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"I'll never be as strong as you father."
The man was rather shocked at this statement. It felt as if all his hard work, passion, and training for the girl was washed away. His whole existence was only meant to make her stronger. But he only furrowed his eyebrows, and quickly denied her.
"Don't say that. I train you well."
"Yet the only attack I can survive from you, is your malicious stare," the girl chuckled.
Her father also chuckled, rumbling the ground a bit and making the pebbles bobble. He was happy. Happy that the only person who didn't fear him was sitting next to him. He could never repay her for every comforting message or action she has done. Sometimes, a villain can get tired of the hate. One will never get used to the countless looks of disdain and hatred from people. His daughter was his sanctuary, there wasn't anything in the world he would trade her for. Not even the One Piece could take her away from him.
"You will be the successor of this island," he looked down with a soft gaze, "and you will make me proud." The small girl smiled, unaware of the trials, pains, and relationships that the future held for her.
"Of course, father."
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Astounded by his sudden courting technique, her eyes faltered. From pure determination, to pure disgust.
'Does this admiral have no honor?'
Quickly regaining her stance, she spread her legs to shoulder width and firmly held her giant sword in front of her. The Sun's rays casted down onto it, as it seemingly mirrored every glimmer. The admiral could feel her hostile aura from miles away, especially how the air around him had begun to whirl at an exponential rate. He also took note of the wistful horns on her head, as the gusts of wind rapidly fluttered her hair. Despite his unfriendly face, his thoughts said otherwise. He had to admit she looked graceful in these harsh winds. Unfortunately, she only cared about getting a chance to break his neck. I guess he won't be having a sexy night with her.
"Admiral Aokiji Kuzan! I've come to--"
In less than a second, a spear of hard ice shot out from the admirals finger and shot a hole right through [Y/N]'s brains. Marco, spectating from afar just below the clouds, audibly gasped with worry. But to both men's surprise, she did not budge. Instead, the hole that the spear created seemingly regenerated itself with a simple spin.
𝙆ū𝙠𝙞-𝙆ū𝙠𝙞 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙞
𝘼𝙞𝙧-𝘼𝙞𝙧 𝙁𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙩
𝘼 𝙇𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙖-𝙏𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙞𝙧. 𝙈𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙, 𝙜𝙖𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚'𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖 𝘼𝙞𝙧 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣, 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙆ū𝙠𝙞 𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙣.
"I hate men."
She scoffed and finally taking a step forward, taking the offensive side of the battle. The ground beneath her cracked as her body tensed and the wind blowing up the sand and dirt to create an arena with a tornado blocking all possible escapes besides the sky. The winds howled loudly around them, and to Kuzan, it felt as if the very gales looked down on him as a fool to battle her. As fast as the ice spear, she launched herself to the admirals who was just above the crater's dip. It was like a blink of an eye, and she had swung her heaving sword and aimed of the admiral's neck. His eyes widened, not expecting something so unruly to move so swiftly. It felt like fighting Kizaru if she kept up that speed.
Kuzan quickly bent his knees to avoid the swing. He reached his palm to touched the ground, icicles already forming at his finger tips, but just before he could even touch a blade of grass a heavy combat boot kissed his cheek. The Admiral was knocked back, but didn't hit the ground just yet. He caressed his now bruised cheek, at a loss of words while he had been humbled.
"Are you really an admiral?"
He looked back at her. Her gaze and crinkled eyebrows with a wicked frown was enough to give him a horrible gut feeling.
'She's terrifyingly strong.'
Stronger than him? Maybe, maybe not. But he knew, he'd have to put in effort to even lay a scratch on her, much less defeat her. Her sword rested on her shoulders, as her look of pride disgust. Her opponent's skin seemingly started to freeze over, the frost smoke escaped from under the folds of his clothes. Curiosity made her look like a fanatic, her pupils contracted and her frown was now etched onto her face. This wasn't the type of fights she enjoyed. It was too serious, and there was too much at stake.
"Ice Age!!" Thin icicles from his palms reached out to the spinning tornado that surrounded them, and steadily froze the debris in place. Loud cracks and groans from the ice soon drowned out the diminishing screams of the wind. Once the ice completely frozen the debris, it was as quiet as it was before. Marco, now a considerable distance away to not get swept up in the tornado, now feared that Kuzan had overcome her.
The cold air prickled her skin, fog escaped from her lips as the temperature expectedly dropped. Luckily, she was used to this feeling of the frigid nights. Lifting her sword again, she raised it above her head, yelling her attack, "Moon's Ray!" With a almost glowing slash of the cold air, it was aimed towards the admiral. He dodged it of course, but she was relentless and sent a flurry of her attacks his way, cutting up dozens of trees with just a single attack. It was like trying to catch a mouse. 'How is she able to create distance attacks with a sword!?'
The battle continued with [Y/N] effectively attacking Kuzan from a distance, and he narrowly dodges it and even defends himself by creating shields of ice. When he did throw an ice attack her way, she'd cut it up with her giant sword. She had planned this out on her trip here. She knew his ice was slow, not nearly as fast as her. But a single graze from him and you'd be stuck in his Ice Time. So she made sure to stay safely away from his lanky arms.
With a rush, the Admiral reached out, "Ice Ball!!" Multiple streams of snow and ice escaped from under his sleeve and wrapped around her. And once the cold air had settled, it almost looked like a painting. There, the woman posed still in her attack form with a ferocious look on her face within a ball of crystal clear ice. Kuzan looked warily, still keeping a safe distance. Marco, from above the tunnel of ice, looked with a face of terror. He was ready to dive down and swoop her up to retreat, but before her could, a crack formed in the ice.
