*I promised to have this up yesterday…but I was stuck doing a Lit project THAT WASN'T EVEN DUE GRRR…so here. One day late~ It's still Wednesday somewhere right XD

OMG guys, latest news. So I found out that 'Mikhaael'…the way I pronounce it, (Mikhael) is actually some character from some TV show, who apparently actually dresses a bit like Mik and acts a bit like him too. Thank you for your notice, PM-er. I would just like to clarify (in case any of you guys watch this mysterious TV show) that Mik practically popped out from my head. Honest. I didn't draw on any references or characters (Although his appearance bears SLIGHT resemblance to a former crush of mine-SLIGHT). So…in case any of you are reading and think I might get sued…I HOPE I DON'T XD. I don't even know the name of the show.

Which reminds me. I DON'T HAVE ANY DISCLAIMERS O.O You guys, Y U NO remind me?

Startin' now~ One Piece does not belong to me. Do you seriously need me to tell you who wrote it -_- That's what google is for, people. Although I am using this fandom for monetary gain, imo $20 is PETTY next to however much the fandom of OP sells for, okay. Let me have my bit of fun and money.

"Before I go," Rekka asked, "Where are my...?" She motioned to her arms.

Rekka had retrieved her things that she might need throughout the journey, and she and Mira were now standing at the edge of the Circus, waiting to leave. Mira looked at her oddly at her statement, but widened her eyes at the two beautiful objects Nikko and Ninjo brought out.

Two jet black, scaly-smooth snakes wrapped around the arms and neck of each of the sisters. They seemed to be the same size, but the one on Nikko's body seemed longer and lazier, moving slowly and surely. In contrast, the one wrapped around Ninjo seemed quick, jerking around and flicking its tongue out.

Smelling Rekka, they uncoiled from the two sisters and rewound themselves back onto Rekka's arms. Their heads waved around before they settled in her hands. She petted them and crooned softly, "Hello, my *preciouses, my darlings, my jewels. How have you been doing without me? Good?"

Rekka caught sight of Mira staring at them longingly and smiled. "Circus snakes. Bred solely by the gypsies. Tame, yet ferocious in battle. I use them the best of course. And these are the best of the breed."

"I've always had a gruesome fascination with snakes," Mira admitted softly.

"Would you like to?" Rekka offered, extending her arm.

"Are they dangerous?"

"Safety first, of course, I know. Don't worry."

Mira raised her hand hesitantly, allowing the longer snake to coil around her wrist. "This one is Pestilence." Rekka informed her. "And the one I have is Plague."

Mira moved slowly and carefully as the long snake wrapped around her arm. With her free hand, she carressed the top of its head and felt its scales. "They're quite beautiful." she murmured.

Rekka grinned. "Aren't they?"

"You'll come back, right Oki-chan?" Orinn-sama asked her, to the two sister's emphatic nods.

"Of course I will," she responded, hugging the three people.

Waving goodbye, the two left the Cirque de Gitano and headed back to the ship.

[***]

Mik ran his hands through his hair, frustrated to no extent. Where the hell was Lily? He hoped against hope she was not lost or captured. In this mass of people, either was likely.

He sighed. Maybe she was with Thao and Kiko, or Rekka or Mira or someone and he was stressed about nothing. Lily wasn't known for being the most responsible, anyway. But he couldn't shake off the bad feeling following him from the dress shop.

"Mik!" he heard someone call out. Turning, he caught sight of Kiko, dragging Thao. He stilled and stayed in place until the two caught up with him.

"So this guy," she spat out as she neared. "Got us kicked out of the bar because he started a fistfight with some other idiot who thought that Thao looked like some pirate who eloped wit his girlfriend. He was drunk, and I told Thao to just let it go. But he," she crossed her arms, "Refused to listen and said, and I quote, "Yeah? Well I'm sure she had a lot more fun with me then she would have had with you, insert a word I refuse to degrade myself to repeat at the moment. Then the two begin trading insults, and the other guy, who is obviously distraught and stupid drunk at this point, throws a fist. And I told him and told him to let it go, but no. Thao fights back, and look at what happened now." she finished, disgusted. "He ends up with a bruised hand and bleeding from internal organs and whoever-knows-where, and I'm no nurse so I don't know how bad he's suffering. But I hope he is suffering. I had to fork over a huge sum of cash for the damages cost by the fight." she said, fuming and muttering about a few choice words of her own shipwright slang, contrary to how she scolded Thao for cursing before. Throughout her rant, Thao simply lit his cigarette and held up him hands in a "So?" manner.

