[[ Character bio #]] indicates a character sheet—you can find them located in my other story Character Sheets. Look for the chapter title that matches this chapter.

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I awoke to someone shaking my shoulder.

"Ma'am, we sail in a bit. Sergeant Hilik told us you were needing a ride."

A rough sounding voice disturbed my nap. Grumpily I cracked an eye and looked up at him.

"Not a ma'am—'M a Jasmine."

"Miss Jasmine it is then." The marine grinned down at me as he offered a hand up.

I sighed and accept the hand up before dusting off the sand and grabbed my bags. I checked my stats and saw that I'd slept 2 hours and gotten 200 stamina back and my spirit bar was full. "Thanks for coming to find me. I didn't mean to miss the ship coming in."

He shrugged. "It's no issue. Gets me out of hauling the prisoners below decks. The name's Private Gregor." He held his hand out to shake, which I did.

"Is there food on board? I have some munchies but I didn't pick up too much food." Probably should have gotten some more food rather than clothes but a girl has her priorities!

"Dinner will be in about an hour."

We walked towards the large ship that loomed over the smaller caravel next to it.

"What's going to happen to the pirate's caravel?" I asked curiously. I couldn't have it but I did want to know what marines did with the ships.

"This one will be sailing with us actually. It's in really good repair and it saves us from having to commission new ships. They'll probably transfer it to the Grand Line since their captain apparently paid extra money to have it coated special. Normally ships in the Blue seas don't need the extra coating, but the Grand Line is harsh and the coating keeps the wood safer and hardens it."

"Nice." Apparently my observation earlier had missed it; I was too low level or just not skilled in the right thing. "Can I help out on board? Just sitting around will get pretty boring."

"You'll have to ask the Captain or Lieutenant to be sure. But what can you do."

"I know the basics of sailing, can sing, brew a bit, fight…" Read forbidden languages—not mentioning that ever! "I'd like to learn more about sailing, like navigation or just broaden my knowledge as is."

"Well if you're willing to learn, somebody will be willing to teach! But since you know the basics already just tell Captain or Lieutenant that and they'll probably put you in the riggings. We're always stretched thin on the prisoner ships since we have to guard and sail with limited amounts of space and personnel."

"Thanks! Can you show me where things are on board? And where not to go." I should probably avoid the prisoners since I put some of them there! And bathrooms; I hope they have a bath but that's probably not happening.

"You'll be bunking with our Lieutenant who is also the first mate; she's the only female on board and said she'd share her cabin so you could be safe." He sounded a bit amused at this for some odd reason.

"I can take care of myself." I said. "Though she's very kind to offer." Maybe she had a bath?

"Ma'am! Private Gregor here with the passenger Jasmine!" My guide suddenly barked out as he straightened up and gave off a snappy salute; a complete 180 from the earlier lazy aura he gave off. I looked at the woman he was addressing; she was taller than me by a good foot and built like a beast. A beautiful streamlined beast at that! Talk about muscular perfection! Feminine but oh so deadly. Her short cut red hair was slightly wavy and held back by some black barrettes. Perfectly tanned skin that accentuated her sharp cheekbones and muscles. Warm dark brown eyes you could drown in- dear lord, I'm getting poetic! This is bad.

"Welcome aboard the Gilded Lily." Her voice was super deep; it practically resonated in my bones! I wish my voice was that deep and epic and soothing and just... wow. I think I have a crush.

"I am Lieutenant Alyna, first mate of the Lily."

"I'm Jasmine, ma'am. Thank you for letting me bunk with you." I manage to say without embarrassing myself.

"The honor is mine. It would be unchivalrous of me to do otherwise! Is there anything you will be needing while you sail with us?"

"Um… I don't know if you have it but a bath?" She could talk to me all day! I saw Gregor smirk at me from the corner of my eye. The cad! He knew this would happen! Alyna just radiated power, honor, princely sparkles and safety. I'll have to get him back for this. You should warn a girl about situations like this!

"Ahh- I can help out on board! I know the basics of sailing, how to rig and –and stuff… I can also entertain with songs if it's needed. I also have an erhu I was thinking of learning to play." I offered and fought back the tide of red I just knew was trying to attack my face. Down embarrassment! Down!

"A musician and a fighter?" She gave a delightful smile and I swore there was the sound of maidens swooning... oh wait that was probably me. "You are quite the gem! If you would report to the quartermaster at first light he can assign you to help the crew. We rotate shifts a lot so when you are off shift we do have a bench in front of the mess where your music should be able to reach the majority of the ship." A call from the captain drew her attention and I shot Gregor a glare before turning back to the lovely Lieutenant.

"It appears I have duties to attend to. Gregor, make sure you show her where she'll be staying. There is a bath in my quarters that you may use. There's less than an hour before dinner begins to be served so you'll need to bathe quickly if you wish to beat the first round. Otherwise the second shift serves dinner in three hours." She nodded and walked away. I stared in silence for a bit.

