Grimsdale is, or to be more precise, used to be a nice place to live.
Seven years ago, it was a famous market town; a place of wonder for tourists. Adella recalled a time – at the age of 9 – when the streets were filled with merchants – their booths lined H1 Rainey Way and spread as far as Herring Port. The smell of spice used to be so comforting to her. The townspeople would smile and welcome her to browse their imports while her father talked business. Grimsdale was a fairy land in the eyes of a youngster.
But nowadays, the town was a cesspit of disease and poverty. She honestly could barely stomach it. Her father would be so let down in the way his little town had turned out. And all because she let it get this bad.
Adella cast her eyes to the cobble street beneath her feet. The soles of her boots and the lower trim of her dress were caked in gutter filth. It was a pungent smell that even she could not wash out. She tried; her skin had friction burns and often Adella threw out and bought new clothes just to satisfy her strong desire to stay clean. It was a shame, because she honestly liked this dress.
"Auntie … I am real sorry." Esme saw the distress in her eyes; she saw the disgust that crossed her face. Adella was not comfortable out in the open like this. It made the ten year old sad to put her into a situation where she'd have to leave the safe confines of her home, but she knew no one else would care. Her mother was a busy woman; it would tear her apart to know that Lee had been taken hostage by pirates.
Furthermore, Adella was the only one capable of keeping the town safe from pirates. She was the Witch of Grimsdale; the townspeople were scared of her.
"There is no reason for you to apologize. I would never hesitate to help you or Leland," Adella explained. She faked a smile to raise her spirit. It seemed to help, because Esme dried her tears and reached for the writer's hand. Adella took it.
They walked down H1 Rainey Way towards the port. In her gut Adella knew the pirates would take Leland back to their ship. The only port in town was Herring, and the only road to the port was Rainey Way. It led them directly through the center of town without impediments.
Normally this street was pretty active, but since it was still early most of the townspeople were either in bed or working at the saw house. Adella was grateful for this; she didn't want a crowd to gather if the handoff went bad. They hesitantly walked down the dock until Adella saw it; a set of black flags swaying in the wind.
She could barely make out the design of their jolly roger, but she knew this had to be them. Adella led Esme across the gangplank and onto the deck. She noticed the grass even before treading onto it. Her soft eyes grew in curiosity. How did something like this exist on the ship? Was it real? How did it grow?
It swayed gently in the warm breeze and for a second Adella wanted to remove her worn out boots so not to ruin the lush green deck with Grimsdale muck.
She truly was in conflict with herself, up until a voice nearby called out to her; a loud and raspy voice that made her lurch in fear.
"That's my hat. Give it back."
The person in question leapt down from the upper deck and onto the grass in front of them – Esme cried in shock. He was quite short and wore clothes that were in her opinion too casual for Grimsdale standards. Was he really a pirate? He looked quite young.
Adella wasn't sure. "Your captain, I need to speak with him."
Her hold on Esme's hand grew tense. She really did not like altercations, mainly because her powers were unrefined and chaotic. Adella had trained with it before, but not enough to reduce the damage it caused. If by chance this pirate didn't listen, she was afraid that her power would destroy the only good part about this ship that she liked; the grass.
With a large smile, the dark haired pirate crossed his arms over his lean chest. "I'm the captain; Monkey D. Luffy."
He leaned his head to the side and puckered a brow. "Erm … you want me for something?"
Is he being serious? She couldn't tell. Beggars can't be choosers though. "My name is Historia Adella. I came to make a trade with you. Lee – the little boy you kidnaped – for your crew's belongings."
Esme shook the burlap sack; the same burlap sack with the jolly roger on it. A bulb seemed to go off in his head, and Luffy pointed a finger at her.
"My hat. You were the one who stole my hat." His excited voice scared Esme, for she squeaked and hid behind Adella. It also carried enough to alert the other members of the ship, because moments later a young woman with orange hair stomped out of the galley.
She clutched the railing and leaned over it as she yelled. "Keep it down, Luffy. We need to figure out where our things are, and all your yelling is making the kid scared."
