It should come as no surprise that reclusive individuals such as Tanisha Lowe, haven't really had an easy time making friends. Not that she really cared, Tani much preferred spending her days roller skating around the local skate park or messing around with her yo-yos, showing off her mad skills to nobody but herself and the young kids that would sometimes wander over and watch her swing the plastic circles around.

Today wasn't really any different from any ol' regular day, classes came and went. Lunch break was as awkward as usual with all Tani's peers magnetising towards their respective groups, leaving her seated alone on a park bench to eat and entertain herself. Not that she was complaining, Tani had tried and failed to make friends with the other girls and boys of her school. Whether it was her looks or childish personality, they would always end up drifting away or find others to replace her.

Tani sat down on the bench she normally sat at during break, the one that was right behind the basketball courts. She fished into her trusty backpack for the half finished box of fruit roll ups. Unwrapping and practically shoving the sweet into her mouth, she smiled with delight. Looking out towards the basketball courts filled with her classmates playing said game. A majority of them just messing around and having fun in the company of each other. Her smile dropped slightly, but she pushed away the creeping thoughts and reached into her bag again.

Pulling out a yo-yo, she attached the string to her right index finger and began tossing it around, pulling it back and forth for some warm ups before really having some fun. Pushing herself off the bench, her legs carried her away from the basketball courts. The path she followed lead towards the primary schoolers side of the campus. The younger kids always had a blast watching the older girl messing around with her yo-yos.

"I'm the captain! Set sail!" the loud shouts of a boy, no older than 10. Grabbed at Tani's attention, swinging her yo-yo around her, she walked towards the group of young boys standing on a picnic table playing pirates or something. She made her way over, watching with curiosity as the boys all ran around to take on the orders of the captain who stood proudly on the very top of the table.

"Mind if I join your crew mister captain?" Tani leaned against the table, tilting her head up to look at the stunned captain. He crossed his arms and laughed with a deep voice, used to sound cooler, "Ha ha ha! Girls can't be pirates! That's bad luck," his tone was playful.

The smile Tani had in her face shifted into a smirk, "Girls can't be pirates? Well that's not true, what about captain Rose of the butterfly pirates?" she retorted, now standing in front of the table with her arms crossed to mimic the boy before me. He stared at her with a slack jaw, like the concept of a female pirate never crossed his mind. His pirate crew had stopped moving and all gathered around the captain, ready to hear the tales of captain Rose and her crew.

"Many people have yet to hear the tale of Captain Rose and her crew, some say she was the strongest woman to ever sail the seven seas!" Tani told, the boys all leaned in closer. "She's fought huge sea monsters, like the kraken and great white shark!" her arms motioned out wide, earning gasps from some of the boys. "she has faced many foes, like Blackbeard and the legendary captain Kidd. Both fights she walked away without a single scratch. To this day she's still great pals with those old bags," the boys gasped at Tani's claims.

She brought her hand closer to her mouth, her pointer finger held in front of her mouth, she paused. The boys all leaned even closer, practically in her face as they listened to her with great intensity. Then she clicked her finger and chuckled as the boys all backed away in surprise. "it's said that Captain Rose has a legendary treasure hidden away on a secret island that can't be found on any maps of the world, the mystery treasure is said to be worth more than the president and queen's money combined, and those who find it," she paused, the boys all bounced with anticipation.

"will rule the whole entire world,"

The boys all gasped in amazement, the captain from before hand jumping to the ground and held a stick he had found on the grass high in the air. "crew! We must find captain Roses legendary treasure! And together we will rule the world!" he rallied, the rest of the boys cheered with him. Tani looked at them with a wide grin, letting out a hearty laugh. She jumped on the table and saluted her captain, who saluted back.

Lunch break could only last so long, with the end of lunch time came the impending doom that was school. Ruling the world with her captain and crew was great fun, but the real world likes to come in and spoil the fun. She span her yo-yo around quickly, a more springy hop in her step as she walked away from the children that seemed more accepting of her, towards the lonely classroom she wanted to run away from... Actually why couldn't she run away? Not like she really needed it after all.

Hands secured onto her bag straps, she strayed from the path leading to the building she was dreading. Making a run towards the school gate, no teachers were standing guard. The gates were closed but that hasn't stopped her before, with a smirk she begins picking up the pace and before she slammed into the gate, she jumped up and grabbed the metal bars on top of the gates and tossed herself over in one swift movement. Her legs slamming into the concrete ground below her.

"Hey! get back here!" the booming voice of a teacher caught the escapee's attention, she didn't turn back and opted to make a run for it. Laughing off the adrenaline with her mess of dark brown curls flowing behind her. She ran a familiar path, a corner here and a left there. A lovely little suburban home came into view, the car normally parked in the drive way was absent. Indicating that the one person that Tani didn't want to run into right now, was also absent from the house.

