Per Law's instructions, Penguin had tailed Katrina after she'd left the Polar Tang to see where she might be going or what she might be up to. Honestly, he didn't know why his captain had given him this task, he just knew that the Captain had given an order and it was his duty to follow it. He hadn't expected to end up back in front of Jericho's brothel, yet here he was. He'd seen Katrina disappear inside a few moments ago, but he wasn't about to go in after her. He would find a spot to wait until she emerged, then see where she went after. That being said, Penguin hadn't noticed upon his first trip here with Law and the rest of the crew that the outside of the brothel was so plain. The building itself seemed to be laid out on a square foundation. Two columns framed the main door, windows carved in symmetrical circles all the way around once closer to the top. There was a two-toned domed awning above the main entrance and bay windows. The red and yellow faded and sorely needing upkeep like the upstairs of the brothel from what Penguin recalled of the inside. Spherical lights hung and lined the underside of the awning as a way to light the entrance for the guests. The red trim was faded and the paint was chipping in different places. Yet the biggest eyesore was probably the large bubble-like protrusion of the front wall above the two-toned awning. The wall itself was a light blue, but the bubble was an odd sea-foam green. The upper wall was obviously where the second floor had been added, given the architecture of both floors seemed so different. Penguin's first opinion of Jericho hadn't been that great, but it just shot down even further if this was the man's vision when it came to an attractive business venue. The man had even bothered to purchase fake plants to place outside. A vased tree or flowers would have made sense, but from the feel of the bushes he was hiding in by the far right bay window, they were the foliage Jericho had chosen instead.
The sound of the door suddenly slamming open and smacking against the doorframe had Penguin nearly jump out of his skin. His eyes shot towards the door, worried Katrina had spotted him and was attempting to prepare himself for the oncoming confrontation only for four men wearing pink and black striped shirts, black pants with suspenders, and white ruffled collars to walk out of the brothel. At first he thought they all wore white face paint, but upon closer inspection he saw it was only red lipstick of some kind and they all were just really pale.
"What are we going to tell Disco?"
One of the men asked, voice full of worry. Seems they'd learned some bad news and had to deliver it to their boss. Penguin recalled Law mentioning they'd be stopping by an auction house run by a man and mentioned someone named Disco before leaving, perhaps these men worked for him?
"We'll have to tell him the truth. Mister Jericho's been killed."
Another of the strangely dressed men said before he started walking off. The other three looked at one another uncertainly before following suit. Penguin could only guess they were heading back to report to their boss.
"-To hell with you! I lost Jericho to you, then you have him killed by your pirate lover and have the gall to come waltzing in here like you don't have anything coming to you. It sickens me!"
A female voice screamed from inside the brothel and Penguin sat there for a moment wondering what he'd missed. Moving to crouch by one of the bay windows, Penguin peeked through the glass to try to see what was going on inside. He could make out Katrina at the base of the stairs with the woman that had tried throwing herself at Law during their visit obviously upset with her. There were at least four other women all surrounding Katrina.
'Woah, what happened in the last three minutes?'
Penguin couldn't help wonder as he watched the events through the window.
'Pirate lover? But I thought Captain killed Mister Jericho?'
Penguin questioned himself, trying to make sense of the blonde's accusation. Blood-berry colored eyes widened in surprise when he eventually pieced together that the blonde meant she thought Law was Katrina's lover.
"I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!"
The sound of the blonde from before's banshee-level screech drew Penguin from his thoughts and he turned to see said blonde charging full force at Katrina. Penguin's hand went towards the hilt of his katana, ready to jump in and help the outnumbered brunette. Women or not, he couldn't let Katrina get jumped, then just stand by and watch. Just as Penguin prepared to bust through the bay window he was crouched by to jump to Katrina's aid, Katrina suddenly lifted her right leg, knee bent to her chest, before quite literally stomping her foot on the charging blonde's face. For the briefest of seconds, Katrina pushed off from the blonde and took a full step off the ground before the force of her kick sent the red and black-clad blonde back over two or three empty tables and slammed into the base of one of the support columns of the brothel. Penguin was left staring in utter disbelief at what he'd just witnessed. He was left floored as he watched Katrina easily handle the other four women as they all ganged up on her. The way Katrina handled the whole ordeal was like a graceful dance where she was the only one to have studied the steps while her other dance partners stumbled and fell over each other in disgrace.
