Sup. For random's sake, please, call me Ecanus. One, because it's a cool name. Two, because he's the angel of inspirational thought. This would be my first published fanfic, and I hope you like. Because it's been sitting on my desktop for like forty months now.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Luffy'd found the One Piece. He'd became the Pirate King, hell, the man'd even had a kid with his money-grubbing navigator. But everything changed after that- he went off the radar for good, but not before leaving behind his cryptic little message. "That One Piece- you think it's gone for good! It's still over there, somewhere, wherever I left it- don't quite remember where, though, shishishi! Maybe one of you will even find it. Maybe one of you will even surpass me! We'll just have to wait and find out."
And so, the pirate era never did end. It just continued.
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CHAPTER ONE: Enter: Eri D. Monkey!

We walk alone, In the unknown,

We live to win another victory,

We are the young, dying sons,

We live to change the face of history,

So don't be afraid, it's the price we pay,

The only easy day was yesterday,

So hear our voice, we have a choice,

It's time to face it

"ERI D. MONKEY ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" The forest-haired woman slapped a hand down on the counter top, causing the teenager across from her to jump in her seat. Eri hadn't been doing anything wrong, to her- just staring out the window as Makino went off on one of her spontaneous rants about various things. The same thing she did every day around this time, just when the afternoon was fading into the evening and Makino was due for a I'm-an-old-woman-therefore-I-need-sleep nap. Usually, Makino was the sweetest person you'd ever find in Foosha- but a lack of water could make the greenest of plants wilt.

"No," Eri said bluntly, blinking. A plate of untouched salad- a mix of lettuce, rings of purple onion, small cherry tomatoes, and carrot slices- sat before her, and Makino pointed to it with a flourish. "You need to eat. You've got no meat on your bones." Eri threw her hands up in the air at the words, frustration coloring her tone. "Exactly! No MEAT!"she exclaimed, looking towards the heavens as if they'd give her guidance on the subject. Makino just didn't understand Eri's mind, simple as that.

"But... aren't you weight-conscious?" Another tally on her point-proven board, Eri thought distantly. "No! I'd like a feast if it came down to it!" Makino shrugged, and pulled the plate towar ds her, picking up the unused fork and stabbing a tomato with it. "Well you are pretty skinny, I just figured," Makino said, and popped the vegitable into her mouth. "I'm not skinny," Eri said, crinkling her nose, "I'm just healthy. Look at this!" The girl flexed her arm, a satisfied grin on her face as the muscle popped considerably. She'd trained for years, and it was the result. Makino waved an impatient hand, and disappeared into the backroom with a, "I'll get you some chicken." Eri smiled triumphantly to herself, and rested her chin on her fists, considerably happier than before. Vegetables were so... bland. Fruits, noodles, nuts, ESPECIALLY meats, give her anything besides greenery and she'd be perfectly fine. And correct her if she's wrong, but vegetables were what they fed to animals. Her last name might've been 'Monkey', but she was no animal.

...Besides, everyone knew monkeys ate bananas.

Eri shook her head rapidly to clear it. That wasn't what she needed to focus on. She was going to start her adventure today, at age 17, just like she'd told Juno-sensei at the dojo over the past few years. Juno had laughed it off, figuring that Eri was just going through a bit of teenage angst, but Eri was serious about it. She knew why her father'd set out to sea, and she'd had a brief kiss of it when she stowed away on a boat for a month, but not much else. Eri wanted to find him, because she'd never seen him before and she felt annoyed that everyone in the village could say that she looked just like her father, when she, his own daughter, couldn't. That One Piece at the Grand Line was an added bonus. Eri had what she needed- a pretty good sized ship (though it had no storage in its belly and was only a tad bigger than a dinghy), two barrels (one full of oranges and another of fresh water), oars just in case there was no wind, a general map of the East Blue (she'd get others as she went along), the clothes on her back and the hat on her head. All she wanted was this last feast from Makino's kitchen before she'd be off.

A hefty plate of fried chicken and steaming disks of potatoes was set before her, and Eri needed no further invitation to tuck in. "'Is ist 'ood, Ma'ino," Eri smiled through a mouthful, making the older woman roll her eyes. "Manners," Makino chided, though she didn't really care all that much. Eri reminded the woman too much of her father- she was used to it and would be sad to see it go.

