"We're going to what?!" Kuina shouted jumping back slightly as Edward continued towards the far side of the docks. She'd never stolen anything in her life. In her homeland of Wano if you stole something, it was punishable by losing a finger or two. It became apparent the East Blue and the surrounding areas were much different than where she originated from.
Edward couldn't stand her naivety much longer, if she'd never stolen anything before; Kuina had along way to go learning about these lands. "You heard me, now come on." Edward stated impatiently not breaking his stride
Edward's causal, carefree attitude toward the situation bothered the Kuina to no end. "Hold it!" She yelled jumping in front of Edward, stopping him in his tracks. "We can't just steal an innocent person's ship." The green haired woman assumed he was a good person when she first met him; maybe she wrong. Kuina didn't know why but she felt a pang of disappointment thinking he wasn't what she expected.
Edward pushed his hat off his eyes glaring at Kuina, irritation written all over his features. "Who said their innocent? Now move, you're already slowing me down." He said bypassing her arms to resume his leisure walking pace.
Kuina sighed before joining his side again. She wasn't sure what to make of the younger man yet. Besides what her father told her about his birth parents, and knowing he was a navigator; Monkey D. Edward remained a mystery to her.
A strong arm wrapped around Kuina's shoulders breaking her from her musings. Edward whistled nonchalantly pulling her closer to him.
"What are you doing?" She asked frowning up at him.
Edward chuckled seeing her expression. "Well since I thought we're going on an adventure together we might as well get comf—"
Before he could finish Kuina had his arm off her shoulders and behind him, putting it in a death lock forcing Edward to his knees.
"Ah jeez what the hell lady?! Are you crazy? You're gonna break my freaking arm!" He bellowed out as she applied more pressure.
Kuina had an all too serious expression on her face. "You don't get to touch me, ever! Unless you want to never use an arm again. Understood?"
"Got it..." Edward wheezed loudly as she let his arm go, flooding his body with relief. The man rolled his shoulder until hearing a few pops confirming it was all the way back in place.
"Come on this is no time to rest, we need a ship." Kuina stated with a smirk seeing Edward still on the ground. She have a clue why would cause him to do that, he must've had a death wish. Kuina didn't trust Edward let alone, would let him do something like that; maybe he was more of idiot then she previously thought.
"You did this to me dammit!" Edward shouted angrily standing up finally before following closely behind the woman who nearly broke his arm. He groaned as his shoulder began to bruise from the exertion of force she put it under—he needed to watch himself around her or she'd kill him.
The two walked in silence until a fairly large ship pulled into the harbor.
"There." Edward pointed to the pirate crew disembarking the ship. The pirate gang held about twenty crew members in total. The shouts and hollers filled the air as the pirates drank their lives away.
Kuina looked at the group smirking to herself. "That should be easy enough, how do you want to go about this?" She asked as they began to slowly approach the pirate crew.
"You distract em while I prep the ship to set sail." Edward spoke grinning widely. It was the only way it would work, he wasn't sure how powerful these opponents were. Based off their ship and the way they carried themselves; this crew weren't going to be pushovers.
"Alright makes sense you're a navigator and know your way around a ship, just make sure to have it ready okay?" Kuina asked looking towards Edward to see he was already gone.
Edward used his tremor powers to ascend into the air, stealthily slipping past the group of pirates who were too inebriated to notice him silent land on their ship's smaller mast. "Time to go to work." He said to himself before starting to set the sails and prepare the ship to sail.
The first mate of the pirate crew drank his mug first before his comrade slamming it down on a nearby barrel.
"I won, pay up asshole!" The vice captain shouted as the subordinate grumbled shoving the money he had into his superior's hand.
"Where's the captain at?" A crew mate asked the superior drinking from his own mug.
The vice captain snorted, "he should be out soon, he hasn't stopped counting that damn loot we took from those nobles earlier." The crew began to pull out dice getting ready for a game when a whistle from a crew mate broke them from their thoughts.
"Well what do we have here men, it's our lucky day." The first mate smirked licking his lips.
A thin curvy green haired woman approached them dressed in simple clothing; a tank top and jeans with Tai Chi shoes approached them with a long sword and a smile.
