The girl jumped out of bed with her book in her hand. She had a very good night of sleep and felt ready for the day. She got out to get breakfast and sat on one of the tables alone when someone came with a big plate of food for her.
Oriana grabbed the spoon and took a bite, "Thank you" she smiled as she looked up at the person she didn't recognize. "You're welcome, Oria-chan" the girl stared at him, "I'm Noki one of the chefs," the man said.
She just nodded before continuing eating.
Once Oriana was done, she went out to the deck to greet her father but stopped when she saw Marco and Jozu looking at someone suspicious. She went up to them and tried to see what they were looking at.
Toki and Oden were talking by the rail with big smiles covering their face along with a calm aura. She looked at the two guys turned away with their red cheeks, "What's going on?" she whispered to herself.
Nekomamushi approached them with a big smile, "Where's Oden-sama?" he asked, but soon Vista came took him by the back of his shirt, "Oi, Neko!" the three pirates tried to stop him. Oriana didn't fully understand what was going on, but she did see how Oden and Toki smiled at each other.
Oriana just smiled, and went over to her father, "Hey treasure" Whitebeard said when he saw her coming. "Daddy, I want to get stronger," she said, "Why so suddenly," the captain asked, "I want to help protect everyone as you do for me!" she declared.
The girl didn't see the way her words affected the pirates around her, 'She's such a good girl' was a common thought.
"You don't have to fight. I'm the one that is supposed to protect you, Oriana" Whitebeard said. He saw the way his daughter's face fell, "But if you really want to get stronger, we'll help you to achieve that as well" the captain continued.
The girl's face brighten, "Thank you, daddy!" she ran over clinging to her father's leg.
Oriana's birthday was getting closer, with every passing day her appearance was starting to change. Her skin got a bit more tan; her hair was slowly turning icy blond from the roots. The nails were longer and teeth whiter.
Everyone knew by the way things were going that she was going to 'turn' soon.
The girl was in her room, getting ready for the party. Toki had brought her a beautiful green dress with flower print earlier that day. Oriana looked into the mirror without any expression, "I don't think I'm ready for this mama. I wish you were here to help me" she said sadly.
She heard someone knocking on her door before opening it, "You ready, treasure?" her father asked. "Daddy, I've changed. I don't look like me anymore," Oriana said still facing the mirror, "You don't have to see it like that" Whitebeard came over to her.
"How should I see it?" she looked desperately at him, "That this is a part of you, too" he tried, "What if the others don't like it?" she asked concerned, "Do you like it?" Whitebeard turned the question toward her.
Oriana looked at the mirror one more time before answering, "Yeah. I do". Whitebeard smiled, "Then, that's what matters" her father laid his hand on her head, "What about the crew? What if they don't like it?" it was her main concern.
"If you love it, so will they!" Whitebeard answered without a doubt, "How do you know?" she wondered, "Because you're a part of the family and they love you!" the captain replied. "You all love me?" she seemed almost shocked.
"Yes, we do! Each one of us will do anything for you" Whitebeard said without hesitation. Oriana stared into her father's eyes before a huge smile covered her face, "I'll get stronger, so I can do anything for you too. That's what family does, right, daddy?"
"You already said that treasure" he smiled, and before the girl could reply a knock was heard. Soon Marco came in, "Are you ready, Oriana?" The girl looked at her father with a smile, "Yeah, I'm ready!" she hugged the captain before getting up and out of the door.
Marco looked at the captain and the two nodded to each other.
Oriana was walking through the halls nervously, but her worries melted away when she opened the door and was welcomed with food, music, and laughter. She smiled as she went over to the food and started filling herself.
After some time, someone handed her something to drink, "Happy birthday, Oriana-chan" Toki said with a smile. "Thank you" the girl gave a smile back, "Your father told me to get you".
Toki guided Oriana over to her father who was sitting in the middle of the crowd. Whitebeard smiled when he saw her and motioned for his daughter to come closer, "Your father is calling you" Toki said and gently pushed her forward.
The rest of the pirates made space for her to pass. The captain let her sit on his chair's armrest, "I have something for you, Oriana" her father gave her a small box. "What is it?" the girl innocently asked, "You have to open it to find out" Whitebeard grinned.
