Dreams Deferred

A One Piece fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

This is a story told in the first-person about a handful of original characters that will tie-in with Oda-sensei's characters. I tried to make it as canon as I could as of December 2011. If you are reading this after that, it could be that some of the events of this story will no longer make sense in the canon sense. Thus is fanfiction. - aks

Chapter Two: Rose Madda

I can't say I was impressed by Hiruma and Maho when I met first them, but it was a busy day that day. Bin and I had sailed into, no, that's not a good word, limped into this big port town called Storm King after... well, after an 'incident'. We were down twenty men. Everyone was hurting. We lost another dozen who bailed on us as soon as we arrived leaving not ten in the crew, total. I think they were good enough not to drag our name through the mud as they went because almost as soon as we put up the advert, candidates started filing in.

Storm King was a place you could depend on things being orderly, even for pirates recruiting new sailors. We set up shop at a table in one of the dozens of waterside saloons and interviewed louts and braggarts for hours on end. I turned down half of them. If they didn't have an Akuma-no-Mi ability they got an immediate negative score. If they were scoundrels, weak, lascivious - negative, negative, negative. The first guy who sat down across from us was a tall, pale-green haired, thin young man with thin eyes and long fingers. He smiled a bit too much, but claimed to be skilled with bladed weapons so I let that slide. He called himself Psalm and showed us a worn wanted poster featuring an image of him wielding a knife. The name on the poster was 'Blades Runner' but he said he had ditched that name a few years ago. It bored him, he said. He hated being bored, he said, and hoped we were interesting enough to entertain him. I gave Bin a look and told Psalm that we were the Bonefish Pirates, a special brand of pirates on a mission to rid the seas of trash and evil by capturing bounty heads to fund our expedition and to terminate those who wouldn't turn a profit. This spiel turned away most of those unfit for our crew. Psalm laughed his breathy sort of chuckle and said to count him in - that it sounded like fun.

When he left, Bin and I both shuddered, which is saying something to see a seven-foot, four-hundred pound hulk like Bin react that way. There was something about Psalm that made your blood run a touch cold, but I shrugged this off because I needed as many strong crew members as I could get. Meeting with Hiruma and Maho was a welcome change after that.

When they approached the table I looked at them funny, I couldn't help it. Hiruma with his dirty blond hair and goofy mustache was in all beige, a sort of linen suit with a tunic top, sandals on his feet and a brown fez on his head. A fez with a tassel. Seriously. And he was so calm and smooth - he looked like some sort of religious nut! Maho had the same sort of fabric for her clothes but they were pretty much the same as they are these days, a loose and long shirt tied around the neck, sleeveless. Her hair tied back low, all those wooden bangles and those tall wooden geta shoes. Without knowing anything about them I really wondered! I never thought for a moment they were so strong.

"Greetings," Hiruma said as they walked up to our table. "We would like to inquire about the offer for work."

"Sure, pal," I said from my perch on Bin's lap. "You've come the right place, sit down." When they'd taken a seat I started our spiel. "I'm Rose Madda, captain of the Bonefish Pirates. We're on a mission to rid the seas of trash and evil by capturing bounty heads to fund our expedition and to terminate those who don't turn a profit. If you're strong enough and you don't feel the need to take advantage of innocent people, we're the crew for you. If not, there's the door," I repeated for about the 20th time that day and pointed at the entrance to the bar.

Maho's eyes lit up a bit. She turned to Hiruma and sort of stared at him as if she was trying to project her thoughts into his head. He shrugged and she turned her unblinking eyes on me. "Define 'terminate'," she demanded.

I sat up a bit taller and felt Bin shift his weight uneasily. He doesn't like it when people order me around. "Well, just as it sounds. If we attack a nefarious pirate crew, we try to capture any bounty heads we can and 'terminate' the rest."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "If you're bent on ridding the seas of evil, why do you think it's ok to kill people?"

"Good question!" I shot back, my blood ran hot. It wasn't every day someone questioned me. "We kill evil people so they can't do evil things to innocent people, anymore."

"Doesn't that make you evil?"

"No. It makes me an avenger."

Maho pursed her lips. "Neat."

"Neat?" I asked, folding my arms.

"Yeah. That's pretty neat. Glad you don't think you're doling out 'justice'"

"Oh, no. What we do is pretty far from just," I affirmed. "Leave 'justice' to the kaigun, though what they do can hardly be called that, either."

Maho nodded and looked to Hiruma again. He tilted his head to the side. Maybe they did read each other's thoughts! "Ok," she said. "But I won't personally take a life, for you or for anyone."

"Interesting..." I relaxed a bit. "Then how can you be useful to me?"

"Hiruma here's got the Ito-Ito no Mi, good for defense and surveillance and I've got the Mori-Mori no mi. I'm also a good fighter." She made part of the table into a miniature sail ship for emphasis, complete with sails and rigging.

I grinned. "Neat." And just like that the Bonefish Pirates had two new Akuma-no-Mi users for a grand total of three.

.x.

