Run For It! Red-Haired Saviour!
She wanted to risk it. Really, she did, but the images of her nieces' faces were still fresh in her mind, so she couldn't bring herself up to run away. He'd catch her in a heartbeat, but besides that, she had given him her word. As a lady, she always tried keeping to her word. Plus, Mihawk had kept to his. He did not kill Zoro nor did he abduct her nieces either, which was something of a victory for her, albeit bittersweet.
The first thing Mia picked up on was that 'Hawk Eyes' Mihawk was not very sociable, which didn't surprise her one bit. He hadn't said a single thing since their departure. All in all he was aloof, relaxed and disinterested – which was ironic because his behaviour strongly reminded her of Zoro's mannerisms.
He also hadn't looked at her, choosing instead to sit at the foot of the vessel and tip his hat over his face while he dozed on and off.
Mia was astounded. How on earth did he know where he was going? The vessel seemed to move by itself as if it had a mind of its own and knew exactly where it should be headed. This did little to soothe her nerves. It was already astonishing to her that a pirate travelled the seas with nothing more than a chair glued to piece of driftwood.
"This is not my real ship," he said suddenly, like he had read her thoughts. She shivered, thinking that he might actually have telepathic abilities. Though from she had witnessed mere moments ago, she was starting to consider that Mihawk was anything besides human. He was some type of supernatural being for sure. The way he held off Zoro with ease made her think he could possibly be some kind of god or otherworldly being.
"Does the real one have two seats?" she replied cheekily, though not without a hint of nerves in her voice. By no means was she comfortable around him. He was unpredictable. She could say one thing that upset him and he could kill her in a split second.
He grinned, evidently having a sense of humour underneath that cold exterior. "I just wanted to console you. You seemed worried. Let me assure you I know the seas inside and out. I could travel in just a wooden barrel if it were comfortable enough to nap in one."
Mia pulled a discreet face. This man was insane. Travel in a barrel? How absolutely asinine! And to think he had come across as graceful and dignified in his fighting style. Then again, he was a pirate and Mia had a few strong opinions about those.
"Am …am I going to die?' she asked, voice low and shaky. Mihawk kept his back to her, despite the intensity of her question he did not convey any sympathy or comfort for her predicament – because he was her predicament when she actually thought about it.
"I have no business with what the World Government wants with you," he admitted lazily, stifling a yawn. He seemed indifferent to the fact that she was on edge, but she was certain that he noticed.
Mia was indignant. "You're a pirate! Why are you working for the World Government anyway?"
He spared her a sideways glance that sent chills up her spine. "I am one of the seven War Lords of the sea," he drawled, not even offended that she was unaware of this authority and power he seemed to own. Then again, judging by his choice in voyage, he was probably not a particularly flashy man. On the other hand though, his sword was ridiculously large and certainly made a statement.
Mia blinked. "You are a what?"
His hat tipped up and he raised an eyebrow. "You don't know."
"I'm new to this world," she admitted, thought she was under the impression that he was already away of this fact as he so boldly stated not even an hour ago, he knew what she was.
She had his full attention now. He turned in his relaxed posture and threw her a curious look over his shoulder. "This world? Please elaborate."
Mia blinked at his lazy expression. It was astonishing how much he reminded her of Zoro.
She furrowed her eyebrows at him, confused. "You know what I am, yet you don't know where I'm from?"
Mihawk shifted back into a comfortable posture and tipped his hat forward to shield the sun from his eyes. "I am by no means an expert on the subject. All I can tell you is that your kind is not unheard of in this world."
He stopped for a second, perhaps expecting her to interrupt or inquire. Yet, without looking back at her, he continued.
"Almost 30 years ago there was an infamous Water Elemental who scoured the seas and the pirates and marines that were in it. She brought storms and hurricanes that were thought to be the end of the world."
Mia blanched. Who in Neptune's world was this? The only other Water Elementals were her, the twins and their mother, her sister Nera. What if this was all some kind of misunderstanding and she was being mistaken for some kind of maniac or monster that wanted to destroy the world all those years ago?
Mihawk tipped his hat up a bit. "There was a legendary battle – between the woman we named the Witch of the Sea and the man that would be Pirate King, Gol. D. Roger. Roger won, setting the seas back to the way we all knew it."
"I-I …wh- …" Mia was speechless. Was it possible that her kind had been in this world before? But it did not make sense! There was no record back home of any travels to this world before! And back home everyone was adamant on their paperwork!
Suddenly a few things made sense. How the Marines had known of their existence after Mera and Nino had helped Luffy rescue Zoro from them, and also how Zeff, an old-aged pirate, recognised them when they used the water-manipulating abilities. It had stumped her in the beginning, but it made a little sense now.
"But, the only other Water master who could actually turn the ocean upside down is …" Mia stopped her words, paling at her own realization. First, she was appalled, then, absolutely and utterly furious.