Oriana opened the box to see a small gold locket, she saw a lock then unfolded it. She saw a needle that was spinning around with a W, E, S, N each at its own corners. Oriana picked it up to get a better look, it had a long gold chain attached to it.
"It was your mother's compass. She gave it when I first started this crew" Whitebeard explain with a big smile. Oriana looked at the gift with a whole new light. "It's strange because the compass doesn't work in the Grand Line. She already knew that but did it on purpose" he laughed.
"This compass will guide you back to me" Kat's voice echoed in his head. He really loved that woman.
"Thank you, daddy! I really love it" Oriana hugged her father with a huge smile. The captain rubbed her back, "How about I tell you a story about her later" she nodded liking that very much.
"Oriana, you have been with us for months now, and we know tonight is an important night for you. So, no matter what you need, we are there for you!" the crew declared without hesitation. The girl couldn't stop smiling as tears were gathering in her eyes, "Thank you!"
The pirates laughed at her cute reaction.
It was getting closer to midnight Whitebeard was still holding her close. Oriana had fallen asleep some time ago after the long day. "Only 10 minutes left, Whitey-chan" Oden said who was sitting on the floor in front of him.
Whitebeard nodded, but his eyes were kept on his daughter, "She's going have a hard time controlling this side of her" he said emotionlessly. "Controlling the elements? That's quite the power even more so with a devil fruit" Whitey Bay praised.
"The government are going to notice her sooner or later" Rakuyo sighed, "It's our job to get her ready for that!" "Right before leaving the Land of Wano, she asked me to train her if I join you guys. Since I promised, I'll teach the cool art of Oden two-sword style" the samurai said with a big smile.
"Wait, wait! I wanted to teach her my kicking techniques!" Marco started arguing. "I could show her how to throw a heavy punch," Jozu added.
Everyone wanted Oriana to learn from them, "Enough!" Whitebeard's deep voice left them silent, "It's great you all want to help her, but it's Oriana's choice who she wants to learn from! Give her the option and let her decide" he ordered.
The captain stood up to take the girl back to her room, but Oriana moved in her sleep. Whitebeard stop walking and waited for her to calm down. Her hair started lighting up while flying in every direction. It started to turn completely white, and her curls stretched out.
When the light went out her hair was suddenly straight. The marks on Oriana's face slowly faded away and were replaced by new ones. White lines followed each cheekbone to the middle of the nose another white line went down her cheek and whirled around close to the ears.
There were three lines from her lower lip, down her throat and they stopped by the lower part of the throat. Her ears were pointier, and her skin turned a few shades darker. The crew had circled around the father and daughter to see the change. It was nothing of what they'd expected.
While the pirates still were in shock, Whitebeard took his daughter inside.
Once she was in bed, he had a better chance to see her changed form. There was no doubt that Oriana looked beautiful, but now that she had changed the world government could clearly see her race. They would most definitely hunt her like they did her ancestors.
-x-
Oriana felt light shine in her eyes. She slowly opened it and realized that it was the sun, "Stupid sun" she mumbled to herself. She tried to turn to the other side, but the light reflected on the wall making it almost worse. It was hard to sleep like that.
She took the blanket over her head. It helped for a while until it got hard to breathe under there. Oriana pouted before rubbing her eyes to get a more clear vision. She let both her arms land on the side of her body before getting the strength to get up.
The girl's gaze turned to something red by her bedside. She picked it up and realized that it was a flower crown. Oriana felt her stomach growling as she put it on her head, and went over to get breakfast.
Oriana went outside and saw everyone during their usual work. She used one arm to wave while using the other to shade her eyes while heading straight for the gallery.
Once she was finally inside, she could see more clearly now. There weren't many people down there, but she did see Oden, Toki, Izo, and doggy. They call her towards the table with bright smiles and she gave them one back.
"Did you sleep well, Oriana-chan?" Toki asked, "I was fine until the sun shined in my eyes" she answered a little annoyed. "Your new look is absolutely-" Izo started but got interrupted by her stomach growling again, "Stop growling," she said to herself.
She didn't hear what Izo said.
"I got you a special breakfast," Noki said and put the plate right in front of her, "Thank you," the girl smiled. Oriana stuffed herself with the food, "It's yummy" she said, "You're welcome. Happy birthday" Noki smiled and patted her back.
The girl swallowed the food in her mouth and stopped completely.
