A/n: Kestrel is back in action and it feels amazing! Working on my stories again has brought me a lot of happiness in some pretty stressful times, and making my characters even better is always fun.

Now, the next thing on my list is Noelle - I'm coming for you. Actually, I'll be making an update with Heart of Ice, because some serious changes are going to be made. Mainly, her magic; I am very sick of the Dragon Slayer route, and plan on scrapping that. I just find it to be boring and generic now and want to explore Noelle without being tied to something that's been well overdone. It's just...not fun anymore, and if I have to continue to write her that way then I'm going to choose not to because I refuse to write for a story that I have no heart in.

Summary: Kestrel feels as if most of her life has been spent in the shadows, and is determined to make a name for herself in the world. She's aware that the journey won't be easy, especially with Luffy as her Captain, and an annoying swordsman constantly making her life hell, and one of the most dysfunctional crews she's ever come across. But Kestrel knows that one day she'll look back on these days, and have no regrets, for life on the sea isn't always grand...but she wouldn't trade it for all the treasure in the world.

Warning: This story contains explicit language, violence, death, gore, and mentions of sexual content. If that doesn't suit your cup of tea, then I suggest you look elsewhere.

Wealth, fame, power. The man who had acquired everything in the world, the Pirate King, Gold Rodger.

The finals words that were said at his execution sent the people to the seas.

"You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now you just have to find it!"

These words lured men to the grand line, pursuing dreams greater than they ever dared to imagine. This is the time known as...

The Great Pirate Era.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."

Dear Gods above how did she end up in this situation?!

Kestrel groaned feeling the rough waves of the ocean crash against the shoddy barrel that she and her idiotic, younger brother were crammed inside of while being ruthlessly tossed around by the ocean like a couple of weightless ragdolls. Kestrel hissed as the splintered wood dug into her skin. She had lost track of how many she had already plucked out.

She didn't think things could get any worse at this point, but of course, they did.

The barrel started to rock violently causing Kestrel to be thrown forward, smashing her head against her brother's. She hissed and clutched her throbbing noggin between her leather-gloved hands. In pain and annoyed, she peaked out of one of the holes scattered through the barrel.

Though her vision was limited she could clearly make out the sight of two men plucking them out of the embrace of the ocean, and lugging them up onto some kind of ship. She could hear the sound of the men as they spoke, but couldn't make out what they were saying over the wind, not to mention her head was throbbing making it nearly impossible to focus clearly.

Kestrel gave an agitated sigh and leaned back against the jagged wood. Her golden, falcon-like eyes glared at the sleeping face of her companion, Monkey D. Luffy. Kestrel narrowed her eyes at him. If it weren't for the tight space she probably would have hit him with her fist, of love.

Kestrel scowled and tucked her fist under her chin as she watched the raven-haired boy sleep peacefully with one hand folded over his chest, and the other securing the straw hat he wore on his head; the hat that he never took off, and always seemed to taunt her.

Kestrel glared disdainfully at the hat. After a minute she turned her head to the side, sighing once more.

Her back was starting to kill her and she began to wonder how long she had been stuck inside of the stupid barrel. She groaned tiredly while feeling the metal of her sword begin to dig into her already stiff back; the brass of her pistols digging into her thighs wasn't helping, either.

Her eyes twitched as the barrel was roughly tipped onto its side, and then rolled along the ground.

Kestrel had to wonder if it was too late to turn back around and go home.

Dadan probably missed her...

Hah! They were probably still celebrating that they were finally gone.

At some point during the wait, Kestrel had fallen asleep, only to be awakened to sound of people talking - or were they arguing? She roughly stirred inside the of the barrel and lazily cracked her golden eyes open to peer at Luffy, who was still asleep. Go figure. Kestrel shook her head and pressed her ear against the barrel as she listened to the people argue loudly.

"Well is it isn't our favorite coward!" One of the voices speaks gruffly. Definitely male.

