Fate whispers to the warrior . . .
"A storm is coming. You won't survive."
The warrior whispers back . . .
"I am the storm."
Prologue: Everyone's Got a Doppelganger
"Not many people can say they've crossed swords with the Raindodger and live to tell the tale about it. No one knows much about her, not even her name. We're not even sure what she looks like," said the female marine, Tashigi, to the bounty hunter sitting across from her in the bar. Her and a few other marines accompanying her had been tasked on finding the only man who had gone after the wanted criminal, known only as the "Raindodger," and lived, or at least he claimed to. At the time, Tashigi had only just joined the Marines. Gathering information on this mysterious criminal was one of her first assignments. They had come quite a way, winding up in some small town that was barely worth a name. "So far, you're the only one we can find that says they went after her and lived. She's been spotted in locations all over the seas, but no one's ever seen her ship or a crew, so no one knows how she gets anywhere. She's worked for various criminal organizations as an assassin, but she has no known associates. The only thing we have on her is a rough sketch, and we don't even know if it's close. The woman's practically a ghost. You've seen her fight, surely you must have some information that can help us."
The bounty hunter was an older man, someone who had been doing what he did for years. He wore old high quality clothing that was clean and impressive once upon a time, but time had taken its toll on his clothing as well as his aging body. Still, he looked sturdy, like he still had some fight left in him. He leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the table and crossing his legs. "I could tell you what I know, but everything has a price, and since I never got the bounty on the girl, what's the information worth to you?" the bounty hunter asked.
"Name your price," Tashigi replied.
The bounty hunter thought on it before answering. "Twenty million beri."
Tashigi scowled. "That's outrageous, that's more than half her bounty."
"Well, how badly do you want this info? Trust me, what I can tell you about this girl you won't find anywhere else."
Tashigi still wasn't satisfied, "Ten," she said, trying to haggle.
Now the hunter scowled at her, "Don't insult me, I almost died trying to get this bounty. Now it's twenty five."
"You can't be serious!"
"Tell you what, if you honestly think that what I tell you isn't worth twenty five million, you can give me less. How's that? But trust me, it is. It's worth every single fucking beri."
Tashigi eyed the bounty hunter, sighed, and then turned to one of her comrades. "Go secure the funds." The marine nodded and took off. Tashigi turned back to the bounty hunter. "You don't get the money until after you've told us."
"Fair enough," the hunter leaned in on the table. "Let's get started then, I have a lot to say."
Tashigi took out a notepad and pen from her jacket, laying it on the table.
"Okay, first, you need to raise that bounty on her," said the hunter, pointing right at Tashigi. "'Cause that girl's worth a lot more than a measly thirty million."
"And what would you put her at?"
The hunter thought it over for a bit, thinking of all the bounties he'd gone after and comparing it with her. "Two hundred," he finally settled on.
Tashigi looked at him sideways. "Two hundred million?"
The bounty hunter looked at her like she was stupid, "No, two hundred thousand," he replied sarcastically. "Of course two hundred million."
"That's quite a bit of money."
"At least two hundred," he added. "And I'll tell you what, even if you gave me all that money, in advance, I still wouldn't go after her again. She's that dangerous. I'm still not convinced she's even human."
"You mean like she could be a fishman or something?" Tashigi said, unsure of his meaning.
"I mean like she's the devil. Most dangerous soul with a sword I've ever seen, man or woman, and I've seen some mean sons of bitches. You know, when I heard the stories she was so fast she could dodge raindrops, you know 'cause of her nickname? Well, I didn't believe 'em, but now I'm here, telling you those stories are true. All of them."
"So you're saying you actually saw her dodge raindrops from the sky?"
"No. Even better. I saw her dodge a bullet. My bullet. I fired, and she was just gone. She vanished into thin fucking air. Poof." He clapped his hands together in a startling motion, then flipped his hand in the air. "Like a fucking ghost. Then a split second later she just appeared right in front of me. She chopped my gun in half like a piece of meat. It was unreal."