We sailed from Storm King with a crew of nearly thirty which was not as many as I'd hoped, but because I was so picky in who I got, this number worked out a lot better than the forty-some-odd we'd had before. Many of the new guys had grudges against former crews that had treated them badly or had seen some pretty awful things happen to good people and wanted to help make that stop. We were all on the same page. It was a good feeling.

Once we were up and running, our mission picked back up where it left off. It always stared with a meeting of the officers. Since I had a fondness for Akuma-no-Mi users, Maho and Hiruma were made officers right away. I also chose Psalm because the crew were afraid of him and I knew that if he gave them orders they'd hop-to it out of fear. Bin would carry me to the quarterdeck of our ship, the Zephyr, and I'd spread out the latest wanted posters. Based on who we'd seen at the last stop, I'd pick a couple candidates for attack. We would discuss the enemy's known capabilities and form a plan. Hiruma turned out to be pretty good at evaluating risk when it came to who to go after and Maho seemed to know a lot about Kaigun outposts and different crew's statistics which made my plans go smoother.

After a few fairly successful attacks I pulled them into another meeting and tried to balance out their abilities. Maho wasn't any good for killing anyone, I already knew that, and her range wasn't very long, but once she got in close and connected to the enemy ship, her ability worked like gangbusters. Hiruma was great at long distance and we found that he could wrap one of his wires around some shot and connect to the enemy ship from as far away as we could shoot. Once wired in, he could tell us exactly how many men were on board and even overhear their plans! Psalm needed some work in getting the hang of leading an attack. He was great on his own, but had trouble remembering to direct our men once he got on board. He was a ruthless killer but gladly, never once disobeyed me if I said not to take any lives. My poor Bin, as I well knew, was a huge target. He was slow and massive and if not for his ability he would have been toast years ago. But now, once we got close enough, we didn't have to fuss about getting him on board the enemy ship. Maho made a thick, strong gangplank attached to both ships for him to walk across at his leisure. Once he hit their deck it was all over. They could shoot at him all they wanted, his logia Iwa-Iwa no Mi ability was impenetrable, and now I had enough strong and talented folks behind and around him that we had no fear of him being pushed into the water, not that I wasn't ready to jump in after him again.

After that meeting, the next attack went down like clockwork, with only one weird hiccup. We identified the jolly roger of our target and the crew closed in on their ship, firing a shot with Hiruma's wires attached over their stern. He reported a crew of twenty one preparing to open fire on us. Maho readied our defensive walls, a new addition to the structure of the ship which rolled out from log-like polls attached to either side of the ship. These thick, wooden walls with thin gun ports protected us from incoming fire as we drew near. Anytime they were hit, Maho repaired the damage, instantly. Once within one hundred feet, she deployed a gangplank that adhered to the enemy ship and Psalm lead a charge on board. He searched out the bounty-heads and either killed or captured them depending on my order. Hiruma and Maho lead the second charge and fought and restrained those who had been defeated.

During this attack I watched closely, as I always did, so I could critique them and tweak my plan of attack for the next time. Psalm was usually efficient, sweeping in on those we'd identified from wanted posters and doing what I instructed, but this time was different. He seemed to avoid one of the strongest bounty heads, a tall, dark green-haired man wielding a pair of masakari broadaxes. This was out of character for Psalm who seemed to live to challenge strong fighters. I watched him as he danced around the deck. He closed in on Maho and leaned in to whisper something in her ear as she fought a group of her own adversaries. Even from this distance I could see her back straighten and she turned her head in my direction and stared at him as he danced away again. This time, he darted right for the big guy with the axes. Maho made quick work of her foes, catching them up in a huge barrel she pulled up from the decking and stared at Psalm. Hiruma noticed something was wrong and shouted to Maho. They both watched as Psalm attacked the axe wielder. Psalm threw a knife past his ear as he leaped down on him from the upper deck. It looked to me like suicide and I shouted his name as he fell. One swipe from an axe and Psalm's head came clean off.

The enemy crew cheered their hero, but his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell to his knees in front of Psalm's body. Hiruma made to attack and Maho barked at him to hold off. In moments, the big guy stood up. As one of his crew mates drew close to congratulate him, he turned and planted an axe in his chest. He shouted to Maho, grinned a familiar grin and all of a sudden he was fighting on our side!

I barked at them to hurry up and get it over with. With the axe user's strength and his crew's disbelief it didn't take long. Maho and Hiruma hustled three bounty heads on board, followed by the big guy.

"Just what the hell is going on?" I shouted at them. Bin stepped in front of the big guy and didn't allow him on board, but Maho touched his arm.

"It's ok," she said grimly. "That's Psalm."

"What the...?" My head spun.

"It know it seems strange, Captain," The enemy fighter said in a rough voice. "I haven't been entirely honest with you. When you asked me if I had an Akuma-no-Mi ability and I said no, that was a lie."

It didn't make any sense at the time and my brain tried like hell to figure out what was going on. "Whatever, get on board. Bin, sink it and let's get it over with."

"But...?" Bin pointed to Psalm's body.

"I know, Bin. It's ok. He's dead, anyway. Sink it, please."