Kestrel frowned and drummed her fingertips along her pistols that were holstered against her thighs. It seemed more than likely that these people weren't ordinary passengers, but pirates - pirates who wouldn't hesitate to attack them, if provoked, and with Luffy out cold she needed to be ready for anything.

"You trying to hide in here and duck out on all the action again?" The voice continued, tauntingly.

"W-What?! N-n-no way! I-I was just trying to haul this big barrel of beer over to you guys!" A new voice piped up. Small and squeaky, and definitely younger.

Kestrel frowned. Who goes around bullying a dumb kid for fun? And beer - really? Huh, seemed like they were in for a quite a surprise.

The man from earlier chuckled. "Why don't you let us have a look?"

"I was just starting to get thirsty." A newcomer said.

"You can't! Lady Alvida would kill us if she ever found out!" The boy protested.

Lady Alvida? Kestrel frowned. Her eyebrows with shaved patches scrunched. Where had she heard that name before? It definitely sounded familiar, but she spent years researching pirates and eventually, they all begin to blend together.

Maybe she had seen her wanted poster somewhere? She relaxed a little as the conversation continued. She didn't feel super-threatened by these guys, as they sounded quite amateur, but she still kept her weapons close to her side just in case.

"She won't if you keep ya trap shut," another man warned. "Right, boy?"

"Y-yeah! Right...he..he...ok..."

The barrel was suddenly tipped right-side-up making Kestrel grunt. She honestly wouldn't be surprised if after all this she developed a nasty case of motion sickness or developed claustrophobia.

"This suckers heavy!" One of the men complained.

If it weren't for her willpower she would have slaughtered the man.

"Hold on boys. I'll open it the old fashioned way!" The first man said over the sound of knuckles cracking.

Kestrel's attention was drawn away from the commotion outside and to movement in the corner of her vision. She smirked slightly seeing as it was time her Captain finally decided to awaken from his slumber. She leaned back against the barrel as far as she could as Luffy stretched his rubbery body high; the rubber boy busted his way through the lid of the barrel, taking out a burly, dark-skinned man in the process all with a grin on his elastic face.

Kestrel's attention was taken from the pirates as movement caught her attention. She couldn't keep the smirk off her face as her Captain finally awakened from his slumber. Kestrel tucked herself back against the barrel as Luffy stretched his rubbery body high; busting his way through the lid of the barrel, and accidentally socking a burly, dark-skinned man in the face as a grin stretched over his face.

"I SLEPT SOOOO GREAT!" Luffy roared to the heavens.

He was completely oblivious to everything going on around him. It was long after that Kestrel also made her presence known. She stood and stretched her achy body, blissfully sighing as her bones popped, relieving the tension she was beginning to feel.

Lazily, she turned to Luffy with her arms pressed behind her head of messy, red hair, pulled into a loose side braid that fell to her elbows, while the opposite side of her head was cut much shorter, and curlier, only reaching down to her chin.

She glanced at Luffy who was blankly staring at the men. "Always one for a flashy entrance, aye, Cap'n?" Kestrel said. "Though I say let's never do that again, yeah? I got enough aches to last me a damn lifetime. Not to mention we both could have died, ya damn fool!"

Luffy ignored Kestrel in favor of staring at the unconscious man on the floor. He blinked slowly. "Huh? Who's that? And who the hell are you guys?" Luffy addressed the other two pirates who were looking at them with slacked jaws.

"Who the hell are you?!" The pirates yelled back.

Luddy ignored their question. "Your friend will catch a cold sleeping like that." He told them in warning.

"You're the one who knocked him out!"

Kestrel snorted and frowned at the little group of pirates. "This is it? And here I was worried about nothing." She said.

"Hold up!" One of the men yelled while pressing the blade of his sword to Luffy's neck. "Are you messing with us because you know we're pirates?! Huh?!"

The man went unheard as Luffy crouched in front of a pink-haired boy with round glasses. "I'm starving. You got any food?" Luffy asked quivering boy.

"Hey - I'm talking to you!" The man boomed.

