][Malice][ =One Piece=

:: Chapter Six ::

Until the age of six, the young girl had lived her life with a young woman in her late twenties, Izra; she was neither cruel nor kind. She wasn’t affectionate and quite honestly didn’t care if the little girl was alive or dead. The child was just a painful reminder to her, the thing that killed her dreams. All because at one point in time, when the child was an infant she took pity on her. From the day she found babe, she began to hate it.

                Izra was an understudy to a very beautiful and talented raven haired dancer. They danced in a very strict dance academy that traveled the world to perform. However, the raven haired dancer didn’t have a care in the world for rules; she was spoiled because she was the star of the show. She’d fallen in love with a pirate during their travels. Everyone believed it to be a fling and thought nothing more would come of it. A few weeks after their parting, the dancer became sick in the mornings. The dance academy worried the girl would ruin their reputation and threatened to fire her. Through sheer willpower alone, the young woman concealed the fetus within her stomach without any notice. A child was born completely unknown to the world and left to die in an alleyway. The young dancer couldn’t have such a burden to put an end to her career. Upon seeing the dancer’s cruel intent, Izra took in the babe and was cast out of the dance academy.

                One night when the young crimson haired girl was six, the young woman stumbled in late reeking of shame, sweat and alcohol. The young girl waited up for her matron, worried about the older woman’s safety. “You’re back pretty late.” She said quietly, “Should I make coffee?”

                Izra glared at the child, “It’s your fault I live this way.”

                This wasn’t unusual behavior for the inebriated woman. When she was drunk she’d often say mean things to the child, but she’d learned to tune it out. The young girl prepared the coffee in silence.

                “And you’re wretched mother.” Izra spat.

                Mother? The young girl turned to the woman curiously, “I have a mother?”

                “Of course you do.” Izra snapped, “She’s disgraceful and before you start getting all hopeful she thinks you’re the scum of this world and threw you out to die when you were born.”

                “Oh.” The young girl resumed her task, “Do I have a father?”

                Izra attempted to sit at the table with a sigh and ended up missing her chair. She fell to the floor with a loud ‘oof’ and hurled an empty bottle that she claimed caused her to fall at the child. It shattered against the small girl’s shoulder and she winced as tiny glass shards dug into her skin from the impact.

                “He’s a pirate.” Izra said softly feeling a pang of guilt for injuring the girl. Deep down she knew it wasn’t the child’s fault; it was the despicable mother of the child. “I’m sorry, girl.” She sighed, “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

                The young girl offered the woman a small smile, “It’s okay, just a scratch, I can barely feel it.” She attempted to sound brave.

                Izra shook her head as the young girl poured her a cup of coffee and prepared it how Izra preferred it. “Do you want to know more about him?” She asked the child.

                The girl nodded and sat at the table across from the sobering woman.

                A strong arm wound around Malice’s slender waist and she was suddenly drawn into someone’s muscular embrace and pressed against a well toned chest as a slew of bullets whizzed past. Her garnet eyes wildly scanned her surroundings. Somehow a massive fight had broken out while she was reminiscing.