It had been close to dusk when they had arrived at Sage's Island.
Ginger glanced about and saw that the island was not only lush with green vegetation but had small cottages situated near the forest. It was almost like any other island when it came to housing fugitives from the law. Bandits, outlaws and even pirates enjoyed islands that were far from the watchful eye of the World Government.
Four teams had already dispersed when they landed, leaving her with four other Marines as support. Unlike most soldiers who carried around a sword or two she was equipped with only two daggers that hung from either side of her waist. She didn't plan to have to use much more force than necessary to arrest Berserker Jax. His nickname spoke for him when it came to his history with violence. According to his files he had slaughtered dozens of Marines through sheer brute force alone. Ginger didn't plan to fight, and yet she didn't underestimate him and his potential. She would make sure that they conducted this arrest as thorough and safely as possible.
"Ensign Rogiko, is it true we're the only ones going to be arresting this man?"
"They don't call him Berserker for nothing." Another Marine added, shifting uneasily in his steps while his hands clung onto his rifle.
Ginger looked back at the two. "The higher-ups want to see if we can handle this without support." Her eyes flickered up ahead to the dirt path that cut through the forest. "Then again, he could've set a trap and we would be walking into our planned demise." Though she couldn't see their reactions she knew that they were apprehensive and annoyed at her calm explanation.
When she took a step forward on the dock she suddenly lost her footing and fell face first upon the wooden surface. The Marines scrambled to her side only to have her mumble a 'Don't help me!' while propping herself up. In a quick second she was on her feet once more while rubbing the tip of her nose. The pain subsided and she groaned as the soldiers looked at one another.
"Who the hell made this dock so slippery in the first place?" Her frown deepened as she glanced at them.
The blond-haired Marine of the four looked down. "There's no sign of water anywhere, uh, Ensign."
Ginger sighed, "Obviously. Someone just made this dock slippery with something is all." She rubbed her nose again and glared at the deck before stomping her foot upon it.
A Marine with a prominent scar running across the bridge of his nose spoke up, "Isn't that what you said when you fell overboard two nights ago?"
"That was different! Someone built the rails to low." She brought her hands to her waist further emphasizing her point. "What kind of shipwright builds rails on a ship that come up to your waist?"
When none decided to point out that she was merely clumsy in her actions she instead began to walk forward with them trailing behind her. "I don't care. We have a bounty to catch. I don't have time to argue on who the real idiot is."
The Marine with the black-rimmed bifocals pushed them further up his nose. The glare from the setting sun flashing upon his lens. "What is our plan of action?"
"Shoot anything that moves."
He frowned at Ginger's answer but didn't offer a retort.
The last Marine was a scrawny man who was a few years younger than her. He was perhaps 19 at best with peach colored hair covering his head and chin. He nervously looked around as they passed the cottages that lined the pathway, noticing that none of the residents had come out to greet them. In fact, it was quiet on the island, nothing but the waves hitting the shore with the birds flying overhead.
"Going into the forest now seems like too much of an easy trap, Ensign Rogiko," Blondie noted, surveying the area up ahead with a concerned frown, "and the fact that this village is quiet seems too suspicious to overlook."
"We have four other teams on this island, we can corner anyone who poses a threat." Scar gave his colleague a cheeky grin. "Don't get so nervous. We're Marines."
Ginger looked off to the side, inspecting each cottage as they passed. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a figure in one of the windows. The young girl couldn't have been older than six. She allowed the others to pass her as she slowly kept an eye on the child. At the last second the little girl turned away from the window with a somber expression. She shook her head, passing it off as the girl being frightened of them and fell back instep with the Marines.
Blondie licked his lips, and looked at Ginger with his frown still in place.
The rapid purupurupuru made her quickly pull the Transponder Snail from inside her coat pocket. The small snail nearly tumbled out of her hand as she scrambled to catch it.
They stopped mere feet from the entrance of the forest as she answered the call. "Ensign Rogiko!"
"What is it?" Ginger noted the distressed features on the blue snail.
"We were patrolling the eastern part of the island and noticed a ship going underwater."
The Marines gathered around her, sending each other confused looks as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Going underwater? A ship doesn't do that."
She heard the Marine over the Transponder Snail speaking, but she wasn't taking the information in. Everybody knew certain ships didn't submerge underwater it took a special kind of ship to do that, one that wasn't accessible to everyone but the lucky few. The remaining light was descending over the trees, basking the forest in twilight as the light began to seep back from the world. Ginger glanced up still hearing the Marine explaining the situation, however, she became distracted once she sensed that they were being watched from the forest.
"Quiet!" It was a sharp command that hushed the Marine on the line while the others became alert. When she was sure the threat lingered she began shouting commands, "I want your squad to enter through the east side of the forest. The plan has to remain in place. Relay the information to the rest of the squads; the plan is still in motion." She hung up before he could get another word in and motioned for the four to follow her.