Bin pouted but did as he was told. He seated me on the rail as Maho reinforced the gangplank for him. He lumbered across and bullets ricocheted off of his body, which turned grey once his stone fruit was activated. He only had to step on the enemy ship in order to end it. His ability radiated from his foot and turned everything to stone. Stepping back on the gangplank he kicked the ship and it shattered, sinking into the deep. When Bin turned back he looked to me for approval and I heaped on the praise. He picked me back up and I resumed my position on his shoulders.

Maho stared at the newcomer from a good distance with a dark look. An exhausted Hiruma worried his mustache and leaned on the rail for support. "Ok," I began, feeling more confident with Bin beneath me. "Just what the hell is going on?"

The axe user carefully pulled the twin masakari from the sash wound around his middle and laid them on the deck before me. "My name is Psalm. This is my ability. If I am killed, my soul takes my killer's life and inhabits their body. I posses the Doki-Doki no Mi, the heartbeat fruit. You may recall, Captain, that my previous wanted poster said 'Blades Runner'? This gentleman was called Ushi the Carpenter," he explained and bowed low, "but I remain your ever faithful Psalm."

It was quiet for a moment. The crew had listened in to the whole thing and a low murmur began as they took it all in. If I hadn't decided quickly it could have ruined the dynamic I had worked so hard to establish. I was not happy, but dared not show it. "Excellent!" I crowed, stifling the crew's chattering and their doubts. "Welcome back, Psalm. Glad you got an upgrade!" I noticed that Maho did not change her posture and continued to stare at Psalm. The next few outings were tense, alright, but soon we fell back into a rhythm with a new-and-improved Psalm.

.x.

A year later we had personally destroyed thirty-four pirate crews of the worst sort and made a net profit of B904,750.00, more than enough to keep the Zephyr's crew happy and our treasure chest full. We also racked up quite the reputation. We managed to stay low on the Kaigun's radar due to our targeting only pirates and since we often left no one alive to tell the tale save those we turned over, no one really knew who was wiping them out. Along the grand line, the rumor was starting to spread. I didn't care if they knew it was me or not. Hell, after what I'd been through, I'd rather no one even knew I was a pirate at all.

I was also pretty lucky I didn't have a bounty on my head, even though there were definitely people out there who were looking for me. I'd been a pirate since I was a kid, practically. Well, since I was fourteen or so, off and on. I didn't want anyone to know about me or my past because I didn't want what happened to me to ever happen again.

I grew up the youngest of ten kids in a nice family in Fishman Island. What none of my crewmates knew then was that I am a scorpionfish mermaid. They all thought I was a cripple, I suppose, which was fine. They knew my mind worked well and that's all they need to get the job done. No one needed to know the truth, and I guarded my secret closely. Until the day I turned thirty, I rode around on poor Bin's shoulders.

When I was fourteen I ran away from home and joined a group of other rebellious fishmen and mermaids who were desperate for a different life and wanted to experience all that the world had to offer, above and below the waves. Two years later we were attacked by pirates and sold into slavery at Sabaody Archipelago. I suffered torment and isolation as I was bought by a Tenryubito and kept in a small glass tank. He'd either torture me with his 'playing' or neglect me altogether and let my tank grow nearly choked with algae as if I were a pet, not a person. Luck was on my side, however, when our hero, Fisher Tiger rescued all of us from that hell. A large group of us fish-folk were together in that place. Some of us plunged immediately into the water, but I was sure I was too weak to swim all the way home yet. The rest of us and some humans stole a ship and sailed for freedom. While I was on deck, trying to heal up and enjoy the feeling of the sun on my face I heard a group of fishmen tormenting a human. This made me sick. We were all just in the same boat, literally, how were we any different, now? The human was very tall, very wide and dark skinned. His voice was low and he spoke in broken sentences. I watched with disapproval as they teased the big guy and it soon became clear he wasn't bright enough to verbally defend himself. He tried to fend off these guys with what appeared to be an Akuma-no-Mi ability that turned one of the bully's arms to stone. Well, that freaked them right out and one of them pushed the big guy into the water.

To this day I don't know why I dove in after him. I guess I was just really ticked off about the injustice of it all. He was a former slave just like I was, but the fishmen wouldn't have teased me. Plus he was simple, who picks on someone like that? Jerks, that's who. Akuma-no-Mi users really sink fast compared to other folks. I had to gun it to get to him and struggled to pull him back to the surface. Once other folks saw what I did, plenty of people, fish and human came to help me get him on board. When we pumped the water out of him he said his name was Bin and that he would do anything for me 'cause I saved him. The big guy hasn't left my side, since.

That was ten years ago, but it wasn't long before I decided that I wanted to do something more meaningful with my life. We joined crew after pirate crew, trying to find one that wasn't horrible, that wouldn't dream of selling people for profit. I must have had crummy luck, I thought, but soon I realized that most of them were scum. Five years ago we started the Bonefish Pirates and went through crew after crew of our own trying to find like-minded individuals to carry out my own brand of justice. I hoped that I could do something, anything, to help ensure that what happened to me and Bin never happened to anyone ever again.

Next: Gerrit Van der Zee