Aki: *looking at the hiding author* What are you doing?
Kingdom cure: *looking around, being cautious* Isn't it obvious?
Aki: Do I really want to know what you did this time?
Kingdom cure: Well...
Xion: WHERE ARE YOU?!
Kingdom cure: *shriek* gotta go! *quickly leaves the room*
Xion: *enters room* where is she?! That damn author!
Happy: She went out this way! *points at where I ran off to*
Xion: Thank you. *chases after me*
Aki: I feel really sorry for her.
Happy: Aye. This always happens when kingdom cure puts her in a bad situation.
Aki: Yep. In any case...
Happy: Kingdom cure doesn't own One Piece or Kingdom Hearts. And partial credit of this story goes to her beta reader, EvanderAdvent.
Last time:
"How long? How long have you been a pirate?" she asked.
"Didn't you see my bounty?" I asked back, only to see a shocked face in reply to my question. "It's around when my bounty was up, that I became a pirate. Besides, I thought we talked about this, that I would be a pirate when I leave Tanoshi Island."
"... Why? Why choose piracy?"
"I told you the reason for that, too."
"But why?! I thought we were friends."
"That doesn't mean we have to have the same occupation. Also, I told you why I don't want to join-"
"I know that! But still, I told you not all of us Marines are like that! Not all of us are like Haxel!"
"It's the same with the pirates, then." She had a confused look on her face. "Just because I'm a pirate doesn't mean that I'm going to go bad. Besides, I doubt you told them to not arrest us because I'm with them." The Sergeant Major's shoulders were shaking, and I saw a bit of tears coming out of her eyes. "All humans are different. They choose who they want to be when they get older. You chose the path of Marines, whereas I chose the path of piracy. However, that doesn't means that we're not friends anymore. I'm beginning to remember things about myself, because of this crazy crew."
"... The next time we meet, I will arrest you. And take your key sword," Tashigi said, as she began to walk away.
"It's Keyblade," I corrected her, blacking out again.
'How long has it been, since we last saw each other though, my friend?'
*GENERAL'S P.O.V*
The next day, Tashigi and her group returned to the ship.
"Captain Smoker! Hina-jou! Sergeant Major Tashigi has arrived!" informed a Marine soldier.
"It's been a long time, Tashigi," a woman with long, pinkish-blonde hair greeted. She had on a purple suit with a white bluse underneath and dark brown shoes. She also had a Marine Captain coat draped over her shoulders.
"Hina-san," Tashigi simply greeted back. "Good day. I'm... a little tired, so I'm going to rest for a bit." Hina looked back at her, with a confused look on her face. "Captain Smoker, I've returned."
"Yeah. Good job," the Marine captain congratulated. "I've heard about the business with Straw Hat."
"I'm sorry. I lent aid to pirates. They were in our hands, but I let them escape. These are disgraceful things a Marine would do."
"What are you apologizing for? That was your justice, wasn't it?"
"It wasn't."
"Sergeant Major..." a Marine spoke, confused by her words.
"It was the only thing I could do," she continued. Tashigi looked back on the incidents that happened back on Alubarna. "Even though I knew where the enemy was, I could do nothing but tell him. Even though I knew when the bombing would occur, I could do nothing but back them up. I had no justice to choose."
"Those who I had come to think of as the same level as yours are now dashing ahead and gaining infamous names for themselves," Smoker told her. Tashigi walked up onto the ship to be in her room. "On this sea, if you don't dash ahead, you're as good as dead. They know that. Go forward, or die? Who was it that decided to come ot this sea?"
"I'm sorry. I need to rest a little."
Smoker took his cigars out and blew out some smoke. "Idiot! If those tears are so painful for you, then become stronger!" The grunts were all watching, wondering what their higher-up would do now.
"I WILL!" she shouted to the skies, letting out all the pain she's been holding inside herself.
Blowing out another smoke, Smoker added, "Also, if seeing her the way she is now hurts you more than your pride, swallow down all your memories of her and move forward!" Tashigi looked back at Smoker in shock at what he said, knowing who he meant. "She's moving forward, isn't she? Yeah. I knew that she became a pirate. Long before we came here."
With a teary, determined look on her face, Tashigi nodded and continued her way to her room.
*TASHIGI'S ROOM**TASHIGI'S P.O.V*
'Even he knows...' I thought, as I entered my room. Closing the door, I made my way to my bed, letting out the rest of my tears and resting my head for a bit. After everything that happened, it was too hard to take in. Especially about her. Still couldn't believe she preferred criminals over justice. Or rather, it was her own version of justice that she's following. Either way, I still couldn't believe it.
