"Someone! Someone help me! Can anybody hear me?" screamed Riley. She ran down the alley quickly, hoping she had thrown off her pursuers. She knew that they were trying to kill her, but what could she do? She was in a bad town, on a bad island at night.

The street was a very narrow street with old run-down buildings on either side. Which would mean no quick escape with her wings. Plus the people who were chasing her have guns so it's not like she could fly off and not get shot.

So here she was, running down the street screaming for help. The sad thing wasn't that Monkey D. Riley was screaming for help, the sad thing was is that even though people could hear her, they wouldn't help. I mean come on, bad town and screams in the night were something these people were used to.

Slowly the building started to become less and less frequent. Riley wasn't sure if she was happy about that fact or not. It was good because then just maybe she would be able to fly away, but also bad because if she couldn't then there would be nobody to help her. Not like they had been doing such a great job at it anyways.

She grasped the book in her hands, hoping and praying it really was what she thought it was. Oh, well, now was no time to second guess herself. Glancing over her shoulder she noticed that the people chasing her were no longer there. Quickly looking around she noticed she was in an area that was wide enough to open up her wings.

With one last hard push off the ground, she opened up her off-white wings. Flapping hard twice pushed her even further from the ground as she started to fly away. Suddenly there was a buzzing noise by her ear. They were shooting at her! Riley glanced down and saw the people that had been chasing her were back and this time they truly were going to kill her.

Flapping her wings even harder and faster she clutched the notebook in her hand tighter hoping for the best. Apparently they weren't very good at shooting because the only part of her that was hit was her cheek. It left a long cut from her ear to her nose on her right side.

Riley gasped but didn't let go or give up. She swung her wings up and down, flying off from the horrible people that had promised to 'help' her.

Riley landed outside of a town with a reputation of having the greatest swordsman as their dojo sensei. (Sorry if that sounds stupid because I couldn't think of what to call him.)

She swiftly folded her wings up against her, hiding them underneath her skin (1), and smoothed down her hair. Her black hair was currently crazy and sticking out at odd angles. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Unfortunately for her, since she has been cutting her own hair for almost six years, not all of it was able to be pulled up. Her front bangs fell in front of her face, with some on the side doing the same.

Riley quickly shoved off the thought of hair. After all she never said she was a beauty queen.

Virgil was training until he felt some one else's presence. At first he figured it was one of the kids from the village hoping to train with his dad.

When he turned around it was a kid. But not one from the village like he had thought. In fact it was a girl. A girl with out swords. Virgil shrugged his shoulders and sheathed his swords. Dang girl, interrupting his training.

He gave her a once over and decided she couldn't even be more than ten or eleven. She had an odd hair cut- although he couldn't really say anything seeing as how he had bright green hair- and was wearing a red tank-top with slits in the sides. She wore light blue jeans and they hung low on her hips. She obviously didn't care how she looked. Her clothes hung loosely on her, as if she hadn't been eating too well.

Clutched in her hands was an old and worn book. Virgil finally was tired of her standing there and looking around for someone to help her, like a lost puppy.

"This ain't a homeless shelter, it's a dojo. So if ya ain't here to train then leave." he said curtly. He knew he was probably being too tough on the kid, but she had interrupted his training.

The girl jumped and spun around on her heels. She looked at Virgil a moment and then opened the book. She flipped through a few pages before snapping the book closed again and stared, grinning at him.

"Ya stupid or something? Go away!" he shouted. This just seems to make the girl smile even more.

Just when she opened her mouth to say something Virgil's dad stepped outside. "What's all the noise about?" he asked. He stopped when he saw Riley. "And who is she?"

Riley looked him over and then said, "Hi! I'm Riley!" She took a few steps forward to shake his hand but then stopped. She felt a pain coming from her leg. She stumbled forward and fainted right there.

Okay one minute the girl is smiling like an idiot and the next she's fainted. Virgil's dad reached out and caught her before she hit the ground. He moved her slightly so he could see her leg. There was a long mark from where a bullet had grazed her leg. There was still blood coming out of it. Not enough to be life threatening but defiantly enough to make someone as small as her, faint.

Virgil ran over to his dad to help him. His dad handed Riley to him as he went to go find the village's doctor. He looked down at the girl in his arms. She was small, that's for sure. While she was small she still had quite a bit of muscle on her.

"Zoro, I don't see why you had to drag me away from-" the doctor stopped when she saw Riley. "Oh my." she said.

"Please tell me you didn't do that to her Virgil." she said, knowing that Virgil could be a bit over competitive. Virgil looked up at Kyra. "Oh, yes! 'Cause I just love picking on little girls! Geeze what kind of person do you think I am?"