It wasn't until Katrina had stepped over a knocked over table and set of chairs to make her way towards the door that Penguin panicked as he realized she was now leaving. His frazzled brain blanked as he tried thinking of a place to hide so she wouldn't realize he'd been following and watching her when the door of the brothel opened and smacked him directly in the back of the head. The force she'd thrown the door open with had actually thrown him forward and Penguin found himself acquainted briefly with the dirt. As he got back to his feet and used one hand to nurse the back of his head, Penguin had to admit he was grateful that at least Katrina hadn't noticed he'd been spying on her. Pulling himself to his feet, the young pirate looked around to make sure he hadn't lost sight of his target and sighed in relief as he realized Katrina hadn't gotten too far ahead of him. He waited until she was a good fifty feet away before he resumed his trailing of her. She seemed to be heading towards Grove 13 now and Penguin frowned as he attempted to remember what the districts in those Groves were like and what business she might have there. He was coming up blank after ruling out meeting a loved one, saying goodbye to a lover, or going shopping. It wasn't until a certain building came into view that Penguin felt the color drain from his face. The brick building and green roof weren't anything special, but the big wooden sign nestled against the bulbous second floor that most of the buildings on the Archipelago seemed to sport in differing varieties told exactly who owned that bar. As he saw Katrina disappear into a door nestled into a doorway with a frame that reminded Penguin of a pizza paddle, the young Heart Pirate chose a nice spot among a cluster of trees about fifteen feet from the building to get comfortable. He could wait until Katrina came out again, he wasn't about to chance his life to get a peek inside an ex-Kuja Empress' establishment.
Katrina smiled as she saw the black haired woman behind the counter of the bar as she walked further inside. The slim framed woman wore a pink, V-neck shirt that exposed her stomach and cleavage. The shirt featured a black spider on it, though the rest of the top was hidden beneath a black jacket with pink lines running down the sleeves, the collar to the jacket looked like wing-like cuffs. The bar cut off the rest of the outfit from sight, but Katrina knew she was wearing her usual pants with giraffe patch patterns and a white cardigan tied around her waist.
"Shakky!"
Katrina called, announcing her arrival to the other woman and Shakky turned to look her way. A smile made its way across the older woman's face as Katrina came to join her at the bar.
"What brings you here Little Bird?"
She asked, taking a drag from the lit cigarette in her hand. Katrina took one of the empty stools on her side of the bar and let out a groan.
"Where do I even start?"
She asked rhetorically before starting to tell the older woman how the last two days had been for her.
"Sounds like you could use a pick me up."
Shakky said after a moment of silence passed between them. Katrina pushed down the urge to laugh at how accurate that was then blinked in surprise as a clamshell glass bowl with scoops of icecream was slid before her. She looked up at Shakky, unsure what to say but when she saw the woman simply smile warmly at her before smoking quietly on her cigarette while going about busying herself with her bar Katrina couldn't help the tightness she felt in her chest. Taking the spoon and helping herself to a spoonful of the chocolate scoop at the top of the sundae, she hummed in delight as the frozen treat melted in her mouth.
"So why not take Trafalgar up on his offer? You still want off the island don't you?"
Shakky suddenly asked, surprising Katrina and making her swallow the second bite she'd taken whole and frowned as her chest radiated cold from the accidental bite. She knew not to expect an apology from Shakky for surprising her, if anything the older woman found it amusing.
"Of course I do, but how could I possibly trust them? Look what happened last time I chose to trust someone and go off on adventures with them."
