She never gave any thought to when she would set sail. She knew the time would come, eventually, and was content to wait out the days until the urge to leave became too strong. And that's what she did. Every day she got up, trained, helped out around the village, and waited.

She wasn't aware, but at age eighteen, Scarlett was in a rut.

Promising herself a life of adventure on the ocean, she was a girl with big dreams; however, she had neglected to leave her comfortable little village in the East Blue. Scarlett wasn't sure of when she should set sail, figuring that fate would whisk her away from her home when it felt like doing so. She grew complacent and inured to the dull lifestyle. When she walked into the bakery, unhurriedly scarfing down pastries as she swept the floor, the owner looked at her inscrutably. The expression was very odd on the baker.

"Ara, is there somethin' wrong, Eri-san?" Eri-san was always nice and honest. She felt like the sunlight that filtered through dense treetops and washed over the flowers underneath them – nice and necessary, but not overbearing. Scarlett loved being around her. The plump woman smiled, the kindness in her expression making the teen's chest flutter as she reciprocated the gesture.

"Scarlett-chan, it's been a year…" And wasn't that something. It had been an entire year and Eri-san hadn't spoken a word about it since it happened.

"A year already," she murmured, a frown fleetingly gracing her lips as she stopped sweeping. A year. She'd been training and learning and waiting and waiting for a year. The realization made her drop the broom, looking over at Eri-san almost helplessly. The baker smiled again, and Scarlett suddenly knew.

Scarlett-chan, it's been a year… and you're still on the island.

She sent a beaming grin—thank you—to Eri-san and placed the broom in the corner behind the counter. The older woman wrapped her up in a hug and something in Scarlett begged her not to let go, but she pulled back and kept her smile as she left the bakery. Eri-san always knew what to say. Like a…

'Experience, of course.' Scarlett hurriedly told herself, still happy for the push. She waltzed into the shop owned by the carpenter, belatedly knocking on the counter after she hopped over it, her necklace clinking, and continued into the back room. His insincere scowl prompted a snicker from her and she rushed him into a hug. "I'm gonna leave today," she said.

He paused; she felt his arms still and his breath fumble and wondered why he was any surprised. She was Scarlett the spontaneous, the village knew better than anyone. When he simply exhaled and returned her hug, she was filled with joy.

"I's waitin' f'r when ya'd get into gear, girl," he scoffed as he guided her to the very back of the shop. In that room was the craft he'd built for her to set sail in. The vessel wasn't very impressive and she didn't need it to be. She was out for adventure, not a big fancy ship. In fact, a ship would make her voyage harder. If she had to care properly for one, her journey would just turn into work.

'All the attention a big ship would attract. I'd never get any peace.'

She grinned at him, basking in his feeling of gnarled roots and defensive canopies. "Would it be too much to ask if you'd bring it to the port?" He clapped her on the back.

"Say y'r farewells." Grateful, Scarlett nodded and headed to the central part of the village. She said goodbyes to all of the shop owners and citizens, collecting sendoff gifts and special dishes as she went. Upon reaching the bar, her small pack was crammed to the brim and she had enough perishable food to last for a good two weeks.

Inside were the mayor and the barkeep, already expecting her by the way they stood near the entrance. Placing her bag down, she ran up to the mayor and squeezed him as tightly as she could. Luckily, he was a large and hearty man, able to withstand the strength of her embrace.

"I gotta go today." Her admission was muffled by his chest. The mayor, Rino, rubbed her shoulder.

"Little Scarlett is all grown up now and leaving us?" he boomed, letting out a sentimental laugh. He was the obscure expanse of shade on a breezy spring day, always offering reprieve, always there but oft overlooked by those too busy enjoying the sunshine. Scarlett would never forget the benevolence of her mayor; she would never forget his salt-and-pepper hair or his smiling eyes or the way he made her feel like—

"Good riddance to the brat," Stel groused good-naturedly. Scarlett unwrapped herself from Rino and tackled him, her long red mane trailing behind her as she smiled all the while.

"I'm gonna miss you, too," she crooned, watching the capricious man's stern face soften as he hugged her with one of his well-muscled arms. Stel was the shifting sky before a storm, fickle rolling clouds ready to burst or ready to move on with a simple shift of the wind.

"Be careful," both the barkeep and mayor seemed to say in unison. Her chest was so, so warm as she dipped her chin.

"Always."

They escorted her to the port and she didn't know why the small part of herself that she couldn't help but listen to—the part that she hated—told her something was missing. Didn't know why she felt just a bit hollow. She shook the feeling away as she got into the small boat.

