Fire And Ice

Chapter 6: Doubt

Taiga followed Marco in silence through the chambers of the Moby Dick.

A door creaked open as Marco held it open. "This is your room. It's pretty empty, so you can customize it however you'd like."

Taiga nodded in approval, as she stepped inside. "Thanks."

"No problem. Dinner will be ready soon, either Ace or I will come and get you alright?"

"Ok."

With that, the door clicked shut and Taiga was left alone. She glanced around the room. Empty walls, a bed, a closet, a table and two cabinets. Sighing, she molded a small replica of the shrine out of never-melting ice, placing it on the table. Flicking an even smaller coin into the fountain, she began to pray.

Brief moments of silence passed, when a knock on the door reeled her back to reality.

"It's open." She called.

The door opened slightly as one of the crew members peeked inside. "Ace told me to call you to dinner. Let's go."

"Alright. Lead the way."

*

The mess hall was truly a mess. Food flying everywhere, drunk people everywhere, screaming and laughing. Except Taiga.

She sat silently at a table, eating her food. No interaction, nothing. And that was totally fine.

Until...

A pirate came up to her and slammed his fist on the table. "You're not *hic* welcome on this ship, bitch. *hic* You aren't and *hic* never will be. So you *hic* might as well get your ass off this ship *hic* before we beat the shit out of *hic* you."

Taiga tried to suppress a laugh. "Is that supposed to be a threat?" She made eye contact an glared at him with her steel blue eyes. "Hey, did you know that I'm not here to stay? I'm just here to be able to achieve a mission. So listen up, shithead, because you have no power against me. You can't choose anything for me. And I'd like to see you try and beat the shit out of me." She said.

The pirate growled, and threw a punch at her face. Taiga easily side-stepped the attack, clicking her tongue and grabbing his arm.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Suck a predictable move. Come back and challenge me when you actually stand a chance." She mocked, throwing him to the floor.

"GURAHAAHHAHA!" The captain roared with laughter as eyes turned to him. "My daughter hasn't even been here for a full day and she's already pissing off my sons!"

"LIKE I SAID, WHITEBEARD, ITS TEMPORARY." She yelled over her shoulder. "I'll be on the deck if you need me." She walked out of the room with pirates staring at her in anger and shock.

"That bitch..."

"Who does she think she is...?"

*

The chilly ocean breeze pushed against her face. She sighed under the darkening sky, as she stared across the ocean with blank and dull eyes.

"Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into?" She asked.

"A group of idiots."

She turned her head and saw Ace coming towards her.

"It was a rhetorical question, dumbass."

He shrugged. "Seemed like you needed an answer though."

"Fair enough." She sighed. "So why are you here? As far as I'm concerned I'm not 'welcome' on this ship." She said sarcastically, making air quotations.