Smokeless War - One Piece

(1)

Goa Kingdom, East Blue.

"Hey hey, what's the matter?" A man stopped me on the street with a hand on my shoulder I throughly shook off. My heart raced in my ears, the sounds of the crowded street growing louder.

I  could only point at the graceful figure behind me as my companions shrieked in terror before what appeared to be a slow swing of that giant sword he'd taken off his back moments before sent them flying across the street into the sea, battered and bloodied.

"What's that nutcase doing!?" Someone else demanded loudly, only to be shushed by numerous quivering people who eyed the man with recognition and fear.

"A warlord? In the eastern ocean?" Murmurs filled the seaside markets and I continued running by then, uninterested in anything that would continue to lead me to an early grave. Of course, the one time I stand up for myself, it's angering a warlord that could turn me into sashimi in his sleep!

I scrambled over broken bottles and debris, holding back my apron whilst looking behind me wildly when someone carelessly shattered an bottle, reeking of alcohol. "Oi! Watch where you're going skank!"

I could not have cared less who saw me, if I could avoid meeting those golden irises in my life again it'd be worth it. But by now I could hear audible steps that I recognized instantly and they weren't belonging to the graceful swordsman.

Desperately picking up speed couldn't save me now and after a moment of hearing those loud steps, a familiar stench caught up to me to crush my windpipe with one meaty hand.

"The plan was so simple, how did you screw this up now girl?" A quite literally foul mouthed man hissed into my face as he put out stinking cigar on wall next to my ear.

"Mister Sanitos, I-I swear I didn't do a thing this time, it really was Justin! He pulled a knife on a-...a..." I trailed off as shivers ran down my spine, though bruises were forming at the man's hand on my throat.

He continued crushing my windpipe, demanding me to speak at the same time but my vision was going dark and splotchy at his hold not before a looming shadow appeared to engulf his form completely.

At the powerful aura of him, Sanitos finally got the hint and threw me down carelessly to lay at his feet before turning and meeting the feather tipped hat of the swordsman. He backed up for a moment, before deciding he'd be a match for the frightening man.

"Who the hell are you? Did she steal from you?" He sneered and grabbed hold of my collar again, leaving me grimacing up at the swordsman, his eyes hidden under the edge of the brimmed hat he wore.

I couldn't even detect a hint of his breath and he stood as a stone statue, as if watching the scene before him unfold. A hard slap across the face knocked the breath out of me and I felt myself stilling as well, as if to become as unnoticeable as possible.

He sneered and at the same time tried to make an attempt to apologize to the still man, but his insults faded into background noise and I found my gaze drawn up to the tall, unblinking man. He looked down on me and me only, ignoring the insincere apologies of my employer.

"you listening? Hey!" I was smacked upside the head again before I knew it, breaking my gaze and directing my eyes to the floor then. "It's about time we got some better use out of you, worthless girl."

As the air intensified, he finally broke out of his lifeless standing form into something more mortal like. The Warlord had me in his grasp before I knew it and I cradled my neck in hopes he wouldn't target the growing bruises but he ignored me to turn that cold gaze towards something else.

To the shivering, sniveling man at the mercy of that obsidian sword. Who begged uselessly, as if he hadn't insulted him moments before.

With his hand raised over my eyes, I didn't witness what made the man who'd tormented me so long so terrified as I assumed but his crying stopped in an instant and I found myself somewhere else entirely, at the edge of the woods way farther out of the town than I'd ever been allowed to go. In fact, I was utterly unaware of where I was. Was it even still Goa Kingdom?

Falling to my knees I ignored the growing chills running down my spine and almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. This morning I'd been waking up in a dirty old room before dawn to work before this job and now..

If I didn't know where I was I knew one thing for sure, a forest in the Goa Kingdom at least, would be known for at least one thing and one thing only. Bandits.

The muttering of men drew close and I drew in the cloth of my dirty and torn skirts as I shivered and tried to hide in the brush and trees.

"Ay men, stay sharp. I smell valuables on the horizon." The leader sneered, and some men laughed with a reply I didn't put the effort into hearing.

With a glance at their retreating figures,  soon enough I crept away to a safe distance to start running. Or at least I thought I had until an arrow whizzed past and another went by with enough force to embed itself deeply into a thick tree trunk.

"Don't let her get away!" The bandits trampled the forest underfoot, some whooping at the chase I gave. I huffed, hoping to get some breath back and suddenly struggled at the hands on my wrists.

I held in my yelp though and as soon as the bandit thought about raising alarm about catching me, I kicked him where the sun doesn't shine and promptly tried to get away best I could, finding hold in the ground which eventually led me embarrassingly enough rolling down a hill.

I smiled to myself humorlessly, trying best to hold myself up before forcing myself to trudge into a darker part of the forest, still hearing the trampling of pursuers on my trail.

As I took a few breaths I thought for a moment, of the chores I didn't have anymore. No one could force me to work if I lived in the forest or if I was six feet under at the end of the day. A new identity sounded so lovely.

I collected a few heavy rocks, the only thing I could think of at the moment to defend myself with before I ducked under a low hanging branch and felt my adrenaline running out.

My cheek swelled, and my neck throbbed meekly in the back of my mind but my eyes found solstice in the darkness and I rest my head against my only friend it seemed, a tree, the Warlord forgotten for a moment as well.

a/n: thanks for reading! might be strange updates and edits but I hope y'all stick around for the ride! <3 lots of love! (lol) ps. I reread this every once in a while and when I do, I will edit it 😇