Tani waltzed into the house and flopped onto her small bed, her large denim jacket now discarded on the ground along side her bag and lucky cap. The room wasn't the biggest, but Tani didn't really care. If she could fit her stuff in the room than that's all that mattered. She deflated on the bed from the long since passed adrenaline rush. She laughed to herself at the great escape she made, rolling onto her back to stare at the plain white ceiling with her arms behind her head. A content sigh left her as she relaxed on the bed, the joy of hanging around the boys was still fresh in her mind. All that talk of pirate treasure and fighting giant squids give her a joy she couldn't really describe.

Pushing herself off the bed, Tani reclaimed her jacket, cap and bag. Making her way outside with a pair of roller blades equipped, she set off towards the local skating ring. The trip being pretty short from her home anyway. The place was bare, most regulars still being in school. Left her with all the space she needed to practice some tricks on her blades.

She glided across the ring as if she was flying like a butterfly, the thought brought up the butterfly pirates and their awesome captain Rose. The story may have been fake, but the sparks of inspiration and wonder that lit within the boys was as real as can be. Tani twirled and jumped though the air, as if she was dancing with the wind. Her jacket spread like wings, the weight of the world leaving her mind as she felt weightless and free for a blissful moment... Then her feet smacked into a bar she had failed to notice. Balance was lost, and the girl fell face first into the dirt underneath her.

Tani groaned to herself, a rush of pain bloomed in her head when she pushed herself off the ground. Her hands rubbed the pained spot in a comforting way to help ease the pain. In recovering, Tani noticed the shine of something hidden in the bushes that surrounded the rings outside.

Stumbling slightly due to the combination of a head injury and roller blades on a soft surface. Tani managed to reach the bush, her arms too short to reach the shiny thing without falling into the bush. With a sigh she lowered herself into a crawl and passed through the bushes into an opening. Like a secret hideaway. Tani looked around in amazement, the shine that brought her here once again catching her attention.

Her hand reached out to grab the shining object, but when her hand touched it. The shine disappeared, as if it had never been there. A shiny little bell rested in the palm of her hand. Shaking it produced a small jingle, nothing special. A huff left the girl as she stood in the opening and looked around her, the warm sunshine and calm quiet of the area made for a pretty sweet napping spot. Not sure if it was the headache talking or just the environment, but a wave of sleepiness creeped into the dark girls mind. A large yawn escaped the now tired girls mouth. She dropped to the ground, propping her bag up as a pillow. Her head now resting upon the makeshift pillow, eyes growing heavy and breath slowing down. She fell asleep within the minute.

The strong smell of salt water in the air hit the nose of an unconscious Tani, the change of environment caused her body to react with a sleep destroying sneeze. Her whole body sprang up with the loud sneeze. Her eyes groggily lifted with a blur still present from the relaxing sleep she had awoken from so rudely by her own body being the worst. She rubbed her eyes and blinked away the blur. No longer being surrounded by the greenery that surrounded her before, now she was on the wooden deck of a boat surrounded by the ocean...

"Where the hell am I!?" she panicked, jumping to her feet and promptly falling over because of her still roller bladed feet. Her breathing hitched at the sound of movement from somewhere on the wooden ship, she quickly took to unclipping the blades from her feet and attaching them to the sides of her bag. Jumping up from the ground she made a break for the side of the ship. She looked out to the horizon to find no land at all! How long was she out?!

No time to question the situation she drapped one leg over the railing preparing herself to jump off. The clapping of sandles and boots drew closer, her head whipping around to reveal four people standing before her.

"What the hell are you doing on our ship?!" The only girl of the group called out to Tani. Who was now pumping with adrenaline, she froze on the spot while her heart pounded hard against her chest. She stared at the group, all of them looked about ready to kill her... Or maybe that was just the adrenaline talking. Either way she wanted off this ship. So with a brave face she kicked her other leg off the deck and dived overboard.

The girls voice called out to one of her crew mates. Tani was mere inches away from the water when she felt an arm wrap around her waist. Instincts kicked into high gear as she grasped the arm and spun her body to twist the grip off to free herself, in a sorta messy suplex.

Fortunately this worked, as the arm that had grabbed her was now loosened... And the guy who had grabbed her was now falling off the boat with her. The crew above panicked as the both of them broke the surface of the water, Tani resurfaced quickly. While the crew above called out orders, something about the guy who had grabbed her not being able to swim. 'what idiot pirate doesn't know how to swim?!' Tani thought to herself, mentally face palming.

The crew was too busy freaking out, that they forgot to actually jump in and save the crew member who was sinking in the first place. Tani didn't really want to have murder added to the list of things she had done in her life, and with a groan she sucked in a breath and submerged herself into the water to find the sinking body of the boy who had grabbed her.

