chapter 02. Deceiving You
They stood before the salvaged ship for a long time. Few words were exchanged since their arrival, for Smoker feared erupting in someone's face. To walk the steam off, he had watched the sluggish raising the courier ship with Hina; bit-by-bit regaining control of his annoyance and composure.
He was displeased.
There was no Tashigi in the names of the survivors found, and the vice-admirals had not bothered pursuing Nellah all the way- at least, not until further instruction. The hours were nearing dawn; a pink sheen was creeping into the sky.
"Two of them were taken hostage, commodore, to prevent the vice-admirals from attacking them."
"They didn't even follow!"
"No sir, because Ensign Tashigi had already destroyed the documents, so I think they lost interest knowing that. Do you want to know the damage report?" The officer then realized he was speaking to Smoker's withdrawing back.
"Do I have to do everything myself?"
"Hina thinks-"
"That I shouldn't look for her? That it's a waste of time? I know Tashigi isn't a great fighter or a real asset to the Marines. But that kid has heart, and I'm not gonna be dangling around waiting for her to return- by then, my workload would have tripled and I can't do without sharing it."
"Ah..! You just want her to do your jobs.."
"Commodore, sir!"
The officer saluted at them before continuing.
"Vice-Admiral Garp had stopped all boats from leaving this site. He said you needed to wait for further orders from HQ."
No Tashigi, no Nellah, no liberty in taking initiatives?
Hina thought she could hear Smoker's wafer-thin-patience snapping from his words. He left their company and stormed to his ship, calling "raise anchor," to his squadron. He wouldn't take that crap, no- He was going to chase the yellow-assed pirate all the way. Stepping off the final gangplank to his boat, Smoker found himself crossing the path of an unexpected blow- BWAM!
Two cigars went airborne, and he was almost lifted off his feet; the crazy strength behind the punch could have floored anyone else. An astonished Hina hurried over to support him but her presence was ignored; Smoker stared contemptuously at Vice-admiral Monkey D. Garp.
"What the.."
"Oi, punk. Don't you know how to greet your superior? Or follow orders, rather? Anyway, let's drop it. You young-guns are easily excited." The Vice-ad waved a sheaf of parchment at them. "Word just in from the heavies.. Priority goes into replacing and resending the World Government documents, and finding the two lost posties is under secondary agenda."
"I don't find their show of conviction.. Convincing."
"Bah, don't put it that way. But I thought them Ensigns could have done a much better job than getting herself axe-kicked by the job."
When he didn't reply, Garp shook his head.
"I see you're still holding strong emotions, fella. Not healthy. Then.. I place you, 'Black Cage' Hina, in-charge of retrieving the two lost ducks." He handed the papers to her, who cocked a brow at them.
"That's the official license. You can't go without them. As for you, Commodore, you leg it to.. Loguetown, right? Resume base duties. Dismissed."
The sun was high over their heads when Hina was making the final preparations for her departure. In the cabin of the return-ship, she packed her suitcase. "It's a dangerous trip for a delicate girl like you." She turned to find Smoker before her face. It was curious to see him without a cigar between his teeth, and their sudden intimacy in space made her feel all the more intrigued.
"Hina knows that.. but she will look for them diligently, because Smoker-san misses his lieutenant."
Smoker wrapped his arms around her lithe body, kicking open the room's door behind him. "I'm soon gonna miss you too, Hina."
She prepared herself for a kiss and closed her eyes, but received only a squeeze of a hug before he slipped away. Clicking her tongue and scoffing 'stingy' under her breath, she finished stuffing the bag and went up. A change of vessel, a change of clothes, then maybe discovering the two Marines on a deserted island. As she surfaced onto the deck, her Lt. Fullbody looked quizzically at her luggage even though Jango had picked them up for her at once.
"Why is captain Hina taking out her luggage?"
"Hina's taking that ship to search for.. GYAAHH.. where is it?"
"Commodore Smoker sailed away on it a while ago." He couldn't, not without the papers.. She reached into her pockets and- Damn! He had stolen them in that embrace just now.
