This is my first story ever written in english, and also the first story I've published here. I'd like to have some critic, but be kind, I'm still a n00b! Now I'll let the story begin. Enjoy!
People usually inherit a lot from their parents. Looks are often the first thing to come to our minds when we think how we remind our biological parents. That was right especially in Aika's case. She had a round face, high cheekbones and thick lips just like her mother, not to mention they had both wavy hair. But her nose was just like her father's, very straight. Also the color of her hair was very similar to her father' hair color. It was still very light, but at the age of 15 it got a darker tint which deepened every year, until it looked more like auburn instead of blond. Even though it would be quite interesting to compare which looks she had inherited from which, it was even more intriguing to think which traits she had gotten from them.
Right now the most outstanding trait Aika got from her parents was stubbornness. It was still a mystery if it was because of the genes, or her environment just encouraged her to be persistent little too much. Whichever it was, she was in trouble because of it. She had decided to enter the Grand Line with a ship and then travel alone, and if she decided something, she absolutely had to do it, of course. This ship was probably the best way to get there, since ships didn't visit her home island too often and she liked the fact she could travel all way to the Navioveneh Island with the same boat. She also got along with the crew easily. However it was still probably very stupid, because she had always been dependent on her parents and now she had no one to turn to if she had problems.
"Damn", she cursed her parents for giving such crappy genes and growing her up to be some sort of contrarian, even if it was actually all her own fault in the end.
The waves were rocking furiously against the ship's bottom, splashing water on her face. It wasn't easy to navigate in this kind of place, where you could be crushed against rocks if you didn't know what you were doing. If your ship got damaged, that's about it; there was no way one could climb those mountains and the sea currents would drown you if you fell in the water. No, it was nothing but easy, but it wasn't all that easy even staying on board when you were puking your guts out.
The men were giving her compassionate glances when they had the time, but they didn't say anything. Mostly because they remembered the first time they had traveled by boat trough mountains... Gate to the Grand Line was very unnatural, so Aika had a reason to feel ill. She didn't like traveling by boat very much anyway but she had never been seasick before, which sea was quite happy about now – it would be very frustrating to get back home if she couldn't handle a boat herself.
After Aika threw up the tenth time the merchant ship called Marbelle was pretty much on the top of the Reverse mountain.
'Maybe even on the top of the world', Aika thought. The would've probably seen their destination island if it wasn't so foggy and cloudy. The ship jumped a bit before they started sliding down, so Aika made sure her grip wouldn't slip. It was going to be a rough ride.
The crew got safely on a bit calmer waters. They were all wet from sweat and water (and puke, she did have some spots on her shirt even if she did manage to keep herself mostly clean), but somehow they were suddenly all in a very good and energetic mood. It was like all their fears were washed away, even though they would have to face the navigating challenges Grand Line had. But most of the crew knew that worst part was already over for them and relaxed a bit, except for Aika. She felt too excited to calm down, this was after all her first time on the Grand Line. This was the place some were afraid to talk about, and the same place some passionately preached about. Pirates and fellow outlaws gathered here to make their dreams come true. Aika then sighed at fact she counted herself as one of the outlaws, but she didn't even have a wanted poster. Well, she had also came here to make her dreams come true.
"You have a day to pick up your stuff from the ship before we sell it", the captain of the ship, Mark said thinking about the enormous amount of stuff she had in her little room.
"So little time? Well, I guess you want to get home as fast as possible, but I don't think I can find a suitable boat for myself in just one day..." Aika sighed.
"I kind of promised to my wife I'd be home before our anniversary day, so I'd better not stay here any longer. But I guess you could ask Inari to help you? I bet there's an ideal boat for you around", Mark told her.
"Me? Well I guess I have nothing better to do... I was about to check the ships they sell here anyway", Inari said while cleaning his revolver.
"Great! Let's get going, then", she jumped happily on the quay.
"Fine..." Inari hurried after her.
Navioveneh Island was a former ship building island. It was quite small and the city had grown up so big it had concealed every bit of the land. Despite the smallness it was very lively. Nowadays it was specialized in selling used ships. Selling ships on one of the first Islands on Grand Line after the Reverse mountain was very profitable, because the ships often got damaged while getting there, so a lot of people had moved on the island hoping to get more rich.
Mark, who was one of the promoter members of the group called North Blue Traders was only happy about the newbies' ships getting damaged on Reverse mountain, because he got money out of it. The rookies' needed new ships, which he sold to them after he transported them from North Blue, at the same time they also conveyed items they've gathered in the North and sold them with high profit. Then they traveled back on the Marine ship trough Calm Belt. Even if they had to pay for the trip they were always much more rich when they left home.
"So, what kind of a ship you're looking for?" Inari asked her while they walked towards the area ships in sale were anchored. He grimaced as one of the tradesmen told them he had a perfect ship for honeymooners.
"A small one, of course. It'd be more like a boat", she laughed in a calm manner.
"It should have one room for sleeping and eating and whatever I want to do indoors... And a bathroom, of course. And a bit of a storage room would be a plus", she continued smoothly.
"I see. Well, that means we can count out that one?" He pointed at a large ship which was painted orange.
"Yeah, I couldn't steer a ship like that even in my dreams. And that color looks very childish, I wouldn't want that!" She responded.
"But I heard you like bright colors? Well, whatever. The mast seems to be very damaged anyway."
They walked quiet, looking at the ships. They went past few ships too big before they found one about the size Aika needed.
"How about this one?" Inari asked a bit relieved, maybe he wouldn't have to spend a whole day with her. Aika took a look of it. It looked pretty fine from the outside, but she had to see the insides too. They asked the seller if they could have a closer look and of course he agreed, so they went on board.
