-Chapter One-
Sucking in a sharp breath of air, I released it all in one big tired sigh as I laid there sprawled over the lowest hanging branch of the tree I had recently climbed in some attempt to hide myself away so that I could be left alone. My back painfully shifting around occasionally in some desperate attempt to get comfortable despite how rough and uneven the bark felt beneath me as I boredly peered through the leaves of the tree and up at the cloudless sky.
"How can people even bother taking naps up here? This is uncomfortable..." I grumbled when I realized that the concept of getting comfortable was nonexistent the longer I began to shift myself around. "Why is it so boring today?" I groaned, my head tilted back and arms dangling from either side of me as I continued to listen to the peaceful silence of today—normally something was always happening on the island...mainly something bad, but that was beside the point. "Maybe I should just head back to the restaurant..." I snorted at the idea, what was the point of even hiding this far out from the village if I was just going to go back there? Shifting around once more, I soon sat up and carefully lowered myself from the branch until my feet touched the ground.
Placing my hands on my hips, I peered around me—head twisting left and right as I looked from the trail that would lead me back towards the village to the surrounding woodlands. There were other trails, many that were covered in overgrowth due to the lack of use as not many people from the village liked to wander this far out. I don't know why, with how peaceful and lovely nature could be, I saw no reason to heavily avoid it just because of the risks one takes in getting lost or encountering any of the not so friendly animals of the forest.
"Hm...which way? Which way?" I softly hummed as I continued to look around before finally opting to take a certain trail that looked to be a mixture of well used, but at the same time, not used enough for too big of an imprint to be left behind. At the very end of the small trail was a hill that lead up to the very edge of a cliffside—one that gave such a beautiful view of the shoreline and wide open sea...it was my favorite spot to come to whenever I felt the need to just sit and stare. There was something oddly calming about the sight of the waves—something calming about how there were days that they'd gently lap against the sandy shores and days were they'd violent crash down and desperately attempt to swallow whole whatever had the misfortune of being in its way. Plopping down onto the ground, I softly sighed as I watched the calming waves of today as if the sea herself was peacefully content with how quiet today was.
'Wonder what it would be like to go on an adventure' I hummed in contentment at the blissful thought the longer I stared out towards the sea. Despite how dangerous she could be—how cruel she could be towards those that were inexperienced or who recklessly set out to sea without any real direction—she was also merciful at times. Her mercy being what lead my brothers and me here about four years ago...a sort of mercy that I still didn't know if I should be thankful for or not. Heaving another sigh, I found myself falling back onto my back as I reached a hand up and pressed it against my face as if attempting to rub away how tired I truly felt at the moment. Just barely did the tips of my fingers brush against the bandana that was wrapped tightly around my head in some desperate attempt to contain my hair and make it almost appear shorter than it really was—make it appear more boyish than what it really was.
God how I hated this thing, it made hot days unbearable and it made my head itch every time stray strands of hair would sneak their way out from underneath and lightly brush against the flesh of my face. I know I could easily solve the problem by just simply cutting away all the hair...but I'd rather suffer than have to do what that idiotic asshole wanted. It's bad enough I have to wear the restrictive binder that painfully pressed my breasts down in a vague attempt at making me appear flat-chested.
"No one can take a female swordsman seriously..." I mockingly muttered underneath my breath as I repeated the words the villager leader's eldest son, Aaron, said to me that day three years ago as he tossed this binder my way after rudely barging into my brothers and mine shack...but I mean, he wasn't exactly wrong. There were days when I'd look in the mirror and scoff at the sight of myself—I was small, maybe to some I would be considered average height for my age, but at the same time I was smaller compared to most women I've met with a few exceptions here and there. I found it ridiculous the day Aaron had proposed that stupid little game of his three years to this day to the entire village—a game he promised would bring in more money, that he promised would make outsiders think twice before setting foot on this island, that he promised would be fun and entertaining to all. It was such a simple game yet also one that was cruel due to how most of the people that would stop by this island were just normal, everyday people in desperate need of restocking because they had understocked on the previous islands or had misjudged and didn't stock up in advance on the previous islands before coming here...though I don't know why people still kept coming here to an island such as this one that wasn't anywhere on the maps. The rules of the game were so amazingly simple.
