Warning for those who need it (Bullying, Abuse and bit of blood) near the end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Where The Wind Blows~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Shiki next opened her eye's she didn't remember a thing from before, and so she snuggled into the cover's more while inhaling the familiar scent of the pillows beneath her head. It was the wonderful smell of Makino's perfume, a comforting smell that made her feel safe and secure. She'd always sneak into Makino's bedroom in the middle of the night when her nightmares became too much to handle and her brother slept through her whimper's of fright. She'd just climb out of her bed and scramble down the hall to their caretakers door and sneak in, worrying about waking her but not wanting to be alone. Sometimes Makino wasn't in her bed asleep, she'd be downstairs still working. You see, Makino's home was directly on top of the bar she worked in, a convenient location. Makino never seemed to mind if Shiki had nightmares, she always welcomed her on those horrible nights.

Shiki frowned as her brow's furrowed in confusion as a thought entered her mind when she woke up a bit more. She didn't remember going to bed... Not only that but the sun was bright on her face through the window and usually Luffy would be running into the room by now with a loud shout, upset that she left him by himself in their room and also to wake her up for food... so where was he? The last time she saw him was on the dock when they met that scary pirate cr-

Her eye's widened as memories flooded back into her brain before she flung her blankets off and ran to the door, swinging it open and running downstairs where a loud racket could be heard. She barreled into the bar room only to freeze in place when her gaze caught sight of all the pirate's drinking and loudly conversing. The air filled with laughter and lightheartedness but her eye's were wide and knee's shaky.

She was still afraid.

W-why was she still afraid?!

"Shiki? Are you okay?" The soft gentle voice of Makino broke the rambunctious chatter of the pirates and her gaze snapped to the green haired woman who made her way over. The Pirate captain known as Shanks was seated at the bar, previously having been speaking with the barmaid, and watched from afar. "Shiki? Oh my, you're trembling. Come here."

She felt Makino's arm's wrap around her and the trembling stopped as warmth filled her, her eye's drooping as a sense of safety washed over her. "M'kino..." She mumbled into the woman's embrace, her tiny arms wrapping around the older woman as much as she could as her body went lax.

"You gave me quite a scare." Makino lightly scolded. "I had no idea what to think when that kind gentleman brought you in with Luffy."

"Did you hear that?!" Shiki flinched and snapped her gaze to the redhead who was grinning widely at the barmaids words and started to animatedly gesture to his crew. "I'm a kind Gentleman." He gave a puff of his chest, eye's closed as his grin only grew.

"Yeah sure!" One of the pirates shouted back, wiping the grin right off the redheads face.

"Keep telling yerself that!"

His lips started to frown.

"Gentleman my ass!"

"Since when?!"

Eye's beginning to twitch.

"Good one Captain!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

" You all suck!" The redhead began to pout after that, his previous grin melting off as he folded his arms and glared at the counter while his crew laughed at him. 

After a moment, he glanced at the two whom were embracing once more before getting up from his seat and making his way over, noting how the child tensed the closer he got. "You know, you had her pretty worried squirt." He commented lightly once everyone calmed down, trying to approach as easily as he could. He wasn't sure what had happened exactly, but he didn't want to scare her more then she already was.

"..." Shiki curled into Makino, not wanting to speak as her hand fisted into her guardians skirt.

"Ah..." He sighed, kneeling to her level while Makino watched. "Please don't be scared, I'm not going to hurt anyone."

Shiki flinched, hating that she was scared, teeth grinding together before she flung away from Makino and clenched her hand into a fist in front of her. "I-I'm not s-scared!" She denied, cheeks puffing out in her anger at the unfortunately true accusation. "I was just tired." She crossed her arm's and glaring to the side, cheeks turning red when he began to snicker.

She didn't believe herself either... but he didn't need to know that.

"Oh? That so?" He mused, her annoyance was kind of cute especially with her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk when she pouted.

"Yeah! That's so!" She glared at him before flinching and almost flinging herself back when his hand lifted, even though she expected to be struck he didn't and instead his hand gently ruffled her hair.

"Sure sure~" His large hand pet her head and he held a snicker when she blushed at the gesture.

He totally didn't believe her, she thought to herself, the head pats felt kind of nice...

Shiki was about to retort when she paused with a blink and smiled as something familiar in her shifted and the familiar feeling of her brothers presence came into her radar. She turned to the door in her excitement, never quite feeling right when Luffy wasn't around her. "Nii-san!" She cheered, all but forgetting about the pirate in front of her.