Mik allowed himself to smile briefly, on the inside. He looked around. "Then I suppose Lily isn't with you?" he asked worriedly.

Kiko shook her head. "No, why would she be?"

Mik took a deep breath and tried to relax. "I can't find her."

"Is she back on the ship?" Kiko asked. Mik shook his head. "Unless we somehow missed each other on the way."

"That is possible, with all these people."

He explained to them what had transpired during the short while they were gone. Thao sobered up quickly to assess the situation. He suddenly thought of something.

"Wait." he said abruptly. The other two looked at him. "Didn't Lily have that atrocious tiny dog that she thought was me?"

Struck by silence, Mik turned quickly and ran towards the dress shop, the other two trying to keep up.

He reached the shop's entrance and lo and behold, the tiny puppy, still dirty from Mercor's streets, sat obediently waiting for his master. Seeing Mik, the puppy leapt up and yipped three harsh barks.

"He's agitated," Kiko said.

"We can see that," Thao replied dryly, causing Kiko to shoot him a glare.

"Then what do we do? I can't communicate with the dog, read his mind, or force it to look for her." Kiko shot back.

Thao, looking away for inspiration, raised a hand and pointed. "Isn't that the girl who made breakfast for us this morning?"

Kiko looked as well, "Rekka? Oh yes, that is her. I'm gonna wave her over."

And thus Mira and Rekka joined her. Mira was too short to be seen among the throng of people, which was why Thao didn't catch sight of her in the first place. She looked at Mik, then looked around. "Where's Lily?" she asked, confused that Mik would ever let the girl out of his sight.

"That's the problem." Within a moment they were caught up on the situation. It seemed grim, until Rekka smiled and shook her head.

"I got this, guys." she bent down to the dog's eye level. "michibikite" she whispered clearly.

Nothing happened. The, to the others' surprise, the dog began to leap up and sniff around.

"Devil Fruit?" Mira mused, to Rekka's nod. "Sunao-Sunao no mi. Animal tamer. Is it any wonder I took up with the circus?" she replied.

They followed the dog as it sniffed around and then lifted its head and sniffed the air. It suddenly began bounding away, towards the path that Mira and Rekka had just come from. It was so sudden that they all stood still for a second and half a second later they began running after the canine. For such a small chihuahua, it moved amazingly fast, threading through the feet of the street and occasionally stopped to check the scent, leaving the ragtag group trying to maneuver in the crowd, jostling people out of the way and earning many an affronted glance.

But it paid off. Soon the puppy stopped and they neared a clearing in the trees. Looking out, they could see the groups of badly beaten bandit men in the area overlooking the sea. Some were milling around, some were cooking. A group of them were gathered near the fire but not facing it, instead facing each other and muttering quietly.

Kiko punched Thao, who growled and glared. "What the hell?"

Kiko pointed to a sparse group of trees, opposite of where they were. "Lily," Mik breathed in relief.

She was propped up on some barrels, a few guard bandits sitting or standing around her. She appeared to be dozing while tied up, as her feet were bound and no one slept with their hands behind their backs like that. Mira hissed lightly as she noticed the tatters and blood on her dress and felt Mik, bent next to her, stiffen as well.

"If they hurt her.." he muttered darkly, softly. Mira felt his arm shift to grab what was surely the handle of his weapon under his trenchcoat. She reached out a hand and placed it on his arm, stilling his movement. She nodded and jerked her head back, indicating her intent to retreat for a moment. Slowly and carefully, they left their hiding place in the trees and walked until they could no longer hear the crackling fire and muttering voices. Turning to face each other, Kiko was the first to speak.