"Hey there missy, you lost or something?" One of the Pirates asked scratching his gargantuan stomach with a crooked smile.
Pirates truly disgusted Kuina, she was never fond of them growing up. The only reason she somewhat respected them was her father's idolization of Monkey D. Luffy, the greatest man he'd ever known—his former captain. However even Zoro admitted pirates had only gotten worse as the generations went on; honor and respect were never used to describe pirates, however disgrace was the word her father used now.
"As a matter of fact I am lost; I'm sorta new here, I was wondering if you boys knew a good place for a girl like me to get a bite to eat around here?" Kuina stated with a smirk placing her hand on her hip.
The pirates immediately drooled as she ran a hand through her long green hair. They began to argue pushing one another to get a word out to the youthful woman.
"Where are you from girl?" The vice captain asked refilling his mug from a barrel before taking a few gulps.
Kuina kept herself from slightly shifting on her heels from the question. If she was truthful with them they could always find a way to track her or her family down. But she wasn't a liar even if it was to some scum like these group of pirates.
"Loguetown." She lied smiling toward the group.
"Loguetown huh?" One of them snickered. "A great place that was to hide out. We hid there for a few days after ransacking some nearby islands."
The vice captain smacked the back of his subordinate's head. "I think you had enough booze, don't be mouthing off in front of strangers."
The superior turned his attention to Kuina again. "Why don't you come work for us? We hit the jackpot during our ventures, we'll pay you well for your services." He said with a devious glint in his eyes.
"I'm good." She deadpanned standing up straight. The sword on her left hip shined brightly from the sun's rays. In a situation like this, the green haired swordsman excelled from watching exchanges her father and mother with strangers had over the years. Kindness but caution was always the discretion, especially caution when dealing with pirates like these guys.
"That's a good looking sword you got there, how much you want for it girlie?" The gargantuan pirate asked stepping toward her and scratching his belly.
Kuina could sense the pirate crew starting to give off sinister intentions;They were planning to rob her or worse—the swordsman placed a hand on the hilt of the sword.
"Now, now no need to be all hostile, we just want to have fun. You look like a girl that knows how to have fun." The vice captain held the sinister smirk on his face.
The ship nearby slowly started drifting away from the dock as the sails released.
"Finally." Kuina said with a sigh of relief.
"Oi you shit pirates! Looks like I caught you bastards napping, you lost your ship cause of it!" Edward shouted from atop the tallest mast showing his signature grin.
"We've been had! Half you with me and the other half go find the captain!" The first mate bellowed growing red from the anger building up.
"You bitch you're gonna pay for this!" The leader snarled drawing his sword charging Kuina with killer intent.
The incoming blade bounced off her straight sword as she parried the attack sending the ten men into the distance out towards the sea with one slash.
Edward watched with an awe and curiosity, as Kuina put away the hardened pirates with one slash.
The massive pirate shoulder charged toward him catching his attention. In the blink of an eye a large boulder smashed into the round pirate sending him flying.
The remaining nine pirates circled around Edward as he slammed his hand on the ground. "Now disappear! Fly to the heavens!" He shouted causing the pirates to be blasted by an invisible shockwave forcefully sending them in different directions.
Kuina witnessed this feat, her mouth slightly agape. Never did she imagine Edward had a power like that, with minimal effort he took out the rowdy pirates; just like her. Perhaps she had made the right decision to travel with him after all.
The swordsman jumped on the vessel heading towards Edward who continued to examine his log pose making sure they were on the right course. "Where are we headed captain? Or should I say navigator?"
"How bout my name Edward." He deadpanned not taking his eyes off his wrist.
"Alright I'll call you smart ass if that's better!" Kuina shouted with a demon face and a raised fist. His attitude was truly infuriating, maybe she should've chased after her father to return to Wano; he was making it tempting.
Edward finally looked up from his pose showing his signature grin. Kuina's heart stopped for a split second seeing it—she didn't know why.
"Good job by the way Kuina, I was right about you." He smirked seeing her bewildered expression.
"What do you mean by that Edward?" She asked folding her arms. He actually thought ahead for once? She assumed assumed he just made it all up as he went along.