The moment newcomers—whether they be pirates or just ordinary people, it did not matter—stepped foot onto this island, they'd immediately be approached by the leader's son who would then strike up a deal. See, you no longer were allowed to step foot on this island for free, you had to do something in exchange to even be allowed to stay. The outsiders would be asked to send forth who they thought their best fighter was then that person would be pitted against who the villagers have decided is their best fighter...which just so happens to be me. It's not because they genuinely thought that highly of me, no, it's because many of them didn't want to bear that sort of responsibility of either winning or losing the fight—of getting or costing the island money. Aaron claimed that the reason the villagers had set their eyes on me was because they wanted my brothers and me to make it up to them for the hell we've caused them since the day we washed up on their shore. But it wasn't our fault we had to steal to survive because they refused to help us, it wasn't our fault we had to get into fights because they'd get vicious and violent—because they'd allow the other children of the village to seek us out and try and pick fights with us first.
Anyways, the two fighters would then be pitted against one another—if the outsiders were to win, they were allowed to stay free of charge on the island, allowed to stock up and do whatever they pleased without having to spend a single beli...but if they lost, they lost almost everything. The villagers will be allowed to take whatever they so desired from the loser's ship and tell them that if they want their stuff back then they were going have to pay. Of course, eventually, Aaron tweaked the rules a bit when he saw just how hesitant ordinary people were becoming on accepting his deal and began to offer them a second option. He began to tell them that if they didn't want to fight then all they had to do was just pay a nice hefty fee and then they'd get all the same perks that the winner of the fight would...so far, only a few people have accepted this alternative of his and that's only because they just barely had enough beli to afford the fee. The game was cruel, it was a game made up and designed for greedy people that just wanted entertainment and nothing else, that didn't care if they were putting others in a dangerous situation by robbing them of their supplies or money and then shipping them back out to sea...especially if those people had plans on heading towards the Grand Line.
One may wonder why my brothers hadn't been chosen to be the fighter the villagers put forth and why they had just forced me to dress as a man. Well by the time that Aaron had come up with this little game of his, the owner of one of the most popular restaurants in the village had finally decided to have mercy on my brothers and me—or more like he wanted us to make up for the fact that we've been occasionally raiding his trashcans for scraps anytime we'd hit a bad period and couldn't get any food—and give us a job working for him with the promise of at least one free meal and pay. Cloud and Sora were hard workers...well Sora was sometimes a hard worker when he needed to be, but I...I didn't really care. Sure, it was nice that we had a job and now had easy access to food, but that didn't mean I appreciated the snide remarks and customers that decided to act up just because they wanted to make shit more difficult for my brothers and me. Due to how surprisingly well Sora and Cloud do at the restaurant as waiters, the owner of the restaurant wasn't really willing to give them up and let them have free days where they'd be needed to fight like he was me—I was a slob, I was a wreck, I was a lazy bum in his eyes...I wasn't needed in his opinion due to my lack of caring.
God, I'll never forget the day Aaron came rudely bargaining into my brothers and mine home with this news, I'll never forget the anger in his eyes as he congratulated me as the lucky sap that was chosen before he finally broke down and angrily started shoving a chest binder in my arms and demanding that I start dressing like a man.
"They won't take us seriously if we put some woman up there against them, we need them to know we're completely serious and this isn't a joke!"
That's what he had said to me as he started listing off what he wanted from me...I can see why he hasn't found a wife yet despite his father making it clear that he won't give him the position of leader until he's married. Back then, I had been ready to say no, to deny him what he wanted before zipping my lips upon hearing the perks that he offered if I took this job. The perks that he'll have the villagers lay off on how they treat my brothers and me, how he'll make sure that we'll be provided with better equipment—better sheets to keep us warm in the winter, more wood to help fix up our old shack, provisions that weren't rotten or bruised or came from the trash. Hell, he even gave me the two swords that I currently used, they were decent and have served me well these last three years. I had to wonder how he learned that I had experience in sword fighting—let alone two-sword fighting—as I haven't picked up a sword in...five years?