She was halfway through her feast when the door burst open. "Ne, woman, give me enough beer for my buddies here!" a rowdy man shouted, pretty much shaking the entire building. Eri looked over her shoulder, cheeks bulging, to see a tall, well built guy of about thirty. He wasn't that good a looker- sallow yellow skin custom of a smoker, more wrinkles than should've been on a 30-year-old's face, blonde hair that was greased back, dull rheumy blue eyes, and to top it off, he was missing a few yellowed teeth in his mouth.

And he was followed by about 20 other men, all carrying weapons of some sort. They clobbered in as if they owned the place and sat themselves down, most at tables and a select few at the bar where Eri was currently enjoying her meal. She scooted sideways a bit as the creepy captain took his perch on the stool directly next to her. Makino, used to years of orders from pirates, just sighed and disappeared into the backroom for the second time this chapter.

"Hey, girl, are you gonna eat all that?" the greasy captain asked doubtfully, pointing his over sized finger at her plate. Eri immediately slid it out of his grasp, frowning in warning. "Yea, what about it?" she retorted, hackles rising. Eri had a habit of never trusting a man who reminded her of a weasel. Call it a sixth sense. The captain huffed a melodramatic sigh, and impeded even more into Eri's imaginary bubble. "Well I want it. So hand it over. You'll get fat."

Eri's eyebrows disappeared into her hat, and before you could say "You'll choke!", her food disappeared into her mouth, which was now bulging. "Not gunna get fat, doc says I got a good margolism." The girl swallowed quickly, and was only slightly surprised to see the captain glaring at her. "It's metabolism, stupid girl. And you just ate my dinner." A round of 'OOOOOHHHH's rang out around the bar, and Eri smiled, cheerfully oblivious.

"Makino-san made it for me though, so technically, I ate my own dinner," she replied, happy with her intellect for once. "I told you to give it to me. Therefore that was my dinner," the captain rumbled, suddenly fierce looking with a glare that could rival Makino's. "Just cause you told me don't mean I need to listen," Eri retorted, reaching for her glass of water. The captain's paw of a hand snaked out faster and snatched it faster than the blink of the eye, and suddenly, Eri's hat was dripping wet.

The bar seemed very quiet for once. The pirates were smirking, obviously thinking, "Oh, now she gets it!". Eri took off her hat a moment, and fanned it around, watcher droplets flying everywhere. She sat it back on her head again, the brim shading her eyes as she spoke. "Would you like to know where I got this hat?" she prompted, all traces of 'normal Eri' gone. Serious Eri was scarier than most marine admirals, and the captain felt uneasy as he laughed (sounding like a breathless teenager girl as he did it). "Why would I care?"

"This is my dad's hat. Want to know who my dad is?" Half of the crew in the bar suddenly went ape shit. "I KNOW WHERE THAT HAT IS FROM!" chorused all over the joint. Still, she waited with unending patience. "I don't care who he is, either," the captain retorted, though it sounded like he very much wanted to know who he was, crew mates reactions considered. Now, Eri usually wasn't one to boast- she hated braggarts more than anything- but she did know when to scare people. A cheeky grin spread her cheeks wide, puckering the scar she'd received on her right cheek from living in Logue town and talking about him to anyone she'd met. A scar she'd received from Smoker, that asshole.

"Ya should. He's the Pirate King. And you pretty much just spat at his shoes." Her fist connected with his face before anyone could blink, and the captain flew back, through the window and across the street to bonk his head on a pole. Mass chaos ensued, with his crew drawing their swords and pointing them defiantly at Eri. No matter how hard she could punch, it wasn't anything compared to a blade, surely.

Eri stood from her stool, rolling her shoulders. "Well that's kinda rude, pointing those at me like that," she pouted, 'serious Eri' gone. The crew sweatdropped. 'Bipolar?' they thought. The men charged, and Eri ducked low to the ground, swinging her feet out to trip the men in front. Which, in turn, fell the people behind them. Domino effect. "I may not be as strong as he is yet, but I can sure as hell kick your asses!" The girl grinned widely, and dodged to the side as a bullet whizzed by her ear.

"Yeesh, no respect for women," she tsked, and charged at the man with the smoking pistol. She ran in a zig zag path to evade the bullets, something she'd practiced so often it came second nature, and ducked to the ground, her hands only making contact briefly as she sent a flying double kick his way, effectively causing him to slam into the (rather hard) cement walls. It'd cracked by the time she was safely alighted on her feet again.

