Side story part 8: Deadman's Cove


Lina offered her hand as a show of good faith and to seal the deal, but the fishman did not respond. He raised an eyebrow at her and she did the same, not sure what to do at this impasse. She retracted her hand and straightened back up as she headed toward the business district. " Price is at Deadman's Cove, do what you will little monster". Lina nodded and gave him an informal salute as she headed off at the edge of the slums toward the hilly terrain known as no man's land. Willow caught up to her in an oblivious fashion, one she couldn't quite get a read on.


She glared at him from the peripheral of her vision, making her to keep her distance and to remain a healthy distance from him. As he approached her she stopped and waited to see what he'd say. His tone and demeanor grated on her, for he would become serious for the sake of his enemies, but then disrespect those on his side by acting as if he hadn't done anything wrong. " 'We' won't be do'en anythin. If you want directions to Deadman's cove, ask the old fish". As for her, she turned to face forward and began to ascend into the hills under the setting sun. " Dawn, we strike at dawn".

Spoiler:

OOC:

Side story part 9: One on one with price
Lina camped out overnight on a beach she had become familiar with during her fight with the JONE-S brothers, back when she first arrived. It was the half way point between the island's districts/slums and the undeveloped no man's land most fishmen lived. Most were nomadic tribes, but a few had settlements. Everywhere she went it was like a ship graveyard. She was inside the hull of a merchant ship called the SS Anne. There she found nothing left, not even the bones of victims who probably were attacked by fishmen. All that remained was a dingy mold ridden hull to shield her from the winds. As she emerged she found signs of campsites as well, some of them had fresh tinders. Some however, showed signs of struggle. Supplies were left behind, scattered all over the place as if those who were there had no choice but to leave in a hurry.

As she walked up the beach for a slight detour, she found ship after ship washed ashore. Every now and then she would hear the scurrying of little feet and sometimes big shift around corners. Toward the end of the beach she turned around to find another tribe of fishmen. These ones were dressed in red and carried grisly lances which while blunted, showed signs of wear and tear from excessive use. Lina was in awe at the chips on their ends and the makeshift nature of their weapon craftsmanship. It was clear most of them were either looted off of the dead or were repaired without the right tools or care. " Are you the girl with the black steel"? Lina paused for a moment and gave his comment thought, "Black steel, is that what yer people cal'it"?

The lead fishman stepped forward and nodded, " yes it is something that goes by many a name, but we fishmen call it black steel. Humans and fishmen can use it, but very few of us can. It is in our culture that only those pure of heart can invoke such power". Lina frowned and turned to the fishman, back straight and head held high, "Mah heart's...I'only know death th'se days". The fishman stepped forward and bowed his head, so too did his people. " We heard what you did to Mawaki tribe yesterday. But when we talk to you, there's no malevolence...the elder knows this as well. You are in pain just as us. You recognize the folly of your ways. No monster can see the light...please continue down the path to righteous. Please free us from Bully's grasp". The fishman grasped her hand, but kept his head down as he got down on one knee. " There is no one who will help us".

Lina paused and allowed him to stay as he was until he lifted his head. As he did, out of curiosity of her silence, she too got on his level and nodded. As she retracted her hand and moved to leave all of them pleaded with her to take him down. Though they didn't say it, their eyes held a palpable sense of desperation that made her feel uneasy. " I have one condition. When I bring him down, you will alert the authorities. Leave my half of the bounty at deadman's cove".

She left at mid day, with a few provisions given by the tribe she had just met. The terrain was mountainous at times, requiring her to scale cliffs at times. Battle chilling winds and trek through large sections barren wasteland left dead by the over saturation of salt and high winds. Every now and then she would meet another tribe who by this point gave her the same pleas as before, for it seemed that news within the fishman community traveled quickly. They occassionally gave her directions and set her on the right path after being turned around by the expanses of nothingness. " I never wanna see a desert....ever", she said with a growl. The fishman leader with a fishbone crown slapped her back and gave her  a hearty laugh. " I assure you girl this no man's land is nothing compared to some other islands on the grand line. Enjoy it and got forth"!

