~Stolen~1010Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAI40i5Iomy
1010Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SYoGDC1PR
“Penguin!” Shachi fervently whispered. “Come one! No one’s around!”
“Are you sure, man?” Penguin stumbled along in his boxers and a nightshirt. Rubbing the back of his head slowly, he yawned. “I don’t want Casper to be mad at us in the morning.”
“He’s not gonna find out! Now come on!” They silently made their way into the kitchen, glancing around as if Casper would show up at any moment and swat them with one of his wooden spoons.
“Now, where’s the salt?” Shachi rubbed his hands together eagerly, ignoring Penguin’s tired groan. Both men were thankful the cabinets didn’t squeak when opened.
“Pranking Casper is a stupid idea man.” He whispered at his friend’s back. His toe hit the corner of the counter. “Dammit!” He cursed as quietly as he possibly could.
“Shhh! If you keep making noise we’ll be caught.” Shachi rummaged around the ingredients, searching for the large bag of salt used for curing meat. “Found it!”
Holding a large bag above his head, he carefully placed it on the counter, going also to find the sugar bag in the pantry. He placed both bags carefully on the counter, glancing back and forth between them. “Alright! Help me dump the salt into the sugar!”
With a tired moan, Penguin slumped up to his friend. “We are so dead in the morning.”
‘Do I give it to her?’ Liam thought, idly twirling the bird necklace in his hand. It’s eyes glinted off the small lamp he kept on his bedside table. ‘If I do, she’ll know. She’ll put it together.’
With a sigh he placed his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes. Everything was so complicated all of a sudden. And why? Why did it have to be him? Why was it him that Summer’s eyes seemed to ensnare with a single glance?
“Damn it all…” He muttered.1010Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwgCza6Uzq
Law swayed but continued to pace the floor. His thoughts wouldn’t slow down, wouldn’t let him sleep. Images of that woman kept flooding his consciousness, taunting him with her heterochromic eyes. He had researched all he could but couldn’t figure out anything on this mysterious warrior.
One glance up confirmed that Summer still hadn’t woken up, sleeping peacefully on the cot. He went back to his pacing.
What hadn’t he thought of? What was missing? He had searched for anything related to a purple-haired warrior ravaging towns and island in the past ten years, no luck.
“Hmm…” He rubbed his temple in concentration. He mentally reset all the information in his head. Starting from the beginning, he thought back to everything he knew about Summer.
She didn’t like hospitals. He had already checked any incidents pertaining to hospitals and medical facilities. There was nothing in any newspaper.
She was affiliated to Viper. His name had appeared several times in the papers several years ago, before the Supernova hype, but there’s was nothing more than the standard slander and call to arms every issue seemed to be present.
She was 23, but didn’t know her parents.
‘Date of birth...’ He thought. Why hadn’t he thought of that first? With one more glance to make sure Summer’s condition hadn’t changed he left the infirmary.
Bepo gazed over the navigational system again, checking for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing showed up on the radar, and he couldn’t see anything out of the observation window in front. Jean Bart sat next to him, going over charts and maps.
Bepo and Jean Bart had become closer through their duties in the navigation room, a big improvement from when the ex-captain had first joined the crew. At first, Bepo had regarded him cautiously. He never trusted the man’s calculations so the first mate always double checked projections and currents.
Now, he thought, I can trust him. He is nakama now. I would trust him with my life.
‘If only he actually talked to me...’ He thought, watching the silent navigator do his work. ‘It’s so boring without Captain around.’
Closing the door behind him, Law searched for the lightswitch on the wall. WIth a flick, the overhead lights clicked on and bathed the rows and rows of shelves in a dull yellow light. He walked towards the back of the room, where the older publications were. His footsteps kicked up dust that had settled, and he coughed out the particles.
‘We need to clean in here.’
Taking a left, he found the shelf marked 1990-1995. The shelf was filled with boxes of newspapers, separated into individual years. Taking up the 1991 box, he hefted the container back to the front of the room, dumping the box onto a table. Taking a seat, he resigned himself to the task before him.
Law’s fingers were quickly smudged with ink and the smell of old paper. Rifling through the old headlines was rather interesting, he had to admit.
“MARINES STOP RECRUITMENT SCHEME.” “SHICHIBUKAI BETRAYS THE GOVERNMENT, SCHEDULED EXECUTION.” “TRIAL FOR NOTORIOUS PIRATE JOLLY RINGER UNDERWAY.”
“Here we go…” Law muttered, scanning over one newspaper that caught his eye. It was dated the 22 of December, 1991.
“MYSTERIOUS FIRE ANNIHILATES CITY, TOWNSPEOPLE BLAME DEMON.”
The headline wasn’t the only strange thing about the paper, the picture on the front was just as odd. It depicted a burnt down city, completely destroyed beyond repair. But what caught his eye was the area around the buildings. There were trees surrounding the entire village, some even directly next to the buildings, but none of the wildlife or ground around the wreckage was touched. A normal fire would’ve burned everything within its vicinity. This one, obviously, did not.
