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Anamaria had felt them following them but she told Ace to ignore them until their captain tried attacking Sable when the snake tried to rejoin them.
"Tha fuck are ya doing?" she growled after using Fang to stop the man's own sword.
Her arm quivered at the strength behind the blow and when she saw the man's full face she knew she was fucked if he actually tried to attack them. The man in front of her was a well known Yonko that Boa Hancock had warned her about.
Red Haired Shanks.
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The two pirates remained how they were the last chapter when Anamaria felt the man beginning to push her further away from himself with his only arm and Ana knew she couldn't stand against him in a contest of strength so she jumped away.
"Leave us tha fuck alone" she muttered, moving her hand so that Sable turned her petrifying gaze from the rest of the man's crew and left her alone with them.
"You're Anamaria 'The Sparrow', aren't you?" Shanks asked her while sheathing his sword at the same time as she did hers.
"So what?" she remembered that Luffy knew this man in some way but wasn't entirely sure she wanted to drop her guard just yet.
"Do you know where your captain is?" he continued asking her.
"Training with tha old man" she replied shortly.
"'Old man'?"
"Raeliegh" she specified, watching as after a few moments of them internalising the information their eyes came out of their heads.
"'DARK KING' RAELIEGH?!!!"
"Yup" she nodded her head and turned to face Ace when he whistled for her to come on board.
"And you're her crew member right?" Shanks continued to ask her after he had cleared his throat.
"That's me"
"So what are you doing all the way here? Apart from your crew?"
"After tha Marineford war we separated. Luffy want ta train fer two years before we rejoin in Sabaody" she informed him, seeing as how he was genuinely worried for her captain.
"And...your companions?" Shanks asked as Ace had had enough and was coming to them from the ship, Sable slowly working herself back up the small hill.
"None of yer business" Anamaria growled.
"How about a bet?" the definitely perked her interest "I'll fight you and if you win I'll tell you anything you need to know..." that was good. Him being a Yonko would mean he knew more things than most "...but if I win, your little friend takes off his mask. What do you say?"
Anamaria didn't want to risk it but looking around the rest of his crew had surrounded them, not that they would be too hard to take down if she and the other two worked together, but it would be a huge hassle for them. Besides, the pros of this, if by some miracle she won, outweighed the cons.
"Ya wanna do it 'ere?" she asked him while looking around the small village.
"There's enough room for a small fight" he smiled back at her, the friendly attitude not hiding his intentions much making Ana sweat drop.
She took of the red coat so that it wouldn't get damaged in the fight and handed it along with her mask to Ace who was struggling to keep his mask on and push Sable back at the same time.
Anamaria unsheathed Fang once more and waited. Shanks also took off his dark cloak letting her see that he indeed was missing an arm, but the fact that he was so strong with only one made him seem even more dangerous to her.
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Shanks wanted to try something and, while making sure that the villagers and Makimo were hiding safely inside their homes, he released his Conqueror's Haki. He watched the man behind her stumble a bit before regaining his footing but was pleasantly surprised to see that the Sparrow herself barely reacted to it despite a short flinch of surprise at the beginning.
"Well that's a nice surprise" he said with his usual smile before it turned sharp and he brought up his blade "Are you ready?"
He saw her nod calmly now and he stared at the thick liquid coming down the blade, his eyes widening when he saw the ground where it touched hiss and leave a deep hole there.
He crossed eyes with her again, sensing that she would be an interesting opponent to fight.
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Anamaria and Shanks stood there, blades at the ready, in an eerie silence broken only by the distant sounds of the village. The tension in the air was palpable as they stared each other down, the crew of the red haired captain and the other two (Sable and Ace) waiting to see what was going to happen.
Without warning, Shanks made the first move, his sword Gryphon glinting in the dim light. His swift and precise strikes sent shockwaves through the ground, creating waves of destruction with each swing.
