A Professor’s Wedding Proposition and Deathly Implications

[Bobbie]

Danielle stared at Henry, who snapped at her like a vicious animal. As her frown grew, she was fighting the urge to yell back at him, just when he suddenly spotted Gabriel and redirected his focus.

Unable to move out of his way fast enough and not sure that she even wanted to anyway, the treasure huntress was nearly knocked over as the man rushed past her to reach his target. Turning her gaze to follow him, she saw him slam the Professor into the wall, not a sight that she saw very often, although the smile that was given in return was one she was all too familiar with. It didn’t take her very long to predict the chaos that would ensue following a smile like that seen by the eyes of such an angry man.

“Okay, whatever is going on, it can wait.” She uttered with a sigh, very well aware that prioritising her needs was quite selfish, but who could argue that a quest for love doesn’t trump a siblings’ quarrel? That was when Eponine suddenly yelled, and Danielle turned to look at her.

“Ah, just the person I was looking for.” she started, hoping to turn this argument off its course and get back on track as she needed their focus to be.

Unbeknownst to Danielle, Hayden began to stir at this point, confused by all the yelling, but immediately calmed by the soft fluffiness of Beast’s fur as he was still on her back.

“Stop bickering!” Danielle snapped once more, but it seemed that she was having a hard time being heard; and the less she was heard, the more frustrated she grew. With Henry’s last response, the treasure huntress felt a level of rage bubbling within her that was far more than frustration. This wasn’t a tantrum for being ignored. It wasn’t impatience or desperation due to the impossible deadline that she was on with The Professor. No, the anger she felt toward Henry at this moment ran a lot deeper than that and might even rival the passion she felt for her Rosalina - this was loyalty.

Gabriel was a creep, yes, but she wouldn’t go so far as to call him a psychotic as*hole - even if the phrase was passed in a more lighthearted manner. He was not without fault, and perhaps she should look into what Henry was suggesting, but now was not the time.

Her teeth tightly pressed together, her jaw clenched firmly, she took the few steps that were necessary to reach the two men who were locked in whatever confrontation this was. Along the way, she picked up the first item she could get her hands on, which happened to be one of Hariyama’s cooking utensils that had been left out since their recent lunch together on the deck - a large metal spatula.

The moment she reached Henry, she wound her arm back and took a swing at the man, causing the metal apparatus to make a loud metallic ‘doing’ sound as it collided with Henry’s skull.

“I said stop bickering!” Danielle yelled at him, whether he was conscious or not, then turned to Eponine, pointing the spatula at her as if she were next if she didn’t comply with whatever demands would come next. “I need you to have a look at my brother and make sure he’s okay. He fell and might have hit his head.”

Hayden was staring at his terrifying sister, clutching onto Beast’s fur for comfort in this nightmare that he suddenly found himself in. Slowly turning his head toward Eponine, he forced a smile, an apologetic one, as he had gone pale as a ghost once more. “I’m fine…” he tried to say, but his voice was but a scared whisper.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #8ed7dd

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #16

Eponine watched with a mix of surprise and horror as Danielle knocked out her brother with a large metallic cooking instrument, sending him down in a single shot.

“Are you insane? You could have killed him!”

She cried out, rushing to her brother´s side to check on his vitals, only to find out, that he was just unconscious.

“Seriously, for someone…”

She snapped, but before she could finish the sentence Gabriel stepped in, not with angry, but rather with a conciliatory tone.

“That´s enough. Eponine, I apologize for Danielle´s behavior, but she was through a lot today and we are quickly running out of time, so could you please take a look at her…and your brother´s heads. And you…”

He turned at Danielle.

“I appreciate that you tried to save me but please, don´t just hit people over the head like this. Especially when I offered them my protection.”

The Professor smiled in her direction gently, while their ship nurse walked in the direction of the treasure huntress’s brother.

“Sure you are.”

She muttered, scratching the oversized malamute behind her ear.

“Beast please would you be so kind as put him down on one of the beds…master”.

She wanted to ask Gabriel to do the same, for her brother, but he was already onto it, lifting him up and carrying him to a nearby bed, before returning to Danielle.