"I still can't believe... Xion would be a pirate..." I muttered. "Not only that, but everyone already knows about this." I looked at a picture frame on my desk. It had a picture of me on Tanoshi Island with Xion, the kids and the family she was staying with at that time.
'How long has it been since that day?' I wondered, looking back at how we met.
*FLASHBACK**FOUR MONTHS BEFORE XION BECAME A PIRATE**GENERAL'S P.O.V*
Tashigi was returning from her walk around Loguetown. On her way back, she heard rumors about a certain island.
"Hey, did you hear?" a male civilian asked.
"Yeah. Now I really do feel sorry for the people living there," another male civilian said.
"About what?" a female asked.
"You mean you didn't hear?" asked another female. "Apparently, Tanoshi Island, an island near our's, has a demon residing it."
"What?! That's horrible."
"Got that right. That island already has enough bad things happening to it. With all the pirates roaming around and the bandits hiding there," the first guy said.
"No kidding. I wonder why the Marines there doesn't do anything about it?" the second guy asked.
"But if it's a demon, doesn't that mean that they're all dead?" the first girl asked.
"No, at least, not from what I heard."
Hearing enough, Tashigi rushed back to Headquarters to have Smoker's permission on going to Tanoshi Island.
"If you want to go, then go," the smoking captain told her. After having told everything about the rumor spreading around, Smoker have quickly and calmly decided to have Tashigi go to the island.
"Really?" she asked.
"That's your justice, isn't it? Then hurry up and go, if you really want to help out that island. And bring some grunts with you."
"Thank you very much!" With that, she left, ordering some men to prepare a ship or two to Tanoshi Island.
After an hour of sailing, Tanoshi Island was right in sight. Tashigi found the island a little strange, for it seemed a little too peaceful for a demon-infested island.
"Sergeant Major! Our destination is just up ahead!" a Marine grunt informed.
"So it seems," she replied. "Anything on the civilians living there? Or the Marines, at least."
"Strangely, yes."
"Strangely?"
"Well, for a demon-infested island, they sound happy to be there for some reason. The grunt on the other side even laughed a little after hearing what we're going there for."
"Hmm? Then the demon must be brainwashing them somehow," Tashigi assumed.
"Sergeant Major, are you sure about this? Maybe we should've brought Captain Smoker with us."
"He already has enough problems in his hands back on Loguetown. If he comes with us, who's going to protect it then?"
Seeing that there's no point in changing her mind, the Marine grunt just dropped the subject.
Arriving at Tanoshi Island's docks, Tashigi and the grunts she brought with her all got off the ship and were greeted by the Marines that were residing there.
"Good afternoon, Sergeant Major Tashigi," Sergeant Major Karakashi greeted, while the grunts with him saluted at the female.
"Good afternoon, Sergeant Major Karakashi," Tashigi greeted back. "I've heard of the rumors and decided to help exterminate the demon."
"What are you saying? There are no demons here. I thought we went over that."
"But there are rumors going around the island."
"Sergeant Major Karakashi. She might be talking about that," a Marine behind him said.
"Oh that," he laughed off.
"What's so funny?!" Tashigi demanded.
"This is serious business here!" a Marine on her side said.
"Unless if the rumor is just a rumor," another Marine added.
"Oh, it's just a rumor all right. Then again, it also isn't," Karakashi answered.
"Which is it?!" Loguetown Marine grunts demanded.
"Well, I'll tell you where 'the demon' lives, and you decide yourself whether or not she is one."
"So there is!"
"Again, you decide yourself if she is a demon."
'She?' Tashigi mentally repeated.
"She lives with this island's best doctor and his family. They live right over there, just right by the town's entrance." Karakashi pointed at the direction where the said family lives. "But knowing her, she's usually deep in the forest and wears a black coat. Can't miss her." Karakashi points at the said forest.
"Okay. Thank you very much. Let's go!" Tashigi ordered, as they all rushed into the woods. Along the way, the female Sergeant Major wondered why everyone in town is so peaceful and what Karakashi meant when he said that they decide if she is a demon to them.
When they got near the woods, they saw a group of kids also heading in there. Tashigi and the grunts noticed they were equipped with wooden weapons and all assumed that the demon was somewhere in the forest and that the kids are going to kill it themselves. Not wanting that to happen, they all followed them to the demon.
As they followed the kids, they noticed how they would occasionally jump or, for some, climbed up trees and traveled from tree to tree. They thought it was to increase their stamina and speed, until they realized that it was because of the traps set in the forest. It went from leg-hold to nets to cages to various trap holes, from deep hole to holes with poisonous animals to holes with spikes to kill those that fell in. For the latter two, the grunts were lucky to either hold on to the side of the hole or somehow avoid dying.