Shanks furrowed his brows, looking to where she was looking and seeing nothing. When he was about to comment, the door burst open and the child known as Luffy came barreling in shouting "NEE-CHAN!!!!" and promptly crashed into her, sending both to the floor into a tangled pile of limbs. The redhead could only stare in surprise for a moment, how had she known he was coming before he even opened the door? Could she possibly-

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!? WHY DID YOU FAINT?! DID YOU DIE?! DONTDIEICANTLOSEYOUOKSOYOUHAVETOBEOKOKAY?!"

"Damatte!" A fist bonked his head causing him to whine 'Itai!' before Shiki huffed. "I'm fine. I was just tired. That's all. I'm not dying and I didn't die." She crossed her arm's and gave a firm nod as if to emphasize her point. "So I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh. Kay." Luffy said, worry melting off of his face before standing up and proceeding to shove his finger up his nose. "Did you meat Shanks? Isn't he cool?"

"EW DON'T PICK YOUR NOSE! YOU'RE DISGUSTING!" Shiki yelled before shifting her eyes to the pirate captain who watched them with a thoughtful gaze. Then she looked back to Luffy who was going on and on about some sort of adventure Shank's had told him about. She hadn't even realized he was speaking... hehe...

"Hah? Are you listening to me?!" Luffy demanded as he pulled her cheek when he noticed her looking between him and Shanks.

"Nou." She uttered before smacking his hand away, glad he didn't use his nasty booger finger.

"... Why not!?"

"I got distracted." Shiki stated blankly before using her pinky to pick into her ear.

Hey at least it wasn't her nose!

"Say," Shanks started, distracting the two siblings who whipped their heads around toward him, Shiki wiping her ear wax on Luffy who screeched at her, after having been wrapped in his thoughts. "You sure do have some keen senses."

"My nee-chan has the best!" Luffy cheered. "She's got," He paused for a second, looking left and right to see if anyone was listening and motioned for Shanks to lean down to his level. Amused, Shanks did as the kid wanted and Luffy cupped his hands to whisper none to quietly. "-super power's."

"Huh? Really?"

"Nii-san!"

"Oh... I mean she doesn't have any super power's at all! " He crossed his arm's into an X formation to emphasis his claim had been false as his expression changed. He looked to the right, lips pursed to the right as well while small beads of sweat ran down his face.

"You just basically told him!" Shiki yelled with angry sharp teeth, shaking her fist in frustration. Luffy was the absolute worst liar in the whole world!

"Oh-ho! Secret huh? Don't worry I wont tell anyone." Shanks assured, sending a quick wink to the aggravated little girl before looking at the two with another thoughtful look.

"Oh ok!" And just like that, Luffy went back to normal.

"..."

Shiki often wondered if her brother was dropped on his head to many times growing up, or perhaps grandfather's fist of love effected his brain? She'd told him before never to say anything to anyone about her weird abilities. Something in her, the 'before' instincts, told her to keep quiet about it. What she didn't know was that Shanks watched her in wonder, if his assumption was correct then this child already had a grasp on observation Haki at such a young age. To sense things and possibly see some of them before they happened (He was speculating that she could see things from his observations), but obviously had no control over it... It would explain why she was so overwhelmed with fear when they arrived, he may hide his Haki but someone with good observation could sense it and for a child this young having never felt it before... it must have overloaded her senses with terror.

That'd explain her passing out from her fear too, She was very sensitive to Haki even when not emitted. She'd need training in the future, he thought to himself. Otherwise, she wouldn't last long should she ever venture off this island.

He felt a bit of guilt at having been the cause of her fainting but there wasn't much he could do about it, so for now he decided to settle on keeping an eye on them while he was there. There was just something about these two kids that nagged at him and he couldn't quiet ignore the feeling, so he told Ben that they'd be staying for a bit. Not only to rest and restock, but so he could try to figure out what it was about these two kids that was bugging him. He could feel it in his very bones, just wasn't sure what it was quite yet.

Makino smiled at the two children before helping get Shanks some more food and a drink while also getting the children something to eat and while the two kids ate; Luffy having begged Shanks for like ever to tell Shiki a tale from his travels, they listened closely as the captain laughed and began his tale of adventure, treasure, and fights.

"-nd then there was this seaking-"

Shiki blinked after a while into his tale, her eye's wide as she leaned forward while listening to Shanks's stories from his journey with rapt attention. Her body was sat with her legs folded, hands fisted in her lap with each detail the red haired man gave. Her brother and her had finished their food a long while back and now Luffy was standing next to her, punching the air with each battle portrayal that spilled from the pirates lips.

Luffy couldn't help but feel pleased, as he snuck a glance to his sister. He wasn't the smartest kid on the block, but Luffy prided himself in knowing his twin sister. He knew she'd love Shanks if she got over whatever it was that scared her. He could tell Shanks was a good person too so he just HAD to show Shiki there was nothing to be afraid of.