Yes...it's been five years since I last picked up a sword, but I still remembered how to use them.
"Yahoo! Land ho!" I perked up to the voice that shouted from the shoreline below, a voice that sounded eagerly loud and overly excited as if its owner was so thankful and happy to see land.
"It hasn't been that long since we left Lougetown, you're acting as if we haven't been on land in months" a second voice—one more feminine than the first—seemed to huff as I curiously lifted myself up and peered over the cliff. Curiously were my eyes instantly drawn towards the ship that was now docked close to the shoreline, it was nothing more than a caravel ship that's figurehead was in the design of a cute ram's head and there appeared to be tangerine trees growing on the ship...odd, I didn't think that one could succeed in taking such a thing out to sea with them. But the main thing that caught my attention about the ship was the black flag that proudly waved around in the light sea breeze at the very top of the mast and the Jolly Roger that was painted on both it and the sail. It was your typical skull and crossbones, except the skull wore a straw hat which was enough to cause me to raise an eyebrow.
"Mystery Island! Mystery Island!" my gaze drifted towards the group of people that now cluttered the beach—four men and one woman. They all varied in appearance and it was amusing seeing how the only one out of the five that seemed so eager and excited about being on this island was a young man who wore a straw hat despite how the beach he stood on most likely looked no different from the beach of any other island. I softly chuckled the longer I watched as the young man eagerly bounced in place before my gaze slowly drifted towards one of the other men—towards a young man whose hair was the color of grass.
"Is that...? No...that can't be possible—I doubt he'd ever be a pirate..." I frowned with the shake of my head...but still, I couldn't help but stare just a little while longer before turning away as I pushed myself to stand. "Whelp, better go see how Cloud and Sora are doing" I softly sighed as I stretched my arms upwards before letting them fall back and cross behind my head as I now slowly made my way back to the village. Just barely did I nod at anyone that showed some decency in greeting me, that actually didn't look at me with irritation or disgust because they still strongly believed that I was an outsider that didn't belong.
"And just where the hell have you been?" Cloud asked in irritation the moment I walked through the double doors of the restaurant—the blond had one hand on his hip as he tightly clutched the handle of the broom with the other and, for a moment, I thought he was going to hit me with it with how annoyed he looked with my sudden reappearance after I had disappeared out of the blue halfway through rush hour.
"I don't know, where do you think?" I asked, innocently smiling up at him as I passed him by, ignoring the way some of the customers quieted down and rudely began to listen and watch as if they were eager to see a fight break out between two siblings. Wouldn't be the first time Cloud and I have bickered in front of a crowd.
"I swear, sometimes it feels like you and Sora don't even care if you get fired..." the blond grumbled with the shake of his head before he returned his attention back on his sweeping which seemed to cause the small crowd whose attention we had caught to sigh in disappointment. Some grumbling or softly complaining before they all eventually returned to their own personal conversations that they had been engaged in before getting distracted.
"I don't, but not so sure about Sora..." I muttered underneath my breath as I pushed the door to the kitchen open and disappeared inside, grabbing my apron from the hanger in the process.
"He's right, you know" the head chef spoke up from the backdoor, already in the middle of taking one of his many smoke breaks.
"You shouldn't eavesdrop on other people's conversation" I bluntly said as I busied myself with tying my apron around my waist.
"Tch! I'm amazed the boss even keeps you two around—well, I can see why he keeps pipsqueak around, kid knows his way with people" the man said, noting how my twin had a talent for sometimes being able to get on people's good side, even those that have been cruel towards him were sometimes polite to him if they were in a good enough mood to appreciate that sweet smile of his. "But you, you barely do anything around here" he said as he blew out a billow of smoke from between his lips.
"What? I don't do anything?" I feigned hurt as if I actually cared what he had to say. "Nonsense, I brighten up this place with my sparkling personality—can't you tell? I'm just overflowing with positivity" my smile was disingenuous as my words heavily dripped with sarcasm.
"Watch it, doll—you know I don't like that attitude of yours" he grunted, already looking annoyed with me based on the way his eyes narrowed. "You're dressed like a man, so I have every right to knock you out without any questions if I wanted to" he bitterly sneered before looking away.
