Wonder | Sanji

2

hopelessness

All hope had diminished. Any thought, idea, any bit of faith that Finn had that she'd escape the clutches of Buggy the Clown and his gross group of pirates had disappeared, all because she'd been stupid enough to fall asleep under some shrubs. 

She didn't even think she was that tired. She didn't think she'd be so dumb as to let her guard down and fall into the deep sleep she had been while waiting for the Buggy Pirates to give up looking for her. She'd planned to lay low until they were gone, then book it somewhere far, far away from the ugly circus tent she was forced to call home.

The chains attached to her wrists and ankles were more than uncomfortable. They caused her skin to rash and itch and made her constantly scratch at the skin around it. She was dirty and gross, and now her skin was so irritated she could see it puffing up underneath the rusted metal.

She could hear constant chattering around her, noises of cheers and applauses. This meant that Buggy was in the middle of another one of his performances, so she wouldn't have to deal with his wrath for at least a little while.

Part of her wanted to try harder to get out of there, but she knew there was no point. She was now bound to the little side room she was told to call her bedroom, a room she shared with the performers to get ready for their acts.

Tears formed in her eyes, tears that signified regret and defeat. She was done for, it felt, as she sat in the dim room on her own. The only sound to be heard was on the outside of the room.

Applauses. Laughter. Music. Even the slight shouting out from the prisoners if you listened hard enough. She didn't want to hear it anymore, so she just squeezed her eyes shut as she pressed her hands to her ears.

As much as she wished it would stop, she knew it wouldn't. She could still hear the noises, they were just a little more muffled than before. 

Her body began to shake from anxiousness, sadness, and even anger at herself as she waited for whatever punishment sat in store for her. She knew there was going to be more punishment than these rusty chains keeping her in place, she just feared whatever it was would be much worse than her dark mind could ever imagine.

The sudden sound of commotion from somewhere outside of the room caused her to snap up, and she jumped up in her spot. The chains pulled against her skin and she winced but ignored the pain as she went as far as she could.

She was unable to get any further than a little wheel used for circus acts, her skin pulling as the chains prevented her from moving any closer to the door. She couldn't see anyone, although the sound of grunting got closer as if they were heading to the room.

Frozen in her spot, she watched as a few of Buggy's circus freaks barged into the room. Two unknown people were dragged in along with them, the noises she'd heard only moments before belonging to the bright orange-haired girl who continued to try and fight back.

 She stared with wide eyes as they tied the green-haired boy to the wheel, the same one that was very close to her 'bed'. He barely gave any struggle, seeming to accept the fate he had in store for him.

On the other hand, the girl fought the entire way to the hanging cage, mumbling incoherent words to the circus freaks as they lifted her into the odd cage. She kicked and fought the whole way, finally giving up as the cage door shut. They put a padlock on the door, preventing her from getting out.

The crewmates then began to joke about their new captives, making smart comments since they knew the two couldn't do anything about it.

One of them stopped and looked at Finn, who had been staring starstruck at the entire exchange. It was the same one who'd found her after she ran off the night before, the one who'd even noticed she went missing in the first place.