"So…should we have a plan or something?"

Thao laughed. "They don't look that hard to beat. We probably could have rushed in there with nothing more than the intent and they would've been defeated." he scoffed. "Did you see how beat up those guys were? If it wasn't for Lily, I could make something with what I have in my pockets and blow the whole lot of them up."

"Unfortunately, they do have Lily, and we can't risk them hurting her. So what do we do?"

There was silence.

"Well," Thao finally said. "This will be a good time to show off our skills, yeah?"

The others nodded in comprehension. Mik withdrew a *butterfly sword and twirled it once in his hand, letting the glow of the setting sun illuminate the dangerous sheen of the sword. "I trust you all can fight?"

"Can we fight?" Thao scoffed and lifted his coat to reveal dozens others of pockets on the inside, as well as a pistol strapped to his leg.

"You're not going to use that thing on your back, are you?" Rekka asked warily.

His eyes narrow. "Thing? Excuse me? This is my homemade bazooka, and no. It won't be needed for a skirmish this small." He smirked. "Nothing like a good ol' fistfight."

At Kiko's snicker, he twitched. "Can you defend yourself?" he snapped.

Kiko didn't speak, simply reached into the back of her belt and whipped out two small daggers. She twirled them around for effect, effortlessly swinging them in circles, much as Mik had, ending with them grasped firmly in her hand. She lowered her head and smirked back at Thao's disgruntled snort.

The three looked at the two remaining girls who had not said a word. Rekka shook her head. "Close combat? Not for me. I usually prefer attacking in the dark, from a long range." Mira nodded her head in agreement.

"But I suppose," Rekka suddenly spoke aloud, smiling. "These lovelies will have to do." she lifted her arms as the two 'armbands' around her upper arm unraveled and slithered up to her hands, hissing. The twin snakes' scales rippled and moved under the light like molten darkness. Kiko, standing next to her, didn't jerk away in surprise, but she did take a step back, just in case. Nodding, they turned to the last one, who shook her head. "Sorry, can't use my devil fruit effectively in close range. Anyway, I think it's better for me to go wake up Lily and get her out of there as quickly as possible, right?" she addressed Mik.

"But what if you get attacked?" Rekka questioned her.

She simply shook her head. "I'll manage." she smiled serenely. The movement of her head caused the light to flicker across the black and silver chopsticks in her hair.

"I think, anyway." she mentioned as an afterthought.

Which of course made them all feel more secure.

With a final nod, they headed back. Mik was struck by a sudden idea.

"Thao, you got a smoke bomb?"

[***]

Lily had been dozing, it was true. The lull of the muttering and the smoke of the flames - as well as the odd drink from earlier- had sunk her into a hazy nap, her head propped on a taller barrel stack to her right. Feeling her hands, she had discovered that they were numb from the lack of circulation in her wrists. She knew that they would hurt tomorrow, she just knew it.

If she was still in any state to be worrying about her hands tomorrow.

She didn't know why she was so calm about this. Any other girl in her position would be, scared out of her mind and be high off of fear, not dozing off like she was. She wondered why. Maybe it was because she knew that Mik would come to get her. But then why wasn't he here?

Logically, her mind gave her the realistic response. How would he know where you were? He told you to stay in the dress shop. Where else could you have gone? He could never have found you. You're on your own.

She couldn't help but hope.

And that hope and trust in her safety is what helped her sleep.

But it wasn't long before she was awakened by a very, very loud CRACK in the middle of the clearing. Still groggy, she attempted to sit up but gave up and watched the proceedings with drowsy eyes and hazy mind. She saw thick, white smoke fill her vision before hearing the grunts and surprised yells of the bandits. However, through the white mist, she couldn't see anyone either, so she had no idea if the people who attacked were friend or foe.

A shadow in the mist appeared. "Lily?" it asked her. She blinked twice. Sounded familiar…but...