"Yeah, sure, whatever you say" I scoffed with the roll of my eyes, already knowing that despite the man's burly appearance, he wasn't much of a fighter to begin with. He liked to act tough since he looked the part, but he was prone to backing down as soon as anyone showed even the slightest of hints of wanting to pick a fight with him. Walking back out into the dining area, I lazily wandered my way over towards Sora who was seated at one of the back tables all by himself—sheets of paper and crayons surrounding him...must be his break. I wouldn't say that Sora was the best artist out there, but he was decent enough that you could at least tell what it was he had drawn without any trouble.
"A mermaid?" I questioned as I lazily wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my chin on top of his head so that I could peer down at whatever it was he was drawing today. "Weren't you obsessing over trying to draw dogs the other day?" I asked.
"Yeah, but I overheard a few fishermen earlier talking about mermaids and wanted to draw one..." Sora mindlessly mumbled in response as he continued to color in the background behind the childish drawing of a mermaid. "Think it'll look nice up on the wall back home with all of the others?" he asked, referring back to that one wall we had back home that we'd pin Sora's drawings up on in some vague attempt to brighten the place up and make it feel homier to us then what it really was.
"Yeah, I think so" I nodded, even if it didn't, I'd still pin it up since it was something he made. I never wanted to discourage him from the things he enjoyed doing. "Hey, by the way, have you done any work today?" I whispered as I cast a quick glance over towards Cloud who was angrily emptying out the dustpan—lowly grumbling to himself as he huffed and puffed as if something was bothering him.
"Uh...no..." Sora sheepishly admitted.
"Ah, that explains why he's in such a mood today, I don't blame him though" I sighed. "I'd be moody too if I had to do all the work while everyone else just sat on their asses" I said as I pulled away from my twin and leaned myself back against the table, watching as he nodded his head in agreement. "We're assholes" I softly laughed which caused the brunet to snort. Quickly was our attention soon directed towards the entrance of this place the minute the double doors were pushed open and those pirates I had spotted earlier walked right on in—quietly did I watch how they made their way towards the very back of the restaurant, lowly talking to one another as they ignored everyone in some vain attempt to not draw too much attention to themselves.
"Oh boy, looks like you're going to be busy today" Sora lowly whistled as he looked at the group of people before his gaze finally settled on the moss haired man that carried three swords with him. "Hey, doesn't he look like—"
"Yeah, I noticed it too" I cut him off as I crossed my arms. "But I have my doubts that it's really him...I can't see him becoming a pirate of all things..." I muttered, still finding it hard to believe that he of all people would join a pirate crew. He never showed an interest in the life of a pirate before, so it was a reasonable doubt.
"How many men do you know with green hair?" Sora asked. "No, even better, how many men do you know that use three swords?" he reiterated.
"Good point" I softly chuckled as I rubbed the back of my neck before pushing away from the table and reaching into the front pocket of my apron until I produced the small notepad that I normally use to take orders with. "So, what do you think? Should we serve them before you know who shows up?" I asked as I lightly shook the small notepad in my hand.
"I don't think that'll be a good idea—you know he'll probably blow a fuse if you did that" Sora said as he scratched his cheek and gave a quiet laugh. I only nodded while silently mulling over if I really wanted to deal with one of Aaron's famous temper tantrums just for a few minutes of spiteful amusement. Sadly, I didn't really get to make a decision before the doors to the restaurant was thrown open once again and in came the Devil himself—his face twisted up into a look of eager excitement as he looked all around before those chocolate eyes of his settled on the group of newcomers.
"Oh brother..." Cloud grumbled with the roll of his eyes as he tiredly watched the older brunet fast walk his way towards the back table where the group of pirates resided. Even a few customers also seemed to eagerly stand and follow him until it wasn't long before the pirates now had a decent crowd of people around them—just seeing their confused expressions and tense posture was enough to make me pity them. "Skylar" I hummed the minute I heard my older brother call out, head-turning in his direction as I watched how he leaned the broom in his hand up against the wall before approaching me.
