A Forest Spirit Or A Fake?!

"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"

That was the sound that could be heard in the darkness of the lower deck of a ship, the source of the noise could be found in a corner of the dim lit space. Akiko slammed her hooves against the iron bars of the cage she was in but stopped suddenly with a long sigh. She had been at this for hours and her hooves where really starting to throb. It was no use unless she could have a running start to buck the bars they wouldn't budge an inch. She hated this small cage,it was cold,she hated the ship she was on,it smelt and was always damp. 

She...didn't like..the humans,they were nothing like Daisuke,they were mean,they stunk worse then the ship and they wouldn't even give her any apples! Just half rotten leftovers. She wasn't sure where they had all gone because the ship had been pretty quiet for a hour or so. But if she remembered right she heard one talking about land earlier that day. So she figured that this would of been her chance to escape. She got up again and scratched her head,it didn't help that her antlers were growing in the consent itch was starting to drive her mad!

"Focus! I have to focus!" She thought as she slammed her hooves on the bars again "If I don't get out of here soon they might come back and eat me!" She had over heard one of the crew members earlier that day joking about how if they didn't sell her soon they could eat her instead.

"swish-swish"

The hand held fan moved quickly on the rather warm day. The fan was held by a young woman with oddly styled dark hair. She moved at an almost lethargic pace. Fleur had been wandering in and out of local restaurants and cafes for the past several days, but the heat was growing unbearable. It was time for her to head back out to sea, though she planned to find a group willing to let her travel with them to the next island first. This being the case, Fleur was heading back to the inn she'd slept at the past few nights to finish packing, and escape into the cool building for a little bit.

Fleur hadn't always found warm weather to be unbearable, it had more or less started after she ate a certain fruit and became a snow woman. She was always careful to avoid people finding out in the places she visited. Devil Fruit powers weren't common in the Blues, and people weren't always receptive of the things they didn't understand. Passing the docks, the snow woman noticed a new ship in the harbor. Wow, that's a nice one. she mused, wondering who crewed the ship. Hey, maybe I could convince them to let me ride with them.

Fleur stopped walking and looked around for someone who could tell her who crewed the ship. Preferably she wanted someone who did crew the ship, then she could secure a ride sooner rather than later.

Silence filled the air around the ship,it seemed like many of the crew were gone and left the ship empty so when a loud crash suddenly sounded out in the air it sounded much louder then normal. The sound of wood and glass breaking quickly followed by the sounds of heavy metal clattering and then more glass breaking.

Down below Akiko groaned and looked around her,broken glass and wooden boxes laid scattered round her along with large round balls that she had once seen the crew shoot at another ship. She had been off with her last buck and one of her legs had gone between the bars  and had hit a small create causing it to break and give away making the other much larger boxes on top it fall and break open many of them full of important looking things made of glass and other things. Akiko had no idea that they were priceless vases and stautes that the crew had stolen.

With all this debris in her way she could possible open the cage from inside as she had plan...she was stuck...with no way out. Her eyes widened in fear at the thought of what the humans would do when they found out she had broken their things trying to escape..Her ears fell flat and her eyes filled with tears with tears but she quickly tried to wipe them away but was quickly losing the battle to keep calm. "They will eat me for sure now.." She says as the tears spilled from her large green eyes.

"Crash"

The sound caught Fleur's attention, and it seemed to come from the ship. She looked back and forth to see how people around reacted, but no one else really seemed to notice. A few others glanced towards the ship but did nothing. Without thinking, Fleur boarded the ship and looked around. Wait, what in the world am I doing? If they catch me I'm definitely not getting a ride to the next island! she thought having a moment of panic. Her fan had fallen to her side, dangling by the silver chain that kept it attached to Fleur's belt.

Well, actually they might. It doesn't seem like anyone's around, that crash could mean there is a stowaway on board or a thief. her mind worked quickly to rationalize her actions. Cautious, Fleur began searching the ship for where the sound had come from. She felt stressed, knowing if one of the ships crew came back, things wouldn't be to good for her. A loop around the main deck showed up nothing, so, sucking in a deep breath, Fleur started below deck. She silently cursed herself for being unable to stop herself. This is so unlike me, but hey this ship is really nice. Hopefully no one will catch me, then I can convince them to give me a ride.

Fleur reached the bottom of the ship and looked around. It was dimly lit, and she noticed debris everywhere. With all the glass and stuff, it was possible someone was hurt. The snow woman sucked in a breath before calling out, "Is anyone here?" her voice rang out through the mostly empty ship.

Akiko's ears perked up,she could hear the footsteps of someone coming down the stairs. But it was strange the steps was much lighter then any other human she had heard before. It sounded very strange indeed. Then all of a sudden she heard a voice call out in the darkness.

