Smokeless War - One Piece

(29)

"It's not as bad as it looks. I've had worse." Rubbing the scarring skin of the old wound I received from Mihawk on my arm, I suddenly got up not before Samuel bandaged my blisters though and gave me thicker, wooly socks. As I examined a spray of freckles across his nose and his intriguing hazel eyes, we fell into a comfortable silence as we do when he's bandaging my wounds.

My eyes suddenly flicked to a rickety old bell and its incessant ringing and I eyed it with confusion for a moment before Sam chuckled.

"Alright then, I think that's our queue to head to the kitchen."

****><****

Upon fleeing the room as the ringing absolutely did not stop, when we came upon the kitchen it was surprisingly well organized for one such as Samara. And where Samara was, her two conspirators were not far off.

Giving Bella and Jane a squeeze and nodding when Sam dismissed himself to put the bucket away and clean himself up a bit, I noticed some amazing smells coming from the stove tops and found the cook from the Fireside Pirates snapping at Samara as she held a huge kitchen knife incorrectly.

"How many times do I gotta tell you girl! You're gonna lose those fingers if that blade slips the wrong way and then what? No one ever heard of a one handed chef!" She scolded mercilessly, Samara rolling her eyes and earning a smack on the arm that she yelped at.

"Well I don't get to cook often!"

"You're about to, I was just thinking I need an apprentice chef." The older woman gave mischievous girl a thoughtful gaze.

"I don't want to be taught by you, old lady!"

As more violence ensued I steered clear of a sailing salt shaker and a splash of a thick, orange colored soup splashing the wall behind me and just barely missing the girls who immediately sat down out of the way.

"Could use a bit of salt, yes." I murmured after tasting a bit of the soup from the end of my finger. "May I be of any assistance Miss...?"

"Thank God." Samara muttered loudly, not at all fazed that her head chef had wrestled the knife away from her easily and was holding it threateningly whilst occasionally stirring another boiling pot.

"Ah, you're the lass that got drunk off yer ass yesterday. And beat up Tommy." She concluded, scrutinizing my outfit and the state of my hair which I noticed just now is crazily frizzy. Not only that, but she saw the absolute worse of me and I'm not sure I could make a better impression ever again. "I'm Olivia Jackson but this devilish crew calls me Olly, mighta met my good for nothin' husband."

"I'm sorry ma'am, I-" I stammered after a bit of silence, a dizzying feeling settling as I could think of no way to excuse my behavior.

"Welcome aboard. You're practically one of us." She laughed heartily and clasped my shoulder with a firm grip. "Alright alright, I'm sorry I took yer kitchen. This girl was in a pitiful state though, and who am I to refuse a favor?"

"A favor?" After a loud gasp to which she almost coughed up a lung at swallowing her spit, Samara growled. "Samuel Lucas!"

"Yea, ain't no way in hell I'd leave you alone in this kitchen." He chuckled as he walked in and gave me a wink I rolled my eyes at. "Ah, come on Mae, I saved the kitchen, maybe even the whole castle!"

My thoughtful gaze at his words earned me a sudden pinching of my cheeks to which I tried but couldn't break a certain blondie's grip on my skin.

At my yelp as she increased the pressure on my face, Sam pulled her away kicking and screaming literally.

"Aye Miss, when did this unsightly thing last eat?" He inquired breathlessly, still holding Samara firmly to which she finally calmed herself and snickered.

"That's not a very polite thing to call anyone, much less sweet Mae!"

My eyebrows shot up before the cook rolled her eyes and shoved a plate of bitter greens to Samara.

"Come off it, he was obviously talking about you. Best eat up before you turn 18, only pretty girls eat their greens."

After watching my eyes carefully as if to determine the truthfulness of that statement, she slowly shoveled the steamed greens in her mouth and wrinkled her face at the bitterness.

With Samara nagging Bella and Jane to eat them with her, I turned to the cook with a question at the tip of my tongue.

After turning her back to me she gestured to her side and I looked over her shoulder to look at the bubbling, rich broth.

"Beef bone broth. Ain't nothin really like it."

"How did you-"

"Course' this ain't beef bones. This is a fish stock cooked correctly."

I must have had my mouth open at her words, to which she laughed heartily and slapped my back.

After taking her offered tasting spoon and my mind officially being blown at how good the broth was, I'd never seen a smile quite so wide as hers.

"Come on, I'll teach you a few things I've picked up."

******

It was quite a good thing I didn't have training, if I was stuck outside again I might have forgotten how nice it is to be stuck inside.

I learned the proper way to debone a fish, take out the organs and drain its blood. She filleted fish so quick I was afraid she'd slice herself open instead. After hearing an embarrassingly loud rumble from my stomach, she kindly sat down with me as she'd sent everyone but Samara away and gave us each some of that rich fish soup.

"Now, and here's the fun part, you can suck out the eyeballs!"

"What!" Me and Samara chorused as she carefully scooped up the fish bone with a wooden spoon, my hand that was previously fanning my neck going straight to my mouth in shock.

Full bellied laughter was the only response at our exclamation as she..did unspeakable things and I turned away after a moment.

"So, wee one." Not sure why, but Olly opted for pet names instead of real names usually. "Where do you come from?"

"East ocean, miss." I answered after clearing my throat and blowing on spoon full of soup.

"I already told ya I'm no miss. Phillip says you're one of a kind. I think I know what he means now. What's your story? How does a little gal like you end up on the grand line in this sort of place?"

Still blowing on the soup in a feeble excuse not to speak for a moment, I took a sip and tried to ignore Samara's prying eyes. She usually had much to say so for her to be quiet like this..it was almost a bad omen.

"I'm not..well it's quite a long story." I replied, unsure if I should mention even a thing about how I ended up here. If Mihawk would rather it be kept quiet, lord knows Samara will not keep her mouth shut if she knew exactly what happened.

"I'll start, I told you in the beginning how my father is the second in command right? But you never met him that night on the ship and as far as you know, Jackson is the first mate?" Samara suddenly said, the words seemingly tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Yes..?"

"Samara.." Olly murmured, her eyes softening a bit but my friend started something she couldn't seem to wait to finish.

"My father has been missing for two years on the seas, because of those disgusting men." She shuddered, her hands shaking so much so she had to put the spoon down while I reached over and clasped her hand in mine.

"Who? Did someone..imprison him?"

"Yes." She stated with finality, no room for argument at least in her mind. "Those damned Whitebeard Pirates."

a/n: thank you for reading! I know it's a late update, honestly have not been 100% lately but I thought I should update before I completely stop my train for thought lol. also THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 2K READS!! please stick around, I dare say Mihawk hasn't had enough of Maera yet.