Birthday: Usopp- April 1st: Information Broker

In the port town of Numi on the island of Heii within Paradise of the Grandline, as sunset fell and the wraiths of the night came into being, there came to be two pirates. But these were not just any pirates, oh no, these were Hunters- pirates who preyed on weary sailors: marines, pirates, and traders alike. They kept to themselves, but occasionally, only occasionally, they had to outsource. This was one of those times. And at that moment, they were drawing closer to the cause of their twilight escapade. Their reason: information- information on the Strawhat Pirates. Their source: the shadow god of Paradise: Al-Kutbay (1). Their final goal: take out the Strawhat Pirates. However, before they could even attempt a take-down, they needed to know their enemies…and the best way to do that was to speak with Al-Kutbay. The shadow god's network was a work of art; great as the system used by the Marines- but more subtle than they could ever be. Unfortunately for the particular group of Hunters these two pirates came from, they had sent sheep in snakes's clothing. As the two made their way to the meeting, they broke the foremost rule of the information world: don't talk about it.

Let's listen in….

"So…where we goin again? I'm not drunk 'nough for this time o' nigh."

"You idiot. We're going to see Al-Kutbay; ya know…the shadow god of Paradise?"

"Who?"

"Great merciful Calypso, you're a idiot… the shadow god. The one who knows. He and his aides, Postverta and Antevorta, are the only ones who have the info we need and are willing to sell it. Boss told us that when we left the boat a few weeks ago. Should've known you weren't paying attention."

"Sooo…female aides huh? Think they'll want to, ya know, have a little fun after? Cause I could go for some." The other pirate was horrified. For him this entire conversation proved that his boss hated him. Really, he must want him to die. What kind of mistake could he have done to deserve 'death by idiot'?

"No! Don't even think that! You're gonna get us killed!" the seemingly smarter of the two pirates was close to hyperventilating, "We're here. Just shut up and let me do the talking. Don't you dare say a word."

They had arrived at a midsized hut, made of brown wood with a cloth covered doorway. As they entered, the two could hear a soft mumble from the back room of the hut. That was background noise however, as their attention was drawn to the woman sitting at a desk to the side of the door. Long blond curls falling from beneath a bandana surrounded a set of doe-like brown eyes and tapered off just above her modest bust. She had a tattoo of a stylized "S" on her arm and wore an olive green tank top with brown cargo pants and heels. Sitting on the table in front of her was a stack of paper and a few stacks of paper beli. She was counting out a bag of coins when they entered, and glanced up at them when they moved to stand in front of the table.

"You're late." Her first words were sharp and accompanied by a pointed glare. "You should be on time for business. That's an additional 20 percent fee."

"But-" the idiot pirate objected.

"30 percent." She amended, and the idiot pirate once again opened his mouth. Before he could say anything else however, his partner stepped on his foot and gave him a fierce glower.

"Shut up you brainless twit before you screw us over! That's Antevorta (2)!" the smarter pirate hissed under his breath. He turned back to the woman and attempted a friendly smile. "Don't worry about him. He won't be saying anything else." He shot his partner a look. "We're with the Coroner Pirates. I'm Jos-" She cut him off.

"I don't care. Give me your payment and head to the back room. I don't have time for overdue fees." She gestured to the table impatiently.

"Of course, of course, Antevorta-sama. Right away." He tipped out two of the four bags his captain had given him for the information. She gave him a steady look and held out her hand. "Ah. Right, right, the fee. Here." He pulled out the third bag and placed it in her hand. She weighed it carefully and nodded her head in the direction of the back room.

"Go in and be silent when he speaks. He has no time for loafers and you are already pushing it." Jos nodded and walked toward the curtain that sectioned the hut, pulling his partner behind him before he could say anything. As they moved past the curtain, they entered a shadowed room partially filled with candles and faced the table before them. The area before the table was filled with candle light, but the darkness in the space behind the table seemed impenetrable. They could make out a figure seated at the table and suspected there was another even further back in the darkness. The two stood there warily, unnerved by the complete silence of the room. Abruptly, the seated figure leaned forward and began to speak as they caught a glimpse of tanned forearms and the tip of a tengu mask's beak.

