Hello hello! Welcome back for another installment of Pirate Tails! As a warning, these next few chapters will be a hit dark, and may have possible triggers. If you feel uncomfortable in any way or form, please let me know, and I will try to ease back a bit (Though my 12-year/old sister was fine, I'm not taking any chances).

Thanks to: ZabuzasGirl, amp183, TheRealEvanSG, Momochan77, Arcaelia, The Night's Oath, and NebStorm for the reviews! Keep 'em coming! :)

To Arcaelia: I KNOW! It's so hard finding a non-romance fic nowadays! Sometimes, there doesn't need to be romance, y'know? I'm perfectly happy having no romance whatsoever in my fic (unless it's for comedic purposes). Not to mention I'm absolute crap at writing romance :)

To NebStorm: thanks! I will definitely check it out!

UPDATE: Starting today, all updates will happen every two weeks. So there won't be an update next Sunday, but the Sunday after. It'a so I can focus more on applying for graduate schools and internships, especially since classes start again tomorrow.

Now let's go! To the original arc!

Chapter 33

I avoided Robin studiously for the next few days, not wanting to confront her after the entire 'Don't touch my plants' episode.

At first, it was because I was too mad at her, too angry to even want to see her. But after a few days, the anger dwindled back down to suspicion, and then embarrassment and guilt. I didn't mean to shout at her like that, no matter how wary I was of her. I just didn't want her touching my plants, and when one of my most treasured flowers died in her hands, well…let's just say that it wasn't pretty.

It also appeared that I had hurt or offended Robin during the incident, because she was avoiding me.

It wasn't obvious at first. During mealtimes, she would already be in the galley, involved in a deep discussion with Nami about navigation, or discussing different types of animals with Usopp and Luffy. When we weren't eating, she would be in her and Nami's (now) shared room, taking notes or writing, or out on the deck involved in a book. But she never met my eyes, or glanced once in my direction.

And not only that, but I think the crew was actively trying to keep us apart. Sanji would drag me into the kitchen to help him, Chopper would want to harvest some of my medicinal plants, Usopp and Luffy would drag me into a game, Zoro would make me train with him, and Nami would play 'dress-up' with me.

Not once was I given the chance to talk to the archeologist, nor did I want to. But I did want to apologize for my behavior. Sort of. Not really. But I felt like I owed her an apology anyways, no matter how much I was loath to admit it.

Once again, I was back in my room, working on a small batch of strawberries as I thought about this. Should I apologize to her, or not?

I groaned aloud and tugged on my hair, not caring if small clumps of dirt stuck to my face and bangs. "…What do I do?"

"LAND AHEAD! I SEE LAND!" Luffy shouted from above, and with another, frustrated sigh, I rose to my feet. Absently, I patted the rest of the dirt away onto my shorts, and made my way upstairs.

I stepped out of the deck, and shook my head in exasperation when I saw Luffy bouncing excitedly on the ram figurehead.

"LAND!" he screamed, thrilled. "LAND, LAND, LA -" His foot slipped, and we both let out a yelp when he toppled into the sea.

"LUFFY!" I yelled shrilly. I dropped my axe, kicked off my sandals, and dove into the water beside him.

I opened my eyes when I was fully submerged, and ignored the sting of saltwater in my eyes as I searched for my idiot captain. Ah, there he was. I fought the urge to giggle as he floated down, looking panicked, yet drained at the same time, like he had gone without food for several weeks. Moving quickly, I wrapped my arms around him, and swam up.

I burst out of the water with a gasp, and Luffy, slowly drifting back towards awareness, mumbled, "So…tired…meeeaaat…Hazel…give me meat…"

I snorted and jostled him. His head lolled comically. "Idiot captain," I grumbled in fond annoyance, and a rope splashed down next to us.

"Hey!" Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji crowded around the railing. "What're you waiting for? Grab the rope, and we'll pull you up!" Usopp called.

Nodding, I tied the rope around Luffy's waist, and grabbed on, waving at the guys to start pulling me up.

"Geez," Sanji grumbled when both of us were back on the deck. "What the hell were you thinking, Luffy?"

Luffy pouted in reply, his energy quickly coming back now that he was out of the water. "I wanted to get to the island faster."

"No more jumping on the ram figurehead, got it, Luffy?" Nami lectured, striding over to our captain and pulling on his cheek.

Luffy looked away. "Booo, Nami! Why do you make everything so boring?"

BAM!

