I return! Would've been back sooner, but, as usual, Real Life had to stomp in and take up the majority of my time. Besides that, do you know how long it takes to edit and format these chapters? Not something I can do in half-an-hour. Anyway, check the Author's Note and the bottom of the chapter for explanations on this chapter.

Review Response: Dear Lightsbane1905, hey there! Yes, yes they do. Can you blame them? No problem, I try to answer whatever questions reviewers come up with, barring ones that would require divulging spoilers. I can see what you mean as well. Depending on the story, an OC can have too much knowledge. Wren's not an SI, by the way. Agreed! Stories that deviate and explore new possibilities are fun. Some of them can be a bit dark though. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Dear skyfir, hello there! Why thank you! Also, here is the next chapter!

Dear Dragon Lord Draco, hello! Saw your edited post/PM thing, so, glad you think Bickslow losing his temper is awesome! I enjoy writing Protective!Bickslow moments.

Dear Sky65, hi there! Yep. But it also has advantages to weigh out the disadvantages if you look close enough. I mean, there's got to be an enhanced healing factor going on in that guild when you consider how tight the timeline is. Half a year between Lucy joining and Acnologia blowing up the island. Only six months for ALL THE ARCS IN BETWEEN to take place in, yet the cast is almost always healed up and ready to go by the next one. It's weird. No problem! I hope this chapter lives up to expectations!

Dear EmberFlame03, greetings! I'm glad it helped cheer you up! Hopefully this chapter finds you in a good mood as well.

Dear powerrangersfan364, hey there! Glad to hear it! He is adorable this way isn't he? Hard to imagine this Laxus as the same one who started the Fantasia Arc fiasco... (sighs).

Dear 9462641, hi! (Panics) Don't die! Then you won't be able to read the newest chapter! (holds out chapter as revive). It's ... not the worst cliffhanger I've ever written though and it certainly won't be the worst one in this story. Just a heads up there. (cocks head) It is? Well. I'm happy that it made you happy. I always reply to my reviewers as best I can, assuming they aren't a troll or FanFiction hasn't gone Invisible Ninja Review on me again. Ah, loneliness, good choice of words. Well, mentally Wren is much older, and that kinda shows in how she treats them. She doesn't put up with their shenanigans all that much, and she's trained them to fear her bad mood (in a good way, not an abusive one). Thank you, I try to be realistic without being depressing. I never understood stories like that, where the hero just ... KNOWS the exact magic needed right off the bat. It just ... makes no sense. Especially considering that Wren (for example) is self-taught until recently... Anyway. Here's something to help with the last cliffhanger, though there's kinda one at the end of this one too. Kinda. Honestly? No idea. I just ... try to write it out as if I'm transcribing a movie. Play-by-play, emotion-by-emotion, without getting too tedious. I suppose the simplest answer would be practice. Lots and lots of practice and arguing with my Inner Editor. Evergreen and Freed with both still join the Raijinshū, don't worry. As for how soon ... not sure. I'm thinking it will be the next 'arc' after this one, but I'm not sure how many chapters this arc is going to be and if there are any 'one-shot' style chapters that will butt-in before I move on to introducing the last members of the Raijinshū. We'll get there eventually though. I hope your essay went well!

Dear Anonymous, greetings! Huh, unintentional good timing on my part then. Here's the update! Eh, I can promise that none of the main cast (Wren, Laxus, Bickslow, Cana, etc) dies, but other than that...? Yes, Fairy Tail Luck always amplifies the chaos as much as possible before it provides a solution (even if that solution is usually 'punch problem in the face').

Dear RunFromTheMedic, hello! Happy to hear it! They'll be making return appearances I'm sure. Thank you for your patience, here is the next chapter!

Dear aprillynd, hello there! Glad to hear it!

Dear Ori Heartlyng, hi! He is a very devoted big brother, so yeah, no touchy sister. You'll see what happened to Cana in this newest chapter, as well as what Wren is up to. Happy to hear you enjoyed the chapter, and yay! Stick around as long as you want! Here is another chapter for you (makes grand gesture with hat).

Dear BizzyLizy, hi there! Not really, but Fairy Luck comes with Fairy Impulsiveness. Both are incurable. Really...? Wow, I'm ... floored. And happy that this story has managed to garner such praise. Thank you for the compliments! You're welcome, and here is a new chapter for you!