Anamaria met his blows with her own cutlass, her movements fluid and well-practiced. She was no stranger to combat, and she could see the experience in Shanks' every move that was making her nervous.
Anamaria's eyes never left Shanks as she tried to anticipate his next attack. She knew she couldn't afford any mistakes, not against a pirate of his calibre. Shanks, on the other hand, was genuinely impressed by Anamaria's skills.
She was proving herself to be a worthy opponent as she managed to somewhat keep up with him. The village's inhabitants were peeking from behind their doors and windows, not believing their luck that they weren't being attacked.
The fight continued with neither giving an inch. Anamaria used her water manipulation skills to create a watery barrier, effectively blocking one of Shanks' powerful strikes and surprising the man who had forgotten she could do that.
The water splashed and hissed as it absorbed the impact, allowing her a moment of respite. She retaliated by sending a cascade of water towards Shanks, but he effortlessly dodged the attack.
The clash of their swords echoed through the village, and their movements were a blur of precision and power. Anamaria's agility and water manipulation skills provided her with a unique advantage, but Shanks' experience and mastery of Haki made him a formidable adversary.
In certain moments the woman was taken back when he randomly decided to use a burst of his Conqueror's Haki to distract her. But to her credit she managed to regain her senses every time.
Shanks was thoroughly enjoying the challenge. He could sense the potential in the woman, and he pushed himself to test her limits. Their battle held the attention of the Red-Haired Pirates, who watched with bated breath as their captain duelled with the newbie pirate known as 'The Sparrow.'
Ben looked to the woman's partner who appeared calmer than they themselves were when they watched the woman created dozens of little daggers that turned to ice and scratched Shanks in several places.
After an intense exchange of blows, Shanks took a step back and sheathed his sword. Anamaria followed suit, her chest heaving with exhaustion but her eyebrows furrowed. A little more and he would have had her on her knees (not like that 😏).
"Ace!" Anamaria called out.
"Why do you say that name?"
"I need ta fulfil my end o' the bargain don't i?" she looked up at the man as she stood on her feet.
"But you didn't loose" Yasopp asked in confusion. Shanks simply looked at the young woman and smiled.
"You certainly are interesting. Alright, let us see your partner's face" they all turned to the masked figure who remained still with his eyes still fixed on Anamaria.
"Ace" Ana's tone took a warning edge that made him flinch a bit as water enveloped her and healed the wounds the Yonko had been able to make.
"Ace?" Shanks waited, holding his breath back when he shook his head, trying to convince himself that it was simply a coincidence in name.
But it wasn't. The man slid his skull mask off after making sure that the Foosha villagers were still hiding away and couldn't see him. The Red Haired pirates stared, their mouth wide and agape at the sight of Portgas D. Ace still alive and kicking in front of them.
"How...how is this possible?" Shanks asked Anamaria.
"Me answering yer questions wasn't part o' the deal" she shook her head with a small smirk.
"Oh come one" the Yonko went to grab her arm 'playfully' when a wall of iron hard scales separated them from each other.
Ace couldn't help but chuckle as he saw the astonishment on Shanks' face. He had a devilish grin as he shook his head, enjoying the shock he had caused despite having been worried about the outcome of it.
"Surprised, Shanks?" Ace said with a sly grin "I was a bit surprised myself when I saw Akainu's hit didn't kill me"
"Does Luffy know?" Shanks asked him.
"No" Ana answered for Ace as the man put his mask back on, motioning her hand for Sable to let her see the man "And I'd be thankful if ya waited until 'e was done training for when we tell 'im" Shanks maintained eye contact with the woman, watching the glow under her eyes before he burst out laughing.
"HEAHAHAHAHAHAH! How about you join us kid?" he asked them "So we can celebrate Ace's life!"
"Sure" Anamaria responded after sharing a nod with Ace and the Red Haired crew started introducing themselves. A connection with a Yonko would definitely come in handy in the future.
