Red D. Rogue
My mother's name was Red D. Rose, before she married. I was born out of wedlock, though Ma didn't tell me who my father was until many years after I first asked.
Her husband's name was Morgan Del, and he was a childhood friend of hers. Though she didn't love him like he loved her, she bore him two sons, my little brothers, Rowan and Glyph.
They were married a few months before my birth, mostly to throw off the marines, in hopes that they would simply think I was Del's daughter. No luck there; since I was born with my father's hair and eyes, there was no chance they would believe it. Luckily, Del was a good sort of man, and even though it meant disobeying his noble parents, he took off with me and Ma to an isle in the East Blue, called Midnight, far from the South Blue where I was born.
So my brothers were born on a Daytime Island, one of those five isles in East Blue that really ought to be on the Grand Line, and we three grew up fighting giant tigers in the forests outside our well-walled village.
Then, when I was seven, the marines finally caught up to us, and that was the end of that.
A lot of folk are under the mistaken belief that the marines are the 'good guys'. And they might be, for some people, but for those with pirate blood, they're always villains. See, before my Ma was Morgan D. Rose, she was called the Red Queen, and a bounty hunter of wide renown. Especially popular was the tale that featured her and the King of Pirates, Gol D. Roger.
The tale went thus: Ma and Roger both grew up in Loguetown, only Ma came from a well off noble family, and Roger was a merchant's son. Rose was a good ten years younger than him, but despite the difference in age and society, they were fairly good friends. When Roger took off proclaiming that he'd become the Pirate King (and everyone laughed, 'cause how could pirates have a king?), Rose was was seven, and she told him before he left that she'd be coming after him when she was old enough. However, he misinterpreted her words to mean that she wanted to catch him and give him up to the marines.
Ten years later, Red D. Rose left Loguetown behind, telling the whole town that she was going to catch Roger.
Along the way, she encountered a lot of the cruel type of pirates, and ended up disposing of them. She never really intended to become a bounty hunter, it was really more just her fate as a D to run into so much trouble. Eventually, after the third or fourth bounty she turned in, the marines just called her a bounty hunter and left it at that, never knowing her true reasons.
She only caught up to him after he'd been named King, and by then she'd gained quite a name for herself as the bounty hunter Red Rose. Unfortunately, Roger didn't actually know why she'd been chasing him at the time, so things were said, were misinterpreted, and eventually they got into a fight, which ended once Roger realized that she wanted to marry him, not turn him in. He declined, apparently not nearly ready to settle down, and they parted ways.
It was after that they started calling her the Red Queen, after the words she'd said to Roger. It was generally considered fact, by the officials at least, that Red D. Rose wanted to catch Gold Roger, but they discounted the gossip that the Red Queen was in love with him.
In the end, Rose was the one Roger gave himself up to. And though he was in love with Portgas D. Rouge, and he told her so, and of his unborn child, he gave himself to her for the week it took them to reach Loguetown.
I'll never know what his opinion of my existence might have been, since he died long before my mother knew about me. I rather doubt he would have protested overmuch, though.
What with the rumours, it was honestly surprising it took the marines so long to find us.
Ma and Del saved me from them, protected us, and sent us out over the water in a small boat. We watched as the marines shot them down, and in the end it was only Glyph's talent at navigation that got us back to a shore. It wasn't any shore, of course, that wouldn't fit with the ironic fate that went with my name. No, we landed on Sunset Isle, the most dangerous of the Daylight Islands.
I can say with absolute certainty that if it weren't for my devil fruit power, which I'd gained from a fruit stolen from my mother, we wouldn't have survived those first few years. The animals there were huge and bloodthirsty, the terrain was treacherous, and even the plants were carnivorous. My ability to fly and heal the wounds the others were constantly getting were really the only things that kept us going. Once Glyph got his pheromone powers from a fruit he'd found on the island, things were much easier.
