Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece
Start
Two hours later, we were once again standing together. Maki spoke once everyone had settled in a somewhat covered area to get out of the light rain, "There are a few guards, but not many. They seem to change every hour and from what I've seen, they only guard the opening towards the sea where the ships are and the entrances."
"It's the same on our end," Kaze state and I nodded as well.
"I managed to see three seperate skylights," I offered and got a nod from the other two that went on the roof, "Anything on the ground?"
"The building has a low chain-link fence surrounding it on the three sides we checked," Penguin said after a few moments, "The holding area for the ships doesn't have a fence, but there are two guard stations,"
Nodding my head, I looked at Kaze and Maki, "Either of you notice any other ways to get in?"
"Other than the entrances and the holding area, I saw a broken window on the second floor," Kaze said making me look at him, "Why?"
"I'm going to use an ability of mine to get inside and see what I can find out about the layout," I replied and got a few raised eyebrows.
Maki frowned at me, "You're going in alone?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "I'm the only one with the ability to do that unless one of you guys have some sort of useful ability to sneak into places."
I was given a few nervous looks before Shachi asked, "Ari-chan are you sure you should do that?"
"The information will be useful," I sighed softly, "I've done this plenty of times before,"
"Be that as it may, shouldn't we give the information we have to Captain first?" Atsushi asked making me shrug.
"You guys can do that," I suggest while trying to hold back the small amount of annoyance building inside of me as I reasoned that they were being difficult because they cared, "We need the lay out so that we don't waste time running around. We'll need to get in and get out as quickly as possible you guys," They still looked like they wanted to argue while Maki was rolling his eyes, "Law wants as much information about this place as possible. I'm going inside to find out what I can,"
They shifted around prompting me to glare at them. They gave in with Maki and Kaze staying behind. I watched the three run off towards the hotel before turning towards Kaze and Maki. Kaze looked between us before saying, "Follow me."
Once Kaze showed me where the broken window was, I felt like grinning upon seeing it. The window was opening and closing with each blast of wind. We watched as someone walked by and pulled it closed. It stuck like that for a few moments before opening again. I looked at my partners and said, "Alright. I'm going to climb up and get inside. I'll be inside for an hour to an hour and a half. Once I get what I need, I'll get out and we'll head back to the hotel."
"Alright," Maki agreed since this was our usual protocol.
"How will you get around without being seen?" Kaze asked and I smirked at him.
Standing from my crouched position, I said, "Now you see me and," Coldness washed over me, "Now you don't."
I shivered slightly at the chill and began walking backwards. Once I deemed myself far enough, I raced forward and shot through the air. I landed with a small thump just in front of the chain link fence and sighed in relief. I was relieved that the ground was paved and not made of mud even if that would have softened the landing. Moving forward, I observed the wall and saw that the stone on the building was rather rough. I extended my claws and began to climb up the stone wall. I moved around the windows in my way towards the second floor window that was my target and listened carefully as I waited for someone to come by. I heard booted footsteps and a curse being said in a rather deep baritone, "F'ckin' dam'at wh't's wit' h'is winda? W'h can' it sta' closed?"
The window was shut and the footsteps moved away. The window opened after a particularly bad blast of wind and I quickly made my way inside. I grimaced at the feeling of grit between my fingers and promised myself that I would wash my hands soon. I transformed into my leopard form and observed the area carefully. I was in a dimly lit, to humans, hallway that had doors on every five to ten feet. I sighed softly at see that and knew that this was going to be a long night.
By the time an hour had passed, I had the layout stuck in my mind, but it wouldn't help us if I couldn't find the stupid room they're keeping everything. I searched for ten more minutes before deciding it was a lost cause at the moment. It didn't help that the chill from my power was getting worse by the minute. I mentally growled as I carefully made my way up to the second floor. I was beginning to head for the window I used to get in when I heard voices coming towards me. Sticking close to the shadows, I watched as two men walked upstairs carrying sacks. One of them, a blonde, groaned, "This is the last of the stuff right?"
"Yup," The other, a bald guy, said with a slight grin, "We can go get our drinks!"
"I wonder why the boss wanted all the money and stuff set in his office," The blonde mused.
"Probably to keep the pirates from getting their hands on it if they try to steal from us," I rolled my eyes and followed the guys carefully.
They reached a rather plain looking door and knocked on it. An aged voice called out, "Bruno, Larse t'at ya g'ys?"
"Yeah boss," The bald guy said and the door opened, "Last of the shit,"
The two walked inside and I carefully slipped in as well. I eyed the room and saw that it was rather bland. I watched as an old man with salt and pepper hair waved to the duo to place the two sacks into a rather large hole in the wall. Once they did that, the old man covered the hole with a rather large painting and waved the two off. They walked out of the office and I slipped out behind them and watched as one of them closed the window. The blonde muttered, "God damn it! Why the hell won't this thing stay closed?"
