Disclaimer: Disclaimed. One Piece = not mine.
Pirates.
Chapter 1
Stand & Deliver, people... Reviews?
"Man overboard, man overboard!!"
The gruff voice came from a low-class pirate aboard the Moby Dick, as he leaned over the railings, sighting a man covered in a fallow brown cloak, with a loose hood shrouding his face and covering all his hair. He was floating atop of a large piece of wood, with a hand lightly dipping into the water, as the waves washed him to and fro.
Whitebeard calmly commanded for them to bring him up. The same man jumped into the water and pulled the limp body back onto the ship, noting how light he was.
He placed him down carefully on the floorboards, in front of the Captain. The crew gathered around, as Whitebeard inspected the boy, who was currently unconscious. The crew waited in anticipation for their captain's response. Toss him overboard again? Beat him till he's near dead? Kill him in cold blood? All of these faint ideas seemed all the more appealing as Edward Newgate kept them in suspense.
But as they were starting to become more and more impatient with how inspecting the boy with just a pair of eyes could take so long, the Captain finally gave a conclusion in the form of a smirk.
"Fine ol' scallywag lass, that is, Boys," Whitebeard called, crossing his arms and leaning back into his chair.
"Lass, Captain?" the second division commander, Ace, asked, slightly confused.
"Lift her hood off her face, boy."
Ace did as his Captain said, and approached the unconscious figure wearily. He kneeled down next to the supposed 'girl', and propped her head on his strong forearm, as he pulled the light material off. And sure enough, a long cascade of strawberry-blonde locks tumbled out recklessly, and her dainty face was exposed to the crew. They gaped wordlessly as Ace still held her delicately. Her features were picture-perfect, and her expression was at complete peace. Her pale skin and unwounded curls at the end of her hair, made her seem surreally similar to a porcelain doll.
Ace stared long and hard, silently wishing to be able to see her unopened eyes. He reached out his hand to push back a lazy strand of hair obstructing her face, but before he could even touch her, he heard a demanding, foreign voice, echoing somewhere he couldn't pin-point.
'Touch her and die, Jackass!'
Ace immediately startled and let go of the girl, stumbling backward. The crew stared at him, shocked at his sudden jerky movement, as he looked around him in a ready-for-battle position.
"Something wrong, Ace?" Marco asked, worriedly.
Ace frowned deeply. "Did you just hear a voice?"
They all looked at the young freckled boy as if he were going crazy. This gave Ace the answer to his question – no, they didn't hear anything. Was it just his imagination?
But before he could tackle for anymore answers, the girl stirred and her body twitched. Her eyes then fluttered open slowly, as she was brought back to consciousness. She looked about 18 years old – only 2 years younger than Ace.
Her head was still drowsy, and her mind was masked in an abyss of whirling thoughts. Once she had collected her thoughts, she looked up to see a whole crew of pirates staring back down on her speechlessly.
'Mountbatten pink eyes… and they're extremely large,' Ace thought carelessly. He walked forward and offered his hand out to the somber girl, whose expression didn't change, or show any signs of fright or emotion.
She stared at him straight in the eyes, unwavering, and then looked down at his hand. After contemplative thought and thorough subtle inspections of the freckled boy to see if he was dangerous or not, she decided on the latter. Her petite fingers wrapped around his large ones, as he pulled her up securely.
The expression didn't change. Her round-as-saucer eyes remained void of any feeling and void of weakness. The whole ship remained quiet, until Marco stepped forward and asked for her name.
"Kia Wordstar," she replied, non to hesitantly. She was careless with giving out information like this, but they didn't seem like bad people. She was a tad bit shocked at the sudden change in surroundings, but after floating in the water for so long, she was bound to end up somewhere, even heaven if the circumstances were cruel enough.
When she had spoken, her voice was soft, but even-toned. There was a sense of nonchalance wrapped around every syllable, but not so it seemed she was arrogant or vain.
"Kia, eh?" Whitebeard called. "Do you see that Jolly Roger up there, lass?"
She looked up to where the large man was pointing. "Of course – I'm anything but blind," she replied monotonously.
"Heh," the Captain smirked, before continuing, "Do you know who we are, Miss. Wordstar?"
"Pirates, Sir."
