"This is the Isle of Woman that I've heard rumors about." Cole started as he fixed the red headband on his head. The other males gathered around him as they readied for his tale. "I heard that any man who enters gets turned to stone and is never heard from again..." He paused, looking dramatically around at the faces of his crew mates, searching for any fear in his group's eyes. His eyes found none, meeting only shadows casted by the stupid hats they all wore. Why did so many of them have hats anyway? Headbands were cooler. He turned towards Uni, the only other one in the group without a hat, though he had a long turtleneck that covered every part of his face except for his eyes. "Ya my only friend here!"
Uni glanced at the other in confusion, "What happened to the story?" He asked, though his question was left unanswered as no one heard his question through the thick turtleneck around his mouth.
"Forget him! We're lying next to the Kuja Pirates!" A lone voice cried, drawing the attention towards him. He folded his arms across his puffed chest. A fierce scowl on his face. "The Kuja Pirates are nothing but women... and they smelled great!" The frown melted into a perverse grin. While he hadn't been successful in spending any close personal one-on-one with the Kuja Pirates in the two days they had been stationed here, he did get close enough to catch a whiff of them when the wind blew just right.
"I want to peek in this dream country filled with women!" Shachi sighed dreamingly as he gathered at the borders of the cloth division that the Kuja Pirates had put up. The barrier bore the mark of the Kuja Pirates and it marked the very limited space that they were given. Normally, males were not allowed to set foot on Amazon Lily, but the empress had made an exception for them as a thanks for assisting and saving Luffy's life.
"You'll die, your idiot!" Penguin scolded, although his tone was light, and his face was flushed red in anticipation as well. It looked as if the best friend would rather go with his fellow mechanic and risk their lives for a peek than stay on the boring sector of the island they were given.
"Do you think there are any female bears?" Bepo questioned from behind the two daydreamers.
"IT'S THE ISLE OF WOMEN!" The two shouted to their easily defeated crew pet.
"I'm sorry..." Bepo responded instantly.
"I wish it's already lunch time." Shachi sighed as he sat down. The section of the island they were restricted only held man and an easily defeated bear. Except for three times of the day when the Kuja warriors would bring them their daily rations.
"Why?"
"This place wouldn't be filled with only men then." Shachi explained with a groan.
"This place isn't only filled with woman. There's still Charlotte." Bepo reminded easily and the group rounded on him quickly, causing him to apologize yet again.
Penguin leaned back, hands folding behind his head and eyes landing on their yellow submarine. "If only she'd ever come out of the sub to join us." Their newest member was elusive and aloof to say the least. The only one she opened up to was Bepo who she had mistaken as the crew's pet, and mostly for cuddles.
"She comes when there's food." Bepo reminded lightly.
"That's why I wish it's already lunch time." Shachi sighed once more.
Penguin turned towards the submarine. "What do you think she does in there all day?" He asked to no one in particular. They had tried to be friendly and get to know their newest recruit, but unlike Jean Bart, she always had a wall up. She ate with them during the meals, and while it looked like she was listening, she was always a distance away. When they tried chatting with her, she would only respond with the bare minimum if it wasn't about her. As soon as the topic shifted to her, she would clam up or reply with a simple, "Do I have to answer?" before leaving.
Silence fell between the males. No one really knew. No one really knew anything about the newest crew member addition their Captain had added on a whim.
"Hey, what do you think she'll wear today? The Kuja women took our laundry away and I saw her clothes in the pile too." One of the males muttered and the rest all sat straighter.
"...Doesn't she only have the clothes she came in?"
"I think I saw Aphelandra-chan give her some of the Kuja women's clothes." Uni mumbled, voice still muffled by his turtleneck still. Yet this time his words seems to have reached their ears as their heads all swerved to him. Their faces red and steam rushing from their nostrils.
"Bring the food!" They chanted.
Charlotte stood in the midst of her still messy room. Her hands rested on her hips as she studied the pieces of clothes laid out across the room before her. She was currently dressed in nothing but a pair of baggy pants she had managed to find and made work without slipping off her slender hips. Her usual attire had been taken by the Kuja Pirates along with the rest of the pirate's laundry, leaving her with nothing to wear.