"Is anyone here?"

The voice was much lighter and softer then any human's voice she had ever heard, but then she had never been around a female human before,so all she knew was this person wasn't apart of the group of mean people. This made her whimper in fear at the thought of even more mean humans before she quickly put her hands over her mouth to keep herself quiet but it was too late,she had made a much louder whimper then intended.

Fleur listened for a response, she was about to give up on getting one when she heard a whimper. A whimper? she thought frowning. Maybe someone really was hurt. She determined the direction the whimper had come from, before walking towards it. Soon she noticed a cage, and the pile of debris that had more than likely been the cause of the noise.

Fleur's gaze scanned the broken crates, assuming the whimper had come from around there. Oddly, she didn't notice anyone under any crates like she'd assumed. her gaze then drifted surveying the rest of the area. Fleur almost looked over the cage, before she noticed that there was something in there. But it wasn't a something, it was a someone.

Fleur walked over to the side of the cage and peered inside at the one inside, "Are you alright in there?"

Akiko could hear the footsteps getting closer...and closer..and closer. Her eyes grew wider and her heart pounded hard in her chest. But she had no where to run and no real way to hide now. So where a strange face came into her field of vision she did the only think she could,freak out and beg for her life. "I'm sorry I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break everything! Please don't eat me! I wouldn't even make a single meal!" She says as her tears fall to the cage floor and she covers her head with her arms and scarf to protect herself as if expecting to be hit.

After a moment she decided to risk it and one of her large green doe eyes peeked out from under the scarf.

At Akiko's outburst, Fleur quickly stepped back holding her arms up, "Whoa there, eat you? Who said anything about eating anyone?! I certainly did not!" As she spoke, Fleur studied the girl in the cage. As it turned out, the girl wasn't exactly human. Even in the dim light, Fleur could tell Akiko was a centaur. "Say, your a centaur right? I didn't know those existed, what are you doing down here?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Fleur mentally kicked herself. The girl was clearly terrified and should be calmed down first. "Scratch those first few questions, are you alright? There's broken glass and splintered wood everywhere. Are you trapped in there? Would you like some help getting out?" Fleur stepped closer to the cage again and looked in at the centaur girl. Fleur had already decided, that something was off. The girl was clearly terrified and from what Fleur could tell, she wasn't someone that would do something to get locked up like this. That only meant one thing, that this ship wasn't what it seemed.

Akiko wiped away her tears and she nods "You aren't going to eat me...?" She asks before giving a relived sigh. When asked if she was alright she gave another soft sob but she was able to hold back her tears this time"I want to go home..." She says as she pulled her scarf around herself tighter. 

It was then she noticed the lighter tone she had,it was so much unlike all the deeper rough voices of all the other humans she had come across. Now that she looked closer she could see that this person looked very...feminine and really pretty. Then suddenly the pieces all clicked together and she gasps pointing at her in shock "You are a female human!...I didn't think they would be so pretty.." She says tilting her head to the side in thought.

Then suddenly she remembers that she was still trapped in a cage on a strange ship that belonged to some very mean and nasty humans and griped the bars. "I tried to break the bars but they are really strong...do you have the shiny jingle jingles to open the door?!" She asks hope shining in her eyes.The jingle jingles she was talking about was most likely the keys to the cage.

A faint blush crept up Fleur's cheeks when she was told she was pretty. Fleur shook her head slightly, now wasn't a good time to get hung up over a compliment. "Um, right the keys. No I don't have the keys, but I might be able to get you out anyways." Fleur began examining the lock and then the bars of the cage itself. She moved some of the debris around as she looked things over. "Let me see... maybe that would work... then again it's kind of warm... it's worth a shot..." her muttering was loud enough for Akiko to hear.

"Alright, um, oh, I don't know your name yet! I'm Fleur. Anyways, we're going to work together for this. When metal gets really cold, sometimes it becomes brittle too." Fleur explained, "So I am going to make the metal bars of the cage really cold, and maybe they'll shatter when you kick them." She had to hope this would work, otherwise she'd be stuck trying to find the keys.

Without waiting for a confirmation on whether or not the centaur had understood the plan, Fleur closed her eyes and grabbed two of the bars on the cage. Concentrating on her hands, the air around her grew cooler and her hands changed color from Fleur's normal skin tone to snow white. In fact, Fleur's hands were snow. She knew she could only get the metal to at least -2 degrees Celsius, but hopefully that would be enough.

"My name is Akiko.." She said before tilting her head and was about to ask how she was going to make the bars cold enough, but stopped upon seeing the frost starting to coat part of the bars and the already weakened metal start to groan.