"Yes, my darling big brother who I love so very much?" I questioned, innocently batting my eyes up at him before snickering as I raised my hands the second he smacked me upside the head.
"Don't do that, it's weird" he lightly glared before heaving a tired sigh. "You know the deal, but you're going have to run back to the house and get your swords—I didn't bring them with me today" he said, already looking like he wanted to shoo me right out the door so we could quickly get this mess done and over with.
"I know, and here we thought today was just going to be an ordinary, boring old day like none other" I hummed, lips tugging up into a small smile as I listened to the way he grumbled.
"Fucking hate this island..." I chuckled as I listened to his moody complaint, knowing that he was most likely tired from all the work he's been having to do this past week both here at the restaurant and back home at the shack considering how it's been needing new repairs.
"Skylar! Get your ass over here!" Aaron called out as he waved for me to come over the minute I looked at him, owlishly did I blink as I almost shrunk back the moment I saw all the multiple pairs of eyes that were on me. Already on the tip of my tongue could I feel a snarky response building up, but I was quick to swallow it back down the moment Cloud rested his hand on my lower back.
"Don't start..." he muttered as he gave me a slight shove forward.
"Yes, sir..." I grumbled with a mock salute before working my way over towards the brunet—weaving my way through the crowd of people until I was able to come to a stop right beside him.
"This here, though "he" may not look like it, is our best fighter—Skylar" Aaron introduced me as he put an arm around my shoulder. "Now, I've already gone over all the details and rules of our deal with them and even generously offered them to pay the reasonable fee—"
"Reasonable" I snorted before grunting when one of the villages close to me elbowed me in the side.
"—but it seems that this young lady is hellbent on taking the fight" Aaron finished, shooting me a sharp glare as he did his best to ignore what I had said and plastered on that fake smile of his. Got to act polite to the soon to be victims of your game if you want them to be willing. Looking to the ginger haired woman, I took note of the displeased look in her eyes as she tightly clutched a napkin in her hands—ah, he must have written down the total fee for her.
"Alright" I nodded as I reached up and gently removed his hand from my shoulder, no longer wanting to feel his touch, before clearing my throat in the process as I made some vain attempt to make my voice sound naturally deeper—it wasn't the best, but since none of them were questioning it, I can at least assume it was good enough. "So, who's the lucky guy or gal that I have the pleasure of going up again?" I asked.
"Eh?" the ginger owlishly blinked as if she hadn't thought that far ahead before quickly did her eyes began to scan the table as if she was now needing a moment to decide who to pick. I couldn't help but do the same as I now got a closer look at all her companions—there was a man with a straw hat, a man with a long nose, a blond, and then lastly there was the man with moss colored hair. "Well..." she trailed off, looking unsure of herself as her gaze constantly kept flickering back and forth from me to her companions.
"Me! Me!" the man with the straw hat suddenly shouted as he excitedly raised his hand and began to wildly wave it around.
"I think your friend there wants to be it" I chuckled, watching the way his lips tugged upwards into a wide grin as he laughed.
"Now hold on" the ginger frowned as she did her best to settle the man down. "First, what exactly is your expertise?" she curiously asked, now closely scanning my person as if she was looking for any signs of a weapon. I didn't blame her for wanting to know how I fight, she needed to ensure she put the right person up against me if she was wanting to win this.
"Well...I have dabbled a bit into fist fighting and I've held a gun once or twice in my life—never doing that again, it was just plain awful—but as for my main method of fighting" I said as I watched the way she raised an eyebrow at how sharp my tone had gotten at the mention of handling a gun. "I'm more into using swords, couldn't you tell?" I smiled.
"Right, then in that case, we nominate Zoro to be our fighters for this little...game?" she didn't sound so sure that was the right word to use to describe what we were about to do and I didn't blame her. Games were meant to be fun—this wasn't fun for either me or the individuals involved.
"Aw, but I wanted to do it, Nami" the man with the straw hat whined in disappointment as he now started to pout.
"U-uh...alright" I stumbled over my words for a moment as I was taken aback the second I heard that name—that name that plagued my mind on those rare days where I could properly think about the few pleasant memories I had and kept me company sometimes on my loneliest of days.