Like an afternoon snack, [Y/N] crunched down on the ice. Kuzan saw clearly, how her once human like teeth turned into beastly canines, how her horns protruded and grew to pin the ice, and a veins popped out her muscles. 'How nostalgic...' Kuzan observed and compared.
Once her jaw was free, the rest of her body started to strengthen and inevitably break the ball into pieces. He looked in annoyance as the woman continued to eat the ice with a grin.
"Haha! What a funny move!" She swallowed the chewed slushie ice. "We should end this now." Her gaze directed upwards, as the stars started to glisten dimly through the now pinkish clouds. She had places to be, and wouldn't dare miss the sight of the Moon rising like everyday. Her gloved hands once again regained the balance of her sword, but instead of jabbing the admiral, she directly drives it into the ground, and successfully breaks the Earth's crust into chunks. Even the floor that Kuzan stood on was cracked. Nearly loosing his balance, the chunks that were separated from the crust started to float. Like magical islands in fairytales and myths, Aokiji seemed to be floating on one that was supported by the winds. After the little awe he felt, these chunks of the ground were hurled to him. He quickly conjured up a saber of ice, slicing them apart.
He failed to notice the tanto knife upheld to his neck right in front of him.
"If you move, the headlines of a pirate rookie killing a marine admiral will be all over the world." Her cold voice muttered with her [E/C] eyes piercing his brown ones. Aokiji dropped his ice saber and raised his hands with open palms. She was a bit disappointed with this fight. Knowing that the Admiral didn't give it his all, and how she couldn't claim this fight as a victory.
"Let's make a deal, Admiral Aokiji," she started, "I let you go, and you tell everybody that you defeated the Whitebeard rookie." He crinkled his brow, confused of her offer. Pirates always wanted fame, glory, attention. Apparently she didn't want any of that. The woman wasn't surprised by his expression.
"You've probably figured out I'm his child. So it'd be a great favor if you kept quiet about that." She muttered softly. She was well aware of Marco's gaze from above, so she made sure to make her lips unreadable. "I'll make sure to complete your request." His groggy voice responded. One last good look, and she pulled away the knife from his now scarred neck.
"I hope you have enough honor in your words, Mr. Admiral." She frowned once again and stuck her two swords into their respectful scabbards and made a note to sharpen them later. Aokiji watched as a couple breaths left her lips and her eyes that looked lost in thought.
"Why do you choose to be a pirate?"
The Admiral sat down on a near by fallen tree trunk that was cleanly sliced off. He was exactly exhausted, but he knew he'd need a damn good sauna and nap after this. [Y/N] rubbed the back of her neck, as blood rushed to her cold cheeks while thinking of her answer.
"I want to find my...soulmate." She oh so effectively avoided his judging gaze. Suddenly soft, the once ruthless, intimidating, and monstrous woman looked like a timid child. He nearly dropped his jaw, but decided not to be rude. She could kill him right then and there after all...
Before he could say anything, the woman softly gasped. The rays of the Moon gleamed on her skin, with the surrounding ice twinkling under it. A soft smile replaced her look of disdain. At this point, she didn't care if the Admiral didn't like how bipolar she was, she was captured by the Moon's beauty. She fell back, with the wind supporting her like a magic carpet while she watched the Moon slowly rise above the tower of ice. They sat together for a couple of minutes, looking at the Moon.
Aokiji never really noticed the Moon. He always saw it as an indicator the treacherous night was here. But he could tell by her glimmering eyes of awe and wonder that it meant almost everything to her. He studied the floating rock, seeing the craters and the white ring of light around it. "Doesn't the Moon look beautiful tonight?" [Y/N] broke the comforting silence between them.
"Next time we meet, Kuzan," She started again, "I won't be as kind." Saying a threat with the look of content perplexed him. He came to the conclusion that her father's psychopathic tendencies must have been hereditary.
"I hope you find your soulmate, rookie." The Admiral mumbled before he dissolved the tower of ice, and the tropic warm air of the Grand Lind replaced the frigid winds. "And...yes, the Moon is beautiful tonight."
Now left alone--not really since Marco was still stalking--she sighed happily and started her winds. The familiar feeling of nothing beneath her made it exhilarating and perfect for a night time flight. Launching off the ground, as fast the peregrine falcon, she headed back to wear Whitebeard's ship was estimated to be. Calculating the distance using the stars above, watching the waves currents turned below, and the sound of the winds around her. A smiled graced her face, 'I hope that Admiral will admire the Moon just as much as I do.' Not long after, she spotted the ship in the distance.
"Hey boys! [Y/N]'s back!" A goon in the crows nest announced, while giving a grand wave to her. Circling the boat a bit to slow down, she elegantly landed on the dock as the winds went away. The rest of the crew cheered at her safe arrival, grateful that she wasn't pummeled by Kuzan. The first to arrived to her, was none other than Ace and Thatch. It didn't take long for everybody to crowd around her, but she just laughed it off. Ace and Thatch quickly swooped the woman onto their shoulders, just barely since she was taller than both of them, and paraded around the whole boat.
The little festival ended up in the canteen, with a grand feast swiftly prepared by Thatch. [Y/N] was happy, practically breathing in all the food and telling everybody of how she was "defeated" by Aokiji but survived. They all respected her, knowing well that they don't even have the balls to 1v1 an admiral. The night witnessed tears, laughter, and stories.
Not far, Marco and Whitebeard conversed. Staring dead straight at her. Little did she know, her battle against Kuzan would cause an uproar within the Marines, Pirates, and even the Revolutionary Army.
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hihi rushed update that I kind of did on a whim, i'll probably edit it later. i hope yall read my announcement that both my books will either have slow updates or be put on hiatus due to my schedule, and my writing is lowkey getting sloppy. but thanks for all your support guys<3