Why the Kuja Tribe was so hospitable to them was beyond her. Something to do with their empress' orders is what they had told her and if the Snake Princess was involved then it had something to do with the Straw Hat Captain. Charlotte was quick to realize that the Kuja woman had some delusion pertaining to the male. One she had been reaping the benefits of until now.
The Kuja tribe had brought her temporary clothes, though clothes were a stretch word to use given how little they covered. And it definitely did not cover the gaping hole in her chest. Charlotte sighed, sitting into the hammock that doubled as her bed. She had commandeered one of the bigger supply closest as her home base in the submarine for the time being. She had refused the room that the pirates had cleaned out for her, not understanding why they went to such lengths as to give her a room of her own. Or the happy looks on their faces when they thought that she would stay with them in the male's quarters. Though that quickly changed when she declared the nearest supply closest as her room instead. They stared at her funny, but let her do as she pleased when she continued to refuse the room they set up for her.
The room was the only success she had so far. Her search for her heart had proved fruitless. Well, not the only thing, she managed to find some sleeping pills as well, though she wasn't a hundred percent sure on how she'll use it yet. Not that it problem for the current. Clothes was. She debated her options.
She could wear what the Kuja tribe had brought her and deal with the attention it brought along with it. She thought back to all the perverse grins she had been seeing on the Heart Pirate's faces and frowned. Then she tacked on the additional attention she knew she's get from the Kuja Tribe wondering about why there is a hole where her heart should be. She paused, wondering if she could take advantage of that perhaps. She was certain that if she mentioned that the males had stolen her heart and been using it as leverage, it would have some effect. Though she wasn't quite sure if they'd help her or just deem her weak. Strength was the true measurement of someone's ability amongst the Kuja Tribe.
Charlotte threw the bikini top over her shoulder, a scowl on her face. She didn't rely on people anyway. Plus, it didn't cover her back. She turned towards her only other option and her mood turned worse.
The only other piece of clean clothing she had managed to get her hands during her search for her heart was the stupid blatantly yellow shirt with the Heart Pirate's Jolly Roger on it. She didn't know whose shirt it was, but she had a strong guess that it was their captain's seeing as how he was the only one who didn't wear the boiler jumpsuit that everyone else seem to wear religiously. The canary yellow also matched the one he had worn on Sabaody Archipelago.
She held the smiling Jolly Roger in her hands, glaring at the smile beaming back at her. The symbol irked her in more ways than one, and Charlotte wasn't sure which reasoning was stronger. The fact that it reminded her of another like symbol or the fact that it was the mark of her target. Either way, it annoyed the huntress.
She scanned the room once more hoping to find something new she had somehow miraculously missed earlier between the canary yellow and the skimpy bikini. Her stare turned hostile as she continued to look at the smiley that was mocking her with its large smile for every waking moment. She sized up the smiley mark of the man that instigated her problems. "I hate you." She muttered in defeat and slipped it on.
This is stupid. She stated dumbly. She glared at her still cuffed hands sticking out from the bottom of the shirt. She couldn't even wear the dumb thing properly! She had managed to get out of her own clothes because of the zipper on the side.
Charlotte walked over towards where she had deposited her karambit. I guess I could cut a slit on the side. She thought with a shrug, though the excited evil grin on her face did little to hide her eager to mess with the smiley mark.
However just before she could get her bound hands around her blade, her surroundings quickly changed. The metal rooms disappeared, replaced by an open sandy beach and white sheets marred with the Kuja Pirate's nine-snakes symbol.
There weren't many things that caught the doctor off guard. Even less when it came to things within his Room that he shambled around himself. Yet, here he was, taking a second and even a third glance at what was blatantly right in front of him. "Are you... wearing my shirt?" Law asked, knowing the question was redundant. He could clearly see-and have confirmed, multiple times-that the article of clothing was his. Yet, he felt like he needed to confirm it.
Except he wasn't also expecting Charlotte's outright denial. "Um... no?" She tried, gaze shifting from staring down at the obnoxiously yellow smiley that was obviously his and then off towards the side. Voice barely convincing. She shifted uncomfortable and made a motion to tug on her scarf higher to hide her face when Law raised a brow at her, unconvinced.
