A/n: Hello guys, this is Ruby Dynasty here with my first One Piece. One Piece has always been one of my favorite anime to watch alongside Hunter X Hunter and Dragon Ball Z. When I first watched the series, it was while it was with the 4Kids dub unfortunately but after some time, I found the original and then Funi came out with their version. I have to admit though, I am severely behind in the serious but I'm slowly but surely catching up again. Anyway, I've wanted to write a story about an OC joining in on the adventures of the series so here it is. Without further I do, I present you the first chapter of my story.

Disclaimer: I am not the owner of the One Piece franchise. I am merely a fan who writes this story for pure fun.

Chapter 1

Bella's Journey is at an End. Meet Captain Buggy the Clown

A single strand of blue hair fell in her vision, only to be brushed aside to the back of her ear. The sounds of merriment brought by the drunken men in the nearly crowded bar fell on deaf ears as she scanned the poster placed at the bar station she sat at with her amber orbs.

'WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE: BUGGY

15,000,000 Beli'

"He's definitely made his mark in the world," she mused in a sickeningly sweet yet amused tone. "I thought his bounty would've been a lot more to say how long he's been a pirate, but maybe it'll increase in time while I'm there."

"Here's your drink ma'am," announced a male's voice.

A small glass containing a brown drink was placed on the poster, but the female simply picked it up without even so much as looking away from the informative flyer. She threw her head back as she pressed the rim between her lips and swallowed the drink, savoring its sweet taste as it flowed into her mouth. The contents of the glass was diminished just as quickly as it had been given to her and set back in its previous spot.

"Thank you, I really needed that," the individual stated as she finally looked up from the drawing of the pirate. The woman's face was round and smooth, decorated with a red star on each cheek. Her long, straightened dark blue hair fell to midway back with a red bow snapped at the middle-back of her head. The upper portion of her body was covered (barely) by a spaghetti strapped red shirt in which the strings were tied around the back of her neck.

The bartender, a young blonde male, though older than her, blushed as he stared at the young woman, nearly entranced by her beauty. He cleared his throat and slowly turned his black eyes away, but kept his attention on her through his peripheral vision, "It's always a pleasure."

A small chuckle escaped her lips as she gazed at the man on the opposite side of the counter as a glint twinkled in her eye, "No need to be shy. I don't bite."

The man felt a small chill run up his spine as he listened to the female speak. There was hidden amusement hidden in the sweet voice of hers and as he glanced back at her eye, he could almost sense the deceptive cunningness she held. A small lump formed in his throat that refused to go down no matter how hard he tried, "I'm-I'm sure you don't. O-Oh yeah, I couldn't help but n-notice you've been staring at that wanted flyer for a while. A-Are you a bounty hunter going a-after Buggy's head?"

"Not quite," she answered smoothly. "However, I am searching for him. There are some things I need to discuss with him."

The man nearly dropped the bottle of sake he was pouring for another customer as he gawked at her in disbelief, "Are you mad?!" The volume of his voice caused the whole room to grow quiet; the drunken customers and the waitress to become interested in the topic at hand.

"It really goes to show how much cowardice people show towards pirates," she thought inwardly. She feigned ignorance as she tilted her head to the side in confusion, "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Haven't you heard the stories?" the blonde man questioned. "Captain Buggy is one of the Devil Fruit users. He'll kill you without as so much as batting an eye. Unless you want a death wish or some kind of devil fruit user yourself, I suggest you stay as far away from him as possible!"

"You oughta' listen to him or else you'll wind up killed," cosigned the waitress. "It's never wise to 'simply' talk to a pirate."

"That's probably what the little lady wants!" jeered one of the men.

The young woman's grin grew into a full-fledged smile, displaying her set of pearly white teeth, "I understand the concern, but I can handle myself quite well. Besides, this could be one of his next destinations. He has been 'visiting' the nearby islands recently, so it would be wise to keep a close look out for him just in case."

The blue haired beauty removed the flyer from the bar and placed it in the black satchel on the stool next to her. She stood to her feet, revealing her black shorts and sandals, picked up her bag and quietly and proceeded towards the door to make her exit. As she placed her hand on the door, she looked back at the crowd, the smile never leaving her lips, "And by the way, I am Bella. I shall be returning later…provided that we're all still here of course."

Without another word, she exited the building and reached the outside. Bella, the 16 year old young lady, covered her face as the sun's rays beamed down into her position. Her smile returned to its small grin as she observed the scenery around her. The town she currently occupied was rather quaint. The people lived in peace; free of the strife caused by those who lived for piracy. It reminded her of her own home village…before its destruction several years ago. Her expression grew serious as she thought back to that fateful, but quickly wiped the memory from the forefront of her mind.

"It's going to be a shame when they do arrive," she thought as she watched the children play down the street. "However, unnecessary attachments are only useless in the long run. As long as you're with the ones close to you then does it matter where you really are? Whether they're alive or dead, people can always be together."