Eri rubbed her neck worriedly at the obvious state of disarray. Conveniently, Makino emerged from the backroom, and dropped the two barrels she was sporting loudly. Eri, who knew that this could be her end, evacuated so fast the only trace of her being there was the kicked up dust in the air. "Ja ne*!" she exclaimed over her shoulder, and headed to the dock.

"Welp. Oughta get goin, then," Eri murmured to herself, shimmying the noose up the post and throwing it aboard her 'ship'. It was so small in size that it didn't even need an anchor, and it was easy enough for her to release the sails. The 'moderate' (to her) wind caught it immediately, and the jerk the boat gave as it flew into the center of the harbor was enough to make Eri unstable on her feet. She laughed, hand on her hat, and made easy work of setting it in the direction of her first destination- Logue town.

She'd already been there. She knew it was infested with marine rats, but she also knew it was flooded with strong people- people that she would get to join her nonexistent crew. 10, maybe 15 people was all she was asking for- enough people to sail to the Grand Line. And, she had to admit, she really wanted to see the execution platform.

It took four days.

Four days of lying around, surrounded by an endless amount of seawater and checking her destination every hour. To say the least, Eri was ready to run to the nearest bar just to have someone to talk to. It was one of her faults- Eri was so social it hurt. Days on end with nothing but the compass to talk to literally killed her, to the point where she was dragging herself off the boat and forcing her unworked muscles to lasso the boat to the dock.

There hadn't even been a storm. Just bright, clear skies at day and dark indigo skies at night. The only form of entertainment Eri found was juggling. She had no idea how to, but forced herself to try to learn. It was the only thing she had to pass the time- and equally the only thing she couldn't grasp at all. The oranges just wouldn't obey her, and she couldn't count on one hand how many had fallen overboard.

Once her feet were on the shore, Eri was flying into town, an excitable smile on her face. Buildings, civilization, crew members, and most of all... "MESHIIII**!" she cried happily, slamming to a halt in front of a barbecue joint. She parted the blue curtains that served as the entrance and stepped inside, politely dropping her hat behind her so that it dangled from her neck by its string. Unsurprisingly, there were at least twenty people in. But they weren't rowdy, obviously not pirates, and they kept their conversations quiet. Several eyes swiveled surreptitiously her way before they glanced back at their table mates. Eri bounced up to the bar, plopping into a worn leather stool and pounding her fist on the counter top.

"Food, food, food, hey old man, can I have food now? Foooood~" she chanted. The 'old man' (who was really in his early 40's and wasn't all that old) raised an amused eyebrow, and finished up pouring a beer for a nearby patron. "Haven't you heard that patience is a virtue?" he remarked, yanking the washcloth off his shoulder to scrub away the puddle another customer had made. "Nope," Eri replied, popping the 'p'. The man let out an exasperated chuckle and abandoned the cleaning job to assemble her dinner. "What do you want?" he asked over his shoulder. "Don't care... I just want alot of it." He chuckled again at her response, and went to work, spooning fried rice into a large bowl with his left hand and plopping a slab of cooked and steaming meat onto a plate with his other. Eri watched, bemused, as he flit around like a psycho, throwing a scoop of fried cucumber here, a tankard of ale there, and dashing spices like a world class chef.

It took exactly 49.3 seconds for him to get the spread under her nose. Eri'd been watching the clock mounted on the wall- pretty accurate. She dug in, tearing a large chunk off of the meat with her teeth. Yes, she knew it was a bit... barbaric, but she could care less- she'd survived four days on nothing but apples and water, and she was literally shaking from withdrawal.

"... I guess you were hungry..." the man muttered, eyeing her as she finished the meat and went on to lift the bowl of rice to her lips, forgoing the chopsticks and going in with her face instead. She wasn't even chewing, just opening up her throat so that the food could spill down it. "Check it out, this kid's going to empty my kitchen!" the chef yelled suddenly, pointing a thin finger in her direction. The eyes of the customers once again flashed to her, but this time they didn't go away, watching in fascination as she ate more than thought possible. "Do you have two stomachs, girlie?" a man asked, mumbles of agreement following closely. Eri paused in her assault on the rice to give a Cheshire smile. "Three," she confessed, sounding very serious. In response, many laughed, the atmosphere in the joint lightening. A burly arm slapped over her shoulders, and she nearly dropped the bowl with the force of it. "This kid right here, she's a riot! What's your name, shortstack?" Eri paused yet again, vaguely irritated that her meal was interrupted for the second time.