What better way then to have Shanks tell her stories? Shiki loved listening to Gramps's stories! So why not Shanks's?

As for Shiki; she decided that her instincts were right, Shanks wasn't bad. After spending who knows how long in his presence, she began to like his company, she could feel it now that she was calmed down. There wasn't anything evil inside of him, he was just... horrifyingly strong.

"-Yassop aim's his gun and fires!" The children yelp as Yassop pretends to fire along with Shanks's riveting re-enactment, "The bullet careens through the sky and through the obstacles in the way before hitting its mark! Then-"

Yeah, maybe he wasn't so bad. She smiled ever so slightly as her eye's began to droop as drowsiness began to take hold, not noticing how dark it had gotten and that Shanks's stories had lasted a few hours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Where The Wind Blow's~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'll show them!" Shiki growled as she angrily stomped down the path out of town, her teeth gritting harshly as her fists clenched by her sides. "They're all stupid! I hate them!" She kicked a rock as she stormed about.

It had been a couple day's since Shanks had arrived at their island before he left for some sort of mission, or whatever, with a promise to return. Shiki had been playing with Luffy in the outskirts of town earlier today when some town kids had come out to confront them about the pirates that they hung around.

"I heard you fainted when you saw them." A boy, Lenard with dirty blond hair and green eyes, sneered at the two siblings, mostly to Shiki who glared. "You're such a coward, spineless Monkey!" He's always called her monkey since the day she and her brother arrived at Foosha Village, using her last name as an insult as if she were inferior to them.

"Yeah, and Luffy just wailed like a retarded baby over you!" A girl, Beatrice who had platinum blond hair and brown eyes, giggled. "He's such a crybaby!"

"Wake up nee-chan wake up! Don't leave me!" Another boy, Waylon who had dark wild brown hair that sat underneath a beanie and green eyes, spoke up in a mocking nasally tone. He had sinus problems his whole life, so he constantly sounded like someone who was sick. "You're both such losers."

They all laughed and mocked while she stood angrily, Luffy screaming at them to shut up or he'd beat them up. When he tried to punch one of them after they said something particularly cruel, they pushed Luffy over and Shiki tried to help him only to be shoved around too. They'd always push her and Luffy around, like the two of them were worthless.

"Shut up! Don't talk about my brother like that!" Shiki yelled angrily.

"Or what?" She was shoved back to the ground again by Lenard, her form hitting the rough earth harshly and creating a cloud of dirt. "You can't do anything! You're just a weak little cowardly girl!"

"Shiki! You jerk!" Luffy came swinging his fists when he saw his sister hit the ground, punching a few of them only to be punched himself. "Ouch!" Then he hit the floor next to her with an angry sniffle, hand coming up to rub his now bleeding nose.

That does it! Anger surged through Shiki.

Be brave, she growled to herself as she stood up once more, infuriated that they made Luffy bleed; only to yelp when she was shoved once more to the ground by Beatrice.

"Just stay on the ground, its where cowardly rats belong." Beatrice laughed when Shiki hit her head on a rock and cried in pain, holding her head with a whine. "Spineless Monkey."

Shiki continued to walk away from the village, her bruises and cuts stung as well as the nasty knot on her head that she currently caressed, but she ignored them all as she was determined to prove those stupid kids all wrong!

She wasn't a coward and she'd show them.

She wasn't a spineless Monkey.

I... I hate them. Tears began to form as she continued her trek, heart aching inside of her. I hate them all.

"If you aren't a coward like you claim, then prove it!" Lenard yelled in her face, pulling her hair to lift her head from the dirt.

"Yeah!" Another giggle from Beatrice sounded, always quick to support Lenard like the good little puppet she was.

"Everyone knows how dangerous it is outside of the village, I dare you to go and hang out in the outskirts until midnight! In Shamisen's cursed field."

"What?" Waylon reeled back in shock, his mean demeanor breaking into a scared one. "B-But Lenard, my mom says that's wher-" Waylon started but Lenard shoved him back, causing the boy to hit the ground. "OUCH!"

He should have known better than to talk back to Lenard...

"Shut up!" He spat to the boy on the ground before turning to Shiki, "If you think you're brave then like I said, prove it." Lenard grinned savagely, daring Shiki to do it but knowing she wouldn't.

Not even the bravest of boys ever dared go to the outskirts to Shamisen's cursed field, especially with how many sightings there'd been as of late.

"Ok fine! I will!"

Lenard's face fell as his thoughts came to a screeching halt. "Huh?!" Was she serious right now?