"Great!" Aaron grinned as he clapped his hands together. "Then, shall we get started?" he asked as I watched Zoro stand...
I wasn't going to win this game this time around.
-Later-
"Go get him, Skylar!" Sora happily cheered, wearing a wide grin as I embarrassingly waved my hand at him in an attempt to get him to quiet down—he always did this, he always cheered despite how many times I normally tell him not to due to how embarrassing it was. Grumbling when I saw he wasn't going to listen to me, I only busied myself with straightening my bandana as well as discreetly straightening my chest binder to make sure that it was tightly secured. While I was twisting my torso back and forth in an effort to make sure that my movements wouldn't be too badly hindered by this annoying binder, I couldn't help but stare at the three swords that rested against the gentlemen's hips—unlike him, I couldn't really use three sword style as my jaw wasn't strong enough to hold the hilt of a sword between my teeth. Trust me, I've tried. Slowly did my gaze now began to wander as I continued to stretch my body out from my arms to my legs, taking note in how he casually stood there as if he had confidence that he didn't need to stretch in advance and I didn't blame him.
The East Blue was widely known as the weakest sea, and because of that, I've never had much trouble at all with the opponents I've gone up against, even the ones that did give me a bit of a workout weren't much of a hassle—but he was different and I knew that. He's been training for so long; he actually cares about being a swordfighter and takes it so seriously that he puts his heart and soul into it more than I honestly do. I've already accepted that I wasn't going to win this match in the end—but I wonder...just how long can I keep up with him before he brings me down? When I had finished with my stretches, I drew my swords and took my usual stance, ignoring the questioning looks I received from the pirates when they noticed how feminine my stance almost appeared. I couldn't care what they thought at the moment as already I could feel my temper start to rise the longer I watched and listened to the way Aaron began to take up all the small bets that were going around.
God how I hated this part of the game—how I hated how everyone seemed to just draw it out for their amusement by taking bets on who they genuinely believed was going to win. That's why I knew that they didn't really think that highly of me or had complete faith in me. Why would you think highly of someone you constantly bet against sometimes depending on how their opponent looks? Hell, I could already hear some whispering their doubts I was going to win as they examined Zoro's stature and the three swords at his side—three was better than two, wasn't it? Isn't that how the logic works?
He was going to win not because he was better than me, but because he was on a different level than me. I didn't care, fighting was never my favorite thing in the world because it feels like that's all I've been doing my whole life—crying and screaming and begging and pleading for mercy that will never come because life doesn't care. He took it seriously, I didn't—he's been taking sword fighting and fighting in general seriously as long as I could remember from the day I met him to the day I left.
"Alright!" Aaron clapped his hands the moment he was finished taking all the bets as he now stood between Zoro and I. But already was he beginning to take slow and steady steps back and away from us as if to make it clear that he didn't want to get caught up in the crossfire.
"We've been ready this entire time—are you ready?" I asked in clear annoyance, ignoring the way the brunet glared at me for the snippy tone I was taking with him.
"Okay then, well let's not waste any more precious daylight—"
"You're the one wasting daylight, get on with it!"
"—Start!" and with that, he quickly backed his way back towards the crowd as Zoro drew his swords—seemingly feeling only the need to draw two of them and to be fair, I probably would have drawn one if I had reasons to believe that my opponent wasn't too overly strong to require two swords to beat them. I raised my swords and blocked his own, softly grunting as I aggressively pushed back against him the moment he started to push down on me. It wasn't long before we both jumped back and put some distances between ourselves, taking slow and steady steps as we began to practically walk circles around one another—our eyes searching for some kind of opening that we could use to our advantage. When I thought I had seen one, I rushed forward and swung my swords only for them to clash against his own once again. It was like a dance what he and I were doing.
Our bodies moving back and forth as our swords just kept clashing and clashing and clashing in attempts to stop each attack we sent towards once another. Only the sounds of the crowd murmuring or cheering could be heard over the clashing of our swords as we just kept pushing back against one another and seeking out an opening.
"You sure do like playing defensively?" Zoro asked the moment our swords clashed once again and we were face to face—our gazes locked as we pushed back against one another.