"Provided this is all true, it's very helpful. . . and disheartening," Tashigi said as she continued writing.
The bounty hunter paid no attention to her comments and continued his story, "I didn't go after her alone you know, I used to be in a group of hunters. The Devil's Six they called us. Criminals and pirates feared us. But she showed us who the real devil was, 'cause it sure as hell wasn't us. We would have needed an army to take her down, and even then, I wouldn't have put our chances very high. Now I'm the only one left."
"She killed your comrades?"
"She slaughtered them like sheep. You couldn't even see her blade once she started moving, hell, you couldn't even see her. All I saw was blood and flashes of light. Those were experienced bounty hunters, some of the best out there. We were fast, but she was faster. She cut through us like we were standing still."
"What kind of sword did she use?" Tashigi asked, "A katana? A cutlass?"
"No, she used a curved saber. I'll never forget that blade as long as I live. She tore us to shreds with it."
"A saber? Like a Marine officer's saber?"
"No, it looked different. I can't describe it, it just, well, it looked evil. Then again, anything looks evil when it's soaked in your friends' blood. But still, I never saw a blade that looked quite like that. It was definitely custom made, probably one of a kind. Small bits of seastone had been fused into the edge, if that helps."
"Seastone? The material that counters Devil Fruit powers?"
"Yeah, exactly."
"How did you know it was seastone?"
"I've been around a long time, I know what seastone looks like. I've never seen it built into a blade like that, but I've seen it enough to tell you that was seastone. No doubt. You know, some people think Logia Devil Fruit users are invincible, that they can't be touched, but even they could killed by that blade. Not even your admirals are safe from that sword."
"Sounds like a master-crafted weapon, also disheartening," she sighed.
"I don't know where the hell she got it, but something about it was familiar. Like I had seen it before somewhere, somehow, but I just can't place it. It's been bothering me."
"So how did you escape?" Tashigi asked, writing everything down as he said it.
"I didn't, she let me go."
"And why would she do that?"
"I gave up," the veteran bounty hunter admitted. "I know when I'm beat. I've been doing this long enough to know when I don't have a chance. If I kept fighting I would have wound up just like the others. I threw down my sword and raised my arms into the air. Still, I thought I was dead for sure. Why would an assassin let me live? I was a witness, she must have known I could tell people everything about her. The smarter thing to do would have been to just kill me, but she didn't. She looked at me for a few seconds, lowered her sword, and then she just walked away like nothing happened."
"A merciful assassin?"
"It could have been mercy, or she might have just decided I wasn't even worthy of her blade. Swordsmen have that type of arrogant mentality. No offense," he said, knowing Tashigi was a swordswoman herself by her katana. "I don't care what her reasons were, I was happy to make it out alive all the same."
"She didn't say anything to you?"
"Nah, she just turned and left. And I can tell you why no one's seen her ship too. She doesn't have one, because she doesn't need one."
"Why not? Does she just jump on other people's ships?"
"No. You're gonna think I'm crazy when I say this, but she can walk on water."
"Excuse me?" Tashigi asked, thinking he must have been joking.
"I'm serious. Once she was done with me she turned, stepped off the dock, and walked across the bay like it was solid earth. I thought I was dreaming, honestly I did. Then she started to run, and she was out of sight in a second flat. She doesn't need a ship, she runs across the ocean. I'm telling you, she's not human."
"I don't think they'll believe me if I tell them that," Tashigi noted, writing it down anyway.
"Well, it's true. I saw it for myself."
"Do you think it was a Devil Fruit power?"
"I don't frickin' know, but I wouldn't get how. Devil Fruit powers are negated by water, everyone knows that. She walked on top of it. I never heard of a water walking Devil Fruit before."
Tashigi moved on, realizing the man was starting to ramble. She wrote what he said down, but she wasn't sure she'd be putting that into the final report. Too wild a claim with no real evidence. "Did you get a good look at her face? Could you describe her to us?"
