Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

I changed Ariun's age just so you all know!

Start

Law watched Ariun as she entered the room and looked around. The other members of the crew were conversing quietly, but multiple gazes fell on her. It would be the first time most of them had seen her clearly. She seemed to ignore them all, yet pay attention to them all at the same time. Her mismatched eyes scanned the room and settled on him for a few moments. Her lips twitched and he realized that she could probably hear all the conversations going on making him smirk slightly. Her head turned and her lips moved as she spoke to whoever was following her. He looked at Bepo as the bear murmured, "Captain Ariun is talking to Shachi, Penguin, and those other two guys."

"What is she saying?" He asked feeling slightly interested.

"She's wondering where they're supposed to sit," That made sense, "Will they be sitting with us Captain?"

Law thought it over before deciding that it would probably be for the best, "Yes."

"Captain will probably want you guys to sit with him," Shachi scratched the back of his head as he said that, "Ya know so everyone can see you guys,"

I nodded lightly before asking, "So how do meals go here?"

Shachi grinned, "Follow me."

We followed the blue hatted ginger over to where a buffet style table was set up. A man in black chef's hat with a frog sitting on top of it glared at Shachi before smiling at me, "Hello Darlin' names Buck."

"Hello Buck," The man held out a hand to me and I shook it, "You're one of the cooks here?"

"Yes Ma'am," He chuckled lightly, "The captain has three of us cooking though we it's highly likely that we're going to need another one,"

I hummed upon hearing that and was about to ask something when Kuro said, "Storm's a good cook."

I shot the man a glare while Buck asked, "Really?"

"Mostly baking though I'm a fair hand with knives," I looked at Kuro as I said that causing the man to flinch and back away from me slightly before I returned my gaze to the chef, "Just don't ask me to actually try to cook anything other than simple stuff,"

"Have a bit of a sweet tooth?" The man asked with a laugh.

"Yup though most of the stuff I make goes into this idiots stomach," I elbowed Kuro in the gut making him wince, "So what's for lunch?"

Maki looked at me knowingly as I changed the topic, but I ignored the idiot. Buck seemed a bit shocked at the question before grinning, "Today we're having shrimp scampi, chicken scampi, and some fresh fruit salad."

I immediatly grinned upon hearing the two meat dishes and asked, "How does all this work?"

"Tell me whatcha want and I'll give ya a plate of it," He answered, "Drinks are down the table,"

"Shrimp scampi and fruit salad please," Was my immediate answer.

"Like fish?" Buck asked as he set about making up a plate for me.

"So long as it ain't eel or puffer fish," I shuddered at the thought of those two.

"Allergic?" He asked making me nod.

"Puffer fish not eel," I answered, "Eel is just wrong,"

Buck nodded with a slight smile, "Tell captain that when he gives you your medical examination. He'll make sure to inform us of what you can and can't eat."

I nodded and took my plate when he handed it to me. I waited until the others got there food before heading down the table. I looked at the various drinks before grabbing some grape juice. Shachi led the way over to where Law was sitting and asked, "They're supposed to sit with us right?"

"Yes," I took the seat across from Law upon hearing that, "Enjoy the tour?"

I nodded as my mouth was already full of the delicious food. Law chuckled upon seeing that as Bepo asked, "Which one did you pick?"

I swallowed my mouthful before answering, "Shrimp," I looked at Law, "You have good cooks. I haven't had something this good other than soup in a long time."

Maki and Kuro gave me sad looks while the other four at the table looked at me in confusion. I didn't hesitate as I elbowed both for the sad looks as Law asked, "Why not?"

"A lot of people hated me remember?" I reminded him with a sardonic smile, "Certain shop owners and the like happened to overcharge me, so I couldn't get certain things,"

Law gave me an unreadable look as the other three gasped in horror. Shachi had choked on his drink once he heard me say that. Penguin had paled drastically. Bepo looked down right depressed. A warm feeling settled over me upon seeing their reactions. I glanced at my two friends and both looked at the others members of the table in surprise. I could tell that they would actually give these guys a chance now. I looked back at Law as he spoke again, "Did you do anything about it?"

I sighed softly upon hearing that question, "You would have to ask that wouldn't you," I looked at my food as I contemplated just how to answer that question, "Sometimes it's so easy to force people to do things. Sometimes it feels so amazing to watch people cower in fear as you walk by," My lips twitched into a melancholic smile, "In human or animal nature, you want to be the top dog. You want people to cower in your presence like the little rats they are. You want to tear them apart and make them see just how little they actually mean," I looked up at Law and captured his gaze, "But sometimes, you grow sick of it. You grow sick of the fear, the anxiety, the need to show that you're stronger than them, and so much more,"

The weight of her gaze was heavy and her eyes were tired as she stared into his eyes. Her voice seemed soft and whispery as she lost the dark tone she had used so far, "It becomes hard to act like you're better than everyone after so long. You grow weary of the fear they show you and you just want it to stop. Once you reach that point, you just stop acting like yourself. You start to ignore the world around you and become lost in yourself. You question everything you are and everything you've ever known," She shook her head lightly and turned back to her food, "It isn't worth it," She closed her eyes and sighed, "It never is. Trust me on that."