The two pirates raised their swords together and swung them down at Luffy, who still had his back to them. In a flash Kestrel was between the men and Luffy with her dual pistols pointed at their heads.

The bronze and gold glimmered in the light; her golden falcon eyes stared steely at them.

"If you so much as touch a hair on his rubbery head, I swear to all the Gods in this wretched fucking world, that I will make you regret the day your mothers squeezed you out into this world, you got that, fuckers?" Kestrel glared at the men while brushing her gloved fingertips against the trigger. "I will not hesitate to end your miserable lives." She finished, with narrowed eyes.

The men froze with sweat trickling down their face.

Luffy finally decided to take notice of them. "What is wrong with you two?" He questioned them.

"W-Who are you?!"

"Me?" Luffy grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. "My names Monkey D. Luffy - hi!" Luffy laughed making Kestrel grin. "And that's my sister - Kestrel! She's pretty good with that gun and sword hers, so I would watch out if I were you!" He laughed, again.

The men screamed and fled from the room with their tails tucked between their legs, and their unconscious friend dragging behind them. They were probably off to tell their Captain, but Kestrel wasn't bothered. They didn't seem like the most threatening crew.

She was more than sure that she and Luffy could handle them.

The pink-haired boy stared at the two of them in shock. The first one was a boy with black hair, wearing a red vest and blue shorts, and he had a straw hat.

The girl on the other hand...

She was an inch or so taller than the boy, with sunkissed skin, and brilliant, red, braided hair. Her eyebrows were on the thick side with patches missing, and her lips were plump, and dark in color. She wore golden piercings in her nose, lip, and above her eyebrows; feathers hung from ears, as makeshift earrings. Two, thick, jagged scars slashed through her right eye, giving her feminine face a slight edge to it.

Figure wise, she seemed to be extremely toned, with curves that seemed just right for her body. Though he didn't stare for too long in fear of the repercussions.

Her outfit consisted of a sleeveless brown bomber jacket with thick, white fur, that had random patches sewn onto it. A snug white tank top fit her breasts, that tucked into a pair of tan short-shorts, held up by a thick, brown leather with a large pouch attached to it. Thick white socks went up to her knees, tucked away inside of a pair of heavy-duty combat boots.

He gulped seeing a set of knives sticking out of them. As his eyes traveled back up to her face he noticed that she had tattoos but didn't bother trying to make them out and he had been caught in her falcon-like eyes and was left paralyzed.

"Oi! Quit fucking staring at me - you little pervert!" Kestrel hissed which made him look away quickly.

"S-So...what just happened?" The boy asked completely dumbfounded while averting his eyes.

"You got me." Luffy shrugged.

Kestrel scowled and cocked her hip out. "I got the itch to beat the shit out of something!" Kestrel glanced at the pink-haired boy who flinched making her smirk.

The boy quickly shook away his nervousness when he remembered the pirates who ran away from them.

"Ah! Quick! You two have got to run! If those guys come back here with their buddies they'll kill you on the spot!"

"Them? Kill us?" Kestrel blinked. "Yeah, that's not very likely to happen."

"I don't care about that - I'm hungry!" Luffy announced with a grin on his face.

"How can you just blow this off like that?!"

Kestrel groaned feeling her headache coming back in full force. "Hey, kid, you're seriously annoying me." She growled at him. "What's a snot-nosed brat like you doing here, anyway? Are you in pirate boot camp or something? You stick out like an infected thumb."

"This is not the time for joking!" He yelled. She wasn't joking. "There are hundreds of pirates up on deck and their waiting for the chance to kill anything!"

"Oh, yeah?" Kestrel hummed adjusting her weapons. "Well, that's funny, because there's two of us right here, who would jump at the chance for a fight, right, Luffy?"

"Bring it on!" Luffy laughed. "I'll beat them all up!...right after we get some food!"