It was night time when she finally reached deadman's cove. She was overlooking a small dirty beach with a cave carved out by the sea looming in the distance. As she got closer, the smell of fish intensified. The place was much like a dump than a hideout for Fishman tyrant. There were around 30 fishman around a large campfire, cooking a fish they undoubtedly caught earlier. They were in a jovial mood and had their guard down, as evidenced by their lack of weapons on hand. Most of them too busy drinking the night away while a few others cowered off in the far corner of the camp site. Lina grimaced as she looked down upon this gathering from her small hilly perch. Using the cover of night and the junk lying about, sometimes in mounds, she quietly crept up to the camp site. All that stood between her and the grunt's weapons was a lone drowsy guard, undoubtedly frustrated that he wasn't allowed to party.

She waited a few minutes and braced herself to pounce on him, but that was before another drunken slob came up to him. They gave eachother a few hearty slaps on the back, but evidently the guard was there voluntarily. Opting only to take a few swigs of a dingy bottle alcohol. She watched him closely and took note of his mannerisms. He often over extended his arm and threw his head back like a turkey whenever he took a drink. After the third time seeing it, Lina's hand went for the hilt of her sword. The moment the bottle touched his lips, she coated her blade with haki and dove right  in from the darkness. She placed one hand on his chest and used the other to drive her sword through his chest. He convulsed greatly and tried to groan, but she yanked him from his post and threw him into the shadow with her to dispatch him with one clean slice to his throat.

The others too drunk to care, didn't move when they heard the slight struggle, well if they could over their loud mouthed cheering. When the bunch was mostly eating Lina darted from the shadows with her blade sheathed. As soon as she reached the first fishman pack who was too drunk to notice, she let her blade sing a sorrowful song as it swung out in an elongated circle cut most of them to ribbons.. " Dragon's fang", she said under her breath. The others who didn't have their throats sliced by the wind which erupted from her swing ran to their table of guns, only to find them missing. She grinned and quickly took care of the clumsy panicked fishmen, " M-m-monster"!

Lina stood over the corpse of the screamer, and ripped her blade from under his chin with a quick jerk. Sure enough emerging from his cave was Bully price. He came out with a disillusioned expression. There behind the small girl was a crimson beach. He gawked at the brutality Lina showed his people, but didn't say a word. He grunted and brought himself to his a standing position, but he seemed differently. His right leg was slightly wobbly and head was bandaged up, the whole of the right side of his face covered in gauze. " well well little girl, We meet...again".

She sheath her blade and walked up to him, looking up he seemed to be 30 feet tall with arms that looked like boulders. " sadly...but was it worth it"? He grinned and shrugged, " the boys were fun but you can always find more when yer the king. Miscreants will do anything for a good time, women, booze, a little chump change". Lina nodded, for she too knew humans were much the same. "Why are you doing this? You could have done a lot for your kind"?

He laughed and gave her a grisly toothy smile. The remains of someone's t-shirt still stuck in his teeth as he used his grisly nail to pick it out. " I can say the same for you humans. Dominant species, having all the power in the world and yet...your people leave many to suffer as well. Whether it's active punishment or relegation to a trash hovel...what difference does it make"? Lina flicked her blade out with her thumb, just enough to break its seal as she leaned forward. "Makes al'da difference Price. Those slum dogs have a chance to prosper, your caught'fish don't". He put his hands to his hip and looked down upon her as if she was a little pup barking at its master.

"And who's gonna stop...me"?

Spoiler:

Side story,part 10 Round 2


Lina charged forth like a small moving bullet as Bully roared with an ecstatic tone, his arms becoming black as steel as he cocked both as once. She dashed to the right as they came barreling down upon the sandy surface with a thunderous boom, sending a torrent of sand flying with his punch. Lina cover her face with her cloak as stood against the blinding wind threatening to topple her over. Again she charged as bully wobbled a bit on his right leg again. Using his left arm to prop himself up, he grasped some junk with his right and flung it at lina. She charged headlong into the debris and used her blade to cut through the chairs, planks of wood and other things that were in the mass of garbage. As her vision cleared she saw him over extend again, throwing both arms up over his head, while standing before a newly formed sand pit from his attack.

Lina strafed his attack at the last moment and dove forward with a brisk roll. As the fists hit the sand once more she was tossed behind him like a rag doll due to the heavy winds from the impact. Using her arms to cover her head she rolled forward and turned about face to see the lumbering giant try to turn toward her. His body pivoted and left arm came crashing down toward her as she kneeled in the sand. At the last moment she used his lumbering fingers as a stepping stone and began to climb onto his arm. He roared and tried to swat her away by lifting his arm forward but by that time she already jumped to his shoulder with her hand on her hilt. She carefully landed on the his bulbous shoulder and leaned forward, to slash toward his bandaged face. " Dragon's fang", she said as her blackened blade sung a vengeful song. Unlike before, her blade traveled through his cheek and up toward his left eye.

