Opavia

18.

Vitani ate breakfast silently, Kierra sitting beside Ace on his rock. The other Straw Hats were scattered around their temporary sand camp, eating a portion of the food Ace had brought back from the previous day. Kierra sighed and hopped down, pausing abruptly as Eos ran infront of her with a giant scorpion leg in her mouth, followed by Zeze chasing carelessly.

"So you went and found yourself a boyfriend? Huh?" Vitani raised an eyebrow as Kierra fretted, shaking her head.

"Ace is not my boyfriend!" She shook her head desperately. Before she could say anything else there was a faint gunshot behind the rock Ace had previously been seated on. Immediately, Kierra leapt up in alarm , bounding up Ace's rock to find him gone. She looked down as Vitani sprinted past her.

Ace stood just below the rock in the sand, staring forward as two kids approached him from his rear. The tallest held a small gun in his right hand, shaking.

"Hey, you're fire fist!" one of the two kids behind Ace yelled. Ace turned to look down at them, his eyes glancing at the gun in his hand.

"Yeah?" Ace scoffed as they presented the wanted poster.

"We'll give you a million berries if you can find and kill this man?" Vitani stepped in beside Ace, looking down at the Wanted poster.

"Scorpion?" Vitani hummed, reading the poster. "I've never heard of him."

"Must be a loser." Kierra peeked over their shoulders, flicking her tail. 

"He's a bounty hunter and he causes a lot of trouble around here." the kid snapped. Vitani narrowed her eyes as Kierra stepped from behind them.

"Where's the money?" Ace hummed, the kids glancing at one another nervously.

"If they can't promise the money now then why waste our time?" Vitani muttered as Ace hummed in thought.

"Well I've already got business with him." Ace hummed. "They say he's the man who killed Blackbeard."

"He defeated Blackbeard?!" Kierra yelled, Ace nodding. "This guy?"

"He looks like a farmer to me." Vitani muttered, Kierra nodding as they inspected the wanted posted.

"An old one at that!"

"I don't know, Ace says this old guy really beat up Blackbeard?" Usopp asked, Ace shrugging his shoulders.

"Alright." Ace hummed, tucking the poster in his pocket. The two boys scurried away from Ace and stood up, looking up as Scorpion arrived at the top of the sand dune on an ostrich.

"Heya! Are you alright?" Luffy's head poked from around the ostrich, Vitani gritting her teeth.

"What is he doing?!" Ace huffed, Vitani sighing.

"This is our captain?" Kierra hummed as Vitani ran her hand over her face.

"He's an idiot." She muttered.

The ostrich screeched and turned ,Scorpion kicking Luffy back. He plummeted into a rock , Vitani turning.

"Luffy!" she yelled.

Ace ran forward as Scorpion threw a steel trap onto the ground, watching in alarm as Ace's flames sliced through it. The flames reached and burned  Scorpion's clothes, Vitani gaping as Kierra grinned.

"He's so hot." Kierra gawked.

"Literally." Vitani whispered. The man attempted to shoot him with an extinguisher gun but Ace easily punched through it and slammed into the ground.

"No more! That's enough, dad!" The two boys who had asked for Ace's help previously cried, sliding down the sand-hill.

"What th-!" Vitani snapped, Kierra shaking her head.