"When I grabbed you it proved my theory, you could very well handle yourself and that sword." Edward spoke pointing the white hilted and sheathed sword that sat on her hip before continuing, "that's Wado Ichimonji right?" Edward was a fool but not a damn fool; he was impressed when she nearly dislocated his arm. It reassured him not worry for her in battles as much; based on he'd seen, she could handle herself more than sufficiently.
Kuina had a look a surprise before smiling warmly. "Yes it is, it was a gift from my father; Only the strongest of swordsman carry a sword like this, you know of it?"
Edward threw his arms behind his head. "Nope just that its worth ten million beli, that's all I need to know."
"Greedy bastard..." Kuina muttered before a flushing noise got their attention just as the ship was making its way out the harbor.
A tall bearded man appeared shutting the door behind him. "That took way longer than expected..." he paused seeing the unfamiliar pair standing on the deck.
The captain became enraged as he pulled out two steel chains underneath his robe, igniting them in flames.
Edward and Kuina prepped their attacks running from both sides to attack the captain.
The owner of the tremor fruit would not use his powerful attacks here. As much as he wanted to, the Gura Gura fruit was unintentionally dangerous. Despite his mastery of the immensely paramount strength the fruit gave him; the power could also cause collateral damage to those around him if they were close enough—he couldn't hurt Kuina, on his own expense, than he'd really be in deep shit.
It was a blessing and a curse in his time with the Navy. He was blessed because of the advantage it brought him in battles; while in close combat with allies it was banned from use by his superiors only being allowed clearance for the power by the higher ups. If he used the power it could put Kuina and the newly acquired ship in danger.
Kuina's sword was trapped by the chains as the two struggled. Edward brought a shockwave charged fist toward the captain aiming for his ribs. The captain immediately recognized the power growing fearful, he released his hold on the sword. He wildly swung his fiery chains extending them to the fullest. Edward's shockwaves hit the flaming chains, causing them to swing wildly and incinerate the flammable parts of the lumber ship.
The pair retreated as the captain started to lose his cool.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing, you crazy bastard?! You're gonna bring down the ship!" Edward shouted seeing the ship start to burn and fall apart slowly.
Kuina couldn't get close due to the rising flames and the chains continuing to swing wildly.
"I'm not losing my ship to some brats! I'm worth fifty thousand beli! Since you already took out my crew, I'm willing to go down with my ship—are you?" He asked menacingly continuing to set his ship ablaze.
Thinking on his toes, Edward pulled out a hunter knife from his black cargo shorts slashing the vastly smaller boat's ropes that attached to ship's side. The boat fell into the water floating onto the choppy water.
"Kuina! Come on!" He shouted placing one foot on the railing and holding his hand out.
The swordsman desperately wanted to fight the man. The bridge of the ship collapsed onto the deck below as the fire raged on—the pirate captain became engulfed in flames. Without a second thought she barreled towards Edward jumping over the falling mast as it fell in front of her. Edward barley caught her hand as the two fell into the boat as the ship let out small explosions.
The modestly life sized boat floated away from the shore as people gathered to watch the large vessel go up in magnificent flames.
In the spur of the moment Kuina didn't realize she was on top of Edward. "Hey you can get up now, you're kinda heavy." He said as her weight rested on his lower region. Edward snapped his mouth shut realizing what he said as he waved his hands desperately. "Wait, wait that's not what I—"
It was too late, the last the he saw was her fist flying towards his face before his head fell back into his hat.
Kuina crossed her arms watching the vessel sink into the water. With an audible sigh, she wished it had gone better—they were so close to having a respectable vessel. No one would take them seriously in a life boat like this.
"Ow what the hell, that wasn't what I meant." He said rubbing the large bruised bump above his eye, wincing slightly as he lightly touched it.
"Shut it." Was all she said not looking at him, continuing to watch the shore until it disappeared.
Edward fixed the sail making sure to change the boat's rotor, positioning it correctly to get to their destination.
"It will take us two days to get to our destination." Edward said still glancing at his log pose.
