A/N: single (') indicates thoughts. Please Enjoy!

A Whole New World

Shaad had been stranded on his 'log boat' for almost a week at open sea. Without any sails or paddles, he was at the complete mercy of the ever changing landscape of waves, moving to and fro with the ebbs and flows of the water, except for the rare occasions when he felt motivated or energized enough to use his sheathed swords for some type of momentum.

So far, his luck had miraculously carried him through two storms and even more bouts of rough water, a streak that couldn't possibly last much longer. But, having just escaped the most recent storm, Shaad reclined back as the cool ocean breeze washed over him, more than content to rest and relax for the time being. After a few minutes, he slipped his fedora- the only intact article of clothing remaining after three years- over his face, the seven inch toothpick jutting between his lips, freshly carved from the boat itself, poking out from beneath the brim of the hat. Shaad simply relished the perfect weather, letting the sun beat down on his exposed chest, darkening his natural tan a shade or two. Before long, the young man was fast asleep, lightly snoring even as a batch of ominous clouds loomed on the horizon.

Even accounting for his complete lack of navigation knowledge, Shaad had no way of keeping track of just how far or which directions he'd bounced around thanks to the weather, making him even more grateful that, after holding on to the boat's sides for dear life for the past two hours as raging winds knocked it around like a leaf instead of the tree trunk that it was, he finally caught a glimpse of land. In one swift action, he'd grabbed hold of both his swords and began paddling in that direction with clear determination. His arms were barely visible as they moved from one side to the other in an effort to reach land.

In his excitement at finally seeing land again, Shaad hadn't bothered to assess how far away he actually was and had actually grown a bit tired from exerting himself so much for so long. But, he refused to let up, the prospect that landfall was one step closer, and not wanting to have used up the already expended energy in vain, pushing him forward every step of the way. After about 45 minutes of nonstop paddling, Shaad's brow was sprinkled in sweat, quite a statement considering his body had been subjected to such diverse temperatures and environments, he no longer had much of a sense of hot or cold where it concerned the external weather. Plus, he rarely sweated to begin with. The fact that he hadn't drunken anything except a bit of rainwater since setting sail making that even more an improbability. But, his efforts had paid off as he'd finally arrived at the island in question. Unfortunately for him, though, he'd drifted to a part of the island where docking was nearly impossible.

Shaad dejectedly looked up at the towering cliff face for the next minute or two, silently arguing with himself over whether to row around to another port or just climb the cliff side. He'd ultimately decided he didn't feel like climbing when he heard a roar from the top of the cliff. Before he could register what it might be, a voice rang out from above.

"Look out below!"

The words had barely made it to his ears before a weight knocked him on his back, rocking the boat to the point it threatened to tip over. "Gi' ah phme!" Shaad's voice was muffled to the point of near incoherency by the toned, supple legs squeezing his face. Recovering from the collision and opening his eyes, Shaad couldn't see the person's face, but could make out that it was a woman by the ample pair of breasts obstructing his view as well as the smoothness pressing against his mouth.

The pressure being applied to the sides of Shaad's head by the woman's taut thighs loosened as she pushed down on Shaad's forehead and lifted herself off of him. "Your timing's wonderful. Now, let's get out of here." The woman either had no understanding of his situation or she simply didn't care, but Shaad was too enraptured by her throaty, silken voice to comprehend the statement, just staring blankly at her voluptuous curves on display in the boy shorts and baby tee she was wearing, framed beautifully by her long, flowing natural pink hair. It wasn't until the teenage boy was knocked upside the head hard enough to leave lumps that he registered her screaming at him. "Hurry up; we have to get out of here!"

The urgency of her statement was punctuated by the hail of bullets that followed shortly after her. Shaad used his quick reflexes to push the woman aside and effortlessly deflected each shot that came close to them. With a quick upswing of both blades during a break in gunfire, he sent dual slashes up the mountainside and caused both the cliffside and the gunmen to fall into the waters below, utilizing quick thinking and immediate action to maneuver his boat away from the falling debris and people.

Feeling safe for the moment, Shaad was about to protest the woman's earlier demand when something large, and separate from the boulders, descended upon them, plummeting into the water near the log boat, causing sizable waves that pushed the boat further away, giving Shaad a good bit of starting momentum. Seeing someone, or something, chasing after them in the water at breathtaking speeds, he took it upon himself to row to safety, which sadly meant leaving the island as fast as possible. Shaad pushed himself to go faster, but his fatigued arms ached from exhaustion and whatever was after them was steadily gaining, moving through the water as if it provided no resistance.