Dear Guest, greetings! What wrong with call him- (thinks, face-palms) oh. OH. Can I just go on record saying that that was NOT intentional? I don't watch that anime, though I've heard of it and watched a clip or two out of curiosity, so ... yeah. At least now I know why my subconscious kept insisting that Sebastian was the perfect name for a butler...

Author's Note: SO! Remember when I did a sorta-crossover/heavy reference with Tora the Demon Cat? This chapter is gonna be like that. Only with a different anime and in spades. But be warned, the characters from the non-Fairy Tail anime are going to be both younger than in their original anime and in very different circumstances. Why? Because this isn't (in my head) an actual crossover of universes, but Wren encountering the dimensional counterparts of characters we know from a different anime. I mean, in this story, we are operating on the assumption that the Fairy Tail world is real, so why wouldn't at least SOME of the other anime/manga be the same? And if they are all parallel/alternate universes, why wouldn't there be a few counterparts running around in them? Because you have to admit, the similarities some of the characters have across anime is eerie (Kageyama and Shikamaru anyone? They even slouch the same). So anyway, that means while the counterparts will be recognizable as counterparts (if you know the anime I'm referencing) they're lifestyles, situations, and ages won't necessarily be the same when we first meet them. Make sense? I hope so. More explanations on other stuff at the bottom. This is the only one I can give without giving out spoilers. Let me know if you know what the other anime is! (you guys probably will, considering EVERYBODY knew the 'my cabbages' quote...). Finally, let me go on record by saying that the muses stole this chapter even more than usual, so I have about as much idea where we're going as you do. What fun, right?

Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my OCs, who have taken off with my plot.

Chapter Twenty-One: Stowaways and Deals

(Three months, two weeks, two days since joining the guild)

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Thatch blinked, pausing in mid-motion to stare at a shadow. Strange, could've sworn I saw something move back there… He narrowed his eyes and slowly set down the basket of potatoes he'd been about to leave with in favor of inching toward the apple barrels with a hand on his sword, if it's more rats, so help me-!

Stepping as quietly as he could, Thatch crept up on the apple barrels before shoving one aside, "Alright you rats-!" He blinked and faltered when he saw nothing. No rats scurrying away, no scratch marks or other signs that a rat had even been there. But I could've sworn that something was here! More motion flickered on the edge of his vision and Thatch whirled just in time to catch a glimpse of what looked like a large black … spot flee into the shadows.

Thatch stared at the shadow into which the black spot had vanished and debated what to do. On the one hand, he couldn't just leave an intruder, whatever kind it was, unchallenged. On the other … well. The Captain and several of the others may not believe in ghosts and such things, but Thatch was a touch more superstitiously minded.

So, his choice was to try to flush out the spot again and determine what it was all by himself, or go get backup and risk it slipping off to another part of the ship. He was a competent swordsman if he said so himself, so in all theory he could handle the problem without need for aid. Plus, if he did retreat for backup, he was sure the others would never let him live it down. Then again … it had been a black spot. That moved. All by itself.

The sixteen-year-old held a staring match with the potentially dangerous shadow for several seconds, hand clutching his sword-hilt tightly while pride warred with superstition before he came to a decision, "Marco!"

A minute or two later, Marco stood, unimpressed, amid the barrels and crates that held their food supply, "So? Where's this 'living black spot' of yours, yoi?"

Thatch pointed over Marco's shoulder from his position safely behind the older pirate, "It went into that shadow! I swear Marco!"

Marco exhaled the heavy sigh of the exasperated and sauntered toward the indicated shadow. Thatch fidgeted, "Careful Marco!"

Marco shot him a bland look before he walked right into the shadow itself and calmly tapped a foot. Several seconds passed with nothing at all happening. When the seconds had finally turned into a minute, Marco said, "Thatch…"

Thatch fidgeted and scanned the other shadows, "But it was there, Marco! A big black spot that moved under its own power! It must have changed position while I was gone."

Marco heaved another sigh as he wandered out of the shadow, "Well, I think you've been spending too much time reading those horror novels-"

"Native folk tales!" Corrected Thatch agitatedly.

"-Of yours, yoi. You probably just imagined i-" A loud clatter-thump cut him off and both pirates turned to see the broom that always somehow ended up hidden in the corner rather than in the broom closet tip over.

They also saw a large inky spot of color with no owner disappear through the doorway just before the door was slammed shut by something neither could see.