‘The citizens of Terra Nova were shocked...’
“Terra Nova?” Why did that sound familiar? He thought back to his conversation with Summer, the day she had told him as much of the truth as she so dared.
“Where were you born?”
“Terra Nova Island. It’s somewhere on the Grand Line.”
“What a coincidence…” He mused, going back to the first line of the article.
‘The citizens of Terra Nova were shocked to find their town in flames early morning on the 19th. Nothing was left standing, and many families had to pack up and find new settlement in the aftermath.
‘Several medical workers claim that it was the work of a demon. “Never in my life have I seen something like this before,” Doctor Hartman claims, “The demon will surely still be after our blood.” Many accounts of a reported demon have come from credible sources: nurses, doctors, merchants, and soldiers have all stepped forward in defense of this ‘demon’ theory.
‘Many housewives, however, point to reckless children and beggars as the source. A local investigation has started in the search for the cause of the fire.’
Law put the article down, silent while he absorbed this information. This had to be related to this woman, it just had to be. There were too many coincidences. The newspaper only left him with more questions, however, and now he was set on finding the answers.
Pururururu...pururururu...gatcha.
“Report.” Law answered, hearing a frantic Bepo on the other end.
“Captain, Summer is missing.”
“Heat, you and Killer will go in and retrieve her. The rest will be waiting in the rowboat here. Make it quick and don’t show yourselves. And cover your scent so that bear doesn’t sense you.”
The two nodded and jumped onto the deck of the Heart Pirates’ submarine. The cool air of the night sent a chill up their spines, but nonetheless they slipped into the door with ease.
None of their crew was in the halls, presumably asleep in their beds. Heat gestured down the hall, where several doors branched off to other parts of the submarine.
Kid had said that Summer was injured, judging by the way they were carrying her limp body into the sub after the battle with the Marines. Based on that knowledge, she must be in their medical section. But where was it?
They silently agreed on the left door, sneaking over and gently pushing it open. They were in luck, no one was in here either. It looked like that door went to more quarters for the crew, so they closed it again and checked the right door.
Another hallway, this time with a door on the side and another branch-off at the end. This way looked more promising so they snuck along the edge of the hall until they came to the side door.
Looking in, it was obvious this was the kitchen and mess deck. Noise came from the back of the room and the two mates paused.
“Penguin, I need a bowl to put the sugar in.” They heard faintly.
“There’s one down there but can’t we just go to bed now?”
Deciding that they weren’t much of an issue to them, they continued down the hall. At the end, it split and they looked both ways.
On the left was several doors, maybe more quarters or storage closets. On the right stood a set of double doors inlaid with a small window. That had to be it. Gesturing to the right, they snuck their way over.
Killer peeked in the window, checking to make sure Trafalgar Law wasn’t inside. This was the most critical of moments because as soon as they entered this room, they were entering his domain.
Giving each other a confident nod, they pushed the doors open quietly while keeping a lookout behind them.
Inside, Killer straightened up and walked over to the bed that Summer was on. A quick check for her pulse confirmed she was alive, just unconscious. Sheathing his blades, he picked her up and carried her over his shoulder. The loudest she uttered was a small groan.
“Alright, let’s get-”
“Put her down and step away.”
The two turned around at the voice, taking in the sight of a sandy-haired man pointing two short swords at them. He looked very weak, breathing heavily just from holding up his weapons. Killer, still holding Summer over his shoulder, ignored the man.
“I thought you were watching the hall?” He asked Heat, who shrugged unconcernedly.
“I won’t tell you again. Put her down and step back.”
Heat and Killer glanced at each other, wondering what the heck they should do. The fact that they were found out was troublesome. They had to fix this somehow, either by incapacitating him into silence or killing him.
Killing him would take too long and be too noisy. So the only option was to knock him out quickly and quietly so he wouldn’t cry out.
Handing Summer over to Heat, Killer stepped forward towards the man and unsheathed his blades.
Springing forward, the two clashed, but Killer brought the hilt of his weapon down onto the man’s head, knocking him out instantly without a sound. He caught the man before he hit the ground too hard. Gently lowering him to the floor, he straightened up and sheathed his weapons.
“Let’s go.” He said, glancing outside the doors into the hall. No one was around so they quickly exited the area.
Finding their way back the way they had come proved to be harder than they had thought it would be. Luckily, they didn’t get lost and within minutes they had found the door to the outside once more.
The night air was a cold blast compared to the stifling heat inside the sub. Down below the row boat was barely visible.
“Did anyone see you?” Kid called quietly.
“No one.” Heat replied, disregarding the man they had knocked out earlier. He lowered Summer down the ladder to the men below, the two mates following afterwards.
“Let’s head out.”
ns 15.158.61.51da2