It was her birthday today… Then last night was the night she was supposed to…
Oriana looked at her hands and then down at her body when a tad of hair came into sight. She pulled it closer to see it better and it wasn't what she was used to. She quickly ran out of there forgetting her food in the process.
She ran over to the mirror in the bathroom and got onto the stool to gain a bit of height. Oriana gasped at her new appearance. She looked so much different, but somehow still recognized herself in it, "What do you think?" her father stood by the door.
Oriana looked into her reflection with a huge smile, "I look beautiful!" she couldn't stop touching her hair. "Look daddy I have my green eyes back. But it's more green" she turned to the captain, "Look!" she used her fingers to open the eyelids more.
"They're shining like the sun, treasure," Whitebeard said as he went down to her level or close enough. "By the way, where did you get those flowers from?" he suddenly asked and pointed at her head, "I thought you gave them to me, daddy. I wonder who it was?" she looked up thoughtfully.
"Well, it doesn't matter right now. How about we go out to look for the next island?" Whitebeard suggested, "Alright!" she beamed.
The girl ran over to the front of the ship as fast as she could. She stood on the whale figurehead breathing everything in. Oriana's gaze followed the horizon in search of the next land.
"I see an island!" Oriana yelled to the crew down at the deck, "Really?! Where?" Oden came up beside her, before looking out himself. "Over there" she pointed to the left side. The samurai tried to see where she pointed, "I still don't see it, O-Riana-chan" Little did she know that he wasn't the only one.
"You're getting old, Oden" the girl laughed, "Yeah, that must be it" he laughed with her. After she calmed down Oriana turned to him, "Do you remember what you promised me before we left Wano?" she asked, "What did I promise?" Oden asked fully remembering it.
"You said that you'll train me!" she pouted, "Hahaha, calm down. I remember" he rubbed her head. "Good! I want to start now" Oriana said, "It's not going to be easy. Are you sure you want to?" Oden looked into her eyes seriously.
"Yeah!" she answered determinedly. "Alright, we'll start tomorrow morning. It's your birthday, enjoy the day" he smiled warmly. "Okay..." she said hesitantly.
The wind was moving the ship forward. It took a while till they realized Oriana was right about the island.
Once the ship's anchor was down, Oriana was the first one to run out. The island was very tropical, she had her drawing book in her hand as she went deeper and deeper into the jungle. After a while, she stopped to see how far the others were.
Oriana's heart dropped when she realized that she was alone. She ran back to where she thought she came from, but after a while, she got tired and fell on her butt. The girl turned desperately in every direction to search for a familiar face.
Tears were quickly gathering in her emerald eyes, "DADDY, EVERYONE" she yelled hoping someone would find her. She stopped when she suddenly heard a noise in the trees, and Oriana was carefully backing away fearfully.
A second later a monkey looked curiously at her. Oriana calmed down a little once she saw it, "Hi, monkey. Do you know where my family is?" she walked closer to it, but it ran up to a branch. "I'm not going to hurt you" she responded as she wiped away her tears.
When Oriana got closer it jumped up to another branch. The girl sighed, "Will you let me draw you instead?" she held her book up and it obviously didn't know what she was talking about. She started drawing it, looking at it every now and then.
At that time, she looked at the monkey it was no longer there. Oriana's eyes gazed around, yet there was still no sign of it. She pouted, "I wasn't done yet" and scratched over the drawing. A few moments later she heard a noise next to her.
It was the monkey, which was eating some fruit it had in its hand like a wild animal. To be fair it was. Oriana turned to face the creature that would continue to be her model. She hurried on to a new page while it was occupied. It wasn't long before she had a full sketch of the monkey
She showed her work to it and the monkey seemed much more interested in her drawing. It was terrifyingly showing its teeth, and Oriana figured it was smiling, 'Scary, but cute' she thought.
The monkey snatched the book out of her hands without warning. It ran to the tree as an escape and was much quicker than she'd expected. "Hey!" she quickly got up and ran after it, "It's not funny give it back." it didn't acknowledge her.
"There's a lot of precious memories in there," she said sadly, "It's my treasure!" she said more aggressively, "I said give it back!" this time she slammed her hand against the tree hard and it shook violently.
The monkey carefully went down and handed her property back to her before running away. Oriana just hugged the book a lot more calmly, "I don't want anyone to take you."