“Alright, what are…”

His question was suddenly interrupted by Namkhai´s voice from the upper´s deck.

“Gabriel! There is someone looking for Dannielle! Calls himself a Barbossa!”

He yelled, making the Professor raise his eyebrow in a display of curiosity as he had a feeling he heard the name before but couldn´t really place it.

“Barbossa, do you know him?”

He asked Danielle, while Beast was helping her brother down, using the fact, that her dad was too preoccupied to pay her any real attention to slap Henry with her wagging tail for being bean to her dad.

[Bobbie]

As Eponine cried out, Danielle too had something to say, glaring at the woman and about to fire her verbal threat at the only proper doctor aboard the ship who didn’t rely on sketchy practices and needles; Gabriel, however, intervened and ended the interaction before she could.

Frustrated, she threw the spatula onto the deck floor and crossed her arms, scoffing at the apology that he offered in her stead. Then he made his request for her not to act in such an inappropriate manner, hitting people over the head. The irony in his words was overwhelming as Danielle stared at him, the classic eye-twitch of a person far too stressed for their own good returning once more. Somehow, the Professor’s smile was enough to soften her rage just enough for her simply roll her eye and shake her head.

She then watched Eponine move toward her brother.

“I think I can walk,” Hayden said, before leaning forward to hug Beast and pet her, his actions displaying that despite the ability to, he clearly did not want to. “She’s so fluffy, where did you find this gorgeous animal?” Once he was low enough to meet Eponine eye-to-eye, he whispered very quietly, in fear of being heard. “I’m very sorry about my sister’s behaviour, she is very stressed… always.”

Now that everything was taken care of, Danielle was eager to get back to the task at hand and finally be done with this terrible ordeal. She watched Gabriel with a calmer expression as it seemed they could finally focus on resolving this issue, only to be interrupted once more by Namkhai this time.

Barbossa… the name that came from the Titan and then confirmed by his master sent a shiver down her spine, and just like that, her bad mood returned. What… the hell… is HE doing here?

A shadow seemed to be cast over Danielle’s face as the very man she was adamant on avoiding was suddenly right here. Her mind quickly raced through all the possibilities of how things could unfold while she gave Gabriel an almost dismissive nod in response to his question. She knew of his fascination with bounty-holders, and here she was surrounded by such people: Namkhai had a name for himself and Sigrid recently made it into the papers. She didn’t know about Hariyama and Niko, but reckoned the Professor himself was not very far off from getting one stamped onto his head either.

Meanwhile, Kieran Barbossa stood at the gangplank, politely waiting for permission to board the ship or at least be met on the pier. His sagely expression displayed a level of wisdom that could only come with age and experience as he was patient and disciplined not to pry further. That was the image he was portraying, while on the inside, he was allowing himself a private moment of sheer excitement, very much like a school girl with a crush.

I just spoke to Namkhai, THE NAMKHAI OF BOKH! he thought to himself, his heart racing but he made no outwardly sign of this as he maintained his composure with his arms crossed over his chest. He said my name… it sounded like music. Danielle is associating herself with these people, I have taught her so well… The occasional hum would escape his throat, a clear sign of an aging man who may be getting tired standing, or a form of meditation to keep himself calm. If the mighty Namkhai and Danielle are good friends, an autograph should be very easy to attain… to think that perhaps I might even board his ship today. What a day… what a day.

“How… yes, I know him,” the treasure huntress finally replied. “Unfortunately.” Danielle couldn’t stop her gaze from drifted toward Hayden as he was being carried away, wondering if he had somehow alerted Barbossa to her presence on the island but had no idea how that would be possible.

Turning in Namkhai's direction, she waited to see the face of the man who took her right eye come into vision.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #8ed7dd
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #17

The Professor was glad that the two women stopped their animosity when he asked them to do so, as his mind moved to another task at hand.

The longer they were staying on this island, the more the Professor was realizing how little he actually knew about his golden puppy and her past. First, there was her brother, twin actually, and now this mysterious man named Barbossa whose name was enough for her expression to darken almost as if it was her ex-cheating boyfriend or something like that. Gabriel would lie if he said that he wasn´t curious, but at the same time, he didn´t want to stress her even more.

