Outside the auction house Luffy, Law, and Kidd were making short work of the marines. There wasn't even really a battle; it had just turned into a chance for the captains to show off their strength to one another. Marines were being thrown everywhere screaming, explosions, and shouting could be heard inside the auction house.
Shayde exited the auction house to the sight of Law tossing a severed head up and down. Her ears ached and her hair stood on end as she noticed more weak presences make their way through the back area of the auction house. Though she ignored it and figured everyone inside will eventually figure it out. More importantly...
"Um… Why is that head still talking… and why isn't there any blood?" She cautiously asks. The girl wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to know anything about this creepy doctor's power or open any kind of conversation with him. She'd heard stories from the bar and none of them were lacking in detail of the gore he left in his wake.
Law simply looked over at her and sent a cocky smirk before turning back to find his next victim. The lack of answers pissed the girl off but the look on his face still sent a shiver down her spine.
Luffy was currently pumping his fist full of air till it turned into a giant's hand. Shayde's eyes grew wide, yet again, at the sight of such an oddity.
"Holy crap that's a big fist…" She mutters watching it crash into the marines, sending them flying. Though she also noticed the odd metal fist that Kidd had created crashing right alongside Luffy's. Kidd must also be a devil fruit user and powerful at that. Said man was laughing like a psycho path, which he probably was, but wasn't everyone?
Law was messing with various marine body parts in a blue sphere while Shayde watched in wonder. The girl had a strong stomach, so not much could ever bother her. Though she didn't like when Law got an evil grin on his face suddenly. Even if he was still facing the marines he was toying with.
"Shambles" Law mutters in his deep voice his cocky smirk returning.
Her instincts were right as per the norm. As four marines got sent flying through the air at her she easily dodged them by jumping to her left, letting the marines crash to the ground in a mound of discombobulated limbs and loud groans of pain. Though when she had jumped she had moved back far enough she was in Kidd's fighting area.
Just as Shayde was about to tear Law a new one for being such an ass a marine got chucked into her back. If it had been an average, proportioned marine she would have been able to hold her ground against the hit but this marine was massive. Kidd didn't even notice her standing there about to get crushed by the man he sent flying, he just kept fighting. Shayde got sent toppling forward, head first into the grass and mud. Just before the fat man could fully crush her entire being she shifted her form to a hybrid type to quickly bolt out from under the falling man.
Shayde's hybrid form showing signs of her dire wolf form with her hair standing out more like fur, her pupils changing shape, and nails lengthening to claws as her ears become pointed. She bolted right at Kidd and clawed his right arm. She made sure to dig in a little bit for some long term discomfort. Kidd screamed in surprise and pain before trying to punch with his left fist at her face, however, she had already backed away. While this was happening Luffy had been reverted into a mini form of himself, though Shayde missed it.
"WHAT THE FUCK! DOES THIS BITCH HAVE A DEATH WISH?!" Kidd bellowed before using his devil fruit power to send a sword flying after her.
Law was laughing darkly at the odd sight in front of him while Luffy was giggling like a five year old girl due to his pathetic size. Kidd grew red, embarrassed by their laughter and grew even angrier at the fiend currently avoiding all the attacks thrown her way.
Shayde quickly ducked low to the ground before reverting back to her fully human form in an instant with only a puff of black mist appearing. Kidd stared at her in surprise before his face turned red in anger, and he took a step towards her ready to murder her. To him it seemed as though she was underestimating him by reverting to a 'weaker' form. However, Shayde didn't back down but simply glared right back at him while rising to her full height. For her it was a silent peace treaty reverting out of a fighting form, though they are interrupted when Killer showed up in a flurry of spinning blades killing a few marines threatening Kidd from behind.
"Captain I think it's time we go…" Killer said in a low, dark voice. Kidd glanced at him before smirking and turning away from me. Shayde picked up her head and noticed that everyone was now outside waiting on the stairs for their captain's orders.
