"Are you excited to be back home after all this time?" Shachi asked pausing from his task and Charlotte sighed, letting her face drop into her gloved hands. A tell-tale grunt told her that the male had gotten hit. Again.
"Is there anything in particular you miss or want to do while y—ooufhpg." And there goes Penguin.
"Focus!" Charlotte shouted, frustrated beyond belief. Here she was, teaching them Haki and her students are all fooling off. All of them focused on ensuring she gets to enjoy and say goodbye to the island, whatever that meant.
Outside of Charlotte, Law, and Jean Bart, Haki was still a foreign ability. While Shachi and Penguin proved to have the ability of Kenbunshoku Haki, they didn't know how to use it on command yet. Not to mention, none of them, Charlotte included, knew how to use Busoshoku Haki. Then there was Haoshoku Haki, but only a select few were borne with that innate ability.
Will we be okay? Charlotte couldn't help but worry. The New World wasn't exactly the friendliest place in the world, nor was it a place she was fond of going back to.
Charlotte scowled when she saw Cole's hand inch back towards his guns. "No! I said no weapons! This isn't target practice, you are to dodge." Charlotte shouted as she yanked the gun from his hand. "Also, what kind of idiot fires a gun blindfolded?" Charlotte added in disbelief while the rest of the crew jumped at the news. Some of them swearing to specifically target the blinded sniper as soon as they figured out where he was or at the bare minimum which direction he was in.
Charlotte's Haki training was a game of blindfolded dodgeball. With the balls being whatever random projectiles Rayleigh's lover had collected over the years from drunk travelers forgetting or trading in their belongings for the rip-off bill in their hands. The game started with everyone picking an item from the large pile, before they were instructed that it would become the projectile they'll be using in a blindfolded game of dodgeball. At the news, the crew scanned the items they had selected, paling in realization that they were very likely to be hit by the very items. While some were fine like old wigs and embroidered plush pillows, others were a bit more insane like a bowling ball or crossbow.
Charlotte only grinned at their paling faces. "If you don't want the pain, then don't get hit!"
"Hey! Where the hell did you go, Crazy Woman?!" Cole yelled when he felt Charlotte's presence disappear from beside him. A sinking feeling building in his stomach. If the huntress was gone, then it meant he was probably no longer safe. His gut feeling proving accurate when a bowling bowl collided with his side.
"Why the—"
Smash.
"Hell am—"
Crash.
"The only one—"
"Oh, he dodged that one!" Charlotte provided commentary and the others let out a sound of disapproval before hurling more items at in the direction of Cole's voice.
"—getting hit?!" Cole snapped between hits, dodges, and pants.
Charlotte quirked a brow at the accusation and glanced around at the several other pirates covered now in colourful paint. Little did they know Charlotte had been shambling out the more dangerous projectiles out with balloons filled with paint. The paint would be a great indicator of how many hits they were struck with and where. She shambled Clione back into the battlefield when the other almost stumbled out of bounds, noticing that he had a lot less paint on him than Cole. "Not my problem if the rest of the crew decides to throw more at you."
Cole fumed. "I knew it! Why am I being attacked more than the others? Aren't you all wearing blindfolds too?" Cole shouted back, with a promise threat of revenge to anyone who's thrown at him.
And he wonders why he's targeted more. Charlotte rolled her eyes. She flinched when an explosion sounded seconds later and her head snapped towards Shakky, who only shrugged back at her. "Weren't you going to shamble away the dangerous ones?" She mouthed to Charlotte's silent question of "What kind of items do you collect?"
"That was a GRENADE! How in Roger's name was I supposed to dodge that?!" Cole yanked off his blindfold and stormed over to the huntress. The others taking off their own blindfolds at the commotion. They spotted the paint coating each them and laughed at how ridiculous they looked.
Charlotte gave him a once over. Only soot and dirt covered his sweaty body. "It's just a few scratches, don't be such a crybaby."
"Crazy Witch! I am done with ya and this stupid training!" He pivoted, missing the way Charlotte's face dropped. Her arm shot out instantly, grasping his jumpsuit and he swiveled back just as quickly as he turned away, rage flaring. "Don't think ya can tell me what to do! Who died and made you boss?" He shouted, punctuating his point by shoving his gun at Charlotte's forehead. The other's jumping at the sudden danger.
Charlotte gaze flattened and slapped the barrel away and pointed to the grove their captain had disappeared into earlier that day. "He did! Now suck it up, princess! I don't see anyone else complaining!" She pointed at the crew still confused over the paint covering them.
"Do you even know what you're doing? Have you ever taught anyone Haki?"
Charlotte pulled back. "No, but I—"
"Then how do you know this will work? You don't even know what you're doing! Are you going to take responsibility if we get hurt?"
A flash of red flames and spilt blood against hot desert stones blinked into Charlotte's mind. She could still remember the taste of soot and smoke, and the sounds of a child wailing ringing clear as day in her ears. Her hands coils into tight fists. "The New World isn't a peachy place! The enemies you'll face there are far worse than some boo-boo you get from this! If you're going to cry about this, then you're not cut out to be in the New World!"