"Scarlett."

Immediately, she turned her head in the direction of the gruff voice. The crowd parted for the retired marine, and she stood just a bit taller as his cerulean eyes landed on her. "Horace-san," she replied levelly. He continued forward until he was right in front of her and held up a sack the size of a dog. Tentatively, she took it from the man she had grown to see as an estranged uncle and opened it.

Inside were two books and beri. Lots of beri. Spluttering, as it was easily twice as much as what she'd saved in six years, Scarlett tried to hand the pouch back to him. "H-Horace-san, I can take the books but—"

"He'd have wanted it," was his only rebuttal. She stopped, taking a minute to glance over what had to be about a million beri. She briefly wondered how the hell he got the money and why he was just giving it to her.

'Marine. Right.'

"Take it," he ordered. And when he used that tone, like everything that ever went wrong in the word was her fault and he couldn't stand to see her breathing, she could do nothing but smile and do as he said. He walked away and the moment – heavy silence and bitter understanding and all the meaning she never asked for – was gone.

"Goodbye everyone!" she called, eyes glittering as they all cheered and saw her off. She untied her boat and began sailing, unable to feel truly sad as the ocean beckoned her to a new world. It always beckoned.

The first couple of days were nice, perfect skies and a calm sea. After the fourth day passed, however, Scarlett realized how much of an idiot she was. "Ara, I should've read up on sailing and navigation. How'm I supposed to get to an island if I can't steer this stupid boat?" she lamented. Rolling up her striped sleeves, she decided to count out her money and take a look at the books in her bag.

Horace-san had given her all bills, but a large chunk of her personal savings was coins. It took longer than she'd expected and in the end, she had about 1,350,000 beri. She had to fold the bills small and keep the coins packed tight so no one would get any idea to rob her once she found an island.

Briefly, she wondered what good all her money would do if she couldn't get to a marketplace to buy anything and laughed for a while. She sat at the bow of the boat, swinging her green frog-print galoshes absently as she reached for the pair of books with one hand and lightly stroked her necklace with the other.

One was a sturdy leather-bound journal with thick papyrus pages, more than she was prepared to count. She was immensely thankful to Horace-san, as a travel journal was something that hadn't crossed her mind to bring along. Perhaps it was his intuition as a former captain. The other one was… a photo album.

Scarlett felt the overwhelming tang of bittersweet settle over her as she leafed through the small book. Eri-san, the forest, her own smiling face, and…

She snapped the book shut.

'Not yet.'

The sky was empty and the sunshine, coupled with the gentle winds, was delightful as it caressed her bare legs. She let out a sigh of contentment, lying back in her comfortably small dinghy and listening to the sounds of the sea.

As the waves lapped against her boat, each current of latent energy pushing against her consciousness and just begging her to set it free, her thoughts drifted to the future. "Ara, what's out there?" she asked the sea, smiling gently when she received no answer. "Adventure, I'm sure. Lots of treasure and interesting places. Palaces and princesses, too. I bet there's a ton of strong people. I know you've seen 'em. You must hate a lot of 'em, huh? You try and kill 'em the moment you touch 'em.

"I wonder… are any of the people you've met attractive? Oh, how I'd love a mate who could stand next to me in a fight." She glanced down at the twinkling ocean and grinned playfully, reaching her hand in and flicking a bit of water. "Bring 'em to me, would you? Show me the strongest fighters you fare. Anyone from anywhere who can give me a good tussle; make 'em cute, though!" Scarlett wiped her hand off on her overalls and turned over on her stomach, closing her eyes as she nestled into her arms. While she drifted off to sleep, the waters pulled her small boat along with them, a definite destination while the skies stayed clear.

As little the sea spoke, it listened just as much.


Gala was a small island near the northern corner of the East Blue, harboring five villages: Kinsei, Mutsu, Akane, Shizuka, and Fuji. Of the five, three were coastal villages, greeting the seafarers that found their way to the island: Fuji, Shizuka, and Kinsei. Of the three, one was in the position to meet Scarlett as her catnap had turned into a full four hours of sleep: Fuji. Upon arriving at the seashore on the edge of Fuji, the teen slept through horrified gasps and a curious child poking her.

"Ne, ne, kaa-chan, is she dead?"

"Don't touch her, it's unsanitary!"

"Someone needs to get the mayor…"

The jarring murmurs and commotion roused the freckled teen from her slumber. "Whatissit?" she slurred, squinty eyed and messy haired.