"Stay still and let me untie you real quick." the figure, -Mira!-, she remembered, bent down in front of Lily's feet and began unknotting the rope. Lily wanted to tell her it was useless, she couldn't feel her feet anymore anyway, when suddenly a larger shadow appeared in her vision. It lifted its shadowy arms.

"Mira!" Lily pushed out as hard as she could. Her limbs felt so heavy and dizzy that she couldn't feel her tongue. It ended up sounding something like "Murrr!"

But Mira heard. She looked up worriedly, then quickly interpreted the look in the Lily's eyes. As the figure's weapon launched down from it's raised height, Lily closed her eyes. She opened her eyes when she heard the sharp cling of iron meeting steel. As the smoke began to clear in her vision, she saw that Mira's hair had come undone. The black sticks were crossed in her hands, pushing back the bandit who had tried to ambush her. Lily could see her hands straining from the weight of the man's strength.

She uncrossed one of the sticks and swept it in a horizontal arc across the man's stomach. Blood began to seep out of the wound. Though the cut was not deep, it was enough of a shock that the bandit stepped back in surprise.

Mira swung another arc with the other edged blade across his face. It cut diagonally across his face, from his cheek to the temple on the other side. As he let out a cry of pain and anger and fell backward, his fall was stopped by Thao, whose arm curled around the bandit's neck and squeezed. "Sorry to steal your fun, but you should get Lily out, yeah?" Thao called. The man elbowed Thao in the stomach, loosening his grasp. Soon both were in a tussle on the ground.

Mira brushed some hair from her eyes and began cutting through Lily's restraints. Severing the last strand of rope, she stood up. "Come on! Let's go!"

Lily shook her head. "Can't!" she gasped out. Her feet felt like a million needles and Mira's face was swimming in her vision.

Mira let out a sigh of frustration and turned to assess the situation, slim weapons crossed defensively. After a few moments, the smoke began to clear in the area.

"Well," Mira muttered dryly. "It seems there won't be any need to."

[***]

After Thao had thrown that smoke bomb, Kiko had run in after the two men. Mik ran directly into the center of the ring of bandits and immediately snatched up what seemed to be the leader. Thao had barged into the fray, ready for a fight, pummeling the first bandit he could get his hands on. She watched Rekka control her snakes, turning them into twin coils of terror. They were very versatile, she realized. They worked in tandem to choke, knock unconscious, bite, butt their heads, and whip their tails. Under Rekka's control they could even lash to each other into a long, lethal rope, complete with coils of thick, ropey muscle and venom.

Kiko herself launched at the man, who was taking advantage of her early observations and tried to attack her. She wasn't aiming to kill, just knock out. It was fairly easy. She didn't get a scratch, and she didn't even have to try. As Thao had noticed, they were very battered. She wondered why.

Flicking her daggers quickly and using her surprisingly strength, she cut through a crowd of men to escape the circle they had been crowding around her. It wouldn't do to end up trapped. Hearing a thump behind her, she saw a bandit fall as a black shape retreated to its owner. Nodding in thanks at Rekka's save, she returned the favor by throwing a dagger at her. It landed in a man's shoulder, a man who was trying to slash at Rekka from behind as well. Kiko wasn't the greatest marksman, but she could hold her own in a given situation. A solid blow from a snake tail knocked the man out from his screams of pain as surely as could be. Yanking the dagger out, Rekka tossed it back at Kiko and then turned to their respective fights. Though the bandits were tired and worn, they were many. It seemed like they just kept coming. Kiko activated her Kenbunshoku Haki and dodged one, two, three punches before giving the guy a swift slash to the arm and a well placed punch to the head.

All too soon, it was over. The dust and smoke settled to reveal tied up bandits, unconscious bandits, and wounded bandits on the ground. Mik was in the center, tying up the leader as Thao held him down. A man next to them began to stir. Thao simply kicked him unceremoniously, returning him to the world of dreams.

Mik finished securing the ropes and turned the leader harshly to face him.

