[A/N: No time to edit the chapter, Sorry.]
For two weeks, that same girl came by everyday and just watched Lupin train. At some point Kindred had told him that her name was Ina, while being quite exasperated at Lupin's unwillingness to socialize.
Lupin had just answered, that he did not need to speak with the girl to know her name now that Kindred had told it to him. His cheek had earned him an earful of Kindred's finest shouts, that was for sure.
Still, Lupin wasn't very bothered by her presence and he eventually got to enjoy it a little. He had always been a loner, even in his last life. His interest had all been focused on activities for a one person like reading, hearing music or sleeping.
So it had been pretty much impossible to find some company most of the time, which did not mean he had minded it much. He had been pretty comfortable by himself, but eventually even he became lonely from time to time.
The same went for this life. But with Ina just staying by his side and keeping him company, he felt a strange sense of contentment. Today was no different.
As the time for lunch approached, he suddenly heared the warning bells ringing in the village, notifying everyone of an incoming pirate ship.
The bells couldn't be heard in the deepth of the forest, where he had been the last time before he had joined the fight. He had simply not heard anything while sprinting through the deep forest in his wolf form, so he only noticed the fighting sounds when he approached the village again.
This time though he knew that he only had a few minutes before the pirates landed on the shore.
Dropping the weights he had been training with, he went towards his sword and gauntlets near the wall of the house.
Picking up the towel at the side, he wiped his sweat away, before grabbing his gear and walking towards the village.
He had noticed Ina closely following his movement with her eyes, while she herself had also stood up from her seated position on the grass.
Walking by her, he passed her the sheathed blade, while saying his first words to her since they had met two weeks ago.
"Help me carry it."
Stunned, Ina had reflexively grabbed onto the weapon, Lupin had thrusted into her direction.
Getting a hold of herself a few moments later, she followed behind Lupin without answering him.
Lupin meanwhile was busy strapping on his gauntlets tightly, so he could ensure his grip on the blade later on. Punching into his own palm, he tested his work and adjusted the straps a bit.
As the two walked along the road through the village and to the shore, the villagers were busy scrambling them and trying to find shelter in their homes, while the militia men hurriedly ran towards the gathering place at the shore.
Even in all the tumult, the villagers had time to be both shocked and confused about the pair walking down the streets – with Lupin adjusting his gauntlets, while Ina carried his longsword.
Finishing his adjustments, Lupin simply streched back his right hand in the direction of Ina.
He had already activated his Haki and had a clear picture of everything that went on in the village. His bestial senses being strenghtened enough to form a three dimensional picture in his head with the help of his Kenbunshoku Haki.
Ina, who had as always kept her focus on the little boy in front of her, saw his movements and placed the handle of the sword into Lupin's waiting hand.
Grabbing the handle, he took the sword and rested it over his shoulder, still being too small to strap it onto his back or waist.
Several moments later he had reached the gathering point of the militia and already saw with his own eyes, the presences he had noticed approaching with his Haki.
The pirates were using small row boats to approach the shore.
Ina stood a few meters away – adamant about seeing the events unfold.
The last two weeks hadn't been very fruitful, when it came to deciphering the mystery that was Lupin D. Black, so she could not miss the chance to see him fight for herself.
She knew that there was no real reason for her to hide.
Should the villagers win, she was safe. And should they lose, then she would be screwed either way. Even though she didn't plan to get captured alive again.
Looking at the small boy standing a little besides the villagers, who looked at him in fear and anticipation, she felt a strange sense of confidence.
His calm demeanor and focus setting her heart at ease, like it did when she watched him train.
Lupin meanwhile had noticed something problematic about the approaching enemies. One them was at least twice as strong as the pirate captain he had killed two weeks before, he could feel it with his Haki.
His animal instincts weren't helpful in such a situation, as they couldn't measure someone's strength accurately when it was below his own. His human mind on the other hand knew that strength amounted to more than simple physical power and the strength of ones spirit.
Weapons, martial arts, experience and tactics could make a very big difference between two parties if the strength gap wasn't too wide.
Unfortunately, he could not accurately judge the danger of the presence that approached due to his inexperience with guessing another human's strength. So he simply upped his vigilance and prepared to even transform if necessary.
