Chapter 27

"Aside from certain injuries that will probably be healed in a week, maybe less, all she needs is rest and regular meals." Olivia reported, having come to find him an hour after they got the feral swordsman, freshly bathed and clothed, settled in a guest room.

Marshall sighed, rubbing his temples. "Good to know. Any idea who she is beyond pissed off and a swordsman?"

Olivia looked at him sympathetically, shaking her head as she answered. "No sir. Her throat and tongue are intact, but she hasn't spoken a word, just growled and hissed; if she hadn't shaken or nodded her head in response to yes or no questions, I would have thought she didn't understand what I was saying." Pursing her lips, she grudgingly said, "I wouldn't be telling you this if you weren't the captain and thus had a right to know the medical condition of your crewmembers, otherwise it would be considered a severe violation of privacy," which was why she'd made sure he was alone before telling him this, he acknowledged with a nod.

"Right. Any idea how long she was there? Any allergies or preferences I should be aware of when cooking?" He asked, resigned to playing host to the feral swordsman until she recovered. She probably would wind up joining the crew, but he was going to put off acknowledging that for as long as possible because there was only so much he was willing to deal with at once and by Davy Jones he had to draw the line somewhere.

"No and no, though she did indicate a desire for protein and alcohol."

Meat and booze. He could work with that.

The first couple of days, he had either Olivia or Vertara take the mystery woman her meals, not sure how she'd react to a man showing up outside her door, but on the fourth day the door opened as they were sitting down for lunch and the woman stalked in.

Considering the last time he saw her she was covered in blood and snarling like a wild animal, he had to admit that she looked a lot better. With the blood washed off, he could see that her hair was actually dark green, the color of healthy tree leaves. She was pale, the kind of pale that resulted from a lack of sunlight rather than a natural pigment, and he could see several scars peeking through the places that the clothes she was wearing didn't quite cover. Vertara's clothes fit her rather well, but he noted that they seemed tight around the chest. Olivia had her measurements, so he planned to send the doctor shopping the next time they made port.

Gray eyes darted around, too intent to be called nervous as she moved towards the table. Her knuckles were white where she was gripping the sheath of her sword, but she kept her head up as she sat in the empty chair next to Olivia, eyes fierce and silently daring anyone to say anything.

Marshall took another bite of food and the others understood the wordless signal, carrying on their conversations and eating as though they'd never paused as the woman filled her own plate and dug in. Something about the way she ate had alarm bells ringing in the back of his mind, but he couldn't for the life of him think of why.

...Why did the way she chugged that tankard of booze seem so familiar?

It was right on the tip of tongue, like the title to a song you couldn't quite remember, and the bells rang louder.

Days before they were due to reach the next island, they were attacked by pirates.

Normally Marshall wouldn't have worried and just let Vertara, Olivia and Wilde handle it, but that plan fell apart almost before he thought it for one reason and one reason only: the captain of the other crew had Conqueror's Haki and knew how to use it.

Before he even set foot on deck he felt it, an intense pressure washing over him like the first rumblings of an avalanche barreling towards him. His eyes narrowed as he emerged from the interior of his ship, seeing his three crewmembers kneeling, the feral swordsman a short distance away, all of them sweating and straining like they were fighting against a tremendous weight. A crowd of the other captain's crew surrounded them, jeering and laughing, several of them making obscene gestures as the four were kept pinned and helpless by their captain's haki.

His own footsteps were loud in the sudden silence that descended as he loosed his own haki. For the first time he reached for his Conqueror's Will, flooding both his and the enemy's ship with his sheer presence, causing the worms mocking his crew to collapse, crumpling to the floor like puppets with their strings cut. Two forces of nature clashed, fighting for dominance as one Conqueror's eyes met the other's.

Sweat poured down the other captain's face, while Marshall showed no signs of strain, the other captain folding first, man and haki buckling as Marshall's will overwhelmed him. With the rest of his crew unconscious, there was no one to help the other captain as Marshall finished the fight their haki had started. Grunting and flicking the blood off his fist, he turned and asked, "you guys good to finish up here? I need to make sure those cannonballs didn't do any damage."

Vertara nodded shakily, already on her feet as she said, "yeah, we're good. Just do whatever you need to, Captain."

Olivia and Wilde nodded, the feral swordsman already moving to finish off the enemy within reach.

