Author's Note: I hope you enjoy the start of something most probably overdone, but also unique in its own sense.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece ( I am an penguin with imagination the size of a peanut and have no talent whatsoever to create something as golden as One Piece.) I do own my OCs
I hope you feel free to fave, review, comment or follow. It's deeply appreciated. x
Chapter 1: Orange
"Tell me, what was she like?"
"She was an interesting young girl whose inability to not say the first thing that came to her mind made her quite eerily extraordinary."
"What did she look like? Was she like him?"
"In a way, she was. When I first met her, she had short and dark hair which reached only to her neck accompanied by bangs that were uncontrollably all over the place. However, she had the most sincere blue eyes that understood more than they let on. It was hard not to be caught off guard by eyes which showed so much warm emotion. What perhaps was most intriguing about her were her big ears. Ha, I admit we teased her endlessly about them.
She was quite short at first, but that changed over the years. On her left hand, there was always an old watch she called more precious than any gold in the world. Strange as it may be, it was always frozen in the same time, yet she claimed it was always different. But perhaps, maybe she was right. Nobody understood time better than her….."
"What did the marking on her shou…"
"Join my crew!"
"I refuse."
"I refuse your refusal!"
"Dammit."
"Oi, Nora, don't agree so easily!"
Everything was going so smoothly and brilliantly. It was a promising day whose bright rays showered the vicinity with serenity and cheerfulness. If she inhaled more deeply to the sweet breeze of soft wind, she may have even forgotten how terribly late she was to her given promise. One week late was the specific amount. However, considering the lovely weather and mysteriously isolated town she had been walking around, Nora found her heart clenching in mischievous excitement and boldness towards the sense of adventure. Her promise, she told herself, would have to stay patient for a little more while. Everything would have gone smoothly and brilliantly.
If only those fucking poor excuse for circus clowns weren't chasing after her.
First, there was a dull looking but pissed off beyond measure bear-ears having man covered in permanent paint who rode on his more pissed off wild lion.
Then, there was an even duller looking but also pissed off beyond measure tall guy covered in fruit who rode on a unicycle.
Finally, there were three other dull looking men, who looked as pissed as they were hideous, but without a doubt resembled part of a freak show.
The bright blue eyed girl sighed as she continued running.
How did she even get herself in such situation in the first place, anyway?
She hadn't done anything remotely wrong.
…Maybe she had, but that was beside the point.
It really wasn't. That was the whole point and she knew she had screwed up which perfectly explained why she was being chased.
In her defense, she didn't do anything ill-intentionally.
...
Nora knew from the moment she tied her small dinghy to the isolated dock, that this town would be one of 'those' towns. However, without having any navigational equipment such as a log pose or a map, the girl silently thanked her luck and directional intuition for getting herself to shore so soon. A loud grumble of inhumanity interrupted her thankful speech and indicated something extremely important and vital.
She was hungry.
With one last look at the dinghy, which she hoped she would exchange for something more convenient for sea travel, she started walking towards the direction of the town with a great pound of enthusiasm in her mind.
Nonetheless, Nora stood true to her hunch. The town was completely empty and vacant in the sense that not a single person was visible on the streets, all taking shelter inside their homes or away from them. For a moment, the girl thought it was strange but then had a second thought that maybe something had threatened and scared them from crowding the town. It didn't help her situation one bit, though. She was extremely hungry and while she had been wondering for a bout an hour, Nora hadn't found anything nor anyone. Enthusiasm was dismissed as childish irritation became its replacement. One precious hour had been wasted, as she checked her precious old hand watch. Exactly one hour.
'I'll probably barge into one of the houses if I don't find someone soon…'
But then, her eyes widened in surprise as she heard footsteps running away from her. It took one second to turn around and another one to register a brightly orange haired lady running away from her with a somewhat smug look on her face. In her hands, tightly grasped, was a money bag.
… It couldn't have been Nora's remaining berries; they were secured in her back shorts pocket in a bag.
Sonnuva….!
The dumbfounded girl pouted in irritation. Nevertheless, she held her right hand in front herself with her palm open upwards. She focused slightly, muttered a soft command and grasped her fingers to form a fist.
'Reverse'
Suddenly, the blue-eyed girl was turned backwards, as her previous situation before being robbed. This time she turned around quickly and came face to face with a blood-drained face of the orange haired thief. Nora titled her head slightly in confusion when the orange haired continued to stare at her with frightened eyes while not daring to move her hand which lingered midair.
"Are you okay? - The confused girl wondered while she let herself discover that she was a few inches shorter than the thief. Not fair. – I had to break my hand for this sack, you know." And she showed the bag of coins in her own hand.
"Y-You…H-h-how…I…" Came the almost voiceless mutters.