Sometimes size does matter, and in his wolf form his body was huge. It had grown to a shoulder height of 3 meters and body length of 6 meters. Truly a massive wolf.
And he was unbelievably fast in his wolf form, running several tens of meters in a second. He also still had no clue what influenced the growth of the wolf form, as his mothers wolf form had been smaller than his current form and she had been a grown woman.
It was his one and only trump card in battle.
The incoming pirates wouldn't stand a chance against a massive wolf that moved with specter-like speed. He would be able to rip them all apart in just a few moments.
This was also the reason he staved off his training of the Rokushiki techniques, before he had more mastery over Seimei Kikan. He knew that if push comes to shove, he could just unleash his inner beast completely and rip apart his opponents.
Still, he wouldn't use it if not absolutely needed. It would draw more attention towards himself than necessary.
The villagers stood approximately 20 meters from the shore and watched as the dozen or so pirates left their two small boats and assembled behind the man Lupin had noticed before.
Kindred stepped forwards with a stoic expression on his face and addressed the rowdy and jeering pirates: "You should scramble back into your boat and get the f*ck off our shore! Pirates are not welcome in this village!"
There was no need to be polite to pirates, so Kindred didn't even bother.
"Hahaha, leave without our spoils, that old man is crazy!"
"Puhaha, what a dumb old man! We are here for wealth and women! How could we leave?!"
"Hehehe, you speak big words for a dead man walking, old man. Our captain here isn't a normal man, he will rip you apart with his devil fruit powers!"
"..."
"..."
Most of the pirates answered with profanities and jeering, but on of them said something that greatly alarmed Kindred.
Devil Fruit.
One of the few silent men was the Captain himself and it seemed he had eaten a devil fruit.
Kindred knew that this was bad. Normal humans can seldom compare to devil fruit users. Of course, a lot of devil fruit users had weak powers or ones not suited for battle. So he could only hope the man before him wasn't a Logia user, because that would doom the whole village.
He had seen a lot of devil fruit users on the Grand Line over several decades, so he knew their powers very well. It was basically useless to fight a Logia user head-on without seastone weaponry, and those things were very very expensive and practically impossible to get his hands on as a normal marine.
He could only hope that the man had eaten his fruit only recently and that it had not been a Logia. That way they would have a chance against him, if himself and Lupin teamed up against him. The lack of control and experience was very important when it came to a fight against devil fruit users. Especially Paramecia-types.
If that man had eaten a Zoan-type than their chances were unkown. Zoan powers were rather easy to use and gave the holder a physical power-up shortly after consuming the fruit.
Kindred gave a quick glance to Lupin, but noticed the boy unsheathing his sword and throwing the sheath away, while slowly walking toward the group of pirates.
His movements didn't only catch Kindred himself by surprise, but everyone. And while the villagers tensed in anticipation of what was going to happen, the pirates weren't so smart.
"What's up brat, are you searching for your mommy?"
"Haha, sending a brat to fight, these people are either dumb or cowardly!"
"Someone bring a bottle of milk, a hungry baby is approaching!"
"..."
"..."
Not letting himself be irritated by the insults and jeers, Lupin reached midway between both parties and crouched down to pick up some rocks. Standing up he pulled back his left arm and threw them with all his considerable physical strength at the bunch in front of him.
Most of them just threw more insult at him upon noticing his actions, the captain being the only one to notice something strange, about the looks of the villagers.
They looked at the boy not only in slight fear, but also in hope. As if they expected him to defeat the attacking party.
He had only found a devil fruit the other day and eaten it, which had given him the power to transfrom into a dog. His senses, which had been strengthened after eating the fruit, were right now telling him that something was wrong. He wasn't only the captain because of his strength, but also because he was the only one smart enough to navigate and plan attacks. He had chosen this small village especially, because he didn't expect a lot of resistance from the villagers.
On instinct alone he changed into his hybrid form and protected his head with his arms from the thrown stones.
The sudden pain in his arms and chest, together with the screams of his crew, made him aware, that it had been the right decision.