Nami strode away from a twitching Luffy with a scowl. "Owch! Nami! What was that for?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE AN IDIOT, THAT'S WHY!"

"So what about the island?" Usopp asked, tossing me a small towel. I caught it easily, yanked out my ponytail, and started to dry out my hair.

Nami tapped her lips with a single finger in contemplation. "Well, we need to get some repair work done on the Merry," she said.

Chopper raised a hoof into the air. "I need to get some medicine supplies. You guys used up a lot of it in Alabasta!"

"Not only that, but Hazel needs some new clothes," Nami agreed, and I found myself freezing in place.

"…What?!" I squawked in alarm, and Usopp, Luffy, Chopper, and Sanji all sniggered when Nami rounded on me.

"Your clothes are getting too small, and they're getting too beat up and dirty!" she scolded, waving a finger in my face. "And not only that, but none of them are cute!"

"What does cuteness have to do with anything?" I demanded, and Nami jabbed a finger into my chest.

"Because I said so, that's why!"

Luffy grinned at me. "Haha, you have to go shopping with Nami!" he mocked gleefully.

"No surprise! She already looks like a boy with that kind of figure, and her clothes aren't helping!" Usopp chortled.

"Hunky Hazel! She looks like a man! Hahaha!" Luffy giggled. Chopper covered his mouth with a hoof.

"Hunky Hazel!" he parroted.

I grabbed my axe, and knocked all of them into the deck with the flat head of my weapon. "SHUT UP, ASSHOLES!"

"They're right, though," Sanji said with a grin as the others' heads formed lumps. "You're starting to look kind of scruffy."

I moaned, and put my face in my hands. "Not you too, Sanji-nii!"

"So it's decided," Nami said happily, placing a hand on my soggy shoulder and squeezing it with an iron grip. "Chopper, Zoro, Usopp, you guys go look for stuff to fix Merry with. Sanji, restock on food, as usual. Hazel, Robin, and I are going to go shopping."

WHAT?! My head snapped around to Nami, but she just smiled, a smile that screamed, 'get away, and you die.' I almost shivered, but spoke up anyways.

"Nami -!"

She shook me, hard, cutting off my protest. "No buts, Hazel, we're all going shopping and having some girl time!"

"God, just kill me now," I moaned.

"Ooh, this would look so cute on you, Hazel!"

"Nnnngh," I mumbled in reply, too bored to care anymore.

"And this bow! It's just adorable! Plus, the color really matches your eyes.

"Nnnngh."

There was a pause, before Nami mused, "I should take you to a nail salon, and get your nails done. We can even add extensions to them as well, with pretty designs on them."

My eyes snapped open. "Nnngh! No!"

Nami grinned triumphantly. "Glad you're finally paying attention," she said cheekily. She nodded to Robin, who was calmly watching Nami shove clothes into my arms while I played a very convincing zombie. "Now, try some of these on, and we'll take you to get some ice cream. Okay?"

That got me going. "Ice cream?!"

Nami nodded. "Yup. But only if you try on these outfits," she threatened, holding up a few pairs of clothes.

I nodded, and snatched them out of her hands. "Got it!" I really liked ice cream. I hadn't had the chance to have any since Loguetown.

Soon enough, we were done, and I was settling down into a chair outside of the ice cream shop, happily licking eight scoops of chocolate sweetness. "Mmmm! Yum!"

Nami and Robin were still inside ordering their desserts, so I took the opportunity to people-watch. Most of them were men, with the majority being fat, sweaty, ugly, pimply, or just plain gross-looking. A few were female, however, and they looked almost as bad as the men.

"Alright!" Nami exclaimed, appearing by my side with a small bowl of orange sorbet. "Now, for the reason why I brought you both here!"

I tore my eyes away from the people walking by (a lot of men were starting to stare at us), and looked to Nami in confusion. "What? What reason?"

Nami stuck a spoonful of sorbet into her mouth, and smiled at me and Robin, who took a seat diagonal to mine. "Girl talk!" she said, taking the spoon back out of her mouth. "You two need to talk things out."

My eyes widened, and I shot Robin an almost alarmed glance. "W-what? Nami, I can't -!"

Nami's smile abruptly vanished, and I shivered when she glared at me. "You can, and you will."

"Y-yes ma'am," I found myself squeaking. How on earth did Nami end up being the scariest person on the crew? She wasn't even that strong compared to Luffy…

Hesitantly, I turned to Robin, who was gazing back at me with those steely blue eyes. In reply, I took a deep breath. I wasn't a coward. I could do this.