Quinn had decided to stay out of Shayde's whole ordeal and was sitting right between Zoro and Nami, staring at the girl in a condescending way. She turned her glare from Kidd to Quinn, glaring the wolf down till the cocky look left the wolf's features.
"Well, see ya later, Strawhat. It was a pleasure meeting you in person… but I won't give you any mercy when we meet again." As Kidd began to cockily smirk at Luffy the Strawhat kid didn't even seem to be taking the moment seriously.
"Hm, but I'll be the one that finds the One Piece." Luffy states in a cheerful tone. His crew smiles down at him while shaking their heads whilst everyone else stared at him in shock, well besides Shayde and Killer. Shayde didn't really know what the One Piece was, but she'd heard people talking about it before through her travels. Killer, well you couldn't really see his face and his posture hadn't changed at all.
"Hey, Kidd what're you just standing around for?!" Killer says in an irritated tone. He had yet again jumped in and stopped an attacker from hitting the distracted Captain.
"Hey, Killer… On the route that we took to get here… Whenever we said we were going to find the One Piece they just laughed at us… Although I killed anyone who dared to laugh… Though after this we're going to the sea in which if you don't have the guts in which to say it you'll die. Let's meet again in the New World!" Kidd's long monologue finally finished with a, "Let's go guys!" With his call for battle they stormed head on into the attacking marines.
Each showing off different abilities that made Shayde's eyes grow wide, yet again. The girl still could not for the life of her understand why these crazy, flashy, annoying pirates were so dramatic and weird.
While the captains were being all dramatic and saying boring, long speeches she went off to go find something to do, this time with Quinn following her. The girl had almost grown used to the feeling of having this specific set of eyes burning a hole in the back of her head, but it still nonetheless made her turn around and look. She was met with piercing onyx eyes that averted when the owner had realized he'd been caught staring, again. Shayde rolled her eyes, though she refused to admit it Zoro's eyes were pretty damn hot, but still terrifyingly predatorial. She quickly aborted that train of thought and started heading back along the building towards the thicker woods to gather her belongings and get her horse Winston.
She could feel that the poor guy was getting pissed having to stay separate from her for such a dangerous time for Shayde. She had basically grown up with Quinn, Winston, Dorado, and another. Though along her journeys she had made other animal friends that had split from her path as time went on those four had always stuck by her side no matter what. She placed her right hand on the top of her tomahawk resting at her hip in almost a self-comforting way.
Luffy and his crew had headed about the same direction she was aiming for so she turned on her heels abandoning the wall, and followed after the path they created through the marines. The marines were still confused about Shayde and whether she was friend or foe, so they simply ignored her for now until orders told them otherwise.
The strawhats were all fighting for their lives through the endless numbers of marines. Shayde simply veered off and dug through some bushes till she returned with a tan canvas messenger style bag and a black duffle thrown diagonally across her body on her back. She then let out a high pitched whistle from her mouth using her fingers and the galloping of hooves could be heard almost immediately.
Crouching low Shayde waited until she saw the blur of grey and white. Lunging forward she hooks her left arm around the horse's neck and continues to swing her lower body up and onto his back where the lightweight saddle was. She had removed the stirrups earlier, so she used her lower body strength to stay in the saddle as Winston soared into the woods, keeping a full gallop.
They went flying through the woods for almost 5 minutes avoiding as many marines and pirates until they exited into a clearing where the strawhats were struggling with some giant bear man, one of the Seven Warlords though Shayde doesn't know that. Winston hit the brakes and they stood right at the edge of the clearing in confusion.
Meanwhile Rayleigh was desperately trying to hold back a marine looking guy with an odd devil fruit ability, an admiral. How they got this far away from the auction house she had no idea. Although she did know Rayleigh and Luffy needed help. However, she didn't know if she was willing to help them even though she did already see them as good people worth caring about it would mean making herself into a known criminal. As she sat on top of Winston at the edge of the clearing contemplating her options her thoughts were interrupted by a shout.