That's when he realized her arms were sticking out awkwardly from the bottom of the shirt rather than the armholes on either side. The gesture pulling the shirt up slightly and exposing slivers of skin. "Did I... do you need...?" He gestured towards her arms sticking awkwardly out from the hem of his shirt, not sure how to gently ask if the female needed assistance with changing.
Charlotte stared at her bound arms and wordlessly raised them towards Law. "I was changing." Charlotte stated as if Law hadn't already pieced together that information. Her gaze grew flat at the several disappointed looks from the rest of the male crew behind them at the comment. The underlying implications ringing immediately in their minds. If Law had shambled her any few minutes earlier, then she would have appeared here topless.
At her wordless movement and concession, Law reached for his blade and made quick work to lop off her arms and fix the clothing situation. "...Lunch is being served." Law said, ignoring the many glares of his crew silently upset with him for not acting earlier.
"There's no need to waste your powers to move me just so I would eat." Charlotte said casually as her arms disconnected from the rest of her. "I would have come here afterwards anyway." Charlotte had long ago gotten used to the way the male abuses his Devil Fruit abilities.
She adapts way too quickly. The rest of the Heart Pirates thought when she didn't even as much as flinch when Law sliced her up. She even lifted her arms up to help when Law had reached for his blade. "Isn't it kind of creepy how okay they are with just chopping up bodies...?" One of them muttered and the group nodded simultaneously. Never once taking their gazes off from the two walking away. They oddly fitted each other well at the moment despite being like oil and water.
"You know this would be much easier if you just undo these cuffs." Charlotte called after the leaving doctor.
"I already went through the trouble of explaining to the Kuja Tribe that your arms are linked to stop some kind of disease from spreading throughout the rest of your body so they wouldn't ask too many questions. I don't want to have to explain why you're suddenly cured from it." Law said.
Charlotte deadpanned. They believed you? The shirt on her now sitting against her properly, albeit a bit large. She frowned at the smiley. It still irked her but not enough to stop her from eating. Her stomach rumbled. The sleeping pills she carried rustled.
"Look it's another Sea King!" Penguin shouted, staring out into the Calm Belt that wrapped around Amazon Lily and kept out any intruders. Shachi was next to him, both of their bowls already empty by the time Charlotte had returned with hers. "They're fighting!"
"They're Neptunians!" Charlotte corrected from around her spoon. The two jumped at her sudden presence, not expecting her to come up or start a conversation with them. "I think it's almost their mating season, so the two are probably fighting to show off." She continued, plopping down next to them.
The two watched the bright shine in the huntress' eyes focused on the battle before them. "Do you like sea creatures?" one of them asked and Charlotte immediately nodded, eyes sparkling and the two grinned, relaxing.
"Oi! It's dead!" Something killed it!" Penguin called shocked when he turned back to the battle before them. Something killed the giant Neptunians! Gosh these waters are scary!" Shachi paled when both of them fell.
Charlotte squinted at the distance. If they had been fighting each other, then one of them should have survived, which meant there was something else out there! The wooden spoon fell out of her mouth and landed in the soupy porridge with a wet sound. What is he doing here?! Charlotte thought quickly, taking a few steps back. She snapped her head left and right looking for any spot to hide from the quickly approaching individual, ignoring the other two's cries at her sudden movements. Her eyes met only the white sheets marking where they were allowed to go, and she blanched. Its probably too late already! She tried to console herself. Knowing him and his Haki abilities, he'd probably knew she was here long ago. Her gaze lingering on the bindings on her arms sourly.
"Where are you going?" Law asked, tone slightly too low to be an innocent question. A scowl on his face. Through their days together so far, he failed to get any reaction from the huntress and yet here she was freaking out because some sea creatures killed each other off in a battle. Something wasn't adding up.
His attention drew back towards the water when a splash was heard, and a muscular old man emerged from the waters. "Oh, it's you people. We met at Sabaody Archipelago, didn't we?" The man commented lightly, and Law only tensed as the he neared. His face was one that he would never forget.
Dark King Rayleigh had arrived.
