The Man Above

5 - The Crew

Beast Series 1.04

Yo ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
Never say we die~

~~~~~

Unfortunately for the pirate brothers, Zoro with all three of his swords was too far above their level for them to even scratch, pun not intended. The second round was over quicker than the first.

"Jango." Unfortunately for the mish-mash of individuals there that day to fight off the pirates, Buchi was a bit heavier set than most. "Hyp-hypnotize me. Help me k-kill him..."

"All those layers of fat. Dammit..." Zoro readied himself for another go at the fat cat brother as he stood up with a roar and smashed the cliff-face into rubble.

"If you'll allow me; you should take a rest. You did get a couple of nasty scratches before Nami and I stepped in." Zoro was about to protest but saw the hungry look in Aster's eyes as she stepped forward. As proper and polite as she was, the knight was itching for fight more than even Zoro or Luffy. This he had to see.

"Sure."

"RAAAAAAAHH!" Buchi charged like a wild bull while Aster slunk forward with the grace of big cat on the prowl. She, surprisingly, had left her daggers sheathed and instead crouched low in a brawling position. The way she braced herself, as if she was about to lift something, peaked Zoro's interest. He saw why shortly thereafter.

Right as Buchi lunged to kill her, Aster dove for his ankles and, using a surprising amount of strength for her petite size, sent the fat man sailing overhead to land on his back behind her. Not giving him a chance to recover, Aster swung around and planted her heel into his temple hard enough to cause a sickening crack. Buchi was down for the count.

"How quaint. I honestly thought he would last longer than that." She turned towards Kuro with a raised eyebrow. "I suppose you're next? I do hope you're not as boring as your crew."

She almost missed the eyebrow twitch, the only indication of his movement before everyone present heard a clang as his claws made contact with one of her daggers.

"Too slow. In fact, you're almost as slow as Edmund and Peter when I was first teaching them swordplay." She parried and the two separated, staring each other down. "Nami, dear, would you be so kind as to wake your captain. I believe he'd be less than thrilled if I defeated his opponent."

The shuffling of feet against sand was the only indication that Aster had been heard.

"Who are you, girl?"

"I am Aster Leonova, Lady of the Wood, Keeper of Cair Para- You know what? Just call me Aster." She fended off another attack, trying to keep his attention on her and away from her more vulnerable comrades. He could see what she was doing, he wasn't stupid, but he just couldn't find the opportunity to overwhelm her. That is, until Nami cried out in pain.

Kuro took the opportunity to exploit his opponent's weakness, turning on the unsuspecting Zoro and launching his attack. It was almost as if everything went in slow motion for Aster.

She could see Nami, clutching her grazed shoulder whilst stamping on a just-waking Luffy. Jango stood just behind her, readying another deadly blade, this time to cause more lasting damage. Kuro neared Zoro with every second as the swordsman's eyes widened in realization but his reflexes were not enough to save him. So, Aster did the one thing she could do.

Luffy stood, knocking Nami to the ground in the process. Jango dropped to the ground, unconscious from the hilt of the blade that had hit him in the head, his disc shattered by an identical blade. Zoro felt no pain and opened his eyes in relief.