Soooooo. Enjoy my lovelies XD
Chapter Nineteen: Until Her Last Breath
Avery was, in the simplest of terms, anxious. Her arm was now finished and on. And Wyper was out of his temporary cast. It'd been about a month since they'd last seen her crew and somehow Usopp had managed to send her a box. It was wonderful. There were some more tools she might need along with pieces that she'd mentioned to him before and several letters. Chopper had written saying how he missed her and he was sad that she wouldn't be able to reply. Then there was one from Robin telling Avery about some of their adventures and new knowledge of things. Nami had told Avery her entire story. The one that only Luffy truly knew because no one else had been there when she'd begged him for help. Though that wasn't why she was anxious.
Without the cast on Wyper was quickly building the strength back up in his arm. That meant that soon he and her would be wed and then he'd be trying to impregnate her. Avery was afraid. The women of the village have been staying around her with their kids and few with older kids left her with them. The kids were quite adult like, a necessity for when it had been war time, so they knew how to act. But even so Avery was freaked because she had no idea what to do. Though that was not the reason why she was felling the way she was.
The baby in her arms was. Many of the women were needed to go treat several injured men and one of them was a mother of a young baby. He wasn't one yet. And the woman had just put the baby in Avery's lap and ran off. Like literally set the baby in her lap and left. Not a word of advice on how to do what.
She was slightly shaking and the baby looked about to cry. "Oh, no. no you don't." She ordered, then resorted to begging. "Please don't." She started to bounce the baby and it shushed immediately. She made a sound that was of pure nervousness. Not only had that man been hurt but most every man and many of the women had left. There were only two other women left and they had three crying babies along with five young children, four older children and also one teen. Oh, and Avery and the baby too. There had recently been several pirate ships spotted but none had come near.
Or so everyone had thought. The piercing screams of the women caught Avery's attention. Holding the baby as tightly as she dared she ran to where the screams were emitted from. One the ground at the feet of a pirate lay one of the women. The teen had taken two of the babies and one of the older children around the age of nine had the other one. The children all huddled around the teen, Saint she was called. Avery handed the baby to a child of five and raced to the woman. Just as the sword swung Avery pushed the woman out of the way.
"Lost you're arm little girl." He said. He laughed loudly and Avery knew he meant that he just cut it off.
"Of course I did." She retorted though and punched him. "Six years ago." He yelled in pain and the pirates converged on her. "Run!" She yelled at the woman and children. Four pirates swung at once. Ducking out of the way all of their swords clashed against each others. She 'pulled a Sanji' as she called it. Pushing up into a hand stand she kicked two men in the face and swung her legs hitting the other two. Now done with that move she landed on her feet once more. She bent her arm at the elbow so her now fisted hand was in front of her face. Throwing her hand back down a blade slid out. She released her fist and the trigger that locked and unlocked the black clicked. "I've been wanting to try this out." Avery said as she watched the men get back up and get ready to surround her.
One attacked from behind and he met with her blade. She forced it away where it slid into one of his nakama. The man to her left stabbed at her. Avery stepped back and she griped the mans blade in her left hand. Her right hand pulled back and punched him. Reaching into her pocket she twisted just in time to remove the object and use it to block the mans attack. She pushed the sword away and tossed the object into her left hand. "Impact." She said as she shoved it into one of their chests. The men flew back into a tree with several sickening sounds.
That's two down, the cut man and the one that went into the tree. No, three down. Avery's blade was in the gut of the one she'd taken the impact from. He'd been to busy watching his downed friend. Avery's booted foot flew back to meet the incoming blade. The heavy sheet of metal she'd put into the boot's sole stopped it from cutting her foot off. The man fell from her blade and she kicked this man back. Her ears were listening for any sound of the missing fifth man.
She held onto the blade of the man in front of her with her left hand when she heard Autumns anguished cry. Avery kneed the man the as he bent over shoved her blade into his chest. She ran for the girl that was making her life a living hell. She hated the girl, sure she did, but never did she wish her dead.
But she was too late. Autumn was laying in a pool of her own blood. A knife not far from her body, she'd tried to protect the woman and children. Avery stealthily made her way to the man. Her booted feet made no noise as she stepped. "That's a pretty girl there." The man said and his head was looking towards the teen girl. "Give her over and I'll let the kids live." The teen shakily gave the two babies up and took a step forward. "Come on now." He hissed when she didn't move any further. Avery's metal arm shot up and from behind she gripped the mans throat and threw him to the ground. Her hand clenched around his wind pipe.
He could see her shaded eyes and they blazed as if they held the fires of hell. "You will not touch any of them." Avery hissed with such venom that the man stopped struggling. "Now I'm not sure what to do with you." She looked over at the kids. She looked at the shaking teen. "Girl!" Avery called and Saint looked up. Avery would not dare to say her name where this man could hear. "Go, get the men. Wait! Go around the village, we don't know if any more of them are there." Saint raced to do as asked.
Avery looked at the woman. She hid the faces of the crying children in her skirts. The older children were holding the four wailing babies. They seemed to understand Avery's gaze. All four of them held their held high and turned away from her. With no one but the nodding woman looking at her Avery pulled her bladed arm back and when she threw it down again it pierced between the man's eyes. He was dead immediately. Avery grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him to the village. She piled the bodies together and found that one man was still alive. The one that had been hit with the impact dial.
She left him where he was, he might be useful. She went back and there was Autumn. Her body half twisted one way and her eyes wide open. Avery couldn't look at her like that. So she fixed it. She fixed Autumn messed up bloodied clothes and moved her from her pool of blood. Laying her down in a grassy spot Avery put her hand over Autumns eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have kept my eyes on him. But you did good, you protected Saint long enough for me to save her. Thanks." Avery removed her hand and it only looked like Autumn was sleep. Clenching her teeth Avery held back the sobs that wanted to break free.
A child came up to her, it was the ten year old boy. He had a baby in his arm and Avery took her from him. She held the baby in her bloodied arms as tears streamed down her face. The young boy hugged her and whispered "Thank you, you saved my sister."
Avery freed one arm and hugged the boy back. The baby had quieted in her arms. A moment passed and she released the boy. She stood up and another of the children handed a baby off to the boy. The woman had taken the other two babies. Then the kids all surrounded her. Every kid gave her a small hug and they stuck to her side. Hiding from anything that might go boo. The baby was held in her right arm.
A sound from the brush in front of them had several kids making noises. Avery stepped forward and moved her left arm forward. An angry look on her face, she was ready to defend this kids. Wyper and several other men came out and they immediately saw Avery. The children all using her as a sheild, a sleeping baby in her blood soaked arms and the scowl on her face. She looked ready to defend each and every one of the people behind her until her last breath.