CHAPTER 19 - Nightmares: Part 3

The plan had gone south to investigate the castle. Zoro was swept away by the river. Kanao finished the bat demon off before pursuing the man. Her priorities remained with Zoro. The Pirate Hunter travelled a few kilometres north-east along the river. He failed to employ Armament Haki and his back ached from the fall upon hard rocks. It was a miracle he was breathing, but the current led him ashore at one point ending the water ride. He got up and looked around, discovering a valley covered with forests all around. He was lost.

And that bothered Kanao's thoughts. It had been a while before she found his landfall location, observing footprints leaving the small beach. It was not looking good. She looked around and realised that there was little hope believing the man returning back to Shi-niju. Kanao must find him before winds blow south with the situation.

Hawkins couldn't back down after his opponents demanded to confront him alone. He was the leader of the Beast Pirates group. He ordered no intervention from the others

Blades clashed. Shinobu and Kanae made a coincident attack. Hawkins was impressed with their combined strength. The rally broke off, both the sides getting to know each other.

"I was supposed to capture the perpetrators but I'll have to kill you for the sake of my survival." Hawkins said, remembering the prediction on his cards.

Shinobu made the first move, piercing through her enemy, "Butterfly Dance: Caprice!"

Hawkins blocked the lethal strikes imbued with poison. Despite his effort, a few of them slid past his defence, piercing him at two points. Blood spewed.

Shinobu turned around surprised to find Hawkins' sword turn into a large straw mesh. She realised the surface area managed to block her direct attack. Two pirates in his group agonised from the poison Hawkins had received.

"What is that blade?" Kanae asked.

"This is my Straw Sword." Hawkins replied.

"A Devil Fruit power." Shinobu cautioned.

Hawkins was surprised by her knowledge of Devil Fruits.

"And it seems somehow conjoined to his friends." Shinobu added her speculation. The agony observed from the two unfortunate pirates.

"Very observant." Hawkins acknowledged, "I can see that you've shown your calibre. I don't believe I had heard the use of poison before in your previous shenanigans."

"That's because I hadn't." Shinobu replied, "I don't expect to use my blade on a human, but you are an exception."

Things began to solve in her head. The reason Zoro had surrendered to Hawkins back at the coastal village.

"Tell me." she asked, "Did you use that Devil Fruit power of yours to hold those village civilians hostages?"

Kanae was surprised to hear.

"I don't know how your powers work, but I'm correct now, aren't I?" Shinobu demanded.

"You are a sharp one." Hawkins said, a little impressed from her demeanour, "Tell me, you are not one of his crew, are you? Last I observed, the only women in their crew were Nico Robin and 'Cat Burglar' Nami."

"I'm not." Shinobu replied, "My name is Shinobu Kocho and I'm a Demon Slayer."

"I see." Hawkins nodded, aiming his Straw-blade upon her, "Either way, you have declared war against the Beast Pirates and I am one of their Headliners. The name's Basil Hawkins."

"I know your name. We met in the village."

"Of course." Hawkins said, "I don't particularly have the details for why you have allied with Roronoa Zoro, and extending to Trafalgar Law, I know he's on the island. You've made a bad decision. Roronoa's captain Monkey D. Luffy and Trafalgar Law have messed with Emperor Kaido's plans, having defeated the pirate Warlord Doflamingo, an ally of our business. Now, Kaido is a man who should not be pissed, and we have to take retaliation on the morons that dared to challenge him."

"The choice was my own." Shinobu said.

"It doesn't matter. We don't discriminate any class of people as long as they are our enemy." Hawkins engaged his Straw sword, enhancing it with large amounts of his powers, creating a Straw Monster out of his blade, "Straw Man's Card."

"As I've said, you are going to die." Hawkins declared, swinging his blade. The straw monster rushed towards Shinobu.

