Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own One Piece. I do however own most of the characters in this story.
The North Blue, an open sea filled with enough adventure to sate the average appetite for an entire lifetime. Plenty of islands to see, cultures to observe, and people to meet too. But for some the call of adventure drew them further than this sea could ever take them. One such person who felt this call was Otto Bianca. She was a girl who looked for the challenges in life, and refused to accept anything less than her own path.
The wind was blowing to the east across the sea that morning. Bianca took the tiller in her left hand and caught the breeze directly in the single sail of her ship. The tiny rowboat, for it could be called little else even with the sail attached haphazardly, took off like a bolt of lightning as soon as the wind kissed the sails.
Bianca let out a joyful shout as the waves kicked up against her boat as she rocketed forward. Her keen eyes had caught sight of an island nearby, the first she had seen in roughly three days. Despite her skills at the helm, the girl was no navigator, and she considered herself lucky to have made it as far as she did. This would likely be the last stop she could make on the poor pile of wood she had managed to set sail with from her home island two weeks prior. When the thought crossed her mind a flash of a frown crossed her face before it reverted back into a grin.
Even if this would be her last adventure with the little boat she would be happy that it had carried her so far. Sure, it wasn't the Grand Line, but it had gone farther than she had hoped.
As the island drew closer Bianca could make out the unmistakable shapes of buildings along its coast. More importantly, however, she could see a few huge manors hanging over the rest of the town on a large cliff just beyond the town. A marine base flanked these buildings, and at once Bianca could tell what kind of place she was walking into.
"Great," She said to herself, "Just like home."
The island was most likely being lauded over by a couple of bureaucrats with ties, no matter how faint, to the World Government. Still, that wouldn't deter the young woman. There had to be someone around here who would join her crew, and hopefully that person would also happen to have a ship. Really, all she could do was hope though. If neither of those things existed on this island, then her journey was going to be over before it began.
Almost as soon as Bianca stepped off her ship onto the village docks it began to sink under the waves. She said a quiet prayer of thanks to her ship for its help in getting her this far before continuing on.
The port was quite active. Many men were passing by Bianca carrying crates of goods from ship to dock and vice versa, and there were quite a few ships hauling freight it seemed. She had never seen so many ships before, and many were bigger than any she had even imagined. The world itself already seemed much bigger than she had imagined. Every island she had visited prior had been only about as populated as her own, but this one seemed more like a center of commerce than a small town. She could only imagine what other islands she might come to see.
The workers provided an excellent distraction for Bianca to slip into the town itself. The shouting and jostling that covered the port had easily disguised a lone girl as if she were naught but a mouse. Once in town Bianca could see just how different the place was. Her own home, Rupa Village, could never come close to the scope of this place. In Rupa there was only one building that was higher than two stories, and that was Saint Adalgo's summer home. Around here they seemed to be more common than a single floor home. The streets were covered in stone, not dirt. The people dressed in the kind of clothes Bianca expected to see at a party in the middle of the day as if it was normal. They didn't dress to farm like she always had, but instead dressed casually from the start. Shops lined the main road that led to the town square, and various fountains spewed forth waterworks on the side roads.
"What a strange place." Bianca mumbled. Then a befuddled look crossed her face. "Where would I find someone to join my crew around here? Everyone looks like they would rather shop and eat than fight."
It was a fair judgement. Even as she stood to the side of the road most people would brush past her with only inches to spare from completely running over her. She could see it on their faces that they blamed her for getting in their way, and not the other way around. If it weren't for her own value of determination Bianca might have given up right then. But she had been raised far better than that.
With a fire in her eyes she clapped her hands together. "Okay, so if no one in town is going to fit the bill, I'll head up. After all, everyone knows what the nobles like to keep locked away."
To Bianca, manors and a marine base meant people high in power, and that typically mean nobles. Maybe not Celestial Dragons since they so rarely left Mareijoise, but perhaps someone with enough clout to be keeping the worst kept secret in the world. Everyone knew the nobles kept slaves, but no one ever admitted to the act. And where there were slaves there was bound to be a former adventurer. And even if there wasn't Bianca could still piss of the hoity toity men by freeing their illegal "property".
It took around three hours for Bianca to make it up the road that led to the manors on the cliff above the village. Along the way she had met quite a few disheveled villagers, but these ones seemed quite different from the ones she had seen below. In some ways they seemed far more tired, almost defeated in a way. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about them that almost made her want to help them. She could put more thought into that later though.
As she drew closer to the manors she could see guards running the length of a wall that separated these decadent homes from the rest of the town. There was a beaten dirt path to the left with a sign that indicated it was the path to the marine base. Despite the dead grass that indicated more than a few visitors, something told Bianca that no one had been up that path in quite some time.
'Have they really given up hope of help?' She thought to herself. 'Even if there are some high ranking nobles here it shouldn't keep the marines from lending a hand.'
The more Bianca looked around the island the more she became convinced that something sinister was beneath the shroud of commerce and luxury she had seen in the town below. Yet again, however, she had to place those thoughts aside. Already there were armed guards with their sights on her as she approached the manor gates, and Bianca was pretty sure they didn't appreciate her company. One of them stepped forward and aimed his rifle square at her head.
"The lords are not accepting visitors." He said.
Bianca looked up over the wall as if she hadn't heard the guard. The buildings beyond were certainly of a high caliber, but something caught her eye. Atop the roof of the furthest building stood a man, but he was no ordinary guard. His red coat fluttered in the wind like a bloodied flag against the blue sky. Something about his presence put Bianca off too. Like her, she expected he was not meant to be inside the compound either.
"Hey!" The guard shouted.
Bianca turned her attention to him at last.
"Why aren't they letting people in?" She asked.
The guard sneered at her behind his rifle. "Because refuse like you do not deserve their time. Now leave."
Bianca only shook her head. "Can't do that. See, I have an appointment to keep."
The other guards unshouldered their own rifles and drew closer to the intruder. The one at the head pulled back the hammer on his own.
"You have no appointment here." He said.
Again, Bianca shook her head. "But that's where you're wrong." She said. "I have a date with destiny today, and it's important I don't keep her waiting."
With that she leapt into action. In a fluid motion she ducked under the rifle and jammed her fist as hard as she could into the guard's abdomen. The air left his body quickly, and for a brief instant everything seemed serene. The moment was shattered as the man flew back as if he had been kicked by a horse. His limp body flew over the wall and crashed somewhere beyond Bianca's field of vision.
Bianca's smile grew even wider as the guards around her took careful aim at her. She could feel the slight sense of fear that no pervaded their senses. It was going to be a good fight.
