Third Person P.O.V.
A young girl sat by the edge of a small stream washing her and her sisters clothes in the slightly cool water. She wore a dress the shade of freshly fallen snow with a light brown hooded cloak tied right below her neck. Her dark wavy locks cascaded down her back stopping just above her bottom. The bold shade of violet glimmering in the sunlight as she quickly squeezed the water out of her sister's shirt.
Ryma, only 7 years of age, hurriedly washed and rinsed the dirty shirts that lay around her before tossing the damp clothes into a wooden bucket to carry back to her home. She'd usually take her time making sure to to do a proper job since it was one of her daily chores, or at least one she'd do once a week, but today was special.
Normally, Ryma would wake up early in the morning, fix her and her sister's bed, eat breakfast, train, clean the cabin, and go on some outdoor adventures before returning home. If it were the weekend, she would also be in charge of cleaning the laundry. Ryma loved her schedule, it gave her tons of freedom.
However, on this particular day Zen, the son of the kind nurse in a nearby town, was visiting. The nurse was close with Ryma's older sister, Miya. After Ryma and Miya had been banished from the town due to an unknown sickness Miya had caught, the nurse would secretly send her son to bring food, clothes, or small gifts. Zen's visits were always the highlight of Ryma's week. She loved the fresh veggies, drinks, and spices he'd always bring. Best of all, she loved fighting with the boy who was quite a few years older than her.
Ryma finished rinsing the last of the laundry. She bent down and quickly picked up the large brown bucket, only to stumble back a few steps at the sudden weight. Balancing herself, Ryma adjusted the bucket's position allowing it to rest in between her chest and her frail arms. She winced as the bucket dug into her stomach but chose to ignore the pain as she rushed back towards the cabin she and Miya lived in.
Biting on her bottom lip, Ryma intently watched her surroundings as she slowly ran through the forest. She went around large rocks, carefully stepped over the thick tree roots, and ducked beneath looming branches.
She didn't want to trip. Tripping could get the clothes dirty and could cost her more time in returning home. Was Zen at the cabin? Did he bring cheese? Ryma loved cheese, she hoped he brought cheese.
Ryma hastened her pace as she spotted the small brown cabin through a thicket of slender brown branches in front of her. The bucket dug deeper into her stomach but Ryma was far too excited to even register the pain. She rushed up the worn creaky steps, the boards grinding against one another beneath her weight. Pushing the door open Ryma spotted her red haired friend conversing with Miya on the single bed in the corner of the room. Her sister's straight dark purple glistened in the sunlight streaming through the window. Lavender eyes intently gazing at Zen.
"Zen! Miya!" She squealed, dropping the bucket onto a small table by the entrance of the room before bolting towards her two most beloved people. Just a few steps from the bed, Ryma quickly shuffled to the right, slammed her right foot to the ground, shifted all her weight on it, and leaped from the side to tackle the two people in front of her in a hug.
"Nice to see you too Ry." The boy, Zen, laughed.
"Pfffftshahahaha" Miya cracked up, expecting nothing less upon the entrance of her adorable little sister. "Welcome back kiddo!"
"I missed you!" Ryma giggled. She unlocked her arms and wiggled her way between Zen and Miya. She then whipped her gaze around to Zen. "Did you bring cheese?!"
"Maybe." Zen smiled. Zen had picked up on Ryma's love for cheese after the first few weeks they'd met. He didn't particularly enjoy cheese himself, but Ryma seemed to pair all her food with it. Cheese on fries, with fish, in pies, or on meat. No matter what it was she found a way to add cheese to a dish of her liking. Looking at her now, he slightly wished he had brought some cheese.
Ryma blinked a few times. She tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows. "Is that a yes...?"
"Maybe, maybe not." Zen shrugged. Ryma looked over to her sister to see if she knew, only for her to ruffle her hair. A shiver ran down Ryma's spine from the cold touch of her sisters hand. She pouted, glumly looking down to the ground. Ryma had been looking forward to cheese. But it's okay, at least Zen was visiting she figured.
The bed rose up as Zen had gotten off the bed. He walked over to a chair in a corner of the room where his travel bag lie. Ryma snuggled into the side of her sister for warmth as she curiously watched Zen rummage through his bag.
"I got some stuff for you guys besides food this time. I would've shown you earlier Miya, but I wanted to wait until Ry was back so you two could enjoy opening them together." Zen explained pulling 3 items out of his bag. One was a journal Zen always carried around with him ever since they met, he paused for a moment before hesitantly placing it beneath the other two items.
"Catch." Ryma grinned as caught a large brown pouch that Zen had sent sailing towards her. She was eager to open it but glanced at her sister as if silently asking for her approval. Upon the slightest nod of her sister's head, Ryma immediately loosened the string on the top of the soft leather pouch and dug her hands it grasping the item inside before yanking it out.
Ryma looked in awe at the item in her hand before whipping her head up to look at Zen who had been placing a smaller leather pouch into Miya's hands.
