Authors notes- Finally getting into the real story sorry for the long intro (still not quite there though :S)
(recap) A sound filled my ears, the sound of soft waves, I was moving with them, rocking back and forth. I felt like a child being rocked by my mother back and forth, back and forth, left and right. The wind played a beautiful tune in my ears, promising me a new day and a new hope. I smiled to myself silently, turning over and grabbing for a cover that I didn't have on me, my hand reaches out again, nothing. Suddenly as if a door had been opened piled high with memories that come tumbling down on top of me, squashing me, I saw everything that had happened in the last week. Lola, Marissa. Running away, disappearing, Roy and Angus finding me. My visions: the tree, the sign, the paint, the ice and the horse. "Coincidence" I could hear myself saying loudly and uncomfortably. Men breaking into my room, jumping out of my window, Roy being the marines ring leader. Pain. The man from my visions. Blood. Then an extended hand, a hand I wanted to trust so badly. I watch in slow motion as my own had reaches for the hand before be and everything goes black. An omen? No, I don't think so.
Suddenly I think to myself 'if all that really happened, where am I now?'. This thought takes a moment to process, lingering mockingly, dangling itself before me, unanswerable. The first place I think of is the beach, after all that is the last place I was. I panic for a while wondering where I am, am I dead? Did those marine people get me? Am I back at home in my own bed? Why can I hear the see? My rational thoughts scoff at this and point out the obvious 'open your eyes and see.' My panic stops at this and I almost laugh out loud, of course, all I have to do is see the sand beneath me. I crack one eye open cautiously as if waiting for a trap to spring blinding me again, forcing me to never know where I am, forever lost, surprisingly nothing happens. I open my other eye slowly then blink several times. My eyes swivel from side to side taking in the sight that is in front of me, two green candles assault my eyes immediately but behind them is a spectacular sight, the ocean. A desert of sea changing in front of me. I can't help it, I breath out a sigh of pure awe. The rational question that most of you might ask is 'why am I in the middle of the sea?' and I'm sure that a more intelligent girl than me would ask, instead I just stare out across this glassy liquid reflecting a deeper, darker sky than the one above. Then I feel it, a prickle at the back of my neck, eyes watching me from behind. I turn slowly towards the man. Up close now is the hawk-eyed man from my visions, watching me with his eyes. I open my mouth about to say something and then decide against it, closing it with a snap, it would be better to plan something to say first. I look down at the grey floor beneath me, something catches my eye from next to me, a pure white something. I touch it and feel that it is my arm bandaged delicately in soft, white bandages, I admire the craftsmanship before noticing the ones around my legs and torso. I have a creepy feeling that this man has bandaged me up and as much as I am thankful I still feel a little bit violated. I look down at my clothes in dismay; the ones I had been wearing for school had been so dirty that Roy had bought me some more. The skirt he bought me was now tattered and bloody, the top was ripped in several places and I could feel a disturbing breeze on my back, my coat that I had been wearing when I left the inn was nowhere to be found, interesting I thought. My boots that I had jokingly called 'piratey boots' had been left behind in my room at the inn, due to this fact my toes had been cut badly, the man had not bothered to bandage my feet up, strangely. I could still feel the mans eyes on me, watching me curiously, surely if he is the only man on this raft he needs to navigate, that means paying attention. I suppose though I should thank him after all he did save me, but I don't know what he wants from me. I decide to play dumb and pretend that thought never crossed my mind. I prepare an amazing speech in which my thank you is imbedded in philosophy, fears, dreams and opinions. Instead what comes out is:
"Why did you help me?" My voice is raw with emotion but still seems bored and angry with the man. To make things worse I put a shocked expression on my face while covering my mouth with my hands. Surely this makes me an unthankful, mentally unstable, grubby girl. The man seems slightly amused by my actions; his eyes focus on a strange half globe on his wrist and then back on me, piercing me with his stare.
"I don't know." He answers thoughtfully after a while. This suddenly annoys me. He doesn't know? How can you not know why you helped some one? The man stares off into the distance. I wait until I am calm before attempting to be pleasant with the man.
"I'm Angel, Angel Leblanc." I tell him. He turns to me and answers politely
"I know." This really annoys me, does he not understand the concept of me giving my name him giving his or is he just trying to be rude?
"And your name is?" I stretch out the last word in order to press the question but also appear polite even though I'm seething inside.
"Dracule Mihawk." He answers passively. His eyes refocus on the sea and mine travel across the raft. It suddenly occurs to me this thing is shaped like a coffin.
"Why is" I begin but before I can even finish my sentence I feel a familiar stinging in my eyes and ache in my neck, everything goes black and I feel my eyes go wide.
Before me stems an island covered with trees and beautiful green plants, like an emerald surrounded by dark blue silk.
"So uncaring of where they are" Mihawk states, slightly amused, however much more annoyed than I would have expected.
"Who?" I ask. He turns to me and smiles slightly, his lips turning up at the corners a millimetre or so.
"An old rival of mine." He replies a reflective look in his piercing eyes. I stop at this, why is he taking me with him to fight someone, surely it's dangerous; perhaps he doesn't care for my safety. I don't push the question, it would be rude if I did and the man seems strong, I don't want to annoy him. I watch as we pull closer to the shoreline, watching as the shimmering sand gets within touching distance and the raft grates across the ground like a large concrete fish seeking sanctuary on land. I step clumsily out of the raft and onto the soft sand feeling it soothing in between my toes. As we walk towards the trees he stops suddenly causing me to stop also.
"Do not be fooled," He states, not turning to me. "He is not as weak as he may seem." I ponder the meaning of this, is the man we are about to see dangerous? Surely if he is a rival of Mihawk he must be strong and if he's still alive well…