If she was right then perhaps she knew who the submarine belonged to. From the recent headlines, she was well aware that the Strawhats were already making a name for themselves but they had an actual ship and hadn't been spotted near this island. Her teeth kept grinding against each other as she mentally ticked off the different crews. The only one that seemed possible of being here were the Heart Pirates. It didn't seem like a far-fetched idea, yet why exactly would they be on this island?
"Be on your guard," she warned them. "We could be arresting one man or several."
"What do you mean by several?" The teen inquired quietly, watching overhead as the last rays of the sun disappeared. "Uh, Ensign."
"Exactly what I said. If they saw a submarine off the coast then that could only mean that they could be pirates." She passed a glance over her shoulder and saw them exchange nervous looks once more. "The Heart Pirates to be exact."
They had come across a clearing in the forest not long after, the path cut off into two different directions. One stretched straight ahead while the other curved to the left. Once again she had that sinking feeling that they were being watched. She immediately dropped Jax from the list seeing as he was the type to rely on brawn rather than brain. The idea of being watched unnerved her, making her uneasy being out in the open separated from the rest of her men. No other call had come through, hoping that she was wrong she made the decision to split away from her current group.
"Go down this path, I'll take the left."
Blondie opened his mouth. "Ensign Rogiko, are you sure?"
"I don't like the feeling that we're being watched." She fixed the coat that hung from her shoulders, making sure that it didn't get in the way should she need to pull her weapons free. "I would rather handle it alone. You have your Transponder Snails. Use them to keep in touch." She was going already walking down the path without waiting for either of them to offer a reply.
The matter simply couldn't wait. It had to be dealt with accordingly.
Ginger had walked the path for what seemed like hours, but in reality only one hour had passed.
The sun had already set and the forest was eerily calm with a few animals here and there giving themselves away. She swept her black bangs out of her face, expression calm as she continued. No calls had come in through her snail. What should've been seen as a normal coincidence couldn't be accepted by her. The overwhelming feeling was back again in the pit of her stomach at the thought that something was amiss. How long had she been doing this? Two years had been spent in these exact same situations, and yet she wasn't as nervous as she was now. Captain Read was expecting success on this particular task, something else to show off to the other Marines who held their doubts that a child of a pirate could cut it out as a Marine.
The memory gnawed at her for a time, rearing its ugly head whenever she had her doubts. It was during those times that she wondered what life would've been like had she become a pirate like her mother. Would she be like Strawhat Luffy? Getting into strange but dangerous situations wherever she landed? Or would she be as ruthless as Whitebeard? Earning an infamous reputation in his generation? The scenarios flashed one at a time, and yet she felt as if neither suited her. For one thing, Monkey D. Luffy and Whitebeard were Captains in their own right. Ginger was in a position of power, but she didn't particualry enjoy it. She was satisfied being Master Chief Petty Officer Rogiko Ginger but somehow Captain Read had it in her head that she was best suited as a commissioned officer. And here she was.
Hunting an outlaw.
Her thoughts drifted to other pirates with infamous titles to them; Roronoa Zoro the Pirate Hunter, and even Trafalgar Law, Captain of the Heart Pirates. Now he, according to her men, was a sadistic son of a bitch. Her lips curved into a smile at the thought of running into the likes of him. What exactly would she do?
"Well, I can't arrest him. He wouldn't let me." She sighed. "I'm better off catching Rackham instead."
"He seems like a big guy."
The moment Ginger attempted to spin around was the opportunity her feet had to trip over themselves. This time she landed on her side with her arm breaking her fall on impact. Her eyes shot up but it took some time for them to adjust to the dark figure that stood a few feet from her. His figure was bigger than hers just at first glance, and his voice was deep yet scratchy when he spoke. Slowly, she got herself up without taking her eyes off of him.
There was no mistaking it; the man who stood in front of her was Berserker Jax Rackham.
"You're rather clumsy for a Marine," he took a step forward while Ginger's hand fell to the hilt of her dagger. "Clumsy and arrogant."
She smirked, keeping her calm as her other hand slipped into the pocket of her coat. "I'm arrogant? This coming from the outlaw with a pretty big bounty."
Jax stepped closer once again while she stayed still. The moon was bright enough to touch upon his features. His short orange hair was wild and unkempt with a red bandanna covering his forehead. On his back were two guns that seemed big enough for three Marines to carry each. There was definitely no mistake, it was him.
He had his arms folded across his chest as he inspected her from head to toe. "What rank are you?" Her fingers grasped around for her Transponder Snail, cursing herself mentally once she realized it was no where to be found. "Oh, I see. You're looking for something. Something to call the dead men with."
