It took her a minute to realize that she was no longer being held in Jax's tight grip.

Ginger slowly brought her arm to her side without bothering to sheath her dagger. Trafalgar Law didn't move so much as an inch from where he stood, and when she looked behind her she found that Jax was glaring at him. Upon turning back she found that Law had shifted his gaze from her to Rackham instead. It was only the three of them in the area with the moonlight from overhead being their only source of light.

Her head was spinning and the pain in her arm was beginning to become uncomfortable as she continued to stare at him. Why had he saved her? Pirates despised the Marines and vice versa. There was no love between the two factions. So why now?

"Why are you interfering, Trafalgar?" Jax called to him. "This is none of your damn business."

Law's look of indifference shifted as a half smile upturned the corners of his lips. "We weren't done talking, Jax-ya." In his hand was a nodachi that rested comfortably against his right shoulder.

Ginger frowned when she noticed the blue sphere they were under had disappeared. She came to the conclusion that he indeed had a Devil Fruit power, cringing inwardly at the thought. She learned about the Devil Fruits and their selective powers from her mother who in turn despised rather than feared those who had inhabited said powers. The way her mother saw it, it gave the user a crutch to lean on rather than relying on their own physical strength to overcome a situation. She herself didn't show any outward hostility towards those who did, but at the same time she bore no love for them. To put it mildly, she became incredibly uneasy around Devil Fruit users.

"I don't care what you do with her," her attention went back to Law who in turn momentarily passed her a cold glare. "But you and I weren't finished." She turned away from him. The feeling of not wanting to remain around either of them any longer kicked in.

"Hold on, Trafalgar," Jax growled. "Then why did you switch her out with that shitty power of yours?"

Law tapped his shoulder with his nodachi as a careless grin replaced his frown. "Are you implying I'm not allowed to do what I want?"

Slowly she sheathed the dagger she had been wielding and before long she took off in a sprint past Law. All that was on her mind were her men. She didn't care if Jax or Law went after her. All she cared about was finding out the truth about what happened to her squad. I can still make it. Her Transponder Snail was no longer on her person as she continued to run through the dark forest, evading low branches and loose twigs on the way. I can still make it. She hit the area where the first team would've entered from, finding nothing but the forest floor. She walked a few feet and looked around for anything that was amiss.

Nothing. He hadn't fired his guns because she would've heard them if he had. So where were they?

She had twenty-four men to account for as she continued in her search. The entire time her thoughts would drift back to Trafalgar Law. She wondered again why he had bothered to even save her. What would he gain? Certainly nothing. Perhaps a hostage but that was unlikely. Admirals were the ideal hostages in most cases and the rest merely ended up as stains on the ground. Ginger was no different from them. Then again, he said he didn't care for her well-being and implied that she was merely in the way of his and Jax's discussion.

When she paused to listen she noticed that there was no sign that Jax or Law had followed her.

Instead, she focused on her search. She was disappointed to find that it was too dark to see anything and just by looking around she realized that moonlight wasn't enough.

"Damn it," Ginger cursed while tentatively gripping her left arm. The pain throbbed, and suddenly she felt disgusted. In sheer anger she clutched the coat with her other hand, pulled it off her shoulders, and threw it to the ground. Her teeth clenched as their faces, one by one, flashed through her mind. The thought that they were dead because of her upset her greatly.

"He didn't kill them. I know it." She looked through the bushes, sighing in frustration when she found nothing. Staying in one spot wouldn't help and so she continued along while looking from side to side.

"Ensign Rogiko!"

Her head whipped to the right where she spotted one of her men running towards her from a clearing. A smile crept upon her face as she waited for him. She recognized that it was Keiji, and a sigh of relief made it all to easy to deem it safe.

The hushed winds swept across the trees with a sudden blow, causing her smile to drop as she looked up. Her eyes widened in surprise as Jax Rackham rushed down to her from above with lightning speed.

"Keiji!" She thrusted herself forward and out of his way.

"Ensign!" He called out to her as she quickly blocked Jax's blow with her arm.

He lifted his leg and aimed for her side until she used her left hand to stop him by grabbing his knee. Unfortunately, the defense position left her vulnerable to his headbutt, and with a forceful push she was sent skidding across the ground. Discomfort and irritation set in rapidly through her head.

The Marine looked from her to Jax. Anger was clear in his eyes as he unsheathed his sword and held it in front of him. "He killed half of our men! They may want him alive but he has to pay!"