The girl, however, waved her off with an excited smile. It was a waste to fret about the past even if it was only a few seconds ago. All was forgotten.
"Later. Do you know where can I get some food?"
Gulping, the orange hair nodded.
...
"So, you ate a Devil Fruit?" Nami puzzled as she propped her head against her hand, sipping on her coffee occasionally.
"Mhm. The Jikan Jikan no Mi. It allows me to control and manipulate time in a certain vicinity and to a certain extend. But let me tell you, it was the most disgusting thing I have ever dared to eat. I wouldn't recommend it." Answered the dark, short hair as she gulped down the last of her much wanted meal.
"Then, it makes you somewhat of a Time Human, right?"
"I suppose so."
"What are you doing on this island anyway, Nora?"
"I got lost."
Nami sweatdropped at her answer. But, the companion in front of her stretched her arms above her head and grinned widely.
"Maa, thanks for the meal anyways, Miss Nami." The said girl managed to crack a smile at her companion's sincere politeness.
"Nami is just fine…"
"Why did you take my bag though?"
"I'm a thief."
"Is that a full-time job or…?"
"Just a hobby."
"Riiiiiight."
"So, why did you say you broke your hand for that lousy amount of coins? There are no more than 10 000 berri in it."
"How do you even know how many berri are there?"
"I held the bag."
"I don't know whether to be amused or scared."
"Aren't you going to answer?
"Later." An irritated glare shot her way.
"Anyway, I've been meaning to ask. What's does that mean, on your shoulder?" The orange head asked as she pointed towards the symbolic-like tattoo on the girl's shoulder, seeing as it was exposed from her tank top. Nora subconsciously put her hand on the markings and showed a small smile.
"It's a mystery to me as well. I can't seem to remember what it means." Nami nodded in a somewhat confused understanding.
But then a dangerously glint passed her eyes and her small smile turned into a smirk. Nora did not like the sudden change whatsoever. It promised nothing good.
"Say, Nora-chan. – came the much too sweet voice of hers and Nora felt a shiver breeze through her spine. – Do you think you could repay my generous meal by doing me a tiny favor?"
While the shiver still stung on her back, Nora convinced herself that Nami wouldn't mean any harm, even though technically, she didn't even knew the girl.
"Sure!" She said excitedly and missed the small chuckle of pure evil emitting from Nami.
...
The word 'distraction' had two different outcomes of meaning. The first one was safe and playful. You would pinpoint something, or come up with a small lie in order to erase the focus from your target. The second one resulted mostly in anger and a mob of pissed of people wanting to strangle you. When Nami had said 'I want you to be a distraction while I try to steal the map of the Grand Line from a pirate crew' Nora didn't consider the second aforementioned possibility.
So, it should have been a surprise when she found herself in front of a red-nosed clown smirking down at her with her knees on the ground and hands tied in a rope. His smirk was most unyielding and creepy, but Nora managed not to make any gagging noises or a disgusted face. A blank expression was all she wore, ignoring whatever he was saying to her and wondering where Nami had gone. That sneaky fox.
"And who might you be?" Cue hiccuping-like laughing. The girl's eye slightly twitched at the noise, trying her hardest not to burst out laughing.
"Is your nose natural?"
Eh?
"I'm not judging, I'm just surprised you're not suffocating while wearing the red thing."
"SAYS THE GIRL WITH ELEPHANT EARS."
"Hey now, at least mine don't look creepy."
"…" For a lack of better words, the whole crew shuddered in fright and remained speechless at the girl's bluntness, silently waiting their captain's rage to burst. To their surprise his eyes twitched in anger, but managed to chuckle darkly, masking his urging desire to kick the crap out of the girl in front of him.
"Didn't anyone teach you manners, you brat!?"
"Has anyone told you your make up is seriously on point? I mean, really, you've taken 'clown face' up a notch."
"See where your obliviousness takes you, you damn bitch." He hissed.
"You're really rude for a clown. I think you should re-evaluate your career choice." And she threw him a raspberry which was not a really good idea, seeing as it only pissed him off even more. Even the familiar orange head was muttering at how stupid this girl's choice of words were behind one of the tents, listening and looking at the conversation the whole time. The dark haired shorty clearly wanted to see God early.
"You're too damn blunt for me to have fun with you. I'm trying to decide whether to torture you or kill you." Buggy smirked sadistically. Meanwhile, Nora continued staring him, squinting her eyes as if she was trying to see something. At that moment, the girl stood up, rope falling freely from her hands and her looked at her big, old hand watch on her left hand. She nodded with a hum as she saw the time.
"I see. It seems it is time to not give a damn. Now, if you excuse me Red nose-san, I have to go pet that gigantic lion over there."
The clown lost it.
"KILL THIS BITCH." At least she was polite.
