Grand Voyage- Log 103

Log 103: The Wolf's Den (Death of Hope Ver.)
''It was an island practically abandoned by humanity. Located somewhere within the Grand Line, the island had originally been the home of a thriving civilization, but then had been abandoned for reasons unknown. Perhaps it was due to their being no real source of profit for the place after all the years of habitation, or any number of other reasons, but the point was made: it was not a place worth living in anymore, save for those with next to no prospects in life. Even the World Government had abandoned the place, no longer including it in maps and declaring it a place that held no advantage to owning whatsoever. All that remained was pile after pile of pure wreckage, and the wretched people who had been left behind.''

One of which was a young boy.

''He lay in between two large stacks of piles, his eyes half closed, his frame thin and lanky due to not having eaten for at least a month. His breaths were coming slowly and slower, his lungs struggling to keep up with the body’s demands with almost no nutrients to back them up. Truly, death would be quick in coming for this child.''

Mom.... Dad...? he thought to himself, his fevered mind looking back to the last happy days he remembered, ...where... are you...? Why... can’t...I... feel anything....?

Reality kept returning, striking him right in the face, and he closed his eyes, tears beginning to form under his eyelids. Why... am I so.... hungry...? he thought, as the darkness began to close in.

''“Well, well, well,” came a deep basso voice, “what do we have here? A young survivor, it seems.” A massive hulk of man stepped into view, carrying a massive sack over his shoulder. He looked down at the boy, his eyes betraying no emotion at all. He crouched down, placing his hand on the boy’s forehead, making sure that there was no fever or anything similar. “And in decent health, too.”''

''The man reached into his sack, pulling out an oddly shaped fruit. “You want something to eat?” he asked, “it tastes horrible, but it will grant you both life and power.”''

''To a starving young lad, life and power were secondary to just having something to chew in his mouth. Rather than responding vocally, as such faculties had long-abandoned him, the boy opened his mouth in response. With a small chuckle, the man dropped the fruit into the boy’s mouth, and he began to chew. The man hadn’t lied, as it tasted worse than the rust he had nibbled a few weeks before in desperation, but it was something that he could keep down, unlike said rust. And so, he managed to chew it and swallow it. This done, he looked up at the man again, a small smile forming on his face.''

''“Little brat,” the man laughed, patting the boy’s head, “like a wolf surviving in the midst of a desert. That’s some impressive tenacity you’ve got. I’ll call you... Sirius, the strongest wolf. Is that alright, young soldier? If you come with me, that’ll become your name, and I’ll give you a purpose to match it.”''

''It didn’t take any amount of time at all for the boy to make his decision, and he used the last of his strength to give the smallest possible nod. Detecting the motion, the man reached down and picked the young Sirius up, throwing the starving boy over his shoulder right next to the sack.''

“Let’s go see if we can find any other willing soldiers, eh?” the man asked as he resumed his trek.

Sirius didn’t respond, but simply focused on the warmth emanating from the man’s back, and a feeling that he barely remembered, since his parents had vanished without explanation that night so long ago.

Happiness.

Khan withdrew his claws, and Sirius’s limp form dropped into the snow, slipping into unconsciousness as a few tears worked their way down his face, the bounty hunter succumbing to despair as he allowed the darkness to fully close in around him.

“SIRIUS!” Knave cried, his eyes widening in shock!

“Soldiers are useless if they are defeated,” Khan said, wiping some of the blood of his claws, “you were a powerful fang, Sirius, but you became dull. Therefore, all that I could do was to yank it out. Trust me, this is the kindly way.”

“You.... BASTARRRDD!!!” Knave howled, his heat and kinetic energy aura exploding around him in a rage! The marimo lad lunged into the air, all of the white flame substance circling around his fist and charging at the leader of Deathwatch!

As he swung his fist forward, Khan whipped around, matching and even surpassing Knave’s speed, and raising up his palm-turned-paw to take the blow! Knave’s heat energy-enhanced fist struck it, and the energy exploded from it, the paw causing it to fly out on either side and missing Khan completely. As the energy finally ran its course, Knave dropped to the ground.

“W-what the?” he gasped.

“You were the one who fought Sirius, correct?” Khan asked, “you faced his Inukenpo, yes? I assume you believed that you could simply defeat me as you did him, that we used similar fighting styles and were off a similar strength? What nonsense! The fighting style Sirius used was an independent thing, a weaker variant of my own. THIS is how you utilize a dog Zoan transformation!”