We built a treehouse up in the canopy, and by the time I was nine, we were able to comfortably feed five or six people on a regular basis. This was lucky, as that was the year our little sisters, Izumi and Yue joined us.
The years were generally peaceful after that; we robbed whoever landed on our island, and trained until we were all capable of walking around Sunset on our own. Nothing changed until my eleventh year, when I found a boy named Sabo washed up on the beach.
-Sunset Island-
I sighed as I swung up onto a branch over the water, keeping ears peeled for Izumi's obnoxious giggle, and eyes wide open to catch any hint of her mint green hair. She'd pranked Glyph, again, and it was honestly a wonder the boy hadn't stopped trying to flirt with her, in his adorably childish way, when it annoyed her enough to tie him to trees.
I reached the east beach with no sign of her, but I was sidetracked from my quest for the little green hellion by the pile of dirty clothes and hair in the sand. I approached carefully, given that playing dead was honestly a rather common trick with my siblings, but when I picked up no sign of trickery, I quickly stumbled over to the person and turned him over.
He was young, probably about my age, and positively littered with cuts and bruises. He wore a jacket that was probably blue under all the dirt, and had short blond hair crusted with salt and sand. I felt for a pulse and was relieved when I found one; I may rob idiot sailors of all their goods on a semi-regular basis, but this mystery kid was just shipwrecked child, and I wouldn't have been happy if I failed to save him. I lifted him from the ground and slung him around my shoulders, before high tailing back to the treehouse to get him what rudimentary medical supplies we carried.
Izumi was back home when I reached it, though I barely paid enough attention to mentally slap myself for not realizing her plan to outfox me. She and her twin, Yue, were settled at the table playing a game Rowan had taught them with stones. They stood pretty quick when I dashed in with the blond kid on my back, Izumi likely meaning to run before she noticed him. She was all business as soon as she understood the situation.
"What do you need us to get, sis?" She asked, as I laid the boy on one of the mattresses in the bedroom. I quickly divested him of his clothes, completely disregarding any embarrassment he might have gained from this; it was nothing I hadn't seen on the boys, after all. I nodded at Izumi, "I need some water from our boiled supply and the disinfectant salve," I said. I looked over his wounds before shaking my head, "After that I'll just have to heal him the old fashioned way. We don't have anything that could fix him up right other than me."
Izumi rushed off to do as told, while Yue picked up his clothes from where I'd tossed them, most likely taking them to wash. She knew she'd only be in the way in the bedroom.
The louder twin shuffled in with a pot of water, the tin of disinfectant, and a bunch of rags, and began helping me wash the salt and dirt off of him. Once he was clean as could reasonably be expected, and hopefully safe from infection, I shooed the younger girl across the room and let loose some of the fire that was always with me thanks to my devil fruit.
I was a Phoenix Mythical Zoan; the red one, to be exact. Though at this point I didn't know to specify, since I hadn't heard of Marco the Phoenix yet. The difference was that the red phoenix could only heal others, whereas the blue one could only heal himself. I'd done a lot of work on perfecting my healing ability, thanks to the various scrapes, cuts and more serious wounds my siblings had gained.
Healing the mystery kid took a while. Rowan came back from hunting, scolded Izumi, left, returned with a freed Glyph, and made dinner in the time it took me to heal his more dangerous injuries. By the time I'd finished, Yue had returned with his clothes, washed and somewhat dry. I redressed him in his boxers and shorts, leaving the coat off to the side. Izumi draped a blanket over his body as I stumbled into the main room to get something to eat.
The dinner table was mostly silent while I devoured what I could get my hands on. When I was satisfied, I leaned back and looked straight at my oldest little sibling and waited for his questions.
"So who's the boy?" He asked.
I shrugged, honestly not sure, then nodded to the east, "I found him on the east shore, he was out cold then, and he hasn't woken up since." I stretched my arms above my head, trying to work out the stiffness from all that sitting still, "I don't know anything about him yet, so we'll just have to wait for him to wake up."
