Kiteria: Hey guys. Long time no see. Here's the next chapter redone. Hopefully ya'll enjoy. Show me some love and leave me a review!
Law honestly couldn't say he was too surprised Strawhat wasn't able to restrain himself enough to allow the Celestial Dragons to do as they pleased. He wasn't sure what the relationship between the octopus fishman and Strawhat was, but it didn't take a genius to realize the bond was enough that seeing him shot sent Strawhat over the edge. Law himself had a difficult time stomaching some of the things the Celestial Dragons did.
Knowing what was coming, Law found himself smiling at getting to see Strawhat in person. He had been rather curious about the young boy from the East Blue. Now that he'd met him he thought the boy to be equal parts insane as well as entertaining. Though the smile quickly fell from the dark doctor's face when he remembered how Katrina had reacted upon the appearance of the blue-haired woman from Strawhat's crew. She was smiling and acting like she knew her from years past. He hadn't seen this side of Katrina and as interested in it as he was, he disliked the fact someone else had drawn the reaction out of her. She was his new subject to poke and prod and see how she'd react. His. No one else's.
The conversation between Katrina and the woman she'd called Raindra had piqued Law's interest. The fact Katrina suddenly stopped the bluenette from saying anything else in regards to her old crew and had reacted so strongly about the topic displeased him. He'd already asked about her old crew and he had been under the assumption she'd told him all there was. He supposed that was his fault for thinking so naively. Unfortunately, thanks to Strawhat, he didn't have the luxury or time to ponder things pertaining to Katrina and her mysterious friend any longer since a battle soon broke out inside the auction house after the chaos following the young pirate captain hitting the Celestial Dragon.
Having decided they'd be better off not being present when the Marines come for the Celestial Dragons inside, Law went to call Katrina back to his side when a parade of armed guards filed out from behind the stage and surrounded the brunette and her blue-haired companion. He tensed before moving to reach for his nodachi when he heard the bluenette's voice.
"Tornado's Dance!"
A strong gust of wind swept through the auction house, making Law hold onto his hat or risk losing it. When he glanced back towards Katrina's direction the dark doctor's eyes widened slightly. All the guards that had swarmed and surrounded Katrina and her friend were suddenly lifted into the air by the wind. Law couldn't believe the air turned into a tornado. The wind was a tinted blue, much like the domes to the rooms he could create. He could feel the force of the wind pulling at his clothes and person and could only imagine what it would be like to be on the receiving end of such an attack.
Just as quickly as they had been tossed into the air, the wind dissipated and the armed men were sent flying in random directions once gravity took over once again, though they were helped with a little additional momentum from the dying tornado. Realizing the chaos had passed for the most part, Law's gaze sought out the newest member of his crew to see she was unharmed.
"Kat, you up for a little exercise?"
The bluenette asked as she stood facing the guards currently advancing on them from behind. Apparently there were plenty more to take the place of those who had fallen. Not that numbers would do them much good when strength was obviously what they lacked. They were out-skilled and outmatched.
"I thought you'd never ask Rain."
Law heard Katrina say before watching her pull a pair of daggers from beneath her shorts. Law noticed the deadly precision Katrina had as she spun the daggers between her pointer, middle, and ring fingers as she walked to stand with her back to the bluenette's before properly gripping them and sliding into a fighting stance. Before the Heart Pirate Captain could even think of saying anything, both girls jumped the guard closest to them and the chaos resumed.
Glancing over her shoulder, Raindra saw Katrina cut her way through the guards like they were paper before turning her attention back to her own battle. She waved a hand and a rush of air blew back most of the guards, but more just took their place.
"Damn, they're like cockroaches."
She muttered to herself as she lifted one of her hands above her, palm facing towards the ceiling. Taking a moment to calm herself and concentrate, black clouds started forming from the palm of her hand. They multiplied and grew until they hung overhead, smirking as she wound her arm back with a ball of violet energy sparking from her hand before tossing it into the storm clouds above.
"Lightning Strike!"
She called as she brought her hand down and watched as several spears of violet lightning shot down from the clouds trapped on the ceiling above an unfortunate few guards.
"Amateurs."
She said before stepping over the unconscious forms of the guards and heading closer to the stage. The sudden sound of her captain's voice made her stop and she found herself seeking him out almost out of habit. The boy was simply too unpredictable, though she guessed that was part of his charm.