"Zen! It this for me?! Is it mine?! Is it really mine?!" Ryma blurted in excitement. Before the boy even had a chance to respond she turned to her sister sharing the item with her. "Miya look! Look what Zen got!"
Ryma bounced on the bed, bustling with energy as she revealed a steel dagger the size of her forearm to her sister. Miya smiled softly at her favorite bundle of joy. She wrapped one hand around the pouch Zen had given her and patted Ryma's head with her other hand.
"What did Zen get you?" Ryma piqued, curious to see what her sister had received.
"Mm, nothing much." Miya shrugged. She pinched her little sisters cheek only for her to her to flinch at the sheer coldness radiating from her hands. An abnormal coldness that radiated off her light blue hands. A symptom that had resulted from whatever questionable disease she had caught on the island. "Why don't you try fighting Zen with it?"
"Akay" Ryma grinned. Her 'okay' sounding strange due to her pinched cheek. Ryma jumped off the bed, out of her sister's grasp, and grabbed Zen's hand dragging him along with her as she ran out the cabin. "See you in a bit!"
The pair ran through the forest until they reached their typical training area half mile away from the cabin. A semi vacant field where the two would either train in hand-to-hand combat, clash blades, or tell each other stories. Eager to test out her newly received dagger, Ryma immediately turned to face Zen and dropped into a fighting stance.
"Hold on!" Zen exclaimed throwing out his hands in front of him to stop the young girl from advancing. Ryma frowned as she stared at Zen with confused expression, her ready-to-engage form dropping. "Yeah?"
Zen released a heavy sigh as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. "Well uh, I wanted to talk about something before we do anything else."
Puzzled, Ryma followed Zen as he walked and sat beneath the shade of a large tree. Mimicking Zen's actions, Ryma dropped down next to him beneath the tree. Zen flipped opened his journal that he'd been carrying since they left the cabin and flicked through some pages before stopping and placing the journal open on the ground in front of them.
Ryma stared at the 2 pages in front of her, each page had a drawing on the top half with tons and tons of words filling the bottom half. Ryma really didn't feel like reading so she simply looked at the drawings. The one on the first page seemed familiar to her, like a picture from the books of the tales of pirates her sister read all the time. The drawing on the second page looked similar to a map. Were they going to go treasure hunting?
"You know why you were banished from the town, right Ry?"
Ryma simply nodded her head, her gaze falling back to the drawing on the first page. She knew she had never seen the item in the drawing anywhere before, but the rough outline seemed so familiar to her, yet she couldn't tell from where. She shook her head she turned to Zen frowning. "Aren't we gonna fight?"
"Don't worry, I've got something better we could do." Zen explained. Something better than fighting and testing out her new weapon...? Excitement slowly poured back into Ryma. Zen ideas were always fun! Which meant he must have something fun up his sleeve!
"You've heard of devil fruits, right? And marines?" Ryma's eyes lit up in realization. A devil fruit! That was what the drawing was of on the first page! Miya use to tell her all kinds of tales of the power granting fruits when she was a bit younger!
Ryma vigorously nodded her head in confirmation to Zen's question. She'd heard plenty of stories of devil fruits and also knew of marines. They were the men her sister disliked. Miya always told her not all marines were good marines just like how not all pirates were bad pirates. It all depended on the person. But there weren't any marines on this island. Were they gonna be pretend marines?
"Well, marines came to our town a few days ago. They're just resting on the island for a bit before they take off. But yesterday I heard they had a devil fruit. I figured it was just a rumor until I heard actual marines talking about it in the diner in town! Think about it Ryma, if we could get our hands on the devil fruit, it could have the ability to heal your sister!" Zen nervously exclaimed.
Ryma froze. She bit her lip. She knew her sister was sick. Sick enough that most of the townsfolk they had lived with for two years immediately turned their back to them when they found out. Even though her sister often hid her pain and weakened state, the faint blue chilling hue that was spreading across her body was practically impossible to hide. If a devil fruit could heal her sister, then they should just go get it. Zen was so smart!
"Lets go get it!" Ryma exclaimed. Zen ruffled her hair. That had been the response he'd been hoping for. Leave it to Ryma to ignore any and all consequences when she finds something she wants.
"If we're gonna do it then we gotta do it today. But Ryma I have a plan. No matter what you have to stick to the plan, alright? If you don't stick to it then we won't be able to get the devil fruit and help Miya." Ryma frowned, she didn't like being told what to do, but if it as for the sake of her sister and Zen already had a plan, then she supposed it was fine. Zen was smart, he always knew what was right and what was wrong.
"Alrighty." She grinned. Miya would never expect them to come home with a devil fruit!
Zen smiled, it was already mid-day. If they wanted a successful operation, then they'd have to get going now. He got up and gave Ryma a helping hand to get up as well. "I'll explain on the way to town, but we have to hurry. Oh. Make sure to bring your dagger. You might need it."