AN: Hey all, sorry it's taken so long for the latest update. I decided to go back through the series to try and make sure I'm getting my manga facts straight, and to match up certain events to create more accuracy. A heads up, while we will be going to each of the locations the Strawhats do when Harry meets up with them, what actually happens will change slightly as the very presence of one person into a location that they weren't previously in will irascibly change the way events played out, so expect a bit more fun with that.
Also someone brought up a point about the sea stone in Harry's hammer and the simple answer is that it only allows for hits to make contact with logia types, but the point was raised so I want to explain my reasoning behind it. During the fight Harry never kept it pressed against Juno like Smoker did with Luffy. Juno's ability didn't have a truly physical manifestation on her body so it doesn't exactly do anything extra for her accept take away her ability and cause a slight exhaustion that disappeared after the blow was struck due to the ambient energy that Harry was subconsciously letting off.
So without further ado here we go.
Chapter 14
Bounties and Beginnings
Nico Robin was walking down the road of this hick town in the middle of the Grand Line. She was heading towards Sir Crocodile on Alabasta. She had delivered her little message to that Strawhat runt and his little crew, and decided to rest her poor tortoise on the way back. She knew she had plenty of time before they made it anywhere seeing as they had refused her help.
Noting a newsstand off to the side she activated her power and had a hand toss her one of the papers from the stand as she made her way over to a tea shop. Looking at the front page she noted the headline; Thunderstorm Pirates Wanted.
It went on to talk about how this new crew was to be the biggest threat to the World Government since she herself had escaped from the West Blue. It discussed what they knew of the origins of the known members and the fact that they had somehow been able to snag 2 slaves from a Celestial Dragon.
Robin's eyebrow rose up at the audacity of this crew; especially since they were clearly inexperienced seeing as only two had ever been to the Grand Line, and not on their own power.
In the background she noted that some unknown band had finished setting up a stage and were beginning to play song as she started to leaf through their wanted posters.
(Italicized is the Band, Bold is Bounties)
Farstien "Tidal Wave" Titania - $29,000,000
And I Came Home
Like a stone
Farstien "Dragon Wing" Luciana - $33,000,000
And I fell heavy into your arms
These days of darkness
White "Dream Weaver" Jennifer - $25,000,000
Which we've known
Will blow away with this new sun
"Demon Wolf" Fenrisulfr - $20,000,000
And I'll kneel down
Wait for now
Coredriver "Bone Carver" Cloud - $36,000,000
And I'll kneel down
Know my ground
Potter "The Pacifier" Harry - $90,000,000
And I will wait, I will wait for you
And I will wait, I will wait for you
Robin stared down at the last poster, the combination of the song and the picture caused an excited thrill travel through her. There was something about this man that appealed to her on a level that she didn't fully understand. The song by itself brought a smile to her face with the notion that someone was still out there for her, but the face staring back at her was something else.
Robin leaned back, a smile playing about her lips, enjoying her tea and the music as fantasies of a knight in shining armor, who seemed to have glowing green eyes, coming to protect her from all of the evil in her world.
# # # # # #
The ship hurtled down the other side of Reverse Mountain at a frightening pace, rising to speeds that Harry felt were comparable to those of his old Nimbus 2000. Luciana had Harry stand over next to the anchor so he could lower it to help slow their momentum once they had reached the Grand Line, no need to go barreling off without any idea where to go. Luciana and Titania had heard rumors of an old medic that lived right next to the entrance that would either help or hinder pirates entering the Grand Line; something about a giant whale that he was taking care of.
As the ship slowed down enough everyone looked around but didn't see anyone outside of the only lighthouse in sight and nothing on the water.
"Well let's head over to the lighthouse and see if anyone's home." Harry said as he flared the sails while Luciana started directing the ship over to the lighthouse.
"I'm going to jump in the water and see if I can find the whale and see if I can get him to talk to me." Titania said, getting ready to jump overboard.
"You can talk to fish?" Cloud questioned, quirking her head sideways in confused astonishment.
"Kind of, it's not exactly with words like with us. It's kind of like how all animals talk with a mix of sounds and body language. That's why some mere-people have such a rough time with the humans, outside of the racism, is that human's body language is subconsciously either insulting, or threatening towards the fish they resemble." Titania explained. "You don't have to worry overly much, I have more of a pack mentality and that has expanded to include all of you." She said with a slight smile before jumping into the water, leaving the rest to ponder her last statement.
# # # # # #
As the ship came to a standstill Titania jumped out of the water and back onto the ship. From there she hopped over and jumped on Harry's back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and her tail around his torso.
"Laboon the whale seems to be fine and waiting for some friends, but indicated that the doc was in the lighthouse, so we can go ahead and knock." Titania said very quickly, hiding her blush at her sudden forwardness in Harry's hair so that no one would notice. Luciana gave her sister a knowing little smirk and a slight wink that only the two of them could see, which only made her blush even more. Cloud and Jennifer eyed Harry and Titania a little with a competitive spark leaping to their eyes when they each noticed the other looking at the pair.
Harry just shrugged, purposefully deciding to ignore whatever silent meanings were being passed around the ship as he nodded at what Titania had told him and then disembarked and headed over towards Crocus's Lighthouse was. "Alright, well let's check in on this Crocus and see if he has the what-cha-ma-call-it."
