Wyper and Raki
Chapter 3: Wyper and Raki
When Aisa came out of the Woods shouting that she had found a wounded man who needed help, he hadn’t known what to expect.
Picking her up to ensure they got there as fast as possible, they followed her directions to a small secluded beach.
As Aisa had said, there was a man there, lying face down on the white sand. There were marks imprinted on the ground, signalling that the body had recently been dragged from the water’s side, most probably by Nola, who now stood over him, her big head dwarfing the man’s body.
God took a step forward, but he stopped him from approaching. They couldn’t be sure that the man was really unconscious and not waiting for a chance to kill him. It was their job, as God’s Guards, to make sure that didn’t happen.
Aisa had been about to rush forward towards the man when he signalled for one of his fellow Guards to stop her too.
With a deep frown, Wyper crouched down next to Nola, his body blocking the man from the girl’s view. The stranger might be dead and there was no need for her to see it; the war was over and there was no sense in letting the children see any more of its pain and misery.
Reaching a hand out, he grabbed the foreigner’s ―for the lack of wings on his back spoke for itself― shoulder and turned him over onto his back. What met his eyes was unusual to say the least.
Since Enel’s defeat more than a year and a half previously, the only foreigners to step foot on Skypiea had been pirates. Few of them had been like the Mugiwara Crew.
It was something they had expected, quite honestly. The paths leading up to the Sky Islands were still too dangerous ―not to say unknown― for civilians to make their way there and, since they had nothing to do with the World Government, the marines didn’t bother with them either.
Of the pirates who had made their way to them ―traveling through the High West Route and losing most of the crew in the process―, most had been an unsavoury sort, a heavy contrast to the Mugiwaras, wanting nothing more than to take their riches which apparently meant the little gold they could find, their dials or their women. Not that they ever got far with any of the three.
Apart from the pirates, the only ones to have made it so far were the bounty hunters following them, who often weren’t much better than the guys they were pursuing.
This man ―Wyper was still unsure if that was the correct term, seeing as he didn’t look even as old as twenty― didn’t look like he fit in any of those two categories, but he’d hold back on his judgement. Appearances could be deceiving.
He was lean under the soaking wet clothing, with wavy black hair and pale skin that contrasted deeply with the freckles on his cheeks. His chest fell and rose weakly, so he was still alive, but it wouldn’t last long if they didn’t get him the right care as fast as possible.
The sound of footsteps alerted him to someone’s approach and the Shandia warrior looked up to see God kneeling carefully at the stranger’s other side, the sand clinging to his clothes.
Any protest he might have voiced died at the shift in God’s expression. Following his line of sight, Wyper found himself staring at the unconscious man once more, unsure of what had caught Gan Fall’s attention so firmly.
“Kamakiri, could you fetch Raki and tell her that her services are needed at my old house? We’ll take this young man there.”
Kamakiri nodded and hurried away to carry out God’s orders whilst Wyper’s frown deepened. Gan Fall looked pensieve as he brushed some hair away from the stranger’s forehead before looking at him.
Without a word, Wyper scooped the lax body up into his arms, the head lolling to the side until the foreigner’s face rested against his chest.
In the back of his mind, curiosity burned like a hot coal, even as he frowned in disapproval at whatever Gan Fall had planned.
HPOPHPOPHPOPHPOP
They didn’t have to wait long for Raki to appear and the woman got to work quickly, treating the stranger without asking questions.
After the war ended, Raki had opened a café with Conis. It was a popular place in the island. But it wasn’t so easy to leave behind the life of a warrior. Tired of all the death, but unable to truly leave all the fighting behind ―especially when most of hers and Conis’ clients were pirates and the blond didn’t know the first thing about fighting―, so she had asked the healers to teach her.
It turned out she had a natural talent as a doctor.
She had just told them her patient needed rest to recover and wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon when a groan warned them of the exact opposite. They all looked surprised when the foreigner’s eyes opened.
Breathtakingly vulnerable green eyes swept over them, hazy with pain even as their owner struggled to push away from the bed. He was quiet obviously in a bad shape, but he stubbornly pushed on. Raki’s hand on his chest, now covered by a blanket after they’d got him out of his soaking wet clothing, stopped him from sitting up.
“Young man, you need rest to recover.” Admonished Gan Fall in a gentle voice.
“Can’t…” moaned the young man, clearly feverish and maybe even delirious. “My- my nakama… he is… where-”
The people in the room exchanged a surprised look. Of all the things to be worried about in his state, his first thought was for his nakama and not himself.
Wyper was suddenly strongly reminded of another black-haired boy who passionately protected his nakama against all odds. The Mugiwara Crew had left them all with unforgettable memories and had marked each of them in a different way.
Perhaps that’s why Kalgara’s descendant found himself next to the bed’s edge, firmly pushing the young man down on the bed, his dark bottomless eyes peering down at him.
“I have to… my friend- Gin-”
Green held and ensnared black eyes, a kind of desperate hope in their depths.
“I will find your nakama.” A beat of silence. Watching, judging the sincerity. Heavy lidded eyes started to close. “Rest.”