“You know that if you don´t want to meet him, I can kick him out right?”

He offered gently, following Danielle upstairs, with Beast just a few steps behind him.

“Well, not an ex-boyfriend that´s for sure...”

The Professor muttered to himself when he finally actually saw Barbossa in person. Middle-aged man, tall and muscular with a surprisingly thick mane of black hair and a trimmed beard of the same color, dressed like a dojo master of old.

Then the Professor gasped for air as his brain finally connected the dots and he realized who was this man that was demanding access to their boat.

“Danny”

Gabriel said in a hushed voice.

“Why you never told me your dad was a martial artist? Namkhai, let him in!”

He said, trying his best to hide the excitement from his voice while rushing towards the man to shake his hand.

“My name is Gabriel Moon a friend of yours Danny.”

The Professor threw his introduction on Barbossa, before continuing without giving the man a chance to react.

“Please excuse my curiosity, but judging by your uniform I can tell you are a martial artist…swordsman to be precise right? Can you please tell me what style you are using?”

[Bobbie]

Ascending the stairs, Danielle grumbled the whole way, considering telling the Professor to kick him out. Before she knew it, however, she was staring right at her former sensei and Gabriel whispered something to her.

Completely taken aback, the treasure huntress was completely lost for words and fell silent for a moment. “What?” It was only a moment, but it was enough to give Gabriel the chance to rush over toward Barbossa after giving Namkhai the command to allow him on board. Confused and enraged, Danielle’s gaze shifted between Gabriel to Barbossa, to Namkhai and back to Barbossa again. Her eye wide and stress written all over her face, she froze and had no idea what she was supposed to do. She hadn’t seen the older man in such a long time and never forgave him for the accident. Now Gabriel assumed he was her father and she had no chance to explain anything!

Barbossa was also quite overwhelmed, though not for the same reason. On the contrary, he was quite glad to have found Danielle, but what really thrilled him at this moment was the fact that he set foot on the very same ship that the mighty Titan of Bokh sailed on. From what he knew, the wrestler was also a skilled navigator, and as his eyes moved in search for the ship’s helm, he dreamt of placing his own hands on that very same spot that Namkhai’s touched.

His passage, however, was intercepted by Gabriel who seemed to be trying his best to hide his excitement, though not very well. All of Barbossa’s attention was now on the well-dressed Professor, following the words that were coming out of his mouth at quite a fast rate.

“It’s very nice to-” he tried to reply with a polite smile and a courteous bow of his head while his hand shook Gabriel’s vigorously, but the conversation progressed so quickly that he didn’t get the chance to. He was then bombarded with Gabriel’s observations and a follow-up question, which brought a smile to the man’s face. Taking a deep breath, he made sure that Gabriel was finished this time before he offered a response.

“Yes, yes, I am…” it was surprising that this man before him referred to Danielle as Danny, as he expected the crew she was travelling with to know her true identity, but he was quite aware of the common misunderstanding and went along with it. “Excusing curiosity is like punishing a child for their desire to improve,” he raised one finger with a gentle nod. “I run a dojo here on Shimoshiki, as a swordsman. I offer lessons in a wide range of styles, however, inspired by traditions all over the world, including African tribes, and I teach techniques with a great variety of weapons.”

Danielle remained where she was, merely looking at the pair exchange words. Barbossa was as passionate about swordsmanship as Gabriel was about martial arts, and his love for the art was clearly reflected in his eyes. Her eye, on the other hand, reflected a range of emotions, mostly negative. She never wished her former mentor any harm, but her first choice would be to avoid such encounters with him due to the resentment she felt toward him that she couldn’t shake off.

Letting out a long sigh, she began to make her way toward them, nonetheless. Her limp was not terribly noticeable if she put in some effort to hide it, though anybody who knew that it was there could easily pick up on it. She should at least address the misunderstanding and explain that this man was not her father.

“He’s not-” she interrupted whatever point they were at in their conversation, but it seemed that her interruption prompted a second one in turn.

Barbossa turned to Danielle in an instant and offered the caring smile not unlike that of a father, filled with pride for who she’s become, as well as regrets for his own shortcomings.