"Sergeant Major! Go on without us! We'll get out of this, somehow!" a Marine told her.
"What kind of children thinks of traps like these?!" another Marine asked out loud, running around in a cage away from a tiger chasing him.
"More like where did they get these stuff?!" another asked, hanging on to a tree branch to prevent himself from falling into a hole filled with water and a shark.
"And here I thought 'tanoshi' means 'fun' in a good way! Not in an evil way!" another stated, running away from bees.
'Where did they get those stuff indeed...' Tashigi mentally agreed.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked.
"Yes!" they all replied.
"Okay. Good luck getting yourselves out!" With that, she left.
Due to watching her allies getting caught in the traps, Tashigi lost the kids. She was also being cautious, watching out for traps that may be lying around. It didn't take long for her to find them, as she heard a kid yelling nearby. Closing in on the source, she saw the group fighting against a girl in black coat. The hood was up, so she couldn't see her face. However, there wasn't any need to see what she looks like, for Tashigi already figured out that the person the kids are fighting is the demon. For a demon, however, it has the shape of a human and is fighting back with a wooden sword. Tashigi was about to help when she heard an alarm go off near her, giving away her presence.
"Okay. Time's up," the demon spoke. "You guys were close today. Just keep working on your teamwork, okay?"
"Yes!"
'Good, didn't notice me yet,' Tashigi thought, hiding behind a tree.
"Okay. Who's up for some shooting practice?" the demon asked. The kids there all rasied their hands.
'She's not killing them?'
"Then go to our practice area for it and set up some targets."
"And what are you going to do?" one of the kids asked.
"How are you going to shoot with wooden swords?" That said, the younglings all went elsewhere for the next training.
'Now's my chance!' Tashigi unsheathed her sword and jumped out of her hiding place, swinging her weapon down at the demon. However, just when it seemed like she was able to get her, she reacted quickly by blocking the sword with her wooden one. This shocked Tashigi.
"I thought someone was watching," she said, looking right at her. Seeing her face under the hood, Tashigi was surprised to know that the demon was actually a human girl.
Taking some spaces back, she asked, "Are you the demon of this island?"
"I am, and at the same time I'm not," she answered.
"Again with that answer? Just who are you?"
"I'm-"
"Starlight Blade! It's horrible!" interrupted a Marine, running over to the two girls.
"What's wrong?" Starlight Blade asked.
"Pirates! They're raiding the town!"
"What was that?!" the two girls gasped, both ran back to town.
"Tell Miki and the others training is over for today! They're at the usual shooting training area!" the demon shouted. The grunt nodded and went to the said area.
"Why do you care about the people back in town?! Aren't you the demon of this island?!" Tashigi questioned.
"I may be a demon, but that's only to pirates!"
"What do you mean by that?!"
"Argh! You'll find out soon! Didn't Karakashi and the others told you?"
"Well, yeah but-"
"No time for talk!" That said, Starlight Blade jumped up to a tree branch and got to town faster.
Meanwhile, as the Marine grunt said, pirates were raiding the town. They were scaring off the townspeople and taking their belongings away from them. The pirates even took some wives and kids as hostages if the Marines were to attack them.
"Ohhohohoho! Take everything! Every food, belli and other valuables they have! Take it all!" ordered the captain. The captain had on a black shirt with dinosaur claw marks on it in blood red, brown pants and black boots. Draped over his shoulders is tiger fur and, as a belt, bear fur. "And while you're at it, bring the demon too!"
"Aye!" the pirate grunts agreed.
"You want the demon, you have her!" came a voice. "I'm right here! Now let everyone else go!"
The pirate crew all turned to the source and saw a girl standing before them. Because they didn't know she's the island's demon, they all laughed, expecting the demon to be a monster or someone insanely strong.
"Ohhohohoho! Nice one girly, now why don't you move along?" the captain shrugged her off.
"What's wrong? Scared?" she taunted.
"What was that?"
"You heard what I said. You're scared of being beaten by a girl." The taunting seemed to have worked, for the captain ordered his men to kill her.
As they inched closer, the demon dropped her wooden sword and charged at them. Suddenly, a key-like sword appeared out of nowhere in her hand. She easily defeated the pirate grunts with it and all that was left to beat was the captain.
"Now it's just you and me," she said. While this was all happening, Tashigi was watching the whole thing from behind a house. She was shocked as to how strong the demon is as well as the weapon in her hand.