Thatch turned back to Marco, torn between saying "I told you so" and panicking over the fact that he was right and a living Black Spot was now loose on the ship. Marco stared at the door for a long moment before he groaned and pinched his nose with a hand, "That thing locked the door on the way out, didn't it?"

Thatch tentatively approached the door and tested it. The knob jiggled uncooperatively in his hand, "Yep."

"Out of the way." Brushing past Thatch, Marco unlocked the door and pushed it open. They both stared at the seemingly empty corridor beyond it before glancing at each other.

"Tell Oyaji?"

"Tell Oyaji, yoi."

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Edward Newgate sat in his makeshift office and futilely fought down his temper and the headache that came with it. The raid had gone off well enough, but Jozu had accidentally brought along a passenger on the last box and the Captain had gone into a rage over it. Newgate had barely managed to deflect the Captain's ire away from the stubborn little girl who had bravely, if foolishly, jumped onto the box just as Jozu retreated with it, but now he had to deal with an unwanted prisoner and Jozu was scheduled to be flogged for one little mistake.

Once again, Newgate toyed with the wonderful idea of finding a proper body of water, a long piece of rope, and keelhauling the cruel piece of sea-slime who called himself their Captain. Captain, bah. He wouldn't know the meaning of the word if it stabbed him with a sword. A light scuffling sound across from him made him look up from glowering at his desk. The little girl froze in the middle of her attempts to slip off of Newgate's spare chair. She glared at him defiantly from underneath a small curtain of her hair, but Newgate could see the fear flickering in the brown orbs.

He sighed, trying not to remember what it was like before their current "Captain", when such a child would have been welcomed into the crew rather than be locked up and, supposedly, held for ransom. Though who I am supposed to ransom her back to is the question. Pulling thoughtfully at his mustache, Newgate rumbled, "I wouldn't try to escape little one, I will not bother you, but the Captain and … other members of the crew would not be so lenient if you left this room."

The girl continued to glare, "Let me go!"

Newgate stood up and moved around his desk to the girl's chair, politely ignoring her flinch at his large form approaching. Patting her gently on the head he reassured, "Once we know who to send you back to, child."

She bristled under his touch and growled, "The guild will kick your butts into the next century for this." So, not a guild-less mage child. I had thought not, but still.

"Not if they do not wish you to come to harm." He retorted mildly, "And as long as you do not cause trouble, you will be back with your guild very soon. Tell me child, what is your name and which guild are you from?"

The girl studied him intently, as if trying to decide whether or not to answer his questions. Finally, she caved to his patient, un-hostile stare and muttered, "I'm Cana. Cana Alberona of Fairy Tail." Newgate stiffened and mentally swore. So she hadn't been exaggerating when she had declared that her guild would wreak havoc over her capture, no matter how accidental is was.

Newgate had heard many stories of the guild from Magnolia and while they were humorous to hear about, he certainly had no intention of allowing his children to suffer their wrath because of their idiot Captain. And if that man finds out she is from Fairy Tail… Newgate's jaw clenched at the thought. If he found out just what guild Cana belonged to, the Captain would either demand a fortune for the child's safe return, or he would order her through off the ship at once. While the ship was still moving at high speeds.

Taking a deep breath, Newgate patted her head again and gave her a grim smile, "I wouldn't tell anyone else that little fact, Cana-chan. The Captain would not take kindly to knowing that he has a Fairy Tail mage on board the ship." Seeing the look of fear that flashed across her face, Newgate exhaled softly and moved back to his side of the desk. Rummaging in one of the upper drawers, he carefully pulled out a small bag that none but a chosen few knew of and shook out three of its contents and offered them to the girl.

Cana-chan looked at the candies in his hand as though they might get up and bite her, "What are those?"

Newgate raised an eyebrow, "Candy. I usually keep a stash of them in my desk for when my children drop by."

She blinked incredulously at him. Her expression conveying that she found the concept of a pirate having children, let alone giving said children candy, somehow astounding, "You have kids?"

Newgate couldn't resist the tiny smile that flickered over his face, "Oh yes. Several. They are part of the crew in fact." His smile faltered and then fell, "They used to be the majority of the crew, actually."

Cana-chan quietly took a candy from his hand, her aggression fading into curiosity, "Used to be?"

Newgate fought to keep a scowl off of his face, "Yes. Before the 'Captain' took over and brought in his swill." His words were sharper and more candid than he meant for them to be and Newgate flared his nostrils in an attempt to rein in his rising temper again. He really hadn't been getting enough sleep to deal with this sort of thing. What with having to constantly keep his children from getting into fights with the other members of the crew and the Captain from taking his petty frustrations out on the people he knew Newgate cared for.