Now, keep in mind, our dear protagonist has no idea what things constitute as 'shout it to the world' and what are better left as 'sew your lips shut to keep this one down'. Her mindset was much like her father's, innocent and utterly trustworthy. She didn't know it would cause an uproar- obviously, if her father was a pirate, and the king at that, pirates weren't all that bad, were they? Especially him, because Makino said he was a passive person, attacking those who attacked others and helping those in need. And she didn't think that people wouldn't know that- the marines were asshats, other pirates were even worse, and he'd never done anything to intentionally harm the innocent.

So it should be no surprise to you when she plopped her bowl down with a flourish and proudly proclaimed, "Eri D. Monkey, future Pirate Queen. Nice ta meetcha~!" But it was a surprise.

People choked on their drinks and slammed their tankards onto the tables, shooting furious glares her way. Or at least, most did. About six or seven looked unphased, silently sipping and watching with practiced, untrustworthy eyes as the majority of patrons stood up, any weapons on their body suddenly in hand. "D. MONKEY! THAT'S YOUR LAST NAME, HUH?" the man who'd previously wound his arm around her withdrew quickly, as if afraid to touch her.

Eri took a swig from her glass casually, unaware of the obviously furious civilians around her. "Yeeeaaaahhh, what's it to ya?" she drawled, blinking. Was everyone standing up to bow to her? But then why were they holding weapons? 'Is this some kind of "Heil Hitler" thing?' she wondered, her eyebrows knitting together. "MONKEY D. LUFFY HAS KILLED HUNDREDS! HE'S STOLEN FROM EVEN MORE! AND YOU WALTZ AROUND AS IF IT'S A GOOD THING!" the man roared, his loud voice causing her to cover her ears in pain.

"Itai***, you didn't have to yell. And it is a good thing- I'm proud of my father for standing up to those marine morons." She lifted a cucumber to her lips, about to eat it, when it was knocked out of her hands and onto the grimy floor. "Now what was that for?" she pouted, glaring at the man. "Your father is wanted for more than 400 million beli. And you calmly tell the world that you're going to follow in his footsteps? If there were marines around here, you'd be in jail," the barkeep suddenly piped up, looking much less welcoming than he did before. She cocked her head in confusion,"Well that's not very nice..." "Maybe we should just bring her to them ourselves!" one man yelled, choruses of agreement trailing after.

Eri wasn't all that bright, but she knew that she definitely didn't want to go to the marines. So she stood up, plopping her hat on her head as she did so. A quick getaway was her plan- and it would've been accomplished, if not for her being caught by the arm before she could make her escape. She looked behind her in surprise, and was met with the broad chest of some dude wearing a blue tee shirt, khaki pants, and brown man-style flip flops.

And suddenly she wasn't there anymore, but on the building's roof. Eri didn't know what to think- she was there, and then she wasn't. If there was movement in between, she hadn't felt it. The vice-like grip was still on her arm, but lessened slightly as she was spun to face her captor. Now that she could see better, there were more details. He had on a pair of black sunglasses resting on his tanned face, almost concealed by his silvery gray hair that hung in waves.

The most notable thing about his appearance was the set of daggers belted around his waist. There were six- three on each side- and they varied. One was short and barely there, likely a throwing knife, one was long and wickedly curvy with an embellished hilt, another was curved like a fishing hook. They were all uniquely different, as were the sheaths that held them- different textures, colors, designs, materials.

Eri didn't know what to make of the man, so she said the first thing that came to her dense mind. Which was, of course, blitheringly stupid. "So I see you like knives," she mumbled, poking one with a finger. The man jumped and seemed to glower at her through his sunglasses. "That's all you're going to say? No, 'thank you for saving my ass'?" the man retorted, jaw setting. Eri was slightly awed at his imposing figure- he was tall, at least 6'4, with a set of broad shoulders and a torso that was probably as chisled as the statue of David. Compared to him, Eri was a mouse. She couldn't ever hit higher than 5'3, and while she was more muscular than most girls, one of his thighs was probably bigger than her waist.

"Well I could've taken them, ya know? I didn't ask you to- but that was really cool, by the way. Are you a devil's fruit user? Cause that was super duper fast. Ne, how accurately can you throw those knives there? Why do ya got so many, got a knife fetish? That's a cool word, by the way. Fetish," she rambled, plopping down on the gravelled roof indian style and resting her elbows on her knees.