She tries to not stare in shock at the sight of Fleur's hands turning to snow,maybe she was born like that and like Akiko was sensitive about that part of herself. Humans really were much stranger then she thought.

But she was snapped out of her thoughts as the groaning got louder. "Alright, lets try this again...you might want to stand back" She says as she turns around and raises her hind legs "1! 2! 3!" She says before slamming her hooves hard into the bars, they bent but didn't break "One more time!" She says before counting again and then slamming her hooves on the bars again this time with as much force as she could.

Fleur's eyes snapped open and retracted her hands from the bars. As she pulled them away they returned to looking like normal human hands with no traces of the snow they'd resembled moments before. Stepping back a few paces, the snow woman watched apprehensively as Akiko tried kicking. "Oh, so close!" she exclaimed hopefully, "One more should do it!" Fleur crossed her fingers hopefully, wanting the second kick to do the trick and break the bars.

The air around them was cooler now, thanks to Fleur using her devil fruit powers, but she still grabbed hold of her fan and began fanning herself. This time was more out of habit than anything else. Something Fleur should have been doing instead was to listen for people returning to the ship, but she wasn't doing that. Fleur's attention was on getting Akiko out of that cage.

With one last kick the bars broke with a groan and a snap allowing her just enough room to squeeze out. She stepped out slowly her legs shaking slightly,there hadn't been much room in the cage for walking so she wasn't surprised when she suddenly feel on her face. 

Luckily she had cleared the broken glass and wood but that didn't mean the fall still didn't hurt. "Ow.." She says rubbing her forehead her ears moving in all directions as she set up with a sigh. "Its like learning to walk all over again..."

"Don't worry, you'll remember quickly enough." Fleur began before looking around, "We should really get out of here though, We've been lucky so far, but if we get caught now it won't be very good."

Fleur began moving back to where she'd descended to the lower floor of the ship, her fan falling back to her side on its silver chain. "Follow me, We'll get you off this ship and find a hiding spot on the island." she said, glancing back at Akiko.

Akiko followed her shakily up the stairs "They took my bow,I have to get it back!" She says before shielding her eyes from the sudden bright sunlight that stung her eyes. She had been in that damp dark place for much too long. Now that she could stretch her legs and feel the sun on her back she felt a bit more relaxed.

Her nose twitched as she smelt the air. Catching Fleur's scent she couldn't help but smile,she smelt like flowers and warm food,she felt she could trust her but still she couldn't leave without Morning Star and her quiver..She could never forgive herself if she left behind something so close to her heart.

"Your bow? Where do you think they'd keep that?" Fleur asked, looking around warily as they stepped out onto the main deck of the ship. "If you don't know, that's fine we can look around for it, though we'll have to be fast." She was beginning to worry about timing. Any minute now someone could come and catch them on the ship. That would more than likely mean a fight at this point. Fleur wanted to avoid fighting if at all possible.

Now that they were back in the sunlight, Fleur had another thing to worry about, melting. It would be really bad if Fleur melted now, and it would probably freak Akiko out. She didn't want to put the centaur through that kind of stress after being locked in a cage for god knows how long. That in mind, out came the fan. Snapping it open, Fleur began fanning herself.

"In there.." She pointed towards a large door that sat on top some stairs. Without waiting for Fleur to follow. It was only when she had entered the room that it would become clear where most of the crew had been at the time..

All around her snoring could be heard from the sleeping pirates. It seemed she was in a dining hall of sorts,spilled food and drink laid where it had fallen, the remains of a feast it seems, one of witch many of the crew had drunk until they passed out.

At the other end of the room was her prize,the silver and gold bow hung with its partner off an empty chair...Now she had to just reach it without waking up any of the crew...Easy right?

Fleur looked towards the door Akiko had pointed out. Seeing as the centaur didn't wait for her, Fleur had no choice but to follow her over to the door. Fleur was surprised when her ears were greeted with the sounds of snoring men.

Her gaze scanned the room with a slight scowl, the mess irked her beyond believe. These men are slobs, though I can't complain to much, because of how drunk they obviously got, they didn't hear the banging around from below. she thought, her gaze resting on the bow and quiver hanging off a chair. Casting a glance at Akiko, Fleur assumed this was the bow they'd taken from then centaur. Now they just had to get it back without waking the men.

"I'll get it, you wait here Akiko." Fleur murmured, her voice quiet. Without waiting for a response, Fleur began picking her way over to the chair with the bow. She made certain to place her feet carefully, avoiding the unconscious men strewn about the place, and making sure the boards wouldn't creak when Fleur's full weight was placed on it.

Reaching the bow, Fleur lifted it and its companion off the chair and began making her way back. She was almost there when a board creaked beneath her feet. Fleur froze in place, and looked at Akiko with dismay.