Cana-chan rolled her small candy in her mouth, body tensed to run if his temper snapped, but her curiosity roused, "You don't like your Captain? Then why do you follow him?"

His magic stirred within him angrily, threatening to rise only to be abruptly blocked and slammed back into his core with an all-too-familiar twinge. Newgate growled and ran his fingers idly over the necklace encircling his throat, "Because we have no choice anymore."

Cana-chan was staring at the necklace, a strange look on her face, "Is that-?" Before she could finish her question, there was a loud, shuddering thud from the door, as if someone had just run into it. Newgate looked up as there was a pause, a muffled yelp of pain, and then several demanding raps on the door.

Newgate glanced down at Cana-chan and motioned her wordlessly to come around to his side of the desk. She peered at him suspiciously for a second before fear of whoever was on the other side of the door overrode her fear of him and she scampered around to hide under his desk. Once she was out of sight, Newgate called gruffly, "Who is it?"

"It's Marco and Thatch, Oyaji. We need to talk to you, yoi."

Puzzled, Newgate circled around to the door and, keeping an eye on his desk in case Cana-chan made a foolish escape-attempt, unlocked his door. The moment he opened it, his two sons hurried inside, Thatch looking decidedly nervous and Marco looking … unsettled. Shutting the door and locking it again, Newgate asked, "What has happened, my sons?"

Thatch sputtered agitatedly, "There's a black spot on the ship, Oyaji! A black spot!"

Newgate didn't have time to ponder over Thatch's vague and unhelpful statement before Marco had lightly cuffed Thatch on the back of his head to calm him down and elaborated, "There was a moving … something down in the hold. It looked like some kind of shadow without an owner-"

"Or a living black spot!" Thatch interjected nervously.

"… or a living black spot," Marco grudgingly acknowledged, "and it escaped the food hold before we could stop it and disappeared somewhere in the ship, yoi."

Newgate frowned, "Are you certain it wasn't an illusion of some kind?"

Marco shook his head, "It could interact with physical objects, yoi. It knocked over the broom in the corner and tried to lock us in as it left."

Newgate pulled thoughtfully at his mustache, "A mage who has somehow gotten on board then?"

Marco shrugged helplessly, "If it is, the mage isn't using any magic I've ever seen before."

Thatch was glaring suspiciously at the shadows in the room, "Do you think it could be a demon of some kind, Oyaji?"

Newgate shook his head, "Doubtful. From all accounts I have ever heard, demons aren't very subtle. Or non-confrontational. You said it retreated from the room once you entered?"

Marco dipped his head, "Pretty much, yoi."

Newgate pondered over that for almost two minutes, idly stroking his mustache as he tried to figure out how to find and identify the "black spot", as well as its possible intentions, without alerting the Captain to anything being amiss. He didn't want to risk adding another of his sons to the flogging list or worse, depending on what the Captain would decide the black spot was.

"Well, Oyaji?" Thatch finally broke the silence, "What do you want us to do?"

Newgate opened his mouth to speak when a tentative voice piped up from behind his desk, "A-ano…" startled despite himself, Newgate whipped his head around to stare at Cana-chan. The girl had emerged from underneath his desk and was now standing there, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt as she eyed them. Newgate noted how her gaze flicked up to his, Marco's, and Thatch's necks and lingered there for several moments before she resumed speaking, "I might know what the 'black spot' is…"

The three men exchanged glances before looking back at Cana-chan. Marco tilted his head, his half-lidded eyes barely hiding the curious gleam in them, "Really now? Care to enlighten us, yoi?"

Cana-chan fidgeted again then took a deep breath, "On two, no, three conditions."

Newgate raised an eyebrow at her audacity. She was one small girl potentially going up against two men and a teen. Had they been anyone else, the chances of her getting seriously injured or traumatized for speaking up and revealing her potential knowledge would have been very high and without her magic, she would have been helpless to the assault.

As it was however, "We are listening, Cana-chan."

Cana-chan took another steadying breath, "First, you have to promise not to hurt Wr- the black spot." So, the mysterious spot is a person, and someone she knows. One of the children from the train perhaps? I certainly hope not. Newgate tilted his head at Cana-chan acknowledgement, "Second, y-you have to let both of us go." Definitely a person then, and a friend at that.