Though the cut was somewhat shallow compared to his fat, the impact from the blade's wind traveled up to his eye and punctured it. He roared and writhed at that moment throwing his hand to his eye as if on instinct. Lina dove right as he began to flail, and rolled into the sandy pit left behind from his rampage. He roared once more and ripped the bandages off the right side of his face while letting go of his left eye. Bully struck the ground and roared again, sending out spittle while blood seeped from his left eye. His right eye was badly bruised and barely open and his face revealed scarring from the fall. There were still bits of rock stuck in his face that kept bleeding. " DAMN YOU HUMANS. YOU THINK YOU OWN THE WORLD"!

He ignored his pain and stood up on the bad leg with labored breathing. Lina looked up at him in awe, through the slits in her fingers as tried to shield her face from the sand blowing about. " if'n we di'nt meet under these here circumstances bully, I would respect your tenacity", she said as he began to charge toward her. She saw the pain in his face and the clumsiness in his assault. She charged forth as well, just narrowly avoiding his strong leg while slashing his right. The cut was shallow once more, but price reacted as if it were more serious. He collapsed forward onto his left knee and propped himself up with his arms.

Lina dashed forth once more up the lumbering Wotan's back. He reacted by trying to shake her off, but she held fast by digging her blade into his back. He roared once more now crawling around on all fours. His massive arms didn't let him reach her, but he tried to use his strength to shake her off. Lina however just kneeled down and kept her blade in his back fat, using the lower center of gravity to stay more stable on his scaley hide.

As she noticed him starting to lose steam, she pulled it out and dashed toward his head once more. He looked back at her with a pained expression, she a scowl on her face. She spun about in a familiar fashion with her right arm cocked all the way back. With one final blow she thrust her blade on the downward turn back to earth into his right eye. Her blade tore through his cornea and unleashed a surge of vitreous humor in its wake.  Bully threw his hands to his other eye and fell backward while screaming in agony.


Lina landed with a blunt thud and rolled for a bit until she could stop her momentum. As bully lied on his back wailing in pain, lina noticed the fishmen surrounding the ridge when the sun rose. The elder of the Mawaki tribe(the first one), accompanied by four other village leaders. " If you don't mind little monster, we'd like to finish the job". Lina looked to their weapons in hand. A whole procession of fishmen armed with nets, spears, and guns lined up behind them. She shook her head and walked off, giving them the go ahead with a single gesture of the arm. " If you wish, jsut leave my cut here".

" We will", said the younger leader who she met the previous morn. " We will, but not here! Meet us at the slum harbor"!

Epilogue

Lina sat on a bench at the slum harbor, which probably stood as the one modern thing their people actually had. Water 7's priorities lied in its ship building and commerce, so even the slums poured everything into building and maintaining a harbor. She sat on a bench with a dazed looked until one of the fishmen leaders approached her. His head was slumped and his body tense. " What's wrong, you gott'm right"? The fishman nodded and looked up at her with a sorrowful expression. " Price could have been so much more. He represented an opportunity for fishmen everywhere. A man built like a rock with dedication to match his stature. His father wanted us elders to guide him....but alas we could not shield him from the humans or his own avarice".

Lina nodded and looked up at the pod of warships escorting a tied down Price. He was held down by rope thicker than a man's entire body, with spears jutting out from him. Grisly splintered iron nets dug into his skin and left him blue and red all over, but the beast still lived. He breathed heavily through his mouth and groaned as he was hauled into the base. The dropped a sack next to her and began to walk off with his people. Even though they were credited with taking down Price, humans still looked down upon them. Most with an expression that said,


Lina picked up her bag and walked off in the opposite direction. Though she tried to play it cool, she heard the loud churning of gears that could only mean one thing. There standing in the distance was an angry Captain Dill. " Ey Pup. Care to splain yerself"? Lina winked back at him and darted off once again as the angry Galley La Co. captain chased after her.

Bounty reward awarded: 14,000,450 Beli.

Comments: Honestly, I didn't like the start of this but it started to flow toward the end. I also wasn't a fan of the Haki focus since Price had such a low bounty on his head.