You had a plan to earn yourself some extra time and a chance to escape both the Kid Pirates and the Marines. It'd be hard to pull off but you could do it. That's what you told yourself at least. The Marines were nothing more than a joke, they'd be easy. The Kid Pirates though, they'd be a challenge. But it'd be worse if you didn't try.

With the crew loading cannons, you pulled out your knife and flew as high as you could into the air to keep the element of surprise. You started with the Marines. Once you were right above them without them noticing, you dove down and slashed their main sail right down the middle, completely destroying it. A few more fly bys and all their sails were torn to shreds before they could even react. Now that they couldn't catch the wind they'd have one hell of a time catching up to the ship.

The easier enemy no longer a threat, you rose up again, hiding among the clouds. You were faster than any ship and had no problem reaching the Kid pirates. They were lazing about their own ship, not a care in the world as they prepared to reach your captain and crew. A flash of shockingly red hair alerted you to where Kid himself was. The beast of a man stood at the helm, eyeing your ship maliciously with bloodlust emanating off of him. Even so far above him you could feel how dangerous he was. This had to get done before they could react or you'd be dead.

With a few deep breaths to calm yourself, you spiraled into a quick dive and threw yourself at the main sail. The second it was slashed open a chill went up your spine. You didn't have to look down to know they saw you. Someone there had observation haki that was at least as good as your own.

You still had more to do though. One sail would slow them down but not enough to guarantee a hasty escape. You flipped around, snapping your wings close to your body so you could drop fast. You aimed for the next biggest sail, your knife tearing halfway through it before a large blonde blur jumped at you. It took a lot of effort to twist your body midair to avoid being thrown down to the deck below.

You flew out of reach, regaining some height and distance just in time to dodge chunks of scrap metal that shot out towards you. Sticking around any longer would be suicide. The enraged snarl on captain Kid's face told you that. The blur you saw moments ago stood beside him, Killer. The mask he wore hid his expression but you decided it was safe to assume he was about as happy as his captain.

Your arm jerked forward as Kid pulled for your knife. It was your favorite one damnit. But you had to release it, if it was the knife or your own life, you'd let Kid keep the knife. You weren't going down there with it. It flew down and sunk into the deck at his feet. You didn't stick around any longer to see what else he'd do. There wasn't anything else you could do to slow them down. The only thing to do now was head back and hope for the best.

----

By some dumb luck, a strong wind came through and pushed your ship along. It breezed past both the enemies, staying out of range the whole time. You'd never felt more relieved in all your life. If Eustass Kid had gotten to you, something told you it'd end in hours of torture for what you'd done.

The captain was smart enough to keep going at a fast pace the rest of the day, that was until it came across another island.

"Captain we shouldn't be docking...." You warned him. "The Marines won't be a problem but what if the Kid Pirates are on our tail?"

"They won't follow us this far, it'll be fine." He was as jovial as always. "We're just going to stock up and be on our way, it'll be a couple hours at most." He shoved you off the ship with a laugh as if you just didn't scrape by a near death experience.

There was no arguing with him though. He was as stubborn as he was stupid, a dangerous combination to have. So while he wandered off the docks to probably continue his drinking, you took a portion of the men with you to pick up the necessary supplies. They grumbled over not being able to join the captain but you weren't having any of it. You needed the extra bodies to get this done fast and keep the captain from being the death of you. Some days it seemed like he tried harder than others and today was one of those days.

You told the men if they got the ship loaded up fast enough they could go into town for one drink. That was enough to get them up and moving. Within an hour, you were fully stocked on food, medical supplies, and the necessities for ship repair in case of emergencies. Of course as soon as everything was in its place, the men left to find the nearest bar. You had plans to find something detailing the island on the map. Giving yourself an hour to find information, you headed to the center of town to find a book store.

The area was full of other pirates. They were rowdy and obnoxious but left you alone for the most part. Mostly because you dressed carefully, covering yourself in a long coat that hid your wings and shoving your hair under a ball cap. As far as they were concerned, you were nothing more than a small, shady local.

The bookstore wasn't hard to find, there weren't many people around it and there was a friendly looking sign, complete with flowers carved into it, hanging down above the doorway. You stepped inside, removing your hat now that you were in a more welcoming environment. The man behind the counter gave you a nod and a grunt before turning back to what he was reading. You liked not being bothered by strangers, he was your kind of guy.

You went straight to a section detailing books on geography. It had a bigger selection than you thought there'd be in a place like this. Most of the books were on navigation in the new world and understanding the phenomena that happened on the seas and different islands. There were some on mapping out islands and formations as well but none of it was what you wanted. You searched further down the shelves, crouching with your wings twitching in frustration as your options became fewer.

