Home Is Where the Heart Is -DonQuixote Rosinante X OC-

8

"Git over here, girl!" The voice peaked the you girls attention. "Now!" She dropped her stick dolls and took off through the house to greet her father.

"Yes Papa." She called, signaling to him that she understood his command. Her bare feet kicked dust up on the floor as she ran to the front of the house, being greeted by a slap to the face.

"You should hurry up when I call you." He grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the shore.

Her father was a rough man who wasn't around very often leaving the young child to take care of herself. She was skinny, with matted grey hair and typically covered in dirt with bare feet. Her only dress was an old rice sack she stole from the trash and cut holes into. 

As she was dragged through the small village, people watched in silence, not wanting to come between the pirate and whatever he was doing with his daughter. They knew the girl lived a rough life, but were scared of repercussions of butting into the crumbling family. 

"Katarina, you're going to grow up today." Her eyes trailed up to the man. She didn't know any better but to trust him. Her mother died during her birth and her father was the only person she had had contact with her whole life, even if he constantly left her alone to do whatever he was doing. But that's what she thought was normal.

"I'm going with you?" She asked hopefully, only receiving a laugh from the man. In an instant she was thrown into a single person boat with a small bag of crackers. "Daddy?" 

"You're setting sail by yourself. If you live you life, if you die you die." He smirked as he kicked the boat away from the dock, setting himself free from the anchor of a child. "Bye Katerina."

"Daddy?" She asked again, tears welling in her eyes. She knew better than to back talk the man or cry for help, but she was scared. She had never left the island and now she was alone and unsure of what the world was going to bring.

Days had passed since her father threw her out to sea. She was starving, hot and could barely bring herself to open her eyes. The sun beat down constantly on her, burning her skin and drying up every last bit of moisture in her small body. 

She could feel her body giving up on her, even if she really didn't know what death was. Her body fell forward , leaning against the small mast by her cheek. She had no more tears to cry, no more hope to survive on and no more will to live.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Her ship rocked slightly, but she couldn't open her eyes to see her visitor. "Hey." She felt a pair of arms pick her up. "Girl, wake up." the gruff voice patted her face. "C'mon kid." HE shook her slightly hoping to get some sort of response. 

Katarina mustered up whatever strength she could to open her eyes. The figure was blurry, but she could make out the markings of a white and blue outfit. "Jesus, I thought you were a goner." The voice laughed and threw her over his shoulder. "Let's get you out of here."

"Which one is yours?" The voice slapped Kitty back into the present.

"Huh?" Her eyes focused on a small woman in front of her. She looked like a stereotypical grandmother. 

"The children. Which one is yours?" She laughed motioning to the kids playing in the snow covered field.

"Uhm, him." Her eyes spotted the black and white hat in the middle of a crowd of children. Her eyes narrowed trying to figure out what was going on in the circle of children. "Excuse me." She stepped away from the woman to investigate.

Laughs and chants came from the group of kids as she approached. A sinking feeling fell in her stomach as she inched closer and closer. "You're like a reverse cow!" The group laughed harder, ignoring the woman approaching.

Law sat in the middle of the group of children, pulling his hat down over his face, trying to hide his tears. She pieced the puzzle together and felt a fire grow inside her chest. "Bastards." She mumbled under her breath and pushed through the kids. "C'mon hun." She picked up the child and made her way from the children, looking for the man who came with them. The child cried silently into her shoulder. "Ignore them." She made her way through the festival towards her home. 

"Hey!" The child was ripped from her arms in an instant. "How dare you bring this to our town." A gruff man held the boy by the collar. "Are you trying to kill us?!" He yelled at her.

"Put him down." She commanded, feeling her cheeks turn red with hatred and anger. Images of her father flashed over the man. "I'm not asking again."

"You should both be slaughtered." Her eyes went wide at the statement. Fire grew in her body and she felt her mind go blank. In a quick swipe her nails dug into the mans cheek, causing red rivers of blood to train down his neck. He growled at her, still gripping the boy in his hand. "Fucking bitch." His free hand made a hard connection to her face, sending her to the ground. "Learn your place woman." 

"Kitty!" The boy struggled in the mans arms to no avail. In one quick movement the boy was launched into the air towards the steep hill leading down to the river. 

"Law!" The woman quickly made it to her feet trying to catch the boy, but she wasn't fast enough. His small body hit the ground and started sliding down the steep hill. Without thinking, she jumped hoping to catch up to him. 

The boy yelled and cried as he slid down the icy bank towards the cold water below with Kitty right behind him. She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him closer to her body. 

The river below called to them- singing a sweet song of death as they approached. The boy clung to her jacket as she frantically looked around for anything to stop their decent. Her free hand reached behind her and dug into the snow hoping to find anything to grip on to. The hard ground was unforgiving and unhelpful as it pulled at her nails and shoved rocks into her palm. She hissed in main but kept trying to dig her claws into the earth, but to no avail. They only seemed to slide down the slope faster now with a trail of bloodied snow behind them.

Her mind raced from trying to stop their one way ticket to drowning to saving the boy. She ripped him from her body and tossed him to the side, hoping the small line of bushes were strong enough to catch him. A branch caught his jacket and held on. A smile spread on the womans lips seeing her small victory as she slid over the frozen bank and into the icy water below.