Tanisha Lowe found herself in a situation that could have been totally avoided, but wasn't because she was a lazy teenage girl that would much prefer to put off such a boring task because roller skating is so much cooler.

What's this current predicament you may ask? Well…

"This assessment will be one hour long, with fifteen minutes set aside for planning. No talking, no eating and no cheating," the history teacher droned. Tani sat with her pen tapping hard against the side of the small desk. She hadn't studied at all and now she's got to recall events from the French revolution to write an essay about it. Honestly she only remembered guillotines, the fall of Bastille, the word bourgeoisie because it was funny, and that the leader was called Lafayette. Other than that she was kinda stuck…

She spent about twenty minutes writing the essay, then she gave up and stared out the window to think about something more interesting than some old French dudes telling the peasants to chop off rich dudes heads. Her mind wandered, imagining herself running around with a rapier in hand while wearing a mask. Massive hat with three feathers and a wide brim bouncing on her head as she duels against the world's greatest musketeer. How they danced around the battlefield that consisted of stone walls and gorgeous ballrooms.

"Miss Lowe,"

She thrust the rapier forward, knocking her opponents out of his grasp.

"Miss Lowe,"

He gave a bow of the head, accepting defeat.

"Miss Lowe!"

A book thunked against the daydreaming girls head, she held the sore spot while members of the class giggled and laughed at her. Tani narrowed a glare at the teacher. She never liked the history teacher, a shame since she found history kinda interesting, if not a bit too glorifying of what the winners did. Learning about the American revolution was rather awkward, with all her classmates singling her out. Perks of not being barbie doll white she guessed.

"I wonder if you actually did any work," the teacher sneered. Snatching the page from Tani's desk and slapping it onto the growing pile. Tani crossed her arms and tapped her feet on the ground while waiting for the teacher to hurry up and dismiss them. She had a really delicious ham and cheese sandwich in her locker just begging to be eaten.

The teacher clacked the pages on her desk to neaten them up, her expression as bored as always. The class waited with baited breath, the bell would go off any sec-

*bing*

The students skidded from their seats and practically bolted for the door. Tani being one of those on the run. She wasn't the fastest but you can bet your ass that when a homemade sandwich is involved she's gonna make a run for it. Mum does have this knack for making everything taste a million times better.

Tanisha Lowe may be 17 years old, but her mum insisted on making her lunches. Who was she to deny her mother such a joy in life? Plus she would always write a sweet note in the container that held her delicious goodies.

She pushed herself through the ocean of students, her locker wasn't too far from the history room, she was also taller than most girls her age so she had a better view of where she was going.

Tani clicked her locker open and stared at the bare interior. She didn't have magnets with photos of her friends, mainly because she had neither a camera nor friends. All her posters were too big for the small compartment and she didn't have stickers. She did have her timetable taped to the side… and she had maths right after break… ew… yeah she was gonna skip that class thank you very much. She grabbed her entire bag, and closed the locker without grabbing any books. Time to head to her favourite spot.

Tani headed outside and sat down on the bench she normally found herself drawn to during break. The bench was parked right behind the basketball courts. She pulled out the sandwich her mother made, along with the note which read "dear ground control, the earth is looking fine today because you're living in it. Lots of love major Tom," with a little love heart on the corner. She couldn't help but smile at the cheesy note, but that's mum for ya.

Looking out towards the basketball courts filled with her classmates playing said game. A majority of them just mess around and have fun in the company of each other. Tani let out a sigh, now's not the time to feel sorry for yourself. That's when she heard the sound of shouting and a ball bouncing it's way towards her.

The basketball landed by her feet, the orange contrasting greatly with the green of her shoes. She leaned down to grab the ball and held it in her lap while she waited for the group of teenage boys to run over and collect it.

Three boys approached her, they were familiar. She had them all in her English class, they happened to be the class clowns. Very popular with the ladies. One of them approached her with a strained smile.

"that's our ball, thanks for picking it up," he said with plastic sweetness. Tani gave a sheepish expression.

"uh... have room for another player?" she asked shyly. It was worth a shot, plus who knows? Maybe she could make some friends. The three boys looked at each other, communicating their answer with just their eyes.

"aha, sorry Tanisha… but we already have teams with even numbers," he lied. She saw that they only had 15 players.

She just grinned and handed the ball back.

The boys ran off, laughing to themselves about whatever. It didn't concern the dark skinned girl, she could entertain herself anyway. A soft smile on her face, she reached into her bag to pull out a pair of plastic yo-yo's that her mother gave her on her 15th birthday. They were a little worn but that's to be expected with such excessive use. She gave them some warm up tosses and twirls, before getting more experimental.