Kestrel was seated on top of one of the many crates that were crammed together in the food storage. Her sword rested against her side allowing her to casually lean back against the wall. She munched away on an apple while her brother was busy digging into his second crate - a bottomless pit, that boy was, not that she was much better.

Kestrel finished her apple and tossed the core into the growing pile beside her; Luffy tossed her another one, she nodded her thanks and began to chew on it. As she was doing that she was busying herself by digging around in her pouch and pulling out random objects.

The first of the objects was a brass compass on a chain that only seemed to point one way. She attached it to her belt to match the pair of brass aviator goggle she wore. And lastly, was a beaded necklace with the feathers of a dove, hawk, gull, and falcon attached to it, that she carefully looped around her neck.

"Uh hey, my names Coby," Pinkie said. "You're Luffy, is that right? And you're Kestrel? That was pretty neat when you jumped out of that barrel, and when you drew your guns back there.."

Luffy held up an apple and with a mouth full of food said: "These are awesome!" and then went back to stuff his face. "So, are we on a pirate ship, or what?"

"No. It's a passenger ship that's being raided by pirates under the command of Lady Alvida."

"There's that name again." Kestrel sighed. "Where have I heard that?" She mused to herself tossing her apple core away. "I've definitely heard it before, but can't remember where exactly."

"And who cares anyway?" Luffy asked. "What I want to know is if there are any boats on board?"

"I think there a few," Coby said.

"Great, because ours got sucked into some big whirlpool," Luffy replied in a nonchalant manner.

"That one outside?! No way! No one could have survived that!" Coby gasped.

"Yeah! I gotta say it was a big surprise." Luffy laughed.

Kestrel idly tossed the apple she had replaced up and down a couple of times before taking a big bite out of it. Her face scrunched at the taste. Sour. She was more partial to anything sweet. She glared at the apple and spit it out, tossing what was left of the apple to Luffy, who happily gobbled it down.

"That whirlpool is the reason we ended up on this dump of a ship," Kestrel said. "Hey, Pinkie, are you one of the pirates, or one of the passengers?"

Coby frowned and looked down at the ground with sad eyes. "It was on a fateful day long ago..." he began and Kestrel internally groaned. Great. She asked one question and he goes into his life story.

"That day, I stepped out onto a small fishing boat on the outskirts of town to catch my dinner," Coby began. "It turned out that boat actually belonged to a pirate ship! That was two years ago. In exchange for them letting me live, I'm forced to live the life of a cabin boy."

"You're pretty stupid, you know that?" Luffy said.

"Wow. You're an even bigger idiot than you look." Kestrel deadpanned.

"Jeez, thanks for your honesty," Coby mumbled.

"If you hate it here so much leave," Kestrel said to him. "The only one holding you back is yourself."

"Are you kidding?! I can't do that! No way! Not a chance! Nu-uh! Just the thought of Alvida finding me scares me so bad that I want to throw up!"

"You're a moron!" Luffy laughed giddily. "Hahaha! I hate people like you!"

"And a coward." She deadpanned.

Tears streamed down Coby's face at the insults being thrown his way.

"Yeah, you're right. If I actually had the courage I could drift alone in a barrel, and be rid of these pirates. I actually have my own dreams! Someday, I'd like to live out all of them..." Coby smiled softly. "So, what about you guys? What was it that first got you to set sail on these seas?"

"Well, I'm gonna be King of The Pirates!" Luffy declared proudly.

Kestrel nodded. "And I'm going to be there to witness it. What kind of big sister would I be otherwise? And, I have a dream of becoming something of a legend in this world, too. I've spent my life in the shadows and it's about damn time I'm given a chance to shine." Kestrel grinned widely.

"The King?!" Coby choked. "Are you serious?! B-But that would mean that you're pirates too!"

"Yeah!" Luffy said giddily. "Kess is all I have so far but I'm looking for more." Luffy shrugged and went back to eating apples.

"King of The Pirates is a title given to someone who has attained everything this world has to offer! You're talking about seeking the one treasure of great wealth, fame, and power! The treasure that you're seeking is the One Piece!"

