Chapter 1
My wings beat down the air into submission, propelling me higher over the island so I could get a better view of the harbor. On the far left of the docks new ship had just sailed in, a smiling sheep as the ship's head. The familiar glitter of treasure is what made me lower my left-wing and slowly circle the deck of the pirate's ship, watching and waiting.
The gold was in the perfect place, slightly beside the mast with no one too close to it. Only seven pirates were on board and none looked to threatening. An orange haired girl, a boy with curly dark hair, some sort of moose, a blond with a cigarette, a sleeping green haired guy with three swords, a dark-haired woman and a boy with a straw hat. Already I had guessed they were the Straw Hat pirates but that meant I only had to look out for the captain, 'Straw Hat' Luffy, Roronoa Zolo the ex-pirate hunter and Nico Robin, the ever wanted demon.
Forever confident in my own abilities I tucked in my wings and dive bombed the deck. The second my talons caught the ropes around the chest did I shoot back towards the clear sky, leaving no time for the pirates to do anything.
"MY TREASURE!" Screeched a clearly feminine voice but my sturdy brown wings only threw me higher until I wheeled back towards the centre of the island.
I let out a small caw of triumph. Singlehandedly I had robbed the Straw Hats pirate and with no problems. Obviously the navy was just that incompetent if they couldn't catch a crew of teenagers. Feeling proud and with the gold still hooked in my talons I ducked into my hallowed out tree.
An hour had passed since I'd robbed the Straw Hat pirates and after stashing my treasure I had flown in the outskirts of the village, becoming human before anyone could see me.
No one on the island wanted to have a devil fruit user near them or their children so I kept that hidden. I'd only been here on Evergreen Island for a few months but managed to rob a few pirates stupid enough to come to the Grand Line. I made good money being a hired out robber, stealing rare items for collectors willing to pay my extensive fees.
"Hey Iron." Called the locals and I waved casually; making sure my black scarf hid my face from the bridge of my nose down. The navy had a bounty on my head but no one knew what my human face looked like and I wanted it to stay that way. The town wasn't big. Barely two hundred people populated the entire island but that was because there weren't enough homes. Here on Evergreen, everyone lived in hallowed out trees, making them houses, shop fronts, anything.
With the Straw Hat pirates no longer on my mind I entered my bar and strolled through the tables, offering various greetings and welcomes. Kids rushed to my knees and I smirked. Ever since I came here I tried to keep my personal life on the down low so I had begun teaching kids to play an assortment of instruments. Music was an easy thing to me; every instrument came to me as naturally as my singing so charging to teach others about my passion was easy berries.
"Iron! You're late." Tori, the bar tender and owner, glared at me over the counter. She had kind green eyes and offered me a job playing at her bar but everyone had just begun calling it "Iron's bar." She wasn't one people pushed around and even pirates respected her. With Tori's tan skin was withering from age seemed gentle but with the fierce fire in her eyes it made you think twice about arguing with her.
"Sorry T." I grinned apologetically, sitting on a bar stool and downing a mug of grog before making my way onto the slightly raised wooden stage. Excited whoops met my entrance but as my fingers danced along he ivory keys of Tori's age rattled piano did everyone silence, the music soon filling the still air.
"Some bar." A voice snorted and I struck the last key of the song with a little too much force, putting my permanent fingerprint on the rectangular key. Everyone glared at the new comers and as I met the curious green gaze of one of the newcomers did my throat closed up.
It was the Straw Hat pirates.
My breathing became raspy as they made their way to the bar and all took a stool. My fingers had begun shaking but I swallowed back my fear and rising panic. These pirates had no idea who I was as a human. They hadn't heard my voice or even my name. No one in town knew my real name. I had just always used the nickname Tori gave me.
With some difficulty, I continued playing, trying to lose myself in the notes but I was more anxious than usual. The gazes of the seven pirates were burning holes in my back and I had to keep stifling the shivers that rose along my spine. The moment I had played the last note of my eighth song did I stand. With a nervous bow I headed off stage and took off my black hat, holding it out for my usual flow of tips. Cautiously, keeping my finger on the brown feather I stuck in the hat's brim, I held it out to the pirates.
Tori was giving me a warning look over the counter, pushing back her long black hair with slightly shaky fingers. I prepared my muscles to shift back into a hawk. The windows were wide enough for me to shoot out and then I could make it back to my tree before anyone –
"Nice playing." Smiled the green haired swordsmen, dropping a few berries into my almost full hat while his eyes lingered on mine. I gave a slight nod, aware of the slight flutter rising in my chest. "Thanks."
"Zolo! Are those my berries?" Hissed the orange haired girl from a few seats down but the swordsmen shrugged, downing what looked like his fifth mug of grog.
"I do get a cut of what I steal Nami." He said and I smirked. The infamous hunter was no pushover.
"Have you seen a giant hawk?" Asked their captain, 'Straw Hat' Luffy and I went rigid. He held his arms all the way out to show a large bird but all I could manage in reply was a small gurgle in the back of my throat.