"Ohhohohoho! It seems I've underestimated you. Very well then, I guess I'll have to kill you myself." The captain finished the last of the leg and began to change. His skin became green and scaly, he was getting much bigger, and his green eyes turned to slits. "I, Guren, ate the legendary Dino Dino no Mi: Model: Giganotosaurus! One of the most deadly dinosaurs of all dinosaurs! And looking at you now, you actually look tasty~. Thanks for the food!" Guren suddenly came and tried to take a bite out of the demon, only for her to quickly move out of the way and prevent herself and anyone else from being eaten.
"You want me? Come and get me!" she provoked, running into the woods. The gigantosaurus man took the bait and followed. Tashigi got out of her hiding place and went after them. It didn't take long for her to remember what is in the direction they're going. Or rather, who. That said, she picked up her pace and tried to catch up to them.
Up ahead with Starlight Blade, she smirked as she saw the half-dinosaur following her.
'He's definitely going to fall into the traps Miki and the others helped me set up,' she thought. Looking ahead, her eyes widened when she saw Marines caught in most of the traps, her students and the messaging grunt helping them get out of the traps. 'Why are they in the traps?! They should know that there are traps here! Unless if they... Like that Marine from earlier!'
"Fire!" She shot out a fireball at the pirate and changed direction, still having his attention all on her.
"You'll pay for that!" he shouted.
"Then come and get me!" she taunted, going to a wide area with lots of space to fight him as he is now. In other words, the meadow.
Back with Tashigi, she was surprised when she saw the demon luring the lizard pirate to wherever she's leading it to instead of just letting it take the lives of the Marine grunts she took with her. Looking back ahead, she saw the kids and grunt from earlier helping them all get out of the traps.
"Sergeant Major!" called a grunt they already saved. "You're all right!"
"I should say the same to you guys," she replied.
"The demon! Did you get her?!" another grunt, that was also already saved, asked.
"Starlight Blade is not a demon!" a black-haired boy shouted, confusing the Loguetown Marines.
"That's right! Xion-nee is our hero!" a red-head girl agreed.
"Yeah!" agreed the rest of the kids.
"Hero? What do you mean?" Tashigi asked.
Meanwhile, back with Starlight Blade, or Xion, and Guren, the former is still running to the meadow, occasionally looking back to see if her pursuer is still chasing her and hearing him say "Stop! My meal!". When she caught sight of the meadow up ahead of her, she picked up her pace.
"You'll have to give in and get in my stomach eventually!" he told her.
"Yeah right!" she said. Once she got to the center, she stopped in her tracks.
"Heh! Looks like you made the right choice to stop and be eaten after all! And here you said you wouldn't give in." Just when he said that, Xion immediately charged at him and gave him an uppercut on the jaw hard with her weapon.
"Who said I gave up?" she asked, assualting him. Due to the difference in size and speed, it was easy for her to attack, block and evade him.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Guren shouted, slamming his tail down at Xion. Due to the current difference in strength, the tail slam dealt a lot of damage on her, enough to have her stay down for a while.
"Didn't see that coming," she muttered to herself, wincing at the pain. A shadow formed over her and she looked up to see the Giganotosaurus man smirking at her.
"Now that you're down, it's time for me to eat!" he declared, moving his head down to devour his prey. That was cut short, when he felt something stab his tail. "ROOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!" Looking back, he saw Tashigi with her sword pinned down on his dinosaur tail. "Get off!" he yelled, swatting his tail at her, knocking the sword off his tail in the process. "Now where were we?" Looking back, he saw his prey gone. "What?! Where'd you go?!" Suddenly, he felt something land on his head.
"Stun Impact!" Just when he heard that, he felt something fried his head for a bit, causing him to be in temporary paralysis.
"You okay?" Starlight Blade asked Loguetown's Sergeant Major.
"Yeah. I'm fine," she assured. "And I heard everything from those kids you were training. Looks like those rumors about you being a demon is true, for pirates and bandits."
"I thought that was obvious, since as you can see, I didn't lead him to those grunts you brought with you. And if I was a demon, I wouldn't be training Miki and her friends how to fight."
"I guess so." The moment Tashigi agreed, the paralysis on Guren wore off and he was pissed.
"You insolent mortal! I'll eat you both alive!" he declared.
"Just try and eat us!" Xion provoked. "Let's go... uh..."
"Tashigi," the female Marine introduced.
"They call me Starlight Blade, but my name's really Xion." After the introduction, the two girls engaged their battle against the pirate captain.
As they fought, Tashigi was impressed with Xion's sword fighting, if she can call the weapon a sword. She couldn't believe how quick she is on her feet and how fast she reacts to Guren's attacks. She also couldn't believe the fact that Xion can also use magic, as shown when the latter used ice magic to have their opponent slip and miss his targets.