[***]

Bandit Bob really cursed his luck. This just wasn't his day. First, that stupid emo looking kid had taken all of his goods for the day, as well as beating them all up. Worse, he stole the goods that the bandits were supposed to deliver to a very high ranking noble who paid a very high price for it to be delivered safely. They were slightly cheered up when Ol' Ecchi called and said he got one, but then it turned out that the girl was a -beautiful!- but complaining, annoying noble. Instead of the crying, pitiful mess they expected, they got a haughty, stubborn girl who knew just how far to push. Bandit Bob was so confused he didn't even know how to deal with her. The way she dressed, looked, and complained meant she was definitely of nobility, but he had never seen noble girls like her not be crying and helpless when captured.

It blew his mind. So he didn't think much about her. At the time, discussing how to make up the lost goods was a subject much more important.

But now, he realized, the knife pointed at his throat was definitely the more worrying prospect. Like, no contest.

It wasn't the knife that scared him, he realized, so much as the man who wielded it. Who looked like he wanted literally nothing better than to run him through bloody with the weapon. And then cut him up into a million bloody pieces. His menacing glare pierced through Bob like an arrow, hitting his apple-target of a heart.

The darker man who had held him down before stood next to him panting, but grinning. The stupid green-coated brute had taken down more than a quarter of the men singlehandedly. With no weapons! As if it was a common bar brawl! There was a reason Bandit Bob stayed in the comparatively milder East Blue, but dammit they weren't THAT weak, were they? Bandit Bob shook his head mentally, not daring to do so physically. That knife might slip.

He only moved his eyeballs and quickly surveyed the scene.

It wasn't pretty. His men were scattered everywhere, all limp and prostrate. He winced at some of the more bruised ones- definitely going to feel that later.

Funny. He didn't see Nacir anywhere.

His gaze wandered to the two women standing side by side on the other side of the trenchcoat man. One was tall, with no discernible scratches on her body, and had sheathed her daggers. Crossing her arms, she frowned at him, calm blue eyes gazing at him steadily. The other was busy coaxing the two snakes quietly back around her arm. With the silent hiss of scales sliding over skin, they wrapped around her forearms. Bob shuddered imperceptibly. They looked like black armbands. If he didn't know better, the girl looked like no threat. The sunlight glinted off her gold jewelry.

He shifted his eyes to where his captive was located. The troublesome girl was still woozy, he saw. No wonder. That knockout drug Nacir mixed was extremely potent. Bob had observed its effects numerous times. Supporting her was another girl, dark hair falling around and under her shoulders. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Five -well, six, if you count emo kid from this morning- people. Six people had managed to turn his entire company upside down in less than a day.

Damn. This just wasn't his day.

Omake:

Me: and I think that's a good place to stop XD

Ash: UGH. How come I am missing out on all this action!

M: I'm sorry….When I wrote chapter 3 I didn't expect it to be so long…so I expected it to be one chapter. But this stuff like..writes itself TT you know?

A: I feel so unwanted! Three chapters! Three chapters and no word of me. I don't even get to fight. How dare you! *emo corner*

M: ah…um. Well..I can promise you will come in next chapter! And at least you're IN the story so far, right? Some characters aren't even in the story.

-object flies out from emo corner and hits me in the head-

M: I got it….ahem anyway…

LOL I don't know what I want Mik to do…Bandit Bob isn't important enough to die…and anyway this was all written so they could display a [basic] way of fighting. Otherwise LOL this isn't even important. It also paves the way to Lily's growth…um. No spoilers XD haha.

Apologies to people who are patiently waiting for their characters TT Please accept all my humble apologies…but it's starting slow :) [I can't even promise it'll get better cuz LOL I don't know!] So please bear with me!~

*preciouses: MUAHAHA Gollum. Did you catch the reference XD My god I love LOTR. Don't mind-a me :)

**I'm not a native Japanese speaker [although I have spent time around some XD that and manga/anime, of course haha] but using english-japanese translators [hohyes] michibikite means something like 'track', or 'find' an object.

If you actually speak japanese and its totally wrong…LOL just laugh at me haha I don't mind :) I would totally laugh at you in a reverse situation XD

*props to people who can guess at a tiny plot detail later about Mik XD