Khan flung his claws through the air in a sudden motion!

“TWIN CLAW GUILLOTINE!”

From the ground beneath Knave there suddenly exploded two massive compressed air slashes, which flew through the air and speared the marimo lad directly through the stomach and chest! “GAGH!” Knave gasped, a goodly amount of blood exploding out of his mouth as well. As the slashes faded, he dropped to the ground, incapacitated.

“SON OF A BITCH!” D’Artagnan yelled as he seemed to appear from nowhere, right in front of Khan, swinging his foot towards him! “Khamsin Ra-!”

“Wolven Punch Alpha!” Khan countered first, his fist soaring through Art’s preemptive kicks and smashing into the Majin’s stomach! The first mate coughed, his eyes whiting out as well, before Khan leaped into the air in an incredibly fast movement, spinning at incredible speeds before lashing out with another kick directly to the side of his face! Art was flung through the air and crashed into a nearby snow dune.

“Chemical Juggling-!” Stormy began, appearing on one side of Khan!

“Gao’n-!” Gopher began as well, appearing on the other!

“GOUUU!!!” Khan howled, smashing his fist into the very ground beneath them! The force was so great that even the snow was blown away, and the massive shockwave struck the two pirates, sending them toppling backwards and out of the battlefield. However, this gave Sid enough time to zip up right in front of his opponent, one fist pulled back, while the other hand steadied it.

“Tekkai Ken-!” the navigator started, before the leader of Deathwatch’s knee came up, smashing the former Marine directly in the face! Sid’s head jerked up, blood trailing behind it, as Khan’s wolflike hand followed and seized it. He then brought the helpless navigator’s head down to the ground, crashing into the earth in a manner similar to how he had knocked Stormy and Gopher back. Sid’s arms dropped to the ground, completely knocked out!

“Wind Dragon’s-!” Mercuia attempted as well, but Khan was way ahead of her. In one swift motion, he appeared behind the former World Noble and delivered a chop to the back of her neck. She fell to the ground silently...

In less than five minutes, the entirety of the group had been defeated.

“Whew,” Khan exhaled, his breath fully visible thanks to the snowy conditions, “that was some workout, even for me.” He turned to face the defeated Marimos. “But now, do you see who you are are up against? The power that you will have to face?”

He turned around once more, shrugging. “Well, I suppose it's no use to impose such ideals on the defeat-”

Before he could finish his sentence, a snowball soared through the air and smacked him right on the side of the head! While it did next to nothing in terms of overall damage, it was enough to seize his attention, and the head bounty hunter turned around. Standing a few feet away, preparing yet another, was Kagome, almost shielding her grandpa with her position alone.

“...So you mean to fight me as well?” Khan asked.

“Y-yes!” Kagome said determinedly, “I’m a part of this crew too! I can’t just let you do whatever you want to my friends!”

“I see...” Khan mused, as he began to walk towards her, “then I’ll have to deal with you as well. Those who carry such a weak and useless soldier are fools, and I will teach you all a lesson in your folly.”

“Don’t... you... touch... her...” Knave’s voice growled from a few feet away. Khan stopped, surprised that the marimo lad was still conscious, and what’s more, was desperately attempting to move and stand again.

“You... heard... him...” Art growled, beginning to force himself up as well. The rest of the crew gave assenting noises, already attempting to rejoin the battle.

“Oh?” Khan asked, “so this girl is important to you? Such a weak soldier is worth something? Your idiocy continues to astound me.” In a flash, he appeared in front of Kagome, seizing her with one of his massive hands and lifting her up. “Then... what would happen if I were too... cripple this pathetic fang?”

“DON’T.... YOU..... DARE!!!!” Knave raged, putting even more vigor in his attempted movements, the rest of the crew doing the same.

“Sadly, I do indeed dare,” Khan said, facing Kagome once more and giving a malicious smile, “grieve, young fang, for your wolf will now be without you.”

“SSSSSSTTTTTOOOOOOOPPPPP!!!!” Knave and the rest of the crew howled, their eyes desperate as they put one final surge in an attempt to do something, anything, to reach her in time-!!

“Everyone,” Kagome suddenly said, smiling happily, as all the noise around them seemed to vanish, the world itself becoming a beautiful white, “thank you for everything.”

And then her spine snapped.

~End of Log~

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