Katrina said bitterly, stabbing at the ice cream in the glass dish and enjoying some strawberry flavored parts of her dessert, using it as an excuse not to respond.
"You can't base your future choices on the outcomes of the ones you've made in the past."
Shakky responded reasonably and Katrina frowned at her worries being met with logic instead of Shakky taking her side.
"But they're pirates."
Katrina whined, pouting just slightly as if that explanation alone was enough of a reason for her to turn down Law's offer.
"You can't just immediately discredit someone based on that alone. Not all pirates are like that. Look at Ray."
Shakky said before turning away for a moment, then turning back with the newspaper in her hand.
"Or any of them."
She continued before laying the paper flat so it unfurled to reveal a handful of bounties the Navy had released recently. Three were laid out on the counter, sitting on top of the actual news, for Katrina to see. As she started on the vanilla scoop of ice cream from her free dessert, Katrina sat in silence as she took in the images of Monkey D Luffy, Bepo, and Law. She sighed, feeling defeated in all the arguments she'd prepared as to why she should say no.
"How can I know?"
She asked, her voice shaking ever so slightly as her insecurities threatened to surface. Blue-green eyes seeking Shakky's black ones for an answer to hold on to.
"You'll just have to take a chance and leave the island that's become your cage. Who knows? You could be flying high and free before you know it, Little Bird."
Katrina didn't have a response, positive or otherwise so she simply remained silent as she finished off the last of her frozen treat. It wasn't until Shakky had taken the glass from her that Katrina heard some sort of commotion from outside. It sounded like gunfire and shouting.
"Uhh….Shakky? Should you check out what's causin' all that commotion outside? It sounds pretty close to the bar."
Katrina asked concerned, trying to peer out one of the windows but the view was blocked by the hill the bar sat atop.
"No need. It's just a group of five or so Marines trying to capture the boy that followed you here."
Shakky responded nonchalantly, answering from over her shoulder and not even bothering to turn from the box of booze she was working on stocking from crate to cooler in the corner.
"Riiiiiight."
Katrina said slowly as she processed what Shakky had just told her before turning again towards the window.
'Someone followed me? Who?'
Katrina wondered to herself as her mouth pursed to the side in thought yet ultimately she came up blank. Deciding to just find out for herself, she turned back towards Shakky who at this point was standing behind the bar again, cigarette in hand, seemingly waiting to see what Katrina was going to do next.
"Thanks Shakky, I'll do my best to come see you and Ray again."
She said to the older woman and again Shakky offered her a warm smile that made her heart ache. In the two years she'd been stuck on the Archipelago Katrina had come to think of the older woman as what she thought a mother was supposed to be like. Katrina didn't have a horrible relationship with her mother, if anything there were only a few reasons she and her mother weren't close as they had been when she was younger. Her brothers, of course, were number one. Sara's death was second, though third was the fact Katrina had lost all faith in the Marines as a constitution, idea, and whole. It was moments with Shakky like before and just now that truly made Katrina's heart ache for the woman who, to her, seemed to have chosen the Marines over her children.
