On the Moby dick two kids sat watching the buzz, a ginger teen with a wooden training sword, they were swinging it back and forth in boredom, the other was a blue shark Fishman with shaggy black hair, he was munching away on a chocolate bar, looking tired as per usual.
They were sat up in the crows nest, keeping out of sight, when the red-head pointed out a unfamiliar person climbing onto the ship, even from way up high they could tell that it was a kid, their hair was all gross and muddy, actually they were just plain dirty. "Hey? Namur, do you recognise that person?"
"Mmmm? Wha'ch?" He answered with his mouth full, following their finger down to the suspicious person. "Huh? No..."
They both lent forwards squinting.
"Should we do something?" The ginger asked, Namur shrugged "Probably..."
Neither teenage moved, the Fishman finished his chocolate bar, while the other kid continued to fiddle with their sword.
"So... Haruta are you gonna-?" Namur sighed after a moment.
"Why me?"
"You saw 'em"
"You're older"
"What's that got to do with it?"
Haruta and Namur grumbled simultaneously, looking each other in the eye.
"Fine, let's just get this over with." The older teen offered, Haruta nodded half-heartily. The truth was that they weren't supposed to be out of their cabin, they had been grounded for causing this whole mess with the Marines in the first place.
But the cabin was boring...
They climbed down, hoping to find Thatch or Rakuyo, they wouldn't snitch and they might even cover for them, if they said the right thing. Bribery was very effective on those two brothers anyway. But no, they ran into Vista "What are you guys doing here? Didn't Pops ground you?"
"No..." Haruta lied, turning away from their mentor. Their older brother frowned, simply gesturing for them to follow him, the two teenagers trailed behind, as he wove around the rushing crew.
"Great work Haru! You got us into more trouble, couldn't you just tell him about the intruder" Namur hissed angrily, the red-head stuck their tongue out "Sorry for trying to get us out of trouble!"
The Fishman went to smack Haruta, but the backwards glance from Vista made him freeze and withdraw his hand.
"Look who I found?" Vista said dryly, jabbing his thumb over at the apprentices. Marco, Jozu and Pops were stood next to barrier, all three didn't seem surprised.
"Really? You two couldn't stay in your cabin for an hour, yoi?" Marco drawled unimpressed.
"Mmm, we were saints compared to these two" Jozu muttered shaking his head, slightly amused.
"Marco was no saint, he just had us to keep him from doing crazy shit" Vista chuckled, causing the phoenix to scowl and retort "How did this become about me, yoi?"
"Ain't that right Pops?" The swordsman asked ignoring Marco; however, Pops was staring over the side quietly, watching Moby pull away from the remains of the dock.
"Pops yoi?" Marco called staring up at him, when he didn't respond the younger blond patted his leg not too lightly. Finally, their father peered down quietly, giving them all a raised eyebrow "What?"
"You good?" Jozu asked in a concerned voice, Pops nodded absently "Mmm. Yeah"
"Are you sure about that?" Vista said sceptically, he reached out grabbing Haruta by the back of the jumper, they were trying to sneak away, while Jozu blocked off Namur. Both apprentices glowered angrily.
"What are those two doing here?" The Yonko enquired instead avoiding the question.
Haruta opened their mouth, but whatever excuse they were going to make up was drowned out by Namur "We saw a kid climb onto the ship!"
"Namur you're not making excuses, are you? That's Haru-" Vista was about to reproach him, when Pops cut in "A little blond brat?"
"Yeah, they were all dirty, we saw 'em from the crow's nest" Haruta chipped in, pointing towards the commanders' living quarters. The Yonko's gaze softened ever so lightly, but it quickly disappeared from his face, almost as if it never happened.
"You saw them too?" Namur asked relieved, he didn't like being accused of lying.
Pops waved his hand away, he had dismissed the subject now, as if he longer cared. "Namur, Haruta?" the man said all of a sudden, his usual lazy uncaring tone back, only it had that sharp stern edge neither of they liked, the apprentices shrank as he leant over them "Yes?" Namur winced, Haru had decided that behind their brother was a good hiding place. "GET your asses back in your fucking room, you're still grounded"
Pops was back to normal, his swearing and rough attitude back in full force, the only thing he was lacking was his teasing grin. He was still very mad at them for punching that Noble in the balls. To be fair Haruta didn't regret it, but it had meant that the Marines had come after them. Marco had gotten into involved and the situation had escalated from there.
They both nodded wildly, shrinking even more, they quickly stumbled into a run back to their cabin "AND don't come out again!"
At the other end of the ship, the rush of hundreds of feet, loud shouts assaulted Alexandra's ears from every which direction. Her heavy breaths were muffled under all of the commotion, despite her trembling body and unsteady running, she was unnoticed among the busy crew. The pirates shared one thought set sail.
