Sunlight was shining onto my face when I came to, making my cheeks warm. I took a moment to finally relax and wake up.
When I finally blinked my eyes open, I noticed that Ace and Sabo were already awake and had a fire made. They seemed to both notice me, but only Sabo acknowledged it.
He gave me a tiny smile. "We made breakfast." I stood up and made my way over to them, and sat beside Sabo.
Moments later he got up. "I'll go wake Luffy up," he stated and left me alone with Ace...
I stared at the fire while shifting uncomfortably. I didn't want to bring up last night's conversation, and I doubted Ace wanted to either. Was he even thinking about it? About what I said?
I refused to look at him, and the tension in the air just got more awkward and uncomfortable.
"Let's eat!" I sighed in relief and turned my head to face Sabo and Luffy. Luffy grinned at me and sat down beside me.
The meal was hectic, but I didn't mind. Even though swatting Luffy's hand away was a little annoying, especially since I sat beside him.
It ended quickly, and with Luffy eating the most out of all of us. I probably had had the least to eat, even Sabo ate more than normal people, and he wasn't even a D.
My thoughts were interrupted by Luffy's question. "Hey, Luca! Can we do different training today?" He asked.
I didn't think much about my answer. "No, you have to continue working on aim and coordination."
Luffy pouted "Aw, but why? I wanna do the cooler stuff!"
I refused to look at Luffy, in case he was doing the puppy dog eyes. Honestly, why was I so weak-willed when it came to little kids? "Once you complete the exercise 50 times without missing once than we can do the cool stuff," I explained. I shifted uncomfortably, why am I restless right now?
Luffy didn't seem to want too, and I knew that I would need to motivate him somehow. "Luffy, you asked me to teach you and I'll teach you. However, if you don't do this I'll have to stop." I didn't know how to motivate him yet, but perhaps in due time, I would.
"What!" Luffy shouted, making my ears ring. "But I want to control my fruit!"
I rubbed my temples, willing away an ongoing headache. "Then listen." I still didn't meet his gaze. "Do the exercise 50 times without fail and then we will do the other stuff," I repeated.
Without giving Luffy a chance to retort, I stood up. "I have to get going, I'll find you all later." I took the chance to look at the older boys, the two were both observing us, but Ace was the one who made me nervous.
Unlike always, he wasn't glaring. His face was completely blank and he was staring right at me. It made it impossible to tell what he was thinking. I rubbed my arm. Why did that look scare me so much?
Sabo had gotten up from his spot. Unlike Ace, he acted the same and gave me a cautious once over. "Where are you going?"
I paused where I stood, thinking about my reply. If I lied they would likely find out or even know, and id lose all their trust, not that I had much, to begin with, but still. But if I told the truth, they would be even more suspicious of me.
"The Grey Terminal, I need to find a weapon to defend myself," I answered carefully. "See you." I gave another glance at Ace, but he had the same look. I left the scene before anyone could speak again.
There was plenty of time to get to Lily's, in fact, I wasn't due for several hours. But I had felt restless and wanted to get out, I didn't really know why. Perhaps it was because of Ace...
I went to Dadan's first, making sure to get my cloak I had hidden away. Then I went to the Grey Terminal, it only took me a good 10 minutes to get there and once I did I was immediately surrounded. Not only that but by pirates...
I hadn't been wearing my cloak, as to not arouse suspicion in the terminal. Though it seemed that hadn't mattered. I wonder just why they stopped me.
"Hey, brat." A tall man addressed me, the first thing I noticed was his captain jacket. "Do you know that Ace brat and his friends?"
So that's what this is about. I hoped this wouldn't winder me, but it's not like I could tell them anything.
"Who's asking?"
"I'm Bluejam! The captain of the Bluejam Pirates, who else would be asking? I rule this place!" he glowered at me. "Now answer!"
"Nope," I said, popping the 'p'. "I'm not from around here, sorry."
Bluejam laughed menacingly, his hand waving his minions forward. "Yeah right, brat. We've seen those boys go in and out of the forest, and so have you. Get the boy and get information out of him!" he ordered.
"Dammit," I muttered and started running. Bluejam was smarter than I gave him credit for. Luckily, I was faster than them and I could use my size as an advantage.
I ran past the piles of trash, being careful not to fall. One misstep could mean my capture. My thoughts immediately froze when I saw a familiar straw-hat. I made a beeline for him and sure enough, it was Luffy. Not only that but he was without his brothers. At least he had his pipe.
He spotted me and a bright grin spread across his face. "Luc—" I reached him just in time to clamp my hand over his mouth.
"Quiet." I hushed him, and when it seemed he wouldn't shout, I let my hand fall. "We need to go now, Bluejam Pirates are looking for you and me," I explained quickly and grabbed Luffy by the arm before he could respond.
Before we could go anywhere, I heard footsteps. I pulled Luffy behind a pile of trash and waited for them to pass.
