The town of Loguetown, fitting for its name as the Town of Beginning and Ends, felt the sun bask over its buildings and coast as the night ended, and the day once more began. People opened their windows and stretched out to let the morning breeze and sunlight inside, going outside to see neighbors or shop, or for those with their morning jobs, off to work it is. The Marine garrison soon came to life, the night guards heading back to sleep, while the morning troops got ready for their patrol and early routines. A column of smoke billowed from one of the windows as a gruff voice grumbled about someone waking its owner too early over swords, and some marines around the place edged away.

Around the coast and beach, fishermen and sailors readied themselves for the day ahead, readying their boats, sails and oars to bring food and maybe bounty back to their home. The tide lapped gently against the sand, taking some of it back into the ocean, and leaving behind sometimes algae and shells. Some people, free of work or just wishing to kill time before their day truly began, sat down in the sand and watched the waters come and go, or even ran straight into it, soaking themselves on the seas that once brought to the city its most well-known celebrity, for good or bad. But the sea would bring along two more "celebrities". And both of these would, to the then-unknown knowledge of anyone, especially the Marines that guarded this place, shake and turn the entire world upside down… As a man who was once king did himself, many years and Sarah disliked school. They really, REALLY did. All the teacher would talk about was old history, about how pirates were dangerous, and how they should learn things so they wouldn't turn to piracy for money and food…

-o-

Soooooooo boooooooooring.

Sarah sometimes liked hearing about the stories because they would always involve that one pirate everyone was scared of, Riger or whatever his name was. He always seemed kinda cool, going wherever he wanted and not having to go to places because the adults told them to. Beth, though, hated hearing the stories because she always said meant adults kept getting scared of dead people that couldn't do anything. So why bother? They should just go after all the other pirates.

"Beeeeeeth, wait up, you're going too fast!" shouted Sarah, shaking her dress to loosen the sand that stuck to it as she tried to run.

"You're the one who's slow, Sarah! C'mon, otherwise dad's gonna find us!" shouted back the girl ahead, stomping the sand flat as she ran, kicking up clouds of it behind her. The two kept running, parallel to the sea and as far from the town as they could. Their father, Samuel, had just berated them for always skipping school, starting a shouting match with Beth and Sarah, and before he could realize it, called Beth no better than the pirates that passed by the town and made things worse. Before he could even grasp exactly what he had said in his anger, Beth had already taken off running out the door, with Sarah following behind to make sure she was okay. Their father had just stood there in shock, if from what he said or her reaction, they didn't know, and didn't care. Both ran for a very short time, but for the two, what seemed like an eternity passed by. They ran until they reached a big rock, pointing forward into the ocean. Beth climbed the formation, grasping the boulder with all the strength her small body could muster, and hoisting herself upwards toward the tip. As she climbed, Sarah soon caught up and stared upwards, panting and sweating.

"Beth c'mon, we gotta go back and solve this! Dad didn't mean—"

"I'm not apologizing!" shouted back the other girl. "He doesn't know anything does he?! He just says what every other grown up says!". Beth finally reached the top of the boulder, gasping for air as she let the sweat drip from her hair onto the cold and wet stone. As she finally recovered her breath, Beth stood up and walked to the tip of the formation, letting the sea breeze wash over her.

"I wanted to be a Marine… Go to the seas and help people! And Marines have to be strong, not smart! But if dad says I'm not better than a pirate… THEN I'LL JUST BE THAT PIRATE!" and with a final scream, she threw her arms outwards, as some waves crashed below into the shore. Beth looked below at her sister, and saw Sarah gasping and covering her mouth. But it took a moment to realize that she was staring not up… But towards the horizon. As Beth watched Sarah start to back away slowly, she followed the direction of her gaze till she saw what had horrified her sister.

Something was rushing towards the coast. Something BIG. Something FAST. The massive water splash hid whatever it was, but she didn't need to think too hard that it meant trouble. But atop the rock, she couldn't run or hide… So she'd fight it. She'd fight it, she'd win, and she'd prove to her dad that she was ready for the world!

"Sarah, get away from here! Go home!" yelled Beth, motioning her sister away. But Sarah did not listen, she just kept gasping and mumbling in terror, before tripping on her dress and falling back. Beth clenched her teeth, and turned around, seeing the rushing thing on the water closer than ever. She shakily rose her hands, and pulled every ounce of bravado that she could

"B-BRING IT ON, A MARINE HAS NO FEAR!"

And then the thing jumped out of the water, and all her bravado flushed away, along with the color from her face

It was big. No, MASSIVE. It was a fish unlike anything she'd ever seen. Red scales, blotted with yellow rings and spikes around its body. Enormous fangs that its lips could not cover jutted out from its maw, threatening to snap her with one bite. Long enough to match ships in size, thick enough to block the streets of her neighborhood completely, it was like nothing else Beth ever heard about on the few classes she paid attention to. Was that… A Sea King?