Finally, you came across something promising. It was exactly the kind of book you were looking for, with a list of islands and their names that have been recorded in the new world. You could only assume what you were looking for would be in there. Flipping through the pages, you saw pictures and names with little blurbs of info. Even if this didn't have exactly what you wanted, it could come in handy in the future.

Straightening out, you continued to look through the pages, taking little note of your surroundings until your haki tingled. You immediately tensed up but made yourself appear as casual as possible while glancing around from the corners of your eyes.

Every time you suggested your captain should or shouldn't do something, it was almost like you knew what you were talking about. Not that he would know anything about that. A little farther to your right, a Kid pirate was checking out some books on the same shelf. He was tall with long, wavy blue hair, thorny tattoos wrapping around his arms and neck, and the most sad look you'd ever seen someone wear. It was like he watched someone shoot his puppy or was told he had some incurable disease. The guy looked rough.

Without drawing attention to yourself, you headed to the front desk to pay for the book, shoving your hat back on when you were out of sight from the pirate. The man behind the desk took his time getting your change and you almost wanted to tell him to keep it. You were afraid it'd come across as being in too much of a rush though and settled for taking your time to appear inconspicuous as possible.

The blue haired pirate was still in the same spot when you left. You sighed with relief as you left the building, pulling your bag around to shove the book in. You had to go gather your captain and crew now. If luck was still on your side today, Kid wouldn't have noticed your ship yet, you could get off the island and leave him none the wiser. That what you thought until you looked up, eyes meeting a pair of very muscular arms crossed over an equally muscular torso.

You continued to look up until you were looking straight at a blue and white striped mask. While still looking at him you slowly let the bag slide off your shoulder, already figuring out a way to escape. You could tussle with the massacre soldier but he had a higher bounty than you. And if you'd learned anything with your time as a pirate, it was the higher the bounty, the stronger the person.

"I don't suppose you're just looking to get around me, are you?" You licked your lips and gripped a bag strap.

"My captain would like to have a chat with you."

"Can you tell him I'm a little caught up at the moment? My captain's out drinking and he really shouldn't be. Gotta watch his health and all, you know?" You hoped he had a sense of humor.

"Let's not make this any harder than it has to be." The blue haired pirate stood behind you, staring down at you sadly.

He complicated things but you had this. You threw your bag at Killer's face to temporarily blind him and tugged off your coat, throwing it at his comrade. Wings now free, you launched yourself to the side to avoid a swipe from Killer. Your abilities came in handy for fighting on the ground as well as in the sky, most people didn't expect that.

The blue haired guy had recovered from your distraction and took in a deep breath, spewing flames from his mouth on the exhale. It had some serious range to it, forcing you off the ground and into the air to avoid getting singed. Your haki warned you of an incoming attack from Killer and you were proud of how you came down on him. You let your body twist to the side, a wing brushing against him as you grabbed him by the shirt and threw him back to the ground, flapping your wings for extra force.

He fell on his back with a surprised grunt, not thinking you'd use his own momentum against him. It was a handy trick to use when you didn't weigh much yourself. You rolled back to the ground, ducking and snapping your wings closed as the other pirate reached for one. Everyone tried doing that in a fight, you knew better than to leave them open and easy to grab.

As easy as they were to dodge, you couldn't find big enough windows to hit them. Fighting these two wasn't a good idea, not alone. You needed to leave and regroup with the crew. With both of them now poised on either side of you, that would be easier said than done. From the way they were fighting, you could tell they wanted you alive and that alone was unsettling.

Killer stood straight to one side of you, no blades or weapons of any kind visible. His friend to your other side, slightly hunched over and ready to react to whatever you did. If you went up you could expect flames to direct you towards Killer so that would be a bad idea. Darting forward would result in getting tackled from both sides, an even less desirable option. They both looked too heavy for you to be trying that.

You decided to go with a third option they wouldn't expect. You started towards the blue haired pirate, hearing Killer stomping towards you from behind. With a quick turn of the heel, you faced him right as he was about to grab you and jumped up, rolling over his shoulder. It seemed he was already getting accustomed to you doing the unexpected unfortunately. He jerked around, grabbing you by the collar.

You let out a yelp, flapping your wings in an attempt to get him to release you. If it wasn't for his helmet, that may have actually worked. All it did in reality is stir up some dirt and send a few feathers flying. His friend helped shove your wings down as you shot curses at them. Despite your best efforts, Killer soon had your arms and wings pinned with his arms wrapped firmly around you. His friend got your discarded bag and passed you with a morose glance.

"You're a little tougher than I thought." Killer commented, tucking you under his arm as he started off towards the same docks your ship was at.

"Let me go so I can kick your ass!" You wiggled around desperately.

"No thanks."

You groaned at him angrily. Apparently today was the day Kid got to torture you to death. Perfect.