I should trust my gut more, because the lessons were definitely not over.
Captain Isolde Vale. I'd only learnt her first name that morning, the day after our little trip out to sea. Meanwhile, I could still remember exactly how each of those prisoners had sounded. Would've preferred to forget that part.
I knew what world I'd landed in. Becoming the strongest was going to involve violence, and plenty of it, but I hadn't enjoyed watching men get cut down on their knees. Vale had gone straight back to work afterwards. I kept thinking about the one who'd tried to crawl away.
My first impression of her had been scary hot, which was a dangerous combination for someone with my self-preservation instincts. I'd even entertained the idea that she was a tough-love type. Maybe a tsundere, under all that.
Don't look at me like that. I'm going through puberty.
The toughness was certainly there. Still waiting on literally any evidence of the love.
...
A few hours later, I was patrolling town with some other recruits when I spotted Vale talking to one of the village elders near the harbour. He was clutching his hat in both hands, arguing about a delivery of grain. I slowed down enough to listen.
"We already paid," he said. "That grain has to last us."
"And my men have to eat. They're the reason your fishing boats make it home."
He rubbed a thumb along the brim of his hat. "You've taken what we agreed."
"The grain will be at the branch tomorrow. Speak to the quartermaster when you arrive."
Vale moved to leave, and the old man stepped into her path. For a moment, I thought he might actually grab her arm. His hand fell short of her sleeve, and she walked past him.
Well, that sounded dodgy as fuck.
I watched him head back towards the docks, telling myself I hadn't heard the whole conversation. Supplies, fees, whatever arrangement they had with the branch. I was planning to use the Marines for training and leave eventually; getting involved in the captain's finances sounded like an excellent way to ruin that.
"Voss. Your patrol is leaving you."
I turned and saluted. "Sorry, ma'am. Just thinking."
"Come along. You can do that in my office."
...
Vale left me standing in front of her desk while she finished reading a report. I'd already counted the books on the shelf beside her twice when she finally set it down.
"You're still bothered about yesterday."
Apparently, I was that obvious. "They'd surrendered."
"I noticed." She leaned back in her chair. "You've got more strength than men who've served here for years, Voss. I could use you. But I need to know you'll follow an order, even an unpleasant one."
I kept my hands behind my back. "Pretty sure I followed every order you gave me."
"You did. And then you questioned me in front of my men."
So that was what bothered her.
"There will always be someone begging you to spare them," she continued. "You have the strength to make decisions other people have to live with. Get used to being disliked."
I'd come in here hoping for training. Instead, I was getting career advice from a woman who'd executed prisoners before breakfast.
"Something funny?"
"No, Captain. I'm learning."
She watched me for a moment. "Go on, then. Tell me."
I really should've kept my mouth shut. "You talk about strength a lot when you're explaining why you get to do whatever you want."
I waited for the shouting, but she gave a short laugh and reached into her coat instead.
"Careful, Voss. You're getting comfortable."
She held out a folded letter sealed with red wax. I took it, wondering whether I'd just volunteered for latrine duty.
"Commodore Nelson has summoned me for a meeting in two weeks. There's a reassignment under consideration. You'll accompany me."
Oh. Thank fuck.
I'd started to think Luffy would arrive before I got out of this branch. A transfer with Vale's recommendation could get me somewhere with proper training, stronger officers, and something to do besides the same drills every bloody day.
"That seems to suit you," she said.
"Yes, ma'am."
Vale came around the desk and brushed a loose strand of white hair away from my face. I went still, the letter halfway back towards her.
"My clever little monster."
What the fuck was I supposed to do with that?
I handed over the letter and waited until she dismissed me. Then I went to the gym, where the heavy things were mercifully easy to understand.
...
Over the next few days, Vale promoted me to Petty Officer and apparently decided that fetching her lunch was the best use of my new rank. Food, drinks, reports; I spent more time going in and out of her office than I did training.
I wanted that transfer badly enough to put up with it. Still felt like her bitch, though.
On the morning a large merchant ship docked in Shellstown, she sent me upstairs with a stack of reports. Her office was empty, and as I set them down, I noticed a folded note sticking out from under a ledger.
I checked the hallway and closed the door. Already an excellent start to the day.
The note was a list of payments, mostly names and amounts. Boring fraud-core paperwork, until I shifted the ledger far enough to read one of the smaller entries.
Protection fee received. Medicine provision denied until second payment clears.
I read it again, then checked the lines below. More payments, with dates beside them. Under the edge of the ledger sat a little pile of berries.
I thought about the old man holding his hat while Vale told him to bring more grain. How much did she take before anyone actually got what they'd paid for?
Footsteps sounded outside. I slid everything back into place and picked up the reports just as the door opened.
"Still here?" Vale asked.
"Just dropping these off."
She glanced at the papers and waved me out. "Leave them. You're needed in the yard."
I set them down again. "What's happening?"
"A disciplinary matter."
Great. Another lesson incoming.
...
The yard was busy with drills and men hauling supplies in from the docks. I recognised it from the show, the place where Zoro would eventually be tied up under Morgan. Right now, a crowd was gathering around two Marines and a barefoot kid.
I'd seen him near the harbour before, carrying baskets almost as big as he was. One Marine held him by the collar while the other had a small cloth bundle. The boy's lip was split, and dirt stuck to the sweat on his face.
The man holding him shoved him onto his knees as we approached.
"What's he done?" I asked.
"Caught him stealing from the supply store."
"I didn't steal!" The kid tried to stand, but the Marine hauled him back by his shirt. "My mum already paid!"
Vale stopped in front of him and held out her hand for the bundle. "What did he take?"