The basketball courts looked rather bland today, maybe a walk would help? Of course it would! The primary school side of campus always had some entertaining adventures to have. So she got up from her bench and wandered off, still messing around with her yo-yo's.

"I'm the captain! Set sail!" The loud shouts of a boy, no older than maybe 10 years old. This grabbed Tani's attention. She walked towards the group of young boys standing on a picnic table playing pirates or something. She watched with curiosity as the boys all ran around to take on the orders of the captain who stood proudly on the very top of the table. That looked like fun.

"Mind if I join your crew mister captain?" Tani leaned against the table, tilting her head up to look at the stunned captain. He crossed his arms and laughed with a deep voice, used to sound cooler, "Ha ha ha! Girls can't be pirates! Dad said that's bad luck," His tone was playful.

The smile Tani had in her face shifted into a smirk, "Girls can't be pirates? Well that's not true, what about captain Rose of the Rosalia pirates?" she retorted, now standing in front of the table with her arms crossed to mimic the boy before her. He stared at her with a slack jaw, like the concept of a female pirate never crossed his mind. His pirate crew had stopped moving and all gathered around the captain, ready to hear the tales of captain Rose and her crew.

"Many people have yet to hear the tale of Captain Rose and her crew, some say she was the strongest woman to ever sail the seven seas!" Tani told them, the boys all leaned in closer. "She's fought huge sea monsters, like the kraken and great white shark!" her arms motioned out wide, earning gasps from some of the boys. "She has faced many foes, like Blackbeard and the legendary captain Kidd. Both fights she walked away without a single scratch. To this day she's still great pals with those old bags," the boys gasped at Tani's claims.

She brought her hand closer to her mouth, her pointer finger held in front of her mouth, she paused. The boys all leaned even closer, practically in her face as they listened to her with great intensity. Then she clicked her finger and chuckled as the boys all backed away in surprise. "it's said that Captain Rose has a legendary treasure hidden away on a secret island that can't be found on any maps of the world, the mystery treasure is said to be worth more than the president and queen's money combined, and those who find it," she paused, the boys all bounced with anticipation.

"will rule the whole entire world,"

The boys all gasped in amazement, the captain from before hand jumping to the ground and holding a stick he had found on the grass high in the air.

"Crew! We must find Captain Rose's legendary treasure and together we will rule the world!" he rallied, the rest of the boys cheered with him. Tani looked at them with a wide grin, letting out a hearty laugh. She jumped on the table and saluted her captain, who saluted back.

They spent lunch time fighting massive sea monsters (mostly Tani making roaring noises while chasing the kids around) and collecting gold (sticks and leaves) for their treasure collection.

Then the bell rang it's awful, pitchy tone. Tani groaned at the sound, as did the boys. They bid farewell, Tani promising to come back tomorrow to play pirates some more. They waved and ran off to their classroom. Tani turned around and walked towards her side of the campus… mainly the exit.

This would have to be rather stealthy, because she knew that a teacher would be on patrol (there's always someone on patrol, what is this? A prison!) she held onto the straps of her bag, she hid behind a tree that was close to the gate. It would only take a quick sprint and she'd be out scott free. She looked around. No teachers in sight.

Time to make a break for it.

Making a run towards the school gate. The gates were closed but that hasn't stopped her before, and it was only five feet high. A smirk on her face, she picked up the pace and just before she would have slammed into the gate, she jumped up and grabbed the metal bars on top of the gates and tossed herself over in one swift movement. Her legs slamming into the concrete ground below her.

"Hey! get back here!" the booming voice of a teacher caught the escapee's attention, she didn't turn back and opted to make a run for it. Laughing off the adrenaline with her mess of dark brown curls flowing behind her.

The walk home was pleasant enough. Cars drove by, birds flew passed, chatter chatter could be heard. The weather was sunny and warm, she probably shouldn't be wearing that denim jacket but gosh they looked cool so Tani didn't care.

The houses she passed slowly started to shrink in size, the path getting more crackly and sun bleached. Only five more lamp posts and she'd be home. The girl decided to run the rest of the way, only to pause when she spotted her mother's beaten up car in the driveway. Mum must have had an early finish at work today. Tani gave a gulp of air before carefully entering her house as quiet as possible.

The sound of soft snoring echoed through the small and bare living room. Tani rounded the corner of the small hallway to find her mother flopped on the couch with one leg and arm hanging over the side. She was belly down, her face squished on the tiny couch. Drool pooled out her mouth, eye bags dark and prominent. Tani gave a loving smile, walking to the slumbering parent and giving her a kiss on the cheek. The older woman stirred but didn't wake up. Tani left the couch to grab an apple from the fridge. She bit into it, the loud crunch seemed to echo through the room. Her mother gave a tired groan, but shifted and continued sleeping.