Hearing both Sanji and Luffy shouting at Zoro, Raindra rolled her eyes when she realized it was because Zoro had attacked and given them barely a warning. Though his defense was he gave them one, not his fault they were slow reacting.
'I'm surrounded by idiots…..'
"Raaaindraaaa! Zoro tried to kill me agaaaain!"
Luffy whined, calling her name loudly with fake tears in his eyes and a frown on his face. The seventeen year old often acted more like a five year old. No wonder most didn't believe he was worth 300 Million Berries. Raindra simply shook her head at him before walking down the stairs of the auction hall until she was standing next to Zoro. Placing a hand gently on his shoulder she smirked.
"Well, he did warn you before he attacked."
She said, not missing the way he tensed under her touch and the look on Zoro's surprised face at her being on his side. She laughed when Sanji and Luff both yelled at her about being too soft.
"Come on guys, focus here. We're here to save Caimie remember?"
Raindra reminded them sighing at how easily distracted her captain and crewmates were.
Jumping over a pair of guards, Katrina flipped so she'd land on top of the back of the auction house seats. Thankfully the guests had already fled so she didn't have to worry about watching for them too. The guards lunged at her and she maneuvered so that she evaded them and they wound up running into each other, knocking one another to the ground. It was honestly quite hilarious.
"Haha, you guys'll have to do better than that if ya want to beat me."
She said with a smile and laughed when they lunged at her with their swords. She grabbed a hold of one of the guard's shoulders and used it to jump into the air and away from them at least three rows away.
"Missed me."
She teased with a smile as she landed on the back of a set of chairs. The seats sagged beneath her feet and she tested the springs of the seats with a slight bounce as she scanned the room thinking of her next move. She couldn't say she was surprised the guards rushed her out of enraged embarrassment of being outwitted by a pirate, let alone a girl. She threw one of her daggers at the guard in the front and he hit the floor like a sack of potatoes; seastone jeweled dagger lodged in his throat.
"Gotcha!"
A guard yelled, suddenly appearing right in front of her and swinging his sword at her. Katrina backflipped off the back of the seats she'd been balancing on, but over estimated the distance of where she'd wanted to go in her instinct to flee and didn't have time to correct herself before falling. She expected to hit something hard like the floor or the stairs, so when she landed on something solid but soft she looked up confused only to blush six different shades of red when she realized she'd landed in her new captain's lap.
"Uh...hi?"
She managed to mumbled out, her face burning and even brighter shade when Law looked down at her and smirked. The sound of something crashing into the auction house drew Katrina's attention away from her captain and she looked up to see more flying fish fly about the room. She saw two figures drop to the ground, one seemed to fly down with wings of some sort, the other landed then fell. The sound of someone screaming drew her attention to a third person falling into the auction house and she couldn't help but chuckle when said person landed on the Celestial Dragon Rosward.
"Usopp! Robin! Brook!"
Katrina heard Raindra's captain call the three newcomers' names and guessed they were members of his crew. She watched as they wasted no time in joining the battle. She heard the orange haired girl from before say something about having to hurry before a warship and an admiral arrived and jumped when she heard Law's voice and felt herself shake from the vibration of his chest against her back.
"The Navy is already here, Straw Hat."
He said and Katrina refused to look at him. She knew he was smirking down at her, she could tell without looking. He was amused by her mess up, but she refused to let it bother her. They were adults and she just happened to land on his lap, it didn't mean anything. Even if he did smell of antiseptic and coffee and was surprisingly comfy to sit on.
"What's up with you?"
Katrina heard Straw Hat ask as she sat up and tried to get out of Law's lap only to freeze when she felt his arm wrap around her waist. Was he seriously about to try and keep her in his lap?
"And what's with the bear?"
She heard Straw Hat ask next. She looked at the younger boy with playfully narrowed eyes that still held a real threat to be listened to.
"That's Bepo. No one touches him."
She said, ignoring the feeling of Law's body move as he silently laughed to himself at her protectiveness of their first mate before speaking again.
"Those guys have had this hall surrounded since before the auction started."
He said and Katrina looked up at Law with slightly wide eyes. She didn't know the Navy had surrounded the place. Where were they when she and Bepo had walked in? She didn't see any of them.
"After all, there's a HQ outpost right on this archipelago."
