Chapter Text
There were better ways this day could have been going.
“We’ve got you now, pirate scum!”
Rean scowled, his free hand hovering just above the hilt of his blade as the contingent surrounded him with their own weapons at the ready. His glasses slid slightly down the bridge of his nose, and he was sorely tempted just to let them fall at this point. As far as disguises went, they’d been nothing but useless, especially in Heimdallr. If there was one place filled with enough people that could spot him from arge away, it was there.
This wasn’t how he envisioned the plan panning out, to put it mildly.
“You must be mistaken,” he began, trying his best to salvage the situation. “I’m no pirate. I’m just a traveler.”
“Feh.” The man before him sneered back, his coat fluttering in the wind. Given the way he wore it on his shoulders, he was likely a commissioned officer—though Rean could sense that his power was at the lower end of the scale. An Ensign, perhaps. “So long as Admiral Osborne says you’re a pirate, you could tell me you’re the Emperor himself and I wouldn’t give a damn.”
Osborne… he’s already managed to make it up to Admiral since I’ve been gone? Rean’s scowl deepened. I get the feeling he won’t stop there…
“That said…” The ensign raised a pistol, training the gun on Rean’s forehead. “I think ‘deserter’, ‘traitor,’ and ‘pirate’ are about on the same level. Wouldn’t you agree, ‘Commodore’ Rean Schwarzer?”
Murmurs spread through the infantry as Rean stiffened, his blood beginning to boil.
“That’s the Ashen Chevalier?”
“Used to be.”
“Looks like just some kid.”
“Don’t underestimate him; he’s a Devil Fruit user . They’re real monsters.”
“Really? Wouldn’t he have used it already if he had one?”
“They say he massacred the forces of North Ambria all by himself; I’d rather he didn’t. ”
“SILENCE!” The soldiers snapped their jaws shut as their commander held up a hand.
“Yes, sir, Ensign Stein!”
“Oh, it feels good to hear that. Erebonians fall in line so much better than Liberlians…” Ensign Stein cleared his throat, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket with his free hand. In a disaffected tone, he recited, “‘Rean Schwarzer, on the orders of both his Majesty and Admiral Osborne, you are hereby detained for the crimes of desertion from and treason to the Erebonian Empire and the World Government. Surrender now or face death.’ Really,” he added, “You thought you could just try to assassinate his Highness and saunter back into town like nothing happened?”
If he had his way, Rean wouldn’t have ever come back here. The only reason he even bothered was that damned Snail call…
“Rean, it’s Machias. I found something that might be useful to you. Meet me in Mater Park. Try not to get caught this time.”
In his defense, he wasn’t caught… on the way in.
In fact, he’d almost thought everything was going swimmingly for a while. Machias had managed to get his hands on enough Zemurian Ore that, if Rean found a skilled enough shipwright, could make for an extremely reinforced hull. Not having to steal boats every time an overzealous Marine stumbled across his whereabouts sounded like a godsend for Rean, but with how supervised and scrutinized Machias’ movements were (given that, well, he was the son of the city’s leader ), the gunman couldn’t leave Heimdallr.
That meant in order to collect, Rean had to enter the city instead. He’d kept his head down well enough for the exchange to occur, but all it took was one Military Policeman to spot him heading back to Central Station for it all to fall apart.
So much for taking the Sea Train. Going to have to escape to the port at this rate… I hope there’s at least a dinghy there. Can’t exactly swim anywhere, even for a stopgap measure.
“I didn’t attack the Emperor, but I hardly think you’d care.” Rean replied, his gaze cold as he surveyed the mob around him. “I’ve no interest in fighting. Please, just leave me be.”
“You lost the right to your own life once you angered the strongest forces on the planet.” Stein cocked his pistol, his ranged soldiers following suit. “I get paid whether your body has breath in it or not, so it really doesn’t matter to me.”
Some guns, a few blades, a martial artist… good. I don’t think I’ll need that for this fight, Rean thought, glancing down at his orbment. If I can just stun them before they can fire, I can make an escape without any casualties—
He felt something cold and metallic press against his back. Gritting his teeth, he strained his neck to glance behind. One of Stein’s soldiers—not even a commissioned officer, some Apprentice or First Class based on the uniform—had snuck up behind him. Her eyes were shadowed by her cap, but her pink hair flowed down the sides of her head. Damn it! How did she sneak up on me? My senses didn’t go off at all! A cold sweat ran down his neck. Can she use the Eight Leaves too?
“Good work, Seaman!” Stein’s laugh bellowed through the air as he lowered his pistol. “I can see you’re shooting for the stars, if you’re trying to steal his final breath from me! Fine, then; pull the trigger. I’ll see to it that you’re promoted for this…” He paused. “What was your name again?”
“Is it true?”
“Huh?”
He could feel the glare piercing through his head, even if he couldn’t see it. “Did you really betray the Empire?” Her voice was hushed, but he could sense the intensity behind her words.
“...yes,” he muttered, carefully selecting his words, “But not for the reasons they think.”
“Seaman,” Stein repeated, “I need your name. ”
“I just want to know,” the woman continued, “Right now, is the Erebonian Empire really your enemy?”
He didn’t want to admit it. He wanted to hope this would all be resolved, one day, and that he’d be able to go back home again.
But Rean knew better.
“So long as Osborne is in power,” he replied, “Yes.”
“...that’s all I needed to hear.”