"Keiji, don't be stupid! You're no match for him." Ginger was on her feet in an instant as the pain lingered in her head and arm. She flinched as she felt blood trickle slowly down the side of her face. Her eyes were on Keiji as she slid her dagger out of place again. "Listen, take the others and board the ship with the villagers-if they'll go. Then sail back to headquarters. Sage's Island is not safe for anyone."

His eyes slid to hers before quickly flickering back to Jax who was still. His face was calm, his lips were pursed in a thin line while his blue eyes glared at her. She could tell just from his posture and expression that he was annoyed rather than angry. Whether with her, the fact that some of the men were alive, or even with the fact that Trafalgar Law intervened she didn't know. All she knew for certain was that she had to stall him long enough for them to send out a distress call and evacuate. One way or another she wouldn't let him win.

"That's an order!" But he didn't budge and neither did the hatred in his eyes. "Get out of here!"

"I can't do that," Keiji finally murmured. "I can't. Not after he killed them one by one in front us. He killed our young recruit. Ensign...he snapped his neck like a twig and Ako went after him. We couldn't hear anything because he made sure we didn't!"

She had opened her mouth but suddenly found herself frozen in place. The trees swayed again but this time Ginger noticed that there was no sound. All around it had become dead silent. Though she couldn't hear her breaths she knew she was breathing because she could feel it, that and her heartbeat which was steadily rising as she became uncomfortable with the silence.

The hand that held her dagger trembled as did her body. Breathe. The voice inside her head was her own as she calmed herself. Jax had to be manipulating this, and if that was the case then she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. What she hadn't noticed before was that she saw nothing but darkness, and although she would've lost her cool she forced herself to relax by closing her eyes.

I'm not letting him get away with this.

She brought a hand to her face and slapped her cheek, light at first, before delivering a hard smack. She could faintly hear it resounding back and could feel the pain it brought on.

And suddenly it was all over.

The heavy feeling of impending darkness, the absence of sound, all of it was gone in an instant.

It wasn't until she opened her eyes that Ginger watched in horror as Jax held Keiji by the face while the latter struggled against his grip. No. She surged forward and in one large sweep aimed it to slice Jax's hand off. Blood dripped from the wound and from her blade as the breath was taken from her. No. His body fell to the ground with a loud thump while blood continued to flow free from his slit throat. Her teeth bit down on her lip but Keiji didn't move.

"I'm surprised, Ensign Rogiko. How did you escape from the range of my Sound-Sound fruit?" Jax's tone was mocking. He didn't care that he had made her kill her own man indirectly.

The sight of seeing Keiji dead on the ground in front of her was enough to send her over the deep end, yet she merely stood somehow hoping that he was still alive. The thought was unlikely as Ginger made sure that when she struck she put enough force to inflict a lethal wound. That was how she was able to take down most criminals who refused to be arrested. This was what she intended to do with Jax.

"He was right. I made sure the men I slaughtered didn't hear me coming. It was mercy now that you think about it, Ensign." His hand shot out and clutched the front of her dress shirt. His fist crumpled the black fabric as she looked up at him, eyes showing nothing but hate while Jax smirked. "I intended to do the dirty work and leave you with the credit, but if you were that desperate to be rid of him-"

The end of her blade was brought down on his wrist, causing Jax to grunt in pain. Ginger's other hand kept his wrist in a tight grip as her hand twisted the blade in deeper. He balled his free hand into a fist and hit her once in the temple. The blow didn't deter her from her task and instead she responded back by dragging it down his arm as his grunts turned into choked yells. His tanned flesh tore open while blood slowly trickled out from the deep laceration. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his fingers making rapid movements, and again the sound from around them was becoming distant.

She dragged the knife out of his arm and into his chest.

One by one the sounds from around them returned, one of them being Jax's pained yell before he shoved her back. His hand removed the knife from his chest and flung it at her as she dodged. With the last of her energy she kicked him the force sending him flying back.

Ginger stood up, grabbed her knife, and made her way to where he had landed. Blood was seeping through his shirt from the chest wound she had inflicted on him as well as his arm. Her eyes showed no emotion as she pointed the end of her dagger at him.

Jax saw her, and the hate was evident. "...You-"

"-I'm bring you back to headquarters," she said icily, "but unfortunately you won't be alive to answer for your crimes."

A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!