"Certainly, Miss Wordstar. And the Whitebeard Pirates we are, to be specific. Not to boast, but we have some pretty strong fighters aboard… so, why aren't you flinching, shaking or screaming in fright at the sight of these dangerous buccaneers?"
The crew could tell that their Captain was intrigued with the girl. He always had a knack for spotting rookies who could be potentially great fighters… but this girl looked too delicate for battle.
"Flinching, shaking or screaming, Sir?" Kia inquired, with a raise of one thin eyebrow. "Very well, I shall satisfy your need for a little fright in a person." She walked up steadily closer to the Captain, both of them stubbornly holding their place. "Wow," she called, deadpan, as she craned her neck to look into Whitebeard's wise eyes. "You sure are tall, Sir. It's a little frightening…"
"Badly done, Miss Wordstar, but it proved that I'm more than intrigued at your charades. Join our crew, and I'm sure your assistance would be greatly appreciated. I have an eye for amateurs that could very well be something great."
Without thinking twice, she gave her reply to the invitation. Being part of Whitebeard's crew could be very advantageous.
"Very well, but under 1 small condition."
He nodded for her to continue.
"My past, why I was found in the water and where I come from all stay from the ears of your entire crew, including yourself. No questions can be asked about myself unless I am willing to tell, which I doubt will be any time soon."
The Captain thought for a second, as he looked towards some unwilling eyes from his crew, which blatantly knew better than to let a complete stranger onto the Moby Dick.
However, Whitebeard was never one to do as other people thought. "We have a deal, Miss. Wordstar. Marco!"
The first commander stepped forward, with his hands tucked inside his trouser pockets casually.
"Kia is to join under your division. Teach her the basics of the Whitebeard Pirates and get her comfortable with the crew. Show her the room she will be staying in and train with her after she's gotten some sleep. Now off with yer all!"
The crew hastened away and Marco walked up to the cloaked girl. She was about 5'4", therefore aligning with his chest. Her wide eyes looked up at him without a meaning in them.
He held out his hand awkwardly, as she stared down at it before slowly shaking hands.
"Name's Marco – pleased to meet you, Kia." His greeting was short, as he didn't know what to say around her. She would have a hard time fitting in with all the crude males aboard the ship, and all the prissy nurses tending to his Captain.
"Likewise." She watched, with her peripheral vision, a group of the crew keeping their distance and glaring at her with distrustful eyes. "It seems that no one trusts me."
Suddenly, a tall male with an orange cowboy-styled hat came up behind Marco. She recognized him as the same person who helped her up off the Moby Dick's floor.
"It'll take them time to get used to a new-comer who imposes a set of conditions on our Captain, so don't expect a grand welcome," he coolly informed. He seemed friendly as he introduced himself quickly to be named 'Ace'.
"A grand welcome is far from my expectations and I don't deserve any such form of trust either." She thoughtlessly twirled a stand of strawberry-blonde hair around her finger as she added, "I may look deceiving, but I wouldn't dare betray this crew. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must talk with your Captain."
They let her leave to their Captain's chambers. They engaged in a serious conversation about how Kia would only use the form of 'your Captain' even though Whitebeard was also her Captain now too. They ignored it for the while and walked off to their own business.
Kia knocked on Whitebeard's door a boringly conventional 3 times. A nurse answered and led her into his room, where the Captain was currently taking some form of medication. She waited until the nurses cleared out after he had swallowed his last pill. Whitebeard spoke first.
"Kia Wordstar, you look eerily familiar, but my old age won't let me remember…"
"And it's for the better too. Why did you ask me to join?"
"I can tell you have some sort of Devil's Fruit and that you will be invaluable for a constantly wanted crew like this one. I'm guessing we'll just have to wait and see for your ability to be revealed."
"My very presence on this crew will endanger it further if I'm not careful, but I give you my word that I will not intentionally hurt anyone aboard this ship. But as for the devil's fruit, you guessed right. I have no intention to expose the ability I possess until it is absolutely inevitable." She paused slightly before continuing, "But I must warn you, Sir, in advance…"
He arched an eyebrow curiously.
"I may leave suddenly and never come back again. It's standard procedure under the name of Kia Wordstar, Sir. Of course, you will be informed, but no order can keep me from leaving."
He frowned slightly before waving his hand to dismiss her. "Just when I was starting to have some fun at this age of mine…"
Updated soon, i promise :)