Does she mean Leland? Adella was relieved. She feared that he might have been put down, but upon overhearing her speak to the captain, she knew that Lee was alright.
"But Nami––
She interrupted him; teeth sharp and eyes red. "Don't but Nami me. If we don't get the log pose back, we'll be stuck on this island until we can replace it, and none of us have the money for that."
"As long as there's enough to buy meat, then I don't care. We can just sail without a log pose; that's why you're the navigator," Luffy mentioned short of a clue.
Nami curled her arms beneath her chest, huffing in annoyance. "It's great that you have so much faith in me, but I need a log pose to find the next island. And we need money to restock."
Did he really just ignore me? Adella puffed out her cheeks – how rude. She cleared her throat and yelled over them. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I really need to speak to the captain of this ship."
Luffy glanced at her and again tilted his head, raising his brow in uncertainty. "Erm … who're you again?"
Is he serious? I just told him. Before she could answer though, Nami – upon recognizing Esme – let out a shriek and aimed a finger at the startled blonde. "You're the little brat who got away with our stuff."
Adella sighed in annoyance. She was trying to tell this to them. Taking the bag from Esme, she moved over to the side of the ship and dangled it over the banister. "Right, and if you want back the things she stole, you'll give us back Leland. They're just children; neither of them were aware of who they were stealing from."
Thinking she had an advantage over them, Adella was indisputably shocked when someone suddenly grabbed her wrist and compelled her to return the bag of things back to the safety of the vessel. A pair of hands locked around her neck; another 2 around her ankles.
She upon further investigation noticed that the hands were attached to her, as if by some oddity she had grew them.
"What is this?"
Adella had never seen witchcraft like this before. She had seen many strange things in her life, but nothing as strange as this. Testing the durability of them, she frowned as the hold on her ankles would not let go. In fact, the hands tightened as if to warn her.
"I would advise against doing that, unless you want me to break your neck," a daunting voice said.
From the right, down the stairs walked a tall and slender woman. She had her arms crossed in front of her – a strange and unnecessary gesture that baffled Adella – and despite her ruthless words, wore a smile.
The writer shivered in fear. This woman was scary. She dared not to move; there wasn't much she could do in any case, not with her right hand restrained. What could she do? The thought of someone like her being aboard the ship never occurred to her.
Esme bit her lip, fat and warm tears leaked down her face. She reached up and took the straw hat from her head. The captain mentioned that it was his, didn't he? She toddled in fear towards him and offered it back, despite the writer pleading for her not to.
"I'm sorry, mister. We're pirates too – Lee and I. Please don't h-hurt Auntie; it's my fault she's h-here."
Adella feared the worst, but the pirate captain just smiled and took back his hat, setting it onto his head.
"You're a pirate?"
Esme bobbed her head. "I sure am. My name is Esme of the adventurous Mousy Pirates."
Mousy? Robin narrowed her eyes in wonder. She'd heard that name before somewhere – possibly in a book. Her arms uncrossed and the hands that locked the woman in place vanished. She glanced at her in hopeful curiosity.
"I don't know them, but that's so cool." His eyes sparkled in awe.
Adella shook her head. "Not to be a bother, but the reason we came here was to get Leland back."
"He's my brother," Esme added with a smile.
Nami – who had been standing quiet until now – leaned over the railing and pointed over her shoulder. She was pleased that her belongings had been returned, having feared the worst just moments ago. "He's in the galley with some of our crew; shaken up, but not harmed. You can come on up, and bring the bag with."
"Please join us," Robin urged. She lifted her hand to her face and smiled in assurance. "Our cook can make you a cup of tea if you like?"
Luffy agreed. "And meat; I'm starving."
"Should have thought about that before you ate through all of what we had stocked up," Nami hissed. She huffed in annoyance and stormed back into the galley.
Woeful and patting his empty and roaring stomach, Luffy trailed slowly behind her.
Adella should have said no; she would have, but each of them seemed nice – she hadn't had a cup of tea in a few hours – and Esme was already pacing along side the dark haired woman, replying to her many questions. She huffed a sigh and went along too.
If only she had known the misfortune this would bring about.