139 The cavalry arrive, and so does the infantry

Explosions wracked the silent forest as Sorren ran desperately. Deep breaths shook his body as he huffed, the last few days of inactivity coupled with the side effects of the drug that he had taken, put his body in a precarious condition.

A run that would on any other day not have fazed him in the slightest now seemed as daunting as wrestling an adult sea king would. Granted he was carrying another incapacitated man that weighed at least as much as he did, and he had made the run just a few minutes prior not to mention the quick but taxing ambush that he had laid on the older Vice Admiral.

A roar sounded behind him as he twisted to the side, he did not have much observation Haki like his contemporaries so his view was more limited. He was more talented with Armament Haki being capable of coating a small portion of his body for an extremely short period of time.

Even the punch that he had delivered had only been backed by Haki coated on the surface of his fingers, which now that he thought about it was a stupid decision. For now his palms bled and the nails of three of his four fingers had been broken brutally.

With a quick twist around he zoomed around a massive tree, using the hard bark as leverage he shot forward, his body almost parallel to the ground.

A loud boom sounded to his side as he felt his opponent gaining on him.

Suddenly a flare of pain arose from his leg as a stray piece of stone that once belonged to the floor ruthlessly shot into his heel.

"Goddamnit!" He roared out loud as he twisted his face into Terrick's satchel, now resting on his knee.

With a brutal spin he brandished his head, throwing the dagger that he had bitten into out behind him. Unfortunately a stray piece of metallic string had also caught on in his motion which now sat jammed in between his teeth.

The blade spun in an unimpressive arc as it shot into a tree not too far from him nowhere close to the Vice Admiral who now beheld a funny expression.

Sorren gulped loudly, flinching at the cold of the metallic wire as he ran in a random direction. He was only vaguely aware of the direction that he ran towards hoping against hope that it was in the direction of the town.

However it was all in vain, for as he ran the piece of stone that lay in his feet still stung and the Vice admiral on his tail only got closer and more zealous.

Finally when his body could no longer hold on, a loud boom sounded just behind him the force pushing at

Borsolino grinned slightly as he neared, his quest for answers all but forgotten as he kneeled and drove his finger into the child's flabby back.

Then he fired, point blank. His light searing into the child's torso and into the ground. While Terrick had held on through the pain, Sorren was not like him.

Sorren screamed loudly as a wave of pain assaulted his mind.

But the Vice Admiral was too angry to care. So with a flourish he conjured up his light sword jabbing it succinctly into Sorren's leg.

Then he slowly got to his full height, raising his foot in preparation of bursting the child's head when a voice called out in barely concealed rage.

"Borsolino, has no one ever told you not to play with your food?"

*********

Thatch looked around worriedly as he sat on his stool. A half empty pitcher of water in his hands as he looked at the darkened sky from inside the inn window.

The Whitebeards had retired to the inn after their daily town overview and were awfully subdued. So much so, that Thatch could hear the grumble of a few stomachs. Though this was their usual meeting spot, it still held an uncanny air as a putrid stillness filled the room. The occasional rumble of the floor from afar was what made Thatch particularly jittery.

He was worried about Marco. He was part of the crew after all, and though Thatch would tell no one about this, he was also one of the few people that Thatch admired.

He was broken out of his revere by a bold yet soft voice from behind him. It was the man called Fawkes, jagged dagger's first mate.

The man smiled as he sat down next to Thatch, giving him a meaningful look from over his hands that were curled around his mouth.

"You're worried." he deduced, his eyes shrinking into crescents as he looked around.

"Heck, all of you are worried. It's about the pineapple hair, right?" he asked astutely as he slowly lowered his hands, now utterly serious.

"The explosions worry you too?" Thatch asked, evasive as he attempted to emulate what he thought Marco would expect.

"Yup. The last time we faced explosions of this proportion, it was in a city that was collapsing on itself. Not a pretty sight I must say." he answered simply as he shot a glance at his crew.

Rein sat at the corner, those that didn't know him would assume that he was uncaring of the situation, but Fawkes knew better. The man was terrified out of his wits!

Angella on the other hand, was actually calm. She leaned against the wall, lost in a book that she had gotten out of nowhere.

Barts sat beside Scipio, giggling lightly as she attempted to teach the child how to play a game of cards.

"You should go check it out. You're crew can keep me in check if I pull any funny business and I am decently strong enough. At least as a last resort, I won't be a burden.

You on the other hand both know the lay of the land, and have a better control of Haki then I ." Fawkes muttered as he looked around, his expression grave as he felt another tremor filter through the rough floor of the otherwise small inn.

Terrick glanced at him surprised, slowly his expression sunk into a pensive mood. He wanted to go, he knew he could be useful. But could he trust the man before him with the state of his crew?

Yes. He decided.

True, he was only acquainted for a short time, but in his gut he knew that he could trust him.

With a swift nod he looked over at Fawkes.

"I'm leaving them in your care." and with that he was gone.