By stowing aboard a navy ship, the eight year old crimson haired girl had made it all the way to Sabaody Archipelago. She’d never imagined she’d make it so far. Her father was out there somewhere, whether it was the East Blue, South Blue, North Blue, West Blue, Grandline or the New World, he was out there and she’d find him. Due to her just stowing aboard ships it was hard to follow a particular path and often times she’d end up backtracking.
Passerby pointed at the small crimson haired child and whispered as she passed by. There was a strange dark aura around the scrawny girl, her dark piercing garnet eyes burned like fiery embers and a constant scowl remained on her cherubic face. Though she was so small, she carried a decent sized blade at her waist.
A band of slavers spotted the child and smiled to themselves at their easy prey unaware of the watchful gaze of the Dark King who’d also taken notice of the strange child. There was something oddly familiar about that blazing red hair.
“Hey, little girl, are you lost?” One of the slavers, a slob of a man with a large beer gut, wearing a stained white shirt and tattered shorts called out to the crimson haired girl.
Malice paused for a moment, she was indeed unsure of where she was heading. She’d heard that there may be a man on the island who knew the whereabouts of her father. Her heart started to race within her chest as the men drew steadily nearer. Something was wrong. There was a strange aura around the men, they couldn’t be trusted; they didn’t have good intentions.
“I’m fine.” The little girl replied curtly before resuming her pace.
“What’s the hurry, we could take you to Sabaody Park; a kid like you would just love it-.”
“I have no interest in amusement parks; I can find my way just fine, thank you.” Malice cut the man off coolly.
“Don’t get cocky, brat!” The man lunged for the small girl while retrieving a drug soaked rag from his pocket.
The petite girl flitted out of the way of his attack. “Please don’t misunderstand.” She unsheathed the wicked blade at her waist, “This isn’t for show and you’d not be the first pack of scumbags to be felled by this blade.”
The men stared at the creepy child in awe for a moment as eerie chills ran down their spines. The man who’d addressed her first forced himself to laugh it off, “Children shouldn’t play with swords.”
“Swords aren’t for playing." The little girl giggled as she vanished from sight.
“What the-.” The man began.
A crimson blur shot toward him from behind as the small child launched her attack. Every adult she’d come across in her travels had been wicked. Was there any hope for adults or did she live in a world of evil? The slavers panicked as their leader suddenly fell to his knees with a cry. His booze stained shirt now being bathed in blood.
“Boss!” The others cried frantically as vibrant scarlet blood seeped into the back of his shirt from a deep slash across his shoulder blades. “You little brat!” They turned to the crimson haired girl as she appeared before them once more.
‘BANG’
Malice winced as she felt something pierce her in the shoulder. It was strange, she didn’t feel her flesh tear nor did she feel a bullet. Her body began to feel tingly and numb. A tranquilizer gun! She frantically tried to hold onto consciousness using willpower alone to fight off the effects of the drug now coursing through her veins.
“You should have finished me off, brat.” The man she’d cut down moments before hissed at her as he shakily got to his feet.
“There’s still plenty of time for that.” Malice seethed as she tightened her grip on her blade. Her heartbeat began to slow and the edges of her vision grew hazy.
The Dark King watched from his perch in the mangroves looking down at the pack of thugs surrounding the mysterious girl in disdain. For a child, she was pretty remarkable with a blade. Though it showed she had absolutely no formal training, she still executed each attack with flawless poise and grace. Something about the girl reminded him of one of the many trainees Roger had invited on their ship as a part of his crew. Though her current situation warranted a great amount of distress, she was calm and focused. Despite the sedatives trying to bring her down, she pushed onward with steadfast determination. This child was lethal.
It had been eleven years now since the Roger Pirates disbanded it was entirely possible that in that time frame he could have had a child. He didn’t seem like the type to abandon family though. Why was she on her own at such a young age?
The young girl staggered as the drugs began to take over her basic motor function. Her vision blurred, her attackers becoming nothing more than fuzzy blobs of color. Desperately she clung to consciousness and launched herself at the surrounding blobs. Her gait was unsteady, her swings becoming weaker, and her movement becoming sluggish. She was losing the battle, succumbing to the sedatives being pumped through her system.
“No.” Malice gasped as she felt herself fall to her knees. Her enemies were weakened, all sporting some type of injury and were still wary of the semi-conscious girl. She plunged her blade into the ground in an attempt to offer her further support to get back on her feet, but the sedatives were too strong.
The leader of the scum stepped forward with a malicious gleam in his eye as he chuckled darkly at the fallen girl. “Nice try, little girl.” He reached out to grab the child.