Law continued and Katrina simply stared at him. If he knew that then why in Roger's name did he decide to come here in the first place?
"I have no idea who they wanted to catch...they couldn't have known that someone would beat up the Celestial Dragons though, right?"
He asked before laughing and Katrina found herself seriously contemplating her Captain's sanity.
"You've shown me something rather interesting, Strawhats."
Law said with a smile making Katrina just wish she could leave. He seemed to be enjoying the chaos right now. Of course he did, he was fucking crazy.
Katrina heard one of Raindra's crewmates filling their captain in on the situation and who they were fighting alongside. Luffy seemed to grasp the situation for the most part though seemed to still have questions.
"The bear is a pirate too?"
He asked and Katrina wanted to face-palm. No, Bepo was just with them because they wanted the comfort of a big, fluffy animal on their voyages at sea. Though now that she thought about it, Bepo was rather fluffy. Though had they wanted a comfort animal a dog would have been much easier.
"And the man standing over there, is Eustass 'Captain' Kid."
Robin continued, drawing Katrina's attention to the group in the back that she hadn't even noticed until just now. She stared at the strange group consisting of two normal looking people, a guy in a lot of black with a pitchfork looking weapon, a guy with long white hair and a mouth that looked like a bad sewing job, a blond and a mask of sorts, and a guy with red hair that stuck up in the air, his coat hanging off his shoulders, and a rather deranged look on his face. She hadn't really cared who else was in the room, but the brunette blinked a few times wondering how she had possibly missed them prior to now.
The sound of a gunshot had everyone turning towards the stage to see the final Celestial Dragon standing on a stool next to the bowl that held the mermaid named Caimie. She pointed the gun towards Caimie and Katrina saw all the Straw Hats get ready to attack though they were all too far away to do anything when suddenly Sharlia fell to the stage unconscious much to the surprise of everyone watching. Then, to top it all off, a man walked out of a hole that had been created in the wall on stage with a giant behind him and looked around.
"Have a look at that Giant-kun. The hall is a complete mess."
The man said with a smile and Katrina stared at the stage along with everyone else and wondered just who the heck this old man was until he got close enough for the lights on the stage to illuminate his features.
Katrina listened as the old man told Straw Hat that he had wanted to meet him after rendering the guards unconscious. They all fell like dominoes and didn't get back up. She, like everyone else, watched as the man walked over to Caimie and touched the collar around her neck. The ticking started and the entire room held their breath. She was a little worried about the mermaid, but truth be told she wasn't any of her concern. She knew that old man so she wasn't too worried about the collar going off. Deciding instead to focus on the tanned arm wrapped leisurely around her waist like it belonged there and trying to remove it.
'Come on you tan motherfucker, let go!'
She thought with a frown and froze when she felt his hold on her tighten. Upon the realization he was aware she was trying to escape and actively refused her freedom Katrina resisted the urge to smack him before pouting and giving in.
"Sorry you guys. You were just here to watch, right?"
At the sound of the old man's voice, Katrina looked up from the prison that was Law's arm to see him walking up the stairs towards Straw Hat.
"Judging from how you handled that situation earlier, you aren't exactly pushovers, right?"
He said and Katrina heard the redhead in the back speak and say the old man's name was Rayleigh. Katrina blinked a couple of times until the name finally registered.
"Ray!? That you old timer?"
Katrina asked, effectively drawing the attention of several people including the old man who looked at her before smiling.
"Well I'll be. Katrina Honjoku, what are you doing back on the island? I would have thought for sure you'd have left with your crew."
He said as he stopped a few feet away from Straw Hat.
"It's also rather strange seeing you in another man's lap, won't your captain get upset? You two were rather attached the last time I saw you."
He said and Katrina looked down so her hair shadowed part of her face.
"That man is no longer my captain."
She said quietly but was still loud enough to be heard, her nails unconsciously digging into Law's arm.
"That crew, that man...they can all burn in hell for all I care!"
She spat as tears welled up in her eyes and trailed down her face.
"I see."
Rayleigh said before crouching down next to a wounded Hachi and talking with him, but Katrina drowned it all out as she tried to keep her emotions in check. She could feel her captain's eyes on her, but she refused to meet his gaze. She had no doubt that he was going to question her about her old crew again and this time demanded to know every last detail now that he knew there was something she didn't tell him. Though it wasn't her fault, he never technically asked for such details. She wanted to get out of Law's lap and leave the auction house as fast as she could, but knew he wouldn't let her even if she did manage to get out of his hold. But for right now she was actually grateful to have something to hold onto. To anchor her to the Earth and not get lost in her emotions and memories of her old crew. Her old family. Her old Captain and love.
