Law was in a good mood when he woke up. The sub was scheduled to surface for a bit today, assuming the waters stayed as calm as they had been. It wasn't that he disliked being on the sub, quite the contrary, but he could use the fresh air.
Not to mention that his first mate, Bepo, had been complaining for the past few days of the heat. Life on a submarine was odd, it was either burning hot or freezing cold depending on what part of the ship you were on. The nearer you were to the engine, the hotter it was. Shachi and Penguin, the engineers of the fine vessel, were almost in a constant sweaty state.
On the other side, the further away from the engine you were the colder you became. It also depended on the depth of the submarine. The deeper it was, the colder. The lack of sunlight reaching through the cold ocean waters caused the air to become chilly. It normally never bothered Law. He had his sweaters for the cold days, and on the hot days he would opt to traverse the vessel without it.
Still, the fresh air would do his crew good. Law prided himself on being a good Captain. He didn't want his men to follow him out of fear, all that would lead to was inevitable revolt. No, he wanted his men to respect him. So if that meant relenting to surfacing every once in a while to ease their restlessness, so be it.
"Bepo, how close are we?" He inquired to the polar bear. The navigator leaned over some of the many controls to examine a few dials.
"250 feet and rising, Captain." He affirmed, smiling happily at the dark man in front of him.
Law was scary, he knew that, but Bepo had been with him for the past ten years. He was his best friend, nothing he could do would frighten him. Law was thankful to have him by his side. Right as he thought he had lost everything he ever cared for, Bepo had appeared and showed him true friendship.
Sometimes Law wondered how his family would react to how he chose to live his life. It wasn't anything he was expecting it to be. He was sure they would understand, especially if they had met Corazon, they would understand why he had to do this. Why he decided to become a pirate.
He had no more time to think upon the past, his crew let out a loud cheer as the sub broke the surface of the water. Shachi and Penguin immediately went to unseal the submarine hatch so they could get some sunlight.
As the pirate put his spotted hat on his head and straightened his dark blue feathered sweater the rest of his crew rushed the doors. With a minuscule smile on his face he followed them, his good mood improving with the blast of sea air that hit his face.
The sea was calm this morning, the waves lolled against the side of the ship as Law walked to the railing of the deck. The sun shone down, the chilly air biting against his skin. He had never felt more at home.
He was partial to cold weather himself, growing up in the North Blue. He was happy to be back, even if he was only sailing through. He vaguely registered Bepo's excited chattering as the bear took in the cool breeze. Law was too content just staring out in the ocean to pay much attention to what his navigator was saying.
And in the span of a second his mood changed.
"Bepo, pass me the telescope." He demanded, eyes narrowing at the speck in the distance. It was too small to be a marine ship, but that didn't mean anything. The first mate quickly did as his Captain asked, bringing the brass instrument to him as he peered through it.
A boat. A tiny rowboat. Law frowned, there was no logical reason a rowboat would be this far out into the ocean. Not only that, but it seemed to be halfway sunken underwater. He didn't see anyone sitting in it, only a half snapped oar tilting out of the vessel.
"Is that a rowboat?" Bepo asked, squinting.
"It appears so." Law responded, not taking his eye away from the telescope. He gave a deep sigh as he gave in to his curiosity, he just knew he was going to regret this.
"Bepo, bring us in closer." He ordered. The bear nodded and went below deck to redirect them.
By this point most of his crew had noticed his attentions. They had crowded behind their Captain, trying their hardest to see what he was peering at. Law ignored the curious mumbling behind him as he felt the sub turn slightly and the shape gradually grow closer.
Eventually the sub was close enough that Law could peer into the rowboat. It didn't seem to be empty at all, instead a girl was laying on the bottom of the boat. She appeared to be unconscious or asleep, she was covered in blood and her matted hair floated a bit in the boat. He could see that she had shoved some seaweed into a tiny hole in the boat, that would explain the half sunken state of the ship.
He looked back at his crew, eyeing their nervous but urgent expressions. He sighed, he knew exactly what his crew was thinking and as much as he hated to admit it he agreed with them. He was supposed to be a ruthless killer, thats what he reminded himself anyways as he prepared to call out to the woman.
"Hey!" He yelled, his low voice loud over the sounds of the small waves. "You! Hey!" He tried again. The girl seemed to twitch a bit and squeezed her eyes shut as she rolled onto her back. With a stretch she opened them and sat up.
She froze. When she saw the giant submarine and the pirate crew staring down at her she scrambled a bit, reaching for her broken oar as she pointed it at them threateningly. Law just raised an eyebrow as she seemed to look for the right words to say.
"Stay away from me!" She called out. She seemed shocked at her own voice for a moment, frowning a little as her attention was diverted. Law was just silent, watching her.
"You are injured." He stated, snapping her out of her inner dialogue. "No I'm not!" She argued, voice still a little hesitant. The look on Law's face seemed to tell her otherwise.
"What do you want from me!?" She demanded, oar still pointed at them. She was leaned back and Law could see how thin she was. She looked awful if he was honest with himself.
