"A pirate crew?"
Ichigo was skeptical. The megane Skypeian girl was always skeptical.
"Well, yeah!" Shifter laughed. "We're gonna be pirates!"
"Why have you decided we need to be pirates?" Ichigo sighed.
"Well, we've all been wronged by the marines. Do I need to remind you?" Shifter pointed out.
It was true, Ichigo knew. When she was little, she'd found a way out of the Land of the Drifting Clouds(her family had been sentenced there for crimes she could not recall). She'd landed harshly in the blue sea and floated there unconscious for a while. When she came to, she had been on a marine ship. At first, she was certain she had been saved. However, that particular marine branch had captured her for the simple reason she was like nothing they'd ever seen before. They were certain she was an angel or something of the sort and could bless them or use some sort of supernatural powers to help them. Even when she couldn't do this, they kept her as a sort of good luck charm. Ichigo was only able to escape after three years of imprisonment - when she was eight years old.
She pushed up her glasses.
"Just because the marines have been jerks to us is no reason to become lawbreakers," she reprimanded.
"Well, Ichigo-San, you do what you want. But, I want to be something, you know?"
"What are you getting at, Shifter-San?"
"Ichigo-San," Shifter said, a grin spreading across her face, "I'm going to be the Queen of the Pirates."
Ichigo's eyes widened. "But, to do that - "
"She knows she has to find the One Piece, Ichigo-San," Tenshi interrupted. "She's prepared for anything, and I'm prepared to follow her to the ends of the earth. Are you?"
Ichigo remained silent a moment, Shifter grinning at her patiently.
"Hai."
Ichigo turned to Shifter again. "Lead the way, Madame."
"Goody! Now, before we go anywhere else...I might have forgotten something rather important back at the naval base..."
"What did you forget, Capitan-Sama?" Tenshi asked.
"My son...I forgot my son..."
"What?! Why did you even have your son with you at the naval base?!" Ichigo exclaimed.
"Yeah, Shifter-San, didn't you say he was only a baby?"
"Well, I couldn't leave him with his papa! A pirate's life has no room for a baby. Besides, the marines offered babysitting services."
"A pirate?" Tenshi repeated, confused. "But...you were a marine...?"
Shifter laughed slightly, her expression seeming to portray both regret and happiness.
"Yeah...that man was the beginning of the end of my marine career."
Shifter held up her left hand, a golden ring twinkling on her ring finger.
"One of his crewmates married us. This is a stolen ring, no doubt."
"Shifter-San, we can share memories later. Right now, we need to get that boy from the marines," Ichigo pointed out. "There's no telling what they could do to him!"
"Right!" Shifter gasped. "I almost forgot again!"
As she leapt back onto her stolen ship, her newly acquired crewmates shook their heads. This was going to be a very long journey with her leading the way.