"I'll prove it to all of you!" Shiki managed to throw the boy off of her and stood up. "If I win, you can't ever hurt my brother again! I SWEAR BY THE SEA!"

The group of children all gasped at her words, the words rarely ever spoken by anyone their age.

"No! Don't do it!" Luffy wailed, knowing full well what that meant as he stood up, eyes wide. "You can't!"

To swear by the sea, at least to children, was the greatest promise of all and could not be broken by either party or they were to be punished by being thrown off the highest cliff and into the depths of the ocean water. If you survived? Then the ocean forgives you for breaking your promise and offers you a second chance. It was something they had all seen teenage sailor's do and to this day the children all kept that promise sacred.

"Seriously?! You... you're gonna do it!?" He was shocked at first but shook his head. "TSK, As if! Waylon you go to! Make sure she doesn't chicken out. We'll keep your stupid brother here as a motivation. You know what happens if you fail! I accept, I swear by the sea to uphold your conditions! If you win we wont ever bother Luffy again."

"Hey! LET GO! LET ME GO!" Luffy yelled as he was suddenly tied up. "Shiki! Shiki don't do it!"

He didn't want her to do something so dangerous! He knew she was afraid, but that's not what worried him, out of the two of them he was the strongest and best swimmer but Shiki? Whenever it came to the water she sunk like a rock. It was like her mind just went completely blank and she didn't know up from down or left from right. She'd nearly drowned quite a few times already in their short time alive. The sea, Luffy had realized quickly, HATED Shiki.

His sister was terrified of the water, so why would she be so stupid as to swear by the sea?! Why'd she have to take the sacred vow?!

"Get off of me! You'll regret this!" Luffy flailed and fought with an angry growl. He didn't care if they picked on him, all he needed was Shiki! But to pick on Shiki and take advantage of her fears... everyone knew she was scared of the water... That's why Lenard was doing this, he wanted her to chicken out so he could push her in and watch her struggle. "I'm sick of you hurting my Nee-chan you jerks! Shiki! Don't do this, I'm fine!"

"I... I hate you." Shiki hissed to Lenard who had a smug facial expression, before turning to Luffy "I'll be back Luffy! Then they can never hurt you again! Don't tell anyone about this either! This is my mission to prove myself ok!? I'll be back, I won't lose!"

"What?! No!"

"I have to do this!"

"But wait! SHIKI!" He watched as his sister ran off, swearing she'd keep him safe from now on, with Waylon staggering after with a cry to wait up. "But... what about you?" He murmured sadly before renewing his efforts to get free. "YOU JERKS!"

So that's how Shiki ended up where she was, standing in a desolate field known to all of Foosha village as Shamisen's cursed field. The once luscious green field held a ton of cattle until the battle between Marine and Mountain bandits took place in the middle of it. This place was pretty far from the village, bordering their home and the desolate wastes known as bandit territory. It belonged to Shamisen, a very old man who's cattle fed nearly the entire town. He took great pride in caring for his people, but his pride would soon turn into his curse. His ever growing amount of cattle had drawn the attention of the bandit's near by who decided to start stealing his cow's. Shamisen tried to scare them off, setting traps and even going so far as to try and fight but in the end he lost his life and was slaughtered in the middle of his field. When they first arrived at Foosha village, Grandpa Garp had been informed of the bandit actions and plans to attack the village. Not wanting anything too dangerous for the villagers and his precious grandchildren (If he supervised, then it wasn't dangerous at all! GUAHAHA!) Garp took his men and delt with every single bandit that had been in the very field Shiki now stood in.

The field its self was charred and blackened from fires that started from cannons and fighting, even after all this time it still held the scar of battle leaving the land to continuously cry out. Shiki could hear it's cries, the pain the land felt as it was burned and left desolate. The wooden fence that surrounded the area was all destroyed and had fallen apart, singed with flame and not a single part of the land looked salvageable. It was in this very field, right in the middle of it, that Shiki stood shaking as the sun started to set. The very spot where rumor said Shamisen was murdered.

This is totally fine. I'm fine. Shiki's knee quaked.

Yup. Fine.

"H-hey!" She turned, spying Waylon hiding by a tree and looking around terrified. "L-Look, you don't have to do this just because Lenard's a jerk!"

"Why should I listen to one of his lackeys!? You're just as horrible as he is!" Shiki spat out, taking pleasure in Waylon's guilty wince.

"Well... I... T-that's not the point! Listen, just get out of there. This is bandit territory! Even though your stupid grandpa-"

"Don't talk bad about my grandpa!"

"-took care of the bandits a long time ago, it doesn't mean that they don't still scout this area! With Shamisen gone, they took his land for the spoil! Mom said they've been snooping closer and closer to the village lately and we're all supposed to stay in the village until the marines come back for another visit." Waylon continued, eye's looking around fearfully.