Kuina still didn't look at him, he was beginning to feel sorry for his unfiltered comment. He heard her stomach growl loudly causing her to sigh softly as she looked through her backpack.
"Dammit!" She yelled throwing the backpack on the ground. Edward assumed she must've eaten all her food or must've not stocked anything to fill her empty stomach.
He opened his backpack nearly drooling over the contents. The warm meat wrapped in cloth filled the air, he smiled warmly hearing Kuina's stomach growl loudly again.
"Here." Edward said holding out a large meat leg for her to take.
Kuina finally glanced at him then back to the meat before snatching it from his hand taking large bites.
"I'm still not talking to you." He heard through her full mouth.
"It's cool as long as you don't starve out on me." Edward said taking a seat on the opposite end of the boat.
After finishing the meat leg he pulled out his favorite desert his mom packed him, watching as the sun went down below the horizon.
"Think fast." Edward said throwing an mikan fruit at Kuina who smoothly caught it. "Nice catch."
"These are mikan fruits, I've never had one myself." Kuina spoke peeling it before consuming the sweet slices.
Edward smirked seeing the delightful expression on her face. "These were always my favorite growing up, I'm not sure why but I could care less about any other desert but these oranges; they've saved my life in my time with the Navy." He confessed with his signature grin.
Kuina's anger dissipated hearing him open up about himself even in a small way like that. What shocked her most was Edward's casual confession he worked under the Navy.
"You were in the Navy?" She asked popping an orange slice into her mouth.
Edward pushed his hat off his head glaring directly at her. "Yeah, I left yesterday as a matter of fact; I served as a vice captain under commander Kerr." He exclaimed placing his hat over his eyes again, he wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to him still.
Kuina's eye's widened slightly in realization about why her father had trusted Edward so much. Despite his battles with the Navy over the years, they'd significantly improved with the revolutionary leaders taking over the World Government— not to mention her mom was a former vice captain under the commander Smoker.
"I see. Why did you leave?" Kuina asked causing Edward to push his hat up once again throwing her a curious look.
Edward let out a low sigh, he wasn't sure he wanted to open up to this woman he'd just met; at this point the man figured he owed her something for hurting her feelings. "There was an incident... my superior assaulted an innocent pirate captain and held his crew hostage; I'm positive if I wouldn't have intervened he would've killed him unjustly. Afterwards I was reported for insubordination and resigned immediately seeking freedom and here I am." Edward said smirking before biting into another meat leg.
Kuina couldn't help but sympathize with his reasoning. He felt like he was doing the right thing, she couldn't fault him for that.
"Funny thing is," he continued with his mouth stuffed with beef, "I was going to be promoted to admiral in a few months, talk about shit timing." Edward spoke not bothering to continue stuffing his face.
Kuina spit her water off the boat as the water dripped from her lips. Now she knew exactly why Zoro had forced her from the only home she'd known to go on an adventure with this arrogant imbecile. Not because he was some false distant relative; it was to keep her safe while traveling the world. Her respect started to grow for the man she met only hours earlier.
Kuina could only smile at his gracious attitude which was rare. "Wow that's quite an accomplishment. Although those pirates did say they ransacked a few villages in the area, I'm sure they were the guilty verdicts of your previous expedition, so if you want to go back I understand—I mean you'll be admiral." The woman argued finishing her orange.
Edward laughed loudly at her statement. "I told you, I already gave that all up. If those truly were the pirates that ransacked the villages then good riddance—Besides I'm out here enjoying freedom and adventure, with you." He said tossing her his signature grin making her heart twinge slightly again.
Kuina crossed her arms huffing. "Whatever you say Edward, don't try and sweet talk me, that may work on your little girlfriends, but not me." She emphasized the last part.
Edward snorted before responding, "Don't flatter yourself, I still feel bad for my comments earlier so I'm being polite." He snapped sitting up straight to look at the glaring woman.
"Then why did you wrap your arm around me earlier, what the hell was that?" Kuina shouted as her echoed across the vast sea.
Edward gritted his teeth becoming irritated by her constant shouting. "I told you already, I needed to know if you could handle yourself."
Kuina let out out a hearty laugh before snapping back. "Really? keep telling yourself that." She said sarcastically smirking at him.
