Dark Ties: A One Piece Romance (Law x Reader)

Chapter 1: Shift in the Tides

My body lies in an open space

Drifting and flowing to the ocean's grace

My eyes water from the bullying sun

My journey to Eden has inevitably begun

Waves sing their siren song

Skin melting to bare bones before long

The sky's scavengers circle, forming my halo above

I wonder if up there I will finally uncover pure love

On the edge of the New World drifted a plank of what once was a piece of a deck of a ship. Its crew had long since been eaten up by the sea in a relentless storm over a week ago. Their fates were the sad result of underestimating the power of the New World and its seas. Surrounded by this deep blue that stretched for miles was a young woman laying on this plank, scribbling what she thought would be her final thoughts onto a piece of paper. Her lips were dryer than a desert, her skin scorched by the sun. She managed to survive this long on her wits and luck, but it seems she had reached the end overcome by dehydration. Sun stroke did not help in this case, her not being able to keep any food down that she caught from the waters below. Her mind spun to the point she were borderline hallucinating, her head pounding in unimaginable pain.

With a final stroke of her pencil, she collapsed having used the rest of her energy into scribing her words. She stared up at the baking sun. "Curse you..." she tried to laugh before her passing. Her eyes closed gently, her lips curled in a peaceful smile.

What she assumed to be a whip in the tide was actually submarine emerging from the depths. She heard the sound of whirring engines, barely having the strength to turn her head towards the sound. She assumed it to be only a hallucination and closed her eyes once more. A few moments later as the water settled, a hatch creaked open for a man with raven hair to emerge. He peeked from the hatch studying the situation. A petite body sprawled helplessly on the driftwood. Her skin had been burnt to a crimson red it practically glowed, the shade in sharp contrast with her silver hair that laced along the floor boards. She had stripped down to just a black cloth that she wrapped around her delicates that once was probably a dress. The remaining cloth was used as a small tent, not at all big enough to shield her whole body. Under the tiny shelter there was a wooden contraption that he did not have a clue about, a few staggering books, a black suitcase, and roles of paper.

Assuming the scene was safe, he leaped over to the castaway, softly landing so the raft didn't wobble. From the looks of the girl's emaciated face, she appeared to be dead. He swung a nodachi that was perched on his shoulder down towards the body, and gently nudged it to check for signs of life. Not getting a response, he knelt down to get a closer examination. He picked up a limp arm and checked for a pulse. It was so faint he couldn't be sure. Coming to his knees, he rested the side of his head on her chest to check for a heartbeat. After a couple seconds, he could hear a quiet thump in her lungs. He grew concerned realizing the heartbeat was picking up speed...

"AHH!!"

He gasped at the surprise of what he thought was a corpse scream and jump back in fright. She didn't get too far, the pain being too immense. That didn't stop her from taking out a peculiarly long needle and pointing it in his direction with malice. The picture was quite haunting to the man.

"Don't come any closer." Her voice scratched, "Who are you? Are you a mirage?"

"No. But I am a doctor." He calmly said.

"What on earth is a doctor doing out here?" She asked, but the excitement was starting to make her keel over. She heaved and let out a deathly cough, writhing from the burn in her throat.

"I think you have bigger problems." He approached her, easily disarming her. "Come with me. I can help you." He adorned the most interesting slate-grey eyes, completely void of color. The starving woman took a long look into them, weighing her options. It was either certain death, or possibly death. Coming to terms with the obvious option, her adrenaline had ceased causing her body to collapse once again. He sighed, and proceeded to hoist her weak body over his shoulder, his nodachi on the other.

She was light as a feather. He leaped back onto the deck of his ship, his crew-mates circling around them with incredible curiosity at what he had snatched from the raft. "Take her into the infirmary." He commanded, handing her body over to some men prepared with a stretcher. He watched as she was taken away inside, then back to the raft.

He glanced over the objects scattered about, debating whether or not it was worth retrieving them or not. He decided it would be good to brisk through her belongings to get a sense at who exactly he was saving. His feet touched down once again against the planks, and he began rummaging. He carefully unrolled the scrolls and found himself marveling at colorful paintings. These paintings consisted of various landscapes, some that he was even familiar with. One particular painting caught his eye, featuring a landmass that rose majestically from the waters, gentle snow falling all around. Waters were painted with beautiful violets and blues, framing a bird-like island coated in white. "Swallow..." he muttered. He was in disbelief as well as pained with bad memories that the image brought. At the feeling of his throat tightening up, he rolled the paper back up, and continued his investigating trying to brush that moment of weakness aside. The wooden contraption he studied but still couldn't make out what it was supposed to be. He decided to conclude his search with skimming through the lady's books. These books turned out to be journals, filled with diary passages and poetry from the looks of it.

He made the decision to bring these items aboard, wanting to further investigate her journals. He did not consider things like respecting someone's privacy when it came to a possibility of his crew being in danger. Right now she was in no shape whatsoever to perform anything drastic, but it still was worth being cautious bringing a stranger aboard. For all he knew, she could have dark ties with an enemy. She could have a reason for becoming a castaway, having been thrown overboard or banished from somewhere for being a criminal...and what of her hair...? Why was it silver?

He shook his head to stop trailing off in thought. He had to get back to his ship. "Room". With a turn of his palm, a blue transparent mass engulfed the raft. In an instant, the supplies had disappeared with a flick of his fingers. He jumped swiftly through the air back on deck. Just about everyone had gone down below to either aid the girl or return to their duties. "Let's continue our course." He ordered his navigator.

"Yes, captain!"

The remaining crew scurried into the submarine as it began to sink back below the depths. The captain casually made his way towards the infirmary, one hand in his pocket, the other still clutching his weapon. A smile crept over his face at the little mystery he had let aboard his ship, thinking it maybe will give him some entertainment during this long voyage.