"I don't care, I'm tired of you all picking on me and my brother! We never did anything to you guys."

"... You aren't one of us." Waylon muttered. "You guys come here thinking we'd all welcome you outsiders... we've all known each other since we were born! Then you both come and all the adults pay super close attention to you just because you're the grandchildren of that dumb marin-"

"SHUT UP!" Shiki had raced across the field in her anger and tackled Waylon, who yelped, to the ground; pinning him there as fury raged through her. "Stop talking about Gramps like that! I don't care about anyone in this stupid place except Grandpa, Makino and Luffy! I won't stand for you all bad mouthing them anymore! They're all I have! You all have your mommies and daddies but not us! We just have each other! Me, Luffy, Grandpa and Makino! Even though Grandpa isn't hardly ever here!" Her voice cracked as tears started to fall, dropping down onto the boy beneath her. "Even though Makino is always buys working and taking care of the bar! Even though me and Luffy have the village watching us, We're both alone..." Her voice grew more quiet during the last words, breaking a bit from her emotions.

Waylon's eyes widened as the girl on top of him started crying harder. "Huh?" He was seeing something there he hadn't before, something none of them tried to figure out. All they knew was that the Monkey siblings got special attention and they hated it... but how exactly did the two of them feel, was the attention even the good kind?

He frowned as a thought occurred to him, did the villagers truly like the twins or was it just because they feared the two's grandfather?

Afterall... Garp the war hero was legendary.

"We don't have any friends... We only have each other. It's always been like that! I won't let you all bully Luffy anymore! Even if I have to do this! Even though I'm scared... I won't let you hurt him anymore. I may be a 'weak little girl' right now but this little girl is going to do something none of you ever did before! I'm gonna stay the whole night here in Shamisen's cursed field!"

"W-what?!" Waylon yelped. "You only needed to stay until midnight!"

Shiki got off Waylon and walked away, back to the middle of the field, before sitting down with her legs crossed. "I won't go back... not until the sun comes back up. I'm done being scared! I'll be brave from now on and I'll face my fears! No more 'Spineless Monkey'! I'm gonna be brave, like Shanks." She whispered. 

Brave, just like a pirate; the image of Shanks standing upon his ship when she first met him came to her mind.

Strong, just like a marine; the image of her grandfather came next, a memory of him taking on the sea its self while laughing as the waves angrily crashed against his ship, sending the whole thing into rocking hazardously as his crew member's all yelled while they fought the sea. 

She won't let her fear control her anymore. 

She can't.

Face your fears... She muttered into her head. Be brave like Shanks and strong like Grandpa.

"Y-you're crazy! I'm not staying here!" Waylon yelled with his voice cracking.

"Then leave. Coward." Shiki taunted before closing her eye's with a scowl, trying to hide her racing heart and trying to ignore the fact that she had cried in front of one of her bullies.

Her gramps got rid of the bandits, she assured herself, so there wasn't anything to fear except Makino being mad at her for being gone all night... and grounding her... ok Makino was scary when she was disappointed mad...

She hoped Makino wouldn't be too worried and that she wouldn't be grounded for too long, she had to make sure Luffy would be okay with the other's after all. She had to be sure they kept their end of the bargain. With Lenard agreeing, that means he swore to the sea as well. So if he or anyone else hurt Luffy with words or their hands then he had to pay the price and be thrown to the depths.

Shiki shivered, The waters were so scary...

Waylon really wasn't all that bad, if she was honest, he mostly parroted Lenard because he didn't want to be bullied himself. Waylon had never once laid a hand on her or Luffy, just verbal insults and horrible expressions. Lenard practically brainwashed all of the other kids into hating them and Beatrice had her head so far up his butt she'd do anything he said even if he told her to cut off all her stupidly pretty hair that her father always flaunted to other parents, his picture perfect princess.

Yuck.

She knew Lenard was just jealous deep down, he hated the attention the adults paid to her and Luffy because they feared retribution at Garp's hands should anything happen to his grandchildren. But it wasn't their fault either! It wasn't their fault they feared Grandpa, it wasn't their fault...

Shiki sat there in silence, ignoring the pleadings of Waylon for her to come to her senses and leave. He didn't want to leave her alone, not only because he didn't want Lenard to call him a coward too, but also because he didn't want her to die and he was so scared those bandits would come. She sat with her eye's shut, even after waiting for hours as the sun went down, when the birds all quieted and the wind stopped, and when the crickets began to chirp and sing as night began to blanket the island. 

She refused to move or open her eyes.