Tani was proud to say that she was one of the best swimmers in her school, winning many first place ribbons in swimming sports events held by the school. So it took her no effort to locate and grab the raven haired boy and pull him back up to the surface. The boy coughed up a lung when the two of them could breath, his body was as stiff as a board. It was like he couldn't move at all! The wide eyes of the boy looked into Tani's swampy green eyes, a huge grin spread across his face. Tani ignored him and called up to his crew.

"Oi! Can you come collect your idiot friend over here!" she waved the arm that wasn't keeping the board of a boy afloat. This caught the attention of the red head girl, who ordered the guy with green hair to lower a rope ladder for the two in the water to climb. Tani paddled as best she could over to the ladder and lifted the boy up to grab and pull him self out of the water. Once he was out, he looked back at her with that huge grin still plastered to his face.

"you'll die if you don't get aboard," called out the red head, who was leaning over the railing, "there isn't an island for miles, and I don't see any boats," she reasoned.

Tani looked up, weighting out her options. She was in an unknown location, stuck in the middle of the ocean with random people on a random boat made of wood! What is this the dark ages? But these people are still strangers to her, what if they wanted to sell her into the slave trade? Or butcher her for organs to sell on the black market? She'd heard the crazy shit that happens to people.

She didn't have time to think before she was one again grabbed, this time by the shoulders and ripped out of the water. Her brain only now catching up to the fact that the boy she had saved was now tossing her onto the boat... His arms had stretched like a strip of bubblegum! Tani's heart rate accelerated at the crazy display. His arms retracted back into him, as if that whole thing never happened. Tani's eyes darted back and forth between the four people standing in front of her. She scurried as far away from them as she could, not wanting to be close to the crazy elastic guy or the tall dude with the green hair and three swords hanging off his belt! Why three? Who knows!

"why are you on this ship?" the red head asked, her voice was very demanding which really struck a cord with Tani. The panic now washed away with a face of attitude, she stood up off the ground. Her heart hadn't stopped pounding against her chest, her legs had a slight shiver to them, but her body stood strong and tall even in the face of danger. She crossed her arms, and didn't say a word.

The red head groaned, "look, we don't want to cause any trouble. We've had enough of that from the black cat pirates. Now tell us how you got on the ship and we won't kick your ass." she threatened. Tani stiffened at that comment, and weighted out her options again. Pissing off the only people in this area probably wasn't the greatest idea.

"look Ginger, I have no idea why I'm here. One minute I'm taking a nap in the bushes next to the skating ring, the next I'm waking up on a boat in the middle of whatever ocean this is," she stated bluntly, masking her fear under an aggressive tone. The red head narrowed her eyes, like she was staring into Tani's soul. When the boy that couldn't swim waltzed over and poked Tani on the cheek.

"I think she's cool," the boy declared, a laugh followed his claim. Catching Tani off guard, while his crew mates seemed to react in a manner as if this was regular for the guy. "I mean she's a mystery girl," he continued, poking her cheek a couple more times before she batted his hand away. Which received two hands poking her cheeks. She tried to push him away from her, but he jumped out of the way and kept poking at her. She growled and continued to attack while he dodged her every move, the both of them ignoring the angered cries of the red head who was yelling at both of them for ignoring her.

The two continued to mess around, Tani loosened up a bit at the playfulness of the boy. Even losing that snooty scowl in exchange for a small smile as she worked harder to fight back against the pokes to her cheeks. That all came crashing down when the red head smacked the both of them in the heads. The red head tapped her heels.

"Luffy! Do you realize that she could be a danger to this crew?" she scolded, the boy looked up at her with that big grin and laughed. "we don't even know who she is! What if she's a spy sent by the marines?" She asked, he turned his head towards their newest occupant.

"so what's your name mystery girl?" he asked, she looked around at the group of people surrounding her, the guy with the swords had sat by the railing and looks as if he was about to take a nap, the guy with the big lips and goggles had been standing behind the mast the whole time with shaking legs. Luffy pointed at the different people on the ship.

"that's Zoro, the greatest swords man on the east blue," he pointed at the green haired guy, the guy lazily waved before losing interest. "that's Usopp, the ships sniper and liar," he motioned towards the guy with the shaking legs, "and this is Nami, the ships navigator," he stated when pointing at the red head. He pointed to himself, "And I'm Luffy, the captain and future king of the pirates,"

...

"hold up! You're the captain?" Tani pointed at him, Luffy cheerily nodded to confirm her question. She laughed at the absurdity, "but how can you be the captain, if you can't even swim?" she giggled. Luffy's smile dropped slightly but was still there.

"well aren't you gonna say your name?" Nami grumbled, leaning on the railing opposite from Tani and Luffy. Tani rolled her eyes

"the names Tanisha,"