It was simple, but Aika kind of liked it already. She could see it was easy to steer alone, which fitted her plans. It had a small room and the toilet which were her priorities. It had very little space but it was okay, she believed her stuff would fit here. She decided already that she would take it if Inari said the ship was sturdy enough.
"What do you think?" He asked her.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing. I think it's fine though."
"Then you should buy it immediately. Ships get sold here very fast", Inari advised her.
"But is it sturdy?" Aika hesitated. She shouldn't do quick decisions.
"Sure looks like for me", he answered.
"Fine, I'll buy it." She took her wallet out of her backpack and walked towards the seller, who seemed very pleased about the way things went. She gave him the money as he gave her the keys for the ship's door.
"Have a nice day!" Seller said, laughing as he marched towards the city.
"Now that I have the boat, you'll probably help me carry my stuff here?" She smirked evilly, just when Inari thought his job here was done.
"Oh... Sure", he reluctantly agreed. It was luckily the last day he had to see her anyway.
After saying goodbyes to North Blue Traders and carefully choosing a log pose Aika was almost ready to go, but there was still something very important missing: food. She also had the money to buy one fine weapon, so she decided to visit some weapon shops if something happened to raise her interest. The blonde woman wandered on the main street of the city, but she couldn't see any shops selling weapons. It was no wonder, since there was a lot people on her way. She started to feel her antisociality kicking in as strangers hurried past her too close, but she decided against screaming and running back to the Heart Cake, which was apparently her boat's name. Just when she was about to curse aloud there suddenly wasn't all that many persons on the street. She looked around, but there still were no signs of shops selling swords. There were lot of cute looking clothes in the shop windows though, but she did have enough clothes for now.
The blonde then noticed a man walking on the street alone. It looked like he was the reason why the people suddenly dashed away. He didn't look very terrifying for Aika at least. He was tall but quite lean and he wore a yellow hoodie and a weird fluffy hat. He did have an admirably long sword though. Maybe he was a pirate? He didn't really look like one. Then the hoodie guy noticed her staring.
"What are you looking at?" He rudely asked before she could dart her gaze elsewhere.
"Uh... Do you happen to know any shop selling swords nearby?" She asked truthfully, blushing since the man had noticed her staring. She didn't like to be stared at, so she shouldn't do that to others.
"No", the man bluntly answered and continued to walk on. Oh well, she could find a shop on her own, it would just take more time.
After thirty minutes Aika saw a shop with the swords she longed for. The shop was quite small but colorfully decorated. The walls were painted rich orange and there were lots of different kinds of paintings on them. The swords looked shiny and sharp, she immediately decided this was a good shop.
"May I help you, miss?" The woman behind the desk asked her.
"Actually I would like to see if you had some fine, lightweight swords with a bit shorter blade than usual", Aika answered blushing very slightly. She hoped she didn't look like a newbie, which she really was. But she had bought one sword at her homeland, so they shouldn't treat her like she knew nothing of swords...
"Oh! I see, we have one here, it just came", the shop keeper woman took a sword behind the desk. She looked really fascinated about the sword.
"It's very light to handle even for a girl like me", she said, even though she looked like she had done some work out. At least she was in better shape than herself, Aika thought.
"It's also very sharp. I bet it can cut trough metal in the hands of a skilled swordsman. Or swordswoman", the woman corrected herself.
"May I have a look?" Aika asked, and the brown haired shop keeper gave it to her with a nod. The woman was right, it was very light. It almost felt like she had a paintbrush in her hands. She smiled at the idea. This was very nice one, indeed. She also tried the blade's sharpness. She flinched as the sword cut her skin. It was almost too sharp, she would probably hurt herself badly when practicing anything new with the sword. It really did feel good in her hand, but there had to be some bad points in it too.
"It's so light it feels like it'll break. Do you think it's very durable?"
"As much as I'd like to say yes, i have to admit that's it's not one of the strongest swords around here. We have a stronger sword here, but it weights more. Then we have a one that's pretty tough and still light, but I thought that's too long for your likings since it's thirty centimetres longer than this", She told her apologetically.
"There will be some new swords in here in few days, so you could come back then", the brunette suggested.
"Nah, I want to continue my journey as fast as possible." It was hard to decide should she take the sword or not. She already had one, but that was very dull already. The stubborn traveler should've had it sharpened, but she was afraid it would damage the old sword. It had to be sharpened by a person she really trusted to deal with the rare metal it was made of. Then again, she also had her knifes she used much more often, since they were easy to hide under clothes so they didn't attract attention. She rarely even carried her former sword anyway.
"The sword's name is Rogue Soul, by the way. It was made by some unknown smith in the South Blue", the shopkeeper started to get excited about the sword again. She was very dedicated for her work.
"Heh, Rogue Soul sounds pretty cool. So how much is it anyway?" Aika asked sighing. She kind of wanted the sword already. She really shouldn't spend money and she really should take a look at the other swords too...
"37 000 belis. It's the best quality sword you'll find on this Island!"
"So much? Uhhuh", She retorted disbelievingly. Sheesh, she had only 40 000 belis for everything. She had to get supplies from the next island too, if she didn't have the chance to … earn money.
"It's very cheap on my meter", the woman said, looking at her challengingly. There was a long silence between them. Aika felt like the woman was looking down on her. She couldn't help but want to buy the goddamned sword.
"Fiiiine", she sighed in a defeated manner and took out her wallet once again. After this it looked starving compared to what it was when she left home.
'All my savings...' She thought bitterly.
But the bitterness washed away as the shopkeeper woman gave her the sword and it's sheath. Rogue Soul was very pretty after all, and artists liked pretty things.