She shivered as the temperatures began to drop, her body starting to feel cold, and she peaked open an eye to see if she could still see Waylon. To her surprise, he was sitting against the tree snoring and she wondered how long she sat there for. It had to be a long time, she thought as she stood up and internally groaned at how sore her little legs were. The moon was out by now, illuminating the field, so it had to be late. She just had to make it till sunrise like she said.

But... something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Something she probably should have thought about before.

An urge ran through her body...

Then it dawned on her, her eye's widened and cheeks turning red.

O-oh no... Shiki shot up from her seated position.

Pee.

She had to pee!

BAD.

Why didn't she go before coming here?!

Shiki let out a whimper as she crossed her legs, eye's darting around as she turned her head every which way in a panic. She had to go and she had to go now! She began to wiggle in place, looking to the snoring Waylon and hoping he would stay asleep before she darted to the opposite end of the field for privacy, both from view and sound. When she got to the end, she went around a large tree stump and was about to take off her pant's when a branch snapping caught her attention.

Shiki paused in her ministrations, looking around. "W-Waylon?" She whisper shouted. "I'm going potty! Don't come near!" She hissed.

When she paused to hear his reply, expecting an embarrassed squeak, she heard nothing. She gave a huff of frustration and decided to peak around the stump just in case, because she obviously wasn't gonna go if he was going to be a weirdo and come anyway!

Boys were gross and perverted.

Except Luffy, he was an innocent little bean and she'd keep it that way.

When Shiki looked around the other side, she expected to see the snot nosed jerk only to blink in surprise when nothing but the moonlit field met her gaze. Waylon was still by the tree, or at least she thought he was? It was to far and way to dark to tell really... it didn't feel that far when she ran over here for privacy though.

Snap.

Shiki whirled around, eye's wide. That had to be him, so maybe he wasn't by the tree like she thought. "Waylon this isn't funny! You're cheating!"

Silence.

Shiki frowned, her heart pounding as fear started to rise. He was playing a stupid joke on her, she just knew it! He was trying to scare her into leaving but she wouldn't run away and let Lenard win, that's for sure. She grit her teeth before hiding back behind the stump. "If you peek I'm going to tell you're mom you're a peeping tom!" She shouted, hoping to scare him from peeking at her.

She wasn't sure if that was a threat that would work on him or not but Waylon was kind of shy when Lenard wasn't around. In fact, she bet if Lenard wasn't around at all Waylon would be nice and they may even be friends... That didn't matter right now though, right now she had to pee and she went back to trying to pull her pants down before she exploded.

"Well now," A raspy weasel like voice sounded, nothing like Waylon's, that made her blood run cold and pause in her actions once more.

Gulping, Shiki turned around with wide eye's as she took in four large figures that hadn't been there before. One was huge, very fat and kind of ugly and another was overly muscular with a bald head hidden under bandages. The other two were on the thin side and all four of them had raggedly cloths on their bodies, all smelling gross from who knows what.

"I'm not inta lil' brats, so ya wont have ta tell me mum."

Shiki gapped at them, body shaking as they stepped closer to her and she realized what exactly these guys were.

Bandits.

"As for this Waylon yer callin' fer, well e's already gone." One of the bandits laughed, a few gold teeth glinting in the light of the moon from his wicked sneer.  She knew he was wrong though, she just saw Waylon, or she thought she did. He couldn't be gone! "From yer interestin' talk earlier, yer that shitty marines brat ya? Oh do we 'ave a bone ta pick with that navy dog and yer the perfect bait!"

Oh no...

"Imagine how you just fell right into our laps! HAHA! Takes a lot of work off our backs you know? Now don't fight us too much kid, don't wanna accidentally kill you." A blade glinted and her eyes widened. "I'm afraid we're gonna have to hurt you a little, gotta make it believable after all."

Shiki shook, letting out a small whimper before that whimper turned into a loud scream the moment one of them grabbed her and lifted her up by the front of her shirt. As she screamed, she heard Waylon yell her name, relief running through her that he was indeed okay, and she yelled back.

"Waylon! Run! Bandits! RUN!"

"Ya damn brat!" One of them hissed while the bald bandaged one took off towards Waylon.

"Run!" Shiki screeched before she felt something strike her face and she blanked out from fear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Where The Wind Blows~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, nothing like a good drink to end a great day!" Shanks cheered happily as he relaxed in his seat, tilting his head back to take a swig of his bottle of booze in Partys bar. The crew and him had just returned from their mission and brought with them a nice little treasure chest that was holding something very valuable inside. He grinned as he pat the treasure chest before his gaze briefly glanced around in confusion. "Hey, where's the kids?" He asked after taking another eager gulp of liquid gold. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of the little rascals when he pulled into port, he thought they'd be eager to hear of his latest adventure! He was a bit disappointed when they didn't great him...