"The over competitive type." Kyra said. She leaned down and checked out Riley's leg. "Was the girl walking when she came in here, or did you find her and carry her here?"

"She walked in all by herself thank you very much!" Virgil said still mad that Kyra thought he would pick on a girl literally a foot shorter than him.

"Okay, calm down. Now who is she?" she asked.

"Uh, I really don't know. She was looking in this book and grinning like an idiot." Virgil said, leaning over to grab the book. He opened up the book and skimmed through pages until one caught his eye. It was his dad standing with some black-haired boy. They looked about late teenagers and seems to be having fun.

"Dad? Who's this?" Virgil asked.

Zoro turned slightly to see he picture. "Where did you get that?" Zoro asked. Virgil slide the picture back into it's slot in the book. "It was in here. She brought it." he pointed an accusing finger to the unconscious girl.

Zoro took the book away from him and looked through it. There were so many pictures of Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, and Robin. Zoro glanced at the girl on the ground. She seemed vaguely familiar.

"She's lost some blood, but I think what made her faint is that she seems starved. I think she is just exhausted and hungry. Let her rest and she should be fine."

"Wait! Let her rest? As in stay here?" Virgil asked. Zoro spared him a look. Normally he wouldn't let someone stay here, but he had questions for her. Starting with where did she get these pictures?

"Stupid girl." Virgil thought. He was currently carrying her on his back to bring her into a guest room. Kyra had stitched up her leg and then gave them a few medicines for when she woke up. Walking into the room he gently laid her down on the bed.

"Why the heck do you have slits on your shirt? Did ya lose a bet with a weed-whacker?"

"Did you lose a bet with some hair dye?" Virgil snapped his head up to her face when she spoke.

She was smiling as she sat up and brushed her hair back out of her face.

"Cheap shot." he whispered.

"So was your's."

"Who are you?" he questioned.

"Are you Virgil." she asked. "I believe I asked you a question first." He said. Riley swung her legs over the bed and looked at her stitches. "You did. But if you're asking me questions can't I ask you some?"

"When you're staying here with us, no." Virgil said proudly, like he had just delivered the final blow to an enemy.

"Fine then. I won't stay here." she said and stood up. "Wow, I didn't even feel that. It thought they only hit my face." she said to herself.

"Hey, you're not going anywhere! My dad and I have some questions for you." Virgil shouted as she walked past her, towards the door.

"And I have questions for you! But you don't seem to want to answer them."

Just as she was about to walk out the door Zoro stepped in front of her.

Riley let out an 'eep!' as she staggered backwards into the room.

"Calm down." he said as she stepped back into Virgil.

"Yeah, I don't bite. As long as you answer my question." Virgil teased.

"I'm not afraid of you." she stated as she spun around on her heels of her boots to face him. "Him a little bit. You? Not so much."

Virgil went to say something but Zoro cut him off. "Why don't we go get something to eat? I have some questions for you."

While she followed along behind Zoro she whispered just barely loud enough for him to hear. "What's with these people and questions?"

"So what's your name?" Virgil asked after they were sitting around a small table outside. Riley wasn't really listening she was more or less completely ignoring him. She was watching some kids from the village practicing, admiring the shiny blades they were training with.

After a while Virgil was about to repeat himself before she replied, "Monkey D. Riley."

Zoro nodded. "I thought so. I haven't seen you since you were this tall." he said and held his hands a little less then two feet from the ground. "Looks like she hasn't grown much then." Virgil muttered.

Riley shot him a look that said 'don't push it.' "Anyways. What are you doing here? Last thing I heard was you and Luffy were out at sea." Zoro said in a way that told them not to fight.

Riley turned her back to them so that she was fully facing the kids. "We were. I got….uh, separated." she said uncertainly.

Zoro nodded before saying, "So basically you got lost?"

"Hey at least I have a better sense of direction than you! From what my dad's said it sounds like you could get lost going in a straight line." she said turning around smiling. Zoro made a growl noise before shoving her plate towards her.

"You better eat. Kyra said that you need all the food you can get."

Riley looked at the food, before quickly eating everything on her plate. "Dang girl. You eat more than me." Virgil whistled.

Riley shrugged and brushed her hair out of her face. "I have a fast metabolism so I eat a lot. And often."

Zoro laughed. "You're just like your dad. All you need is a straw hat and you could be his younger sister."

Riley shook her head. "Hehe, I can't really wear hats often." She once again looked away uncomfortably.

"Yeah, it just might mess of your awful hairdo." Virgil mocked her messed up hair. Riley ran her fingers through her hair, which had fallen out of her ponytail by now. She wrapped her red ribbon around her wrist and flexed her shoulders almost like it was an reflex.