Stepping outside after having grabbed her bag and fighting with Shakky about paying for her dessert only to ultimately fail in the end, Katrina scanned the area below to try and find the cause of the commotion she'd heard from inside. For the most part everything seemed peaceful, then she saw a group of six about fifteen feet away, tucked almost into an alley seeing as two rows of buildings seemed to tower over the area. She recognized the figure wearing a beige colored boiler suit sporting a black and white hat with a small red pom pom sitting atop. Choosing to put her questions aside for the moment, Katrina noticed all the Marines had their backs to her and were attempting to force Penguin against the wall of a closed building. Using this to her advantage, Katrina pushed off from her spot on the stairs leading to Shakky's and felt the wind as it flew past her face. It felt as if her stomach suddenly moved into her throat as she started to fall back down. Cursing her past carelessness for her current missing blades, Katrina aimed her right foot for the head of the Marine that first came within her range as she finished her descent. The unsuspecting man went down and Katrina used the moment of surprise that caused the others to dash forward and come almost nose to nose with the second closest Marine. Before he fully turned from his felled companion to look down at her, Katrina had struck upward with her palm and felt it connect with the young man's chin. She heard the clack of the man's teeth as she followed through and the surprised man was taken off his feet as he blacked out and hit the ground with a thud. Turning to look at the third Marine, who had at this point had a few moments to collect himself and take in the situation, realized they were under attack and had drawn his weapon. He stood facing her, drawing his short sword and not for the first time Katrina wished she had her daggers. Before he was able to come up with a plan of action or put it into use, Katrina ran forward and bashed the man in his knee. He doubled over and while he was distracted by the sudden pain she turned and slammed her elbow into the side of his head, aiming for his temple. As he fell to the ground on his back from the barrage of attacks, Katrina climbed on top of his chest and straddled him in place as she picked his sword up off the ground where it had fallen. The confusion and panic was clear on the young Marine's face as Katrina raised his sword above her head with a cold look on her face. He let out the beginning of a short cry that Katrina cut short as she drove the blade of the short sword through the Marine's chest and felt the resistance of the dirt as the blade pierced through the other side. Blood spewed forth as she removed the blade and Katrina felt the familiar warm liquid coat her hands and closed her eyes as it hit the front of her shirt and face. She turned to check on Penguin as she got to her feet to see he had taken care of the remaining two Marines.
"Oh good, you're okay."
Katrina said and saw Penguin just staring at her with his mouth agape. His blood-berry colored eyes were wide with what she guessed was fear and reverence as she saw him take in the blood and state of herself. A few seconds ticked by and Penguin neither responded to her comment nor seemed to blink. Slowly stepping towards the potentially comatose man, Katrina lifted her hand and waved it before his face a few times.
"Hellooo, anyone home?"
She asked and finally the man blinked. Katrina was starting to wonder if she'd permanently broken him for a moment.
"Th-Thanks for the help."
Penguin said and Katrina chose to politely ignore when he cleared his throat and the stutter at the beginning of his sentence.
"No worries, but what are you doin' here hun? Were you followin' me?"
Katrina asked though, if what Shakky had told her was the truth she already knew. That did make her curious to know if Penguin would tell her or if he'd lie to cover for his captain.
"Captain sent me out to find a place to buy supplies to restock. I happened to see you and was going to ask for your help when I lost you among the Groves. Next thing I knew, the Marines were trying to arrest me."
Came his answer and honestly, Katrina had to admit she was impressed. Had she not been tipped off, she genuinely would have believed him. Penguin had a bit of a boyish charm to him and not for the first time Katrina wondered what his hair looked like under that hat. She felt red hair didn't suit him, but he definitely wasn't a blonde. Maybe black hair like Law?
"Well this works out. I needed to see Law about gettin' my daggers back from him. Would you mind leadin' the way?"
Katrina asked instead. It's not like she actually expected Penguin to betray Law and tell her what he was doing. She was a complete stranger. Though with that being said, why had Law had Penguin tail her? She supposed she could always ask him once her and Penguin got back to his submarine.
Law sat in his office, one of Katrina's daggers in his hands as the other sat on top of the papers piled up on his desk. The eight inch weapon had a double-helix-like design that ran down the face of the blade and stopped about an inch or two from the tip. The hilt had a simple steel guard before it seemed to meld into the rest of the base. It had a decent grip and ended with the hilt coming to a curve and changing to a gem of some kind. He had noticed there was a gem of a similar color closer to the guard on the hilt and found himself growing weak after touching the butt of the dagger. Releasing it and allowing it to fall the short distance from his hand to his desk, Law sat astonished to realize Katrina had embedded Sea Prism Stone into the hilt of her daggers. He already had a feeling Katrina wasn't your run of the mill type of individual but the more he came to learn about her the more intrigued he became. Thinking back to when he'd gone with Bepo and the others to the brothel, he remembered thinking she didn't look as if she belonged. She'd caught his attention with how casually she'd held her composure with four of his men and himself alone with her in her room. Where most would have been terrified, she had appeared completely at ease. She had, he noticed, seemed uncomfortable once downstairs around the 'entertainment' and Jericho.