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Shanks had insisted to ask them about what had happened in Marineford since he had gotten late there and had seen little of what had occurred. His and his crew mates' faces fell more and more and more into shock as Ana told them all that she remembered, Ace interrupting a few times to add commentary.
"So, you actually died? But that coin she gave you saved your life by...cursing you?" Ben asked them after they sat around the clearing in the forest far from the village. Both him and Anamaria had bonded over the fact that they smoked and the woman had even offered him some of her own when he had finished the ones he had.
"Yup, see?" Ace pulled his cloak apart and showed them the healed wound on his chest where the tattoo was.
"And you'll see as soon as night falls what happens if yer cursed by those coins" Anamaria added.
"And where did you get the cursed coins from?" Shanks asked.
"Ya wanna know?" she waited until Shanks and other Red Haired pirates were nodding in curiosity "Well I can't tell ya" they all groaned, falling back.
"Whyyyy?" Shanks attached himself to her making her stumble before Ben hit his captain's head forcing him to stumble back.
"Some secrets are best left alone Captain Shanks" Ana said with a small chuckle.
"Call me Shanks, or Dad, whichever you prefer. I've decided to take you under my wing" he insisted.
"Wait but..." Ace and Ana were interrupted when the man jumped to his feet.
"Men! We are going to celebrate our temporary crew members!"
All the men cheered in unison and began chugging their drinks. They were so drunk that most became brave enough to lean themselves on Sable who hissed but then gave up when Shanks insisted on drinking on the top of her head.
Anamaria and Ace also enjoyed the time as they drunk alongside the men and danced around the fire, the male trying to keep as many of the younger Red Haired pirates away from his friend with his new skeleton-human body depending on whether the fire lit him up or the light of the moon above them did so.
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On Momoiro Island, Sanji shivered when his 'Ana sense' went off, making him loose concentration and get hit by a heeled foot.
"Pay attention!"
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Anamaria woke up the first of them all, groaning as she held her head. She remembered getting into a drinking competition with Shanks and the two of them finishing all remaining alcohol and the pirates celebrating her win before they blacked out. Luckily it was the first time she had had a safe sleep without memories.
"Wake up" she nudged her foot into Shanks' side making the man mumble under his breath. She continued to do so until the man struggled to sit upright before she did the same with everyone else "Come on oldies!"
"Why do we have to wake up?" Shanks protested.
"Tha fuck do ya mean? You were the one who insisted on training us and Ace still need to practice with his Devil Fruit" Anamaria replied.
"Devil-Devil Fruit?" oup, did she forget to tell them that yesterday? "What Devil Fruit?"
"The Gura Gura no Mi" Ace mumbled as he rubbed his headache.
"The-THE WHAT?!" well that certainly woke them all up.
"You have Newgate's Devil Fruit?!" Shanks ran over to the young man "How?!"
"I just found it when we were looking fer fruits" Ana told him as shortly as she could.
"HOW DO YOU JUST FIND THAT KIND OF FRUIT LIKE THAT!!" the entirety of the Red Haired pirates fell back at her nonchalant response.
"You just found it? Ana, you have no idea how significant this is! The Gura Gura no Mi is one of the most powerful Paramecia-type Devil Fruits in existence. With it, Ace, you hold the power to create earthquakes and tsunamis and who knows what more! It's a game-changer!" Shanks was practically buzzing with excitement.
"An' that's why none can know Ace is alive yet" Ana gave the man a pointed look and watched him until he nodded in agreement "Now 'bout that training..."
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Shanks was finally sobered up and had Anamaria and Ace in front of him.
"Alright, I assume you both know what Haki is so I think I can start by training your Observation Haki" he told them.
Okay so according to the series Ace has all three forms of Haki but I'm only giving him Armament and Observation Hakis.
"Boa already told me what ta do to train that so while I do that you can 'elp Ace" Ana waved him off "Ya can tell me when ya start training Conqueror's Haki"
"Yo-you have Conqueror's Haki?!" Shanks froze at that "And you have a relationship with the Warlord, Empress Boa Hancock?!"