Cana-chan faltered for a long moment, biting her bottom lip. Newgate distantly admired her courage in getting so far with her conditions, even if speaking up was still a foolish thing to do in her situation. Marco wandered closer to her and crouched down, his eyes locking with Cana-chan's as he prompted softly, "And the third condition, yoi?"

Cana-chan straightened her shoulders and Newgate was surprised to see the fire come back into her eyes, "You have to tell us how to free you."

All of Newgate's thought processes jolted to a halt. Beside him, Thatch sucked in a sharp breath and Marco jerked back from Cana-chan so fast he overbalanced and fell onto his back with a soft, in-human trill of shock. Newgate exhaled slowly, trying to recover from the astonishment a mere eight-year-old had given them.

Pulling himself together, Newgate shot Thatch a meaningful look. Obediently, his son darted to Newgate's door, unlocked it, peeked out, then shut it and locked it again with the soft murmur of "clear Oyaji".

Marco sat up and draped one arm over his knees as he stared wide-eyed at Cana-chan. Newgate strode past his seated son, towering over Cana-chan and clearly intimidating her with his solemn stare. Still, the little girl stood her ground and stared back up at him with a knowing fire in her eyes that told him she was not bluffing. Sighing heavily through his nose, Newgate finally said, "I believe it is time for us to have a serious discussion then, Cana-chan." He waved a hand to the chair she had been seated on minutes before, "Sit."

Cana-chan sat down nervously on the indicated chair as Newgate sat down heavily in his own and folded his arms over his chest, "Explain your 'third condition', Cana-chan."

Cana-chan mimicked his position, crossing her tiny arms over her chest as she said quietly, "I'm a Card Mage, so I don't know Letter Magic that well. But," brown eyes flicked up to meet his and darkened with a knowledge no child her age should possess, "I do know a locked Jutsu Shiki Item when I see one."

She pointed at the identical necklaces around Newgate's, Marco's, and Thatch's neck, "You said you didn't have a choice but to follow your Captain any more, so I'm going to assume he's the holder of the Jutsu Key, which means you can't take those off without his permission, which he obviously won't give. My guess is that he somehow tricked you and your … kids into putting those on and now you're stuck following him even though you really, really don't want to."

Cana-chan shrugged and pressed her lips together in a dark scowl that shouldn't have been intimidating on someone her age but very nearly was anyway, "What I don't know, is what are your specific rules, and how can I help you get out from under this ratfink captain's thumb?"

Newgate sat back very slowly in his chair, refusing to entertain the rash flicker of hope trying to build in his chest, "What would you stand to gain from doing such a thing, Cana-chan?"

Cana-chan tilted her head gravely, the fire in her eyes growing a bit bigger as she answered with more conviction than he would have expected from an eight-year-old, "Freedom for the both of us."

Newgate exchanged long looks with the two of his sons that were present in the room. To even consider accepting the help of a child her age was foolish. Foolish and dangerous for both sides involved. There was no guarantee that she could help, no guarantee she would have the courage and intelligence to follow-through, and even less guarantee that this all wouldn't end in the captain finally getting fed up with them and executing them all.

Images of the deep whip scars now imbedded into the backs of his children flashed through Newgate's mind. They were followed swiftly by memories of the agonized screams and blood that had flowed freely to the ground in the process of getting those scars, and of the dead bodies of other "hostages" that the captain had killed even after getting his demanded ransom.

The current state of affairs could not be allowed to continue, and this girl, this child, was quite possibly the only chance they would get for years to come.

Well. Fairy Tail was rumored to have crazy luck, and his old friend Roger had always joked that desperate times called for crazy measures.

Newgate looked back down at Cana-chan, "Very well, Cana-chan. Free us, and you and your … black spot will go free as well." Cana-chan flashed him a relieved smile before she grew serious again and Newgate rumbled, "What do you need to know?"

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Rihanna peaked cautiously around at the section of deck on which she was hiding and stepped out of the shadows with a sigh of relief. Staying in Shadow Form for so long was draining, not to mention nerve-racking. She had been searching the pirate ship for what felt like hours now, but had still found no sign of Cana. She could only assume she was being held prisoner in one of the officers' quarters, possibly even the Captain's, because Rihanna had checked almost everywhere else.

Huddling against the huge coils of rope all clustered on a section of the stern, Rihanna mulled over her options. She couldn't leave the ship. It was moving too fast to jump, she was too tired to teleport, and she couldn't abandon Cana anyway. Still, she wouldn't be able to stay hidden forever, and there was no way she'd be able to defeat an entire pirate crew on her own.