He nodded and got up to grab the plates around the table, leaving them in the washbasin for Izumi. The girl pouted as she realized this, and Yue giggled at the expression, "That's what you get for tying Glyph-Nii up again," she said. Izumi nodded, continuing to pout, and got up to finish the chore.
I wandered into the bedroom and lay myself down on the futon next to the mystery kid's. A yawn cracked my face, and I pulled up the blanket folded at the bottom of my bed, closing my eyes to drop off to sleep. Healing such extensive wounds was very tiring, no matter how good I got at it.
He was still there when I woke the next morning, but he was looking a whole lot healthier, and seemed to be really sleeping now, based on the mumbling he was doing. I rolled up onto my knees next to him and reached down to check his forehead for any fever, just in case, but a hand reached up to grab mine when I got too close.
His eyes opened, and I was a bit surprised by the shade of blue they were; It was brighter than any I remembered seeing. I flexed my wrist a little to try and get him to let go, but his grip was stronger than it looked. I shrugged and waved my other hand above his face, "Hey, mystery kid," I said, referring to him by the name I'd been going with, "How you feeling? You were pretty beat up before I got to you."
He just blinked at me, before opening his mouth to speak, except all that came out was a croak. I rolled my eyes at myself, then turned towards the door, "Hey, guys, can someone get mystery kid something to drink?" I hollered to the others. Golden haired Glyph shuffled in a minute later, a large mug in hand. He handed it down to the other blond, who let go of my wrist (finally) to drink.
He cleared his throat once he was done, and spoke with more success the second time, "My name's Sabo," he said. "I feel fine, but where am I exactly?"
I smiled at him, "Sabo, you're on Sunset Island, in East Blue, in case you're wondering. I hear you never know with the Grand Line."
He gave her an amused look, then sat up, looking around the room, "And who are you?" He asked curiously.
I leaned back against the wall, "I'm Rogue, this is my brother Glyph. There's three others that live with us, my little brother Rowan, and my even littler sisters, Izumi and Yue."
Izumi protested from the other room, "I'm not that little!"
I just grinned, "Pleasure to meet you," I said cheerfully.
He patted himself down, "I don't really feel injured at all," he said, seeming confused, "How long have I been here?" He asked worriedly.
I waved a hand at him, "Maa, don't worry, I found you on the beach yesterday. I have special healing abilities, so it seems almost like you were never hurt, except for the scars. There was too much sea salt in them to stop the scarring."
He stared at me, shocked, then shook his head, "Well, thanks, I guess," he said. He stood up, and I copied him. He stretched a bit, seeming still pretty shocked at the rate he'd recovered. Glyph lead us two into the other room, where we sat down to eat what remained of breakfast.
After we ate, Sabo grabbed his coat and followed me down to the beach where I'd found him. I noted his proficiency in traversing the forest and wondered if he perhaps came from one of the other Daytimes. The only one to the east of here was Dawn Island, about two days away by sail.
I broached this topic as we stood on the sand, looking at the wreck of the boat he'd come in on, "So, are you from Dawn Island, then?" I asked.
He turned to stare at me, "How did you know?"
I smirked, "You went through the forest like you were home there, and the only island in this direction anything like Sunset is Dawn," I told him.
He laughed, "I guess it's pretty obvious when you think about it like that," he admitted. He turned back to the boat with a frown, "Well, I guess I'll need a new boat," he muttered.
I shook my head, "Nah," I said, "Rowan and I can fix this. There's a whole bunch more wrecks around the beach, and we're pretty good at this sort of thing, really. The few rowboats we've got kicking around were all fixed up by us." I walked over to look closer, "Then again, they aren't really meant to be seaworthy," I muttered.
I looked it over for another few minutes, before walking back up the beach to Sabo, "You'll have to take Glyph with you, so he can navigate out of the currents around the island. They're nasty things, especially for the East Sea." He nodded in agreement, and then we headed back to base for lunch.