"Well I happen to be in a very generous mood today, so I was going to offer to take you to the nearest island and drop you off." He began, he noted her skeptical look and rolled his eyes. "If you'd prefer to float along in that death trap until you die, be my guest."
She seemed to be conflicted for a moment. Finally she seemed to realize that what he was saying was true and nodded to him.
"Alright…" She agreed.
"Swim to the side of the sub and we will pull you up." Law told her, the crew already preparing a length of rope.
"I can't…" she responded, sounding conflicted again.
"Why not?" He inquired nonchalantly. "I can't swim…" she said in the same confused sounding tone. Law raised an eyebrow once more.
"You don't know how to swim and you decided to take a shitty rowboat out in the middle of the sea?"
"No, I know how to swim! I just can't…" She said. Law didn't say anything, just stared at her dully.
"Have it your way then." He offered with a shrug, beginning to walk away from the railing.
"Captain! You…I mean we aren't going to leave her, are we?" Shachi asked, trying miserably to mask his concern. Both of his engineers had too much heart to be pirates, thats what he had told them when they had asked to join. But they were as loyal to him as he was to them.
"Troublesome." Law muttered as crossed the deck to the coil of rope. He took his nodachi from his sheath and cut a section of it off. "Room."
Suddenly the girl was encased in a blue sphere, he ignored the surprised shout from her as he switched her places with the cut portion of rope.
Just like that the girl was on deck. Her long dark brown hair was matted and stained with blood, it hung in her face but Law could still make out her eyes. They were a murky brown with flecks and splashes of green mixed in. The next thing his attention was drawn to was her cheek. She had two scars running parallel from her cheekbone to just past the corner of her lips. The scar was old and slightly puckered, done in a single clear stroke.
She was malnourished. He could tell that much even through the much too big grey t-shirt she wore and the dirty and faded floral knee-length skirt covering her legs. Her face was sunken in, she was an unhealthy shade of pale and her arms and legs were thin and bony. Her collarbone stuck out and her eyes were surrounded by dark circles. Not to mention the blood she was covered in.
"Come with me. I'll treat you." He told her, turning without checking to see if she had gotten up to follow.
"You're a doctor?" She asked incredulously, it was the first time Law had heard her speak in a way that had not sounded confused or scared. Law's lips quirked a bit as he turned too look back at her and gave her a simple nod.
Had she never heard of him? Law wasn't a self absorbed man, but he knew his wanted poster had been slapped on almost every wall in every village. Even the smallest child knew who he was, and knew to fear him. But this girl acted as though she had never heard a thing about him.
He continued walking, his only sign that she followed him were the footsteps behind him. He could tell there were more than just one pair, as he reached the medical room he turned to see why. Penguin and Shachi had been slowly pushing the reluctant girl along, Jean-Bart in the back.
Law gave a grin that sent a shiver down the girl's spine. "Why don't you boys go get Vincent to cook something up for our guest. I'll take good care of her."
He took a sort of sadistic pleasure in the way her eyes widened in slight panic before she regained a sense of control. Shachi and Penguin reluctantly followed Jean-Bart to the kitchen as Law opened the door for the girl. She walked inside slowly, her thin limbs trembling oh so slightly. The Captain went to wash his hands and put on some latex gloves as the girl sat on the examination table.
"Whats your name?" Law asked as he grabbed a few tools.
"Elena." She responded simply, offering nothing more. "Whats yours?" She asked.
So he was right. She really did have no inkling of who his was.
"Law. Trafalgar Law." He said, moving to examine the girl. He pulled a bucket of water and a sponge with him as he began to sponge the blood off of her arms and legs. As he did so he frowned, he was only finding small cuts and scrapes.
"Where are your injuries?" He questioned, not looking up as he tried to search for the source of the bloodbath covering her.
"I told you, I'm not injured." She insisted. Law just gave her a withering look, not in the mood for any kind of games.
"Then where did all this blood come from?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.
"It's not mine." She said, looking down at her hands. Now that was surprising. The woman was so tiny and frail that he highly doubted she could cause that much destruction. Not in her state.
"Can I ask you a question?" She said, interrupting his train of thought. Law didn't say anything, only looked at her. She must have taken his silence as affirmation, as she began to speak. "What you did on deck, with me and the rope, are you a devil fruit user?"
Law simply nodded, waiting for her to get to her point. "Do you…I mean, how did you figure out how to use it?" She asked. She wasn't timid, that wasn't the right word. No, she was bold but her mannerisms seemed to tell him otherwise. She was closed off, folded in on herself as though she wanted to take up as little space as possible.
"Why the interest?" He asked, causing her to look nervous again.
"No reason." She said. Law wasn't an idiot. Did she want to find a devil fruit? Did she already have one? He doubted she was asking out of pure curiosity, but he decided to let it go for the time being. She was starting to smell, the blood and dirt wafting through the room and causing him to wrinkle his nose.
He stood, pushing his chair back to the corner and removing his gloves. "If you aren't injured then I'll have Shachi show you to the showers and give you something clean to wear."
With that he left, calling for his crew member as she sat on the examination table and stared after him.
He didn't know what possessed him to take pity on her, he was supposed to be ruthless. Well, he was in a good mood.