The sun was high and bathed the sandy surroundings of the whole island of Sandercheeks in an unbelievable heat.
The dust, in the form of grains of sand, that covered the entire island, was kicked up by the residents who walked the crowded market to run their errands, and carried along the paths of the small town by the warm wind.
Among the large number of residents were two strangers at the moment. One of them, the vice and first in command of the Whitebeard Pirates, was following the path at the edge of the marketplace to run some errands. The crew had only anchored here briefly to fill up a few supplies and then wanted to sail on straight away. The second stranger was a young blue haired girl who was snaking her way through the crowd right in the market square.
She walked lightly through the rows of people, behind her the roar of a passer-by she had just robbed, which of course clearly caused a stir. Actually, she was very skilled when it came to stealing, but somehow today wasn't her day. This was also shown immediately afterwards, after jumping over the last passer-by in the narrow passage, she looked over her shoulder to calculate how much distance she still had to her pursuer, when she smashed straight into someone.
Stumbling backwards a bit, she landed bum first and 'Oof' on the hot but still soft ground. "It's a good thing that there's sand here. It would have hurt otherwise," she rubbed her face, mumbling and muttering, wondering who the hell had put such a hard object in the middle of the path that she almost felt like breaking her nose.
"Are you okay?", she heard a male voice directly in front of her and she looked questioningly in the direction of the shadow that had bent over her. So it wasn't an object, but a man that she had apparently run into. The first thing that caught her eye was a hand extended to help her. "I'm not an expert on the desert, but you shouldn't necessarily run in these temperatures," she continued, while the blue-haired woman's head tilted slightly as she looked up along the tall figure and at the man's head arrived.
'A talking pineapple on two legs?' , it shot straight to her mind and she slid back a little further. Blinking a few times, she rubbed her eyes and thought she might be hallucinating or going insane. She shook her head in disbelief, it could only be an illusion and looked again at the tall man and in the face of the man she had just made acquaintance with.
Two tired-looking grey-black Iridians looked at her questioningly, had she not given an answer to the deputy's question, who was just wondering whether she had done something with the delayed reaction. Eyebrows raised, she didn't know what he wanted from her at first, but grinned sheepishly when she remembered that he had spoken to her and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment before she nodded hastily. "Yes. Everything is fine, thank you", the young woman answered his question before taking the hand he had given her. Apparently the heat really didn't do her any good when she was so distracted. "It's not so good with the temperatures, I agree, but unusual situations call for unusual measures," she explained in response to his finding while brushing the sand out of her clothes that it was really unusual that she got caught. She looked him up and down again briefly after she had straightened up again and something told her that he should look familiar to her, although she wasn't sure where from. But his impressive physique explained why the impact was so hard.
The young woman's attention swung to his chest and the prominent tattoo depicted on it that she felt she had seen before. But before she could think about it any further, her attention shifted back to her pursuer's roar, and the blue-haired looked over her shoulder. She noticed that the robbed almost made it through the crowd of the well-stocked market.
"Hold that bastard," came his wild yell as he pushed his way between the last two humans and stumbled, almost kissing the ground but still catching himself. The little thief hung her head. "My God, he has the endurance of a sled dog in the winter area and what does a brat actually mean here? I'm not 20 anymore," she murmured, finding her metaphor quite amusing, because at bottom she was such a dog, or rather had one living inside her, who absolutely couldn't stand this weather.
Just like you.
She was just about to turn around when she spotted something behind her pursuer. "He actually got a few followers there, too," she stated, a few more men who didn't look friendly had apparently joined them and they now resembled an angry mob that was on the hunt for a criminal.
Due to the lack of time, the young woman turned back to the man she had run into so elegantly and who seemed completely taken aback by the strange situation. "I'd like to extend my apologies and maybe offer you something to make it up to you, but as you can see I'm quite busy today. So a short apology has to be enough," she told him, despite the situation she was in, with a grin and meandered around him. She unobtrusively grabbed his bag on his belt, skilfully pulled it out of its holder and put it in her pocket, before simply walking towards the next fruit stand without saying a word of farewell. Pulling herself up on the wooden beams and standing on one of them, she hopped onto the next roof, waved at the stranger again with a broad grin and then disappeared.
Marco looked after her, still shaking his head in confusion and watched the men who ran past him and disappeared into the next alley. He wondered what she had been doing with the group of big guys. He didn't really have time to deal with it, although he had to admit that such a first encounter had never happened before. She didn't seem to have recognized him in spite of her clear scrutiny, which was a bit odd given that the crew was well known in these waters. Unlike the phoenix in him, who flapped his feathers in disgust, he was actually a little amused by it. It wasn't often that you ran into him and then left the field so quickly. It was more the case that space was always made for him or that in the event of such an accident he was perhaps invited to have a drink. Just when he wanted to turn away from the whole event, he noticed his roommate again, whom he had had since his youth and who became restless, which was directly transferred to his body. Running his hands almost automatically along his trousers and arriving at his belt, he felt that he had actually been relieved of an object. The question of what the men wanted from the woman opened up to him immediately.