"Shayde! Please use your power to save Strawhat and his crew! I'd like them to stay alive through this!" Rayleigh shouted at me from where he was fighting a dangerous light man.
The order from the old man threw Shayde off for a second, but she got over it and listened anyway. Luffy looked over at her before smiling and waving. The rest of his crew was too worried about their fight to bother acknowledging the strange girl, though the little side glance and smirk from both Zoro and Sanji did not go unnoticed by Shayde. While it confused her, however, she pushed it aside and dismounted from Winston gracefully before looking up at Rayleigh, stalking towards the weird bear guy and the Strawhats silently. Quinn and Winston stayed off to the side letting Shayde have her fun. The golden eagle Dorado wasn't with them at the moment as Shayde had sent him on a mission earlier that day.
"Rayleigh-san is it ok if I go all out on this guy?" She calls to the old guy in an almost question, mostly statement way.
"Hahahah! Go for it!" was all he replied before he was caught up in his own battle yet again.
Cracking her knuckles and glaring up at the giant bear dude with the bible in his hands she mutters, "This is just what I needed!"
As I start to get pumped for a fight I begin assessing the situation. I immediately notice how exhausted and torn up the Straw Hats are, then I notice Zoro was unconscious, being supported by Usopp. I quickly realize what I believed was him looking back at me was actually just him briefly opening his eyes before passing out again. There was the flashy marine in the striped suit fighting Rayleigh and a very large boy wielding an axe bigger than himself barking out orders.
Lastly, there was the large bear dude, and something was off about him, he didn't smell completely human. I begin walking a bit faster as I notice Luffy demand his crew to retreat and has them run ahead without him. 'Luffy plans on trying to take on this beast by himself..?' thoughts of how reckless this man was raced through my head as I admire his determination.
Sighing I can't help but think 'How 'Luffy' this moment is….' I may not have known him long but he's kind of like an open book with his emotions and thoughts. Though none of this would make sense to anyone who doesn't know the boy. The bear dude starts to load up some sort of yellow light into its mouth pointing it at Luffy.
Clearly it did not view me as a threat as it only focused on the boy. 'Well guess I'll have to change that promptly! I'd hate to miss any action.' I decide it's time to let loose for the first time in a while. These guys did not seem to be pushovers. My hair thrashes and twirls as my features become sharper and the dark markings make their presence known with a mist surrounding me. Luffy glanced over at her in awe for just a moment before trying to get a punch in on the bear man.
"Having some trouble Luffy..?" I ask with a light smirk.
"Shi-shi-shi-shi, not at all!" He responds with his goofy grin, even though he is obviously exhausted. As I run up behind Luffy I use his head as a platform to launch myself up into the air, ripping out my tomahawk and letting out a battle cry. I coat it and my hand in black armament before bringing it crashing down on the bear dude's head. It cuts through it like butter but I had missed the head and only taken out part of it's right shoulder. I let my armament break right after I'd cut through him, my eyes grow wide in surprise.
'What the fuck is this guy made out of?!' I internally scream. I was freaked out how it seemed to weaken my armament and dodge my attack to that extent. I was certain the strike was lethal. It's mouth lights up in the blinding yellow light again to retaliate but Luffy tackles me to the ground successfully saving my slow ass. I'd been too distracted and surprised to even react.
In between pants I get out, "Thanks Luffy…. I guess..I'm a bit out of shape!" I ruefully laugh at myself. It was true, I hadn't had to fight seriously in quite a long time. Seems I overestimated myself quite a bit. 'Damnit…'
Luffy laughs at me also gasping for air himself, "No problem! After all I can't have you join my crew if you're dead! Shi-shi-shi!"
I stare at him with wide eyes before smacking him upside the head. "Who said I would join your crew?!"
"I decided, so it's final." He bluntly states looking right at me with a semi-serious look.
"Ughhh… Boys…" Is all I can muster, but I still smile even though I know I shouldn't.