The man hesitated, then sat down across from her, stiff and unaccustomed to moseying around and sitting wherever he pleased. He seemed to ignore the fact that she was now talking about the questionable existance of flying horses when he said, "You're the daughter of the Pirate King?" Eri stopped her blabbing for a moment, and bobbed her head rapidly. "Yep, and I'm gonna be the Pirate Queen real soon too. Once I get a crew. Hey, you wanna be in my crew, Rojin-kun****?" The man's forehead creased, and he snapped, "I'm 19 years old, Mizetto*****. And my name is Raiden. And why the hell would I join your crew?"

Eri bounced hyperly, feeling little of the sharp jabs of the rocks into her legs. "Ne, ne, no need to get so upset over a simple mistake. And anyway, it's cause I'm gonna be the Pirate Queen. Who else can say 'hey, I'm in the Pirate Queen's crew!'? And anyway, I like you. Your knives are cool." Raiden threw his hands in the air, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I doubt a little girl like you could ever be the Pirate Queen, even if you are his daughter. Plus, I'm not a pirate- I'm just a civilian. Why would you want me?"

The girl sighed dramatically, looking out over the setting sun with a heartbroken expression on her face. It was all Raiden could do to hold himself back- he knew she was just pulling his leg, but it still didn't stop his heart from shattering to a billion pieces at the depressed look on her childlike face. She took her hat off her head, and had her eyes on it as she spoke, though her ebony locks kept him from seeing that. "I never knew him, my father. I just arrived on Makino-san's doorstep one day with the hat and a few short sentences on a piece of crumpled paper. I want to find him, that's my other goal. I want to show him just how good a pirate, just how strong, I've become. I work hard every day to see that this time will come. I need a crew to be a captain, and I need cool people like you. Original people, the kind that stand out from the others. I don't care if you're secretly the queen of Illusia, I want you on my side."

She gauged his expression carefully. Raiden looked like he was thinking about it, rubbing his forefinger continuously under his nose like he had a cold. Suddenly, he threw the finger in the air as if he'd just had an 'EUREKA!' moment. "If you can fight me and win, I'll join," he suggested, nodding to himself. That would decide if she was really worth his time. "Okiedokie, where?" Eri replied immediately, a self satisfied smirk on her lips as she set the hat back on her head.

Raiden grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto his back, ignoring her loud inquiries, and set off running. They arrived at the shore where her 'ship' was 'parked' in no time (pretty much), and he let her down. They faced off, only about six feet from each other, and Raiden slipped into a starter position while Eri bustled around in her endless back pocket a moment before unearthing the three parts of her metal staff. She noisily clinked the parts together and smiled fondly at it. It'd been made for her by a blacksmith for her birthday, and posed much more a threat than you'd think. It stood to her shoulders, as light as platinum and solid as steel. It was topped with a single, sharpened blade. "That's it?" Raiden laughed, but deep down, he was worried. This girl was the daughter of THE Pirate King. Who knew what she could do, what strings the man had pulled behind the scenes for her to be the strongest girl around? "Kay, we can start now," Eri said cheerfully, and they charged in unison.

Raiden pulled his #2 blade from it's sheath, and ducked under her staff to go for a slash (not a stab; didn't want her dead) to the abdomen. He was just a foot away from his target when she pretty much disappeared from view for a moment. 'So she's fast too, eh?' Raiden thought appreciatively. Now, he'd have a real party. He didn't have a devil's fruit like so many expected, he was just unearthly fast. Raiden didn't even need all that much training to get to this point either- it was just natural.

He spun, looking for Eri, and spotted her, twirling her staff too quick to really see. " Misuto Misuto no Shade!" she announced. Raiden gulped thickly, and glanced around at the rapidly fogging area. In a matter of seconds, it was so dense that he could barely see a hand in front of his face. 'Damn, she uses a devil's fruit,' he thought, readying blade #5 in his left hand. 'How can you hit an opponent you can't see?' Raiden dashed around blindly, twirling rapidly like he was some kind of ballerina. All he could do was keep his eyes open and hope the fog cleared soon.

Surprisingly, it did. The fog hadn't lasted a minute before fading as fast as it came.

But by that time, Raiden was battered. Eri hadn't used the blade of her staff, but she'd whacked him so fast and so much that by the time the mist was gone, Raiden was stumbling. His tanned calfs were already turning purple in numerous places, and he was pretty sure he had a broken rib or two. Despite this, he stopped his spinning to face the girl, who still had that idiotic grin on her face. "Why do you call that move 'shade'?" Raiden panted, blinking to clear his blurry eyes. She'd knocked his head more than once, and he was sure he'd have a monster migraine later.