'Just who is she?' Tashigi wondered.
"Tashigi!" Xion called, getting her out of her trance.
"What?!"
"I think I have an idea as to how to end this faster. Just don't be mad."
"Why would I be-?" Just before she could finish her question, Xion ran to Tashigi and had her drop her sword and threw it away, as did she with her own weapon. "What are you-?!"
"Hey! Dino-man! We give up! Just eat us!" Xion told Guren, covering Tashigi's mouth. The Marine just looked at her in shock at what she just said.
"In that case, don't mind if I do!" he replied, opening his mouth big and wide as he charged at the two females.
'How did I get myself in this mess?!' Tashigi mentally questioned herself, waiting for her end to come.
As the dinosaur closed in on them, Xion smirked. "Like hell we will!" she shouted, calling back her weapon and charged right into his mouth.
"SHE DID NOT JUST GET HERSELF EATEN!" the female Sergeant Major shouted, as Guren swallowed her whole.
"That's good meat," said pirate spoke, licking his lips. Tashigi quickly ran to where her sword is and grabbed it, prepared for a fight to her possible death.
The moment when she turned to face him, though, he started to act weird. "M-My stomach... Oh. I don't feel so good. Urgh... Argh! ROOOOAAAARRRRR!" His insides suddenly exploded and smoke came out of his mouth. Due to the impact, he tumbled down, mostly dead.
"She... She sacrificed herself..." Tashigi muttered in shock. "What kind of-?" Before she can complete the question, she recalled what the island's Sergeant Major and Xion said, when she asked about the demon. "She was a demon, but only to those who trespasses the island and makes enemies here... Wh-What have I done? What have I-?" Before she can repeat her question, she sees the still-dinosaur-pirate's stomach moving in a weird way. It's as though something wanted to come out from the stomach. It was then she realized what it meant. "Hang on!" She ran to the Guren's stomach and cut it open. Making the opening big enough, her assumption was proven true when she saw Xion still alive and standing, her clothes not yet digested.
"That has to be the worst idea I ever thought of," she said, getting out of the now-dead pirate's stomach. The moment she got out, the dinosaur-human reverted back to his human self. "I'm lucky he didn't change back while I was still in there."
"Lucky is right. What were you thinking?" Tashigi asked.
"Believe me when I say this, if you get my bad habit of wanting to help so many people and never turning back on them, you tend to do crazy stuff that may result killing you."
"That was a bad habit?!"
"Believe it or not, yes it was. This stupid bad habit of mine has a habit of putting me in danger sometimes when it comes to my enemies, like so." After that, the two got to a good start and brought the pirate back to base.
After turning in the pirate crew and getting the reward, it was time for the Loguetown Marines to go back, now that they see that their objective was, in a way, a rumor.
"You know, you're welcome to stay for a bit," Xion insisted.
"No. We really must head back," Tashigi declined. "We do not wish to be a burden here and we have things we need to do back at our island."
"I see."
"You know Xion, with your skills-"
"I refuse."
"You don't even know what I was going to say."
"You want me to be a Marine, don't you?" Tashigi eyes widened in shock at her accurate guess. "I said this once to the main headquarters, and I'll say it again to you, after what happened with Former Marine Captain Haxel, forget it." The female Sergeant Major had a confused look on her face when she said that.
"You see, the former captain was ruthless to everyone here. He wanted Mike, the island's best doctor, to join the Marines. Rather, he was forcing him to at that time," Karakashi explained. "But, thanks to Xion, he's now in jail."
"And it's because of that, I refuse to be a Marine. Especially since being one won't let me travel around the whole sea."
"Oh. I heard about that from the kids. I'm really sorry that you lost your memories," Tashigi apologized.
"There's no need for you to apologize. Besides, if I want to get out of here, I'd rather be a pirate when that time comes." Thinking it was a joke, the female Marine laughed it off.
"In any case, we should leave now."
"Wait!" came Miki's voice. The group see a camera in her hands. "Can we take a picture first before you leave?"
"Okay with me. You?" Xion asked.
"I suppose one picture wouldn't hurt. Besides, this will be a reminder to me that not all rumors are true." That said, they all took some group pictures.
"Now then, let's go back," Tashigi ordered, recieving the printed photo.
"Yes ma'am!" the grunts saluted, aboarding the ship.
"See you later!" Xion waved.
"Come back again some time!" Miki also waved.
"Sure! Bye!" Tashigi waved back.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
'Those were some weird times back then. Especially those traps,' Tashigi thought. 'Now that I think about it, where did they really get those stuff for the traps? I forgot to ask them before we left.'