The robot thing didn't wait for us as it tried to lunge at me just as I was catching my breath. Then the large boy with the axe cut in yelling orders again.
"PX-1! Roronoa Zoro is half dead!" He shouts from a distant hill, "Go take him out!"
It freezed mid jump and then begins to try to lock in on Zoro. It takes off at an insane running speed as soon as it locks in on Zoro who is being carried away by Usopp. I turn and look at him then take off running completely forgetting the power to shift. I run as fast as I can, but the robot manages to knock down Usopp and Zoro, Sanji, and Brook all at once with a single beam. Letting out another battle cry that halfway through turns into a furious roar as I leap, shifting mid air into my dire wolf form, even larger than before. I don't even understand myself why I'm trying to protect the Straw Hats to this extent but I just can't seem to help myself, they are just so crazy yet kind. Though I just forced my brain to validate it as 'Rayleigh asked me to so I need to do this.'
I faintly hear the pounding of hooves and growls of my wolf companion racing towards me but I tune it out and focus on just the robot.
I try to reach the robot as it sends a finishing blow to the fallen strawhats but instead I can only manage to cross in front of it trying to block the beam. I squint my eyes, fur raised on end along my spine, and wait for the pain to come. But nothing happens… I sit there for a minute confused before looking up not knowing what to expect. Surprisingly I see another large bear man holding a bible, the one I had noticed earlier that had been staying out of this fight.
My brain is not able to comprehend all of this at once so I just turn my attention onto him and protectively try to block the strawhats sprawled out on the ground from both bear men. Growling like a wild beast I glance down at Zoro who was making a face filled with fury and horror at the sight of the bear man holding the bible and Zoro slowly forces himself to stand up and meet the bear man. 'That must be the real one…'
"So, you survived, Roronoa?" The bible holding one says in an almost calming voice. Though I continue to growl at him and step forward to stand next to Zoro deciding this one was the real threat. The hooves slow and the growling from behind me stop. I glance over my shoulder to see Luffy draped over my horse's back half conscious and Quinn has a feral look on his face but still does not try to intervene, and they won't unless I am on death's door or I tell them to.
"Thanks to your mercy…" He says in a shaky but sarcastic voice. His voice seeming this weak surprisingly scares me and cuts off my growling. For some reason my instincts trust the Straw Hat's and forces me to recognize them as good people, pirates or not. My instincts also have accepted how strong each one of the Straw Hat's are and to see Zoro, one of the strongest, shaken this much made me turn and stare at him to try and gauge what exactly to do, fight or run?
"H...Hey, Zoro… This is no time for talking, hurry!" Usopp pleads. His face is a mask of utter fear and despair.
Then the bear man slowly takes off his gloves eliciting a loud feral growl from me as I focus back in on him. I began shaking in anger mixed with fear and my spine bristles yet again. This man is sending off waves of power and energy even though he hasn't even moved.
"If you were to go on a vacation… Where would you like to go?" The bear dude says calmly not even phased by my fiendish growls of warning.
"Hey, Zoro!" Usopp repeats, completely petrified in fear. "If you don't hurry up and run... "
I see the bear man swing his hand down to Zoro without another word and I release a loud growl in fury, flinging myself forward to attack the man's throat but instead I feel a light slap on my side. I was sent flying away by the bear man and just left a faint 'poof'... The last thing I remember is a bright flash of blue and the bear man smirking at me ever so slightly and for some reason I believe he said "Goodbye." It happened so fast my brain couldn't even comprehend what was going on all I could think about was 'Well, this wasn't much of a fight at all...' Then I was forced back into human form and fell into darkness.
After what felt like seconds I regained consciousness to find I was hanging upside down in a tree in what appeared to be a lush forest. I was hanging by my feet that were caught in some odd looking vines.