That was fine by her, as long as she was still alive, Alex was happy. Well, maybe not happy at this current situation, but it was really the only option available to her, the point being was that the girl was surviving, even if the way she was surviving was terrifying... it was this or falling into a pit.
Alex ducked in and out of the shadows, weaving her way around pirates, her head tucked to her chest, with shoulders hunched. Thankfully, they were far too busy making preparations to leave to pay the little girl any mind. Once she had managed to separate herself from the pirates dashing about, she found that she had entered a much emptier part of the ship, if she had to make a guess, this was probably the sleeping quarters.
Alex sniffed the air taking in lots of information, ignoring the salty wind the lion focused on the others, there was lots of different scents assaulting her, a mixture that was especially unpleasant, though some were much stronger then others, there was one that stood out or rather didn't, that was the one she followed. It was stale, dull and it was faint, but still very much there.
Since eating her devil fruit Alex had developed a strong sense of smell, in fact she didn't even need to be in her lion form to be able to use it, it was always there, though admittedly sometimes it was more of a curse then a blessing. Truth be told the world smelt, humans in particular were the cause of most of it.
At the end of the rows cabins the tired looking girl came to a stop in front of a worn wooden door, the top of the frame was split as if someone had slammed it way too hard way too many times or at least used way too much enthusiasm to close it. This was where Alex's nose had led her, this cabin hadn't been used in a while. She pushed the door open quickly, entering in a whirl, she turned around to find a dust covered room. A large bed sat in the middle, a oak desk sat to one side and a walk-in wardrobe to the other.
Who ever used to live in here didn't anymore, actually it looked as though it had been vacant for at least a year or two. The cobwebs hung low from the ceiling, the dust was thick like icing on a cake, the whole room made her want to sneeze. The previous occupants' scents were still all over the place, when she said occupants there was at least four different people. The strongest and most overpowering odour was the perfume, a sweet aroma that honestly would have smelt nice on its own if it wasn't mixed in with the manly musk of sweat. Then there was the scent of maybe a baby? It was the baby powder and milk that made her think of that. And also, a kid? It definitely stood apart from the sweaty man smell, but it wasn't the woman's or the babies either...
So, a family used to live here on a pirate ship? Were they maybe held hostage or were they prisoners? No. That didn't seem like it, there was no signs of- of- Then what happened to them? She swallowed a lump in her throat, she was suddenly very reluctant to think about the answer.
Well, the girl thought that it was probably be safe in here. Clearly nobody used this cabin or even went into clean it, so this was probably the best place to hole up. She made her way over to the walk-in closet, slid it open and sat down inside silently, curling into herself, she let out a quiet pathetic sigh. She was safe for now...
***
Three days- Alex had been in this stupid room for three days!
She was hungry, but worse of all was the thirst, her head felt light and dizzy, the girl's gut burned, it was like her body was on fire. She was dehydrated, her skin had started to dry out like paper, her lips were crispy, skin hung to them like plastic, Alex's eye was like a dry pebble rolling around in her eye-socket.
She didn't have a choice, the blonde needed to find something to drink and eat, she wasn't going to make it otherwise. Once again Alex kicked herself for hundredth time in the last few days, why hadn't she stocked up on food and water? Okay, sure she couldn't store that kind of stuff in her mane, but bags were a thing! If she survived this ordeal, she would steal a bag!
Haven't I learned anything since leaving Bambora island? No, I have. I would be dead if I hadn't. And this is no different, I know this is what I have to do. Even if I been prepared, that food and water wouldn't have lasted long, I would have to do this still!
She had finally made up her mind, it was now or never. The night had fallen, most of the pirates were out for the night, this was her moment. Taking a deep steadying breath, peered out of the room, her head span as Alexandra focused hard on her task at hand, her body felt heavy, weariness dragged at the girl's aching muscles but the thought of finding something to drink and eat pushed her forwards.
The search was actually quite easy, Alex's nose led her straight down to the kitchen. The only problem was picking the lock on the door, which was double barrelled in nature, which took a lot more precision having the kid had to twist her arms at some interesting angles. But her painful guts and dry throat made it a doddle, the desperation was always an asset in these moments, the blonde didn't stop until she was inside.
She could feel her eye sting, as the delightful aromas wrapped around her like a warm blanket. She immediately went to find something to drink, Alex didn't even care what it was! Dunking her whole head in the sink as she turned on the tap, the taste of water was incredible, it quelled the burning in her throat, tears flowed down her cheek. The kid had never been so grateful for anything like this before, she would never take water for granted again.