Rean felt the weight lift from his back, and a strange whirring sound filled his ears.
Stein growled. “Are you even listening to me, or do I have to demote you to Recruit for you to pay attention—”
“Shut the hell up!”
A loud crack filled the air, and rushing wind blew past Rean. A Marine cap flew through the sky, and his vision was filled with pink.
“Brave…SMASH!”
Another crack echoed, this time followed by a piercing cry of pain and the sound of breaking bones. As the sound subsided, Rean was able to take stock of two things.
- The thing the Marine had pressed up against his back was some kind of tonfa, the second time in his life he’d seen someone use those.
- Every other Marine was staring skyward.
Rean, despite knowing better than to take his eyes off the enemy, looked up as well.
Ensign Stein was doing his best impression of a flightless bird.
Gravity, however, seemed to want to end the show very quickly.
With a resounding thud, the soldier hit the ground, his jacket still fluttering down as the dust settled.
Slowly, all eyes turned to the woman who had sent the Ensign on his skyward journey.
“...q-quick, somebody call the Captain!”
“Crawford’s gone mad!”
“Do you realize what you’ve done, you maniac!?”
She looked back at Rean alone, her smile wide and her eyes shining with hope.
“Don’t just stand there! Let’s go!”
Rean blinked. “Go?”
“You’re trying to get out of here, right? The port’s not too far off!” Rushing forward past the stunned Marines, “Crawford” waved Rean over. “Let’s move!”
…well, don’t have to tell me twice.
In a blink, Rean was alongside Crawford, keeping pace as the soldiers began to scramble (some after them, and some in the absolute opposite direction). As they ran through the streets of Heimdallr, passing by shocked citizens and confused Marines alike, Rean tried not to wither under the stares, murmurs, and shouts of “traitor!”
Crawford shot him a sympathetic look. “Try not to listen to them. Lousy jerks probably get all their news from the Chronicle.”
“Hey now, I know at least one good photographer there.”
“Its writing still sucks.”
“Can’t argue there.” Rean paused (verbally, at least; his feet were still doing double time despite how much they ached). “Are you sure you don’t just want to hide somewhere else? You can tell them I coerced you into deserting. It’s dangerous to even be seen near me, these days.”
“Fat chance. I never wanted to be a part of the Marines in the first place,” Crawford muttered, glancing back toward their pursuers with a frown. “So it can’t really be considered deserting, can it?”
Rean chuckled. “They’d probably have some thoughts on that.”
“They can bite me.” Juna swiveled her head to and fro, as if looking for something. “Where’s your crew?”
“You’re looking at it.”
Stumbling slightly, Crawford quickly corrected herself as she gawked at Rean. “Seriously? You snuck into a Marine-controlled city by yourself? ”
Rean shrugged, raising an eyebrow. “Not many people want to join a crew with someone who’s got the whole of Erebonia gunning for him, and those who do…” He glanced to the side. “They’re otherwise occupied with the same problem.”
“Is that so…” Juna’s smirk returned. “Okay, then.”
“Hm?”
“I’m in.”
“...what?”
As they ran, the port drawing ever closer, Crawford clenched her fists around her tonfa. “I’m in. I’ll be your first mate, or your navigator, or whatever else I can be. Though,” she added, “You’ll need a name for the crew if we really wanna make a name for ourselves.”
Rean sputtered, his mind racing to catch up to what was occurring. “I never said I wanted a crew!”
Juna rolled her eyes. “Too bad. If we’re going to survive this, and literally anything else in this world, we’re going to need to do it together. After all…” Her stare grew cold. “You want to take him down too, don’t you?”
“Him?”
“Osborne,” she hissed. “He took my home away from me. My people. What did he take from you?”
Rean nearly came to a full halt as the memory erupted in his mind’s eye.
“...keep going forward…”
“No!”
“...relentlessly, without looking… back…”
“NO!”
“...everything.”
“Then we’re in the same boat.” Juna put a hand to her chin. “Figuratively for now, probably literally in a few minutes.”
Rean sighed. “You’re not going to let this go?”
“My one chance at revenge? Hardly.”
“...okay,” Rean acquiesced. “Welcome, I guess, to… I don’t know, the Ashen Knights?”
“Hm.” Juna shook her head. “Don’t think we should use the name he gave you.”
“Fair enough.”
“Maybe ‘Stahlritter’? That’s some Erebonian fairy tale thing, right?”
“Well—”
“There they are!” A familiar, nasally voice exclaimed. “There’s the traitors! Kill them! Kill them all right now! ”
Rean shook his head, placing a hand on his tachi’s hilt. “I think we should workshop this after we get out of here.”
Juna nodded, taking a stance with her tonfa. “Yeah. Maybe knocking some heads together might rev up the brain cells.”
“We’re not going to—” Rean shook his head. “We’ll talk about your bloodlust later.”
“It’s not bloodlust, it’s just very cathartic.”
Rean sighed. “Right. Well, allow me to introduce myself properly.” Drawing his sword as the Marines finally caught up, Rean cleared his throat. “Rean Schwarzer, Captain of the… whatever we are.”
The gears within her tonfa whirring to life, Crawford replied, “Juna Crawford, First Mate of the whatever we are!”
A nearby Marine scoffed. “What kinda name is that?”
Rean, for the first time in a long time, grinned as wide as his lips would let him. “We’re working on it.”