Shaad's eyes went wide when he got a much unwanted close up of their pursuer - a great white shark fishman - taking a large chunk out of the back end of the log boat. While a normal small boat would be sunk by such damage, this unique vessel was mostly fine, moving even faster as a newly motivated Shaad propelled the carved out tree trunk through the water at breathtaking speeds.

But, even with the drastic increase in speed, the attempt to flee was useless as unnatural currents appeared and took hold of the ship. It took everything Shaad could muster just to prevent them from being pulled back into the grasp of their dogged pursuer, but Shaad couldn't see any of that with his eyes tightly shut in fright. He was caught completely off guard when a thick and muscled, webbed hand grabbed hold of his throat, cutting off the air to his lungs and lifting him from the boat which was heavily tilted from the weight being applied by the fishman's foot.

The strange woman pulled out an extendable baton, jabbing it in the fishman's solar plexus, and creating an opening for Shaad to drop his swords and interlock his fingers for a heavy hammer fist to the back of the creature's head, disorienting it for a moment as Shaad kicked him in the chin and backflipped from its grip. Shaad then rammed his shoulder into the chest of the fishman and picked up his swords.

Pressing the bottom of the two hilts together, Shaad expertly spun the blades as if it were a staff. "Heavenly Wind: Blade Twister!" The ensuing gale looked like a smaller, horizontal tornado, crashing into the fishman with a combination of speed and power. But, Shaad wasn't looking to significantly injure or kill the fishman. Through his earlier exchanges, he had a pretty rough idea of what kind of damage the bulky great white could take, and with that taken into consideration, his last attack would only minimally scratch, but it served its purpose in sending both sides flying in opposite directions, a tactic especially effective on the water.

"Bye, dad." Shaad heard a voice happily call out, and his jaw dropped as he realized he'd unwittingly been caught in the middle of someone else's family drama.

Meanwhile, the fishman gingerly rubbed his head in a mix of frustration and tenderness. He was quite sore after bouncing along the water's surface so roughly before slamming into the cliffside back on the island where the chase had originated.

"What do you mean dad? If I'd have known that, I... I wouldn't have..." Shaad frantically stammered over his words. He was in trouble. That fishman looked strong. If he was going to have to fight him, location would be key. Between debating whether to fight, flee, or try and make amends, Shaad's thoughts were scattered about every which way to the point he'd almost forgotten a key detail. "Wait, that was a fishman. Unless there's something I'm missing, you're 100% human." But, just as quickly as the thought popped into his head, he pushed it out in favor of an actual resolution. "Whatever, I'm taking you back. I don't need a great white shark fishman nipping at my heels throughout the Grand Line."

The woman got a conniving look in her eyes at Shaad's mention of the Grand Line and quickly explained, "He's mine and my sister's adoptive dad. He was friends with our parents, though I never knew them. And, don't worry. I'd been trying to get away from that boring island for the past couple of years - the islanders all consider me a troublemaker anyway - but he is too fast in the water for me to get away from on my own; this just means I'm finally free to do what I want. Rest assured, he won't chase after me or you, and neither will those police."

"I'll rest more assured after you're back home... Now, which way was that island."

Shaad's complete lack of navigation skills was fully evident as he looked around absentmindedly trying to determine where they'd come from. The strange woman saw, in that clear empty headedness, a chance she could take advantage of. She could just swim, but why do that when there was a perfectly usable boat right on hand. "Fine," she feigned surrender, "since you insist, I'll lead you back myself. I know this entire area like the back of my hand."

Shaad let out the breath he had unknowingly been holding in before speaking. "Thank you; once that's done I can start my journey. I'm Cornelious Rashaad, by the way, but most people just call me Shaad. What's your name?"

"Raine, Tempest Raine, and if you're going to be traveling through the Grand Line, you'll need a skilled navigator. I can help with that if you want."

"Nope; you're going back. I'm sure I can find another Navigator, or a ship for passage."

Raine didn't look too dejected, though, as she called out orders to Shaad, hitting him in the head with her extendable baton when he initially refused to row in the indicated direction. "I'm the navigator; what I say, you do."

At times it proved difficult to concentrate for Shaad as Raine's voice would periodically wane down to a soft whisper on the wind, always coinciding with her toes leisurely walking up his back. Shaad tried to use the moments when she was snoozing to get some rest himself, but as if she could tell, her toes would walk all the way up his back and culminate in a heel drop to the top of his skull.