"Medicine powder, Captain."
My hands curled at my sides. Behind us, the drills were slowing as more men turned to watch.
"My sister's sick," the boy said. "Mum gave you the money last month. She said we could get help."
Vale opened the cloth, checked its contents and handed it back to the Marine. "Your name?"
"Toma. Please, Mira's getting worse."
"Your mother paid for protection, Toma. You can't help yourself to our supplies."
"But she spoke to you. She said you promised."
He looked around at the watching Marines, then at me. I was still standing beside Vale, wearing the same uniform as the men holding him.
"She hasn't got any more," he said. "My sister will die."
"Then she should have put something aside for medicine."
Toma stared up at her. "She paid you."
Vale turned to the man behind him. "Make an example of him."
The Marine hesitated, looking down at the boy's hands gripping his trouser leg.
"Now."
He shook Toma off and drew his baton. I caught it before it reached the kid's head, my boots skidding in the dirt beside him.
The Marine pulled against my grip. I held the wood in place while Toma crouched beneath us with his arms over his head.
"Voss," Vale said. "Let go."
Her recommendation, the transfer, whatever training I'd been hoping for; all of it depended on letting this man finish. I'd been fetching her drinks and telling myself two weeks would go quickly. Apparently, this was part of the job too.
"No."
The Marine tried using both hands. I pulled the baton free, nearly dragging him onto his face, and squeezed until the wood splintered in my fist. He backed away as I dropped the pieces.
"Get behind me, Toma."
He scrambled around my legs, staring at the cloth bundle the other Marine still held. I reached for it, and the man jerked his arm back.
"Give it here."
He glanced at the broken baton before letting me take it. I passed it back to Toma without turning away from Vale.
"Hold on to that."
"You are interfering with discipline," she said.
"His mother paid you."
"He was caught stealing."
"I saw the note in your office. You're withholding medicine until people pay you twice."
The Marine who'd held the bundle lowered his gaze. Vale took a step towards me, and I shifted to keep Toma behind my back.
"You've been going through my desk."
"Yeah. Found some interesting reading."
"Think very carefully about what you're doing, Voss. I just gave you a promotion. You're throwing that away in front of the entire branch."
I could feel Toma clutching the back of my uniform. That morning, I'd been pleased with myself for remembering how she liked her fucking drink.
"Keep it."
Vale rested her hand on her cutlass. "Over him?"
"Partly. I'm also getting pretty sick of you."
Someone in the crowd drew a sharp breath. I watched her fingers close around the hilt and stayed where I was.
"You took his mum's money. You've got the medicine sitting in a storeroom. Just give him the bloody thing. It would've been that easy."
"Enough."
Her cutlass came free, and the men nearest her moved aside. Toma pulled harder on my shirt.
"And that old man at the harbour," I continued. "He'd already paid too. You went back for his grain anyway. How much are you taking home from all this?"
"You will stand down."
She levelled the blade at me. I could see men reaching for their weapons around the yard, including a few I'd trained with. None of them would meet my eyes.
I'd spent days trying to make excuses for her. After the raid, I'd even stood there looking at seven dead prisoners and tried to understand. Here she was, ready to cut me down over a handful of medicine.
"You're just scum with paperwork."
"Watch your mouth."
I laughed, which probably didn't help. "Bit late for that, Captain. I'm going to tear this branch apart. You and every bastard helping you are done squeezing this town."
She adjusted her grip on the cutlass. I eased Toma's fingers out of my shirt and moved him back a step.
"And I'm going to kill you with my bare hands."
Vale smiled. "You really think you're strong enough?"
I opened my mouth, and she crossed the space between us.
Her blade passed across my throat before I got my hands up. I stumbled, clutching my neck, and blood poured between my fingers. My knees hit the dirt. I'd been about to say something clever; now I couldn't even draw a breath.
Fuck. Fuck, that was deep.
I pressed harder, trying to hold the wound shut. Blood ran down my wrists and soaked the front of my uniform, and every attempt to breathe came out wet. Someone shouted nearby. I couldn't make out the words over the pounding in my ears.
Vale stood in front of me with her blade lowered. Behind her, a Marine started easing his rifle back down.
Toma was saying my name. He'd crouched beside me, still holding the medicine, and I tried to push him back with my elbow. He needed to get away from her. I couldn't tell him. I couldn't get anything out.
Vale bent towards me.
"You could've gone far, Voss. Such a waste."
I tried to swear at her and choked instead. My hands were slipping against my neck, and I was starting to tip forward when the wheel in my hand twitched.
Clink.
Heat spread through my throat. The wound pulled beneath my palms, sending a sharp sting up into my jaw, and the blood slowed between my fingers. I stayed on my knees, afraid to take my hands away while the torn flesh drew together.
My next breath caught halfway in. I coughed blood onto the dirt, tried again, and managed a full lungful of air.
Oh, thank fuck.
I lowered one hand, then the other. My throat hurt when I swallowed, but nothing fresh ran down my chest. Beneath the blood, my fingers found a raised line of closed skin.
Vale was staring at my neck. I looked up at her and started laughing, carefully this time, because it still hurt like a bitch.
She brought her cutlass up as I stood. One of the Marines behind her swore, and several others backed into the men crowded around them. Toma stayed low beside my leg, clutching his bundle.
I wiped my chin on an already ruined sleeve. My knees still felt unsteady, and I'd just learnt exactly how badly I'd underestimated her. She'd also stopped smiling, which did wonders for my mood.
"Yeah," I rasped. "I'd adapt."
The Marine nearest Toma started to raise his rifle. I lunged at him.
…