"You knew this would happen." I said mildly to Gregor who snickered.

"Happens every time. She has a fan group of pirates and marines!"

I punched his shoulder; "Warn a girl about things like this! We need time to prepare our hearts for such glorious visions."

"But the reactions are so funny! And varied!" He rubbed the spot I'd punched with a loud laugh and led me onward. "Lieutenant is special. I hear they hide her from the world nobles so that she doesn't get stolen."

I wrinkled my nose. The filthy nobles would just demand and the lovely lady would be forever reduced to being one of their arm candies! Never!

"I take it that she's on this ship so that pirates see her on purpose? I bet she gets a looooot of recruits. She's like a walking poster child of honor and prince-ly aura's and perfection!"

He laughed but didn't deny it. "Here's her cabin. The mess is located on the bow of the ship, through the double doors."

30 minutes of heaven later; I emerged from the cabin all squeaky clean. Also apparently bathing grants back stamina. I am now the proud owner of 310 stamina. Resting gets me 20 per hour and I was only in there for half an hour so it must be the bath! All hail the powers of cleanliness!

Feeling a bit better I headed to the mess hall; perhaps I could sing a bit tonight or find a teacher for my various skills. Even if I didn't have the actual skill for it I bet I could still learn a bit about how the erhu worked, it just wouldn't be able to be used for Bardic Magic.

My days took on a routine; spend the morning working the rigging and leveling up Sailor, early afternoon I learned to play my erhu from a sailor, late afternoon I sang, evening I learned from the navigator on duty for a bit. Sparring occurred either in the morning before the riggings if I got up early enough or right before dinner. The marines were kind enough to let me join in; it was how I managed to get the most amount of experience since leveling up skills didn't advance up my actual Level.

On day two my Mind and Body both went up by one through strenuous exercise and using my brain to learn new skills without skill points.

On the third day I found myself leveling up in the middle of a spar. It was against the lovely Alyna too; she'd almost beaten me when the level up hit.

You have overcome a handicap!+10 experience for fighting despite your crush!

It was the last 10 I needed and the immediate refilling of my stamina and health made me grin as I dodged her incoming blow. As much as I enjoyed watching her fight, I needed to not be distracted by beauty and I'd tossed my glasses aside earlier. Now I leaped up from the deck and continued the fight; I was going to fight to win! Her blows here heavy and fast; it felt like getting punched by a rock!

I tried for speed and lots of small hits, trying to wear her down as I dodged and set up for a leaping attack. Eventually I managed to set it up; leaping up I swung with all my might, trying to put down the glorious beast that I was sparring. Sure she was gorgeous—but I wanted to win!

The Lieutenant laughed and braced herself, an odd black gleam shone on her crossed arms as my bamboo staff hit—and broke.

Loss vs Lieutenant Alyna (spar) +40 exp

"….. I call cheating." I said as I stared at my broken weapon before glaring at the taller woman. "That black stuff—Is that the… Haki I've heard about?" While I'd 'heard' of it from my skill lists I had never actually seen it nor figured out what they looked like.

A glorious chuckle was my response as she nodded. "Buso-shuki no Haki. Some call it Armament Haki. I specialize in it."

She had to have 20's in her Spirit and Body to grab that skill! No wonder she was so strong!

"Gregor! Fetch a new staff for our guest! Shion- pull it from my pay. I broke it so I will replace it." Alyna turned to the quartermaster who nodded.

"Most do not know of Haki unless they are from the grand Line." Alyna stated curiously. "Where did you hear of it Jasmine?"

"I'm from Ohara. I read a lot." I answered with a shrug. "I've got a book of legends with me right now actually that mentions haki and a lot of the feats legends of the past used it for." Not saying I learned of it from character creation!

"Ah! The Tree of Knowledge! That explains much." She nodded with a faint smile. "Most of the people from Ohara are researchers searching for lost places… are you going to join your fellows?" She asked it easily as if it was a simple question. To me it felt like a loaded question and I merely smiled and shook my head.

"Nah, just out to see the world, learn new things… eventually own a floating tavern where I can brew and sing while still traveling and letting others taste the delicious drinks of my home!" And search for lost ruins, and treasure and read Poneglyphs. But that was far too much like a pirate so I didn't mention it.

"You did mention you brewed earlier." Gregor said as he came back with a new staff. "What do you know so far?"

"Sweet Ohara Sake, Sinbad's Sinful Wine, and Sparrow's Rum!" I chirped, "My teacher gave me a guide on what tools I'd need for when I finally manage to get a ship or set up shop."

"It is good to have a dream. Especially one so caring as yours! Most leave home for glory but here you wish to share the bounties of your homeland." Alyna declared enthusiastically. "You will have to contact us when you find your dream ship and start off!"

"We'll have a huge party there!" Gregor yelled happily. "Ohara sake is the best!"

