Captivity

02 - The Beginning

Marco groaned, stepping on the ship he had chosen to sink. Ha had liked the red skull. The dark brown wood creaked under the pressure. All the crewmembers were out cold thanks to his blows and the Captain was the only one still standing. He had a long, raven braid swinging on his back, and two more as moustache. Quite stylish, but he wasn't in for jokes.

On the opposite, he was still dearly angry and in search of a good fight to blow off at least some of his anger. With a jump, Marco evaded a kick at his middle and head-butted the pirate, sending him on the floor. Useless. No one here could give him some decent quality fight.

He groaned again when he saw the Captain had fainted because of an unintentional wave of Haki. Marco closed his eyes, sighing. He couldn't lose his cool like that. But, hell. Thatch was still comatose in the infirmary and Ace was still out Devil knew where. And he hadn't sent a report in forever.

Well, not exactly, the last one had been a week prior. But, in his book, a week was too much. Over-protective mother-hen as he may seem, he didn't care. He opened his eyes and surveyed the deck. Clear.

Marco went inside. He was still a pirate. One that managed to run his Division neatly, with paperwork done and never going over budget. For that, he needed founding. Who better than pirates stupid enough to think they were weak because of a betrayal. Bunch of idiots.

He found the Captain's room. White furniture? No, wait, it was painted. Strange. He shrugged it off his mind and searched for money and treasures. There was not too much, but better than nothing. He took a black bag from the wardrobe and filled it, throwing it on his shoulder.

Marco was about to go out when he heard the distinct sound of a snore. Not too loud, not too silent. He arched a brow and went downstairs, where were the prisons. He looked around, empty. He circled the stairs and found the source. A man, that gave off the aura of a younger one, with raven, messy hair was sprawled on the wooden floor, sleeping like no one's business. He had a dark red unbuttoned shirt and black tight pants, bare-footed. There was a scar under the boy's left eye.

The pirate crossed his arms, unsure of what to do. First of all, why was he in the prison? Was he a captive? Or someone that broke some law onboard? Uhm... That was not the sleep you get from fainting. But he couldn't know for sure.

He decided to wake him up. Starting with a cough. It didn't work. He tried hitting the bars. Only a shuffling. He groaned.

"Yoi." The boy turned his back on him. "Pirate?" He kicked the wall. "Wake up." Turned towards Marco. "Time for dinner?" He had run out of quiet options.

He was about to destroy the bars and punch the man. But that sentence surprisingly worked. The raven-haired's eyelids fluttered open, revealing black, bottomless orbs. Marco blinked, being suddenly at the receiving end of a studying gaze. He felt rooted to the spot, open and unguarded.

And then, the boy grinned happily. As if not possessing the strong will he just showed. He stood, dusting off the tight pants and regarding Marco with an arched brow and amused eyes.

"Hey there! What's up?"

Marco almost gag-fell. "Who are you, yoi?"

"I'm a pirate!"

That much he could have understood on his own... Now, though, he knew the lad was in prison for something he had done.

"Why are you here?"

The other laughed, as if not bothered at all by the bars surrounding him. "I made the Captain angry. Too many pranks. Shishishi."

Oh, dear God... A prankster. Marvellous. Though, what to do with him? Marco couldn't deny this one seemed a bit interesting, at least. Was that gaze just an illusion? No, he was not stupid enough to misunderstand something like that.