When she stopped speaking, he realized everyone in the room had been listening to her. After a few moments, they went back to their conversations though it was much more subdued. He continued to look at her as lunch continued. She stayed silent through the whole thing and when Shachi stood up, she followed him to deposit her plate in the usual spot before leaving. He turned his attention to the brown haired male, Kuro, as he spoke, "Damn Storm's in one of her moods."

"One of her moods?" Penguin asked curiously.

Kuro nodded though seemed surprised by the question, "Storm gets all sulky and antisocial when she talks about the bad parts of her past. Best thing you can do when she's like that is leave her be," He shuddered and rubbed the side of his face where a group of claw marks sat, "Trust me on that."

"Did she do that to you?" Law asked while gesturing to the claw marks.

"When she was around 15," Kuro answered with a grimace, "I pissed her off real bad on the anniversary of her mom's death and during her womanly cycle," He shuddered at the memory, "She was shaking, but I ignored it cause I thought she was just ignoring me," He smiled slightly, "Managed to give me these scars and completely shred my favorite hat,"

"You deserved it," The silver haired Maki smirked as the brown haired male huffed, "Don't even deny it,"

"I'm not," He glared at the silver haired male, "You have a few scars too,"

Maki chuckled and nodded at the interested looks he was given, "Yup though not in plain view like yours."

My hand was steady as I drew waves and sharp edges. My mind blissfully blank as I concentrated on the drawing that was coming together right before my eyes. An area shaded here and there, light in one area and dark in the other. Houses were formed as my hand moved. Snowbanks and snowfall forming with a slight movement. Walkways formed like spider silk. In time, the island and city I had once called home was formed. My heart ached slightly as I recalled that it wasn't likely that I'd ever see it again. Sighing, I set my sketchbook beside me on my new bed and leaned back. My fingers lightly brushed against the fabric of my scarf and I picked it up. I held it above me and stared at the silver patterns running throughout the entire fabric. I frowned up at it and murmured softly, "Mama I left the island to become a pirate. I left the place that holds so many bad memories, yet my heart aches. Is it because it was my former home? Is it because I'm leaving behind a life that I'll never get to see completed?" My eyes closed, "Would you be happy for me?"

Silence was my answer, I didn't expect anything less. My heart ached as I allowed the soft fabric of my scarf to fall to my chest. I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard a knock on my door. Opening my eyes, I sat up as it was opened. Hesitant purple eyes stared at me as a tentative voice called, "Ms. Snow Captain wants to see you."

My eyebrow twitched at being called that. I shoved my irritation down as I stood up knowing that whoever this guy was nervous and didn't know any better. I walked over to the door after setting my scarf down on my bed and opened it fully. The guy backed up as I walked out of my room and I got a good view of him. Purple eyes like one of mine only a much lighter shade of lilac rather than amythyst. He wore a grey newsboy hat over his messy grey hair. I noticed immediatly that he was young. Maybe 16 or 17 years old, but not much older. My lips twitched into a slight smile and I decided to play nice, "Hi my names Ariun. What's yours?"

The males eyes widened as blush spread over his cheek, "Kaze."

"It's nice to meet you Kaze," I decided that he was kinda cute, "How old are you?"

"16," He murmured softly, "How old are you?"

"21 though don't you know that it's a bit rude to ask a lady her age," His blushed darkened, "So are you going to lead me to your captain?"

"Yes," He started walking and I followed after him.

I noticed that he was kind of tense making me frown slightly as I wondered why. It could be because I was new and he didn't quite know what to do with me. It could be that he didn't know how to deal with girls. I shrugged those thoughts off as it didn't quite matter and said, "Kaze please just call me Ariun. I dislike using my last name."

He looked at me curiously and asked, "Why?"

I tried to keep from scowling as I murmured, "I dislike it," I decided to ask a question before he could continue asking his own, "Kaze when did you join the crew?"

"Three months ago," He answered seeming surprised at the question.

"Three months being a pirate," I hummed softly and smiled, "You must have been really out of your depth around all these guys. Probably thought they were as bad as the marine's made them out to be,"

"Better a pirate than dead," The boy muttered bitterly.

My eyes widened before softening as I noticed some scaring on his cheek. He had been hurt and hurt bad it seemed. My mind went over the pirates I've interacted with and I realized that a majority of them only became pirates out of necessity. I spoke softly as I walked beside this boy, "Many do not choose the life of a pirate. It is sometimes forced on them or it is the best option for them. Humans are disgusting creatures sometimes. They often hate and fear what they do not understand which leads to violence more often than not," I shook my head as the teen looked at me in shock, "The marines can be evil too and sometimes they are the worse than some pirates," A bitter and distant memory of the past rose, "Some people wonder why pirates exist," We reached Law's office and I put a hand on the handle, "Have a nice day Kaze and it's nice to meet you," I opened the door and walk inside before the boy can comment, "I hope we can talk again soon,"

End of chapter.