'I'm getting tired of this girl.'

'Calm down; we have to get her back home then we're through.'

'O~r, we could just toss her overboard and forget the whole thing.'

'That probably wouldn't be a good idea.'

'You just think she's cute. You're not gonna get a reward for taking her back home, you know.'

Shaad had no further arguments against the voice in his head, abruptly declaring, 'Whatever. We're doing this, end of story.' Effectively ending the one sided argument as he continued to row with Raine's voice chiming in from behind, issuing edicts that he largely ignored.

After a couple more hours of Raine's drill sergeant like commands echoing behind him as she lounged back, sunbathing in a bikini she had on beneath the clothes she originally wore, the duo finally arrived at the island. More accurately, an island, as Shaad could immediately tell that the landscape didn't match the island they'd met at.

"Well, here we are. I'll be going now."

"Wait -" Raine moved with surprising agility, jumping from the log and dashing onto the island before Shaad could turn around and protest, leaving Shaad to pull to the coast. But, looking around, Shaad sighted many much higher quality boats and decided he could use one of those when he left. To that end, Shaad dug his fingers into the edge of the huge tree trunk and casually tossed it into the air. As it came down, he withdrew his two swords and swung both up simultaneously, cutting the tree into a shower of splinters. He then caught the two dozen or so smoothest cut pieces from midair and placed them in the vine wrapped around what was left of the tattered single pant leg before grabbing one more and placing it in his mouth as the rest tumbled around him.

Shaad casually strolled away as some of the people around gawked at what he'd just done. When a loud grumble came from his stomach, he stopped at a random man and asked where the best restaurant was. The man's mouth opened and closed multiple times with nigh a sound before simply pointing Shaad in the direction. Shaad walked until he saw an immaculate building standing proudly amidst the extravagant, high class architecture. Everything about this island was truly top notch. The clean streets, eye catching building signs, and swarms of finely dressed people buzzing to and fro gave it an upbeat yet relaxing vibe.

Shaad had long since deduced that this was a man-made resort island strategically placed in a heavy travel location and located nearby an island with a burgeoning economy for trade and commute purposes based on the distinct lack of a prominent residential area. He was in no hurry to find Raine since he'd made up his mind; he wouldn't be taking her back home after all. His plans were much bigger. But first, the young man entered the fine dining establishment to get something to eat, after all, it had been over a week since he last ate good food, and almost four years since he had something not made over a campfire.

Order after order of lavish and excessive food offerings came out of the kitchen, and as fast as the team of chefs could put out food, Shaad was scarfing it down. After about half an hour, most of the restaurant had gotten so fed up with the boy's ill manners and borderline animalistic eating habits that they simply left, and after an hour, Shaad, sitting before a robust mound of diverse delicacies, was the only customer left in the entire restaurant, though the staff was too busy with just him to even worry about that fact as he shoveled more and more food down his throat, seemingly foregoing chewing. In only three hours, Shaad had eaten every bit of the restaurant's food stores that wasn't frozen and would require hours to thaw, prepare and cook properly. The staff was in various stages of disarray, sprawled across the floor and walls of both the main dining hall as well as the kitchen in states of utter exhaustion.

As Shaad ate what was left before him, an older gentleman approached his table, wringing his hands continuously, and nervously stated, "Hello, I'm the manager of this fine establishment. I hope you enjoyed the full spread that Lè Rui Cour has to offer."

Shaad shook his head affirmatively as he swallowed the last bit of a platter of kebab skewers. "Yeah, that was delicious." he proclaimed with a large smile.

His smile, though, faded with the manager's next words: "Wonderful. Your bill comes to a total of 4,578,630 beli. With automatic gratuity added in, your total rounds up to 6,500,000 beli."

Shaad took one last drink of his beverage before releasing a belch that shook the building's concrete walls and could be heard for multiple blocks outside. Sliding his chair back, he then nonchalantly stood up, grabbed the Giant Chimoa leg, which was more than three times the size of his head, he'd been munching on and turned to leave without a word.

The manager was stunned by his blatant audacity, but a large, muscled man immediately blocked the door as he tried to leave. Shaad only lifted a single eye to gaze at the man over his leg of meat before continuing to walk out the door unimpeded. Before fully exiting, he turned his head to the restaurant's staff and commented, "Yeah, I'm completely energized now. Thanks for the meal." With those words, he exited the doorway and disappeared from view like a phantom, leaving only the muscled guard in a beaten heap on the ground, shivering and looking frightfully scared.

"I guess now I'll go find Raine."