Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece!
Chapter 6: P.I.T.A.!
Aro approached the back of the P.I.T.A. crowd. She held back the tears as she listened to other cry, plead, and pry for Veldoro's mercy. She pushed her way to the middle and looked up at the mountain that encircled everyone almost completely. It's rock was a pure white—or, was a pure white. It was now stained a reddish brown in some places. She felt curiosity brush her mind as she turned her gaze from it. A large black castle sat on the cliff just above the people around her. Her eyes found path-ledges that came from all sides of the castle. She let her eyes follow each path from the castle to the places they emptied into. She counted five accessible roads: one for the river, one for the town, one for the fields, one for the ports on the other side of the island, and one to the factories. She changed her gaze at the still desperate people. They were moving aside for some kind of cart. It had a large cloth over it, and something moving inside. From the sounds of it, whatever the 'thing' was, it was in a metal cage.
Aro frowned, trying to get closer, but only succeeding in being pushed back further. She grumbled, soon being put against the mountain. Angry shouts came from the people closest to the cart. Aro cursed not sure what to do. "Hey," She whispered to a near-by person, "What's going on?"
The a man in his late forties, and had tears in his eyes. Aro's heart shattered, and she could feel the tears forming from just looking at him. His eyes were filled with sorrow and regret. "My daughters… were demanded as tribute…"
"WHAT?!" She screamed, looking back at the cart. She could now make out, faintly and by blocking everyone else out, two girls crying; each trying to comfort the other. Aro's sorrow for the man turned to anger. She looked above her. One of the paths was just a yard above. She looked back to the man, "I won't let Veldoro get away with this. You will get your daughters back. I promise on my word." The man looked at her as she jumped up to the ledge and started to run along it. His eyes go wide, watching her run.
Aro's eyes watched the cart as she ran like a cat on the chase. It moved slowly to the front where a group of men stood by carts on the ledge that lead to the castle. She turned just in time to see this path ended into a large gap. She skidded to a stop, and looked around. Some rocks purged from the face of the mountain a few feet from the ledge. She looked at the cart again. It was coming to a halt and the people were going closer to it. Some men with swords approached the people, blades held high, as if to strike. Fear and anger coursed through her like a heart beat, and he could feel her eyes narrowing to see better.
The people backed up in a panic, screaming and crying at once. The men surrounded the cart, and one started to drive it to the others. Aro cursed, and turned to the rocks. She lowered herself, hands on the ground, and kicked off with all her might. Her feet touched down on the middle of the first rock. She didn't stay there longer than needed, and jumped to the next one. She stumbled slightly, and jumped a large gap to the next. Her feet touched, and the rock started to crumble. She jumped off again, out of panic. There were no rocks near by to land on. Once the point of the most flight that man can reach was obtained, she looked down. It was a thirty-foot drop. She began her slow descent down.
A scream came from the people, and Aro's head snapped to the cart. Again, everything slowed down. Some woman had been stabbed for begging for something. From the looks of it, to change places with one of the girls. Seconds stretched into minutes, and Aro, with lightning fast reflexes, pulled her scythe blade out, and swung at the wall. The blade sunk into it easily, and she stopped. She looked up at the ledge. It was too high, ten feet too high. She looked down at the twenty feet left to fall to the curved bottom of the mountain. Another scream, though a man this time, rang out. Aro placed her feet on the wall, bracing herself. She looked at the cart upside-down, and watched as the people ran in terror away from the men. Everything started to speed up again. Stress pushed down on her as she pushed on the scythe, making it go deeper into the rock.
Her knees started to bend as she got closer to the wall. The opening for the scythe got larger, and she looked again at the cart upside-down. It started to ride along while the men with swords started to attack the people. Aro felt the air in her lungs start to rise up to her mouth. The heat form her anger made it burn as she made a loud sound, something that sounded like a loud roar. She pushed off the wall, arching her back to face the ground, while throwing her scythe head at the driver of the cart. She started to fall, using her cat abilities to turn in the air to face the cart.
The blade went down, then started to come up, crashing into the driver. He went air born, flying over the people to the other side of the gathering. People turned to look at her. She turned her body, facing the ground again, and knees pulled up to her stomach. The ground flew just below her, and she stretched out her legs, starting to run down the mountain face. The air rushed past her face as her eyes fixed on the people below. "Move!" She said in a voice that sounded beastly. The people moved, now in quiet shock, terror, and surprise.
The air blew the bini away, but Aro didn't care. She could feel her arms and legs begin to vibrate slightly. Her eyes fixed on everything, picking up every detail. Her arms went behind her, the coat flying off and seeming to float in the air. She could feel her whole body tingle, as if every bone inside of her was starting to twitch. Pain shot through out her body, making her growl like a great cat. The people stared at her, mostly in shock. The swords-men stopped, watching in terror. The cloth over the cart parted, and two sets of deep blue eyes looked out at her.
No one understood what was happening. Only Aro did. Although though they didn't know what was happening, they all had an idea of what was going to come: an army verses a single girl; a fight to the death.