"Breath of Flower - Fourth Form - Crimson Hanagoromo." Kanae slashed Hawkins with her technique. The repercussions were felt by another one of the pirates. Hawkins grabbed her left shoulder with his left arm.

"You will become one of my dolls." Hawkins mentioned. His arm turning into straws. A straw doll was produced from his hand. He dropped Kanae, resuming his attention upon Shinobu.

"What did you do to her?" the latter demanded.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Hawkins tempted. His straw monster spit a barrage of nails. Shinobu got hit but managed to get out before the nails engulfed her. The attack made her bleed through her wounds. The straw monster closed in on her disadvantage, holding out its large club, embedded with spikes.

"Fifth Form - Peonies of Futility!" Kanae tried to stop Hawkins from going in for the kill. It was a combination of nine consecutive attacks that flowed and slashed the target at the same point. It was a strong move with the intention to bring the enemy down. Kanae lost control after the second hit. To her surprise, two gashes appeared on her torso, weakening her body functions, though zombified. She fell to the ground, dropping her sword.

"Kanae!" Shinobu shouted.

Hawkins observed the fallen opponent. He believed, she been her own cause of demise.

"And I thought I'd used her substitute doll for later." Hawkins wasn't pleased. Either way, he believed victory was near. The spiked club smashed the ground. Shinobu evaded the attack but knew that Hawkins would soon get the better of her. But she wasn't the one to go done without a fight. She managed to dodge the club and further nail spits, grabbing hold of her sister's sword. Kanae watched Shinobu fight the monster of a man all by herself.

"Two-Sword Style?" Kanae wondered, for her sister was a One-sword user and that too, specialised in injecting poison.

Shinobu got stronger during her journey on the seas, fighting alongside Zoro, Law and Tomioka. Kanae observed her amazing increase in resilience since her remembered younger days, and also, after their fight, back on the island.

Shinobu couldn't risk getting close to Hawkins, increasing the chance of being trapped at close-ranged. She could either stall long enough to make an escape with Kanae, or fight back from a range. The latter sounded better. She thought of Zoro. The man who hadn't backed from some of the most formidable battles. Shinobu felt he would be ashamed of her to have made a cowardly move. She remembered the sea-pursuit against Moria's ship, the observation of Zoro's techniques and the miraculous attack from her held Kitetsu that sliced a rear portion of Moria's ship. She knew the answer.

Shinobu held Kanae's sword horizontal above her shoulder arm. Kanae realised what she was up to.

"One-Sword Style - 36 Pound Phoenix!" Shinobu found an opening in Hawkins defence and made a circular swing. To her surprise, the Flying Slash indeed formed, rushing towards the target in a spiral. Kanae was amazed. Hawkins didn't expect it coming. It gashed him with a heavy blow throwing him off balance. He fell to the ground. The pirates were shocked. Another one of them was taken out. Shinobu stood up, heaving from the stress that relied on the attack. It had its uncertainty, and Shinobu would've needed to pay big if the Flying Slash had failed. The straw monster fell and went silent with Hawkins, but Kanae knew the fight was far from over. Hawkins would get back up again.

To her surprise, a shoulder got hold of her right arm. Shinobu panicked and almost attempted to slice the intruder.

"I used that technique against a Shandorian warrior back in Sky Island. That was when I had mastered the Flying Slash. I'm surprised, that wasn't half bad."

"Zoro!" Shinobu exclaimed. Kanae was surprised to see the man.

"I heard you were looking for me." Zoro beamed at Shinobu.

"How did you find us?" Shinobu asked.

"I believe he got lost again." Kanae simpered.

Zoro was taken aback, but her situation caught his attention.

"You don't look good." he commented.

"I'm the least you should be troubled about." Kanae replied.

"We'll get to the questions later. That pirate still lives." Shinobu brought Zoro back to the situation.

The Pirate Hunter recognised the Magician.

"Basil Hawkins, huh? I guess fate works in different ways. I was looking for him." Zoro said.

TO BE CONTINUED…