As I hung there with my blood rushing to my head I tried to remember what the absolute fuck happened for me to end up in this predicament. All that came to mind was a dull ache from the back of my skull and nothingness. Deciding it'll come back to me eventually I do a, rather painful, sit-up grasping the vines holding my feet captive. I try to find some sort of leverage for my hands so I could release my feet without falling from the 50 some feet I was being elevated at. With some wiggling around I managed to latch onto an indent in a tree with my left hand then used my right hand to draw my tomahawk, that had somehow stuck with me this whole time upside down, using it to hack the weirdly colored vines off my feet. I half expected the vines to come alive and try to wrap around me again but they never did; they simply fell limply against other vines and trees. Then the last vine snapped, twisting my legs so I was hanging there from one hand. It quickly started to burn my muscles screaming for me to give them rest. I couldn't help but think to myself how much improvement I need if I wish to survive 'I'm too damn weak.'
Scrambling to find some kind of foot hold before my left arm gave out, I drove my tomahawk into the tree to relieve some of my weight from my left side to my right. I quickly found a foothold and tried to think about what I should do. Shift into a winged animal? Or think of this as training and find a way down in my human form? 'Hmmmm… I think I feel like absolute shit so how about I just get out of here.'
Making up my mind I tear my tomahawk out of the tree putting it back into its leather holster and using my knees pushed off the tree letting myself free fall for a bit. Then about 20 feet above the ground I let the black mist take over my body and soul, shifting into a little fiery red falcon. I quickly twist my agile body over and start soaring on the momentum I had created from the fall letting my wings take me up and through the dense jungle.
I flew around for a few minutes before I heard the sound of a fight and screams of some human. I thought I was on some uninhabited island seeing how full of life this jungle is. 'Seems I was wrong.'Deciding to fly towards the sounds of people I changed my trajectory to the right and quickly made my way towards where the sounds of battle were coming from. The noises grew louder and closer with each flap of my wings until I broke through the trees into a relatively clear area.
In the clearing I noticed a pretty blonde short haired woman yelling at something hanging from a tree flailing around to try to dodge the arrows she shot at the person from a… snake bow? 'What the absolute fuck… What kinda weird place have I gotten myself to now?!' Shaking my head lightly I decided to stop flying circles around the clearing and perch on a tree that gave me a great view of the action.
Taking a closer look at the monkey-like person swinging from the trees and shouting about how they 'didn't understand what they did wrong' I suddenly realized it was that straw hatted pirate, Luffy. I saw the straw hat bouncing on his head and his well known jean shorts and sandals paired with a red vest. 'Well… Now I see why there's trouble on such a quiet island… Stupid kid.'
Making up my mind and flying down to the ground I shift into my human form feeling as if something or someone was missing. 'What am I forgetting…. AHH shit! Winston and mother fuckin' Quinn, that's what! God damnit…' Suddenly I relaxed myself and took a deep breath before taking out two silver capsule looking whistles from my bear pelt vest, one in the shape of a war horse the other a wolf, I slowly blew into the one of a horse.
A white shadow like substance seeps out of the whistle slowly taking the form of my companion and friend Winston. He snorts at me before making noises at me, aka commenting about how slow I was at calling him to my side. I roll my eyes at him before hesitantly blowing into Quinn's whistle, not too sure if I was ready to deal with the asshole yet, but figuring I'd have to at some point. Quinn's brownish black shadow came out in a rushed fashion forming the dire wolf who was making a less than amused face. Suddenly he growls before raising his right front paw leaning on his back legs to bring it down on my head.
"You STUPID fuckin' girl…. Don't ever do that to me again!" He roared out.
At this point the blonde girl had stopped shooting arrows at Luffy, noticing my presence, and openly stared at me with wide curious eyes whilst her snake coiled around her neck. Luffy used this time to try to regain his breath and sprawled out across a branch, he had yet to notice me.
I yet again rolled my eyes and responded with a sigh offering Quinn a simple, "Sorry… My bad."
"Whatever… I wouldn't have cared if you died anyway..." He mumbled out.