The sound of someone knocking at his office door drew Law's attention from the mysterious brunette.
"Come in."
He called out to the person on the other side. He heard the sound of the door opening, then closing, before Penguin stepped into view. Law's eyes widened slightly when he saw Katrina step forward after him. The front of her yellow tank top was stained a dark pink and looked as if it were still drying. Pulling the rim of his hat down further to hide his surprise, Law looked at Penguin for an explanation.
"Katrina said she wanted to see you, Captain. Call me when you need someone to show her out."
Was the explanation his subordinate offered before excusing himself and leaving him and Katrina alone.
"Welcome back aboard Miss Katrina."
Law greeted with a relaxed smile and saw her eyes had locked onto the two blades on his desk.
"By all means, they are after all yours."
He said with a wave of one tattooed hand and saw Katrina hesitate for a moment before stepping forward. As she made her way past the coffee table and lounge, Law took the time given to take in her appearance really for the first time. She seemed to be around 5'9" in height from how she seemed half a foot shorter than himself. Her chestnut colored hair fell a little past her shoulders and framed her face in a rather cute way if he was being honest. Her build was slim, but toned as her exposed upper arms showed she had an average amount of muscle built up on her frame. Her blue-green eyes reminded him of the ocean every time they locked with his and while she wasn't exactly sun-kissed her skin wasn't pale. It was only now that Law noticed the scars that ran along the length of her neck and the one that seemed to be peeking out from under the left side of her top, along her collar bone. He had noticed the one on her right arm and abdomen when he'd checked her over for injuries the first time she was aboard his ship. Glancing back at the woman who occupied his thoughts as of late, Law saw Katrina was inspecting the blades of each dagger carefully. As if she expected to find them nicked or chipped in some way.
"Where did you get such a set of daggers Miss Katrina?"
Law found himself asking and noticed how Katrina's eyes immediately shot up to meet his gaze. Not a sign of fear anywhere in their ocean-colored depths.
"They had been a birthday gift some years ago."
Was the response she gave before Law saw her slip one of the daggers under the leg of her shorts, directly to the side of her thigh. Law assumed, given she was sliding the blade first, that the sheath was hidden beneath the fabric.
"Why would you offer me a place on your crew? You barely know me."
Katrina asked suddenly and for the second time in less than an hour Law's eyes widened in surprise. To say he hadn't been expecting her to ask that would be an understatement. He expected her to ask, just not as a way to start a conversation. He supposed he was still learning her character, it would take time.
"I'm looking to recruit a few new members while on the island, and you intrigue me Miss Katrina."
Law answered honestly and could see Katrina seem to frown at the information. He could see she seemed to be thinking something over for a minute after, her lips had pursed to one side and eventually she let her arms fall from where she'd had them crossed over her chest to her side before speaking again.
"I'll agree to leave here when you do and will let you know my official answer by the next island. How about that?"
She asked and Law had to admit he had not seen that coming. He had expected either a concrete yes or no given the circumstances she currently faced. It seemed Katrina had a talent for keeping him guessing. Something he had to admit he found rather enticing.
"That seems reasonable to me."
He answered finally and saw Katrina's shoulders seemed to relax a little, as if she hadn't been certain if his offer would still stand if she'd added conditions of her own.
"You should meet the people you'll be sailing with once we leave. I sent Bepo and Nikkicha to get supplies. I'm sure you can find them on your own right Miss Katrina? You are an island native after all."
Law couldn't help but tease her and saw the sharp look she cut him and the frown that replaced her pursed lips. He simply offered her an amused smile as she turned and saw herself out. His smile widened as he reached for the Den Den Mushi on his desk to call for Penguin to come guide Katrina back to the top deck.