Law was surprised at Katrina's response to Rayleigh's comment about her old crew, though he himself wasn't too pleased with it. It appeared that Katrina had left out quite a bit of information when she had told him about her old crew. He would have to question her again and this time make sure she told him everything. He wasn't exactly above the idea of torture.
The pirate captain was pulled from his thoughts when he felt something wet fall onto his arm, followed by another and another. He frowned even before he looked down to confirm that Katrina was indeed crying and clawing at his arm with her nails. They will need to have a talk once they get back on the submarine.
"Criminals inside! Please release the Rosward family! An admiral will be here shortly! I'd imagine that it would be safer for you to just surrender. You don't know what will happen otherwise, rookies!"
The demand from the marines outside got Law's attention and he internally groaned. This was quickly going from entertaining to annoying.
"So they're not just dragging us into this, but they're totally treating us as if we were his accomplices too."
Law said, slightly amused at the marine's thinking. He heard Rayleigh say he couldn't use the power from before again.
"I have no intention of being saved by some old man. But the longer we stay, the more soldiers will come. I'll be going on ahead."
Kid said and Law saw him start walking out.
"As an extra favor, I'll save you guys."
He said over his shoulder, earning a scowl from Law and Luffy both.
"I'll take care of the cleaning outside, so just relax!"
Law glared at Kid's retreating form before getting to his feet. He grabbed his nodachi and leaned it against his shoulder before heading towards the exit, pulling Katrina along with him.
"Hey, wait a minute! Why the hell are you draggin' me along with you?"
She asked, finally looking at him and Law narrowed his eyes just slightly when he heard her voice shake and saw her eyes were red. He wanted to know why she cried.
"You're coming."
He said simply before continuing up the stairs, ignoring how Katrina tried to get out of his grip.
"Dammit Law! Let go of me! I don't want to fight right now!"
She shouted and Law stopped. He waited until she stopped struggling against his hold and looked him in the eyes.
"Done being a child are we?"
He asked with an amused gleam to his eyes as he pulled her against his body, forcing her to have nowhere to run. He lifted a hand and tilted her chin up towards him as he leaned closer til their lips were mere inches from each other.
"You're coming with."
He said before backing away and walking towards the door, his nodachi slung over his shoulders and one arm wrapped around Katrina's waist.
Katrina tried her best to fight the blush on her face from Law's challenge. What was he doing so close to her face? Did he think she liked him? She didn't, so he could stay out of her space. . . . she'd tell him that later. Right now she needed to try to get out of his grip. She had tried clawing and pulling, hell, she'd even resorted to biting him but only did it once after he pulled her close and whispered into her ear a clear line she did not want to cross.
"Do that again and we may have a different battle to fight, Pet."
He said and Katrina frowned at the warm feelings pooling between her legs at the seductive promise the tanned man just threatened. Blushing at her body giving in so easily to a decent looking man, she desperately needed a diversion and chose instead to listen to the arguments going on back and forth between Luffy and Kid.
"Like I said, I won't let you guys hog all the fun!"
Straw Hat shouted and Katrina rolled her eyes at the younger boy's naivety. Their situation was many things, but fun was not necessarily the first descriptive word that came to mind.
"Shut up! I said I'll do it myself!"
Kid shouted back.
"Stop bickering already."
Law said and Katrina glared out of the corner of her eye at her captain. She listened as the three captains argued back and forth about who would do what, for the others to stay back, and for them to shut up and couldn't help but chuckle slightly.
'They're all so childish it's ridiculous.'
Katrina thought as they reached the bottom of the stairs leading out of the auction house and stood in front of the marines currently surrounding the auction house.
