Goretober 2024

2~Claws/Hands~

TW: blood, disturbing thoughts/imagery
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They were laughing again. Always laughing - at least in my head they were.

The kids would laugh, and the adults would yell; there was no winning.

I didn't know what was worse, really, because I couldn't find friends, nor could I find safety in anybody's arms. They all hated me and looked down on me, and for what? Because of where I came from? Because I had nobody cheering me on in my lonely corner of the world?

I knew why they chased me, or why they ratted me out, but it was for something so profoundly ridiculous that it bordered unbelievable. I had a bounty of 79 million berries placed on my head, and yet I have never done anything wrong in my life. How could I? I was only a child, and yet the whispers of the people tell of a fugitive youth that had sunk battleships and therefore wholly deserved the bounty placed upon their head.

For most of my life, all I could do was run.

*

Stowed away on a cargo ship, I stifled my breathing as a trio of crew members blundered past the stack of crates I was curled up behind. It was cold and dark where I sat, but I had grown used to difficult and uncomfortable situations from my many months in hiding and running. Everywhere I looked, all I saw were enemies; I couldn't trust anyone!

It was hard to think positive, but my mom and friends from home would want me to keep going and live on for them. I had to remember them. If I were to forget their warm faces, then all might truly be lost for me.

"Land ho!" a man's voice shouted from upper deck. A jumble of voices came in response, and the activity on board picked up. I hunkered down further, praying to be overlooked as this level was swept through and crates were carried out. Thankfully, an opening appeared by way of an empty staircase furthest from the action, and the little of the crew down here were all facing the other direction. I took the chance and scrambled out from my hidey place towards the stairs. Slipping by unnoticed, I had made it far from the main gathering of people, and as casually as I could, sped down the ramp and into the busy crowds of the seaport as sure as I belonged there.

I kept my face low to hide my facial features in my partially long, black hair and made good use of the confusion a bustling marketplace can cause. Walking past a particularly preoccupied fruit vendor, I snagged an apple to quench my growing hunger.

Things were looking alright, so good in fact that I could almost forget I was a wanted criminal, but how far can one really go without the chance to change clothes or the most basic of defining features, like hair of all things?

It was partly in an alleyway that I noticed a change in the atmosphere. An unpleasant tingle went down my spine, and my hair stood on end. I've grown used to trusting my instincts, and they have never led me wrong as of yet, so I knew something was up almost immediately.

My grip on the core of my apple grew tight as I sidled up to the corner to peak out into the street. A soft gasp drew past my lips when I laid wide eyes on the group of marines talking with locals. A woman who appeared worried, with knitted brows and rigid posture, pointed towards the stand I stole food from, and with enough information, it could be said the direction that I went afterwards and the places a thief like myself might've gone, and so, my hiding spot wasn't looking too good anymore.

I scurried down the alley and climbed over the fence that split the path to the parallel street. My dress got caught when I made to descend the other side, and a small bit was torn off in my desperation to get away quickly. Even though there was a chance this place would be overlooked - a very slim chance, truthfully - I couldn't take any unnecessary risks. With that in mind, I jumped on my toes to pluck up the torn piece of cloth. Walking out from between the two buildings, I made sure to dispose of the fabric into the garbage bin.