Cole's vein popped and he pressed his face closer towards her, snarling. "I don't want to hear that from some coward who ran away from the New World with a tail between her legs! If Haki's all it takes to survive there, then why are you here?!"
Charlotte grew silent.
"Oi, Cole! That's enough!" Shachi interjected, reaching for the other's shoulder but the male ignored him and pressed further into the silent huntress.
"If you really want to teach us, then why don't you tell us exactly how you woke your Haki!"
Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.
Charlotte tumbled to the side unceremoniously. Her cheek on fire from where the knife dug into the flesh as she rolled away. She coughed, body lurching and tears streaming down her face. She felt like throwing up.
Charlotte was so tired, so, so tired. She barely had the strength to remain conscious, much less move, but she couldn't stop herself from wailing at those around her. She hated it all. Hated the fact of being forced to kill or be killed. She hated the pain that ran through her battered and bloody body and more importantly the pain that ate away at her heart. She hated it all. She hated how she couldn't do anything about it. She hated how weak she felt. Most of all, she hated how they wouldn't shut up.
Please. Die. Sorry. I'm so sorry. But I can't—I ca—I just need you to die.
She seen it, heard it. Their attacks, their thoughts, as they tried to take her life again and again. Their pleads and last-ditch attempts to save themselves.
Please die—So I don't have to.
They all just wanted to live.
Blood ripped into the air, splattering in a line against the stone ground.
"And the winner, the undefeated champion of forty-three matches, "Deathbringer" Charlotte!" The announcer of the forsaken human blood fight announced as the crowd cheered wildly, their attention focused on the child wailing towards the sky. Bloodied hands pressed against her ears.
And so did she.
"Not going to share?" Cole pushed and Charlotte snapped back to the present, platinum eyes narrowing against frustrated hazel ones. "And you expect us to just learn when you won't tell us anything!"
Charlotte clenched and unclenched her hands and the muscles in her jaw coiled far too tight. Then it snapped. "You want to know how I learned Haki? I figured it out by my damn self!" She hissed and she ran it against Cole's face. She stalked off without looking back even once as she stalked off.
Rike called after her. But she didn't stop. The rest of the Heart Pirates watched the fuming huntress leave in silence.
Cole plucked his face out of the ground, complaining at how she dislocated his jaw with that punch. He winced, ducking in pain as two fists slammed against his head, adding to his injuries. "What the hell? I just did all of us a favour." Cole said, twisting back towards a Shachi and Penguin, both who looked like they wanted to hit him again.
Jean Bart stood behind them, but his gaze remained on the huntress. "You should go apologize to her." He advised when his gaze finally left her.
"What why? The Sadistic Witch is probably just enjoying watching us squirm in pain. You don't actually think that this will give us Haki."
"You're a sniper, right?" Shakky interrupted and the crew turned towards the woman whose backyard they've been occupying. "What the most important factor in making a successful shot?" She questioned when the other nodded, answering for Cole.
Cole's lips slanted into a grin. "Amn—"
"Sight." She interrupted while blowing another ring into the sky. She turned her eyes away from the many papers that Charlotte had drawn up on the crew and their abilities. The words "great shot" and "expand range" circled multiple times on Cole's sheets. "Charlotte's a great judge of abilities. You have the most to gain from learning Kenbunshoku Haki."
The others gathered around, taking their own profiles from the stack that Shakky was waving around. Their lips trudged down as they read their individual assessments and individual training plans. It even included watch outs and secondary objectives on covering their weaknesses that they were barely aware of. When did she—no, how long has she been building these?
"Crazy stalker woman..." Cole muttered under his breath, snatching his own paper from the stack to see what the big deal was. The others shot him a disapproving glare. Ungrateful brat. They thought unanimously.
"The young brat isn't wrong though. It won't teach you Haki control in time for the New World." Shakky eyed their physiques, their breaths barely over a pant and the severely lacking number of injuries on their bodies. "Charlotte's method isn't wrong, per say." She corrected quickly. "It may eventually lead to you all awakening Haki, but who knows when that'll be."
"You sound like you know what you're talking about. Why don't you teach us Haki?"
Shakky laughed at the proposition. "Because there's no way I'm babysitting a bunch of young rookie pirates in Haki training." She took another drag. "Besides, you wouldn't want me as a teacher. Unlike Charlotte, I'm not kind. You want to know the best way to learn Haki?" The pirates straightened, keen for her next words. "The best way to learn Haki is to be constantly put in near death situations. Ray is probably teaching Luffy Haki by making him take on the wilderness on Amazon Lily blindfolded. Or that would be my guess." She shrugged, and the silence pulled her attention from her smoke rings to their gawking faces.
She quirked a brow. "What? Did you think awakening Haki is like waking up one day knowing how?" She snorted. "If it was that easy, then way more people would have it. Haven't you ever wondered why Charlotte's littered in scars?"
The group fell silent at her words.
"Go apologize." Rike whispered, nudging Cole who was still staring at his training plan. The crew had already cleaned up and showered, all except for Cole. His eyes re-reading over and over again the words on his training plan circled in red.
Shakky watched closely at the face of the one called Cole. "I can tell you where Charlotte's gone should you want to look for her."