Akiko's eyes widened as the creak sounded out,her ears standing up straight in shock moving only slightly as she listened for any movements of the men. She held up her hand to signal Fleur to stop at the sound of a chair creaking. One of the men had stopped snoring and had opened a tired eye. But even as it scanned over Fleur it seemed sleep was taking over his mind. So with a snort he closed his eye and turned away, snoring quickly coming from him once again.

With a soft sigh Akiko motioned Fleur to keep going. But her ears remained straight up listening for any more noises no matter how small.

Fleur waited, not even daring to breath. Her gaze stayed locked on Akiko. She waited until Akiko beckoned her forward. She began walking again, being especially careful the rest of the way to the door. Fleur didn't dare breath until she was out the door. It took her a moment to calm herself enough to speak.

"Quick, close the door, but quietly!" Fleur whispered to Akiko. Her hand went up to adjust her grey and white scarf. Gosh that had been terrifying, she had been so certain they'd be caught. It seemed that luck was on their side for the time being.

Akiko held her breath until she had closed the door quickly, listening as it closed with a soft click.Once that was done she let out a soft sigh of relief. Then she quickly turned and took the bow and quiver from Fleur inspecting it for and damage her face full of worry as she does so. Upon seeing no such damage she lets out another relieved filled sigh.

 "Thank goodness...No Damage." She says before putting both the bow and quiver on her back. After fixing the strap of her quiver at finding it little loose,most likely from the resent weight she had lost she looked up at Fleur with a smile. "Lets get out of here before they wake up" She then put a hand on her stomach as it let out a low growl "Then maybe I can find something to eat...Apples sound so good right about now.." She thought as her ears laid to the sides.

"Yeah, lets get out of here." Fleur agreed, before beginning to lead the way to the point she'd boarded the ship. "We should be able to get off here, I had a room at a nearby inn, though I don't think bringing you there is a good idea. So we'll find a spot outside of town to hide, then I'll come back and get my things, and some food." she added upon hearing Akiko's stomach growl.

Disembarking, Fleur waited on the docks for Akiko. It was then that she resumed fanning herself, seeing as Fleur was now out in the open. She couldn't afford to relax just yet, not until she was sure Akiko had a good place to hide while she retrieved her things from the inn. A sudden thought caused her to look around and count the number of people on the docks, Based on appearance alone, Akiko will probably cause a commotion. she thought, now worrying about it.

Akiko followed behind Fleur she could already feel the people staring at her,she could hear the whispers as they talked about her "What a strange creature" "Its freaky" "Its a monster" With each word a nail felt like it was being driven into her chest. But then she heard it "What is that girl doing with that monster..?" They were talking about Fleur now?...Was she...Causing trouble for her?

Akiko could handle when others talked about her,she could handle the insults and the staring. Sure it hurt,each time it was like a nail being driven into her chest,but still she could handle it. But if it caused trouble for others...it was something she couldn't handle.

 "U-Um...Miss Fleur?" She asks as she gently garbed onto the humans sleeve. "Thank you..But...I've already caused you enough trouble as it is...I will be fine on my own here on out" She says looking up at her with a smile. Her eyes were closed as she does so,because she knew if she opened them the tears she held back would spill over like a dam being broken. "Just once...Just once don't cry" She thought to herself.

Once they were both off the ship, Fleur led the way towards the outskirts of the town. She paid little attention to the people whispering to one another about the "monster." Truthfully Fleur didn't care all that much, she was planning to leave the town soon enough anyways, so their impressions of her didn't matter all that much. When Akiko grabbed her arm, Fleur turned to the centaur and listened before responding.

"It's no trouble, honestly. I don't mind helping you Akiko," Fleur began, "And it wouldn't feel right if I just up and left you to fend on your own at this point. Those guys are bound to search for you when they realize you are gone. So, I want to make sure you can get away from them for good, not just for the time being." She spoke adamantly. Fleur really wasn't going to let Akiko loose on her own now, after all, The towns people had already seen the two together. If those guys from the ship start asking around, they'd probably point out Fleur, who had been spotted with the Akiko. So by helping Akiko evade recapture, Fleur would be helping herself avoid it too.

Akiko nodded slowly giving a soft sigh of defeat,it seemed Fleur was set on helping her for now. "Humans sure are stubborn.." She thought as she released the soft grip on Fleur's sleeve. "Alright if you really don't mind.." She says before continuing to follow her.

It wasn't long before the surroundings started to really bother her,so many noises,so many sounds and so many humans staring as they made their way thought the town. It made her nervous and her ears and eyes were darting constantly in different directions "Are all human settlements like this?" She asks with a slight nervous shake in her voice.