"Cause it gives me 'shade' to kick your ass. I ate the Mist Mist fruit, which basically helps conceal. I can do a few minor illusions, and I can make fog. Pretty chill, eh?" Eri explained. Raiden sighed, straightening his back. He wasn't going to allow a child to push him around. Just because she was a devil fruit user didn't mean she was indestructible, and he had a surefire way of beating her. He ran at her, a determined set to his jaw. Eri didn't move, even when he was less than two feet away.

And she didn't move when he sent a shattering Haki punch to her chest. He jumped back, feeling like he'd just punched solid steel. "I think I broke something," he moaned, cradling his fist close to his chest. Still Eri didn't move, not even to blink. Something was off, that was for sure, and Raiden didn't like it. "What are you doing?" he asked cautiously. Suddenly, Eri disappeared. Like, poof. There one second, gone the next. No blur as if she'd ran away, but poof. Gone.

Raiden let out a shocked grunt. "I guess that was one of your illusions, right?" he assumed, fist flaring. The pain was definitely real. As if reading his mind, Eri's voice said, "I made you think I was standing in one place when actually I ducked and had you punch the staff. Hurts, right?" she laughed, and it sounded like it was coming from right behind him. He whirled, but nothing was there. A tap on his shoulder sent him turning again, and Eri was blinking at him, a calm look on her face.
Without hesitation, he reeled back a fist and sent it into her face. Her face shattered around his fist like it was a shell, and poofed away. He growled in frustration, and was about to send out some sarcastic remarks when he felt the familiar press of cool metal against his neck and a body clinging onto his.

"Give up yet? I have your fishhook knife- it's wicked," Eri sang in his ear. Without hesitation, he stabbed his knife into the thigh of Eri. And nearly tugged his hair out as he heared a 'pop' sound and the fishhook knife buried itself blade-first into the pristine white sand. Raiden picked it up with a flourish and shoved it back in it's holster. "Is this how you beat your enemies? Annoy them to death?" He yelled to the empty air.

Suddenly, Eri was there, the real one. And she was going at it. She was punching, kicking, elbowing, headbutting. Moves he'd never seen before and never wanted to again. Once he came to his senses and felt the horrendous pain she was giving him, he began to fight back. They flashed around the beach in ways only speedy people could, their movements pretty much invisible to the naked eye. And then, Raiden (who was busy fending off a fist) was kicked where it counts.

He flew backwards, landing on his ass and immediately curling into the fetal position, chanting, "LOWBLOWLOWBLOWLOWBLOWLOWBLOW !" as loud as humanly possible. "Well yeah. I wasn't aiming for your face," Eri said, strolling over to his side and sitting. Raiden just groaned, partly in pain and partly because she was so moronic it wasn't even funny. "Join my crew now." Eri prodded him in the nose. "Join it."

This prodding and begging went on for about a minute more as Raiden gathered his bearings and sat up. He took a large breath in, and then yelled, "WILL YOU NOT TOUCH ME THERE!" Eri pouted, but drew her finger away. A moment of tense silence later, a smile different from her regular one decorated her lips. 'She's staring at me like I'm her next dessert,' Raiden thought, wide-eyed. He scooted backwards awkwardly, lips pressed together.

Eri followed after, the malicious smile on her face, and Raiden's growing horror had him biting back a girlish squeal. He froze, stupidly, and watched helplessly as she approached, swallowing thickly. And when she was exactly four inches from his face she yelled, "UKE RAI-RAI IS A CUTE RAI-RAI!" For a moment, there was nothing but silence and the waves lapping gently at the shore.