"Alright I will." The ex navy captain said pulling his late uncle's hat over his eyes guarding his expression.
The two stayed quiet for a long while as night approached. Edward didn't look at Kuina, he only glanced at the stars once making sure they were still on course before returning his attention to his log pose.
Kuina continued sharpening her blade even as darkness fell over the sky as the small boat sailed over the blackened sea. She would spare glances at Edward once in awhile to see his hat still over his eyes. Maybe she'd been a little too pushy after he opened up to her.
The swordsman found her voice. "You know when I was a child, all I could think about was following in my father's footsteps." She said as Edward's eyes peered from under his hat, she had his attention. "Now all I can think is about my mother's dream also, I want to collect all the legendary swords, to keep them out of pirate's and any dishonorable hands. I believe the blades that duel dishonorably cry out in pain, howling for a new, respectful master." Kuina said leaning her head back looking at the starry sky.
"Those sound like pretty cool dreams. You seek to be the strongest swordsman in the world and I seek to be the strongest fighter in the world— we may end up battling someday." Edward stated smiling warmly earning one back as the pair locked eyes for a brief second too long.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Came her reply.
Edward was the first to break the minute long silence. "That blade takes years of mastery, how did someone your age manage to tame a legendary sword like that?" He asked with curiosity; his attention drawn to white hilt and sheath as it reflected off the rising moon.
Kuina detached the sword from her waist standing to sit next to the ex vice captain. "I trained non stop since I was a child back home with my mother and father. They were two legendary swordsman in their own right, constantly teaching me the ways of a warrior. My father told me he cut a battleship and an iceberg in half with this sword; I hope to do the same one day." She spoke staring up at the stars admiring the brightened sky.
"I thought the same way you did before the incident yesterday." Edward said catching her attention. "I wanted to be just like my dad growing up; a respected Fleet Admiral, making the world a better place. I just felt like the Navy already predetermined my destiny before I had a chance to find it out for myself— I wanted freedom above everything else." He finished, folding his arms examining the stars as a shooting one caught his eye.
"I understand, you're just doing what you think is right; I can respect that. Y'know when I first met you I thought you were just an arrogant navigator, and when I found out you were the owner of the mythical Gura Gura no Mi fruit, I didn't think anything else could surprise me—" a small smile formed on her features, "but you're full of surprises."
Edward examined her smile for a few moments before offering a small one himself. "Yeah, you're not so bad yourself. But don't flatter yourself, you can't sweet talk me like you do your beta boyfriends." Edward snickered seeing her smile disappear into a frown as her fists shook in anger.
"Jerk!" She shouted slamming his hat over his eyes before laying down on the opposite end of the boat.
The pair didn't speak for the rest of the night. Edward didn't mind, he lit a small lantern on the boat as he pulled treasure from his backpack. While Kuina distracted the pirates on the docks he managed to swipe extra meat and valued loot in a worse case scenario such as this.
After securing the treasure back in his backpack securely, he was about to extinguish the lantern's flames until he noticed Kuina shivering in her sleep—she forgot to pack a blanket by the looks of it.
"You idiot." Edward sighed standing up to place his warm navy blanket used for traveling in harsh conditions. He gently tucked her in as she nuzzled into the warmth of the blanket.
Edward sat back on his side of the life boat starting to shiver himself. He debated snatching the blanket back only to quickly push those thoughts from his head. Edward pulled out a black hoodie quickly throwing it over his torso along with a pair of plain sweats, hopefully he survived the night.
He didn't mind at all taking care of his comrade, after all he did promise Zoro she would be taken care of her. Though they'd gotten off to a less than pleasant start, the pair respected one another.
'That's enough,' Edward mused. 'Even if we aren't friends, maybe it's better that way.' He soon fell asleep dreaming of what would come next of their adventure and his parents that were sleeping peacefully back home. However one image kept reappearing in his head; He would approach a raven haired man similar to himself and an orangette woman wrapped around his side securely. Before they turned to look at him, and show their faces, the dream would fade to blackness.
A/N:Next- Edward and Kuina meet a familiar perverted chef and his child at the Baratie.