AUTHOR'S NOTE: Dear readers, first of all, thank you for reading my story, hope I won't disappoint you. Secondly; I have a small request, in one review one of my readers said that they are curious about the character's name, so… if you have any good ideas for her name – let me know! :) Review! Enjoy.
The next day, she woke with a start to find herself in the quiet, dimly lit room. She rolled out of the bed and walked to the door. Outside the room, she could hear the crew already talking and arguing about the bottle and breakfast. The girl rolled her eyes and pulled the sweater over her head, walking towards the noisy room. Mumbles were coming out of her mouth as she passed the first person and sat down on her spot she was always using. A glass of milk was already waiting for her, she smiled to herself and sipped the warm milk, mouthing a silence thank you to chef when he looked at her.
She peeked out the window to find Cabaji having a word or two with his captain. The girl sighed deeply, she had to ask him for a favour, this will probably cost her something, and she knew that.
Not that long after breakfast she excused herself and apologized to the chef for leaving him do the cleaning himself this time, she walked out of the kitchen and made her way up. Meeting Cabaji, she inhaled deeply then let out a soft sigh. Tapping his shoulder she looked at him as he turned around and his eyes met hers.
"What is it m'lady? How can I help you?" He purred as he leaned closer to her. The girl has her eyes closed and was praying fervently not to hit him, a vein popped on her forehead. She gulped as she opened her eyes just to meet his, his nose almost touching hers. At times she wondered if her father had such an urge to smack someone too, or it was only her mother. She took a few steps back, and she cleaned her throat, not missing his wicked grin on his lips.
"Could you, please, show me how to protect myself with a sword?" She asked, looking at him. The expression on his face was somewhat between surprise and amusement.
"But of course, m'lady. However, do you own a sword?" He grinned, and she knew mischief was in his mind. Her eye twitched, she wanted to snap that she used to have a sword running around her, however not anymore.
"No." Was all she said as she shrugged. "But! Uncle Buggy can lend me one." She chirped, as she turned on her heel and was about to visit and ask yet another favour from her uncle when a hand stopped her and turned her around.
He mutter how troublesome she was as he handed her one of his swords. "Here, you better not lose it, kid." The girl cocked her eyebrow, feeling a bit sad at the loss of the milady title. Nodding her head she took another few steps back and waited.
"So, what now?" She asked, scanning the sword in her hand. It wasn't particularly big but it wasn't the smallest either. Comparing it to Cabaji's it looked like a toothpick anyway. The sword kind of reminded her of the one she saw hanging on Mihawk's belt. It was quite heavy, she had to admit that. For a moment she imagined having a sword attached on her belt, wondering if her pants would handle such a weight.
"Attack me, of course." Told her the swordsman, smiling broadly. The girl cocked an eyebrow, without hesitation she grasped the sword more firmly and slowly started running towards the scarfed man. The sight of her in front of him was rather amusing.
The man dodged her poor attack with an ease, grabbed her free hand and placed his sword on her shoulder. "Dead." He pulled away and looked down at her annoyed face.
"You should feel the sword as if it would be a part of your body, your limb, you know?" He sighed and pulled his sword away back into its original place, his small eyes fixed on her. Seeing her confused look he walked closer to her and grabbed the hand that was holding his sword.
"The way you are holding it, damn," he sighed and fixed it. "This is not a fork, kid." For now, she was holding the smaller sized sword correctly, he wondered for long it will last though. She did not like to be touched freely by men, but this time she allowed him to do what he wanted. Knowing that he meant no harm, at least not for now.
The brown haired girl muttered a silent apology as he made his way back to his place, telling her to attack him again. She asked him why he is not protecting himself and he just raised his voice not to worry about him. Her upper lip twitched at the sound of his tone, this time she held the sword with more confidence, and she slowly made her way towards him. She was about to move the sword when she squatted down and kicked him in his legs, making him hit the wooden ground with a loud thud.
Using the opportunity she quickly straightened herself up and the tip of her sword was now pressed on his cheek. The guy looked at her in slight disbelief; however his expression changed into a smile. He had to mentally praise himself, she was a quick learned. However he knew she wouldn't last long with such fighting skills on the battlefield.
"Nice. However, you would die. Your back is open; you are too focused on one opponent only." He told her, she nodded and pulled the sword away, reaching her hand towards him to help him up. He grabbed her hand and stood up, fixing his scarf on his neck.
"I just want to be able to protect myself. I don't want to be a bother to anyone, you know." Admitting it out loud, she felt weak in her stomach. Cabaji patted her shoulder sympathetically and muttered a silent okay with an agreement to help her out.
"Do you know how to fight?" He asked her, she nodded again and he sighed. "By fighting, I meant close fight, like this," he grabbed her throat and her free hand as he twisted it on her back. She yelped in pain and shrugged in his arms. The girl groaned at the thought having his fingertips decorating her neck. "Thought so."
"I never really was in such a situation before." She said, although this was quite a lie because she could clearly recall the day when Law held her against the wall. Cabaji released her arm and throat; she coughed for a moment and placed her hand on her throat, massaging it softly.
During the rest of the day, Cabaji had tried to teach her how to fight, and protect herself from the potential danger. He taught her tricks a small person as herself could use easily against a larger opponent, and how to win a fight as quickly as possible. Cabaji also reminded her that it was her wits that would serve her best in any fight, so long as she kept hold of her temper. She now knew how to fight hand to hand combat.
She was sweating from the full-length training, and her heart beat in her ears like she had just run a marathon. The sun was already setting behind the dark clouds when they finished. Cabaji patted her head and praised her for her endurance and quick learning.
"Hope you won't die that easily, m'lady." The young girl grinned at him, hearing the nice addressing and not being called a kid made her excited. "At least, don't give them an easy time." She nodded her head and thanked him, giving him a weak hug and then she ran away, ready to take a quick shower and burry herself in the bed.