"I prefer the sake of Sabadody." Shion said with a laugh. "Though Sparrow rum is rather good as well."

"I do intend to have more than just those three." I laughed. "I'm intending on learning from the various places I visit and collect as many recipes as possible!" I looked at the staff; it was made of redwood with small iron bands along it. It dealt a little bit more damage than my other one but looked far sturdier; perhaps it would hold up better than simple bamboo.

"Thank you very much!" I said as I bowed in thanks. It was something I hadn't realized I would need. But if I was to make it to Grand Line, I would run into a lot more devil fruit users and this would probably save my life. I took my leave of the marines as they headed to dinner; instead I headed to take a bath and level up.

I'd gained a stat point, feat as well as a skill point for level 3! Odd numbered levels were so nice!

Stat point (1 stored)

Skill Points: (1 stored): They may be used to level up an existing skill or used to gain a new skill.

Feats (1 stored)

I could learn the erhu! Or I could learn Navigation… Or any skill honestly! My stats were not high enough for me to grab any of the Haki's sadly. I could increase my brewing since I wasn't going to be able to level it sometime soon… I sighed. No that would be a bad idea; save that for later. I need to grab something useful.

Navigation- Level 1 (limit 3) 0% to next level. You know how to use maps, stars, and compasses to guide a ship. Further increasing will allow you to sail without stars, maps, or compasses.

Since I was here and there was already a willing teacher; I could advance this as fast as I could. Teachers made leveling skills faster after all! Maybe I could max it by the time we leave.

Now for feats. While in the bath I scrolled through them all, noting the increased number of them all. A few caught my eye.

Bring Me Meat!: Eating Meat replenishes health faster. The more delicious the food the more health it grants back. Meat also decreases the effects of lingering Wounds.

Calm Mind: You can keep calm under stressful situations. You cannot receive a Panicked status effect. +2 to Mind stat.

Defensive Fighting: You specialize in fighting defensively. Your opponents damage is halved but you deal half damage as well.

Loot Senses Tingling: Your ability to sniff out loot and find it is impressive: you can practically hear the gold calling you! +1 Luck

Second Wind: One per week you may use this ability to get a second wind while in battle. It returns 50% of your missing Health, Stamina, and Spirit.

Sleeping Beauty: Sleeping doubles the amount of your regeneration while asleep. It also removes all status effects and reduces the effects of Wounds.

Being able to regen faster would be nice; as would being able to just eat and regain health! Right now I was restricted by how long I could train by my stamina; as such I grabbed Sleeping Beauty. As I leveled up I would grab the rest.

And last but not least: stat points. I wanted a 20 in Mind and Spirit for Observational Haki. But speed was what I used a lot in fights, and I knew by exercising and learning I increased my mind and body passively, though it was taking longer to increase it each time. Maybe if I do some speed training like dodging while running it would help increase speed.

Spirit was lagging behind a bit so I increased that.

[[Jasmine ch 3 bio 1]]

The coming week went by rather quickly; I did not quite reach level 4 by the time we docked at Kellbar Island, though I had managed to max out sailor, navigation, bo staff, and singing. Now if only I had a floating brewery already! I really wanted to brew some drinks! I had some ideas I'd written down for non-alcoholic drinks but had no way of creating them just yet.

I waved good bye to the crew; I'd grown rather fond of them during the week and a half I'd sailed with them. Marines were nice people! Least these ones were; I blame Alyna for that. She'd actually managed to convince half the prisoners to become marines and turn over a new leaf! All hail the glory, might, and beauty of LT Alyna!

I headed into town, squinting in the bright sun. Perhaps a purchase of a new hat was in order. My combat boots hit the ground with a satisfying sound as I sauntered into town. I was feeling good but a bit lost. Where to go from here? I had my goal; a floating tavern where I lived and sang and brewed. Now I needed experience so I could make a name for myself and become strong enough to defend it! I would serve both pirates and marines! It'd be a neutral ground; but to do that I would need to be strong enough to inforce my rules and keep people from destroying my place.

Also to travel the Grand Line and 4 blue seas and collect all the brewery recipes I could! And go visit all the places in my book of legends. And learn ancient history. Wow I had a lot of dreams!

It would mean I needed to either start my own crew or join one. I was probably going to join a pirate crew; even if it meant disappointing LT and Gregor! Pirates just had the freedom to do what they wanted so long as they could get away with it!

A bold headline caught my attention and I bought the newspaper to read it:

Pirate King Gold Rogers Captured! World Government Declares an Execution Date!

AN: dun dun dun! A slightly smaller chapter but a fun one I hope :3 If you find any issues please toss me a message so I can fix it! I did some back editing as I figured some errors out but since I'd written 3 chapters then changed some stuff there might be items I missed.

Thanks for the reviews as well! It makes my day when I see those happy messages!

See Jasmine ch 3 bio 2 for updated stats.