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered.

"Pirates from all over the world are looking for that treasure, you know!" Coby yelled.

"Yeah, so?" Kestrel raised a brow at him.

"No-no-no! No way! It's impossible! There's no way you two could reach the pinnacle of this great pirate age; there's no way! There are too many people out there who are meaner and better!" Coby was becoming frantic and starting to make less and less sense to them.

Kestrel scoffed. 'What's he getting all worked up for? Pretty big words coming from a run of the mill cabin boy. No one has the right to tell us what is and isn't possible! That's for us to decide, and us only. I'm not going to take the advice of some scrawny little twerp!' She thought bitterly.

Kestrel was more than pleased when Luffy bonked him on the head.

"Ow! Why did you hit me?" Coby whined, rubbing his sore head.

"Because I felt like it." "Because you're annoying."

"Oh well," Coby bitterly laughed. "I'm used to that stuff. My shipmates smack me around a lot."

"It's not about if we can," Luffy said. "I'm doing this because I want to. I decided long ago that I'm going to become King of the Pirates," Luffy looked at Kestrel who was smiling at him. "And Kess's dream is to become a Legendary Pirate! If we have to die to do that, then we die." Luffy stood up and plopped his hat back on his head. "Alright! Now that my bellies full it's time to go get us a brand new boat! They might even give us one if we ask nice enough! Maybe they're generous people?"

"Generous pirates?" Kestrel deadpanned. Kestrel grabbed her sword from her lap and placed it back on her back. She made sure it was loose enough so she could grab it with ease. "Yeah, that's not likely, little Cap'n."

"If I put my mind to it - if I'm prepared to die for it - could I do something like that?"

Luffy and Kestrel looked back at Coby.

"Like what?" They asked.

"Do you think...do you think I could ever join the Marines?" He asked. For once, his voice wasn't shaking.

"The Marines?" Kestrel frowned.

"The Marines? Kestrel frowned. "Why the hell would you want to do that?"

Kestrel has a very...unpleasant view of Marines, for the most part. She didn't like how corrupt they were, and how they acted as if they were heroes of the world. There are only a few Marines in this world she will ever give her respect to.

"Yes!" Coby suddenly shouted. "Catching bad guys is the only thing I've ever wanted to do! It's been my dream since I was a child! Do you think I could do it?!"

"How should I know that?" Luffy laughed.

"I guess, but why the hell would you want to?" Kestrel cocked a brow.

"Then I'm going to do it! I'm not going to get stuck here as a cabin boy for the rest of my life! I'll break out. Then, I'll turn right back around and catch Alvida myself!" He declared.

It was at that moment something crashed through the ceiling - something large, and round, and very, very, ugly.

"Who is that you plan on catching, Coby?" A female voice called. It was raspy and gruff and sounded like someone who smoked their whole life. "And you actually think this twig and this runt are going to help you? - well, answer me!"

Runt? Who the hell was she calling a runt?! Kestrel puffed out her chest and pointed dramatically at the woman. "Who the fuck are you calling a runt you-you oversized water buffalo!"

It suddenly clicked in Kestrel's mind why the name Alvida was familiar. She had once seen her wanted poster, and nearly doubled over from how ugly she was.

Kestrel was so pissed off that she didn't even notice Luffy jumping up on the deck of the boat with her in tow until her feet were placed on the ground, and they were surrounded by pirates.

"My guess is that you're Zoro the Pirate Hunter," Alvida smirked at Luffy.

Kestrel couldn't contain her laughter. Luffy? A pirate hunter? Hah! His life is dedicated to becoming the King of Pirates! Kestrel didn't think that Luffy was about to switch up jobs anytime soon.

Though...they would make a shit ton of cash from it.

"Zoro?" Luffy repeated.

"He's a bounty hunter, Luffy," Kestrel said. "He's pretty infamous and has a nasty reputation. I've heard tales that he's an incredible swordsman."