“Danielle! It’s been so long- I mean… Danny… Danielle, Daniel, Danny…” what started as a heartfelt greeting quickly erupted into nervous laughter as the swordsman fumbled and got flustered, glancing at Gabriel anxiously. A subtle glance was also made in Namkhai's direction, as Barbossa wondered what kind of friend such a man could be to Danielle... and whether it would make a difference if he knew that she was a female and not a male. “Poor pronunciation, sorry." It seemed this was one thing that he and the Professor certainly had in common. They were both terrible liars. "Whoops!”

Danielle merely stared at him, quite enjoying watching him drown and a little frustrated by his incompetence of keeping one little secret. In his defence though... perhaps she hadn't stuck around long enough to explain the importance of it.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #8ed7dd
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #18

While trying his best to stay focused on the task at hand, The Professor couldn´t really contain the excitement he felt from finally meeting a fellow-minded master, who could surely enrich his own knowledge about other martial arts he wasn´t familiar with.

“Really? That´s amazing!”

He exclaimed, completely missing the fact, that Danielle was trying to say something rather important too.

“Would you mind if I invited you for lunch so we could discuss our respective arts? Could I perhaps visit your dojo and watch you and your students train? I mean, I would obviously pay your regular fee for it!”

Gabriel quickly offered, only to be interrupted as the older master approached Danielle quickly switching between a possible version of her name and pronouns. This behaviour of his confused the Professor, until he realized, that perhaps just like himself, Mr. Barbossa wasn´t sure whatever the other party members knew about Danielle´s secret or not, and so tried his best to keep it as good as he could.

“That´s alright Mr. Sky.”

The Professor assumed that the treasure huntress and her father would share the same surname, patting that man´s shoulder.

“You don´t have to keep your daughter´s secret here, we all know that she is a woman. Actually!”

Gabriel reached into his pocket, pulling out a newspaper clipping with the photo of him and Danielle in her fancy dress to show it to Barbossa.

“Just look at this, isn´t she incredibly cute in this dress?”

While the men were talking and Danielle was trying her best to get their attention, Beast started feeling a little neglected. After all, she was the largest, fluffiest and most gorgeous doggo around, so why was this new friend ignoring her completely?

“Woof!”

She barked once, voicing her displeasure, before rushing to the presumed Danielle´s father to properly greet him as well.

[Bobbie]

The situation escalated very quickly as their conversation took quite the turn and Gabriel’s misunderstanding was finally made clear. As he was referred to as Mr Sky, Barbossa was quite confused, turning to Gabriel once more when the man patted his shoulder in such a friendly manner. In hindsight, he thought, I should have introduced myself with my full name rather than just my last one…

Then he looked at Danielle who had just been called his daughter. The look of confusion on his face was replaced with one quite similar to what appeared on Hayden’s face when she first walked into the pharmacy. He was touched, and with soft features, smiled to the blonde.

Danielle on the other hand was infuriated. Her jaw tensed, eye narrowed into a piercing glare, but she couldn’t quite decide who she despised most at that moment, whether it was the Professor or her old teacher.

The pair both opened their mouths at the same time. While it may have been difficult to predict their words, the expressions on their faces would make it rather easy to anticipate the nature of their next words uttered. Barbossa was clearly filled with care and adoration for his ex-student, an emotional glint in his eye; meanwhile, Danielle’s burned with rage at both men present before her. This was when Gabriel reached into his pocket to bring something out of it and they both fell silent before speaking a single word.

Barbossa was curious and so he peered into the image that was produced, a pleased smile instantly growing across his lips. The moment Danielle realised what Gabriel was showing him, her infuriation transitioned into pure dread.

“Why do you even have that!?” she snapped at him, aiming to snatch it from the hand of whoever held it. However, Barbossa was quicker as he took the photo and moved it out of her reach.

“Oh, Danielle… you look so cute in this photo, shall I expect to see you in a dress again soon?”

“Definitely not.” Her response was sharp and aggressive as she tried to take it again, but it seemed that her former mentor was faster. A consequence, she insisted, of her leg slowing her down.

