"Are you sure he's here..?"

Looking out over the bleak, craggy terrain, I wasn't really convinced. I had done plenty of research on the Red-Haired Pirates before, and they seemed to prefer more tropical islands to camp on, not stoney wastelands.

"Positive. I can smell 'im..." Kid smirked darkly as his hands closed tighter over the wooden edge of our ship.
"He mustn't bathe very much, then..." I muttered, unsure of the exact reason why I felt uneasy.

Sure, going up against an Emperor of the Sea was huge, but what unsettled me the most was the fact that this island didn't seem to have any vegetation at all, or any animals for that matter. It felt like some kind of warning.

"Oi, Boss, it's gonna take a little while to unload all that scrap. Should be done within the hour though." Bubblegum called up to the captain from where he stood on land. We couldn't exactly refer to it as a shore, seeing as there was no sand.

Kid turned to head towards his study, guiding me with a hand hovering behind my back. I just followed, taking more than one glance back at the odd wasteland we had sailed to.

Sitting down at his desk, he motioned for me to settle on his knee, which I was more than happy to do. Looping one arm around me waist, he used his free hand to point to the centre of the map.
"There's a canyon, about eight kilometres through, sixty feet high at the sides. If I station you above us, are you confident you can snipe?"

I stared at his finger as he thought. That was pretty damn high up, not to mention I didn't know the distance in which our enemy would fight from. Brow creasing, I turned to look into my partner's crimson gaze.
"Without a scope, I can't guarantee I'll be able to make any vital shots, not to mention we have no idea how many of them are here...or how they'll react to us. So many variables..."

I feel kinda queasy...

"You hit that Marine bastard square in the throat on a swayin' ship, so I'm not too concerned about your aim." Kid reminisced, but I wasn't too confident anymore.
"Yeah, but none of them were Beckman or Roux. They could shoot a drop of sweat off an ant..."

Kid shifted me so I was entirely straddling his lap, face to face with him. Tilting my chin up, he made sure I was giving him my complete undivided attention.
"You're better than them."

I just stared back at him, my face likely screaming the precise level of my confusion and disbelief. He wasn't serious, was he? Had he inhaled too much steel dust?
"Uh...no? I'm a rookie..? They have years of experience, and the notoriety to prove it. Why would you even think that to be remotely true?"

Keeping hold of my chin, Kid's expression didn't change, but there was a fiery passion burning in his eyes, hotter than it already had been over the past few days.
"Because I fuckin' said so."

He's lost it. I love him, but he finally lost it...

"If I say you're better than them, then you're better than them. We're better than them. Shanks, Beckman, Lucky Roux, they're has-beens. We're the best, and we just need to let everyone else know it." He truly believed what he was saying, and I so badly wanted to agree.

"Your confidence is honestly scary." I half chuckled, gently swatting his hand away so I could rest my forehead against his. "You know I believe in you, in everyone, but you can't blame me for being worried. I've only been a pirate for a little less than a year."

Kid's face softened a little, but not entirely, his hands interlocked behind me at my tail bone.
"Just follow my plan, and you'll see. I'll prove it to you." Again, his words were worrisome, but that was just how he was. A confident brute who would never back down. It was one of the many reasons I had fallen for him.

"Mmhmm...Alright, I'll try not to shoot you in the head on accident." I joked, giggling as he pushed his face into mine, rubbing it around.
"I'd fuckin' hope you'd try not to, brat." He snorted, finally leaning back and looking me up and down. "Since we have time, how about you raise my moral, if you catch my-"

"I'm not sucking anything."

"Oh, come on!"

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Rubbing my newly tender jaw, I wandered down the disembarking ramp, making a beeline towards Killer, who was standing a few hundred yards away from where the rest of the crew was preparing the metal and their own selves.

"Berry for your thoughts?" I spoke before I reached to tap his arm, but he didn't budge. Of course, he had heard me coming.
"I don't like this." He said flatly, staring off into the distance, through jagged rocks and mighty boulders.

"You and me both." I sighed in agreement, glad to know at least somebody was on the same page as I was. "There's something off. I can't put my finger on it, but it's just..."

"Wrong." Killer finished my sentence for me, his hands squeezing much tighter around the gauntlets of his weaponry. "Whatever it is, there's no stopping Kid. We'll just have to deal with it once we figure it out."

There's the braincell. Killer always has it.

"If you were the captain, what call would you make?" I asked, following his gaze, because just looking at how tense he was had started bucking up my nerves.
"I'm not the captain." He stated firmly, even though he obviously knew I had meant it as a hypothetical.

"He wants me to snipe from the top of the canyon." I revealed, hooking my thumbs into my belt, wanting to stop my fidgeting. Killer's head turned towards me, and I looked back, singling out one of the holes to pretend it was an eye.

"Alone, without cover?" He didn't like that, but that didn't come as a shock. He never really seemed thrilled about many of Kid's plans as long as I had known him.
"Yep, but it's probably the best place for me. Not sure about how well I'll do with that kind of range, but-"

"Ask Kid to station somebody with you." It wasn't a suggestion, it was a demand, that I could tell from his tone of voice.
"I'd prefer to only have to watch out for myself and keep focused on who I need to shoot." I wasn't super concerned about being alone up there. Not once had I heard of Shanks or his crew harming women, and as much as I hated bringing my gender into the equation, it was a positive.

"No offence, but right now you look like a prepubescent boy." Killer motioned to what I was wearing, pants and a larger sized shirt, which did nothing to show off my chest. With my hair tucked under my hat, yeah, I couldn't argue, he was right. "Honestly, I'd much prefer you didn't come at all."

I knew he didn't mean anything malicious by that statement, but it still stung a bit. I wasn't as capable as they were when it came to combat, that was something I was more than just a little aware of, but I wasn't helpless.

"I-"
"I know, I can't stop you. You're a stubborn little shit." He reached out and somehow nullified my anger as his hand slipped beneath my hat, resting atop my head. "I'm sorry, I just...I know I said I wasn't nervous, but that was a lie. This is dangerous. More than we can probably comprehend."

Pursing my lips, I pulled his hand from under my hat and held it in my own, squeezing as reassuringly as I could.
"Yeah, I know. We've got this, though. We just have to keep that mindset." Did I believe what I was saying? Nope. Not one bit, but if we went into this with our morale low, we'd be even more screwed.

"You have your guns? Plenty of bullets? Kid made you some fancy ones, didn't he?" Killer seemed to have calmed down a little, and I was glad for it. Motioning to my holsters, I nodded.
"Yep, and if worst comes to worst, I'll just take a leap and rain hell down on those smug bastards!" I cackled, though it was all an act to try to psych myself up.

"They breed them tough and stupid in Water 7, don't they?" He scoffed lightly, and I nodded with pride, puffing out my chest. "But seriously, don't do that. If things go bad, you run. Don't argue. Just run."

I don't like the tone you just used...Do you really think it could turn out that bad..?

"IT'S SHOWTIME, BOYS!"

Kid's voice echoed through the stone landscape, fierce and confident, just like it always had been, though there was a passionate flame of excitement increasing it tenfold. He stood upon the figurehead of the Victoria, his arms raised above his head, fists balled. He was ready.

"TIME TO SHOW THAT FUCKER WHO'S BOSS!"

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***Lol

I got my Killer tattoo today :3 It's my biggest and most detailed so far out of the 11 I have, and I was dying by the end of it. I was supposed to get Crocodile as well but we ran out of time, so next month I'll book in for him.

I am NOT excited for the healing itch, my dudes.
Artist is spendlovejosh on instagram!

Next Time: Raining Hell***