Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

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"Hold still," The needle in my hand buzzed as I continued my work, "Do you want to end up with something crappy?"

The man groaned and buried his face into the faded blue fabric of the chair, "Fuck why does it hurt so much?"

I snorted softly, "It's a tattoo. It hurts to get one done," I wiped away the blood that was brought up before resuming my work, "The tattoo is also intricate, so it's going to hurt."

"How much longer?" The man whined.

"Only a bit more," I answered and paused to observe my work, "I only need to get the tip of the tail scaled and colored,"

"That's great," He groaned softly as I continued my work, "Why did I decide to get a dragon done?"

"You wanted to get the ladies attention and went with a traditional dragon," I said dryly, "You also refused to take pain killers,"

With that said, I paused to gather more ink before continuing the last of the scales on the dragon. When I finished, I moved and admired my work. I nodded to myself as the red scales of the dragon practically gleamed in the light. The guy looked at me and asked, "Is it done?"

"Yup," I gestured to the mirror at the back of the room, "Check it out,"

He stood up with a small wince and moved over to the mirror. He turned his arm this way and that before grinning wildly, "Damn that looks fucking realistic!"

I smirked as I moved about the room putting my things away, "Talk to the guys in the front about payment, tattoo care, and the rest."

"Thanks Storm!" The man rushed out of the room and I rolled my eyes.

I leafed through my sketchbook as I walked across one of the metal walkways only to pause when I heard a commotion below. Looking down, my eyes widened before narrowing. A group of thugs were surrounding a polar bear wearing an orange boiler suit. I put my sketchbook into my bag as I listened to their conversation. One of the thugs said, "Lookie here boys! A fucking beast walking alone."

"What should we do Maxie?" One thug asked while eyeing the polar bear.

"We can probably kill it and sell the fur for a good price," Another suggested causing the group to laugh, "After all, a dirty animal has no place acting like a human,"

"Why not sell it?" Another suggested, "We could probably get a good price for an exotic pet,"

"Or," I said as I jumped down and landed next to the bear, "You idiots could just walk away,"

"Oh look it's another beast," My eyes narrowed and my fingers clench, "Only this one has the balls to walk around in human skin,"

"Why don't you idiots follow my advice and leave?" I asked while tensing my body slightly.

"Oh and what'll you do if we don't listen?" One of them leered at me, "We could get two for the price of one,"

My eyes narrowed further as my fingers went to the dagger at my belt, "I'll stain the snow with your blood."

The thugs in front of me glanced at each other nervously causing me to smirk slightly. The lead one opened his mouth when a commotion sounded from behind. Someone shouted, "Bepo!"

"Shachi!" The bear behind me shouted to my shock, "I'm here!"

"Shit it has friends!" The lead thug cursed, "Let's run!"

The thugs disappeared and I released my dagger. I turned to the polar bear and realized that it's scent was slightly off prompting me to ask, "What are you?"

"I'm a mink. Sorry," He answered/apologized, "Thanks for defending me,"

I shook my head in amusement, "No problem," I heard footsteps rushing towards us, "We 'beasts'," I used air quotes, "Need to stick together in a place like this."

"Bepo are you alright?" I turned my head and found myself staring at two men in white boiler suits that I could swear I've seen before.

One had a blue hat with a red brim and wore a pair of sunglasses. The other had a black cap with a yellow brim, a red pompom on top and the word 'Penguin' written across the front. The mink, Bepo, turned and beamed at the duo as he nodded, "Yeah thanks to her."

He pointed at making the two look at me. The one in the blue hat spoke after a few moments, "Thanks."

I noticed that the two were blushing slightly causing me to smile slightly, "No problem. Like I told your friend, we 'beasts' need to stick together."

"Beasts?" The blue hatted one asked only for the other one to gasp.

"You're that lady from last night!" He pointed at me.

Ah the group of men in boiler suits from last night that's where I saw them. The one in the blue hat nodded with a look of comprehension on his face, "Oh yeah! You're the one that shoved a guy's face into the table."

"That's me," I smirked slightly, "You guys were a part of the group of men in white boiler suits right?"

"Yup our crew," The blue hatted one said proudly making me blink.

"Crew?" Both men paused and looked at me in slight surprise.

"We're pirates," The mink answered my question, "Didn't you know that?"

"Nah I have more to worry about then paying attention to pirate crews," I shook my head while they looked at me in surprise, "So what're you guys doing here anyway?"

The three looked at each other before the one in the blue hat answered me, "We're about to head to lunch."

"Ah," I smiled at them, "Well I shouldn't keep you,"

"Wanna come with?" One of them asked to my surprise.

"You want me to come with you for lunch?" I gave them a raised eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because you helped Bepo," The 'Penguin' hatted one answered.

"And you're a pretty girl, so who wouldn't," I giggled upon hearing that.

I was about to speak when my stomach growled. The mink grinned at me, "You're hungry too, so come with us!"

"Sure I could use a bite," I agreed with a small laugh, "Anywhere you guys wanna go?"

"We don't really know any good places since we just got here yesterday," I hummed softly.

"Ah that would be a problem," I started to walk over to the metal ladder attached to the side of one of the buildings, "Follow me. I know one of the best places for food that's easy on the wallet,"

"Cool!" The three cheered and followed after me.