If only I'd stayed with Laxus and Bickslow. Then I'd be able to come up with better plan. One that involved having backup. For the hundredth time, Rihanna cursed her impulsiveness. Fairy Tail Luck wasn't the only thing wearing off on her it would seem. Huffing through her nose, Rihanna popped her head up a bit to scan her surroundings for any approaching pirates. She didn't want another incident like what had happened down in the hold.

I wonder why those two haven't sounded the alarm yet though … maybe they assumed they were both drunk or hungover? They can't still be stuck in that room can they? Or is the quiet some kind of plan for a trap? Her thoughts were interrupted by the clattering of many feet and the rolling murmur of several conversations as pirates suddenly began to gather around the central mast. Rihanna tensed, ready to hide in the shadows even as she peaked over the ropes to see what was going on.

There was a lot of grumbling going on as more pirates emerged from belowdecks or climbed down from the other masts to stand next to their fellows. Rihanna was momentarily puzzled over the clear division among the pirates. The majority of them, who lived up to the dirty, tattooed misery stereotype, lounged around on the left side of the deck looking bored. The rest, a motley collection of people ranging from young adults to teens, stood in tense, rigid silence on the right side and glared at those on the left.

Between the two groups was enough space for at least to men to walk shoulder to shoulder without bumping into each other, and it was clear from the growing pressure in the atmosphere that something was about to happen. This … doesn't look good. After several long moments, the door leading below decks slammed open again and a few more figures came out.

One was a man Rihanna could only call a giant. He was at least twice as tall as the tallest man on deck, possibly three times, and had a build to match. His greying blond hair fell down to his shoulders and his shirt was unbuttoned halfway to show rippling muscles and a few ugly scars. His jaw was clenched and his neck muscles taut as he looked stone-faced over the assembly. The pirates on the right side of the deck shot the man concerned glances and Rihanna assumed that he was on their side in whatever internal strife was going on in the crew.

Standing at the giant's side were two other figures whom Rihanna recognized as the pirates she had locked in the storeroom on her way out. What did they call each other? Thatch and … Marco, wasn't it? So they're with the giant, huh?

The fourth figure to emerge from the doorway jumped up onto the railing of the second level with a flourish, successfully drawing the attention of everyone on deck with his casual acrobatics. Unlike most of the other pirates, this one was dressed very finely. He was wearing an old-fashioned waistcoat of deep emerald that was held closed by glittering silver buttons, his boots were black knee-high laced-up leather affairs from which his pants ballooned out slightly and he had a large, engraved purple earring on his left ear.

All in all, Rihanna didn't need to be an expert on pirates to assume that this was the captain. The man adjusted his hat and flashed a smile that was all teeth and no warmth at his crew, "Well now, everyone! You all know why you're out here this fine afternoon, don't you?"

There were cries of assent from the general assembly, eager ones on the left side, tense muted ones on the right. Unfazed by the looks the pirates on the right shot him, the Captain swept his hands out, his smile still in place, "During the raid today, you lads retrieved the required cargo from the train, well done! An extra mug for all of you when we get back to port!"

A cheer began to rise from the pirates on the left when the Captain continued, his smile morphing into sneer, "Is what I would say had you all not been made fools of by a bunch of sniveling brats. Oh, don't think I didn't see it all. How you were knocked about and held at bay by children, barely able to get away with the last of our prize in time!"

Baring his teeth in a feral manner, the captain stared down his crew, who were now all looking away or even shuffling with something akin to fear in their eyes, "You should all be flogged for the incompetency you showed today. Where it not for the fact that you did, in fact, manage to retrieve our prize, I assure you that you would be flogged this very hour."

He tilted his head, his expression turning darkly smug, "As it is, I will let you off with a demonstration. This fool," he pointed a hand accusingly down at the door below him and on cue, yet another pirate stepped through the door, his expression flat and grim, "allowed one of the brats to grab hold of him as he returned to the ship. He allowed a stowaway aboard my ship rather than simply knocking her off of him and letting her fall like he should have. Now, the brat will be ransomed for compensation for the trouble she gave us, but Jozu's incompetency must be punished."