And all the monkey clowns started charging at her, swords held high with the intention to slice her up. As if it wasn't obvious enough.
"We've got her surrounded!" They yelled and laughed, circling her from each angle. But at that exact moment, just as their swords swung to fatally hit her, the pirates' face kissed the ground, hitting each other with their swords and stumbling to the spot where the girl had been. Buggy looked bemused and irritated while shock and surprise spread across the crew.
"Where..?"
"She was just there!"
"Where did she disappear?!"
"Oi, I'm still here. Answered the same blue-eyed girl who was now meters away from the fallen bunch, tilting her head in confusion.
"GET HER!"
"SHE WON'T GET AWAY THIS TIME."
"CHARGE." And they did the absolute same thing as before. What they got was exact same result, nothing in the spot of the girl, only the solid ground pained on their faces.
"Don't tell me…"
"She CAN TELEPORT?"
"WHAT IS THIS?"
"Are you guys brain-dead or something?" Once again the girl was tilting her head in confusion as she stood in a different spot. She saw the clown muttering something to the man on top of the lion which she wished to pet. Judging by his gritted teeth and furious eyes, Buggy was certainly pissed off.
Suddenly, the same lion and tamer charged towards her, along with other freak shows and it was then that the girl's eyes widened in surprise and slight excitement. Her fingers reached out to her back to grasp a familiar surface of hard wood. Her hand tightened the hold of the big baseball-like bat. She, then waited as the lion and men ran towards her.
The moment they could hit her, she warped behind the big lion and swung the bat with all her strength, sending the bear-eared man flying away, precisely to one of the smaller tents where he soaked himself in some kind of colorful paint along the way. Nora laughed as she sat on the lions back unbecomingly. The beast roared and jumped, trying to push the female away, yet the girl remain in her spot, securing her bat on her back once more so she could hold on more tightly with both of her hands. As the lion continued with its jumping and protesting, it kicked and pushed every pirate near it, blinded by its anger and instinct to kill this brat on his back.
It was truly a sight to behold. At least her wish came true. Sort of.
But alas, the clumsiness hit her at the right moment when she let go of her arm and the lion's strength managed to send her away. And this time, the girl couldn't warp herself out of the moment, as she was flying in air. Her crash wasn't the most painful one, but it hurt her back nonetheless. She wheezed the pain though she found herself laughing the next second.
"You're sure are a boring lion." And suddenly she put her hands over her mouth. Damn.
Perhaps, it would have been smarter to keep shut, but, as God given, the cheeky girl just didn't know when to zip her mouth.
A furious lion, a crowd of angry pirates and a man on a freaking unicycle charging towards her reminded her of that. Bat tightly secured in her hands, a grin spread out on her face, as if amused while waiting for the impact. But, the moment after, her grin turned into a tight line as she fell flat faced on the ground, some feet away from where the monstrous gang had crushed themselves into the ground and each other. Limbs were locked with one another, fists in someone else's gutter, the lion laying with all of its weight on the unicycle guy.
Nora swore her intention was to move away and trip the lion as she'd been tripping the rest of the men, but along the millisecond, a small lose wire had made her lose balance, thus making her embrace the painful surface. Her nose hurt like hell.
"She's always avoiding our attacks by teleporting!"
"Stop running away!"
The short girl crossed her arms when she stood up to face the circle of fallen men and lion.
"I'm not teleporting. You're just going too painfully slow." Was the only statement she gave before her vision blurred. It was unsettling and irritating, yes, but Nora concluded it was because of the continuous time movement she had been doing with her devil power.
"Is she an idiot?"
"What the hell is she talking about?"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOTS? KILL HER ALREADY!" Yelled the main clown. The girl tsked. She would have to make a run for it.
…
That was why she was running from the angry mob. The thought about Nami's whereabouts popped occasionally, though the awfully long whip the lion tamer kept targeting towards the girl's feet made her focus on just getting away.
Her focus came down to an intersection. There was no doubt that she could lose them there. When the men came to look which way the blasted girl had taken, they were only met with nothingness accompanied by silence. She had disappeared yet again.
Nora resumed normal time movement the moment she saw an all too familiar orange head. By the looks of it, she too was running away from circus freaks along with a map in her hand which the blue-eyed girl quickly took notice of. Nami came to a sudden halt when she saw the girl, smiling widely. Nora shuddered when she saw the dangerous glint in her brown orbs. The pirates looked dumbfounded.
"Nami! So you got the…."
"MISTRESS! I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU!" She cut her off before Nora could even mutter the word map.
What?
"What are you…"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
Sonnuva…
Was the only loud, yet oddly familiar scream she heard before the Dumbo-ears-like having girl, once more, collided with her face on the ground. Only this time, she saw darkness instead of blurriness. She would kill this rude idiot.