"I'd be stupid to play too offensively with you—you're not some weak pirate or simple villager, are you?" I asked, watching how his lips seemed to twitch up into a grin the moment he heard what I guess you could say was the slight praise I had given him. I wasn't wrong, I would be stupid to try and play offensively with him—if I was going to last as long as I could before the inevitable end then I needed to play on the defense. Maybe if he had been someone that I knew I could easily get cocky and play a bit more dangerously with then I would have, but he wasn't—he wasn't meant to be taken lightly. Our little dance continued and slowly, bit by bit, we both began to acquire small nicks here and there from the instances when the tips of our blades would get too dangerously close and brush against our flesh. I wasn't sure what caused it, but at some point I found my gaze softening as I looked at him and I found my mind wandering to the point that my body slowly began to relax and my defensive stance started to lower.
"I'd keep my head out of the clouds if I were you" I had been jolted from my thoughts at the last moment, unable to quickly regain my stance as the swordsman flipped his blades around and shot forward.
"Skylar!" I barely registered the startled gasp from my twin as I listened to the sound of fabric ripping and tearing before finally, a sharp sting reached the flesh of my chest. Even with him using the back of the blades, the force of his attack had still been strong enough to rip and tear its way through my shirt and binder before damaging the skin of my flesh as if it was the tip of a cats claw tearing through the flesh of someone's arm.
"Oh..." I muttered as I reached a hand up and pressed it down on my chest, barely registering the way the cut flesh throbbed in protest at the pressure as small beads of blood prickled and began to seep out just enough to latch onto the palm of my hand. It was quiet for a moment before half of the crowd suddenly burst out cheering...well, I know who they betted on.
"Skylar! Hey, Skylar—are you alright?!" Sora sounded so frantic as he came sliding to a stop right beside me, almost looking on the verge of a panic attack the minute he saw the damage to my clothes and the slight blood that trickled from the cut—it wasn't deep, but that was to be expected since he had used the back of the blade. "You're bleeding! Why are you bleeding?!" I couldn't help but chuckle the moment he grabbed my shoulders and began to violently shake me back and forth.
"Why do you think, dumb-dumb?" I softly smiled as I reached up and grabbed his wrists so that I could still him. I watched how he almost looked like he wanted to pout upon hearing my question as he puffed out his cheeks and huffed at the childish insult that I threw his way for the dumb question he had asked.
"What were you thinking?! This was meant to just be a spar or something or whatever the hell this is!" my ears perked up as I listened to the way the ginger haired woman—didn't that straw hat guy call her Nami?—chewed out the swordsman who seemed like he wasn't really all that concerned.
"I used the back of the blades, "he's" fine" Zoro defended with the dismissive wave of his hand which didn't seem to do much to help soothe the woman's anger.
"Hey!" I shouted over to the group, halting their conversation as I slowly stood up which caused Sora to start panicking once again as he quickly stood as well and attempted to coax me into not moving around so much. "Congratulations on the win! Really, I had fun!" I happily waved, ignoring the sharp glares some of the villagers gave me as if annoyed that I was being a good sport about all this despite having lost.
"Skylar, don't move around so much!" Sora worriedly frowned and I couldn't help but find that worry cute as I laughed. "Don't laugh, you're hurt!" he huffed as he crossed his arms.
"I know, I know" I said in an attempt to soothe his anger. "Come on, if it'll make you feel better, we'll go see Dr. Anderson" I smiled as I watched how he nodded his head before sighing in relief as he took my hand and moved my arm over his shoulders despite the fact that I knew I didn't need that much help. Such a worry wart—but then again, so am I when it comes to him and Cloud. "Don't worry, we're going" I told Cloud the moment we walked past him and I noticed how he was already opening his mouth as if getting ready to speak.
"You better..." he muttered before his lips softly pulled up into a small smile as he reached out and softly patted the top of my head. "God, you're a handful sometimes, you know that?" he sighed, chuckling at the cheeky smile I gave him before Sora and I finally left.