"Because it's old," The bald guy groaned, "Let's go Larse. We need to meet the guys at the bar,"
"Think the hot spotted haired girl will be there?" I rolled my eyes and waited for the window to open as the two walked down the hall towards the stairs.
I transformed into my human form and carefully left the building.
After getting back to the others and letting go of my invisibility, I groaned softly as I leaned against Maki. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him as Kaze asked, "What's wrong with her?"
"That ability is taxing," Maki explained before looking at me, "Want me to carry you back?"
I was tempted to say no, but agreed. Maki turned and crouched down. I climbed onto his back and wrapped my arms around his neck. He stood up while taking hold of my knees and looked at Kaze. The grey haired teen looked between us before shaking his head and taking off.
Law was sitting with the members of his crew looked up upon hearing the door to the hotel open. Kaze walked in with Maki following him. To the surprise of everyone there, Ariun was being carried by Maki on his back. Kuro immediatly stood up and made his way over to the pair while asking, "How long?"
Maki answered the question while allowing Kuro to take Ariun, "An hour and forty-five minutes."
"Damn it," Kuro cursed while allowing Ariun to lean against him, "Get her food. I'll get her settled,"
Maki nodded and left while Kuro helped Ariun over to an unoccupied couch. Surprisingly, Ariun made no move to speak out against the treatment she was receiving which made his slight alarm grow. Standing up from his seat next to Bepo, he made his way over to the couch as Ariun laid down. Her eyes were closed though they opened when he approached. She looked at him tiredly and he disliked how pale she was. He began to reach out to check her temperature as she said, "I got the layout of the building and know where they're keeping what we want."
He nodded his head before hissing softly at how cold her skin felt. It was like touching an ice cube! He immediatly demanded, "Why are you so cold?"
"My ability to turn invisible," Ariun answered softly making his eyes narrow, "My body starts to get cold after an hour of use,"
"Why didn't you mention it before?" He demanded as Maki approached.
"You didn't ask about it," He was really starting to hate that answer.
Maki and Kuro seemed to ignore everyone else as they had Ariun sitting up. Kuro slid into the seat behind her and held her up as Maki held out a large bowl of soup. Ariun took it and immediately began to eat. As soon as she finished, her eyes closed and she slumped against Kuro. Maki took the bowl before it could crash to the ground and ordered Kuro, "Take her to her room."
"Right," Kuro stood up and lifted Ariun up from the couch.
Maki left the room as Kuro walked up the stairs and both ignored the looks they were getting from the rest of the crew. Law felt like growling at being ignored and immediatly followed after Kuro after ordering the rest, "You're dismissed. Do not both Ariun for the rest of the night."
He found Kuro setting Ariun under the covers of her bed after removing her boots and white jacket. Kuro looked at him and sighed, "Please wait until Maki gets here. We'll explain everything we can."
Law gritted his teeth, but sat down in one of the chairs. He watched as Kuro looked at Ariun and brushed the loose strands of her hair off her face. He did so in what could only be described as a brotherly way. The action surprisingly enough pushed his irritation away and prompted him to ask, "Why do you care for her so much?"
Kuro looked at him and instead of reacting like he usually would, he smiled softly, "Ariun's my cousin on my dad's side. Her mom was my dad's youngest sister."
"I thought she didn't have any family left," He admitted since her past pretty much said she didn't have family.
Kuro let out a small laugh, "Yeah most people end up thinking that once they hear about her past," He shook his head and looked at Ariun, "If you talked to most of our family, you'd think Storm wasn't one of us."
"Why?" He could somewhat comprehend that due to what he had seen and heard the pink bastard do to his own.
"To them, Storm's an accident," Kuro actually looked at bit angry and sad, "To them, Storm shouldn't exist," Kuro took a deep breath as Ariun shifted slightly, "The only ones that actually acknowledge her willingly are my dad, my mom, and I," Kuro looked up at him, "When Storm's mom died, they pretty much left her on the streets to die. My parents couldn't find her until six months after her mom died when her caretakers took her to my parents restaurant to eat dinner," Kuro let out a small laugh, "When my mom tried to hug her, the little brat pretty much dove into the leader of her caretaker's lap after turning into a kitten and wouldn't come down until my mom explained everything while promising her caretaker's that she wouldn't hurt Storm,"
"Why do you call her that?" Law felt the need to ask and had finally found a good reason to ask.
"Storm?" Kuro asked and gained a nod, "Well part of it's due to her being born during a really big snow storm. Another part is that when she decides to do something, she will do it regardless of the consequences like a storm blowing in when it isn't needed," The braided haired brunette smiled down at the leopard zoan user, "When she becomes friends with someone and they're in trouble, she fight to protect them with all her power making it seem like you're facing hurricane or something," Kuro then shrugged, "Storm's just Storm,"
"She's our little sister," Maki cut in making Law wonder when he came in, "Now I assume it's time we talked,"
End.