"No! It …it cannot be!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Mihawk narrowed his eyes suspiciously, keeping a close watch on her movements lest she run. She paid him no mind, utterly infuriated by her realization. "Could it have been Nera? Who else? I mean, the way you describe it, very short mind you, makes me think it could have been her. But then again, who else? Nera and the other are the first generation. There is no one else in this world that seems to possess water abilities. Elemental powers, yes, for sure. But water? It contrasts with the Devil Fruits. It …it could only be her."
Quirking an eyebrow, Mihawk merely listened to her mutterings as Mia tried to make sense of her thoughts.
Thirty years ago? Mia pieced together the timeline. Thirty years ago …their mother passed away. Her sisters had a big fight. Everyone stormed off to different realms and worlds. Some of them disappeared for years.
Including Nera.
It hit Mia like a hard rock in her stomach. Mihawk studied her reaction closely with careful curiosity. There was no denying she was gradually growing more outraged by the second. Such behaviour went against everything they were taught back home. Everything that Nera taught Mia even, now that she was on the subject!
"Do you have any idea how much grief she gives me?" Mia's voice and form trembled as she struggled to regain her composure. "And now I hear she literally tormented the oceans of the pirate world when she was practically my age? What a hypocrite. I knew it. I knew she couldn't be so perfect." She let her short rant come out in soft growls and mutters, bitter from her sister's treatment of her over the past few years. Not that she felt like elaborating on it at this moment, and certainly not in front of Mihawk
To think after all these years, Mia would finally get some clarification on Nera's travels in her own youth. Though it was no secret that Nera had a temper, Mia was rather shocked to learn that she ...well, seemed to want to take over this world. Or destroy it. Or whatever, Mia did not even know.
This was incredibly and irreversibly unfair to the largest degree. Not only had she been forced to run after her nieces when they entered this world without any permission or preparation, but she was now forced to answer for her snobby sister's crimes. What in all the realms had she done wrong to deserve this unjustly treatment? Did Neptune not have any mercy to spare on her pretty little head?
"Of course, to the new generation, it is merely an old folk's tale. I'm curious," Mihawk voiced, obviously amused at the fit she had suddenly thrown. He unexpectedly got on his feet. "That woman destroyed many ships and vessels in her tyranny. Do you possess her abilities?"
"No," Mia answered without thinking, blinking suddenly. Mihawk frowned down at her at her frankness and modesty. She gave him an indifferent look, trying to push down her sullenness. "She's Miss Perfect, I'm afraid. She mastered the Element long before I was born. She was a natural. My five eldest sisters are all naturals, experienced warriors, while the youngest I and had to take the back seat to their supremacy. I am a healer, and a teacher. Nothing more."
Mihawk seemed amused. "Do I detect a hint of bitterness?"
Mia sighed, eyes turning to the side to lose her focus on the waves of the ocean's surface. "Bitterness is not even scarping the surface of it. Not that it is any of your business," she quipped in a low tone of voice, not forgetting that she was still a prisoner at the moment.
The waters carried a light breeze that grazed through her hair, tickling the side of her face. She took a moment to read the sea, to try and gain some insight on their position, but it was to no avail – the waters found her a stranger and did not want to communicate with her. She inwardly groaned. If only she was more complacent, the waters might trust her more. Alas, not for now.
"I'm very curious now. There are more of you?" Mihawk asked, voice coated with said curiosity, yet there was still an underlying danger that kept Mia on edge. His voice affected her in the strangest way, yet she could testify that she had never in all her life come across a man like Mihawk.
Mia paused. "You're being awfully chatty all of a sudden." Before he could respond, she shrugged, a very unladylike gesture that would have Nera smack her over the head.
Well, to hell with Nera. Mia finally had something on her.
"I don't need to tell you anything. Just wake me when we get there," she muttered, turning her face away from him.
Not knowing exactly where there was, she turned in the seat and struggled to get comfortable, which was impossible. Nonetheless, she found a position that was suitable enough to rest in and closed her eyes. Her mind screamed at her to not fall asleep with such a dangerous man near her, but she was too tired to reason with herself. She just shut out her conscious, and fell into the darkness of sleep.
XXXXXXXXXXX
The small little boat was rocking when she was jerked out of her sleep. To her favour, the sun was still bright, high in the air to signal the hottest time of the day. She rubbed the sleep in her eyes and stretched, only to find herself stiff from sleeping in a very uncomfortable position. She sat up slowly and took in her surroundings.
Mihawk was sitting still at the edge of the boat, hat tipped over his face and figure slouched in a lazy manner. Mia craned her neck to try and find the gleaming gold from his eye, but found his eyelids drooped underneath the shadow of his hat. Taking a breath, she dared to stand, albeit unsteadily as the vessel was still annoyingly rickety.