"That sly pig.." she hissed.
Buruburuburu..
Fullbody pulled out his Den Den Mushi.
"Man Loguetown well, Hina, till I get back."
"Enjoy your trip then," she said exasperatedly, "but what if Garp hears about it?"
-click-
Hina cast her eyes at the already-distant ship. "Safe journey, Smoker."
Tashigi didn't know what caused her sudden stirring- and she wished it didn't. It could be the ache in her back, the overpowering smell of piss in the air, the heat of the place: she could've awaken in hell and not known the difference.
Apparently, it was the determined prodding into her wound that made her take in breaths with a sharp wheeze. "Oh, you're awake now?" she twisted around to look but was held down fast on the floor by two men. "Stay still. I'm trying to remove the lead-shot from below the shoulder-blade."
"Don't touch me.."
A wooden spoon was thrust into her mouth; just in time before she bit down in agony of pain- the sailor squatting over her back was trying to dig the bullet out with a round-ended scalpel. Worse than the hurt was the scraping of blade against cartilage and bone. "It's a nice shot. Hit the bone and went down, meh. Won't be no exit wound on this one.."
Despite her misgivings, it rolled out sooner than anticipated, leaving a trail of fresh blood from the wound. It felt like an anchor was lifted off her spine. The man patched it uphastily and placed a platter on the floor, wiping his hands on his pantts.
"Prisoner gets a little extra today. So be glad." Chuckling, two of the three got up and left the cramped hold, bolting the door behind them.
"Ensign.."
A familiar face. She remembered his name- a Burne-something, seasoned second chief petty officer. He helped her sit up against the wall, pushed the plate of food into her hands.
"You're unhurt?"
"Yes."
"That's good. I like my men to be lucky."
She was surprised in the faintness of her voice, the weakness in her body. The plate was hardly much in terms of weight, yet it was taxing to hold it up(and to prevent it from trembling in front of him).
"Where are we? How did we get here?"
"Er.. The pirates have taken us captive. We're onboard Nellah's ship, but I don't know for how long, exactly. They're not telling me what happened to the other Marines." The rations consisted of a hunk of soft bread and two pieces of dried fish. A simple yet generous meal- they could have given her nothing.
Logic swirled in a murky pool of thoughts. Even the officer's face was swimming- then she realized that her glasses were filthy. But it was in one piece, which was another lucky break. Inattentively tasting the fish, she offered the other to Burne who looked like he could do with a shedload of foodstuff.
---
The cargo-space was strangely soundproof, though occasionally they could make out the sounds of stamping feet and crashing of waves against the hull. It was lit by a single bulb above their heads and air seeped through a meshed vent next to it. Her back was aching at a tolerable level now, and the roll of the ship was becoming pleasant, instead of stomach-turning.
"I heard that we're being fixed for 'Dead Man's Lair'."
"What- or where is that?"
"I don't know, Ensign."
"Start thinking."
Some terms/words I used that you might not know..?
Postie – postman, mailman
..:: tofuGal sez.. ::..
EDIT: Well, I'm gonna be a notorious chapter-replacer. My ideas are always so raw and confusing.. damn! I hate replacing chapters because of edits. Oh well. I want my ideas to come out the way I want it to be(and this chpt still ain't perfect!ARGH!)
Actually, the last part of this- about Tashigi and Burne-guy, wasn't supposed to be here at all..
11.10.07
Yays.. reviews. Thank you people! I weighed all advices. So now, this chapter(which came in faster than expected) has an infusion of character-behavior-depth, without lacking speed in terms of events that are happening. Er.. That's what I hope for, anyway. Unlike the first chapter, this isn't read through over twice.. there may be mistakes
Other than that, things are picking up! Smoker defies orders to look for Tashigi- And ah! she wakes up in the hold of Nellah's ship? Where are things going? Chapter three will be.. so drama-mamma, if I can put it like that, haha:)
And yes! Any reviews/comments/suggestions(subject to be used) are accepted and thanked for! tofuGal away!