Winston throws his head up and snorts, "Yeah, that's why you were a blubbering mess when we got sent back into those damned capsules! As much as I hate being in that limbo like space I knew Shayde would never just leave us there. You however seem to be far too emotional whenever this happens."
Quinn sent a death glare at the grey horse before stalking away into the jungle to take his anger and frustration out of some poor animal or maybe a tree. I just ignored their bickering and let Quinn have his pissy teenager time. Winston decided to stick by my side which I appreciated immensely, he was so very comforting to have around. With his calm disposition and reliable personality I felt strong and it flooded confidence into my worn body.
I turned to look at the blonde haired lady and offered a small smile that didn't reach my eyes and was half-assed. She just raised an eyebrow at me before glancing back to make sure Luffy hadn't ran away. Then turning back to me she seemed to have made up her mind.
"Are you a threat Miss..?" The blonde warrior who I noticed was barely wearing any clothes asked.
"Well… so long as I'm not given a reason to be put into action I won't cause any harm." I responded in a matter-of-fact way.
She looked at me in a suspicious manner before turning her back to me zeroing in on Luffy who was finally sitting back up with unfocused eyes. "So long as you don't cause any problems you may stay… However HE may not." She finished her statement with a point to Luffy who suddenly focused onto her then his gaze drifted over to me. His face lit up and he started to stand up but before he could say a word the blond woman cut him off with an arrow lodged at his feet.
Undeterred Luffy raised his arms above his head waving, "Heyy wolf girl! What're you doing here?!"
I stared at him with a blank 'What the fuck' look before sarcastically saying, "I came to vacation here."
Luffy laughed dodging more arrows thrown at him whilst saying, "You're weird… But you still need to join my crew!"
Letting out a hearty sigh I stare at him trying to figure out if he was being serious then I muttered out, "I don't get why you'd want a freak like me on your crew. Baka Strawhat…"
"Shishishishi, it's cause you're interesting! Not to mention super strong. AHH STOP SHOOTING AT ME YOU CRAZY WOMAN!"
With that Luffy began swinging deeper into the jungle from tree to tree with the blondey trailing after him screaming at him to stop and let her shoot him. Giggling softly at their stupidity I walked in the direction they disappeared in at a leisurely pace with Winston clopping right next to me the whole way. I didn't know where we were going but at that point in time it didn't matter. I've always tried to live life in the present, not the past. The past must stay in the past. Even though I'm a bit of a hypocrite in thinking so since I too had a revengeful streak in my soul. Burning and festering there for far too long.
I watched Luffy disappear from my line of sight still being chased by the blonde haired woman but I kept to my steady pace not feeling any need to put extra energy into my walking as I can easily track them back down from the mess they're making. I look around me into the forest soaking up the noise and light trickling through the branches. I tip my head back and close my eyes, not needing to look where I'm going as I let my instincts wash through my body, heightening all of my senses as I reminisce in how much I've missed jungle life even if this one was foreign to me. I can tell by Winston's easy breathing he's enjoying our little walk too. I'm sure this brings back memories for him as well. I let my mind wander back to my childhood and then it made me think of my sensei and my youth, growing up in forested lands of varying levels of terror and certain death will always stick to a person.
A chill shoots up my spine thinking about all the near death encounters I had, and I mumble to myself "Yea I'd rather not think of that right now…"
Winston lets out a puff of air as if to agree and I lightly giggle; it's liberating being back in such a familiar environment but we continue on with our silent walking.
When I begin to hear less wildlife I decide to extend my senses even farther and hear the faint hum of a town that seemed to overflow with life and noise. I turn to my right and head towards the sound, figuring that I'd be able to find something there. Winston clopping alongside me stares at me intently as if trying to read my mind but I ignore him as I'm used to his protective yet quiet nature.