Looking down at the stone-faced Jozu, the Captain said sweetly, "You know the drill, Jozu. As you captain, I order you to go stand with your hands on center mast and your back bared." Jozu twitched and Wren thought she saw something around his neck glow briefly before he strode forward and did as commanded. That can't be right … why is he just letting the captain flog him? He isn't even chained up, shouldn't he at least … protest or something?

The Captain jumped down from his perch on the railing, unhooking a long whip from his belt and un-looping it idly as he approached the bare-backed Jozu, "I will not stand for incompetency or insubordination aboard my ship." The whip suddenly snapped out and Rihanna gasped silently at the long line of blood that bloomed across Jozu's back. Jozu grunted, but made no move to dodge or retaliate as the whip lashed against his back again, and again, and again.

Ten lashes came and went and Rihanna felt her blood begin to boil the longer the captain gleefully lashed his subordinate's back and Jozu gave muffled snarls of pain. This is wrong. This … this is wrong! Pirate or not, he doesn't deserve this! Not for Cana's recklessness! Not for a simple mistake of timing!

The whip landed on an already opened patch of skin and Jozu's muffled snarl morphed into a genuine cry of pain. Rihanna stood up, her fists clenching as she reached for her shadows with the intent of putting a stop to the spectacle-

When arms wrapped tightly around her from behind and dragged her back, around the corner of the second level and out of sight of the travesty happening on the center deck. Wren bucked in the grip, her heart slamming against her ribs as she twisted around to bite the arms holding her captive. Her teeth found skin and she bit down hard, prompting a strangled yelp from her attacker, "Bloody barnacles-! Stop that! Stop biting!"

Her captor kept her voice to a strangled whisper, which confused a part of Rihanna's mind even while the rest of her struggled to get free. One hand let go of her just long enough to smack the back of her head. Rihanna hissed through her teeth, struggling to see past the stars that had exploded in her vision. Her daze caused her to loosen her grip on her attacker's arm and her captor hastily readjusted to her grip pin Rihanna's mouth shut, her captor hissing something in her ear over and over the entire time.

Rihanna reached desperately for the shadows again when the words being hoarsely whispered in her ear finally registered, "Friendly! For the love of rum, I'm a friendly!" Rihanna paused, more out of confusion than actual belief in the stranger's words. Taking advantage of her brief pause, the stranger murmured tensely in her ear, "You're Cana-chan's friend, right? The black spot Thatch was whining about earlier? Cana-chan cut a deal with Oyaji. I'm supposed to take you to her so she can explain stuff while everyone's distracted with- well, you know."

Why should I believe you? Rihanna twisted her head around as best she could to glare at the person holding her. Apparently, her sideways glare conveyed her thoughts because her captor sighed and muttered, "This better be worth it … look, I'll let you go if you promise not to attack me or strangle me or go off and do something stupid till I've explained stuff to you, 'kay?"

Rihanna debated that for several long seconds before deciding it was worth the risk, and the chance at freedom, and nodded. A moment later, the arms pinning her in place disappeared and Rihanna whirled to fully face the stranger, backing up a few steps for good measure as she glared.

The stranger turned out to be a scruffy thirteen-year-old with short, shaggy chestnut hair and a bland expression on her face as she examined the bite Rihanna had inflicted. The stranger shot Rihanna a grudgingly respectful look as she tore off a piece of her shirt and wrapped the bite mark with it, "Not bad. You've got sharp teeth." Rihanna leveled her darkest glare at the stranger in reply.

A small part of Rihanna preened when the other girl visibly blanched and flinched away from her look, "Okay, okay! My name's Haruta, I'm one of Oyaji's kids. Oyaji is the giant of a man you probably saw. Anyway, some of us want nothing to do with the Captain and the filth he's brought on board, but we can't leave or kick him off the ship 'cause of these." Haruta fished out a strange necklace with a bunch of runes on it that looked vaguely familiar to Rihanna, aren't those the same runes Freed uses in the anime?

Hastily stuffing the necklace away again, Haruta rocked back on her heels, "Your friend Cana-chan made a deal with Oyaji that if you two helped free us from the Captain, Oyaji would let you two go scot-free. But Cana-chan needs you to help complete whatever plan she's got going through her head and so Oyaji told us to keep an eye out for you and take you to Cana-chan if we spotted you." Haruta shifted impatiently in place as she finished, "I was going to introduce myself nicely, but then you were about to go out there and get yourself killed, so I had to grab you. Anyway, we don't have much time before the Captain and his lot aren't distracted anymore so we need to move now."