-Later-
"Hey, Dr. Anderson, guess who came to visit you?!" Sora and I sang the moment we kicked the door open to the familiar clinic that we both were so used to seeing. It wasn't that big as it only contained a sink, various medical equipment, and two beds that were separated by a curtain—there was also a back room that held miscellaneous items like spare clothing that had been donated to the clinic, spare medical supplies, and most of the strong medicine that the good doctor kept locked up and away from the prying eyes of any resident villagers that had...issues...when it came to medical prescribed drugs.
"Well, there's our little loser" Dr. Anderson smiled the moment he came out of the back room, carrying with him a spare shirt and chest binder.
"Wow, news spreads fast here, doesn't it?" I whistled in amazement that someone had already spread the news to the rest of the villagers that hadn't attended the match what the results were.
"Like anyone on this island can keep their mouth shut when it comes to this junk..." Sora muttered with the roll of his eyes as he helped me sit down on one of the beds.
"Well, it is a small village, my dear" Dr. Anderson reminded me. "Anything newsworthy—let along gossip-worthy—it bound to spread like wildfire the moment it happens" he added as he grabbed his stool and pulled it close to the bed before sitting down, already starting to gather up the supplies he believed he would need. "Now, you know the drill, take off your shirt and chest binder so we can get a good look at the damage."
"I know" I said with the wave of my hand as I began to remove the destroyed articles of clothing—I was a bit sad to see the shirt go as the doctor tossed the ruined articles of clothing, it had been one of my favorites due to how comfy it was to wear. "Look, I doubt it's even that bad, I mainly just came here for Sora's sake" I admitted.
"Well, I'll be the judge of that" he said as he carefully started to examine the cut—already the bleeding had stop and what beads of blood that had surface was now smeared and already beginning to dry. "You're not wrong that it isn't that bad..." he mumbled as he followed the way the cuts ran from either of my shoulders and down to my waist creating a red "x" that seemed to stand out against the pale flesh of my torso. "Still, any wound made—whether by a clean blade or not—must be clean as to avoid infection. You should know this by now" he said as he pushed me down and began the process of cleaning the wound.
"Hey, I'm pretty sure that some of those nails I found were clean—besides, you know I mainly used my nails..." I muttered in defense, embarrassed that he had brought up those cuts. I avoided looking at him in the same vain that Sora avoided looking at either one of us, his gaze becoming downcast as if he didn't want to be reminded of that time he had rushed me here due to an infection caused by a certain cut on my hip. The scars were nearly faded now, a miracle really considering how deep some of them were.
"So...what happened?" Sora asked in some attempt to change the subject as he slowly began to kick his feet back and forth from where he had taken a seat on the bed next to mine.
"Got distracted, that's all" I shrugged. "Not that it matters, he probably would have won anyway..." I muttered.
"That's new" Sora whistled as he tilted his head. "Was it because...?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that was part of the reason—brought back some good memories" I nodded with a heavy sigh.
"Mind telling me what it is you two are talking about? This old geezer can't read minds, you know?" Dr. Anderson hummed as he now began to pour cleaning alcohol onto a rag once he was sure he had wiped my torso clean of any dried blood.
"Well..." Sora scratched the back of his head, looking as if he didn't really know where to begin as he tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling.
"The guy I went up against was Zoro" I answered. "You know, that kid me and Sora sometimes talked about with you whenever you wanted to distract us from the pain of tending to us after we'd get into a fight with one of the other kids on the island" I reminded him. "I'll admit, what I did was kind of stupid—it was my fault for letting my emotions get the best of me during a fight" I sighed.
"Hm, indeed, I do remember you mentioning this Zoro fellow every now and again" Dr. Anderson hummed. "But if I also recall, neither of one of you have ever told me exactly how you met him—would you like to enlighten me while you're here?" he asked, pulling that usual tactic of his. A trick he learned fairly quickly when Sora and I used to visit him frequently after our arrival on the island because he knew it made his job easier if we both were calm and distracted and not thinking about whatever pain or sour mood we were in.
"Sure...I mean, we got time to spare" I shrugged, quietly hissing the moment the rag in his hand touched the wound on my chest and caused it to sting. "Let's see...well I believe we met him back when we were about eight..."