Katrina heard the boys still arguing and signed at having been dragged into this because of her captain. She heard the marines talking amongst themselves and stating both the names and bounties of the boys she was stuck with and she blinked in surprise at her captain's bounty. She vaguely remembered the wanted poster Bepo had given her when she first looked for Law on the Archipelago. She didn't remember the full amount, but she recalled it was quite a few berries. In fact it was close to her own. Katrina stared at the ebony haired pirate and had to admit she saw him in a slightly different light knowing the marines considered him that much of a threat. She'd heard a couple rumors herself, but she had to admit she hadn't heard much about the Heart Pirates prior. She certainly had no clue they were anything like they are. She recalled hearing the name of the crew for the first time and imagining them as some silly group of newbies and idiots. Who would call themselves Heart Pirates? She was pretty embarrassed to admit she was very wrong. Honesty, that aside, she just hoped none of the marines present recognized her from her wanted posters.
"Fire the mortars!"
The marine captain ordered and Katrina moved to get out of the way, but Law still wouldn't let her go. Before she could open her mouth the argue she heard Straw Hat's voice and turned to see him inflate and increase in size by the time the cannon ball reached him, then it bounced off him before being sent right back to the marines. She heard Kid say something and turned to look at him only to see him somehow repel the cannon ball sent towards him like the negative end of a magnet and it too was sent back towards the marines who fired it. Katrina turned to face the cannon ball coming towards her and Law and tried to wriggle out of his hold only for him to pull her closer to his side and lift his other arm parallel with the ground and created the same dome like sphere from before when they fought the marines that had ambushed him. Katrina blinked in surprise when Law slashed the air with his nodachi and the marine that had gotten caught in the sphere's head came off his body like it had been cut, but there was no blood just like the first time she'd seen his ability.
"Shambles."
Law said and Katrina watched as the marine's head switched places with the cannon ball that had been flying towards them and Law caught the severed head in his free hand, then started tossing it up in the air like a pebble.
"Really Law?"
Katrina questioned her captain's actions and he simply smirked back at her. Katrina sighed before shaking her head.
"Hun, if you want to play with the marines so much then why do I gotta be here?"
She asked and was promptly ignored much to her annoyance. She heard the marine captain give a warning to be careful because they were devil fruit users and Katrina sighed again as she gave up and leaned into Law's side. It was clear he wasn't going to be letting her go anytime soon, she might as well get comfy and enjoy the show.
She watched as the marines lined up the mortars again to fire at them and ignored the small argument between Kid and Law when Kid told Law to stand back, then laughed when Straw Hat ran out and charged right at the marines.
"That boy is somethin' else."
Katrina said to herself and watched along with Law and Kid as Straw Hat shouted something and his fingers stretched.
"He stretched?!"
Kid asked in shock.
"What's with that strange ability?"
Law asked and Katrina looked at her captain in disbelief.
'Yeah, 'cause you're one to talk.'
She thought to herself before being pulled back to reality when Law suddenly tightened his grip around her waist and jumped out of the way of one of the cannons that had been sent their way thanks to Straw Hat.
"Dammit Straw Hat!"
Katrina shouted at him as she stepped out of Law's hold and didn't even notice it.
"Keep it up and I'm gonna kick your ass, you being my best friend's captain be damned!"
She threatened and all she got in response was a laugh from the younger boy and an apology. She heard the marine captain say charge and watched as Straw Hat's leg stretched and took out an entire wave of marines. She watched as the marines charged at Straw Hat again before stopping and watching all their weapons being pulled out of their hands and drawn towards Kid.
"What is he, a giant ass magnet?"
Katrina asked aloud and blinked in surprise when the marines' weapons suddenly went flying back towards their owners.
"You guys sure have some weird powers!"
Straw Hat said what Katrina was thinking as he walked over to them again and she had to agree with Kid when he said Straw Hat's was the strangest of them all. She noticed the marines seemed to be stalling and sighed before reaching up and pulling down on her captain's hat to get his attention.
"Come on Law let me go. I won't go back inside the auction house or run, I just don't wanna fight. Hell, I'll even sit over by the big guy over there until you're done."
Katrina said, pointing towards the big guy sitting on the ground near the entrance of the auction house.
"Please?"
She pleaded and waited for her captain to respond in some way.
"Fine, but don't move from that spot."
He said and finally let go of her waist. Katrina smiled her thanks before immediately making a beeline for the guy she'd pointed to earlier and sitting next to him on the ground.
"Don't ask hun, I just don't wanna get caught up in the crossfire."
She said as a way of explanation to her newly volunteered companion before turning to see what would happen next. She looked back at her captain only to see him facing the marines with his hands out like he held invisible puppets.
'They are absolutely screwed.'
She thought to herself before leaning back and settling herself to watching the show.