The eyes closed completely, breathing slowing and muscles relaxing. Wyper stared a second longer. Nobody said anything as the warrior turned on his heel and stalked out of the house.
HPOPHPOPHPOPHPOP
When Raki walked out of the house to get some fresh air, she was assaulted by Aisa and Nola. The giant snake was wrapped around a tree, with her head alone resting on the ground and young Aisa perched on top of it.
“Raki, Raki! Has the man woken up? Is he alright? Wyper wouldn’t tell us! What’s wrong with him now? Where did he go? Why can’t we see-”
Tha Shandia woman chuckled as the child stopped to breath in deeply, preparing to deliver another barrage of questions. Raki held up a hand, though, and Aisa seemed to deflate before her very own eyes.
“The man is resting, Aisa. It is going to take a while before he recovers from nearly drowning.”
“That’s good.” Sighed the girl. “Why couldn’t Wyper say so? He left in a hurry and Kamakiri and Genbo didn’t explain either.”
“Well, the man woke up for a moment. Apparently, he has some nakama with him and Wyper has gone to find them.”
She didn’t share the scene she had witnessed, tough. The stranger’s desperation or how it had seem to awaken Wyper’s compassion seemed like something too private. Raki understood just too well how moving it had been.
“Oh. Nakama? Is he a pirate, then?”
“We don’t know, Aisa. He wasn’t awake that long…”
Or truly lucid.
Aisa released an explosive sigh before flopping back down on Nola’s head.
“Well, I won’t move from here until he wakes.”
“Really?” Raki gave a sly smile. “Aren’t you supposed to have a shift at the Rubber Band Land?”
“Oh, no! The boss won’t like it! Raki, don’t laugh! Ahhh! I gotta hurry!”
Slowly, as the girl’s exclamations got further and further away, her laughter diminished until it was but a soft chuckle. Nola raised her enormous head from the floor and Raki gently rubbed her scales. Nola’s curious eyes were on the house and the woman sighed.
“I have a feeling things will be changing around here soon, Nola.”
She wasn’t wrong.
HPOPHPOPHPOPHPOP
The first place Wyper and his two companions made their way to was the same place Aisa had found the foreigner at, on the sea’s shore. It didn’t take them long to realise their self-imposed task was going to be much harder than they’d thought.
They had nothing to go on. They didn’t know how many people they were looking for, whether they had suffered the same fate of the stranger or not or even how to recognise them if they did find them.
In the end, it seemed luck was on their side as they were notified that a stranger had appeared in the village asking for help in finding a companion from whom he’d got separated. It couldn’t be this easy, could it?
The three Shandia made their way to the village, following the Guard who’d delivered the information.
Upon arrival, Wyper took in the situation in the blink of an eye.
There was a man leaning against a stone wall, a Guard holding him up on the other side whilst a woman tried to treat the sluggishly bleeding wound on his shoulder even as he tried to get free of their grip.
“Wyper-sama!” called the guard. “This man needs medical care, but he’s refusing, sir! We didn’t know what to do!”
“I already told you: I’m fine. I need to find my friend.” Pressed the wounded man, a stubborn set to his jaw as he tried once more to take a step forward despite their protests.
The man himself attracted enough attention without adding the situation to the mix, thought the Shandia warrior studying him.
As if the telling lack of wings wasn’t enough to set him apart from the other inhabitants of the Sky Islands, his scruffy appearance marked him as an almost certain pirate. His wet attire consisted on white pants and a dark green shirt with a waist-high white and blue jacket, two red snakes drawn on each side. One of the long sleeves was ripped, showing the red gash slowly oozing blood.
He had dark spiky hair, barely held back by a white and blue headband, slanted eyes underlined with dark bags, a pointed nose and a wide mouth. The six o’clock shadow of a beard he wore and the two red ball earrings piercing his ears only added to his gruff appearance, making him look older than he probably was.
The warrior didn’t miss how his eyes swept over them in return, studying them just as carefully before speaking. His voice was still a rasp.
“Are you the authority around here?” Wyper raised an eyebrow, letting the foreigner take his non-answer as he wished. “My friend and I got separated when our ship got caught on an upwards water current. We lost our things in the accident, but if you’d help me find him I’d find a way to pay you back.”
Wyper was surprised, but made an effort not to show it. If he was telling the truth and they’d got there on the Knock-Up-Stream without wanting to, it was a miracle that they were even alive.
For a beat, nobody said anything, everyone looking between the stubborn man and the pensive warrior.
“There will be no need for that.” Finally declared the Shandia.
The stranger’s hands clenched into fists as a heavy frown creased his brow. He had quite obviously jumped to the wrong conclusion and he almost sighed. He’d never been the best with words.
“What Wyper meant to say with that,” intervened Kamakiri, sensing his friend’s annoyance. “is that there is no need to look for your friend because we have already found him.”
At his words, the stranger took a shaky step forward, his breathing heavy but hope barely hidden in his eyes. Still, there was wariness there.
“You’ve found Karasu?”