Shanks started to pout.

Especially Luffy who wouldn't let him leave, being attached to his leg while demanding he take him with them. The somewhat shy Shiki looking away with an angry expression while a blush covered her cheeks as she muttered for him to be safe.

Honestly, he was looking forward to them.

"Its unbefitting to pout captain." Benn Backman teased his captain with an amused grin, the smile only growing as his captains pout grew even more sour.

"I'm not pouting." He hmphed, slumping onto the counter.

"They were out playing earlier, they should be back soon." Makino smiled before setting down another bottle for the pirate captain. Though after a moment her smile faded.  "... I am a little worried, it's a bit late for them to be out this long, a bit unusual..."

"I'm sure they're fine! Those two are little firecrackers I tell ya, just like my little Usopp." Yassop sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Specially that Shiki girl! You wouldn't expect it, but she's got quite the warriors spirit hidden behind her shy exterior."

"Something's itchin' to come out." One of the other crew member's agreed. "She just needs to break out of her shell."

"Good luck with that, the little mouse would probably be afraid of her own shadow."

"With the bandits getting closer and closer to the village lately..." Making muttered, not really paying any mind to what they were saying before she trailed off for a moment. "but they haven't come into the village."

Bandits? Shanks frowned for a moment as he sat back up and gained a somewhat more serious expression.

"Oh yeah, I think I heard about them!" Lucky Roux said as he chomped down on some delicious meat. "I hearfed d'at the Mrine h'ro Garp kick'd dere butts."

"Don't talk with your mouth full you big lug! It's hard to understand you!"

"GULP, hehe! I said, I heard that the Marine hero Garp kicked their butts." He repeated after swallowing what he'd been chewing on. "And that they all ran away with their tails between their legs!"

"We're lucky that old dog hasn't come around while we're here, last thing we need right now is the attention of the Marines... Let alone a war hero." Limejuice muttered as he took a bite of food, only to blink when his teeth bit into the air. Blinking, he turned to see Monster, their monkey, holding his food with a cheerful grin before eating it in one gulp. "OI! That was mine!"

Shank's gave a rambunctious laugh as he watched Monster toy with Limejuice for a bit before looking to Makino who kept eyeing the door in worry. She was a nice girl, he mused, watching over two kids that weren't her own. She was also very kind, even to a bunch of pirates like them. "Hey, don't worry so much." Shanks spoke, distracting the green haired sweetheart as he took her hand in his in an attempt to ease her worries. "I'm sure they're okay, what sort of trouble could those two get up to anyway? Luffy won't leave Shiki's side and that girl is far too cautious to do anything stupid."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Where The Wind Blows~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Grr! Let me go!" Monkey D Luffy struggled against his restraints, trying his hardest to escape the clutches of his new found confinement. He had heard Shiki scream earlier and had finally managed to escape the stupid rope trap those dumb loser's stuck him in only to end up trapped again!

By worse people no less!

"Ugh, why do we have to deal with TWO brats now?"

AND they had his sister!

"Cause the runts 'er brother, sides, two hostages are better then one. When that damn Marine filth gets back here and finds out we got his kids hostage, he'll have to bend to our command's if he doesn't want us to kill 'em."

"The other brat's quiet."

"Tha's what she gets fer screamin and pissin all over me." The bandit with the gold in his teeth spat as he glared to the silent form tied to a tree. 

Shiki's body was bruised from where he'd hit her, multiple times, pissed off that the rat peed on him in her terror; disgusting. He then turned to the other kid who had appeared shortly after she was caught, screaming to let go of his sister as he flung himself at them with his little fists flying.

Not that the kid could do much damage to them, they were bandit's after all and he was just a stupid sheltered kid.

"Shiki! Shiki!" The boy kept wailing as he kicked his feet and struggled against his bindings. "Talk to me! SHIKI!!!" He didn't like that she'd gotten so quiet, she hadn't said a word since their capture and he... he was scared! "Nee-chan!"

"Grrr, shut up already!" One of the bandits shouted, the fat one with a spiked wooden bat, as he reached a large hand towards the crying boy. "I had enough of ya whining and crying! I'll give you somethin' to cry about."

"Don't."

The fat bandit paused before he turned to the voice of the little girl who's head had been lowered, eyes hidden by her bangs. Had she said that?

Oh, dumb question, obviously it was her. The voice was a females voice.

"What was that you rat?!"He stomped closer to her as he grew agitated from being commanded to do something by a little brat no less. He raised his fist as he approached her, intent on intimidating her.

"I said don't." She repeated in a raspy voice, throat sore from screaming before looking up to the fat bandit with pure hatred in her eyes. "Don't you lay your filthy fat sausages on my brother."