She breathed. "Mihawk?" She kept her voice soft, softer than a breeze. Feeling brave, she carefully placed one of her small hand on his shoulder and ever so slightly shook him. All she got in response was a light snore and a fidgety roll of one of his shoulders. Still looking down at him cautiously, she bit her lip. She turned her head to survey the waters. The wind had certainly picked up, but the waters were still manageable.
Something in the distance caught her eye. She squinted and hooded her eyes from the sun to try and get focus on it. Her eyes widened in realization. An island!
Taking another hesitant glance at her captor, Mia gracefully padded on the balls of her feet and, thanking the gods above that she wasn't wearing any shoes, took a few steps closer to test his slumber again.
"Mi-hawk." She drawled out this time in a singsong voice, but still kept her volume low. He didn't respond. Out as a rock.
Mia then stood up straight, and then, bolted.
'I'm sorry, Mihawk. I know I gave you my word. I just really fancy the thought of not dying,' she thought a little remorsefully as she ran across the waters in renewed strength.
When one was a Water Elemental, one of the first things one is taught is to run on water and Mia was luckily very skilled in this particular department. So without throwing caution to the wind, literally, she dashed like a madwoman in the direction of the island. In her rush, she felt water spray on her calves and legs at the fury at which her legs worked.
Her heartbeat was frantic. She didn't even have the courage to look over her shoulder to see if Mihawk had noticed her absence. Surely she'd caused the vessel to wobble with her uncontrolled movements. He'd be furious once he'd notice her absence. Her adrenaline was already running high. In fact, her brain shut off. There was not even a single thought that came to mind as she ran for her life.
It felt like an hour, but sure enough she reached the island. When she hit the shore, she collapsed on the beach, heaving from what was probably the most intense sprint of her young adult life. The warmth of the sand comforted the side of her face as her heavy breathing racked through her body. Her legs were on fire.
She then sensed that she wasn't alone.
"Hey! What do we have here?" A male voice said all of a sudden. She had not even noticed someone on the beach. Perhaps he was sitting in the shade underneath the palm trees and noticed her sudden arrival. No doubt he stumped seeing a woman run on the ocean's surface.
"Could be a mermaid, don't you think? Certainly pretty enough to be one. Was I imagining it, or was she runnin' on the water?" Oh, he has a friend. Lovely.
"Could be a devil fruit ability."
"You idiot, then water would weaken her! She'd sink!"
"Oh yeah."
Having got some of her breath back, Mia raised her face from the sand, some grains sticking to the side of her face. She saw two figures tower over her. Though they had weapons on them, their faces were friendly and nonthreatening. That was surely a change to what she usually came across in this world.
"You okay, sweetheart? You look like you've been running for your life," the one man asked, a little concerned as well as a little teasingly.
"Are …are you pirates?" Mia asked between breaths, trying to pick herself off the ground. The water of the sea tickled her at her feet. Her arms trembled beneath her weight. She wasn't a particularly large woman. In fact, she was only half a head shorter than Mihawk and her nieces were already catching up to her. All in all she would consider herself pretty slender. She was fit, yet would regard her physical form as feminine.
"Hey, don't strain yourself. We got ya."
She felt two pairs of arms grasp her underneath her shoulders and hoist her expertly on her feet. For a second she wobbled unsteadily, which they seemed to notice, for they kept a polite grip on her in case she toppled over.
"I'm …I'm being chased," she rasped, throat dry from her body overworking. She didn't even bother to try and focus, instead just numbly rubbed the sand off her cheek. The friction made her vision blur less.
One of the men then turned interested. "Huh? By other pirates? Or the marines? 'Cause we've been keeping close lookout and I ain't seen any marines."
Mia shook her head, finally getting her bearings. "No, by another pirate but …he works for the World Government."
The men seemed to blanch. "A-a war lord?"
"D-do you know which one?" the other started to quiver.
Mia stood up straight, having finally caught her breath. Her chest heaved. "Hawk Eyes Mihawk."
They crumbled. All of a sudden the polite pirates on the beach were replaced by trembling cowards.
"I-I'll tell the boss! You better come with me!" the first one ordered with a failed brave face when he pointed at Mia. Without warning, he grasped her arm firmly and started to pull her in a direction away from the water.
"Hey!" Mia protested, but the man was so determined to get away from the beach as far and fast as possible, he paid no mind to Mia's struggling. This went on for a way and while. Mia was about to kick the man in his back and make another run for it, until they seemed to reach the destination. Mia already made out voices of laughter and chatter. They entered what seemed to be the heart of the island, which was evidently smaller then she had initially realised.
What Mia assumed was the rest of the crew turned their heads to inspect the new arrival. A few catcalls and wolf whistles reached her ears, and Mia tried to hide her face behind her thick head of hair in discomfiture.