"This is the only place that serves grog on this entire island?!" A husky voice barked and my head snapped to the bar's door. A group of eight broad-shouldered pirates blocked the entrance, the one in the centre gripping an unsuspecting man by the throat. I taught his twin daughters the violin.
"Y – Yes." Mr Roche mumbled, face slowly paling. When the pirate suddenly released the man's throat Mr Roche crumpled to the floor, coughing and struggling to breathe. My sharp eyes caught the deep red marks now carved into his throat. They were shaped exactly like the pirate's fingers.
The group of pirates fell into an empty table, throwing people out of their chairs as they walked y before slammed their boots noisily atop the newly cleaned tables.
"Tavern hag! Grog!" Barked the obvious captain, his cruel features all sharp angles in the bar's dim light. He was layered in tattoos and scars, a large curved sword sitting ominously on his left hip.
"Iron, please escort the men out." Tori snorted, not lifting her eyes from where she wiped mugs clean with a dish towel. I nodded once and stood before the pirates who looked at me with prominent scorn in their eyes.
"What do you want cutie?" Grinned one and I nodded to the door, holding the captain's icy gaze with no fear.
"Out." I said simply.
They all roared with laughter but the bar had silenced. Our regular patrons gave me small, encouraging smiles but I knew Tori had confidence in my abilities. Music wasn't my only talent.
"You," the captain laughed, wiping his eyes as he chuckled along with the others. "Do you really think we'll listen to you baby girl?" The others were almost dying with laughter but I shrugged. "I gave you a chance."
Before any of them could laugh again I had the captain by the throat against the far wall, nearyl twenty feet from his crew. He was easily a foot taller than me but my feather shaped knife dug into his throat, a thin stream of blood washing over my fingertips.
"Get away from our captain!" The other pirates barked, running at me but I was already moving. My knife plunged into the captain's throat before I flipped backwards in mid-air, sending more of my feather shaped knives airborne. Not one touched a customer. All hit their mark, sinking deep into the throats of the seven pirates. Only a few choked cries came from the pirates as I took them two at a time by shirt collar and tossed their corpses out the back door, retrieving my crimson stained knives. Without much thought I wiped the blood on my shirt's hem and went back into the bar where everyone continued to talk, ignoring the blood stains on the floor I had to clean up.
"What the hell just happened?!" Asked the black-haired Straw hat pirate and I shrugged, taking the mop and swabbing beneath the customer's chairs.
"This is the Grand Line." Tori smirked, pouring more grog for the swordsmen who had watched me with muted interest the entire fight. "Iron's my resident musician and bouncer. No one's beat the girl since she came here a few months ago."
"Do you want to join my crew?" 'Straw Hat' Luffy asked me as I put the mop behind the bar and I gave him a curious look. "What?" I asked but the orange haired girl, Nami, held up a hand. In her fingers she held one of the knives I'd missed.
"These are your weapons correct?" She asked and I nodded once, taking the feather shaped blade before she could shift. Her eyes widened slightly but she rested her elbows on the bar and gave me a devious smile. "You're the hawk that robbed us. Give me back my berries you bitch."
The bar fell silent again and Tori even gaped at her.
"What?" I choked out as the other patrons hurled insults at Nami but my eyes fell on the swordsmen perched beside the captain. He was nodding into mug. "Wondering when someone else would catch on." His eyes locked onto mine. "Not many four-foot hawks have your violet eyes."
My eyes. Dammit. I wore colored contacts but due to my puffed up pride of robbing the Straw Hat pirates I had left them on my bathroom counter.
Without waiting I went hawk, my perfectly tawny wings extending in a blink and I shot out one of the bar's windows. Surprised screams covered my squawk as the glass shards raked through my feathers as I sent myself spiraling upwards.
I only had minutes to make it to my tree and retrieve my items. If I headed west I knew I could outrun the pirates if they had to sail. Once again I had outwitted the Straw Hat pirates
"Gotcha!" I let out a heart stopping screech as hands suddenly fastened to my wings from out of nowhere and towed me downwards. Glaring beneath me I realized 'Straw Hat' Luffy had stretched his arms up and had me by the wings, a generous handful of feathers in each fist.
"Let me go!" I cawed, raking my talons along his arms but he kept a steady grip until we hit the branches.
Evergreen was all trees. The island was said to have been one of the first islands of the Grand Line. Each of the trees branches were intertwined with the next, creating an almost impervious canopy over the wire thin walkways through the trees and underbrush. But somehow, Luffy and I broke through the canopy.
Luffy's grip was lost on me as we both dropped through the thick and sturdy branches. Leaves and twigs tore off my feathers and I quickly became human, shielding my face as I twisted through the air. When I finally knocked the back of my head on a foot thick branch did I lose consciousness, ushering myself into a darkness that muted my pain.
rotflwd: Well that's my first go at my 'One Piece' add in character. You'll find out more about her in the next chapter and her connection with some pirates highlighted thorughout the 'One Piece' series. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Review it and leave me some comments, critisim can only make me a better writer! Thanks !