Charlotte looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact as she stood before Rayleigh. The air around them awkward and the sounds of the sea dripping off him seem to echo loudly in their silence. The rest of the Heart Pirates watched the interaction from afar, wondering what was to happen next. Only the few that had visited the Human Shop that day knew of that the two had a relationship of some sort. A one-sided relationship akin to that between a father and daughter. They eyed the clunky handcuffs nervously.
Charlotte was the first to break the silence. "What are you doing here?" She asked, still refusing to glance his way.
"Aren't those your handcuffs?" He asked back, completely ignoring her question and the annoyance in her voice. The pirates around them tensed.
Her body jolted at the mention of the cuffs that she couldn't hide. She cursed silently at Law for not reattaching her arms behind her back so she could hide them even if just a bit. Instead, she turned to face the Dark King, eyes dead serious. "I'm testing the effectiveness of them." She lied boldly.
No, you're not! Heart Pirates thought simultaneously, calling the lie.
"Oh, is that so?" Rayleigh smiled and the pirates breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought that perhaps maybe you were captured and forced to do something against your will." He guessed correctly, eyes drifting towards the many pirates around them. The crew swallowed thickly. The air around them suddenly heavier.
Charlotte stared at the cuffs, eyes lingering for a second too long for it go by the old pirate unnoticed. "Who's the hunter here?" Charlotte shot back haughtily, drawing his attention from them. "As if I'd let a crew of measly pirates take me down." Charlotte insisted, muscles tensing out of habit at the stiff air.
Rayleigh glanced out calmly at the tense crew, eyes easily sizing up the crew members. "It's still many on one, my dear huntress." He said and the high-strung tension in the air grew. The crew members sweat grew on their skin.
"When has it not been?" Charlotte commented shortly, and the man laughed, tension dissipated into the air. He brought arm around her shoulders, pushing her with him, ignoring her quick 'touch me and I'll cut you' quip. He turned back towards the pirates but mostly towards Law. "We're just going to catch up for a bit. That's alright with you, right?"
Law raised both of his tattooed arms up beside him, lazily, and nodded. Like he could deny the Dark King what he wanted. "Those cuffs remain on though." He warned back. Still, he wasn't a coward who could not to state his grounds.
The rest of the pirates blanched. Did she just save them from the Dark King?
"How have you been, Charlotte?" He asked a bit too joyously. A large smile on his face as he patted her back and almost sending her hurling into the Calm Belt below. They had reached the furthest rock on the tiny sliver of bay that the Kuja had allowed them. "This is your first island off Sabaody Archipelago, right? This makes... the third island you've been to? Tell me what you think!"
"...fourth." Charlotte corrected quietly. She pinched the skin on the back of the hand that was now resting against her most likely bruised shoulder. Stop touching me. Her fingers twisted the skin, but the hand remain perched on her shoulder as if nothing was happening to it.
"Oh? Where else have you been?" He whistled, looking through his round spectacles at her. The large grin still there with no sign of pain.
Her face darkened. "...Marineford."
His hand finally left her shoulder. He placed it behind him along with his left hand, leaning back on them. The skin throbbing and red. His eyes roamed out towards the sea. Probably in the direction of Marineford was Charlotte's guess. She honestly had no clue. "Ah, I did hear that a rookie pirate crew made an appearance there. I'm guessing that was you guys."
"Them." She corrected adamantly and Rayleigh pointed to the loud yellow shirt she was wearing. It was rather uncharacteristic of someone who hated attention. "It's just a shirt." She growled, looking as if she would bite his finger if it came any closer. "They went to pick up Straw Hat." She explained when the finger retreated.
His lips pulled into a devilish smile and Charlotte lifted her gaze from the water to eye the dangerous man beside her. "What are you planning, Ray-san?" He beamed at the name, glad that she was calling him by the name coined to his quieter life.
He didn't answer her though, posing his own question instead. "What do you think of him?"
Of who? The Straw Hat Captain or the Heart Pirate's? She pursed her lips and returned her gaze back towards the calm waters. Another group of Sea Kings poked their heads out of the surface. "... he's an interesting fellow." She started, settling for the Straw Hat's instead, "Crazy and troublesome. I'm surprised he's not dead yet." She paused, brows knotting together in a debate. "...I feel bad for his crew."