Time seems to pass in a flash whilst in my daze and before I know it I'm standing at the base of a giant wall. I glance up admiring its sheer size with a low whistle before looking at Winston as if to question what he'd do now. He simply huffs in distaste and becomes translucent like a silver ghost before twirling around me then into his capsule, almost reluctant to go back, that is hidden in a secure pocket of my vest safely secured close. I gently run my hands over them touching them all allowing their comforting warmth to flood my senses. One is a fresh breeze, the other a hot flash of adrenaline, another a calming meditative feel lulling me into rest again, until I reach the last one that feels stone cold and sends a sharp icy spear into my heart that knocks the air out of me. My eyes tear up and I rip my hand away from the capsules then quickly shake my head like a wet dog trying to fling the feeling off of me like water.
I quickly glanced up at the wall before transforming in a plume of black mist into the form of a hawk again with my fiery red feathers and stormy colored eyes that together looked extremely exotic on a simple small bodied hawk. Taking off flying up the wall then soaring even higher to get a literal, bird's eye view of the city which was extremely impressive. It seemed to go on forever and was filled with bright colors, intricate buildings that appeared classical and covered in snake sculptures, and it was filled with all shapes of people that upon further inspection were all women.
I smirk and think to myself 'Just my kinda place. No obnoxious men to get in my way.' In general I simply got along better with women since they generally were easier to deal with and had far more common sense than most men. However, there were always exceptions.
After a few minutes of circling above the town a few times I steer towards a simple building that appears to be on the outer ring of houses with no one around. After making sure that no one was able to see me I transformed back into my human form in a cloud of black. Despite being this way for years it always baffled me that my clothes and gear stayed on my person as if entering my soul in a storage system.
In the distance I could hear a bunch of loud commotion all centered in one area and I've learned that wherever action and loud noises are is probably where a certain Strawhat is. I sit still on the roof for a few seconds contemplating if I should head towards the noise. Then the wind picks up sending my hair flying into my face where I notice the orange, mostly brown now, tresses covered in mud and has twigs weaved into it from my time hanging in the trees most likely. I quickly made up my mind that I need to find a place to bathe and set off to see what I could find.
After wandering from building to building I begin to grow frustrated as I can't seem to locate a bath house or open spring. I let out an exasperated sigh then closed my eyes standing as still as a statue as I focused on my ears to increase my hearing that I normally kept dulled so I wouldn't nauseate myself around people. I inhale deeply and release it slowly, as if I'm meditating, while trying to pinpoint any sound of water without being overwhelmed by the intense city noise. My sharpened ears quickly pinpoint the sound of a waterfall that seems to be on the outskirts of the village in a bamboo forest.
I let out a small smirk, proud of my discovery, as I carefully focus my ears solely on the location of the waterfall. If I let my concentration slip I'll be bombarded with the sounds of the entire village which would most likely make me throw up or pass out. It's happened before…rather embarrassing and crushed my intimidating image at the time.
Thinking about it sets a scowl to my face but I shake my head lightly and quicken my pace towards the springs I can hear growing closer by the second as I catapult myself rooftop to rooftop, nimble as a deer. When the waterfall begins to grow too loud for comfort I dull my hearing back down which feels a bit like stuffing my ears with cotton until I acclimate to the dulling of noise. I drop off the last rooftop and trot through the bamboo forest shield to have a pool of water come into sight. I quickly dart behind a group of bamboo shoots as I notice a bunch of the native women surrounding the pool of water and two women in it seeming to be bathing someone. I crane my neck in various odd directions trying to see who they were bathing and finally catch a glimpse at their face as the heavyset woman shifts out of the way.
"It's fuckin Strawhat boy… Why is he unconscious and why are those women bathing him?!" I mumble quietly to myself being sure to avoid detection.
I quickly take a deep breath to clear my mind from my thoughts and take to observing what these women do and then decide if I should intervene or not. Of course I'd only do it because Rayleigh-san seems to have taken a liking to Strawhat and asked me to help him before. As I zone out thinking about Rayleigh and possible connections between him and Strawhat I fail to notice when the women calm down and start moving Luffy out of the water and to who knows where. After they had left and I finally snapped out of my daze I noticed all the women have left.
