Blindsided [Sabo x OC]

Chapter 4

Anya had come back to Baltigo with some valuable information about a group of slavers who captured people to be sold to the celestial dragons and nobles. She had learned the location of their next target as well as what route they would take to get there. This was, Anastasia realized, a golden opportunity. Not only could they save many people from being captured, but they could free whatever people the slavers had already captured; and then these people would never have to know the horrors of being owned by the horrible people that would e willing to buy them. This fact, along with the fact that they had been at Baltigo for two weeks straight, made her anxious to go.

Anastasia did like the revolutionary headquarters. The place was confusing to get around at first, but Sabo helped her memorize the layout. And that was the best part of being there; she had greatly grown to enjoy the company of the Chief of Staff. He would spend time with her whenever he wasn't busy and it was greatly appreciated on her part. But, still, being stuck there for two weeks made her restless. She wanted to be out on the sea again and she wanted some action.

When Sabo had learned that Anastasia had gotten a lead and that her and the rest of her crew were going after said lead, he found said Captain and asked her to tag along. He didn't have anything to do in the meantime, he had told her, and he was eager to see them in action. She told him that he would get in the way. They worked a certain way—like clockwork, and he would mess that up. So he promised her that he would just be a spectator and, with that in mind, she allowed him to come with them.

They ended up in a small, isolated town which was located on a not-so-small and not-so-isolated island. It was because of the town's isolation, regardless of the island itself being a large trading port, that made it a target. The slavers knew that if anything happened at said town, the rest of the island wouldn't know until several days, if not more, later. In addition, the town wasn't protected by the marine force which protected the main part of the island. In other words, the Freedom Pirates were their only hope.

Once the Freedom Pirates arrived at the island, Sabo made sure to stay out of everyone's way; he stood back and watched them do what they had grown used to doing. It was like a well-rehearsed dance and he couldn't help but to watch the lead dancer in awe. Anastasia was giving orders left and right and everyone followed them without questioning or hesitation.

"Anya," she had said, "go ahead and scope everything out. Check out the town and the city as well. I want to know the movement of the marines here even if the likelihood of us encountering them is incredibly low." Then, "Harper, make sure you're ready to tend to any and all wounds." And, "Keiji and Satchiko, you will both stay here protecting the ship. Make sure it's ready to sail at a moment's notice. Cassidy, you'll help them with that." Last, "Kaito and Narumi will head in first. I want you guys to focus on taking down the slavers. Rowan and Anya will wait five minutes before going in themselves. Rowan, focus on finding and freeing any people that they have already caught. Anya, focus on getting the rest of the civilians out unharmed."

Sabo had asked her, afterward, what she was to do.

"Just give orders, of course," she had said at first with a face so serious that Sabo had failed to realize for a while that she had been joking. "I'm going to go now and find a good place where I can hear and sense everything," she had said truthfully. "I'll be on the sidelines and I'll stay there unless I'm needed, which doesn't happen often. And that's why my bounty is so low!"

Sabo was still unsure about her role in the crew and that was primarily the reason that he wanted to tag along. She was the captain, he knew. And he could tell that she was a good one. She knew what she was doing and she had the ability to hold a commanding presence even if she seemed so frail to him. But still, the fact that she stayed on the sidelines bothered him—was it because her crew wanted to keep her safe? Or was she their trump card that they wanted to keep hidden until absolutely necessary? Maybe it was both, thought Sabo. But he wouldn't know until he was able to see her on the battlefield and, though he did want everything to go smoothly for Anastasia and the others, he wished that things would get to the point that they needed her to come in.

That night, the slavers attacked the village, Anastasia's plan went into action, and Sabo's wish was granted. Everything had gone smoothly until the leader of the slavers appeared—Kaito and Narumi had been having no problem fighting against the slavers, but their leader was on a whole different power level and when he was told that his men were being slaughtered, he got pissed. Suffice it to say, Anastasia had to step in. She told Kaito and Narumi to finish off any straggling slavers so that they wouldn't get in her way; once they finished doing that, she had told them, they were to help Rowan and Anya get everyone to safety. And they went to do as they were told. Sabo remained hidden in the shadows, excitement coursing through his veins, as he finally got to see the woman who had captured his fascination so completely fight.

The first thing she did was throw a smoke bomb, or at least that's what it appeared to be at first glance. Sabo later learned that it doubled as a noise bomb, but the sound that it emitted was at a frequency too low for most people to pick up. Anastasia's heightened sense of hearing, however, was able to easily pick it up and she used the sound like a bat would. The smoke gave her cover while she listened to the sound travel and bounce off of every object and living being in the area. It helped her quickly map out the area in her head.

Once the smoke cleared, the slavers' leader attacked her. She easily dodged his attacks with, what Sabo noticed was, observation haki. She removed her guide cane from her belt and he watched as it grew in length; it came to resemble a staff slightly shorter than Sabo's pipe since she was of a shorter stature. She landed several blows on her enemy with it. The hits were incredibly powerful and Sabo had no doubt that the staff must have been covered in armament haki.

Dodge. Hit. Dodge. Dodge. Hit.

Whereas Kaito and Narumi seemed to be having difficulty fighting this man, Anastasia seemed to be defeating him with ease. And it was then that Sabo decided that she was indeed the crew's trump card and that she had earned the title of captain not based on leadership skills alone but also on strength. Her bounty, he mused, was incredibly misleading.

And as he thought about all of that, he not once removed his eyes from her form. He found himself unable to look away. Her movements were hypnotic. She was just all around mesmerizing to him—and just when Sabo thought when couldn't get anymore smitten.