"Why?" He asked and rested his weight back on his arms, silent to the choice she made. His gaze shifted from her and focused on the Sea King fight too. He wasn't expecting her to bring up the other members of the Straw Hat when he had only asked for their captain. He knew how she wasn't fond of groups or other people in general.
"It's because he's stupid."
"Oh? Not because he's weak?" He pivoted suddenly.
If Charlotte was surprised by the sudden accusation, she didn't show it. Her gaze stayed on the battling sea creatures, but her eyes were unfocused. She remembered the chaos the boy had caused at Marineford. "As if the weak could do so much damage."
"So, you were there." He grinned, not surprised that she didn't consider herself a part of the group despite the rest already open to welcoming her. Yet. "I'm surprised." He commented lightly and tapped at the bandages around her arm. How odd to see them there. "You were always so careful and avoided unnecessary dangers at all costs." Her face soured and he understood immediately. Her presence there as out of her control. He eyed the accessories binding her wrists. Maybe not fully welcoming.
"I saw something unpleasant."
He hummed, eyes flickering back towards her face. There were many unpleasant things that happened that day. "What did you see?"
Her face scrunched together bitterly. "A pink flamingo."
He laughed at that. Of all things, a bird was the most awful thing there? Well, he couldn't blame her. While she knew of the names of anyone with a bounty, it was all she knew. If they weren't her target, she wouldn't bother to learn more about them. Knowing the details of anyone outside of her hunts were irrelevant was what she often said, but Rayleigh knew better. He had seen the loneliness that lingered in her eyes whenever she said such words. It was the same reason why she always returned to Shakky's Rip Off Bar all those times despite saying she'll never buy anything.
Even the lone warrior wishes for familiar comfort.
His gaze lifted towards the white bear and several hats poking out from the edge of the white sheets. The jolly roger on their clothes matching the one on her chest and he felt his lips pull up. This could be good for her.
"Aren't flamingos typically pink?"
She turned to him, "They are?"
He laughed and her face grew sour in contrast. "For someone who's already twenty-one, you really need to get out more!"
"I don't want to hear that from someone who only gambles!" She retorted back, lifting a leg to kick at him. He dodged it easy and the two continued their little dance. Charlotte kept her barrage of kicks until she grew tired. Not a single one of them landed.
"You're getting better." He said and Charlotte's scowl only deepened. "Not good enough." She huffed, plopping back down. The chains around her hands clattered at the motion. "Damn seastone."
Rayleigh sat down next to her, but his gaze rested over her head towards the hilt of the long sword now sticking out from the sheet's edge. It wasn't there earlier. "Tell me of this hunt of yours. Your target this time seems a bit outside of your typical preys." Rayleigh commented and his attention returned to the huntress who didn't look the least bit alarmed. "Shakky said you would be having difficulties. It's unlike you to have a hunt this long."
"Shakky says a lot of things." She pouted in response. Her shoulders sagged a moment later and she brought her hands to her arms. "But the things Shakky says are always scarily accurate." She rubbed at the goosebumps running along her system and Rayleigh couldn't agree more. He was here thanks to her awfully accurate speculation.
"So, what did this poor boy do in the past that has you going after him?" Rayleigh asked after calming from his laughter. He rested his cheek on his hand, peeking out from the corner of his eye towards the bounty hunter who was oddly not motivated by money. The high bounty on his head was just a bonus. Charlotte's targets were selected based off emotions alone-if they wronged her, then she would... return the favour.
Charlotte slid one hand over the other, fingers curled, locked in opposite directions. Her chin tuck deeper into the high ridge of her scarf. "...nothing." She muttered, brows furrowing together, "We never met before. The target's... commissioned."
Rayleigh lifted his cheek off his fist and his lips drew thin. This was new. The huntress unmotivated by money and hates taking orders with a passion took on a commissioned hunt. "Will you be able to hunt him?" He asked instead. She hunted exclusively those who she disagreed with or wronged her for a reason.
