took him down well enough." She gave Itzal a small nod of approval. To be fair he said he'd deal with Drake and that is exactly what he did.
Itzal just laughed at her response before turning to Zarina and Francis. "Are you two alright? Sorry if I lefts yous in a tight spot back there." He gave them both a small apologetic bow to demonstrate he meant it.
"Not at all Itzal." Francis simply waved it off, sure it would have been nice to have Itzal deal with them all but between himself and Zarina they didn't do half bad.
"It's fine, you had your own issues to deal with after all." Zarina stated neutrally before quickly adding at the end. "But thank you for asking."
The group all relaxed for a second before another familiar voice called out to them.
"Is it all over? You lot really managed to do all this?" The voice sounded in shock, the group simultaneously turned back down the street to see who the voice belong to.
It was Aki, standing behind her were many of the townsfolk all staring at the group with awe. They couldn't believe it, a small group of four managed to defeat the group of slavers that had been haunting their home for years.
All of a sudden the town erupted into cheers and shouts of joy, people began hugging each other. It was like a sudden huge surge of life was given to the townspeople.
Itzal couldn't help but smile at the sight. Arabella and Francis had smirks of their own at the sight of the happy town. Zarina hid her smile but she still had one regardless.
Aki stepped forward toward the group, she clasped her hands together over her heart. "You have no idea how much this means to us." The group looked at her surprised, they noticed she'd begun crying. Tears slowly traced their way down her face.
"To finally be free like this. It's a release from a nightmare."
The group mostly remained silent, giving her a moment, well apart from Itzal who spoke up immediately.
"Not a problem! Anyone who fights freedom has to fight me!" He said confidently. "But we're not done yet, right?"
The rest of the group and Aki all looked toward Itzal. So he just continued, "There is a camp on the other side of the island right? Not far from here? So let's go bust it up and free whoever is there."
Aki was stunned, he'd done so much by beating Drake for them yet he was still willing to do more. All in the name of freedom alone?
Aki was speechless. With her not speaking the group went silent as the rest of the town continued to celebrate.
"Well let's get going then! More action awaits!"
"We'll never get to rest will we…"
"You never stop do you Itzal?"
Arabella, Zarina and Francis all replied respectfully. Looks like their adventure had a little further to go. It was surprising to see Zarina and Francis willing join in but they were the kind of people that saw things through to the end. Even if they were dragged into to some degree they were in for the long haul.
Itzal looked between the rest of the group before resting on Aki, "We'll be back okay?" Itzal turned off to lead the group on the march to the other side of the island. Arabella looked excited about the whole ordeal. Zarina looked done with all of this, she seemed rather grumpy if you could call it that. All she wanted was a nice place to rest but she'd push on for now. Francis just stared between each member of the group an oddly amused smile on his face. He had to admit it, this group got weirder by the second.
Before the rag-tag group could go too far Aki called out to them. "How can we repay this kindness?! Anything at all!" She called out to them.
Not sure what to say, "I'm sure something will pop up! If anything at all!" Before turning back to head off to the slavers camp, Arabella, Zarina and Francis right behind him.
That was it? No demands? No suggests? Just we'll see what comes up?
Aki just remained motionless staring off after the group of misfits. They were certainly a strange bunch, you don't meet people like them very often.
A single tear ran down her face. She wiped it away and smiled after them.
"Thank you."
Well I got this chapter out quicker than I originally thought I would. I had spare time over the weekend and this chapter just flowed really well. Easy and fun to write. So great, an early chapter.
A heavy fight chapter too, hope you all enjoyed that part. I tried to have it flowed from fight to fight. Not sure if you all prefer it like that but I wanted to try something new in the formula.
We have maybe another chapter or two before we're done on this island so let's see what happens. We do have a crewmate currently off on his own after all.
Disclaimer, I obviously don't own One Piece (For Shame). All OC' go to their respective owners and such.
AlcatrazDGold - Till the next chapter…