Ginger froze. The color drained from her face as her brown eyes widened in horror. Did he really kill them already? No. It was a trick, he wanted to taunt her, to catch her off guard so he could have the upper hand. If so, why did she feel the sudden panic from earlier?
He couldn't have killed them. They would've tried to call.
"I see the terror clear as day on your face, woman." Jax chuckled. "Your Marines are dead."
Regaining her composure was key and that was what she did. One hand unsheathed her dagger while the other gripped the other. "I'm placing you under arrest."
"For what?"
"Must I read you your crimes?"
"I have a feeling the Marines didn't tell you."
Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "If you have something to say-"
"I made a deal." The feeling was overwhelming again as the words died on her tongue. "I turn in my associates and the pirates I worked with in exchange for amnesty. We closed it not too long ago."
The words were out before she could stop them. "They wouldn't make a deal and send us here for nothing!" She didn't realize she had shouted until he rose an eyebrow at her. "You're lying! We don't make those kinds of deals with pirates or any other criminals! Certainly not outlaws with bounties like yours!"
His expression never changed, even though by now her anger was threatening to spill over. "What don't you get? My information is far too valuable for them to pass over. You shouldn't worry about me though, Ensign Rogiko." Her name came out in a taunt. "It's your men that you should be concerned about."
"What did you do?"
Jax's arms unfolded as he slowly reached into the pouch in front of him. Her hand gripped the dagger tightly while beads of sweat poured down the sides of her pale face. He was getting something, and for sure she knew it would be a weapon, but what he pulled out made her nearly lose her calm. A small green Transponder Snail was in his hand in a instant, its eyes closed as he held it up for her to see. It wasn't hers.
"I waited until the moment you split your men up into teams. I hunted them down and slaughtered them all. Then when I saw you leaving your squad, I decided to kill them too." Her eyes widened for the second time that night as he calmly explained the atrocities as though they were nothing. "You probably came to this island telling your men to not underestimate me, and you probably had the same idea too. You see, Ensign, you should've followed your own advice. Assuming I didn't have a plan was your first mistake."
"Why didn't you surrender if you made a deal!?"
Jax's eyes held hers. His blue eyes bore a hole through hers as the corners of his lips barely lifted. "I wanted a parting gift."
Ginger snapped. In a split second she rushed forward with her dagger in her left hand, slicing at him before coming to a stop once he had gotten her arm behind her back. Applying pressure he managed to make her release a grunt in response though she refused to drop her blade. Her other hand went to grip her upper arm as he continued to painfully, and slowly, apply more pressure. A pop in her wrist went unnoticed as she bit her bottom lip.
"Yes, that's correct." Somehow in the midst of having her arm pinned he was talking to someone. "Ensign Rogiko Ginger eliminated her entire squad." Ginger whimpered, causing Jax to twist his hand a certain way. Throbs of pain shot up her arm as she grunted in pain again on the verge of tears.
No.
Why couldn't she do anything to stop him? She shook from the pain that was going through her arm as her mind raced with the scenario that they were really dead. Blonde Keiji, Scar-nosed Ako, Bifocal Rege and even the kid. They couldn't all have been killed. She ordered the formation confident in knowing that they could take him down if they had to. They couldn't have been killed in one go, unless he did hunt them down and shot them with those large guns on his back.
"Did you hear me, Ensign? Is my story to your superiors believable?" He twisted his hand again which caused her to shriek. "You're probably thinking they won't because of my reputation. However, if you're still alive and on the run that's bound to make it true. Of course, I'll have the eyewitness accounts of the citizens to make this story plausible."
"Going into the forest now seems like too much of an easy trap, Ensign Rogiko, and the fact that this village is quiet seems too suspicious to overlook."
Ginger's eyes closed. Of course, she thought. That was why they didn't come out to greet us. He scared them into going along with it. She should've knocked on their doors, she should've reassured them that they could handle it, and suddenly the image of the little girl came to mind. That was why she staring at us. This entire time I brushed it off as her being too afraid of us, but in reality she was afraid for us.
She would rather die as a Marine than live her life as a fugitive for something she hadn't done. Being branded a murderer for these crimes was something she couldn't handle. At the same time, Ginger refused to believe they were dead. Jax had to have been saying that to get a rise out of her. If they truly were dead it would be her fault either way, she indirectly sent them to their demises. She was incompetent as a leader and as a soldier. Escaping like Jax wanted was the only solution, and yet how could she ever expect to live if the Marines caught her? The firing squad would take her life, same as her mother before her.
"Leave now, Ensign, or you can stay and be my prisoner."
Ginger's eyes opened, ignoring the searing pain in her arm she said, "I don't care. If my men are dead because of you then my life will be the justice they receive."
"Room."
Her eyes went from looking up at the sky to looking at a large blue sphere that appeared overhead and covered the area they were on. When she turned her head she was surprised to see that she had been right in this regard.
Trafalgar Law was staring right at her.