She walked towards the happy children and as she approached them, their ball rolled towards her feet, stopping as it came in contact with her. She picked up the red spherical object and held it as the brown haired child approached her with a curious expression on his face.

"Can we get our ball back miss?" the boy asked innocently.

"Of course, here you go," Bella stated as she handed the boy his ball.

"Thank you!" he said happily, rejoining his friends to kick the object around.

The teenager walked passed the children with a wave of farewell as she proceeded towards her destination at the end of the street: a house belonging to one of the residents of the small town. She approached the side window to get a good view of the inside to find all the lights were turned off.

"Perfect, this is as good a time as any to get this done," she mumbled to herself amusedly.

She gripped onto the base of the window and pushed it up as far as it could go and swiftly entered the house without notice. She scanned around the dark room for security purposes and quickly walked through the house. It appeared a humble family lived in the home as there were pictures of a man, woman, and two little girls along the walls. She stopped at a closed door labeled: off limits.

"This looks like a good place," she thought with anticipation. She lifted her arm into her vision and smiled as her limb slowly changed structure. Tan hair rapidly grew out of her fair, smooth skin and her hands morphed into a large paw with black claws extending from the tips. "I'm gaining better control of these abilities, but I need to finish this quickly before that family returns."

Bella gripped the door knob, yanking the metal object right out of the whole, sending the nuts and bolts flying everywhere. She pushed the door open with ease, revealing a room filled with chests of different sizes and simple boxes. Her eyes gleamed at the sight as she entered the room and closed in on one of the smaller chests. Carefully using her claw, she picked the lock and opened it causing her eyes to glimmer at the sight before her. As to be expected, the chest was full of gold and jewels, meaning that either the mother or father had been a pirate in their younger days.

"I'm sure this will be just enough," she stated as she closed the treasure chest. As her eyes trailed over to the identical unit, an additional thought ran through her mind, "But then again…"

'SLAM!'

"Apparently I wasn't quick enough," Bella frowned in anger. "I can't attract too much attention to myself…not right now at least. However, if I don't do anything then I will be in trouble."

Bella removed the satchel from her body and placed it gently on the floor. Not a moment too soon, her body began to morph to even greater lengths. Just like her arm, a layer of fur sprouted from her skin; her hand remaining hand turning into a paw complete with sharpened claws. The teenager's body grew in height and bulk as it transformed into a more animal like figure: a slim tail with a patch of fur at the end protruded from her rear end, a set of pointed ears, her feet change into hind legs, destroying her sandals in the process. The only thing that remained the same was her dark colored hair accessorized with the red bow as her face now resembled that of a lion's.

"Hey! What's going on in here?!" questioned a man in anger as he entered the room. "What the hell are you?! Are you some kind of monster?!"

The transformed teenager smiled, revealing her sharpened, predatory teeth, as she focused her attention on the owner of the voice. The man appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties dressed in a buttoned down white shirt and blue jean shorts with sandals.

"Don't mind me, I was just leaving," she answered as she picked up the chests and satchel. Despite her transformation, her voice remained the same though it contained fierceness to it.

"Wait! What do you think you're doing!?" he questioned in anger. He pulled out a small dagger from the safety of his pocket and charged towards her with the intent of harming the strange visitor.

Bella swiftly shifted her weight to her left foot as she used the other leg to kick the man in the jaw, sending him flying into the wall, rendering him unconscious upon impact. "You should've known better than to attack someone out of your league. Considering the fact that I don't like senseless killing, just be glad I only used enough force to do just that to you."

"What's all the commo-" asked a woman as she came running to the treasure room. Almost immediately, the woman gasped in shock at the mere sight of the unwanted guest and covered her mouth before a scream could erupt from her lips.

"That was a wise decision you've made," the Devil Fruit user stated calmly. "We can't have you creating a scene when I'm trying to leave. Besides, you don't want to scare your children do you?" Bella walked passed the frightened woman as she dropped to her feet, unable to speak a word. As she walked through the main room, the two girls, each dressed in a identical pink dresses, stared at the Zoan-fruit user as she continued to exit the premises.

Being the children they are, they ran in front of the teenager, blocking her path, much to her dismay.

"Wow, you're so big!" stated the girl with the blonde hair.

"You look like a kitty," pointed out the red-headed child. "Are you our new kitty?"

Before she had the chance to even respond, the little girls surrounded the teenager at her feet. Due to the large difference in size, they used the chance to rub the hybrid at her feet causing her to purr in delight.

"That feels good," Bella replied in a happy tone. She remained in her dazed state for a few moments before her pupils vanished and her teeth sharpened comically, "Hey! I'm not some kind of pet."