Once her thirst felt satiated, she finally began to stuff her face full of whatever food she happened to come upon, it was like an amazing feast, everything tasted wonderful, shoving a baguette into her jaws she almost choked, but it didn't matter it was so good.
The girl found a freezer, opening it wide and she came across a treasure trove of amazing food, a large slab of pork was sat on a plate in the centre, it looked as though it had been seasoned, Alex's shifted growing larger in size until she had snapped up the meat in her maws, munching away ravenously. The lion grumbled contently, digging into the rest of the freezer stuff, admittedly her lion form wasn't the cleanest eater, but well it was like her animal instincts had gone into overdrive.
She let out a soft chuff, as the girl backed out of the freezer falling onto her paws, she made her way into the pantry rifling through anything that smelt edible. She inhaled everything in her path, Alex's belly was beginning to fill up, the pain slowly disappearing. The only thought in the girl's head was eat, gotta eat, eat, food, must eat... the lion's survival instincts on full display.
When her stomach was finally full and she felt satisfied, Alex made the decision to leave, after her humanity was back in control she turned back, letting the golden fur reseed up her arms, shrinking back down to her original size, the girl stood up right letting out a sigh of relief. She began to rapidly tidy away her mess, shoving bones and leftover waste into where looked the most hidden, closing the freezer, that wasn't without stuffing some small pieces of food up her baggy sleeves for later, she left the kitchen.
I think I might be lost... I'm sure I already passed by that beam? That door looks pretty familiar too.
A wooden beam stood out against the dawn sky casting reddish shadows across the planked floor, a big door with a dent splintered into the wood grain next to it. Most likely a store room or something, not the place Alex wanted.
Great work Alex! Why can't you remember the way back to the room? I was pretty preoccupied staving to death! Stupid you may still die because you can't find the safe room!
How long had she been running around this dumb ship? Long enough to know that she had passed this part about 5 times, you'd think with such a big ship you wouldn't come across the same place twice, but if that was the case, she would have found the safe room by now. She could have screamed in frustration; however, the girl had to remember that she was still on a pirate vessel, Alex was becoming very aware that the morning was fast approaching and she was out in the open, sooner or later the blonde bump into someone.
So far, the night watch had been few and far between, they seemed more interested in looking over the ocean in search of enemies then paying attention to what was on their own ship, so Alexandra had managed to evade notice. But soon she may not have that luxury.
She yawned widely, wariness in every step she took, Alex knew she was running on steam at this point, since being on this stupid pirate ship the kid had barely slept a wink, she was just too paranoid and stressed to go to sleep. She had tried, however when your brain doesn't want to turn off it doesn't. It didn't matter how much food and water the girl had consumed; she was still absolutely exhausted. Her muscles ached still, she had thought that was because of the dehydration, though maybe it was a mixture of things.
Why wasn't life simple?
She continued onwards, taking in every single thing, yet nothing familiar stood out anymore, the scents on deck were so strong that they were muddling up her nose, making Alex confused. The strong scent of alcohol filled her nostrils, it made the blonde's nose sting and her eye water. Clearly this was where the crew liked gather together to drink, several people were passed out. She jumped around the bodies, desperately wishing not to awaken them.
The sky was brightening slowly, the horizon began to turn from dark blue to purple, then to a deep shade of orange and finally the sun began to rise. Panic was setting in, Alexandra had to find the room, she needed to find it quickly, she was running out of time, people would start to wake up! The panicking kid was jogging, looking left and right frantically, nothing was familiar here, where was she? Her breathing was becoming ragged, the room, where was the stupid room!
No! The room doesn't matter now, I need some place to hide, anywhere is better than out in the open, in the middle of the deck, I'm gonna be surrounded soon enough! I need to hide! I have to hide! But wait Alex was already surrounded! There were drunk pirates scattered everywhere, too wasted to go back to their quarters. She danced around their sleeping forms, she noticed too late, that she had moved away from the relative safety of the ships' cabins, at least they had shadows to hide in, corners to duck into, but now the girl was in the centre. She was stood right in front of a huge chair with a large man draped over it, as if he had drunkenly collapsed like that. Long blonde hair was hung over his face as he snored, a curved white moustache peaking out from under it.
Alexandra gasped immediately throwing herself backwards, deep rooted fear flaring to the surface as she stumbled away from the man, hitting the floor boards with a soft thump. Her hand flew up to cover her right eye, phantom pain throbbing. Nothing was there, yet it felt like her missing eye had reappeared. A scene flashed before her for a second, however the scared kid shut off that memory, slamming the door shut on it, locking it away where it belonged. She shuddered. Never. Never. Never again.
The little girl growled as a familiar hateful resentment filled her gut, this was his fault! She felt her fist clench, several ideas forming inside her head, none of them nice.