"We have to find them or captain will have our heads." The lanky pirate nervously checked his surroundings.
The heavier pirate huffed. "Then we should split up, and cover more ground." The lanky pirate nodded hastily and ran off in the other direction, luckily not ours.
The other pirate continued walking and I let out a sigh of relief and continued to pull Luffy somewhere else.
"Where are your brothers?" We needed to find them and quickly, Luffy was armed but he certainly wasn't as strong as his brothers. I didn't want to imagine if we got caught.
"Uhh," He looked around as if they would appear out of nowhere. "They were with me a moment ago! Did they wander off again?"
"Be quiet," I hushed him then muttered. "More like you wandered off."
Luffy hummed. "What did you say?" he questioned.
"Nothing... let's go—" I was cut short when the pirates appeared again.
"There they are!"
"Get them!"
Shit. I thought and pulled Luffy close to me as we ran.
"Hey! We should fight them!" Luffy insisted but I kept running, trying to weave our way through all the trash and not get caught.
"No way. We have to find your brothers," My head was pounding, would we get to them in time? "They could be in danger," was my explanation.
"Oh okay! We better go save them!" Luffy ran ahead of me, dragging me along with him. Panic set in, Luffy wasn't the best with directions— and always got into trouble somehow. "Wait for Luffy! Slow down!"
Time seemed to in slow motion when Bluejam appeared, sword in hand, Luffy hadn't yet noticed and the blade was going for him.
"Luffy!" I pulled him towards me with as much force I could muster and covered his body with mine. Pain seared in my right shoulder, and I felt something wet tickle my skin.
Bluejam laughed behind me. "I knew it brat, your part of their group! I seem I have another pest to get rid of." he got ready to swing his sword again, and I knew I would be able to get out of the way in time. But I could at least get Luffy out of here.
"Luffy, run," I told him, but he didn't move. "Now!"
He didn't move and I closed my eyes, waiting for the blade and the pain that I knew would come with it.
"Stop!" Two voices sounded, and I heard Luffy let out a tiny gasp. I blinked my eyes open again and saw both Ace and Sabo.
Ace was blocking the sword with his pipe. Then Sabo ran forward and aimed at Bluejam, who in turn backed out of the way.
"Ace! Sabo!" Luffy shouted, a grin spreading across his face. And I slowly turned around, the movement made my wound sting painfully. I breathed out through my nose slowly with a grimace. If only I could actually see my wound, then I would tend to it... or at least stop the bleeding.
Luffy readied his pipe and went forward, and I merely watched as they tried to fight Bluejam.
"Ace, we need to run now!" Sabo insisted.
Ace frowned, glaring hard at Bluejam. Then he glanced at me, Luffy, and back to Sabo again.
"Now!"
He nodded. "Okay, let's go!" He hit at Bluejam again and Ace took his exit.
Sabo pulled Luffy along with him and Ace appeared in front of me. I blinked at him in confusion, before he grabbed my arm— thankfully the non-injured one– and pulled me along behind his brothers.
"Quickly!" He called to me, and I did my best to keep up with him. My eyes never left his back, even when I heard shouts behind us.
Eventually, we made it back to the woods, but Ace kept pulling me along... I said nothing.
"Hey, Ace, where are we going?" Asked Luffy, and I wondered the same thing as well. My head felt fuzzy and if Ace hadn't been holding onto my arm, I probably would have fallen already.
"To get this idiot patched up." He answered.
Oh right, I had been wounded when I protected Luffy from getting slashed. I glanced back at Sabo and Luffy, judging by the look on their faces it didn't look too good.
My vision spotted. "I'm going to pass out," I warned.
Ace stopped, his grip loosening and I stumbled, falling backward. But luckily I was caught before I hit the ground. I blinked hazily and stared unsteadily into Sabo's blue orbs.
"Wha- hey!" I heard Ace exclaim, surprised. It made me wonder what kind of face he was making.
I never got the chance to find out.
New chapter! Third one already? Jeez... I don't feel like much happened in this one, but I feel like I got what I wanted too, and needed too. Honestly, this chapter was so hard to write. My spell check spazzed out, and my wifi is worse than when I was on vacation. I just got back and it makes things so hard to work with. I rewrote this chapter so many times...
A bit more description I feel like. I wrote this a bit differently from the previous chapters, and I hope it's better. Please leave tips, they really do help.
Okay, seriously guys. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS. They give me tons of motivation.
Reviews:
CrystalSeker- Thank you so much for reviewing and I'm glad you are excited about this story. Glad you like Lucas too! Your tips are amazing, I'll make sure to go back and fix those mistakes. And I agree. Luffy would need some motivation. I have so much more planned for this now, and it's thanks to you!
Extra:
Also... I've been updating pretty quickly so far but that's because I want to get this story rolling. I will, eventually, set up a summer schedule, I still need to put up a bio.
Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!