Not wanting to release her blade, because it was the only thing keeping her partially upright, Malice lashed out at the man’s face with her nails. She almost grimaced at the feel of his skin dragging beneath her nails not wanting to imagine how much of his flesh she’d have to pick out of them later if she survived. If only she could access whatever that power was she’d stumbled across a couple of years ago.
The man howled in pain and fell back from the child with a groan as blood poured down his face from the five deep scratches falling from his temple, partially over his right eye and down his cheek. “Stupid bitch!” He snarled as he lumbered back to his feet and charged at the girl.
Malice attempted to block the blow, but her reactions were slow and sluggish due to the sedative working through her veins. The thug backhanded her with enough force that she was hurled a good distance away from the group. She hit the ground, hard, and groaned as stars exploded behind her eyelids. It took a few moments for her vision to return to its blurry state.
When she was finally able to make out colored blobs once more she was shocked to find that the thugs were all keeping their distance as a new blob of color stood in front of her. It was a silver blob, from head to toe, wearing a silver cloak with shoulder length flowing silver hair. Why was the silver blob protecting her?
“What’s the story behind that locket?” Kid asked one starry night as he, Killer, Heat, and Wire played a hand of cards on the main deck.
Malice had been standing off near the hull staring out blankly across the vast endless star speckled ocean while clasping the silver locket in her hand. She hadn’t even realized she’d been doing it until Kid had snapped her out of her reverie. With a shrug she tucked the locket under her shirt. It fell against her bare chest, surprisingly warm and comforting as it rested against her.
“Stop ignoring me.” Kid growled as the stoic young woman refused to answer.
Malice hid her smirk and continued staring off into the vast endless night. Killer, Heat and Wire nonchalantly held the crate they were playing cards on down for fear their captain would, in a fit of rage, flip it over (again). The red haired captain seethed with rage.
“Answer me!” Kid roared at the girl.
“You throw the cutest tantrums.” Malice teased, her garnet eyes twinkling with humor.
Kid stared at her for a long moment as he felt his face grow hot.
“The name Kid, is amusingly fitting.” She smirked.
“Stop teasing me!” Kid barked as he clenched his fists in anger.
“I hate to interrupt this lover’s quarrel-.” Killer began.
“We’re not lovers!” Malice and Kid snarled at the first mate enraged both looking ready to attack the masked man.
Killer held his hands up for peace, “As I was sayi-.”
“I don’t date kids.” Malice teased the captain once more.
Kid lunged for the young woman with a growl finally losing his temper. Killer, Heat and Wire cringed waiting for their captain to strike the girl as she stood her ground smirking defiantly at the enraged Kid. She was taunting him, like she wanted to be hit.
Malice smirked as Kid raised his arm as if to strike and flitted to the left. A strong hand caught her near the elbow and she gasped as she was wrenched back and began to panic as Kid wrapped his arms around her. What was he doing?
“You may be fast as hell, but you’re pretty predictable.” Kid chuckled as he held her tightly against him.
Malice struggled against him futilely, she wanted to break from his grip, but he had her arms pinned down at her sides. Tender feelings of warmth spread through her as she found herself paralyzed in the captain’s embrace. “What are you doing?!” She growled as she tried once more to break his iron hold.
“I thought this would be more effective.” Kid smirked remembering how the girl had reacted when he’d held her after keeping her from falling into an open crate.
“Let me go!” Malice growled as she thought of all the times she’d longed to be held by someone, all the times she’d watched happy families and couples holding each other.
“It’s amusing watching you struggle.” He goaded the girl.
“LET ME GO!” Malice screamed as she felt the sting of tears burning her eyes. She would not cry in front of them!
“Tell me about the locket.” Kid shrugged.
“No!” Malice struggled desperately as her body urged her to lean into his embrace. “STOP!” She choked as an overwhelming amount of the feelings she’d thought she’d bottled up began to swell within her.
“All you have to do is tell me about the stupid locket.” Kid snapped losing his patience with the stubborn girl.
Malice furiously blinked back tears, “Fine, just let me go!”
Kid released the raven haired girl from his hold and watched as she took a shaky step backward. Her eyes were glassy and filled with moisture. She blinked rapidly a few times to clear the moisture from her eyes while Kid waited patiently for her response.
“It’s none of your business.” She smirked before dashing off quick as lightning to avoid the enraged captain.
“GET BACK HERE!” Kid snarled as she disappeared below deck knowing there were more places to hide below deck.
[So do you guys like this setup with a flashback for the first half and then the 'current' time for the second or would you rather me do whole chapters of each?? Or does it not matter?]