Now Tani felt bad for being home… It is a beautiful day, and the skate park would be free… Perfect!

Tani was to her room to grab her skates from the floor. She might as well practice that grind rail trick that she'd yet to perfect quite right. She could keep her balance, even on one foot! But she wasn't perfectly there when it came to tricks.

She walked out the door, waving goodbye to her mum even though the woman was sleeping. The moment she closed the door, she dropped to the floor to attach her skates to her feet. Bagging her regular shoes. She clicked her heels together, because you can't start a perfect skate without a click of the heels for safe travels! And raced to the skate park.

When she arrived the place was completely void of life. Perfect! This is exactly what she wanted. Tani scooted herself towards the rails, practicing her grind for a while. She felt her mind wander, remembering the pirate adventure she had with those kids.

She glided across the ring as if she was flying like a gale in a ship's sails, the thought brought up the Rosalia pirates and their awesome captain Rose. The story may have been fake, but the sparks of inspiration and wonder that lit within the boys was as real as can be. Tani twirled and jumped through the air, as if she was dancing with the wind. Her jacket spread like wings, the weight of the world leaving her mind as she felt weightless and free for a blissful moment... Then her feet smacked into a bar she had failed to notice. Balance was lost, and the girl fell face first into the dirt underneath her.

Tani groaned to herself, a rush of pain bloomed in her head when she pushed herself off the ground. Her hands rubbed the pained spot in a comforting way to help ease the pain. In recovering, Tani noticed the shine of something hidden in the bushes that surrounded the rings outside.

Stumbling slightly due to the combination of a head injury and roller blades on a soft surface. Tani managed to reach the bush, her arms too short to reach the shiny thing without falling into the bush. She let out a sigh before lowering herself into a crawl and passing through the bushes into an opening. Like a secret hideaway. Tani looked around in amazement, the shine that brought her here once again catching her attention.

Her hand reached out to grab the shining object, but when her hand touched it. The shine disappeared, as if it had never been there. A shiny little bell rested in the palm of her hand. Shaking it produced a small jingle, nothing special. A huff left the girl as she stood in the opening and looked around her, the warm sunshine and calm quiet of the area made for a pretty sweet napping spot. Not sure if it was the headache talking or just the environment, but a wave of sleepiness creeped into the dark girl's mind. A large yawn escaped the now tired girl's mouth. She dropped to the ground, propping her bag up as a pillow. Her head now resting upon the makeshift pillow, eyes growing heavy and breath slowing down. She fell asleep within the minute.

...

The strong smell of salt water in the air hit the nose of an unconscious Tani, the change of environment caused her body to react with a sleep destroying sneeze. Her whole body sprang up with the loud jerk of the body. Her eyes groggily lifted with a blur still present from the relaxing sleep she had awoken from so rudely by her own body being the worst. She rubbed her eyes and blinked away the blur. No longer being surrounded by the greenery that she fell asleep around, now she was on the wooden deck of a boat surrounded by the ocean...

"Where the hell am I!?" she panicked, jumping to her feet and promptly falling over because of her still roller bladed feet. Her breathing hitched at the sound of movement from somewhere on the wooden ship, she quickly took to unclipping the blades from her feet and attaching them to the sides of her bag. Jumping up from the ground she made a break for the side of the ship. She looked out to the horizon to find no land at all! How long was she out?!

No time to question the situation, she draped one leg over the railing preparing herself to jump off. The clapping of sandals and boots drew closer, her head whipping around to reveal four people standing before her.

"What the hell are you doing on our ship?!" The only girl of the group called out to Tani. Who was now pumping with adrenaline, she froze on the spot while her heart pounded hard against her chest. She stared at the group, all of them looked about ready to kill her... Or maybe that was just the adrenaline talking. Either way she wanted off this ship. So with a brave face she kicked her other leg off the deck and dived overboard.

The girl's voice called out to one of her crew mates. Tani was mere inches away from the water when she felt an arm wrap around her waist. Instincts kicked into high gear as she grasped the arm and spun her body to twist the grip off to free herself, in a sorta messy suplex? She didn't know what it was.

Fortunately this worked, as the arm that had grabbed her was now loosened... And the guy who had grabbed her was now falling off the boat with her. The crew above panicked as the both of them broke the surface of the water. Tani resurfaced quickly, shaking her head as the salt water already started to crust on her skin. The crew called out orders, something about the guy who had grabbed her not being able to swim.

What idiot pirate doesn't know how to swim?!

The crew was too busy freaking out that they forgot to actually jump in and save the crew member who was sinking in the first place. Tani didn't really want to have murder added to the list of things she had done in her life, and with a groan she sucked in a breath and submerged herself into the water to find the sinking body of the boy who had grabbed her.