With that, she exited the house through the door and walked back towards the middle of the town with the chests over her shoulder. While she wanted to return to her original form, she would be unable to carry the treasure to her room but at the same time, she did not want to cause a widespread panic among the citizens. However, it was a necessary sacrifice to get what she needed to get done. Thankfully, the streets were oddly clear, permitting the teenager to make it to her destination without any trouble at all.

She arrived at the port where several ships were docked; waiting for the owners to get on board and set sail to the vast body of water. The blue haired teenager approached a medium sized boat capable of transporting at least four to five individuals for moderate lengths of travel so as long as a heavy storm did not brew up.

Bella walked onto the wooden boardwalk and across the incline onto her humble sized ship. A sigh escaped her lips as she opened the door leading into the kitchen. She raised a questioning eyebrow at the sight on the opposite side of the room.

"I don't remember leaving my door open," she thought to herself.

She snarled inwardly as she dropped her newly acquired treasure to the side and carefully approached the door leading into her small bedroom. Carefully, the teenager crept towards the door; her eyes twitching in the slightest anticipation of hearing sounds coming from her personal quarters. In a matter of moments, she stopped in front of the door; swinging it wide open for her viewing. To her surprise, not an item was out of place, allowing her to give a sigh of relief, "Perhaps I was just being paranoid again. Mother did say I worried a lot of no reason at all. She was right."

She approached her bed and as she did so, her body had been released of the animalistic features and bore the appearance of an average young woman once again. Her body fell forward on the furniture with a thump; her arms outstretched to either sides. Puling her legs onto the bed, she curled her body half-way into a ball and lied there with her eyes closed as she drifted off into a light slumber.

Two hours later

"BOOM! CRASH!"

"AHHH!" the young woman yelled as she jumped from her slumber.

"BOOM! CRASH!"

A rumble could be felt all throughout the ship much to her confusion, "What's going on around here?"

Bella grabbed the sword by her bed and swiftly ran to the outside of the ship to the docks. Yet again, she found herself in shock at the scene taking place in the town. Citizens were running for their lives in panic in an attempt to escape the flying balls that crashed into their homes and in the street. She blinked in confusion as she calmly proceeded to walk into the streets, observing the townspeople in terror until she came to a halt on the other side where a single circus like tent stood in the midst of the quaint houses.

Surrounding the tent were several colorfully dressed individuals dancing around in merriment and loading equally colorful balls into a large cannon.

"I wonder if this is his crew," she mumbled inwardly. A sweat drop formed at the back of her head as she continued to exam the appearance of the ship. "They're definitely flashy if you ask me."

However, there was one in particular that caught her fullest attention: the man calling out all of the orders to the crew. He was a slim, yet muscular man with an appearance of a clown. He had crossbones going down his face forming an X with two blue lines near both of his eyes, red lipstick and his jolly roger on his hat. He donned a striped white and red shirt with short sleeves, white gloves reminiscent of the ones worn by clowns, a sash around his waist, and a pair of loose pants reaching to his calves, just above a pair of striped socks and pointy shoes. He also had a scarf around his neck. Hanging from his shoulders there was an orange, fur-lined captain's coat. Finally, hanging from the sides of his hat was his long blue hair, almost in the form of tassels.

"There he is," she thought in joy, yet her expression remained one of calmness. "After all these years, I finally have the chance to be with you."

Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by several members of the jolly group of men, but she kept her demeanor. She watched as the orange clad man approached her with a serious expression on his feature and gestured for his men to allow him to come through. He stopped several feet away from his uninvited guest and crossed his arms.

"You must have some kind of death wish if you haven't escaped with the other people," the man stated.

"No, I can't say that I don't," she responded in a flat tone. "However, I do have a request."

"Oh, and what's that?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"My name is Bella and I wish to join your pirate crew Captain Buggy," she informed calmly. "Father…"

Buggy laughed in amusement, practically ignoring the last word that came out of her mouth. On the other hand, his crew had drained of all color. He folded his arms over his chest, "So you wish to join my flashy pirate crew, eh? What makes you think I'll let you join?"

"Because I believe I could be a great asset to your crew," she answered with a light smile. "I wish to travel the seas with you to help achieve your goal. Also, I do love the thought a throwing parties and having fun at any given chance."

"Well then," he stated as he peered her directly in her eyes. A large smile appeared on his lips as he threw his arms into the air, "Men! Let us welcome our newest member!" However, it was at that moment when the word 'father' dawned on the clown pirate which made his pupils vanish and his teeth grew as sharp as canines, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU CALL ME?!"

"…Father," she answered in a matter of fact tone.

A/N: And that is the end of this first installment. As you can see, Bella is a Devil-Fruit user that gives her the ability to transform into a lion. As with all other characters of the series, pieces of her backstory will be revealed in time rather than straight off the back. I find this will be an interesting project for me because I'll be building my OC as well as working with Buggy the clown, who happens to be one of my favorite 'antagonists.' Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this so send in a review telling me of your thoughts: likes, dislikes, and the works. That's all I have to say for now, so later folks.