Nodding sharply, he left to make sure the Coddiwomple was okay.

("It was pure darkness," Vertara murmured after their captain had left, absently digging her claws into a woman's throat as she continued, "like, this gigantic, raging abyss seeking to devour everything and it could eat us and not even notice because we're so far beneath it's attention we might as well not even exist..."

Face pale, Wilde nodded, adding, "it felt like death, like shadows reaching out from the underworld to swallow any hint of light, smothering it until the only thing left is despair." Shuddering at the memory of that feeling, the icy fear that had gripped his heart barely starting to thaw as he searched pockets and slit throats.

Untying the ropes the pirates had used to board, Olivia chimed in, "that other guy's presence just felt like something heavy pressing on my back and pushing me down. It was straightforward, weight can be lifted after all. Compared to that, the Captain's was worse. A lot worse."

Unsaid but nonetheless known was that the Captain was worse for them, to protect them.

Off to the side, beneath the anger and snarling the swordsman had what could only be called a pensive look on her face.)

He'd done it. He'd used Conqueror's Haki and didn't knock out his own crew along with the enemies, which as far as he knew was a major accomplishment. It took training to be able to direct the third kind of haki to effect only certain people, but while the application was rough he knew he was on the right track because of the simple fact that while they clearly felt it, his crew was still conscious.

He would have to apologize later, he thought, sighing as he carefully inspected the ship's rudder. He didn't know how his haki felt, but from what he remembered of other Conquerors, it probably hadn't been a fun experience.

The ship turned out to be undamaged, and wow, those shipwrights on Olympios hadn't been kidding when they talked about Angel Wood being some of the best. It survived New World storms without a scratch, so what were a few measly cannonballs? Patting the wall near the dial control room in thanks, he headed towards the kitchen, hearing the wood creaking as though saying 'you're welcome'.

He finished looting the pirate ship as the other four took a break and helped themselves to the food he'd prepared. All of the bodies had been thrown overboard and the deck was freshly cleaned, not a speck of blood to be found, and yeah, he definitely had to do something nice for them now.

Vertara had put everything they'd taken from the bodies in sacks, the plunder coming up to three bags of assorted valuables, which just left the ship itself. It was a decent enough vessel, showing little damage from sailing in the New World, so perhaps it'd be worth it to tow it to port and sell it? Hand cupping his chin, he hummed in thought. The Coddi could do it easily, so it came down to whether the reward would be worth the time and effort.

Finally deciding to go for it, he finished going through the captain's quarters and headed back to his own ship to figure out how to tie the two vessels together.

Hooking the last of the chains to the pirate ship (flag helpfully removed), he became aware of a presence approaching from behind him. Tugging once to be sure everything was secure, he called out, "everything okay?"

Of course he knew who was lurking around the corner, so he wasn't surprised when the feral swordsman came into few, growling lowly. Eyeing him cautiously, she seemed to come to a resolution as he looked on, abruptly holding out her sword towards him as though offering the blade.

He swore that her grin, teeth bared in challenge, looked so damn familiar. Looking at the offered sword, he returned her grin with equal ferocity. "I take it you're sticking around for awhile, then?"

She nodded.

"Then you better know how to use that sword, because I can guarantee you're going to need it." He told her, snorting when he saw the interested light in her eyes, coarse green strands falling across her forehead and that's when it clicked.

Green hair, darker than the person he was thinking of but green, and a swordsman.

He couldn't help it; he burst out laughing.

"Right, Feral here is our new crewmate, so you guys get her caught up on everything I taught you, haki and such, while I organize the loot and get us pointed in the right direction." He announced, chuckling at the dumbfounded looks on Vertara, Wilde and Olivia's faces.

"Feral?" Vertara asked curiously.

Marshall shrugged. "It's as good a name as any, and she seems to like it."

"I guess it'll work until she tells us her actual name?" Wilde voiced.

Olivia nodded, "I'll put it in her medical file," she assured.

The newly named Feral bared her teeth in a grin, and he was amused to see both Wilde and Olivia gulp. Vertara bared her teeth right back. He could already tell the two women would get along, he snorted. He strolled from the room, calling out, "have fun!"

"Wait a minute-!"

The door shut, cutting Wilde off mid-sentence, and he chuckled as he headed towards the temporary storage place for their latest loot. Surveying the disorganized state of the room, pretty much everything tossed into a pile in the center, he got to work.