Dancing for Your Life

Feeling Hope

How long had it been since she could control her body?
How many years had passed?

She had no idea. She couldn't remember.

Victoria had become a prisoner in her own body since Reina's death, only able to watch helplessly as it continued to kill. It didn't matter if they were threatening or completely innocent. This continued until one day, it came to a point where one day she just snapped. While she had burn twirling with her bladed tail slicing through marines. She had broken into a laugh as her tail sliced and cut down each man. It was the only other thing she could do other than cry.

She didn't know how long ago that was, she had stopped counting the time. Even in sleep, her body continued its deadly dance, not once stopping even when pain filled her body, nor even when an unfortunate victim layed dead at her feet. She continued to laugh at everything she killed, her entire being filled with hopelessness.

Over the time she had been stuck dancing on the abandoned stage, fewer people came. She was happy that she didn't have to kill anyone, but it also took away her hope that someone would save her from this. A flurry of painful thoughts filled her head. This started because she snuck away to watch those dancers.

I'm completely useless.

I was stupid to think that it was better to be a dancer. I should have just followed Kid and Killer to the junkyard.

This is all my fault.

The thoughts continued until she let herself go to sleep, unaware of the new guests that had made their way onto the ship.

————

Victoria woke with a hiss as she felt a sharp pain in her side. Out of reflex, her hands went to lightly touch the area only to freeze and shake. Her eyes flew open as she looked down at her body. It had been covered by a long black cape, however, that was secondary to the sight of herself not dancing and sitting on the floor.

I can move... I can finally move!

Movement around her caught her attention, making her look up. She was surrounded by a number of men, the one closest to her with a sword pointed at her neck. She followed the sword up to the man's face, yellow eyes making contact with his serious black ones.

As she gazed at him, her eyes traced over the scars on his left eye. Her chin began to quiver as she realized this man was the one that had freed her. It wasn't long before tears had filled her eyes and blurred her vision. The scarred man and the men around them quickly grew shocked when she tried to speak.

"T-Thank... you!" She croaked out, not used to speaking for so long. More tears fell as she began to sob in happiness. She continued to thank the red-haired man in front of her between hiccups and sobs. She shakily got to her feet, putting the men back on edge as she lunged for the man in front of her. Before they could rush to him, his loud laugh gave them pause. They watched as Victoria hugged him tightly.

Her laugh soon joined with his as she laughed through her tears. Her nightmare was finally over, she was free!

He sheathed his sword and pat her head as she slowly stopped crying. It wasn't until she had stopped that she realized she was almost naked without the cloak that had been placed on her. She held the item closer to her after she had pulled away from the man.

"I've heard the rumor that everyone aboard the Costa Soleil had been killed by a horrendous she-devil. I didn't think it'd be a young teenager. So, fill me in!" He smiled kindly at her while leading her out of the theatre. It was amazing how the stench of death left them the moment they had exited. She looked back over her shoulder and passed the men following at the doors that she had once wished to perform on the other side.

As they walked she told him everything that had happened, from the beginning of when she was on the island she had once called home to now. The man next to her nodded along, his face going back to being serious when she spoke of what Reina had done to her and forced her to do. She had finished telling him what had happened by the time they made it to a different ship.

Her eyes hurt from being inside the troupe ship for so long, and she wasn't used to the sunlight anymore.

He helped her across the gangplank, taking notice of how sluggish she was getting. If she really had been dancing all these years her body was in need of rest. Despite all this, she continued to try and ignore her body's need for rest. The men behind them quickly dispersed to get the ship ready to sail.

A tall man with long, greying hair pulled out a wooden box for her to sit on and rest. By now she had gotten used to the sunlight and she whipped her head around looking at the open ocean. She looked back at her savior, as he sat on another crate across from her.

"Who are you anyway?" She finally asked him, curiosity getting the better of her. A large grin spread across his features and he belted out a laugh at her questions. The other men grinned and laughed right along with him.

"The name's Shanks!"

A smile soon filled her face as well as she gazed at all the other smiling and laughing men. A warm feeling filled her chest before everything went dark around her.

Shanks blinked, staring at the now unconscious teen and let out another laugh. Shaking his head, he went to pick her up and turned to his men.

"Oi! See if ya can scrounge up some clothes for the kid so she has something to wear when she wakes up!" He ordered lazily and made his way to the infirmary. "Once she wakes up, we'll decide what to do with her then."