the hoof of the soaring dragon | ONE PIECE (discontinued)

Chapter 2

Upon waking, Gaal burrowed himself into the warm, soft sheets. He rubbed the remainders of sleep from his eyes and gazed out at the room he instantly recognized as his.

"You're awake?"

Sitting on another bed, on the other side of the room, Tenshi had a book in hand, which he closed when his disciple tried to somehow lean his back against the headboard.

"My head" Gaal mumbled as he slowly sat up, "What happened?"

"I'm the one who should ask you that. I found you unconscious in the alley," he explained, crossing his long leg.

Hands gripping on his hair to stop the rambling inside his skull, the boy bit his lip as the memories slowly resurfaced. He closed his eyes to remember better what he saw: the leg, the dark alley, the blood and...

"Is the girl okay?" exclaimed Gaal, eyes wide.

Tenshi got up to put down the book on their shared desk before sighing "Answer my question first: what happened?"

His memories were fuzzy, still troubled by this scream that resonated in his head when he tried to answer his mentor's questions. He looked down and slowly released his grip.

"I just wanted to suppress the bleeding but she got scared and-" tried to explain Gaal before being interrupted by two intruders.

"Look at you, Gaal: an injured little lady put you down"

Shaking with laughter and a rifle attached to his back via a band, an average-looking man entered the cabin while scratching his dreadlocks. Following him was a tall man with medium-length, gray hair slicked-back. He had a large X-shaped scar on his left temple and a cigarette in hand.

"Yasopp! Benn!"

"I know you were weak but not to this point. I might need to train you sometimes brat." continued Yasopp with a mocking look.

"I don't know what happened she just screamed and then... Then I just felt dizzy." Gaal sighted feeling ashamed "I'm sorry. I let my guard down."

Tenshi noticed the feeling of guilt in the young man's eyes. "Don't stress about it. It's just a little mistake. You are fine and Luke said she would be alright" patting his head, the older man made sure that he wouldn't take seriously those jokes.

"Yeah yeah. Don't worry I just came here to check on you but I guess you're fine."

Benn, who had been quiet, finally spoke up "Then if everyone is okay, I'm going to check on Luke. He must be done with the girl"

"Oh wait, Benn! I'm coming" exclaimed Yasopp, "She put down this useless brat. I need to meet her!"

It seemed that the efforts of the mentor were of little use as long as the sniper was around. He rolled his eyes, sighting when he heard the mumble of the boy.

"Oi, please refrain from referring to me as useless in my presence. I'm sensible."

•••

"We are done with those," declared Luke as he removed his gloves.

The treatment had been longer than expected, with injuries appearing each time he finished with one. None really put the woman's life in danger but their number was sufficient to put anyone down. And after a few hours of meticulous work, the doctor finally saw the end of the tunnel.

"Let's clean her face now." he announced the last step before calling his assistant who was carefully studying all his comings and goings "Vance, bring me a bucket of clean water"

"Yes, chef!" Vance responded as he raised his right hand, fingers together and palm visible, to temple height.

"I told you to stop doing that it makes-" He tried to scold him, but the slam of the door interrupted him. "This child..."

Luke looked back at the unconscious from laying in the bed. Inspecting her face more closely he noticed what look like a burn mark on her right eye "This is a pretty nasty scar you've got here"

Pushing back her hair to have a better look, his hand approached her face. But, before he could even brush her skin, his wrist was grabbed, stopping his movement.

A black pupil appeared. The woman forced her eye to focus, her gaze traveling upward until she was met with a face she didn't recognize.

"Who..."

Her heart raced faster than her thoughts could form as her breathing became short and ragged. An unknown face, a hand hovering over her ocular globe; too many factors that plunged her into old nightmares.

"You are all mine. You are my property I can touch you all I want..."

She gasped for breath, squeezing his wrist with all her might.

"Is she not your friend? Run my little puppy! Come on! Run! You're going to lose the race if you keep this pace"

Tears bloomed in her eyes, flooding down her cheeks.

"Well, he lost so I am taking my reward... Don't move too much Akira it's my first time tearing an eye out..."

Her head pounded and her vision flickered. She clenched her fist.

"Miss are you o-" before Luke could finish his sentence, a punch was thrown at his face.

She tried to leave the bed but lost her balance and crashed on the floor. Her chest ached. She wanted to leave. She needed to leave. She had to leave.

Tears blurred her vision as she continued to try to get up but kept falling and falling back on the hard ground. Her movements were frantic, without any synchronization that would give her a chance to get up.

Distantly, she heard the door swing open and a voice call. She looked up and saw two men barging into the room through her tear-blurred eyes. Both were frozen in the doorway, looking confused and shocked.

Ignoring their arrival, she tried once again to get up, falling towards Luke in the process.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

Finally, focusing on the voice, she was met with a gun pointed at her. Terror gripped the woman and she automatically bowed down. "Please! Don't! I'm sorry, I'll behave!"

The men were even more confused at her choice of words. All her attempts to leave the room had suddenly been interrupted by the mere sight of the weapon. Rising with a grunt, Luke had only needed the sight of her dilated pupil to understand the situation.

"Put away your gun. She's hallucinating"

"But-"

"Yasopp." interrupted the doctor who was staring down at her smaller form.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have touched you!" still in a bowing pose, the woman continued her pleading.

The room had frozen with only her murmurs of distress as background noises. Benn counted it for a moment: her head fixed on the ground, her stance weak; in no way posing a threat to the doctor.

"Yasopp, let's leave her to Luke"

"Benn is right: the two of you get out. I will put her to sleep," added Luke who turned a deaf ear at the sniper's complaint.

When the room was clear, he looked at his patient with pity. She was still in a bow, mumbling to no one in particular but her safety. Grabbing a needle, Luke approached the woman slowly.

"You've already been through a lot. I will try to be quick"