Raiden's brain then fully comprehended what she meant, and turned red as a cherry tomato. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT, ERO-MIZETTO******! WHAT PART OF THAT SPEAKS 'UKE' TO YOU?" he screamed, going in to tackle her to the ground. Eri laughed and rolled out of the way casually, hand on her hat. "Maa, maa, Raiden-chan, no need to get so defensive, I've no problems with your sexua-" before she could finish her sentence, Raiden had kicked her halfway across the island with all the force of the thunder gods before him. "Baka yarou*******..." he mumbled, rubbing his sore legs.

~~~~TIME SKIP-TO-MY-LOO~~~~

Eri gripped the side of the boat as Raiden threw his backpack aboard, causing it to bob and shift erratically. "That thing weighs more than you and I combined!" she complained loudly, pointing to it in disgust. Raiden just shook his head at her and wiggled the lasso free of its post. "Yeah and you eat more in one seating than you and I combined, but I don't say anything," he muttered, so low that she didn't hear.

It'd been three days since the battle, and they'd been forced to spend every waking moment together to make plans and such. Most of those waking moments were spent in one restaurant joint or another, and Eri seemed dead-set on trying every food choice on every menu through the entire town. Word had spread that the daughter of the Pirate King was around, but nobody knew who she was- as if the hat wasn't a dead giveaway. It was probably a good thing that it didn't- if it did, they'd be out on the sea by now with no plans whatsoever. Or maybe they'd even be at the bottom of it from the marines. Either way it went, it certainly wouldn't be a good thing, so the two companions were thankful that the inhabitants of Loguetown weren't very sharp.

"So you're a... knifesman," Eri giggled as Raiden hopped into the boat after his bag. Raiden shot her an irritated look and took the initiative to lower the sail. "You're still hung up on that?" Ever since he'd told her that, she'd laughed about it. Probably because people figured it wasn't as glorious as being a swordsman, but honestly, there were tons of swordsmen in the world. If you're a knifesman, you're original and you can actually throw your blades. Plus, Raiden was going to be the best (or maybe the only) in the world. He was exceptional at it, among other things. Had been trained years by his uncle- in knives, haki, capoeira, gymnastics, and practical defense. 'Remarkably, none of that seemed to help in a battle against her,' he thought, shooting Eri a dirty look that she didn't see.

Eri jumped up and settled herself atop the boxlike structure on the boat, an excitable grin on her face. "Onward!" she declared, brandishing a finger in some random direction. "Actually we're going west, not east," Raiden corrected, masking a chuckle at her put out face.

The sail caught the wind then, and the boat lurched towards the open sea. Eri clapped her feet together childishly, and Raiden massaged his temples before plopping down to lean against the mast. He had no doubt that this journey would be an arduously long and annoying one- especially with someone like that for a captain.

Somehow, he couldn't help but respect her. She was an idiot, sure, but she had no problem talking about her father, didn't seemed swayed by the numerous glares she got. She had a dream, something Raiden could connect with, and she was dead set on achieving it. She had that odd charisma that had him laughing along with her, even when it was something moronic and childish. On top of it all, Eri beat him, and she never gloated. She was remarkably strong, but she never showed it unless need be. Modest.

And Raiden figured that if he was to sail with someone, Eri would be the best person to sail with.

UTTERLY OBVIOUS FORESHADOWING FLASHFORWARD EXTRAORDINAIRE:

The pirates sat in the corner of the moonlit room, their headwear shading their faces from view. They weren't strictly on business, though it would be pretty nice if they could accomplish their goal. "Eight o' clock," the woman, who had her back to the wall, said. She then lifted her tankard to her lips to avoid suspicion as her partner took a quick sweep with his eyes behind him. His eyes locked on the person, and he quickly looked away again.

That man was extremely insignificant. He didn't look all that intimidating, tall and thin like he was stretched. His deep red hair was cut marine-style, almost a buzz, and he had a clean-shaven face. The clothing he wore- black pants and a blood red dress shirt- were pressed and neatly kept, and from what the man could see, he had no battle scars of any kind, his pale skin smooth and unblemished. Certainly not rugged enough to be a pirate, so he raised a questioning eyebrow at his comrade.
"What? Boyfriend problems?" he guessed. The shade let up a bit for him to see his companion's wide, Cheshire grin. "Isn't it obvious, Rojin-kun? He's going to join our crew."

END OF UTTERLY OBVIOUS FORESHADOWING FLASHFORWARD EXTRAORDINAIRE

* Ja ne = See You!
** Meshi = Food

*** Itai = Painful/Sore (AKA: Ow)
**** Rojin = Old Man

***** Mizetto = Midget

****** Ero- Mizetto = Pervy Midget

******* Baka Yarou = You Fool

Hopefully that wasn't too bad- a bit short for my tastes, but I think the next chapter'll be a bit longer. By the way, I'm going to attempt to make this as non-MarySue as possible. Oodles of gut-wrenching scenes to come, folks. Also- the pasts of the Straw Hats and Eri's crew are actually a bit similar... I have no real reason to this but, whatever. R+R~~