Post by Kurosaki on Nov 14, 2012 22:59:21 GMT -5
Slowly he exhaled some of his air and realized that he had almost none left at this point. He chanced to open his eyes and just saw a blur of blue in front of him. Would that be the last thing that he saw?
A hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and started to pull him up. Kane felt relief even as he struggled with the burning sensation in his lungs. He was so close to inhaling that salt water as a reflex and he did a little before they broke the surface. He gasped and sputtered and coughed as water came from his mouth and nose and burned the back of his throat. He inhaled sharply but inhaling just caused him to cough more at first.
Still without the ability to move much in the water, Kane was completely reliant on the purple haired woman to help him to shore and then drag him across the sandy shore. He had sand in odd places but at least he was safe.
"Don't... Plan on doing that again... Ever...," agreed Kane, coughing in between some of his words and getting the rest of the water out of his lungs. The salt water was still on his lips and it had dried his mouth a little bit but that was the least of his concerns at the moment.
When Shisha mentioned everyone getting off, Kane suddenly perked up and sat up, sending sand flying everywhere as he scrambled up to his feet and quickly tried to spot anyone from his crew. Luckily, he saw Scruffy, as slow as ever, come up to them followed by... Someone he had never seen before? Okay, well that was one. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned skyward before seeing a flash of petals and spotting the insane Estelle in the middle of the swarm. That was two. He needed to hurry and go to Mikan's aid if she was being crazy enough to fight Estelle by herself!
David hadn't been on the ship in the first place, thankfully. Well, that just left the newly joined Frien. Where was Monkey Boy anyhow? Kane was sure that him of all people with his spunk after what had happened with Wardus would be fine getting off of the vessel. He had been more worried about the slow Janitor, to be honest.
That was when he noticed that Scruffy and the other guy kept looking somewhere different than where the battle was taking place. What was drawing their attention away from the insanity that was going on overhead?
Squinting, Kane got closer to Scruffy and tried to figure out where exactly he was looking. "What is everyone looking at, anyhow?" he questioned naively while dusting some of the sand off of him as best as he could and then ruffling his hair to try to get it back into shape after it had been matted down by the water.
His heart sank as soon as he saw what the problem was. Down to his soaked shoes, it sank. Like a rock. At first he couldn't believe what he was seeing. On a little Island just near the docks was a Marine standing near the body of Frien. Their would-be Shipwright. Blood was all over his chest and he was clearly no longer moving.
"God dammit, that's Frien! You son-of-a-," started Kane before he started to run toward the docks as fast as he could. Blinded by his rage and emotions, he didn't even think as he started to run back into the water toward the Island until he felt himself getting weaker and collapsed backwards on his rear, weakened. He raised a hand, balled it into a fist, and struck the surface of the water repeatedly.
"No. No, this can't be happening. Frien, get back up!" Tears were already streaming down the Captain's face as he struggled to his feet and shouted again. "GET BACK UP FRIEN! YOU CAN'T BE DEAD, YOU JUST CAN'T."
This was the second time in Kane's life that a Marine had been responsible for taking someone precious, someone he cared about from him. Flashbacks of his childhood friend being shot from behind as they ran from the chaotic scene of their hometown becoming a war zone flashed back in his head and Kane realized that things hadn't changed since then. He was still struggling against the weight of the world where things were ultimately unfair and good people died needlessly.
But he knew he could blame it on someone. The someone that was responsible for Frien's death. That Marine that was standing near him. Kane would make him pay for it all. He just needed a way to get over to that Island...
Before he could jump a boat and row himself over there, however, things began to light up behind him. More literally than anything. Screams sounded and fire had sprung up. Kane turned his head for only a moment and saw the destruction that was being caused by Estelle. Smoke was rising up as the village had their homes set fire to. People were running for their lives. Kane had to actually duck as she flew over head and began to reign fire down on the village and the dock that he was next to. A huge chunk of wood landed next to Kane, set on fire and he quickly backed up. Another chunk struck him on the head but instead of setting his hair on fire it fell harmlessly off of him and he caught it and snapped the weakened piece in two.
He would make sure he did the same to that Marine but for now he had a different problem on his hands. Frien was dead, yes, but more people were going to die if he didn't do anything. Not only that, but his crew needed their Captain. Running back and trying to avoid the destruction descending on him as he did so, Kane looked seriously at all of his crew mates and the one new guy that just seemed to have popped up to join the ride.
"Guys, we need to stop Estelle from destroying Treegap. Even if we're down a man, we'll make sure that his loss is never forgotten and make that Marine pay later. I want you guys to promise me to be careful and leave him up to me if he comes after us though," Kane said sharply, not wanting to lose another Nakama while he was distracted. "Shisha, I need you to get Estelle mad enough that she focuses on just us and then you guys need to keep her distracted while I fight her. I can handle the fire for longer than you guys so just keep out of the immediate path of her attacks, okay?"
Not sure what attack Shisha was going to use to try to get Estelle's focus on them, Kane braced himself and powered up his Devil Fruit abilities. He felt more focused than he had ever been before in his life. Adrenaline was pumping through him and the rage was powering it. He pictured smashing that Marine's face in and felt all the better for it as well. Let him try anything while they were dealing with Estelle. He would gladly take him out.
"HEY, ESTELLE, DOWN HERE!" shouted Kane loudly.