After a few minutes, she remembered her predicament, "Where is everyone" she sat on the ground. A sound came from the bush and Oriana just assumed it was the monkey, but she soon wish it was.
In front of her was a wolf looking deep into her eyes. Oriana backed away and the wolf just stepped forward quite fast. When it got really close, she turned around and ran away without a second thought. She ran between the trees as fast as she could.
But it wasn't long till the wild beast ran in front of her. Oriana backed away until she no longer could. She was frozen in fear as the creature got closer and closer. Its eyes were a bright hazel color and surprisingly beautiful.
Somehow, it didn't seem all that scary anymore.
The wolf stopped right in front of her and put its head down. Oriana carefully extended her hand and patted its head. As soon as she did that it felt like lightning searched through her body, "They lived here…" she whispered but had no idea what it meant.
The wolf got up and ran away, "Wait!" she yelled as she got up, "Who was that?" she ran after him/her. It's hard to see the difference. Oriana stretched her hand and with that, the ground started to creak up in front of her.
Oriana looked at her hand, "That's my power?" she stopped when she remembered something very important. She fell to the ground, looked at her hand before turning to the ground, "I can do this just like daddy" she repeated in a mantra.
The girl punched the ground, but it didn't go as planned. It was even worse because her hand was hurting really badly. She wanted to cry like always when she remembered the crew and how they always protected her.
Oriana promised herself to get stronger and do the same for them. Now, she was out in the wood lost without her family's help. It was times like this that make her realize how much she was lost when she was alone, "I need to get stronger" she sobbed.
A hand came up to her eyes as she wiped her tears away. She put both of her hands on the ground with the palms facing down. Oriana took a deep breath and pushed her hand to the ground. She continued to do so till she got a feeling that told her to stop.
Oriana lifted her hands, she saw her hands planted into the ground. She didn't want to forget this feeling and did it again to a place next to her. And again to the place behind her.
After a while, she jumped to her feet with a happy smile. Oriana knew what it was supposed to feel like and she placed both her hands in front of her, "The ground is really hard so I need to be like that too" she squatted down and slammed her palms down.
Her hand went deeper into the ground and a few centimeters from that was a bit of earth came out. She smiled, but the pain quickly got her back to reality, yet it wasn't as bad as before. She had to keep going so she would get used to it.
She tried it for some time, "Mama, I feel like I can do anything" she cringed her hand into a fist and punched the air. Instead of the wind as she'd expected, a piece of stone flew in the direction she punched.
Oriana blinked a little confused, "Okay…" she didn't move and just stared at her hand when she heard people coming her way. She hid behind a bush not knowing if it was enemies or not, "Oriana"
The girl slowly separated the branches to see, "Oriana" she heard again. The voices sounded familiar as her face brighten, "Daddy?" she whispered carefully. She refused to go out till she was more sure.
Soon her father along with everyone appeared. Oriana ran over to the captain but felt heavy footsteps coming in their direction. She stopped suddenly and turned behind her as she saw a giant man, "It's huge" Oden yelled.
"Get back!" Whitebeard yelled when the giant was about to strike them with his spiky metal club. The captain defeated him in only one blow, 'Daddy's so cool' Oriana thought with great admiration.
She ran over to her father and jumped onto his back, "I'm so happy you found me!" she smiled brightly. "We were so worried you know" her father took a deep breath in relief, "I know and I'm sorry. But I learned something today!" she was excited to show them.
"What did you learn, little one," Marco asked with a smile. "Get back, I don't want to hurt you guys" she wafted with her hand. The pirates were struggling to hold back their laughs as Oriana looked at her hands, 'It's going to hurt' she shook her hands.
Oriana got down and did the same thing again. She wanted to show off and used all of her strength. A much bigger bolder emerged from the ground surprising everyone but Whitebeard. It surprised her too, "I did that?" she whispered shocked.
"Yeah, you did kiddo!" Vista lifted her.
"Maybe you should be alone more often" Whitey Bay joked, "No!" Oriana quickly protested.
"Someone, take that boulder back to the ship" Whitebeard ordered, "Why" people questioned, "Don't you want our little treasure to learn more about her powers and get stronger?" he asked, "Of course!" they yelled as Jozu quickly get the boulder
Oriana smiled lovingly, "I love you guys!"
Everyone smiled and they were all laughing together as they went to the ship.