"Yeah, yeah I did," the bounty hunter said, "But uh, you should brace yourself, because this might shock you."
Tashigi pointed to one of the men accompanying her, "Describe her to the sketch artist."
"I don't need to describe her," he turned to the man she had pointed to, and motioned towards Tashigi. "Just sketch her face, minus the glasses."
"Huh?" Tashigi said, caught off guard.
The bounty hunter leaned in towards Tashigi, "You know, when you walked in here, I almost had a heart attack. I thought she had come back to finish me off," he said, studying Tashigi's confused face closely. "You look almost exactly like her."
"T-that can't be," Tashigi shook her head.
"Take off your glasses," he asked of her.
Tashigi did so, and looked at him. The bounty hunter leaned forward, reaching his hand out to her face. Tashigi moved away.
"Relax, I just want to see something," he told her.
Tashigi relented, although she was visibly uncomfortable. He messed up her hair a bit so it was out of place, then moved part of it over her face so it fell over her right eye. Then he sat back again. He shuddered as he flashed back to images of the assassin. "God, that's it. That's the look. You're her. She could be your frickin' twin sister, I swear to God."
"Are you sure?" Tashigi asked, legitimately unnerved by this.
"Absolutely, no doubt. Stay just like that and he can just draw you."
"I can't write anymore without my glasses."
"That's all I have anyway. So, you think it was worth twenty five million?"
"Y-yeah, sure," Tashigi said, too distraught to argue with him. "Just go to the Marines office in town and wait, I'll give them the go ahead. I guess I have to stay here for now."
"Turn towards me please," the sketch artist said to Tashigi, so he could get a better view.
Tashigi uncomfortably sat there for the sketch artist. Of all the strange things that she knew could happen to her while working in the Marines, she still would have never expected something like this. She felt so stupid sitting there, knowing it was her face that would be going on the poster, like she was a criminal herself.
"Well, it's been good doing business with you," the bounty hunter said, getting up. "Be careful out there, or someone might mistake you for her, and hunters will be coming after you."
Tashigi shuddered at the thought, "Why would you say that to me? Just go, get out of here," she said, annoyed at the man.
The hunter chuckled at her dismay, walking off without another word, leaving the bar to go collect his money, while Tashigi just looked back at the sketch artist.
"I can't believe this. They say everyone has a twin somewhere, but why'd mine have to be a wanted criminal?" She shook her head in frustration.
"Please sit still miss," the sketch artist said.
"Right, right, sorry," she said. "Of all the stupid, ridiculous things," she muttered.
Something about this felt wrong to Tashigi. She didn't doubt the man's story, he seemed convincing enough, but it worried her. She always liked to believe in fate, in destiny, that things happened for a reason. That everyone was put on earth to do something they were born for. She couldn't help but think that fate had something in store for her, that one day she'd come face to face with this evil twin, and she'd be forced to fight the mirrored image of herself in a duel to the death.
The thought terrified her, yet at the same time, undeniably, it excited her.
Author's Note: Hello all, I hope you enjoyed the first entry in this adventure. I've been a member of this site since 2010, and I've had this idea for a story for almost that long, but for so long I never knew how to approach it, nor did I have the confidence to attempt it. After lots of failures with my own writing and fanfiction, I feel like I've learned a lot. My writing has certainly changed since I first joined this site. Anyway, I feel I'm finally ready to take a shot at this idea, although I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update it. I don't have a great track record with keeping those things consistent. but unlike most of my other stories where I just started it on impulse with no real direction, this one's more planned out. I'm not sure how popular this will ever get, but even my terrible stories from way back when received at least some attention. Honestly, I'm pretty intimidated by finally getting something out there. I've talked to various people about starting this for literally years.Thank you all for reading, and hopefully I'm not just talking to myself.
If you have thoughts, please consider leaving a review! Good reviews are invaluable to me, and just about everyone I'd imagine, but they're so incredibly rare.
Chapters 1-14 edited and beta'd by FlipthePages.