Her eyes flickered to her locked hands, one bandaged and one not and then to the cuffs around her wrists. They flickered for a moment, and she smiled, stretching her arms wide above her. The chains clinking slightly. "The beginning may be different, but it will all end the same way." She foretold.
"And what's that?" He glanced up as she stood.
"I never failed to capture a prey, have it?" She said, easily. She turned, deeming that she had spent enough time with the old man. The wind blew, sending the red tail of her red muffler flying. The oversize yellow tee she had tucked into her borrowed pants billowed. The black roger looked like it was laughing.
"Oh, so you haven't given up yet?" She paused, turning to looking over her shoulder at him. He tapped at her wrists when he caught up with her. "I'm assuming you've failed once already."
He laughed when she lashed out at him with her bounds hands this time. "The hunt isn't over until I give up. I have a perfect catch rate to uphold, you know!"
He dodged the swipe easily. It was slower than the rest. "Every hunter will have a perfect catch rate with that definition and your never-ceasing determination!" He laughed. His grin fell and he caught the suddenly limp woman in his arm. By the time he turned to the approaching doctor, he was scowling.
"Don't worry. It's only sleeping pills." Law said and motioned for Bepo to take the unconscious woman from the old man and back to the sub to rest. He was mildly surprised that the other was cooperating. He had figured there would be some push back at the least. "I merely swapped our bowls after she spiked mine with them." He explained. He noticed the pillbox hanging from her waistband earlier when lifting her arm exposed her stomach before they fixed the clothing troubles. "Also, I have some questions for you."
Rayleigh eyed the wooden bowl that Charlotte had cleaned during their walk over. "Shakky's right, you are difficult." Rayleigh sighed, scratching the back of his head. What a mess! "There are easier methods."
"She would have interrupted." Law explained and Rayleigh waited for the man to continue. "You said she hated Sabaody Archipelago. Does it have anything to do with why she was always alone?"
Rayleigh shifted his weight to his other leg. "You want to know more about her." He said, crossing his arms across his chest.
Law watched the woman he added to his group despite the other's concerns. "It's hard to believe that someone so talented and young would purposely choose to stay on Sabaody Archipelago by choice." There had to be more to it than that. "I need to know what troubles will come to the crew with her so I can prepare."
Rayleigh couldn't argue with that. If Rogers was as half of logical as this rookie, then they would have saved on a lot of trouble. But then it wouldn't have been as fun. "Why not ask her directly?" He asked and then held his hand out to stop the others from answering what he already knows. Charlotte doesn't share. "She's alone because she prefers it that way." His eyes dropped towards the lonely child being carried away by the bear. "If you want to know more about her, you'll have to get her to trust you and open up. It shouldn't take much. She grows attach easily." He added the last with a wink. The crew around Law reacting much more happily like he was expecting. How not cute. Rayleigh deadpanned at the captain's unprovoked face.
"... you're not going to help answer any questions then?" Law frowned. He hoped to get some information on her, but it had seemed like it was for naught.
Rayleigh sat back down against the rock. This was more trouble than he had originally thought. He came here for Luffy and he was already busy babysitting another rookie pirate. "Fine. I'll answer any questions you have. This isn't going to help your case though." He warned and Law nodded acknowledging that. He was already prepared to face her anger when she finds out she's been drugged.
"I must warn you though, I don't know everything about Charlotte."
Law raised a brow at the man. He was the only one who seemed closed to the huntress.
"She's a cautious woman and I am just an old man who with too much time on his hands." Rayleigh shrugged, "I only know what happened after she suddenly showed up on the island five years ago."
Law sat down next to Rayleigh when he patted the space next to him, while Shachi and Penguin stood a bit off to the side. Close enough to respond, if need be, but far enough for a respectable distance. Loyal brats. Rayleigh couldn't help but grin.
"She wasn't born there?" Law was right, she wasn't originally from the island. He had overheard them. She had only been to four islands in her lifetime. Two of them were with his crew: Marineford and here. Sabaody Archipelago, where they met, was the third. "Her birth island." He said suddenly and Rayleigh's lips tugged into a disgusted smile. He had been listening into their conversation.