Virgil was staring at the slits in her shirt. He was trying to figure out why they were there, and how come they were so precise. They were thin slits not even an inch wide . Like they were put there on purpose.

'Probably just my imagination.' he thought.

"Uh, do you want another shirt? I mean since your's has cuts in it." Virgil asked doubtfully.

Riley rolled her eyes. She seemed to tense as he pointed to her shirt. "Uh, no. They are there for a reason you know." she said nervously but also simply at the same time. She played with the edge of the slit almost like it comforted her. Virgil looked at her confused. "Okay I know that when your out at sea it gets hot but-" Riley cut him off.

"That's not why you idiot." she growled. Seriously! This guy is such a baka. Riley thought. Zoro meanwhile was sitting back quietly. He couldn't quite remember why Riley always had cuts in her shirt but it had always been fine with Luffy so it was fine with him.

"Then why?" Virgil asked aggravated that Riley had spoken to him like that. He was used to getting more respect because the village kids looked up to him.

"I'll make a deal with you. I'll tell you -well show you- that these are for," she said sticking her fingers into the slit and opening it up slightly, "if you join my pirate crew."

Virgil laughed. "Join your pirate crew?" he laughed again. Riley scrunched up her face into a pout, obviously not amused. "Why would that be so funny?" she demanded.

After what felt like forever to Riley he manage to calm himself into at least the occasional snicker. "It's so funny because I'm a pirate hunter. I just got back like, last week." Virgil said.

"So? What's your point?" Riley asked. His dad had become a pirate why couldn't he? Vigil gawked at her. "Well asking a pirate hunter to join your crew is like asking a Marine to help out a pirate. It could happen but not very likely." Was she really that dumb?

"But your dad was a pirate hunter too, and he become a pirate. See!" she said as she pulled out her book. Flipping through pages she stopped on one that showed Zoro sleeping on the deck of the Going Merry and Luffy trying to wake him up.

"Stupid Nami. Taking pictures of people while they are trying to sleep." Zoro mumbled. Virgil turned around and looked at his dad. "This is stupid! This is what we get for helping her? A deal?" he said frustrated.

If she's bugging him his much and they just met then she is defiantly Luffy's daughter. Zoro thought. He glanced over at Riley who was smirking and running her fingers along the edge again. Now she's acting like her mom.

Zoro leaned back and folded his arms cross his chest. "She won't tell you unless you go, you know that right? Besides, I think you should."

Virgil's mouth dropped open. Riley stood up and danced around, completely forgetting about her leg. She only winced slightly at the pain though. She had her first crew member!

"No, no, no! Stop dancing around!" He shouted at her. "I haven't even agreed to go with you!"

Riley downright ignored him and started to sing, "I got a crew mate! I got a crew mate!" She was pumping her fists in the air and spinning around as she shouted.

Virgil looked down at himself. "I see me. I hear me. I feel me," he said going through the motions of what he could do, "but it's like you can't." He told Riley.

Riley leaned over and grabbed a hold of his shirt. "This is a pretty blue. It's like the ocean…. Or the sky." she said. Then she looked up at the sky. Birds were flying over head and she wished she could just run out there and take off. She would do flips in the air, shoot up into the clouds, cartwheels. Anything to let people know how happy she was.

"I still haven't agreed yet." Virgil said firmly, letting her know he wasn't about to go with out giving his own two cents. "To begin with, I just met you. How do I know I can trust you?"

"Your dad does."

"Okay. Fair enough. Do you have any other crew members?"

"Nope. You the first. Congrats."

This girl was really starting to get on his nerves. "Next question. How old are you?"

"I'm thirteen soon to be fourteen." Zoro perked up at this information.

"Why are you starting out so young?" he asked. Hadn't Luffy started when he was seventeen?

"Well, I got separated from my dad when I was seven. I remember my mom telling my that she became a pirate at age ten, but my dad became one at seventeen. So I kind of went with a number in between. Now I have a question for you," she said pointing to Virgil. " How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen." he stated.

"Cool, so are you ready?" Riley asked.

"Ready for what?" Virgil asked.

"To make your decision."

Hello guys! This story was inspired by my one of my best friends, Sienna. She has written Luffy's Daughter (which she doesn't think she will continue, not enough inspiration) and X Doesn't Always Mark the Spot (the new chapter should come up soon even though she has a broken wrist right now.)

1. If you're wondering how it's under her skin, think gills. You know how gills flip open and close when a fish breathes? Well when she opens up her wings they fold out of there. When she folds them up she can either lay them up against her or they can go in there. So basically her insides are slightly rearranged. Don't worry if you're confused. Even my sister is…. And she's is suuuupa smart. Lol.

So I hope you people will review for me! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the story!

Bye!