"I am Al-Kutbay. You have come to me for information on the rookie crew of the Strawhat Pirates, correct?" The two men nodded. "Then information you shall receive. These pirates," he placed the bounty posters of the Strawhat Pirates on the table, "they are more than they appear. They consist of demons, monsters, and creatures in human skin. Beware of Monkey D. Luffy- he is able to command a true demon, Roronoa Zoro. And the myths always state that demons bow to none but the most powerful. The others show their own prowess, but this one…" he tapped the bounty poster of 'Cotton Candy Lover Chopper' "…this one is a shape shifter. Never assume he is helpless. Their hearts are untamable, their actions are unpredictable and their teamwork absolute- this is their most dangerous ability. Never endanger one of them if any of the others can move; that will be your last act. Never presume that they are dead or incapacitated, that will also be your last act. A frontal attack will fail. A sneak attack will fail. The only chance to take them down is to overpower them, and even that is questionable. There is little to no information on their abilities; much that is available is dubious to the extreme at least. That is all I know of these beings of destruction." Jos nodded, grateful for any information he could get. Unfortunately for him, his partner felt different.

"What the hell you talkin about! The boss wanted their powers, their weaknesses, how to take them down! And you say you don't know! You're lying! Do you know who we are, coward? We're the Coroner Pirates! The greatest Hunters this side of the Redline. You can't keep that info from us! I'll make you tell us!" With that exclamation, he lunged across the table, grabbing for the figure's throat and the candles extinguished all at once. Jos, terrified and trembling, backed away as far as possible and listened to the sounds that surrounded him. Gurgles and whimpers, which may or may not have come from his own throat, soft breathing and a sharp crack which most definitely did not. The soft breathing continued and he jumped when a feminine voice addressed him.

"So your reason for wanting this information…is to 'take out' the Strawhat Pirates…? How unfortunate. It seems we mistook your intentions for something less malicious than it was. The risks of the job it seems… Regrettably, you now know too much to return to your crew."

Jos choked back a sob. How had this simple job gone so wrong? All it was supposed to be was a ordinary reconnaissance job. Everything was falling apart. Al-Kutbay was angry, Kotov was dead and he was going to be next. The boss would never get the information and the crew would probably be destroyed in Al-Kutbay's immense anger. The last thing he heard before a sharp snap ended his existence, was the parting words of Postverta (3)- the lady of the past.

"Good-bye, Jostin of the Coroner Pirates. Don't worry about your body…we'll make sure to deliver it to your captain when we visit him."

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"Usopp! Where are you?! We're playing tag!" Luffy screamed as he ran across the deck of the Thousand Sunny. The sun was shining and there was a distinct lack of clouds in the sky. Every crewmember of the Strawhat Pirates had retreated to their normal activities. Zoro was snoozing against the mast, Franky had disappeared to his workshop, Sanji was cooking dinner, Brook had retreated to the crow's nest for watch and to practice his music, Luffy and Chopper were playing on deck, while Nami and Robin relaxed on the upper deck with fruit smoothies.

"Wahh! You're it Luffy!" Usopp jumped up behind Luffy, tagged him and ran off, while Chopper followed him, laughing like a maniac. Nami smiled fondly and looked down at the newspaper that was just delivered. Her eyebrows rose in sudden surprise.

"Wow." Nami said, astonishment thick in her tone. Robin looked up from her book.

"Is there something wrong Navigator-san?" she asked curiously. Nami smiled disarmingly.

"No, no, just shocking. Apparently an entire crew of "hunter" pirates, the Coroner Pirates actually, was destroyed. There was no trace of what did it though. Really strange, that. The wreckage simply floated into harbor a couple of nights ago. They can't even tell what might've broken the ship. Says here that it looked like they ran afoul a Grandline hurricane." They shared a small smile at the report.

"What an unfortunate occurrence to have happened…." Robin mused quietly.

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(1)Al-Kutbay: ancient Nabataean god of knowledge, commerce, writing, and prophesy

(2)Antevorta: ancient Roman goddess of the future, sister to Postverta

(3)Postverta: ancient Roman goddess of the past, sister to Antevorta