This was the moment Beast rushed to the dojo master, who welcomed the beautiful animal with a grin and a laugh. Gently handing the treasured photograph back to its owner, the older man was now fully preoccupied with petting the massive dog. “And who is this beauty?” He asked, having never seen such a large creature before. “Oh my, she’s so big… you grew a lot, didn’t you?” The man’s hands went through Beast’s fur at the scruff of her neck, giving her loving scratches, but he soon grew serious and cleared his throat.

“However, I must address some form of misunderstanding…” he looked at Gabriel. “While I am very flattered and would consider it an honour, I am not Danielle’s father. My name is Kieran Barbossa.” After his brief explanation to clarify the situation, he then turned to Danielle, his hands now dropping from Beast’s neck. “Why would you tell him that I’m your father?” It was clear that he was touched by the gesture, as he took this as a clear sign that their relationship was finally on the mend.

“I didn’t. What on earth could make you think I would after what you took from me?” As her response was fired from her mouth like venom, even Danielle felt pangs of guilt shortly after the words were spoken, as they sounded a lot harsher than she intended them to.

Barbossa flinched and his smile faded. “Ah… yes, I understand.” Much to his dismay, it seemed he was very wrong, but he merely nodded and accepted her response. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Gabriel, his hand seeking the warmth of Beast’s fur as he gave her scratches behind one ear, perhaps to ease the hurt and guilt in his own heart. “Well, in any case, Mr Moon, you are very welcome to visit my dojo at any time. Free of charge of course, a friend of Danielle’s is welcome day and night at no cost.” Pausing, he looked around to see who else was present. Raising his voice just slightly and hoping to be heard by Namkhai, a man whose bounty he had been following for a long time now, he continued. “I will be happy to give directions to your crew for any of you to stop by whenever you see fit.” As he circled back to Gabriel’s request, he hesitated to accept his offer of lunch… he wasn’t quite sure Danielle would be comfortable with it after her outburst.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #8ed7dd
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #19

The Professor looked rather confused when Danielle asked him why he had the photography in his pocket.

“Well, I mean…”

He muttered.

“It´s a very beautiful photo and the only memento I have from that wonderful night.”

Gabriel answered truthfully, moving to the side to make space for Beast, who rushed to Barbossa, to receive her share of admiration, head pats, and scratching.

“Woo, woo, awooo!”

She howled proudly, wagging her tail violently from left to right. The Professor watched their interaction with a proud smile, while the rest of their crew decided it was time to go and mind their own businesses. However, his proud smile faded when Barbossa admitted, that he in fact wasn´t Danielle´s father.

“Oh…I thought…hmmmm, in that case, I am sorry for the confusion.”

He muttered with a gentle sulk born from the fact that neither Danielle nor Barbossa corrected him sooner before he managed to make a fool out of himself.

“That´s an offer I´ll definitely make good use of, but before that, there is a very important business that I and Danielle have to attend to. You see, there was…a misunderstanding between us and Mr. Olivier that caused Danielle to have 72…69, hours to find the original owner of a certain severed limb we accidentally obtained on Mirrorball, otherwise…”

He shrugged.

A moment of silence followed his words only to be broken by a rough laughter coming from Namkhai.

“Seriously?”

The Titan asked, but his words weren´t meant for Gabriel, but for the treasure huntress.

“That´s a fool´s errand and you know it, so why do you even bother?”

He asked bluntly.

“Namkhai…”

Gabriel tried to calm down the situation but to no avail.

“No boss, not this time. This whole thing is nonsense, and you know it! We have our own things to do. The longer we spent here the colder the trail gets and Danielle…”

He turned to the treasure huntress again.

“Just look in my eyes and say it´s worth it. Tell me that you are o.k. with exchanging all your friends, all of us for that petty, manipulative woman that will cheat on you the second she´ll sees a mildly muscular guy nearby. Because that´s how it will go even if you´ll succeed and you know it. She will cry, she will beg, and threaten until she´ll force you to cut all your connections with us. Tell me that this is what you want instead of leaving this island for a good with us.”