He continued, remembering the strange memory with a fond smile. "She came to the island about five years ago, not by conventional means-she fell out of the sky." He grinned when Law couldn't hide his surprise this time. "She said she had been attacked by a giant pink paw. I thought she was spewing nonsense at the time, but now I think she's telling the truth." He touched his beard, recalling the paw print on Bartholomew Kuma hand and how people seemed to have disappear only to reappear on a distant island at his touch.
Do you know him? Law had asked the huntress that time when they faced off against the Shichibukai. She nodded then. Rayleigh hummed slightly at the calculative look on the doctor's face. He was fast one... unlike another supernova.
"And her abilities? She used something called Haki to get us out of Marineford." Shachi questioned. They had heard about it afterwards when they went to compliment Jean Bart for his great steering skills, but the he had credited it to Charlotte who had already ventured off. The group were left surprised that she had helped them escape.
Rayleigh's lips pulled into a grin at the comment. "Let me guess, she said she was only saving her own skin and that you guys were just lucky collateral free loafing off her." He chuckled at their deadpanned and surprised faces. Just like her to avoid taking credit. "Haki... well you've seen it used a few times already." Himself included back in the Human Shop. "Or did you really think she dodged all your attacks because she was just that fast?" He chuckled at the doctor's widening eyes and by the time Law snapped his head around, the Dark King was already walking away.
"Don't ask me how she got it." Rayleigh added first before the other could ask. He touched a small scar next to his knee and frowned. It was one the teenager had left on him when she landed just outside of Shakky's bar that eventful day. As soon as her feet had touched the ground, she was up, attacking anything that came towards her. It took a scratch on the knee, but he was finally able to get her to calm down. Her Kenbunshoku Haki was troublesome back then too. "She already had the ability when we met." He paused, a frown settling on his face. The feral eyes she had then was something he was glad he hadn't seen since on the woman. Whatever caused her to awaken Haki wasn't a friendly memory.
Law stared at the tiny mark. It was easy to miss, and it wasn't life threatening, but that still didn't change the fact that she had managed to scratch the Dark King. "...What about her Devil Fruit?"
Rayleigh touched his beard, turning his gaze towards the doctor in a pleasant surprise. "You haven't figured it out yet? How disappointing." He challenged with a grin and the doctor tensed at the sudden pressure. He wasn't going to tell him. "You're probably the only one who seen her use it more than once."
Law kept silent. His mind raced over the different abilities he had seen her used, mind brooding over the details and assumptions that were most likely, still he wasn't confident in his answer.
"Time's up, kiddo." Rayleigh interrupted. He placed a hand on his knee, pushing himself up with a mutter about this age. "Any other questions you'll have to ask her yourself." At the doctor's slight doubt and the question on his face, Rayleigh added, "I won't teach you Haki." He's already got his hands full with a certain monkey. "I'm sure you can find yourself another teacher."
Rayleigh paused. "I've answered your questions, so now it's your turn. You're the captain and a doctor, right? Were the one who treated her wounds?" Law nodded and flinched when Rayleigh locked gazes with him. The air around them turned stale and Law's fingers twitched to call out his Room despite knowing it wouldn't do much if any against the Dark King. He recounted the position of his crew, mind working overtime.
The group jumped at the loud exhale from the Dark King. "She's goddamn awful at listening to medical advice! She barely knows how to take care of herself. She'll complain about how bandages restrict her movements and try to take them off. She's not very honest with herself." Law blinked as Silvers Rayleigh continued on, listing out all his complaints about the young woman and her lack of even the most basic medical treatment. "...it's amazing how she manages to get by. I wonder sometimes if she truly lacked common sense." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and shaking his head. Turning back to the doctor, he held the other's gaze steadily. "As the Captain and doctor, can I take that you'll take care of her?"
Silence hung between the two males locking gazes.
"...Why does she hate Sabaody Archipelago?" Law asked again. He fixed his fuzzy hat back over his head though it hadn't really moved. The tension that hung between the two gone. Rayleigh had turned back and was already making his way back towards the middle of the camp.
Just when Law thought the legend wasn't going to answer, Rayleigh had muttered something under his breath, barely audible over the wind. A chill ran down the doctor's back.
"Get rid of the cuffs. Or I will."