Wild Wind Ann

by kazekuro

Ann is a normal reclusive wanderer, all she wants to do is explore every island in the grand line. So why can't the marines and bounty hunters just leave her alone? And why does she care what happens to Ace?

4. Making the Hit

Chapter 4 Making the Hit

Soft candlelight twinkled through the open doorway as the maid stepped outside and bowed to the distinguished male entering without a word. The maid stayed low in her bow for a minute after he had entered the townhouse before following.

The shadowed figure watched the scene with mild curiosity from the hiding place between the shrubs, where she had been crouched for the past several hours. Not for the first time she thought nobles strange, it was already after midnight, a time when all good little nobles should be tucked into bed and, wait was there such a thing as a good noble? Food for thought, though this development could go one of two ways for her; one the guest provided adequate distraction insuring no one noticed anything out of place, a good thing, or two, it would mean getting caught, very bad. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on but one thing was for certain, that was not the fiancé.

XXX

Earlier that day…

"Haha, look it's the ugly duckling!"

"Eh, who would want to look at that?"

"Yeah, this ugly duckling can't turn into a swan." Amidst the circle of jeering teenage boys knelt a young woman; strawberry blonde dreadlocks obscured her face as she set about quietly picking up her fallen produce.

"What's going on?" Ann had stopped halfway through her third circuit of the Noble area to watch the disturbance curiously.

"That's Svenja."

"And-"

"Well everyone knows that the widow only employees handsome men. Svenja is the only woman she's been known to employee. Vain like that she is."

"Of course she would go for the eye candy, probably even a little on the side too."

"Are you kidding? It's an honor to be chosen to work for Lady Suuhai! A well respected distinction for the men and their families to be acknowledged as one of the most good looking gentlemen."

"So they are only eye candy?"

"Of course, the lady would never do such a thing, not with servants!"

"Oh, so you've asked them?" Ann was glad to have found a gossip but really the woman was starting to annoy her.

"Heavens no, as if I would talk so with mere servants! Anyone can see that the men are dazzled by her presence, just as commoners should be in regards to their betters."

"Uh-huh." Ann wasn't convinced; everyone seemed to think that this Lady Suuhai was a saint. Even the guys from the bar didn't seem to think badly of Suuhai. It was one thing for the nobles to believe in Suuhai, but for the commoners as well, something was off and it was in Ann's best interest to find out what.

"Here" She approached the girl slowly, holding out a fallen fruit to Svenja with a small smile. The girl barely looked up carefully keeping her hair over her face as she reached to take the fruit. The teenagers stop in their taunts to watch as Ann knelt down and helped pick up the groceries. After everything was gathered it became apparent that one of the bags had split and not all of the groceries would fit in the remaining bags.

"Allow me," Ann offered already gathering the remaining items in her arms. "I'm Ann."

"Mmm" The girl looked at her from behind her hair and though the girl had a docile demeanor Ann felt her sharp assessing stare. Ann remained smiling hoping she came off as nonthreatening and after a few nerve-racking seconds Svenja gave a slight nod as she turned towards the direction of the townhouse.

"You know I really like your hair. How do you get it to do that?"

Silence greeted Ann's question yet again. She had been trying to engage the maid in conversation since they had started walking and here she was back at the house minutes later and the most she had gotten from the girl was the "Mmm" when Svenja sized her up. Not going well for her at all, at this rate she wouldn't make it through the front (or was it the back door that servants where allowed to enter?).

Ann franticly racked her mind searching for something she could use to get into the house without causing suspicion. But time was up the pair had already reached the back door and Ann sighed accepting that she would be stumbling around that night when she made the hit. Except when she looked up ready to give her burden to Svenja the maid just jerked her head towards the open doorway before going in herself.

Ann could barely contain her excitement now the job would be so much easier and that was how she preferred it. In and out going straight to the goods and back out was not only the easiest but also the safest way to go about a hit. Stumbling around in an unknown place was just asking to get caught so many things could go wrong as it was but add the fact that one doesn't know the layout you could potentially stumble into an occupied room or have a midnight snack-er and not know where to safely hide.

Ann practically skipped through the door, "Wow, I've never been in a nobles house before!" To anyone else it looked as though she was excitedly looking around and trying to take everything in at once, but unlike others who tried to see everything at once only to forget the details later she missed nothing and wouldn't forget.

"This is so cool, who owns this place? They have great taste! Would I be able to get a job here? Do you like living here?" Ann rattled off questions as she helped Svenja put away the groceries. She didn't give the girl time to answer though she doubted that she would have gotten one even if she waited all day.

