The gulls had been a fucking problem.
For one thing, there were ten thousand fucking gulls on the sea. How the fuck were they supposed to know which ones belonged to that shit-ass old guy? Seemed like, half the time, they were following their keening shrieks in the night, and it turned out to be the wrong goddamned ones, and they'd had to go back.
For another thing, the waters the gulls led them to were dangerous. Really dangerous. In particular, there was a fucking sea king that kept eyeing them, following their smaller boat, clearly ready for a snack and sizing them up. Horan fucking hated sea kings. He hated anything he wasn't one hundred percent certain he could kill easily.
Finally, that pissant old guy was getting on Horan's fucking last last nerve. He wanted to know what Horan and Edar were planning, wanted to know why they were so reserved about it, wanted to know why it had to be done at night, wanted to know why they had needed silencers on their guns, had wanted to know every fucking thing. Horan hadn't known the geezer had been such a pussy. It was a relief when Edar had punched him in the face, all the force he could muster rocketed through his fist, destroying the old fag's eyes and nose completely, all a pulpy mess. He'd made little skittering noises on the deck of the boat, sort of gurgling. It hadn't made him any less annoying, so when Horan and Edar dumped him overboard into the ocean, the peace and quiet was a relief.
The hull of the Thousand Sunny approached them just as the moon and stars passed their third hour after midnight. Horan was big, but he could be stealthy as a hunting cat when he wanted to be. With deft and silent fingers, he tied their smaller boat against the sunny, bracing with practiced perfection so that their craft wouldn't tap against the Sunny, wouldn't give away their advantage.
Horan and Edar ascended the lines. A boat this size probably had more crew than just those four; indeed, the wanted posters for the Straw Hat pirates indicated there were actually nine people on board, assuming none of them brought whores or slaves. Horan and Edar didn't want to have to fight anybody off. They had a bottle of milliweed juice, ready to soak into a cloth, press to the nose and mouth of their targets, and render them unconscious for half a day. All they wanted was the prize.
Horan checked one porthole to a sleeping room. There was a huge fucking guy in there. The cyborg, probably. Better to leave that one alone.
He proceeded to the next. Somebody long and skinny, big afro. Still not the right one. Horan cursed under his breath.
Third time was the charm. The outline of a female body was plainly visible under the sheets; Horan couldn't quite tell which one, but he was pretty sure it didn't matter. He turned around and nodded to Edar waiting at a distance.
Edar nodded and came forward, bottle and cloth in hand. He loosened the cork. Horan eased the handle on the door open. They entered the room.
The scent of perfume met their nostrils immediately. The body in the bed sighed in her sleep, breasts rising tantalizingly. Horan took a step toward her, gesturing for the milliweed. He dabbed enough onto the cloth to knock her out good. The sharper smell cut through the sweet scent of lily and tangerine. With one deft move, he pulled the sheet down and clamped the cloth over the bitch's face.
It wasn't the right one. This one was the redhead. Fuck. Oh well, they wanted her too. They'd find the black-haired bitch soon enough.
She struggled a moment, kicking her legs out, raking her fingernails against his hand, making a brief, frightened, angry humming noise, before going completely limp, eyelids closed. Horan pinched her nipple to make sure she wasn't faking it. She wasn't. He pinched it again hard for fun.
"This one's ready," he whispered to Edar. Edar grasped her around the waist and tossed her over his shoulder, her head thumping against the bedpost with a hollow "thock" sound.
"Fuck," Edar whispered. They both stayed still for a moment. Nothing. Edar relaxed, glanced at his burden, and his free hand drifted to her ass. He squeezed her left buttock firmly, and licked his lips. Gods bless this fucking job. He'd have a wonderful time enjoying her before he turned her in for the bounty.
Edar turned and quietly proceeded to their boat. He used one hand to climb back down the lines, wrapped the bitch in some heavy canvas they'd brought, and returned to help Horan with the next one.
Horan was already waiting. "The rubber one," he whispered, arching his thumb back to the porthole immediately behind him.
Edar grinned. "Nice."
They repeated their efforts, taking the young man as well. This one, however, didn't wake up at all when they pressed the saturated cloth to his face. A sound sleeper, Horan guessed.
As Edar ascended the lines a third time to return for the next of their quarry, a splash in the water alerted him to something amiss. A dark shape seemed to deepen the night-blackness of the water. Something was different about the pattern of waves. Something was—
"Horan! Fuck!" Edar shouted as the sea king that had been following him rose out of the water, nearly capsizing their boat, open mouth and enormous teeth glistening in hungry jaws descending rapidly toward them.
"Fuuuuuuck!" Horan shouted. He raced for the boat along with Edar, and the two jumped in, Edar aiming with the largest of their guns, firing two stray shots before hitting the sea king squarely in his left eye. With an enraged howl, the sea king had whipped his serpentine tail toward the smaller boat just as Horan finished slicing through the bracing lines that moored their craft to the Sunny. The hit from its tail felt like a hurricane and a sea train at once, incredible and stunning force slamming all against the creaking walls of the boat, and sending the boat flying through the air.
When Horan woke, it was sunrise. They were miles from where they just were—either the sea king or the waves' actions had drifted them closer to Ellep Town, conveniently enough. Horan groaned as he sat up. His head was fucking killing him. He checked on the others. Edar was waking as well, groggy with bloodshot eyes and a hell of a goose egg growing on the back of his head. The redheaded bitch and the stretching fucker were still sound asleep. At least that much was good. But fuck they hadn't been able to get the black-haired one back. Edar would be pissed when he realized it. Maybe they could just use the redhead, let her be punished in front of that Monkey D. Luffy character. Her rack was even better than their target's was, actually. Horan looked appreciatively at her skimpy pajamas. He licked his index finger and snuck it underneath, finding her cunt warm and soft. He plunged in, feeling out the territory. Good. Ripe. He looked up to see Edar looking at him. "Don't get too forward, Chief Guard."
Horan chuckled. "I won't. Just wanted a look-see."
"You've gotten it. No more until the main attraction."
Horan nodded. "You got it, boss." He withdrew his finger, moist from her cute little slit, and stuck it into his mouth, sucking. It was sweet. Tangerines and lilies, he thought, remembering her perfume. This would be one hell of a memorable day.