[Bobbie]

Gabriel explained the situation and Barbossa listened, nodding along as his frown grew. From what he knew of Olivier, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that such an incident was not received well by the man. As for Rosalina, he had only met her in person once and never liked what he saw; he heard even worse things. As he thought about how to respond, Namkhai’s laughter filled the air, and the man looked at his idol.

Danielle also turned to look at Namkhai with far less admiration in her eye. “What do you mean, why do I even bother?” She replied, slightly confused. It didn’t seem like a fool’s errand to her. It would be a challenge for sure, but not an impossible task.

Watching the man as he proceeded to rant on about how this was all a waste of time, however, Danielle felt terrible. Not only was she facing the very realistic possibility that her dream of marrying Rosalina was crushed, but now she had it on her conscience that - as he so elegantly put - she was wasting their time while they had their own things to do.

She frowned at him, but didn’t have the same confidence that her gaze bore only moments ago. It wavered further when she was asked to look him in the eye and say that it was all worth it. That Rosalina was worth more than these people, more than Beast.

The treasure huntress felt like she was backed into a corner and as she looked at Beast, her heart stung. She could already feel such a loss by Namkhai’s words alone, so much so that she paid little attention to the way he spoke about her so far. It was no secret that he and a couple of other people present didn’t like Rosalina very much, certainly not after their recent encounter that turned sour so quickly.

“It isn’t what I want…” she muttered in an uncharacteristically quiet and hurt tone, before turning her head to face Namkhai once more.

Barbossa watched as the treasure huntress narrowed her eye at the man. It was easy to see that she was very conflicted, but he decided not to get involved yet. He himself was taken quite aback by how the situation escalated, and as his attention shifted back and forth between the two, he couldn’t help but liken them to a pair of lovers in some twisted turn of events, having their first quarrel. The thought brought a little sparkle in his eye as his features involuntarily softened. Danielle will forgive him and welcome him back into her life at some point, and if these two reconcile by then, he would have a free passageway into this legend’s life as well.

“Why exactly will I have to choose between you, anyway? That’s just your imaginary scenario.” Danielle snapped at him, shaking her head as her anger was returning to mask her insecurity. “She has literally no reason to cry and beg and threaten, as you say she would. You don’t know her! How dare you even imply that she would do that to me?”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #8ed7dd
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #20

The Titan looked at Danielle without showing any emotions, but when she finally spoke, his stone-cold face broke with a sad smile.
“Because I was in your shoes back in the past. In love, so sure that I know the person I love better than people who were trying to warn me, and here I am, hundreds of miles away from home while she is married to the chieftain´s son.”
He sighed, taking a few steps toward Danielle.
“Listen, I know that your personal life is none of my business, but I like you and I don´t want to see you hurt. Because trust me, this girl is going to break your heart.”
The momentary silence that followed was interrupted by Sigrid clearing her throat.
“Well, to be entirely fair, I don´t like her that much either. She seemed to be so…manipulative towards you and you should have seen how she jumped on Namkhai when you were gone, she was like ivy wrapping around…”
Gabriel sighed
“Sigrid, I think that´s enough…”
He muttered, before she could go even further in her already quite disturbing descriptions.
“Well, I don´t think she is that bad…she liked my mochi and even tried to share it with Namkhai!”
Said Hariyama making Sigrid roll her eyes.
“Oh come on you simpleton, the fact that someone likes your cooking doesn´t mean they are a good person, otherwise the whole world would be full of good people!”
It took the sumo wrestler a moment to realize what she meant by it after which his large face blushed so hard it could set things on fire.
“Well if I may…”
Niko raised his voice but was immediately silenced by Beast, who rushed to Danielle with her opinions on Rosalina.
“Awooo, woof, woof, woof, awooo wooo, woof!”
She exclaimed while poking Danielle´s face with her wet nose.
“Alright, alright, I think that´s enough!”
Gabriel´s voice stopped any remaining discussion.
“Listen guys, while I don´t really like Rosalina either it´s ultimately Danielle´s choice and all we can do is support her, so…”
He addressed them almost as if he completely forgot that the said Danielle was standing right next to him.
“Any ideas how to solve this…hand issue?”
What followed was deafening silence.