Roronoa Zoro is a name that she's heard many times throughout the East Blue, and with each new story, she's become more interested in seeing the said man in action, though she was never able to get a clear image of what the man might look like.

"Ah, I see." Luffy nodded blankly. "Hey, Kess, what does infamous mean?"

The red-head sighed.

"Coby!" Alvida yelled. "Who is the most beautiful of all on these seas?"

Kestrel's eye twitched. "Is...is...she serious?"

"Well, I um...give me a sec, I-I know this." Coby stuttered in fright.

"Hey, Coby, who's the fat lady?" Luffy pointed at Alvida with a confused face.

All the pirates, Coby's, and Alvida's mouth dropped in shock. Kestrel cracked up laughing and had to hold onto her side or else she probably would have fallen over from how hard she was laughing!

"YOU RUUUUUUUNT!"

Alvida let out a roar and pulled out a metal club from behind her back. Where had she been keeping it? Kestrel wondered. The two of them quickly jumped out of the way as she swung the weapon around like a deranged madwoman, narrowly missing them; the weapon crashed through the shit, creating a giant hole through the center of the deck.

Kestrel stepped back and took a minute to admire the weapon. It seemed to be a fine piece, if not a little rusted and worn down, but nothing that couldn't be ironed out with a little love and time.

A beast like Alvida wasn't worthy of such an amazing weapon.

Luffy jumped down into the hole created by Alvida and hurried to scoop Coby up onto the deck. He carefully dropped him and dashed away from the pirates chasing after him.

Kestrel spotted a pirate sneaking up behind Luffy and reached for her sword. Quickly, she ran and intercepted the pirate - the bunt of her blade smashed into his jaw with a satisfying crack making the pirate stumble backward, but before he was able to regain his balance she had bashed him in the head, and quickly rounded the sword to slash against his stomach. The cut was more of a scratch, but it still had the pirate sinking to his knees and howling with pain.

She then pulled one of her pistols from her holsters and aimed it at a pirate who decided to take her on. She counted down to three in her head and pulled the trigger, not even flinching as it tore through his shoulder. The pirate screamed in agony as he clutched his bleeding wound. His weapon clattered to the floor leaving him defenseless.

Kestrel took this opportunity to run up on him and slam her boot into his face, smirking at the sickening crunch his nose made. She jumped back as blood began to gush from his nose and the pirate fell unconscious.

Kestrel looked back at the pirates with a wicked grin.

"Who's next?" She challenged.

The pirates backed away from her fearfully. Kestrel chuckled and looked over at Luffy who was stretching himself across the boat, stunning every pirate on board. It must have been the first time they have seen someone with Devil Fruit powers.

"Gum-Gum Rocket!"

Kestrel ducked down as Luffy went soaring over her head. She knew to do it from past experiences. "Come on, Luffy! Don'cha think that's a bit of an overkill?" She laughed cheekily as the pirates dropped to the ground like flies. "Ah well, guess I couldn't expect any less from my little brother."

"L-Luffy w-what are you?" Coby asked in awe.

"Huh? Oh! I'm a rubber man!" Luffy grinned and stretched his mouth out.

"So you're...made of rubber?"

Kestrel nodded. "It comes in handy with how destructive he is." She said.

"So," Alvida glared. "You've eaten one of the Devil Fruits?"

"Yeah! I ate the Gum-Gum one!" Luffy beamed.

"Ah-ha. I've heard rumors they existed, but I never saw any evidence of them until today. You're more skilled than the average deck swabber. Are you a Bounty Hunter?" Alvida asked.

"I'm a pirate!" Luffy said.

"Pirate? Ha! All by yourself on these waters?" Alvida laughed.

"I'm not alone because I have Kess with me," Luffy pointed at her. "And we're going to get a bigger crew. Maybe tomorrow, or next week... or something. I don't know. I need, maybe ten guys. Yeah, ten."

Alvida snorted at him. "Tell me, if we're both pirates, and we're not under the same flag...then that would make us enemies, am I right?" She grinned cruelly.