"She's our sister-in-law according ta her" Ana nodded.
"Sister-in-law?"
"She proclaims that she wants ta marry Luffy so, that makes her that in 'er words" Anamaria explained, leaving Shanks feeling both worried and proud of Luffy, a blush coming onto his face.
Anamaria walked away from them, letting Yasopp and Ben following her. Not that they had much of a choice since they had been resting on Sable's large back and when the snake had moved to follow Ana they were just dragged along.
"Ya here ta help me?" she asked the two men with a chuckle when they tumbled off of Sable once the reptile stopped.
"I have the best Observation Haki in the crew, so you can't get much better help than from me" Yasopp smiled proudly, pointing his thumbs to himself.
"Really?" Ana was a bit unsure since the man reminded her far too much of the sniper from her own crew who was known to be a liar until Ben admitted, begrudgingly, that it was true, so she agreed.
The sniper had Ben blindfold her eyes and soon Anamaria realised how different his training was from Boa's. He made her sit down and close her ears to the world.
"And now?" she asked impatiently.
"Just. Relax" Yasopp said as he too was not a patient person.
Anamaria took a bit of time before she relaxed, her body waited a bit longer before it also slowed down letting her concentrate more on herself, her breathing. And soon it passed from hearing her own heartbeat and blood going through her veins, to feeling another's.
It was close and soon behind her eyelids the form of a body appeared in front of her. The veins on the form were far more protruding under the yellow aura she was seeing in front of her. She felt another, a dark grey one and slightly bigger than the yellow form breathing and moving slightly in front of her as well.
"All right, now we're going to move but keep your eyes closed" Yasopp's voice whispered softly to not get her out of the state she was in.
She watched the two 'auras' stand up and begin to move. Her body tensed in a different way as she began to get overwhelmed. She was seeing a whole new landscape in front of her. What she assumed were plants and trees were green and far more intense, letting her see the sap and the water they were absorbing.
She could even hear the footsteps and heartbeats of the small ants from the ground beneath her and Sable's slower heart rate as the snake breathed in and out. Her senses went further than that and she saw a red aura, Shanks, helping an orange aura, Ace, a bit further down the island.
Anamaria could now see and feel every single drop of water around her. How the two bodies that were previously in front of her were moving the water particles in the air around them. She tensed further more when the yellow one reached into its pocket and suddenly the sounds around her became louder, the sound of her heartbeat thundering over all else.
Has anyone seen that scene from the Luffy VS Kaido fight, with the drums of Liberation. That was fucking mesmerazing.
Yasopp froze. His hand opened in surrender when a spike of water slithered up his arm in a cold glaze and pointed at his neck.
"T-that's good Ana-san" he muttered nervously "You-you can let go now"
Anamaria sighed and removed the blindfold around her eyes and squinted them at the light of the day reaching them, Yasopp sighing in relief when the water that had been ready to slice his neck open retreated.
"That was good kid" Ben gruffed out.
"Thank you" she replied softly with a small smile, calming her heart down until it was at its normal speed "So that was the full power of Observation Haki" she curled her fingers into the palms of her hands.
"You'll have to do that..."
"Daily I know" she nodded, remembering Gloriosa's advice on her training.
"But you seem to be a natural Ana-san" Yasopp said, in a more merry mood now that he wasn't being threatened by a spike of ice on his throat.
"And ya can call me just Ana Yasopp" she smiled at the sniper, thankful that he had agreed to help her in this "By the way, I have a question. Do ya happen ta have a son named Usopp?"
"Yes I do. It's been long since I've seen him though" Yasopp replied as he scratched the back of his neck "Do you know him?"
"He's my...nakama" Anamaria responded, smiling when the sniper asked her about how his son was.
She told the two about the adventures she had been on when on the Merry, sailing with the StrawHats and then on the Thousand Sunny.
"...and that was 'ow we lost tha Merry" she said sadly, amused at the tears coming down the man's face.