Luciana rolled her eyes, quickly becoming used to the offhanded way Harry liked to deal with things he found immaterial. "It's called a Log Pose and it's essential if we want to have even the slightest clue on where we are going instead of aimlessly sailing around." Luciana explained patiently, as if he was a 5 year old that hadn't quite figured out what the grown-ups were talking about. Harry just turned and gave a dead panned look stating "so?"
With that they all headed towards Crocus's Lighthouse chuckling lightly at the conversation that was just held. As they neared the doors Sulfr jumped up onto Titania's shoulders, seeing as she was in her place, and the other girls gathered closely around Harry while still letting him lead.
Harry moved forward and knocked on the door, and waited as they heard some shuffling and moving around on the other side. Harry took a cautious step backwards, mirrored by the girls, just in case the door swung out instead of in. Which ended up saving Harry from a killer headache as the door slammed open missing his nose by an inch then thudded against the wall. In the doorway stood a balding man with what looked like a wilting flower atop his head and surly expression on his face.
"What do you brats want?" Crocus spat out.
"Hi, my name's Ha-", was as far as Harry got before Crocus interrupted him.
"Yes, yes, I know who you are; you're that new rookie out of the West Blue. Potter the Pacifier, and these ladies must be your crew the Thunderstorm Pirates. Though I notice you don't have your flag that they said you'd be flying." Crocus said impatiently.
"Huh" the group answered in perfectly confused synchronicity.
Crocus got a thoughtful look, "You didn't know? Here take a look". He handed them the paper and the bounty sheets. They all gathered around to see what they looked like.
The picture of Titania showed her throwing water skyward, her black top matching nicely with her green and black scales, her long black hair framing her sea green eyes with a look of concentration on her face.
Luciana was pictured in her half transformed state with her dark gray wings spread wide and spiked tail whipping behind her. Her dark brunette hair, that was the same length as her sisters blew back in the wind while her blue eyes were luminescent, even in printed form.
Jennifer's picture was of her with a blank look on her face, which the others noted was her "concentrating on forming one of her illusions" look. Her dirty blonde hair framed her face with her deep brown eyes staring into nothing.
Sulfr's picture showed the dark gray and black wolf in her monstrous size, as she was biting off the head of a marine.
The picture of Cloud had blood dripping from her bone blades, clothing, and red hair, with a group of dead marines in the background. Her pale green eyes seemed to have killing intent that the paper couldn't quite conceal as she stalked toward an unseen foe.
Harry's picture was by far the most impressive as it showed him battling an unseen foe. His shirt was ripped so much that it wasn't truly concealing his muscular body. One arm was raised with hammer in hand while the other was redirecting a sword slash. He was literally shooting off visible pieces of electricity from most of his body, with the largest concentration being in the hammer, and his eyes glowed with a hidden power that seemed reticent to a lightning strike. The electricity he was giving off had made his hair stand on end, losing the mind swept look and giving it a much more sexier appearance, especially with the static shooting out (think Super Saiyen).
"How the hell did they get these great freaking pictures? Did anyone see a freaking camera anywhere during any of these fights? I mean it's almost like they were sent down from some higher power to instill a bad ass quality in picture format. I mean honestly, the one with me in it would have had to have been taken 10 feet from me." Harry said completely baffled.
The girls ignored him and leafed through the newspaper reading the article on them. Jennifer frowned.
"What's the matter?" Cloud queried, catching the look on Jennifer's face.
"They called us the Thunderstorm Pirates and gave us a flag of an electrified wolf skull caught in between two lightning bolts. There is no input in here from us; I mean pirate is such a garish term. I think I'm going to write them and tell them to change it to the Thunderstorm Harem." Jennifer replied with a pout.
At this point both Harry and Crocus got a nosebleed and fainted, Harry somehow having the good grace to land on his face rather than squash Titania, who was still gaping at Jennifer.
All the girls started laughing at the fallen duo, and then Cloud turned to Jennifer with a smile and said. "That was funny, a very well played joke."
"Who said it was a joke?" Jennifer smiled triumphantly as the other girls also achieved nosebleeds and then fainted. "Score, Jennifer 2, Crew 0" she said smiling as she started to drag her companions into the house so they would be comfortable and out of the sun, still laughing to herself as she did so.
# # # # # #
Once everyone came too, some of them had trouble looking at one another. Most notably was Titania, who continued to refuse to be moved from Harry's back. After that little episode the crew did find it easier to talk to Crocus and it just so happened that he had one Log Pose left that he was willing to hand over. He remarked, "This is for Jennifer. Very well played my dear", still smiling and shaking his head.
They then decided to disembark after acquiring his suggestion on which island they should head to first. He sent them down the middle right path that hadn't been tested in at least two months. Coincidentally it was the pass that would keep them closest to the Strawhats, which he hoped they would run into. He figured that Nami girl could use a few more females to talk to if they met up at Jaya Island, oddly enough the only island in the middle of the Grand Line that Log Poses from two different lines.
With Log Pose in hand they set out again onto the Grand Line, putting more distance between them and any of the pursuers sent by the Celestial Dragon. Setting out onto a new horizon, with little fantasies dancing in the back of their minds.
AN: So there you go, finally decided to give a slight visual description of the main players. They finally have their own flag, and they're set up to meet the Strawhats soon. Hope you enjoyed it.
Please note still accepting OC's just because you haven't seen them appear yet does not mean that I don't have a plan for them in the future.
Keep the Review's coming.
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