the hoof of the soaring dragon | ONE PIECE (discontinued)

Chapter 16 *

"Is this how I'm gonna die?"

His legs were burning as Toma fled to a destination that his eyes couldn't discern from the heaviness of the sweat that was accumulating on his eyelids. He felt non-existent quicksands pulling him, holding him back.

"Why?"

His instincts had taken hold. The only thing his legs were thinking about was not being caught.

"I didn't ask for that..."

He snuck through the dense forest hoping to lose the reason for his frenetic run. He didn't know if it was adrenaline, but he felt much more agile, avoiding stumbling on the roots of trees was a childs' play.

To the sound of his hunter's repeated falls, a proud smile took place on his face. "I won," he thought with pride. He released his concentration for a moment and murmured "I finally-"

He let out a low grunt as his face met the hard dirt for the umpteenth time. Another root. He really thought this time it was the right one. He should have managed to escape.

"Don't let go of your concentration with every hint of victory"

Too tired to get up, Toma turned on his back to glare at the foggy sky. His breathing was heavy and punctuated by an occasional cough that prevented him from retaliating.

He passed his hand over his face to get rid of the surplus of sweat allowing him to clear his vision: he was going to offer to the man who had spoiled his morning his best death glare.

Getting ready, he took a deep breath to calm down. He got up all at once and turned to the voice who had felt it unnecessary to add anything.

"He left" stated his sister with a blank expression.

Indeed, around him, only the cats and the second mouse were looking down on him. He dropped on the ground and let out a growl of frustration.

"He's trying to get me killed and he won't even let me complain!" Cried Toma, setting his glare on the humanoids who were mocking his falls by exaggerating it "Can you stop it!"

"Don't shout at them, they are our training buddy"

"They were literally trying to kill me yesterday"

"And today they are our punching balls" glancing at them, she reminded him "We should go before they try anything. I don't doubt the effectiveness of Mihawk's threats, but I no longer have the legs to run if these monkeys decide to have fun."

Taking advantage of the laughter that had animated the fall of the boy, the two hares took a breather for the first time since the beginning of what looked more like a survival test than a training.

"Where did he even go? What kind of coach gives us instructions that sound more like riddles."

Nana could only agree with her brother. Although she respected the man, his abilities as a mentor were questionable. Indeed, being chased by humanoids wasn't what they had in mind when she decided to follow the young woman's proposal.

"He went to check that Akira is resting well" she answered, pulling on her legs to get on the imposing stairs.

"I hope she's better: she was still having trouble walking straight last night"

"She should be fine: this morning she seemed to be able to move without problems. She just needed a good night's sleep after yesterday's incident"

Recalling the events of the day before, his shame surfaced again and he hesitated before repeating his words "she saved me"