Once we got onto the walkway, I led the way and pointed out certain buildings of interest for the trio. The blue hatted one asked a question that made me smile, "So what's with all the metal walkways?"

"When it snows here, we get so much snow that wading through it is impossible," I answered as we walked over a large bridge, "Because of that, the people of the city built these walkways to allow travel over the snow,"

"Won't they get covered in the stuff?" The 'Penguin' hatted one asked.

"Nope because there are pipes built into the metal that have hot water rushing through them," The three looked at the walkway under us in surprise.

"Whoa," The blue hatted one breathed.

"Yup they're the pride and joy of the island," I continued walking, "See the poles connected to the walkways?" They nodded when I turned my head towards them, "They're the things that control the flow of the water. If there isn't any need for the walkways to be heated, they keep the water from flowing into them,"

"Do they have sensors in them?" The 'Penguin' hatted one asked prompting me to nod, "Cool!"

"Yup," I paused as we reached the area where the restaurant was, "We're in the restaurant district, so we should get off now,"

We got onto the ground easily though the three were surprised to see me jump off the walkway without any hesitation. Bepo asked me, "Why do you jump off?"

I hummed in thought as I led them towards the restaurant, "Instinct I guess."

"Hey you said 'beasts' earlier, what did you mean by that?" The 'Penguin' hatted one asked.

I opened my mouth to speak when Bepo added, "One of those people said, 'Only this one has the balls to walk around in human skin'."

I sighed softly, "It's complicated and not something I wanna talk about with people I don't know."

"Oh," The three looked down upon hearing that.

"So what are your names?" I asked making them look at me in surprise, "I only know the mink's name since you've said it, but not you two,"

"I'm Shachi," the one in the blue hat answered.

"The names Penguin," The one in the 'Penguin' hat answered, "What about you?"

"My name is Ariun," I answered with a slight smile, "Though most people call me Storm,"

"Why Ariun sounds like a pretty name?" Shachi asked making me shrug.

"Dunno," I opened the door to the restaurant, "Here we are,"

"Ah Storm welcome back!" A large bear like man grinned at me from the counter, "And you've brought friends!"

"Hey Cain," I greeted the man as I walked over to the bar stools, "Anything good on the menu today?"

"Gretta's trying out a new stew," He answered with a laugh, "Wanna try it?"

"Sure," I turned my head to the trio that was following me, "Take a seat guys,"

They seemed to shake off their shock and sat down next to me on the bar stools. The bear-like man grinned at them, "So what do ya guys want?"

"Uh what do you guys have exactly?" Shachi asked while Penguin and Bepo eyed the man nervously.

Cain opened his mouth and I spoke up, "They just arrived yesterday."

"Ah," He grinned at them, "Well we sell hearty soups and sandwiches,"

"What do you suggest?" Penguin asked while looking at me.

"Everything's good," I smiled while the trio looked at me with raised eyebrows, "Trust me when I say that this place is really good for both you and your budget,"

Cain let out a laugh and patted my head lightly, "Trust Storm on that since she's always coming here for meals."

"Really?" The three looked at me in surprise making me nod.

"Yup ever since she was a kitten!" A boisterous woman said from the double doors.

"Kitten?" I heard one of them mumble.

I ignored that while offering the small woman a grin, "Hey Gretta I heard you were trying out a new stew. Get me a bowl of it?"

"Sure thing Kitten," She turned to the guys beside me, "What are you guys having?"

"Do you have fish?" Bepo asked causing Gretta to laugh.

"Do I ever," She grinned at him, "Want some salmon stew?"

"Sure," The bear nodded while I pouted at Gretta.

Her grin widened at the look on my face, "You said you were out!"

"This morning I was Kitten," My eyes narrow at her, "Don't worry my newest concoction has fish in it,"

After a rather filling lunch, the trio followed me out of the restaurant while patting their stomachs. I grinned at them, "Did I tell ya or did I tell ya?"

"That was really good and didn't even cost us that much," Penguin sighed softly with a grin.

"Yup that place was awesome!" Shachi practically shouted.

We all looked at Bepo as he nodded, "We should bring Captain here."

I blinked slightly before remembering that they were pirates. I looked at the sky and cursed softly, "Damn it."

"What's wrong?" Shachi asked while the other two looked at me in slight worry.

"I've gotta get back to the shop or my boss'll kill me," I groaned at the thought.

"Shop?" The three asked at once.

"I work in a tattoo parlor," I answered with a small groan, "I shoulda been back by now,"

"Damn sorry," All three looked at me apologetically.

I waved them off, "Eh it's fine. The boss won't mind if I'm a little late."

"Ya sure?" Penguin asked causing me to nod.

"Sure," I then grin, "Plus even if he does get mad, it was totally worth it since I got to eat with a really cute polar bear!"

Bepo blushed while the other two groaned, "Sorry."

"So weak!" The two shout.

"Sorry," I shook my head and wrapped my arms around the mink's shoulders.

"Thanks for the awesome lunch," I kissed his cheek before doing the same to the other two, "You guys should be a little bit more careful since what happened to Bepo isn't likely to be a one time thing on this island," I released them and headed towards the metal ladder, "See ya later and stay safe!"

"Bye!" They shouted as I began to scale the ladder with ease.

I waved at them from the top and shot down the walkway.

End of chapter