Kestrel wanted nothing more than to smack the grin off her fat, ugly face.

Coby started to ramble again but then stopped. He turned and bravely faced Alvida with a heart full of determination that surprised even Kestrel.

"You're the ugliest thing on the sea!" Coby yelled loudly.

Luffy and Kestrel immediately started cackling like hyenas at his insults towards his former Captain.

"What did you say?!" Alvida yelled through gritted teeth.

"I'm leaving and I'm going to join the Marines! And then I'm going to spend the rest of my life beating up dirty pirates like you!"

"Do you have any clue what you're saying to me right now?!" Alvida screamed in rage.

"Of course I do!" he said. "And I'm going to do what I want and no one's going to stop me! And when I join the Marines, I'm going to join them! AND IM GOING TO CATCH YOUR LOUSY ASS FIRST!"

"YOU'RE DEAD KID!"

Avlida screamed in rage and swung her club that was easily deflected by Luffy.

"Well said!" Luffy said, protecting Coby from Alvida's club.

"You got some balls, kid!" Kestrel grinned and pointed the back of her gun at Alvida's fat head. "Move and die."

Luffy punched Alvida in the gut that was quickly followed by Kestrel kicking her in the chin with both attacks sending her flying into the ocean with a satisfying 'plop' that was followed by a huge wave that rocked the boat.

Kestrel was so focused on seeing Alvida be returned to her natural habitat, that she hadn't even noticed Luffy grabbing her hand and dragging her away from the pirates who lay defeated.

As they were leaving the ship she spotted Alvida's discarded club and eagerly picked it up. It would make a fine addition to her collection, and serve as a reminder of their win over Alvida.

What an incredible start to an amazing journey to be had.

"We actually managed to get away!" Coby said in total disbelief.

"Ah! What fun!" Luffy chuckled. "Hahahaha!"

Kestrel groaned tiredly and stretched her legs out. "I'm just thankful that we're no longer in that fucking barrel and in an actual boat! I mean, it's pretty shit - better than nothing, though, I suppose." She grinned at Luffy who shared her feelings.

The boat they were using might now have been very big, but it was better than nothing and it was the start of something grand to come.

"So, Luffy, Kestrel, if you're searching for the elusive One Piece, then you have to be headed for the Grand Line, right? You know, the people I've talked to call that place the Pirate Graveyard."

Kestrel frowned looking up at the sky. The Grand Line both excited her and made her incredibly nervous. She knew what was waiting there - who was waiting there. There no doubt in her mind that they would be waiting for her, and that they'll be waiting to see what kind of progress she's made - to deem her worthy or not.

Well, she's going to show them. She'll show them all. No matter what it takes - she will surpass them.

Her name will be carved in history right alongside Luffy's.

"Right, and that's why I need an extra strong crew!" Luffy said. "You guys mentioned some Pirate Hunter. So, what's he like, Coby?"

"Oh, you mean Zoro? The last I heard is that he's being held prisoner at some Marine base."

Luffy sighed. "Oh well, weakling huh?"

"No!" Coby yelled. "You're so wrong! He's as violent as a demon and three times as horrifying! Wait...why are you asking about him anyway?..."

Kestrel threw back her head in a laugh that was carried away by the wind. She knew exactly what her brother was thinking, and she couldn't exactly disagree with his decision.

Hell, she's been waiting to meet this mystery man!

"I figured if he's good enough I'd ask him to join our crew!"

"Luffy!" Kestrel laughed. "When are you ever going to learn that thing are never that simple, you adorable, fucking, twit."

End Note: I love and missed my foul-mouthed child. When I originally made Kestrel I wanted her to be the complete opposite of a damsel in distress, and show how her surroundings affected her upbringings - you'll see that later.

When I create a character I just want them to be useful in some way, ya know?

I'm not saying having characters like this is wrong, but the Straw Hats need a female crew member who can kick ass and hold her own, and so Kestrel was born!