Intangible [ One Piece]

// Chapter Two \\

~Marco’s POV~

                The Rising Dawn was said to be a cold blooded and ruthless criminal whose first bounty was in league with that of the other Yonko (four emperors). However, the girl trembling at my feet was nothing more than that, just a terrified girl. Her body was lithe and dainty; she had the figure of a ballerina not a fighter. Cuts and bruises lined her thin arms and legs from her trek through the jungle and what looked like a swarm of mosquitoes. She didn’t fit the high bounty they’d given her, but perhaps she was much more lethal than she looked. This innocent act, could be that and nothing more, just a ploy.

                Everyone looked to me curiously for an answer.

                “We’ll take her to Oyaji.” I sighed.

                The girl flinched at this and curled into a ball muttering something to herself as she clenched her eyes shut tight. I strained to hear what words she was stringing together. “…They’re not real…just a dream…” Her soft voice trailed off.

                I turned away from her and looked to the fourth division commander, Thatch. He was the only one aside from me who was close enough to hear the girl. His tawny eyes widened at her words and he took a tentative step toward her. Thatch knelt beside the quaking girl. Everyone tensed around us as if expecting the girl to reveal her true colors and attack our soft hearted companion. A pair of docile fear filled dazzling baby blue eyes peered over at him curiously.

                The girl recoiled from his touch with a cringe as he reached out to her, “Don’t hurt me.” She had a soft sweet voice that made me think of nightingales and song birds. Her voice was pleading as she helplessly begged for mercy.

                None of this made any sense. There was no way this was the same girl from the news articles. She looked identical, but she was too fragile, too demure and far too weak. Thatch ignored the girl’s pleas and gently reached for her once more. Bracing herself for attack, the girl closed her eyes and her body went rigid as she grew tense and her mostly nonexistent muscles drew taut in a meager attempt to soften any blows.

                The girl winced as he lightly caught her wrist in his hand and Thatch effortlessly swept her into his arms causing her to gasp at the sudden change in elevation. Her startling baby blue eyes fluttered open and she looked about wildly for a moment to assess the situation.

                “Wh-what are you doing?” She panicked as Thatch led the way back to the Moby Dick.

                “Taking you to Oyaji.” Thatch chuckled as if it were obvious and looked to the girl questioningly as her eyes grew wide and all the color drained from her face. The others tensed for a moment as her body made a slight jerking motion thinking she was finally going to reveal her true colors and fight back. However, we were all more than a little surprised when she fell limp in Thatch’s arms.

                “What the-?” One of the rookies in Thatch’s division raised a brow at her action.

                Thatch threw me an amused look, “She fainted.”

                I looked to the unconscious girl curiously wondering if this was all an act. It would take quite a lot of skill to get her skin to lose color the way it did or for her breathing to be as slow and level as it was.

                “Did anyone else happen to notice that she’s unarmed?” Izo, the sixteenth division commander, a feminine looking man who preferred wearing traditional women’s clothing to that of men’s, asked us all with a scowl.