"'Msorry." The apology came out rushed, but Robin seemed to catch it anyways. She looked surprised.

"What for?" she asked, the ice in her eyes melting just a little bit.

I took another breath. "I'm sorry for yelling at you the other night," I said quickly, then basically shoved two scoops into my mouth. Smooth, Hazel, real nice. Way to stay cool under pressure.

Robin blinked at me, before her hand rose to cover the smallest of smiles. "No, I should apologize," she said, lowering her hand. Her smile was still in place, and it seemed to widen as she took in my awkward appearance. "I was wrong to help myself to your flowers so carelessly. The others explained to me that they were very important to you, and I overstepped your boundaries. For that, I am sorry."

"S'okay," I mumbled, sticking another scoop of ice cream into my mouth, only to almost spit it back out when Nami hit the back of my head.

"SLOW DOWN!"

I shot the redhead a glare, swallowed, and looked back to Robin. "I still don't trust you," I told her bluntly, and she nodded. "And I won't forgive you for killing Brisa-senpai's most prized flower, but it was rude of me to yell at you like that. It won't happen again unless you really piss me off."

Nami groaned. "Hazel, you're being too blunt. You need t -!"

A small canister clanked onto the ground next to us, and before the three of us could react, it exploded, emitting a foul, purple gas that encompassed the area.

I gasped and choked, before hastily finishing off my ice cream (I wasn't going to waste good food). I began to feel really drowsy, and I found slipping off my chair and onto the pavement. It was then, I noticed while my eyes fought to stay open, that the entire plaza had been evacuated, save for four men across the street, staring at us with leers on our faces.

And with a sleepy yawn, I passed out.

"How is my daughter doing today?"

I looked up from my scribbling, crayon gripped in a small fist as an older man with graying hair stood, bowing at the woman and my father in the doorway before replying.

"Not too well, unfortunately," he said with a shake of his head and a weary sigh. "She shows no aptitude for the creative arts. Her drawings are atrocious, her singing is better known as caterwauling, and her musical skills are nonexistent."

The haughty woman that stood in the doorway, her green eyes lingering on me with clear disapproval. "Hmm, I see," she said frostily, and I found myself flinching under her gaze.

"Now, dear, I don't see what the problem is," my father chuckled, striding into the room. Immediately, I dropped my crayon, and he stooped to scoop me into his arms. He ruffled my hair, and I giggled. "Having a creative talent isn't necessary to be successful. I mean, look at me."

"No, but it is important if we're looking to benefit the family," the woman said sternly. "And you're a special case. You're the captain of the guard; you're not expected to do well at the arts."

"I tried," I spoke up, hoping that it would help calm the woman down. I assumed she was my mother, from how my father addressed her, and because she called me her daughter. "Cocoboro-sensei* said that I did really well with the dance lessons."

"Humph. So you're not completely useless," my mother said harshly, and I looked down, feeling as if my heart were about to break into pieces.

"Honey, don't worry," my father soothed, rubbing a large hand over my back and giving me a reassuring smile. "It's not going to matter that much, with the Princess inheriting the throne and the Prince as a back-up, and she can grow to be the next captain of the guard. Right, sweetie?"

I felt a hesitant smile spread across my face, and I nodded. "Yeah!"

Mother scoffed, and my smile immediately vanished, a forlorn looking replacing it. It seemed no matter what I did or said, I could never make her happy. "If that's the case, then I expect you to train her into the ground, Laburnum. I don't accept anything but the best."

And with a swish of daffodil-yellow skirts, she was gone.

Cocoboro-sensei gave a small bow to my father as my face crumpled, and retreated quietly from the room. I let out a quiet sob, and my father cradled me in his arms, his cheek resting against my head.

"…Why does mommy hate me?" I asked, snot dribbling out of my nose, and my father gently wiped it away.

"She doesn't hate you," he assured me. "She just wants the best for you."

"But I'm not good at the best," I pointed out, my small hands gripping onto his shirt. "I can never do good at the best. I'll never be the bestest, ever."

And unable to come up with a reply, my father just silently held me in his arms.

My eyes fluttered open, and I groaned. My head was pounding, and my heart felt heavy.

I pushed myself into a sitting position, and with a hand rubbing my temples, I grumbled, "My childhood is just getting better and better."

"Whaddya mean?" I looked up, and found myself face-to-face with a large snake.