He could feel his skin throbbing painfully on the points of impact and while the pebbles didn't pierce into his body, he knew his crew probably wasn't so lucky. He was only safe because his enhanced endurance and his arms protecting his face.
Giving a quick look around confirmed that several of his man had been hit in the face with the projectiles. Two were even rolling around in the sand, screaming and holding a hand above their bleeding eyes.
When he turned to face the little monster who had done this to his man, he saw the boy was only less than a meter away from himself, the logsword already in a striking position.
Using his newfound speed and strength the man managed to avoid the incoming swing by rolling away.
'Fuck!', was the only thought in the Pirate Captain's mind at this point.
Lupin, on the other hand, was making fast and precise attacks at the hybrid-form of the captain.
Gathering his focus wholly on his senses and Haki, he predicted the man's next evading maneuvere and interfered with a powerful and fast diagonal swing of his sword, directly chopping off the left arm of the pirate.
"ARGHHH!"
As the man tried jump at him and land an attack with his right claw, while being in excrutiating pain and fueled by rage.
Lupin simply ducked low and spun around, while moving forward diagonally and performing an overhead swing with his sword.
*SHING*
*THUD*
As the biseted body of the Pirate Captain landed on the ground, Lupin turned towards the rest of the battlefield, ready to fight the next oponent.
But there was no need for that anymore, as the villagers had already captured the rest of the pirates. They had taken advantage of Lupin incapacitating a part of the foes with the stones aund used their numbers to end the battle fast.
Still, Lupin noticed one of the escaped pirates swimming towards the ship, while he could feel two other weak presences on the ship.
Not willing to let the last one just escape like that, Lupin left behind his sword and followed the escapee into the sea.
"Lupin, stop! It's not worth it!", Kindred shouted at the boy, trying to stop him.
Lupin, of course, ignored the old man. He knew Kindred was worried about there being any Sea Kings, or other dangers, nearby, but Lupin knew there weren't any, as his Haki did not pick up any strong presences. He also did not feel any trepidation from his bestial side, so he deemed it safe.
He had been an excellent swimmer in his last life and with his superhuman strength it was easy for him to gain distance on the pirate.
Just before he reached the ship and could climb back up, Lupin reached him and directly started to choke him from behind.
"Ughghh--"
*CRACK*
The pirate panicked and tried to struggle for a moment, but Lupin just used his other hand and broke his neck, directly killing the man.
Letting the corpse sink into the water, Lupin climbed on board of the ship.
"DIE!"
Jumping to the side and avoiding a slash from another man, who seemed to have stayed back and guard the vessel, Lupin took a fighting stance.
He had of course known of the man's presence and felt his attack coming with his Haki, so Lupin wasn't surprised and was calm while avoiding the attack.
The pirate, whose pupils were dilated in fear and agitation, once again swung his cutlass at Lupin in an overhead slash.
Stepping forward, Lupin deflected the blow easily by using the back of his hand and guiding the man's hand past his smaller frame. His other hand froming a fist, Lupin used it to directly counter with a low punch to the man's groin and retreated again.
"DIE! Iiiieeehh--"
Dirty, but effective and it was also on the perfect height for him to strike at.
As soon as the man went down to his knees due to the harrowing pain he felt, Lupin stepped up to the downed man and delivered a vicious kick at his neck with enough strength to break the fragile structure – thus ending the fight.
*CRACK*
Turning towards the last living presence on the deck, Lupin saw a dog.
What these pirates had needed a dog for was beyond Lupin's understanding.
The dog lay still on the deck, with an averted gaze and pulled back ears. The picture-perfect submissive pose.
It seemed the animal had felt the bestial part in Lupin and decided to save its own skin by taking a non-aggressive stance.
*GROWL*
*Whine*
A low growl was enough to make the animal understand that it should stay put, afterwards Lupin went into the ship and searched through the rooms, taking everything he found up to the deck.
That was until he went into the kitchen and saw a a barrel of fruits.
A strange fruit was at the top of the barrel. A beige pear with brown swirls. It was obviously a devil fruit and Lupin guessed, that it must have been the one that the captain had eaten – the Inu Inu no Mi, model Labrador.