Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece merely the words below and the chapters beyond

~#OP#~

"Stop her!"

"Don't let her get away!"

Those words rang in Nami's ears as she fled from the remnants of the pirate crew she had ransacked as she tore through the streets towards the harbour hoping this easterly wind she felt kept up long enough for her to make her escape from the island before they caught up to her.

They were justified in being, for lack of a better phrase, pissed off at her. She had joined them a week ago offering her skills as a navigator after they had just lost their previous navigator due to his own stupidity. They welcomed her with open arms- as in literally given she was a girl- only for her to mutiny on them and make off with all their loot after some bounty hunter had shown up and captured their captain leaving them all disorganised and easy for the Navy to arrest them when they arrived after receiving an 'anonymous tip'.

She knew it had been foolish to remain on the island but her hunger coupled with her recent success in so many months had made her sloppy. Then again, how was she to know that the inn she had decided to stay in for the night along with a few hot meals would be the same one what was left of the crew that had managed to escape the Navy's clutches?

So now, she was running for her life while clamping a hand over her left shoulder where a bullet had managed to catch her with a ragtag group of former pirate dogs snapping at her heels. Even with her lungs fit to burst from over use, she kept going. If she died now, all her efforts would have been for naught, the villagers, her sister, her mother's sacrifice for her life…

Sharply turning a corner, Nami suddenly saw stars as she collided with something that felt like a brick wall causing her to literally bounce back the way she came to land painfully on her backside. Through dazed eyes, she managed to make out the form of someone standing before her in a ragged cloak the hood shadowing his face yet his eyes were still visible almost piercing her with its stare.

So caught up in staring into his eyes, Nami completely forgot about the pirates coming for her until their yells grabbed her attention allowing her to turn just in time to see them practically flying towards her before her view was blocked by something stepping between her and the pirates followed by the sickening sounds of the latter colliding with the two oars the cloaked stranger had grabbed from somewhere and used them to clothesline the entire lot of them.

"All these men just to handle one little girl? How pathetic!" The stranger scoffed as the pirates collapsed to the ground clutching their sore and swollen faces from where the oars connected with them.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Nami quickly took the sudden turn of events to her advantage.

"Yeah, you tell 'em, boss!" She called out 'rooting' for her superior. "They're nowhere near worthy of our gangs time if I can rob them single handed"

"What did you just say?" The stranger asked in confusion twisting round to stare at Nami only to find the thief had already made it to the end of the street.

"They're all yours, boss! Show them the price for trying to muscle in on our turf!" Nami called out before disappearing round the next corner and out of sight.

"Boss? Turf? What is she…" As the stranger tried to piece together just what was going on, the pirates had begun to stand up and encircle him their fury at Nami's 'boss' allowing them to forget the current pain they were in.

"Some nerve you've got for thinking we would kindly let you steal our loot" One of the pirates growled waving a rusting sabre at the stranger's face.

"You may have caught us off guard before, but there's more of us than there are of you!" Another remarked.

The stranger did not even bother with words anymore. Too pissed off at the witch for shoving off her troubles onto him, he merely shrugged off his tattered cloak causing the three earrings in his left ear to jingle as it brushed passed. As one, the pirates stepped back in fear as they recognised his green hair and matching haramaki realising all too late just who they had the misfortune of crossing paths with…

…

With the easterly wind blowing her boat farther from the island with each passing second, Nami sighed in relief ignoring the pain in her shoulder as she recalled just how lucky she had been to have stumbled across her saviour. Not only that, the thick roll of beri notes she had accidentally taken out of his pocket when they collided nearly totalled to two thousand which, coincidentally, was almost the amount of beri the captain of the pirate crew was worth, now that she thought of it.

Despite feeling slightly sorry for the stranger she had shoved all her troubles on, Nami could not let it deter her from reaching her goal. All she could do now was search for her next target.

…

Walking away from the crippled bodies of the pirates, Zoro was in a right foul state. Not only did that little witch leave him to clean up her mess, she had robbed him of his hard earned cash. His only condolence was that he had been lucky to drop of his swords and pay for their repair before running into that tangerine haired stick insect. Even so, that witch had better pray their paths do not cross again. Even if she was something he preferred not to cut, it did not mean that he could not cut her.

~#OP#~

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