“Karasu?” repeated the warrior, his voice only half-interested. “Is that his name?”
Personally, Wyper thought he liked his own name for him better.
“We found him half-drowned and he’s still unconscious after receiving medical treatment, so we didn’t get his name.” explained Kamakiri.
“Is he alright?” asked the stranger, worry seeping into his voice. “Where is he? I want to-”
His words cut off abruptly as he wheezed, the hand that had held him upright against the wall flying to his wounded shoulder. The woman that had been trying to treat him slipped onto his side to stop him from falling with the Guard’s help.
“What nonsense are you speaking? You can’t go anywhere; you need treatment!” she exclaimed.
“I’m fine.” Pressed out the man. “I’d rather see my friend is too.” His eyes hadn’t left them. “Can you take me to him?”
“But-”
“Raki is there. She can treat his wound whilst he checks on his friend.” Offered Kamakiri. He was the most level-headed of them ―when Raki wasn’t there, as was the case― and Wyper’s most trusted, so it usually fell on him being their voice and this time was no different.
“That’s fine by me.” Agreed the stranger.
“How can we be sure he is who he says he is?” spoke up for the first time Genbo.
Genbo was a more silent kind of man, watching and only speaking up when he truly thought it necessary. As usual, he brought a good point to their attention.
“I’m not lying. He’s got black hair and the greenest eyes you’ve seen, right? With a white mask covering his face.”
“Mask?” repeated Wyper with an arched eyebrow. “There was no mask on him.”
The pirate frowned, but didn’t seem deterred.
“Must have lost it in the sea.” He muttered, more to himself than to them.
Wyper almost sighed. They were getting nowhere with this.
“We’ll keep an eye on him and if he steps out of line… well, we’ll deal with him.” Said Kalgara’s descendant in a low voice, an undercurrent of finality on his tone.
HPOPHPOPHPOPHPOP
“May I know the name of my patient?” asked Raki as she guided the man to a chair.
“Gin.” Offered the stranger as the Shandia woman signalled for him to take off his shirt.
“I’m Raki.” She said in return, busying herself with getting her supplies ready. “Are you a pirate, Gin?”
She wasn’t even trying to be subtle in her digging for information, too curious after her fellow Guards explained the situation to her. Besides, this man didn’t seem the kind to appreciate underhanded tactics, more the kind to close off.
A slow nod was her answer.
“Where’s your crew?”
“It’s just Karasu and I, for now.”
Raki hummed under her breath, taking a seat before him with a wet cloth.
“Ah, yes, my mystery patient. He was rather distraught when he woke, wanted to up and leave to search for his nakama. He wasn’t in any state to do so and it took Wyper offering to find you for him to calm down and fall asleep. You must be real close; how did you meet?”
As she spoke, the woman cleaned out the wound on his shoulder from dried blood and anything that may have got in it, revealing a long cut, not too deep. Good, it wasn’t anything serious, despite how much it had bled. A few stitched and he would be fine as long as no infection set in.
“Lent him a hand when a few idiots tried to rob him; not that he needed it. I’d just split up from my former crew and he offered to let me accompany him till I found another one. Been travelling with him since then.”
“When was that?”
“A little over a month ago.”
His answer made her look up from the open cut, surprised. A month and they were willing to risk their health for the other? Her emotions must be written all over her face, for his lips quirked up a little in the corners.
“It’s difficult to explain, but… he’s different. Gets under your skin.”
The small wince when he shrugged his shoulders brought her back to the task at hand.
“Don’t move.” Her voice commanding. “I’m going to stitch it up and put some salve on it to prevent an infection.”
Gin nodded, refusing anything for the pain and gritting his teeth against it as she got started.
“What kind of person can inspire such loyalty?” asked Raki, even though she could easily recall having met someone similar not that long ago.
She didn’t get an answer and, when she looked up at her patient after finishing the stitches, she found him staring at the wall with a faraway look.
“Well, you can see him when I finish with you. I have to check on his fever, either way.” She conceded, getting the needed ointment.
“I’d rather wait until he wakes up.”
Once more, she was surprised.
“I thought you’d want to see him as soon as possible. Kamakiri said you even refused to get your wound treated.”
“The other one ―Wyper?―, he said Karasu’s mask was missing. I’ll not invade his privacy by entering his room now.”
“You mean you’ve never seen him without a mask? You don’t know what he looks like?”
The pirate shook his head.
“Aren’t you curious?”
“Curiosity or not, he wore that mask for a reason. I’ll find out when and if he wants.”
As she finished bandaging his shoulder, she almost asked him whether all pirates from the Blue Sea Below were so inspiring, but she knew from her work in hers and Conis’ café that they weren’t.
Still, it did make her wonder what other marvels could be found there.
HPOPHPOPHPOPHPOP
Not far from them, the door being the only barrier separating them, Wyper pushed away from the wall and took a long drag from his cigarette before blowing the smoke slowly.
As he left, Kalgara’s descendant wasn’t aware that his thoughts were being mirrored by the Shandia woman’s in that very instant.