Using this moment of peace and pushing Strawhat to the back of my mind I quickly strip off my clothes save for my companions capsules that I put around my neck on a cord, and the bandage like wrap around my torso that I let soak with me. The wrap is now visible, having what seemed to be talismans woven into it and extra cords wrapping around.
A flash of black ink out of the corner of my eye caught my attention as I stared down at the half sleeve on my right arm consisting of polynesian work with the world government symbol on the inside of my arm, tarnished with ink scratch marks, and purposefully scarred skin. It was a memorabilia to my goal and mission in life. The world government symbol was hidden on the inside of my arm and unless someone was closely looking their eye would be entranced by the tribal patterns instead.
Sometimes I regret getting the tattoo in such a visible spot, but deep down I also understand why I chose to do exactly that. A bitter reminder of my weakness and failure towards my own tribe. Closing my eyes and taking a few deep even breaths to clear my mind I remind myself to just keep moving forward.
I rapidly finished cleaning myself off then shoved my clothes back on painfully as the damp skin on my legs did not allow my jeans to go on easily. My face twists in disgust as I wish I had a change of clothes, but I've gone longer without. After straightening everything out I start walking out of the bamboo area back towards the populated areas looking for a crowd and listening for any loud commotion to direct me towards Strawhat's location.
It didn't take me long to find a large crowd of native women surrounding a cage where I saw Luffy at the bars frowning at a brunette holding a pad of paper as though she was interviewing him. I hid in an alleyway and waited to see what Luffy would decide to do. It didn't take long for it to truly sink in for him that he was completely separated from his crew and he immediately broke out of his 'cell' and tore across the rooftops trying to find a way back out to sea. The women took off in pursuit shooting arrows at him volley after volley.
I was left almost choking from holding in my mirth, my body shaking as I muffled my giggles. I could not believe it took Strawhat that long to figure out his situation… I almost cringed at the stupidity behind it all.
Deciding to leisurely follow after Strawhat whilst staying under the natives radar I set off ducking between alleyways and over rooftops following the path of arrows and direction of yelling. I did contemplate shifting into an animal form, but decided doing this old school would be far more interesting.
~Couple Hour Time Skip~
Strawhat had managed to piss off the princess of this island, who was the self-proclaimed most beautiful woman in the world. She was quite beautiful, but her nasty personality ruined any outer beauty. I watched from the shadows of the colosseum styled ring as Strawhat struggled to strike a deal with the 'Snake Princess' to free the women she had turned to stone. It quickly fell into a battle between the snake sisters and Strawhat.
I was itching to jump in and get in on the action, but respected Strawhat too much to interfere in his battles. My foot bounced and tapped random beats during all the high stress situations, but I quickly realized Luffy could handle himself and there was no need to worry about him. Watching Luffy fight was almost hypnotizing and I quickly realized why people naturally were drawn to this boy. I had made my decision in deciding to follow my gut and Rayleigh's intuition, I hope to any god out there this wasn't a huge mistake and would help me achieve my goals.
I averted my eyes from Luffy and instead bore my eyes into the Snake Princess and as if sensing my intense stare she began scanning the area as if searching for something. I averted my gaze to the sky lazily watching the clouds move, and patiently waited for the battle to end before I would go confront Luffy on my newly made decision.
After the girls had been freed from their frozen state I jumped out from my shadowed hiding spot and towards the platform of the battle. Gaining everyone's attention and confusion I kept my gaze zeroed in on Luffy. The Princess looked royally pissed as she was about to give Luffy yet another long winded speech. He gave me a toothy grin and a thumbs up as if he knew I had been there silently cheering him on. I smirked then said bluntly "I think it wouldn't be too terrible to follow a man as interesting as you…"
Luffy immediately lit up as his grin seemed to get even wider, if that was possible, as he said, "I'll take that as a yes on joining the crew then!"
I let out a sarcastically exasperated sigh saying, "Not like you gave me much of a choice to begin with…"
"Shishishi~, nope!"