Hello Friends! In the same vein as the previous drabble posted, this is a scene I wrote a long time ago which will never be used in the current iteration of The Siren, so I'm posting it here.

The song being referenced here is "Boys Will Be Boys" by Stella Donnelly. This song is incredibly real and painful to listen to, but also incredibly necessary.

Warnings for discussions of sexual assault, nothing graphic but very dismissive/victim blaming language is used which may be triggering.

Please be safe and remember that I love y'all 💜

New Bark

I watched as the smoke drifted up from the cigarette barely held in my lips. I sighed around it and sank further into the couch I was sitting on with my head resting back. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket and stretched my legs out as far as I could reach. I heard the sound of heavy, even footsteps coming towards me but ignored them. The steps grew closer until they stopped in front of my stretched out legs. I continued to ignore the person and took a deep breath.

"I didn't know you smoked." The man said.

I let out my breath before taking another and saying, "I don't."

I finally lifted my head off the back of the couch and looked at Marco standing in front of me.

He stared back at me as he said, "That song. Was it someone on our ship?"

"What does it matter to you?" I asked.

"I want to know if I'm sailing with a rapist or not. Makes sense to me."

"I was on that ship for 4 years and you didn't care then. So I ask you again, what does it matter to you?"

"You never said anything. If you had told me, Thatch, hell anyone about-"

"About what? About how one of your brothers molested me? How he violated me in every way imaginable and stole every scrap of innocence I had? How he threatened to kill me? If I had told you that, what would you have done?"

"We would have kicked him off the ship! We would have-"

"Done nothing and blamed me."

"No we wouldn't have."

"You already did."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you that I didn't like him, that he scared me and you said, 'Shut up. Don't complain, just do your chores and keep quiet.'"

"You never said anything about being raped."

"Why did I need to? I was a 10 year old child on a pirate ship in the New World, Marco. Why didn't you keep a closer eye on me? Why didn't you ask if something had happened when I completely shut down? When I stopped eating?"

"I had a job to do. You should have-"

"Been able to keep up with the crew? Been able to defend myself against a pirate on an Emperor's ship?"

Marco paused and didn't say anything. When he didn't speak I slowly uncrossed my legs and stood. I dropped the cigarette and took the time to crush it under my heel before raising my eyes to stare into Marco's.

"I never should have been on that ship in the first place. But that's said and done at this point. So please, do not insult me by pretending to care. You already chose your side Marco, and I'm the one who has to live with it. Every minute, of every day, for the rest of my life, I have to live with it."

Then with that I turned and stepped past Marco to walk down the hallway.

THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES ARE DICKS! DO NOT BLAME VICTIMS! E V E R! Oh my god Marco just admit you screwed up and apologize goddamn. Like maybe we DON'T blame the LITERAL CHILD for being assaulted? Just a radical idea off the top of my head?

Again this is why Addie is a Red Hair Pirate, Shanks would NEVER treat my girl this way!

But in all seriousness, please take care of yourselves. Dealing with trauma is awful and sometimes you just need to write something a bit disturbing to get it out of your mind, like ripping out a splinter.