Her legs turned into jelly underneath her body and her arms shook like paper on the wind as she heard it's deafening roar, felt the wind rush around her body as it broke the surface, saw the blood covering it's chest and head…

…

Blood?

Her thoughts and attention were wrenched back into reality as the creature flailed around madly, splashing water and blood all over the beach and rock, before rushing madly towards the rock. Screaming, Beth ran the other way, but before she could reach the other end, the Sea King crashed straight into the rock, making it rock and fly… And making Beth go into the air, and come crashing down. She heard Sarah scream her name, she heard herself scream, she closed her eyes as the ground came closer and closer…

When suddenly, something grabbed her. She dared not open her eyes, but instead of teeth, or the hard and uncaring sand, she felt… Fur? Suddenly, the fall slowed down to a stop, and she felt whatever was holding her touch the ground, and the sound of the large Sea King still flailing. Finally mustering the courage to open her eyes, Beth took in the sight of the trashing and struggling fish monster… And the "man" that had just saved her.

He was not very tall, but enough that he cast a shadow around her body. His shoulders were wide, and his entire torso was like a big stone was given human shape: solid, thick, and muscular. His face had some rough lines to it, the look of someone who had seen a lot of fights. Which he also looked like he just went through: several cuts covered his body, some shallow and not dangerous, some deep and looking like they REALLY should be patched up. But the most curious thing to Beth was when she looked down at his arms. They were covered in a silver colored fur, kinda rough but soft enough to touch… Come to think of it, a second look at his shoulders also showed some fur on them. And his hair was… Well it looked like someone had taken a mane and slapped it atop his head. Whoever this man was, he looked pretty savage.

But he had also saved her life, so she couldn't really complain about appearances. The man gently placed her on the ground and knelt down, ruffling her hair with his… Clawed hand? Wow this guy was WEIRD.

"Are you okay, girl? Sorry for not seeing you sooner, salt water does a number on the eyes" said the man. His voice was less deep than she expected a man that big to have, but it also seemed to have a calming air to it. Beth took a second to register what was being said, before perking up and shaking her hands

"N-No, no worries, I'm okay! A-After all, a M-Marine has to be brave all the time!" she stuttered out, raising her arms again and flexing them. She tried to hide her at-least-vanishing fear behind the bravado, but the man took one look at her with those eyes that she just now had noticed were of a very golden tint, with black markings beneath them, before he smiled. And then he chuckled. And then he started laughing, out loud and with his head thrown back.

"W-What's so funny?!" shouted Beth, taking a step forward towards the stranger, a tinge of fear giving way to a tinge of anger and, she thought, maybe a bit of bravery. The man just shook his head, before standing up, though he still seemed to be in pain if his stumbling when doing so was any indication.

"A Marine huh… Yeah, I guess Marines are a pretty brave bunch. But I know of someone else that has to be brave…" but before he could speak more, they suddenly heard another sound: the Sea King had started moving again. And that's when Beth realized: Sarah was still near the fish, fallen on the floor face-down and grasping the sand between her fingers. And behind her, the battered, bloodied but still-alive fish monster violently shaking, blinded by pain and anger.

"SARAH!" shrieked out Beth, her hand reaching out ahead as she tried to run towards her sister. But before she could, she felt the furred arm once again in front of her, as she watched the man step forward, blood still dripping from his body.

"Let me tell you about someone else that has to be brave out there, kid…" he said sternly, yet with a smile, as he suddenly charged forward. He yelled out something, sounded like an attack, but right as he did the Sea King let out yet another deafening roar, and finally managed to throw its massive body forward. She saw him rear back his arm, as it started shaking and vibrating, before the man delivered a devastating punch to the Sea King's face. Wind and sand were blown away from the two, and so was Sarah, as she was launched into the air, and luckily straight at Beth. Both girls collided, dragging one another into a ball that rolled away from the point of impact. Grasping her sister, Beth wiped the sand off her face and stared once again in the direction of the stranger. She managed to look ahead just in time to see the Sea King be blasted away, spitting blood as it did and getting launched back towards the sea where it once came from. The sand slowly started to settle down, as the man let out a deep sigh and lowered his arms, before turning back to stare at the girl who watched him dumb-struck and in awe

"The other people who have to brave out here… Are people like us…"

"Us?" asked Beth, her voice weak and with sweat building on the back of her neck

"Yeah… Us, pirates"

-o-

First and foremost, I'd like to personally thank Xomniac and the CrossBrain for inspiring me to write this thing

I've been meditating (not sleeping) for weeks now on if I should do this thing, and by thunder if I'm gonna do it, I'm well about to do it.

What will it be about? Well let's hope I don't write block myself enough to keep the thing going!

Please bear in mind however that I will have a Rashomon-style of story telling for the beginning, but I promise it'll pain off...

I really, REALLY hope it does

But until then, this is mission control, out