"What a great story" Yasopp sobbed, blowing his nose on the disgusted Ben's clothes.
"Should we go back now?" Anamaria asked them, getting a nod from Ben and a shaky one from Yasopp who was still trying to compose himself.
Ana woke Sable up and slid onto the huge snake's back, receiving confused looks from both pirate men since they were still a bit weirded out about the fact that such a massive snake listened to the woman so well.
Once they were back with the others Anamaria saw how Ace was panting on the ground in front of Shanks but wearing a proud smile of himself. Apparently their training had gone well.
"Are you ready Ana?" Shanks asked her.
She nodded despite the slight exhaustion she felt and Shanks decided to test the strength of her Conqueror's Haki against his own. She followed his instructions and released as much of her 'will' as she could.
"By what you've told me, you've only managed to do this by instinct, now I want you to mean it" he told her, watching as the air started to ripple with power until even most of his crew felt shaky on their knees.
He smiled and began releasing his own Haki, the two strong forces nearly visible as they clashed together. A beat of sweat fell down Ana's forehead while she tried to bring the man before her down on his knees.
She stood in front of him like that for a good while until the pressure of his own one became too much and she released her own, letting his wash over her.
"That was good" Shanks encouraged her "You're strong to have resisted for so long. I'm quite strong if I do say so myself so I'm being honest here"
"Again" Ana gasped, making the red haired man smile eagerly. He had found someone that was a natural at this, and being able to teach her was going to be fun.
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Ace and the other Red Haired pirates had to move away from the area surrounding both powerful pirates since they nearly fainted at the mix between the two of them.
"She's strong" a man with straight blond hair, Limejuice, stated as they watched the ground around Anamaria and Shanks crack under the pressure as well.
"It's quite a feat to be able to go against the captain like that so many times without fainting" Lucky Roux, the larger man with goggles, said with his usual smile.
"She's also very good with Observation Haki" Ben said as he bit down on his cigarette to stop his legs from trembling due to the joined power of the two pirates "How was your training with him Ace?"
"It was hard but useful" the young man replied as he continued to stare down at where Ana was.
"Don't worry about her. The captain knows when to stop"
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"Are you done now?" Shanks asked Anamaria, actually panting a little bit himself.
"A-again" she choked over her words with a competitive smirk. So they released their Haki once more.
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Underwater near Foosha village, the Sea King that had been dubbed under the 'Lord of the Coast' felt the power that was calling out to it and its eyes opened. Its huge body pointed up to the surface of the water and it began swimming upwards.
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While Anamaria and Shanks continued to battle their Hakis, as the red haired man's one was going to win again a roar interrupted them. Everyone's heads turned to see that a huge Sea King was shadowing the ground beneath them. Shanks recognised it and tried to force it to leave.
"Get lost" the man muttered as he had done the first time when he lost his arm to it, shocked when it growled and ignored him.
"Down" Anamaria muttered with her tired voice. Shanks' eyes blew wide, as well as everyone else who was watching, when the beast lowered its head down slowly and placed it on the cliff that faced the sea, staring at Anamaria the entire time.
"How did you do that?" Shanks asked her, still wary of the creature that made him loose an arm.
"I got the Haki by getting blessed by a goddess" Anamaria replied shortly so that she wasn't questioned about it.
"HAHAHAHA! So that's why your Haki felt different when it went against mine!" Shanks threw his head back as he cackled "That will definitely come in handy if you learn how to use it!"
"Thank you" Ana sweat dropped, pushing the nose of the Sea King and watching it retreat back into the sea.
"A celebration! For their new training!" Shanks shouted to his men, bringing them out of their shocked states making them cheer.
"Again" Anamaria and Ace sweat dropped and shared gazes but shrugged and joined the men again.
I know this chapter was short but I have two more exams this week. I'll still try to update daily once more. So here are some Shanks photos:
I absolutely LOVE this man😍😍
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