"B-boss!" the man who was dragging her yelled. He pulled Mia to the front and the force of his jerk threw her off balance and she landed on her knees in front of who she supposed was 'the Boss'.
"Hey now, that's no way to treat a lady," 'the Boss' chastised with a friendly deep voice. Mia looked up and saw a hand outstretched to help her up.
"Thank you," she breathed, taking the hand and allowing the man to pull her gradually to her feet. Dusting off her long grey skirt, she lifted her eyes to see a handsome rugged face, scarred on the side, but friendly all the same. Forgetting her situation, Mia found herself flustered for a few seconds. He continued to smile, then he shot a look towards the man who had dragged her to his feet.
"What's the meaning of this?" he asked, voice very serious, and although friendly, his expression demanded authority. Mia took in the rest of his appearance. To her shock, she noticed he only owned one arm. Not wanting to be disrespectful, she avoided looking at it. The rest of him was tall and lean, obviously strong from years at sea – she could sense the distinct smell of years of salt water on him.
"B-boss! Hawk Eyes is on his way here!" the man stammered, falling to his feet, absolutely terrified.
Mia studied the red-haired man closely to take in his reaction. To her utter astonishment, he grinned, as if excited by the news.
"Old Mihawk! Haven't seen him in a while. Maybe we'll have one of our legendary battles." He grinned like a little boy, almost in a manner that reminded Mia of Luffy.
"Please," she began in a soft voice. "Mihawk wants to take me to the World Government. I-I ran away when got a chance, but now he's hunting me down!" She tried her best to put on a desperate face, hoping for once her charms would see it through for her.
The man smiled. "Don't worry, beautiful. I'm sure I can convince Mihawk to let you go. It's certainly not like him to chase after a woman, but you're pretty damn gorgeous so I can't even blame him."
Her face turned a deep shade of red, revealing the man's hair. "Uhm …" The man seemed distracted by his own excitement. He was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet at the thought of Mihawk approaching. Mia replayed his words in her mind. 'Legendary battles'? Who in Neptune's name was this man that he could fondly look back on legendary battles he had with the strongest swordsman in the world?
"Bet I can convince him to just have a beer and then leave," the man muttered casually, eyes nostalgic.
Mia doubted it would be so easy, yet judging by the casual way the man mentioned it, it sounded as if he knew the swordsman personally.
"You gotta name, sweetheart?" he asked, grinning toothily down at her. He grasped her hand gently in his, running his forefinger over knuckles in a charming gesture.
"Mia," she responded, shyly to her embarrassment. The man was quite handsome. It nearly had her star struck.
'Not the time, Mia. Pull it together. Focus. Mihawk. World Government. Legendary battles.' That almost did the trick in helping her focus.
"Well, I'm Shanks." He smiled, again, reminding her a lot of Luffy. She smiled back shyly, expecting a handshake, only for him to gently squeeze her soft fingers between his strong calloused ones, raise it to his face and kiss it with a gentlemanly grin.
She nearly swooned.
"Shanks," she echoed, smiling. The name sounded vaguely familiar. Something clicked in her mind. Luffy's hat.
"I- …wait, I've heard of you. Luffy told me about you once, I think."
At the mention of Luffy, Shanks' face lit up as if he'd been given the best news of his life. All of a sudden he regarded her as the best thing he could have found in that instant. "You know Luffy?" he asked, very eager and obviously incredibly excited.
She nodded, flashing her pearly set of teeth. "My nieces have joined his crew. I was recently separated from them when Mihawk …sort of kidnapped me. Well, I wouldn't call it kidnapping. He sort of just …"
"Charmed you into his arms?" Shanks finished, eyebrows raised knowingly with suggestion.
Mia puffed up her cheeks at the memory of Mihawk hoisting her into his arms upon her abduction. "N-no."
Shanks laughed, boisterous and out of his belly. "Well, any friend of Luffy is a friend of mine! You should tell me all about this crew he's got! Does he have a ship? He's captain, right? Has he gotten taller?"
Mia smiled, tucking a stray curly hair behind her ear. She was about to answer all his questions, when they were interrupted by the arrival of the other crewmate who Mia had met on the beach. He was heaving deeply when he crashed to his knees. He raised his head to announce something, when another figure stepped out of the shadows of the trees.
Mia gasped, and then instinctually, ran to hide behind Shanks.
Mihawk looked livid.
XxXxXx
A/N: Rewritten on 2016/12/07. Added more exposition. Focussed Mia's character a bit. Sometimes she's a lady, sometimes she's like 'eh, fuck it'. Young adult life. You know how it is.
Chapters get longer from here on out. They usually do. No worries.
Please review. I hope there is a slight improvement so far. Hopefully the pacing should improve, as well development between the characters. This was just a fun establishing chapter. Like a little transition just for fun.