Rihanna narrowed her eyes at Haruta, trying to decide whether or not to believe the hurried and abridged story. On the one hand, this could be her chance to find Cana, on the other, it was probably a trap. Rihanna glanced left and right, debating on whether she should just run away, when Haruta interrupted her thoughts, "Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but if I really wanted you captured or killed, wouldn't I have dragged you out of cover and hollered for everyone's attention?"

She … has a point on that. Haruta gave Rihanna a pleading, impatient look and, reluctantly, Rihanna gave in to her more impulsive side. I just hope I don't regret this.

She gave Haruta a curt nod and the young teen's shoulders sagged briefly with relief before she grabbed Rihanna's wrist and began dragging her away, "Come on, there's a trapdoor over here for emergencies, we can make our way to Oyaji's office from there."

Rihanna followed Haruta down the trap door and through the labyrinth-like ship until they eventually climbed back up a ladder and slunk to an unmarked door. Haruta knocked quietly on the door and hissed, "It's Haruta, one of Oyaji's kids. I've got Wren."

There was a pause and then the door cracked open to let them inside. Dragging Rihanna into the room, Haruta said hurriedly, "I've got to get back to the … back on deck before anyone misses me. Remember to keep quiet in here, the Captain has ears like a bat, I swear." Not waiting for a reply, Haruta hurried back out, closing the door behind her.

Rihanna watched in silence as Cana locked and barred the door with care before turning back to the blond standing in the middle of the room. Rihanna scanned Cana for a moment before she allowed herself to relax a bit, she isn't hurt. That's a mercy. She even has her bag of cards still. Was that part of the "deal" Haruta mentioned?

Cana stepped forward to grab Rihanna's hands, "Wren-chan! I was so worried! What were you thinking stowing away on board a pirate ship? You could have gotten hurt!"

Rihanna's mood instantly soured and she leveled a very long, pointed look at Cana, and what exactly did you think you were doing? Cana blanched at Rihanna's look, she was experienced enough to know the gist of what it meant. Carefully letting go of Rihanna's hands, Cana took a step back and made a gesture of surrender, "I can explain?"

Rihanna kept her dark look, but added a raised eyebrow, do try.

Cana gulped and motioned toward the two chairs in the room, "Maybe we should sit down for this … it's kinda complicated." Rihanna huffed through her nose as she stalked over to a chair and sat down. Of course it is, we're Fairy Tail. We don't do simple.

Translations: Oyaji - Dad, Pops.

Explanations: Thatch and Marco had no idea what to make of Wren's Shadow Form (black spot) because Shadow Magic is a relatively unknown and underutilized magic. Most people who know them are in the Mage community, which Thatch and Marco are not, and those who do know of it assume its flimsy and kinda useless. Especially compared to the magics were you can set your opponent on fire, blow them up, mind control, etc. Thus, nobody really talks about it, and it doesn't show up in the storybooks as anything more than the magic of the useless minion (no offense to Kageyama).

As for the bad guy Captain: Not much I can say about him or his magic or even his motives without giving out spoilers, but I will go on record saying that I think Jutsu Shiki is a very underutilized magic in the anime. So is Letter Magic in general. I mean, those magics turn the phrase "words have power" into a literal thing and yet we hardly see it used, and most of the time we do it's only in a minor role (minus the Fantasia Arc, where Freed was scary-awesome and Levy rocked). I personally think both of those, especially Jutsu Shiki, could be very versatile and very DANGEROUS if used in the right way, which I will try to elaborate on more in the next chapter. Also, the Captain is not Blackbeard's counterpart, he's an OC I made just for the occasion.

Haruta as a girl: Yes, I know that in canon Haruta is a guy, but the first One Piece story I ever read had Haruta as a female, so since my knowledge of One Piece and the Whitebeard Crew is tiny enough as it is, I'm rolling with that interpretation. Hopefully, that won't bother anyone, I mean, I pulled the same thing with Soundwave in AMOSC (if for different reasons).

Newgate agreeing to Cana's offer: Not much I can say here, other than he really is desperate, weirder (and stupider) things have happened in the actual anime (letting a barely literate kid and a kid with an unconscious habit of STRIPPING BUTT NAKED traipse all over the countryside by themselves comes to mind), and whenever I tried to rewrite the scene, my muses pitched a fit and refused to let me write any further. So there you go.

I think I've covered the important bits, but as always, feel free to ask questions. Just be nice about them 'kay? Soapboxes and flames will not be appreciated.