"HOLY MOTHER ON A PIKE!" I yelped, scrambling away as fast as I could. My hand reached back to scrabble for my axe, but only met air. "What?!" I gasped, looking over my shoulder, and I saw nothing. Not only that, but I wasn't in anything save for my underwear. I felt alarm begin to bubble up in my gut. "What the hell is going on?! Where're my clothes?!"

"Calm down!" the voice from earlier said, and I saw a gorgeous, tall woman with long, wavy green hair and blue, blue eyes reach out to me, her pale and unmarked hands landing gently on my shoulders. "Calm down," she repeated, and the large snake on her shoulder nodded its head in agreement.

I took several deep breaths, and after a minute or two, the frantic beating of my heart slowed.

"Good," the woman said with a pretty smile. It was then that I noticed her in a very revealing swimsuit, and blushed in embarrassment. "Now, names. My name's Clara, and this is Hadi*. What's your name?"

She seemed awfully nice, but with the same amount of wariness I was treating Robin with, I answered shortly, "Hazel. Where are we? And why the hell am I in my underwear?" I looked around me. We were in a small, circular room with cots against the wall, a small table with several chairs, and two doors. One was wooden, and simple; the other, a heavy iron door. It didn't even have a doorknob from what I could see.

Clara sat onto the floor beside me, and crossed long legs. Hadi slithered from her shoulders to pool in her lap, and she tossed a lock of green hair over her shoulder. "You're at the Viewing Rings."

Well, didn't that sound ominous. I began to feel dread pool in the pit of my stomach. "What's that?" I asked, and she sighed.

"It's hard to explain," she answered with a shake of her head, and her snake nodded in agreement. "Basically, you were brought here because you are attractive."

I stared blankly at her for a moment, before saying flatly, "You're joking." I didn't think I was good looking. In fact, I didn't care in my personal appearance at all, so the idea of someone like me being even remotely good-looking was almost absurd.

She shook her head again, one hand moving down to stroke the snake's scaled head. It preened under her touch. "I'm afraid not. The Viewing Rings are places for people to go and see attractive people. It was just your luck to be born with good features. That, or they really liked your tail."

My tail, which had been flicking in confusion behind me, drew close to my body self-consciously. "…My tail?" I gulped, and she nodded.

"Yes, I suppose lots of people found it cute, hence why you were brought here," she said. "Because you don't have any striking features except your eyes. They're a very bright green color, it's nice. But you're too young to be really attractive, too skinny, and covered in scars."

I could feel my self-confidence taking blow after blow with every word she said, and resisted against the urge to cover myself. For some reason, I suddenly felt very ashamed of my scars and flaws. "Gee, thanks," I muttered self-consciously, and she blinked at me in confusion before she gasped.

A hand shot up to her mouth. "Oh my god, I'm sorry! I didn't mean all of that" She flushed prettily, and her snake laughed at her. With a small frown, she smacked the top of its head, and it settled meekly back into her lap. "My friends and family used to tell me that I needed a filter for my mouth, because it would just run and run, without any control over what I said. But it wasn't my fault that Gori-chan asked me if she looked good in that dress…oh, sorry, I'm getting distracted. What was I saying earlier?"

"Viewing Rings," I replied, relaxing a bit and settling into a more comfortable position, and she nodded.

"Yes, right, I almost forgot. They have several different categories, such as swimsuit, butler or maid service, formal wear, and all sorts of other costume categories. As you can tell, I'm in the swimsuit category," she said, tugging on her bikini top, and I looked away with an awkward flush.

"Yes, I can tell," I replied shortly, refusing to glance in her direction.

"You're in your underwear because you haven't been given a category yet," she continued to explain, and I thought, 'Categories for what?' "If it were my opinion, I'd have you in the animal costume category or the maid service category, or even the little sister category. You're young enough, and your tail could help get you into all three."

I mulled over this information, wondering what the hell it was all for, before a thought occurred to me. "Wait a minute!" I gasped, bolting up to my feet. "Where's Nami and Robin?"

The green-haired woman looked up at me curiously, before her blue eyes sparked in recognition. "Oh, the redhead and the dark-skinned woman? They were taken to be sorted before you woke up. Don't worry, they'll be fine."

I eyed her suspiciously. "…You sure?"

She nodded, and rose to her feet. "Yes. Now, what're you doing on S'agapo Island*, Hazel?"

I tilted my head. "Is that the name of the island?" I asked, and when she nodded, I pursed my lips, absently tugging on my hair. "Well, I'm part of a pirate crew, and my captain likes to explore every island we come across. I was getting clothes and ice cream with Nami and Robin before…" I furrowed my brow. This is where it got a little fuzzy. "…There was a gas canister?"