Tani was proud to say that she was one of the best swimmers in her school, winning many first place ribbons in swimming sports events held by the school. So it took her no effort to locate and grab the raven haired boy and pull him back up to the surface. The boy coughed up a lung when the two of them could breath, his body was as stiff as a board. It was like he couldn't move at all! The wide eyes of the boy looked into Tani's swampy green eyes, a huge grin spread across his face. Tani ignored him and called up to his crew.

"Oi! Can you come collect your idiot friend over here!" she waved the arm that wasn't keeping the board of a boy afloat. This caught the attention of the red head girl, who ordered the guy with green hair to lower a rope ladder for the two in the water to climb. Tani paddled as best she could over to the ladder and lifted the boy up to grab and pull himself out of the water. Once he was out, he looked back at her with that huge grin still plastered to his face.

"You'll die if you don't get aboard," called out the red head, who was leaning over the railing, "There isn't an island for miles, and I don't see any boats," she reasoned.

Tani looked up, weighting out her options. She was in an unknown location, stuck in the middle of the ocean with random people on a random boat made of wood! What is this? The dark ages? But these people are still strangers to her, what if they wanted to sell her into the slave trade? Or butcher her for organs to sell on the black market? She'd heard the crazy shit that happens to people.

She didn't have time to think before she was once again grabbed, this time by the shoulders and ripped out of the water. Her brain only now catching up to the fact that the boy she had saved was now tossing her onto the boat... His arms had stretched like a strip of bubblegum!

Tani's heart rate accelerated at the crazy display. His arms retracted back into him, as if that whole thing never happened. Tani's eyes darted back and forth between the four people standing in front of her. She scurried as far away from them as she could, not wanting to be close to the crazy elastic guy or the tall dude with the green hair and three swords hanging off his belt! Why three? Who knows!

"Why are you on this ship?" the redhead asked, her voice was very demanding which really struck a chord with Tani. The panic now washed away with a face of attitude, she stood up off the ground. Her heart hadn't stopped pounding against her chest, her legs had a slight shiver to them, but her body stood strong and tall even in the face of danger. She crossed her arms, and didn't say a word.

The red head groaned, "Look, we don't want to cause any trouble. We've had enough of that from the black cat pirates. Now tell us how you got on the ship and we won't kick your ass." she threatened. Tani stiffened at that comment, and weighted out her options again. Pissing off the only people in this area probably wasn't the greatest idea.

"look Ginger, I have no idea why I'm here. One minute I'm taking a nap in the bushes next to the skate park, the next I'm waking up on a boat in the middle of whatever ocean this is," she stated bluntly, masking her fear under an aggressive tone. The red head narrowed her eyes, like she was staring into Tani's soul. When the boy that couldn't swim waltzed over and poked Tani on the cheek.

"I think she's cool," the boy declared, and a laugh followed his claim. Catching Tani off guard, while his crew mates seemed to react in a manner as if this was regular for the guy. "I mean she's a mystery girl," he continued, poking her cheek a couple more times before she batted his hand away. Which received two hands poking her cheeks. She tried to push him away from her, but he jumped out of the way and kept poking at her. She growled and continued to attack while he dodged her every move, the both of them ignoring the angered cries of the red head who was yelling at both of them for ignoring her.

The two continued to mess around, Tani loosened up a bit at the playfulness of the boy. Even losing that snooty scowl in exchange for a small smile as she worked harder to fight back against the pokes to her cheeks. That all came crashing down when the red head smacked the both of them in the heads. The red head tapped her heels.

"Luffy! Do you realize that she could be a danger to this crew?" she scolded, the boy looked up at her with that big grin and laughed. "We don't even know who she is! What if she's a spy sent by the marines?" She asked, he turned his head towards their newest occupant.

"So what's your name mystery girl?" he asked, she looked around at the group of people surrounding her, the guy with the swords had sat by the railing and looked as if he was about to take a nap, the guy with a big nose and goggles had been standing behind the mast the whole time with shaking legs. Luffy pointed at the different people on the ship.

"That's Zoro, the greatest swordsman on the east blue," he pointed at the green haired guy, the guy lazily waved before losing interest. "that's Usopp, the ship's sniper and liar," he motioned towards the guy with the shaking legs, "and this is Nami, the ship's navigator," he stated when pointing at the red head. He pointed to himself, "And I'm Luffy, the captain and future king of the pirates,"

Tani blinked.

"Hold up! You're the captain?" Tani pointed at him, Luffy cheerily nodded to confirm her question. She laughed at the absurdity, "But how can you be the captain, if you can't even swim?" she giggled. Luffy's smile dropped slightly but was still there.

"well aren't you gonna say your name?" Nami grumbled, leaning on the railing opposite from Tani and Luffy. Tani rolled her eyes

"the names Tanisha,"