Staring up at the man, her teeth lengthened, claws forming. He was asleep, probably too drunk to even do anything! Alex could kill him! She could get her revenge... yet something inside made the child hesitant, she hated him, she really hated him! For all the anger, rage and pain this man had caused, he probably wouldn't hesitate to kill her just for simply existing...
But Alex wasn't Whitebeard...
She couldn't murder her own father in cold blood, no matter how much pain he had caused...
And Alexandra hated it, she hated that she couldn't muster the strength to go through it, even if anyone else had been in her position, they would probably have done it without hesitation. However, the girl was too weak and too scared. She was too much of a coward!
All she did was run away... If she had stayed with her Papi would things have been different now? if she had stayed and fought the marines with him, would she still have her grandfather now?
Alex pushed herself back up, taking a deep steadying breath, as she turned around to leave, when something grabbed the collar of Alex's shirt pulling her off her feet.
"Ya ain't one of my brats..." Came a slightly gruff voice, she turned her head almost robotically as her gaze fixed onto the face the voice belonged to. Two golden eyes were burning holes into her, Alex let out a growl, her body kicked into high gear, as her fear turned into a fight or flight response, the animal part of her brain went into a violent panic. She lashed out in a rage, struggling, kicking and trying to claw at the man's face.
He didn't seem overly bothered by her violent thrashing, in fact he almost seemed amused, he stood, walking over to the railing without problem, clearly not having a hangover despite being absolutely smashed enough to collapse. Either he was good at hiding it or he wasn't affected. But much more worrying, they were now right next to the sea, he would have no problem dropping her over board if he so desired.
Her fighting intensified; Alex began to yell "LET GO OF ME STUPID OLD MAN! LET ME GO!"
Whitebeard gave her a bored look, leaning back against the barrier. "Loud little bugger ain't 'cha" he said jabbing his finger into her side, the man snorted as she swung at him, her claws struck his hand and yet they seemed to bounce off harmlessly! It was then that Alex realised; she couldn't do anything against the evil old man, he was just playing with her, she wasn't a threat to him and he knew it.
"SHUT UP YOU STUPID OLD GEEZER!" The girl roared. In a last-ditch attempt in forcing him to drop her, she dug her claws onto his forearm as hard as she possibly could, before she jammed her teeth into his flesh, bitting him.
He stared at Alex for a second looking honestly surprised, though it soon changed to a glare of annoyance, as she continued to bite down, she was hoping to at least break his skin. Didn't it hurt? Was he even using armament haki? His arm hadn't turned a shimmering black, it was still normal, anyone would drop her if she bit them hard enough. But not this guy! Of course not!
Alex was biting a Yonko... She was biting a Yonko! The girl let that sink in. What am I doing?! I should let go! Let go and do what! This is- The old man pried her off, cutting the thoughts there. The kid was in a panic again, her body was still struggling, her brain still wasn't coming up with any good ideas, in fact the only thing her mind was doing right now was internally screaming.
"Why was Sengoku after ya?"
She ignored him, instead she stuck her tongue out. For some reason, even against her better judgment she just couldn't stop being hostile to him. She wouldn't just sit there obediently even for her own survival; Alexandra hated the man too much for that and that was something she would stick to. The blonde girl would rather die.
"Alright... Ya clearly ain’t got a clue who I am"
Alex went limp, for a moment that statement rung in the girl's head. Many responses came to the surface, bitter rage rolled off her tongue it was like a thick venomous wave, years of suffering all in a single name. She looked the man dead in the eyes and uttered "Edward Newgate 'Whitebeard'-"
Alexandra swallowed hard then carried on, her fingers slide down to her staff at her cloth belt, locking her hand around the familiar leather grip, a sudden idea beginning to take shape. She was getting out of here! This was her only chance; she had no choice. "But I don't give a damn who you are! You can go suck a huge lemon"
She was terrified. Of all the things she was expecting Whitebeard to do this wasn't one of them, a grin spread across his face and he burst out laughing. "GU RA RA RA RA! You're a fuckin' little idiot!"
While he was distracted, she swung her Bo-staff straight at his jaw, he didn't even look down as he caught between his fingers, pulling it out of her hands easily.
"What ya gonna kill me with a lil' stick!" He leered, he was still chuckling, twirling it between his fingers.
"Nope!" She snarled, forcing her body to shift, as Alex figured the old geezer wasn't expecting anything from her, after all to him she was just some weak little kid. He his fingers loosened for a split second giving the girl just enough time to struggle free and land on her paws to flee.
She leapt up and onto the barrier as a single rock was passing by the ship, without a second thought she jumped towards her salvation. Alex was free! She never had to look back again.
Or so she hoped...