The chubby bandit paused, mouth agape and eye's wide as he looked down to his hands. An invisible arrow pierced his heart at the insult. He wasn't fat... he deflated in depression, just big boned! His momma said so!

SLAM

Shiki's head flew to the side as the gold toothed pirate hit her across the face. "Yer still awfully mouthy little rat, maybe I need ta teach ya more of a lesson."

"SCREW YOU!" Shiki screeched, kicking her feet as she struggled in her spot before spitting a glob of phlegm and blood in the bandits face making his blood boil even more. "I hope you all die! Rotten! Filthy! PIGS!"

His blood boiled over, that was it. That was it! He hated kids. He really hated them! His fist raised in his fury and he began to strike the girl over and over, ignoring the cries of the boy who was sobbing to leave her alone. It had been two hours dealing with these two, he'd had enough.

"I hate brats like ya!" He raged, losing his temper completely, not that he had a great hold over it in the first place, "Ya think yer so tough! Got a mouth on ya! I'll teach ya not ta disrespect me!"

Slam, slam, slam!

"Oi! Settle down Fergus! You'll end up killing her at this rate!" The other bandit shouted, standing up while the fat one was in curled up in a depressed ball.

"I'm not fat..."

"Oh get up Rupert, you big idiot!"

Slam! Kick!

"We only need one Hamish! I'm still pissed off she peed on me!"

Slamslamslamslam!

"Oh get over it already, you knew she had to go to the bathroom before you even decided to jump her, could have waited for her to finish. Stop hittin 'er! We need BOTH of 'em!"

"Shut up!" His fist wound back before releasing in an even harder hit.

SLAM! KICK!

Shiki wasn't even crying anymore, body flinching with each strike as she bit her lips so hard to keep herself from making noise, refusing to let them have the satisfaction. It hurt, her eye's stung with every hit, it hurt so much! But she didn't want them to touch Luffy. This was her fault, she should have listened to Waylon. She shouldn't have listened to Lenard and taken this dumb dare! 

She couldn't let Luffy get hurt because she was stupid.

So she purposely pissed them off, she refused to make a sound, clenching her eye's shut as she waited for the next hit but it never came. In fact, everything suddenly went silent. Her heart started to pound as even the animals surrounding them went quiet and only her wheezing breath and Luffys wails could be heard. 

But it was okay, he wasn't hurt. They just roughed him up a little when tying him up but they never hit him.

Her Nii-san was safe...

Safe... 

Her vision was blurring by now, exhaustion taking hold but she fought to stay awake. She relied on the pain to keep her awake, she couldn't sleep yet.

Don't fall asleep...

"H-hey who the hell are you!?" One of the bandits yelled, catching her attention.

Was someone here? Is that why everything was silent?

"Its-"

"Don't you dare lay another hand on her, or the boy."

Shiki's eye's flew open at the new voice and darted to the direction in which it came. The voice was was eerily calm but most importantly she knew that voice and tears started to form as her body was flooded with sheer relief. 

She started sobbing when her eyes beheld a familiar red head.

"What did you say, punk?!" The fat bandit who was now standing up from his previous depressed ball demanded while the gold toothed one sneered and pulled Shiki's hair in defiance, laughing when she yelped in pain.

"I said.." The redhead took a step forward and something violent pulsed from his body, stretching into the air and making it hum angrily. 

Shiki could feel the earth beneath her feet answer, it was angry too.

The trio of bandits let out a gasp as suddenly the very air pressurized around them and they fell to their knees with grunts of pain and effort as they fought to try and stand back up to face the threat. But whatever it was that had a hold of them was far to powerful.

"Don't. Touch. Her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Where The Wind Blows~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damatte > Be quiet/Shut up

Itai > It hurts.

AN;

Oh. My GOSH this was a long chapter! I SO did not intend for it to be this long but omg something just took over and I couldn't stop writing in it! I literally started at night, then in the morning as I got ready for work, then on break at work, and so on and so forth. I'm hoping you like the story so far, I have SO much planned for it! This chapter is at a WHOPPING 7,659 words. Now mind you, not every chapter is gonna be this long but some might. Depends on what takes over me as I type. I was gonna continue but honestly I thought that was a good stopping point and I mean com on... 7K+ words is enough haaaa... Anyway! I hope you all are having a good day or night or whatever time it is and OH just to let you know if I catch up to where I am in the show updates will be way slower... but that could be a while. I literally just started Water 7 (I know tons of spoilers though so I'm not clueless... I real a LOT of fanfiction, Wiki, and see TONS of clips and comments) But never fear! I'm still watching the show =P