"Zombie!" the boy poking at her screeched as he tripped backwards and fell onto the sand. Scarlett blinked, disoriented and somewhat pyretic from her time in the sun. She looked skyward to gauge how much time had passed since she fell asleep, making an unsettled sound at the vast shift. It had to have been hours. Moving her gaze to the little boy, she grinned.

"Not too bright, are ya?" He stared at her for a long moment then turned absolutely cherry, leaping up and gaping at her. "Looks not!" she laughed, doubling over as he ranted about sea zombies and his own bravery for approaching a 'mysterious creature' like her. Snickering, she stood up and hopped out of her vessel.

The sparse villagers surrounding her were full of nervous energy and the ambiance of it made her fingers twitch. Wary mothers pulled their children behind them and the little boy quieted down as she strode toward him. Scarlett placed her hand on his head, ruffling up his wild eggplant hair. "Bravery is a good replacement for brains, I suppose," she conceded with mirth.

"I—I'm not dumb you weirdo zombie lady!" he squawked, pointing at her in anger and ducking from her hand.

"Course not," she drawled, grinning cheekily. Her act seemed to tone down the mistrust from the villagers, a few other kids giggling and their mothers huffing in amusement. Of course, Scarlett loved kids, and wasn't very keen on teasing them. She felt that picking at younger children was a bit unfair and unnecessary, but she had to play up an approachable persona.

'No fun being run out as soon as I get here.'

Cautiously, she turned toward a woman at the front of the small crowd. "Most call me Scarlett. I'm a traveler." She jabbed a thumb at herself to punctuate the announcement. "Would it be too much to ask that you take me somewhere to rest? I won't cause any trouble." She felt the 'yes' before the woman even said it, bowing in thanks as she got her belongings situated. The beach was on the side of a forest and she pulled her sailboat behind the brush.

Noting that a little over two thirds of her food rations remained, Scarlett rolled up Horace-san's gift pack and stuffed it in her own satchel, slinging it over her shoulder. She came back onto the beach and followed along after the gaggle of women and children as they led her to town.

They stopped at a bar that doubled as an inn. A large plaque which simply read "BEAU'S" sat above the doors. A few of the mothers shooed their curious children away from the place while others walked in with her. It looked to be more of a restaurant and bar combination as opposed to a normal bar, if the furnishing and atmosphere were anything to go by. She found it relaxing. The woman she'd approached, who'd introduced herself as Aiko, led her to the bar.

Her son, Luca, shot Scarlett annoyed glances while mumbling to himself about blind zombies.

"Beau!" Aiko-san called, prompting a murmur from the back of the building. "Beau, we brought you a customer!" And as if a switch had been flipped, a man immediately came from behind the doors in the back of the bar, an impishly expectant look on his face.

"That you did!" he thundered, the acoustics of his voice almost spiking a migraine. Still, Scarlett waved a hello. "Welcome, traveler, to Fuji's own spectacular inn and eatery, owned by yours truly!"

"Spectacular, indeed," she said, grinning, "Gotta know the going rates, though." Beau-san laughed.

"A savvy customer, I see! Well, you get the bathroom and food services along with a room upstairs for six thousand beri a night." And wasn't that a steal.

Walking forward, Scarlett shook his hand. "Looks like we've got a deal, Beau-san."


Fuji was comfortable. Being a coastal village, Scarlett found that many of the meals were sea food; squid, dried seaweed, takoyaki and the like were what the natives thrived off of. Coupled with the remaining food from her own village, Scarlett's variety of nutrition was, in her opinion, good. Beau was a gracious host and the community of the village was –

warm like the way deer cradle each other in a meadow, wind whispering sweet nothings in their fur,

warm like valerian tea and thick honey,

warm like nothing could ever

very tightknit. She noticed that little Luca-kun was full of more nervous energy than the other kids, and Aiko-san happily informed her that he'd always been a bit rowdy.

Her third morning on the island saw all of her belongings in her room at Beau's as she stood on the beach at dawn, ready to explore. She tied up her hair so it didn't hang near her face, as the mild humidity would only be multiplied with her thick curls, and decided to do a spiral into the center of the island. Gala was a moderate sized island, apparently, and she intended to take advantage of the size in order to travel.

She started along the coast, a gold and pink hello calling her attention from over the horizon. Scarlett loved the sunrise; warmth from daybreak and a pastel sky were all she needed, really. But as pink turned to purple turned to blue, she focused on her plans for the day.

It was time for a journey.


First story on here after lurking for literal years. Beta status: none. Story status: sad. Drop a review if you're in the mood!