"A little thief then."
He smiled and shook his head, it was also a long time ago that someone had dared to steal from him. His name and looks were actually enough of a deterrent, but it seemed a little different with her. Even if she seemed a little off the beaten path... .that she had never heard from the crew or him, he couldn't really imagine that. In fact, he developed a certain curiosity about her. He would soon find out what was going on with her if he needed his possessions again. "Well then, show me where the little one is," he turned to the bird inside. The two made a good team and Marco trusted that the phoenix would point him in the right direction.
In the meantime, Kyra was a little further, had moved in zigzag lines for a while over the roofs of the city, which luckily were close together and now jumped into a shady alley, sighed and leaned against the wall, which was hot despite the shadow. "My God, they're acting as if I'd killed someone and not just stolen a purse or two," she said and was relieved because after a quick look around she realized that the men seemed to be after this little hunt had left. Slinging the small sack containing her haul of the day over her shoulder, she stepped into the middle of the alley and turned one more time in all directions before wiping the sweat from her forehead and taking another deep breath. She hasn't been this out of breath in a long time.
"It's not my weather at all. I need something to drink first," she said to herself, holding her sensitive nose in the air for a moment before catching a scent and following it to the nearest bar. Her throat was completely parched and her stomach was up again as soon as she sat down at the counter. "What can I get you?" said the landlord and looked at her with a smile. "Water, lots of water," she ordered, feeling so many pleasant smells fill her nostrils that her mouth watered. "Besides, I urgently need something to eat. I'll take the noodles, steak, a large portion of rice balls and a sake," she decided. The barman looked a bit surprised when she ordered, but quickly recovered, nodded and put the water in front of her before he went into a room that was connected to it with a 'Coming right away'. Inhaling the large glass of water, she sighed contentedly and leaned back, pricking up her ears and listening to the conversations of the people here. Every now and then she was able to catch new targets for her robberies and she actually had to be even more careful than usual in the future. Normally thieves didn't stay long on an island or a place and both really weren't that big in this case, but she didn't have a chance to leave at the moment.
As soon as the delicacies were in front of her, she pushed all thoughts aside. "Bon appétit young lady. I hope you didn't overdo it with the order, I don't like to waste anything," explained the barman and looked at the young woman. He couldn't imagine that this petite figure could eat such portions. "But certainly not sir. Don't worry, there won't be any leftovers," she grinned, knowing the expression, and began to eat with gusto, and not in the manner that the men here were probably used to. She didn't spill or smear her face, but small pieces like the fine ladies enjoyed did not find their way into her mouth. She happily chewed on the large piece of meat and pricked up her ears when a murmur went through the crowd behind her. At first she thought she had been spotted, but only the sounds of a pair of shoes reached her ears, so she relaxed and continued eating in peace. She didn't worry too much about the words 'Marco, Phoenix and Whitebeard', because she had nothing to do with that either. She wasn't interested in gossip and as long as the hunters weren't around, everything was fine in her eyes. Though her thoughts wandered briefly to her encounter earlier and that strange tattoo, she was much more concerned about where she could go next. She wasn't exactly inconspicuous and in this city she probably couldn't stay any longer than necessary. She only had to be recognized once and then that was probably it. It was actually too bad, but then she would have to move on and look for a new area on this island where she could save something together. Maybe she should just get a ride with the money she's already stolen, although she wasn't keen on it. She had already made acquaintance with crews and troops on various ships at one time or another. It wasn't that she liked to travel alone, but her rather heavy nature actually often nudged and spread anxiety, which is why she was traveling alone for a long time.
A warning growl suddenly rose from within her, snapping her out of her thoughts as the figure finally moved across the room and sat directly on the stool next to her. Confused, she stopped eating and looked down as if she could see the dog inside before a familiar voice spoke up.
"The young lady's bill is on me, even if you have to ask her for the money."
Slowly looking up, she turned her eyes to the newcomer, with whom she had just made acquaintance today and looked into his amused face. With the words of the people in the bar in mind, she turned her attention to his chest, which was previously uncovered and sporting the tattoo she had briefly recognized. The fact that she was being followed and the shape of his head had been far more interesting after the collision than she cared about further. Through the words of the people, however, she recognized who was sitting in front of her.