Clara heaved a sigh. "Those idiots," she grumbled under her breath. She then rounded on me. "Your friends have matured, but you're still growing. In comparison to them, you have a small body, and because of that, you were overdosed with sleeping gas. That's why it took so long for your to wake back up -"

There was a clang, and our heads snapped around. The heavy, iron door without a doorknob opened up, and I saw Nami and Robin stumble in. Immediately, Robin collapsed onto the ground, and I leapt to my feet.

"Nami? What's going on?!" I demanded, fists clenching, and Nami looked up at me, relief apparent in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Oh, thank goodness!" she gasped. "Here, help me with Robin. They put a Kairoseki bracelet onto her, and took away my lock picks."

Hesitantly, I approached the dark-haired woman, and helped her into a chair.

She smiled weakly at me. "Thank you. It's not enough to make me completely weak, but it does make me a little dizzy," she explained.

It was then that I noticed that neither of them were wearing much either. Nami was in a attractive blue and white bikini, one that showed off her great figure, and Robin was in a tiny, violet bikini that dipped low in the front. They were both very form-fitting, and I swallowed. The more I learned about this strange situation, the more I dreaded being here.

"What's going on? Why're we here?" I asked nervously, and Nami grimaced.

"I don't really have much idea, but apparently we're going to be putting on some sort of show," she answered, and I tugged anxiously on my hair.

The door opened again, and three men came in. Two were hulking figures, and the one in the middle was a lean, stylish man with a cane and a fancy suit. He leered at me, gold teeth flashing, and I felt a shiver run through me. This didn't feel right. When Eyelashes the camel did this, or when Scissors the crab grinned, I knew, in the back of my mind, that it was all in good fun. They didn't mean anything by it.

This man, though…I felt like he was going to eat me alive. Like something really sinister was behind his smile.

He tapped a cane on the floor. "Good, she's awake. You're coming with us."

I backed away, my green eyes widening. Nami shot me a frightened glance, and Robin struggled to sit up and focus on me. "No," I whimpered, swallowing hard when the man gestured at me with his cane. "No," I said again when the thugs moved towards me, and sucked in a deep breath.

"NO!" I screamed when they reached me, and my body moved on its own. I ducked into a crouch, and stuck my leg out in a sweeping kick.

The men easily hopped over my leg, and I gasped in pain when they roughly seized my arms. I began to thrash around like a wild animal, my eyes wide in fear and sweat beginning to bead on my forehead. No, I wasn't going to go to where they were planning on taking me! I didn't want to go!

'…Sanji-nii! I'm scared!'

"Hazel!" Nami shrieked with worry, and I heard the man shout.

"Hey, no damaging the merchandise!" he lectured, and they shifted their grips to a more comfortable one. But it was no less firm, and I still struggled to get away. "Bring her to the dressing room, we'll figure something out there."

I gulped, and shuddered when his eyes raked over me. He smirked. "Definitely could be in the maid category, or the little sister category…" he murmured to himself, giving me a dirty smile. He abruptly turned on his heel, and with his cane swishing, he strode out, his two grunts easily towing me along behind him.

"Just stay calm!" Nami yelled after me, and when I glanced back, she clenched her fists. She looked just as pale as I felt, and Robin didn't look much better. "They won't do anything if you stay calm and do as they say!"

"Yes, they're only going to sort you," Clara called reassuringly, looking very unhappy, and Hadi nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, it won't hurt, and they're not allowed to do anything to you if you don't struggle!"

Swallowing, I nodded bravely and turned my attention ahead.

I would handle this as best as I could, and when the time came, I would go down kicking and screaming. Luffy and the others would show up, and we would kick all of their asses.

…But despite the reassurances I gave myself, I was still scared.

*Cocoboro is a type of sturdy wood mostly commonly used for high-end clarinets and guitars, much like Brazilian Rosewood. I figured it was an appropriate name for someone that teaches the Fine Arts.

*Hadi means 'Snake' in Czech. Original, I know.

*S'agapo means 'Love' in Greek. And that's all I'm going to say about it...for now.

Again, if anything about the next few chapters bothers you, let me know. It can be a sensitive and dark subject, and I don't want to be the cause of accidental tears or upsets (purposeful tears, on the other hand...).

Please, review, let me know of any concerns, etc! I want feedback! :)

Posted and Edited: 8/24/2014, 2:05 PM