"Do you think I could use the restroom before I leave?" Ann asked as the last of the groceries were put away. "Please!" she gave a small pout.

"Yes, wait till I tell my friends that I used a nobles bathroom!" She left the kitchen swiftly following the direction Svenja had pointed out. Svenja had been a tough cookie to crack but it had been worth all the fact peppiness and giddiness, though she just might need to puke a little once she got out, great taste my foot. Ann worked quickly and quietly learning where each room was located and what all was in them before heading back to the kitchen to take her leave.

All in all a very satisfying day, by the time she left the house Ann knew the exact route she would take from where she would enter to which rooms she would hit and the order in which she would hit them. Now the only thing she had to do was wait until nightfall.

XXX

Present…

Patiently Ann sat back on her heels giving the household time to settle. After another hour had pasted she rose, stretching her muscles sore from lack of movement. The man had yet to leave the house, but enough time had past that the two should be otherwise occupied and the servants should all be back in bed. It was a bit risky but what in life wasn't? It just added to the thrill.

Staying low Ann slipped up to the side of the house, third window back. After a quick peak to make sure all was clear she opened the window, which earlier in the day she had unlocked and made sure to close it back before she moved on. Ann drifted down the hall making a few pit stops along the way to nab a few shiny things that had caught her eye. Her ultimate goal though was the back room office where the safe was tucked away.

The last room before the office though peaked Ann's curiosity. The rest of the house had been dark but from this room, the room she had pegged as the master bedroom had a soft red glow emitting form the slightly ajar door. She had expected some light might come from there but a red light? Ann crouched down next to the door and looked inside. On top of the king sized bed lay the man with Suuhai riding cowgirl style. Normally Ann wasn't one to watch and would have continued on with the hit right away if not for the fact that the red glow wasn't coming from a candle with a red shade. No it was coming from Suuhai herself or more aptly the necklace she was wearing, not only that but misty wisps like things were coming from the man and looked like they were being absorbed by Suuhai.

Now that was unexpected, she had thought that the nickname 'succubus widow' had come about because one the woman was a widow and two her name, Muma, could be translated to succubus. Ann wondered if they knew just how apt the name really was. But as entrancing as that was she needed to get back to the business at hand. It really wasn't her business what nobles did to one another.

XXX

Newspaper Article

Guests were disappointed yesterday as the highly anticipated wedding of one Suuhai Muma, beloved second cousin of TenryūbitoSaint Roswald, and Kizoku Sebastian Glen was postponed yet again. The grand event was originally set to take place months ago in the Grand Line but was postponed so the ceremony could be held on Hiougi, Sebastian's home island in East Blue. Attendees had gathered in the church anxiously waiting the first glimpse of the bride, but as the organ began to play the bride was nowhere to be found. Though they didn't think much of this at first, it was only after some time had pasted the worry sat in.

"Suuhai had a flare for being fashionably late, but there is such a thing as being too fashionable late. It was quite troublesome really, and frankly I had never known her to be so late." Commented a long time friend.

At this point the shocked party could only speculate on what had become of the beloved bride to be. Just as the guest were about to leave Suuhai stormed in, an hour late, still wearing her everyday cloths, and clearly furious. Her anger became apparent as she told of her plight and encouraged her peers to go home and check their things for the previous night a burglar had somehow managed to slip into her townhouse undetected and steal everything of value. Including her prized 'Shinkai no Tama'; a rare teardrop ruby pendant attached to the priceless family heirloom, tiny rainbow black pearls entwined in a golden chain. Suuhai was always seen wearing the 'Shinkai no Tama', she told reporters she never took it off.

Little is known about the burglar, one can speculate that he is highly skilled as he somehow managed to get passed the night guards posted at the Noble District's only gate, enter the townhouse without waking Suuhai or her servants and vanish into thin air with all the money and valuables from the safe as well as lifting her necklace from her very neck.

"Everything else was undisturbed, the windows and doors properly closed with nary a mark, not even a dirty footprint marring the recently waxed white marble floor, almost as if he flew in on a silent wind."

A surveillance snail was able to take a blurry picture of the intruder as he opened the safe. Though he wore all black and almost blended into the night completely we were able to deduce that he is of average height, between five-five to five-eight feet tall, based on the placement of the snail. A few strands of blonde hair could be made out, peeking out from behind is mask and wild brown eyes appeared to stare right at you from the picture as if they could see into your very soul.

Thought this is the first time we have heard anything about this masked burglar the marines are preceding with caution, fearing that this is just the beginning and are offering a 45,000,000 reward for the capture of the man they have dubbed "The Wild Wind".

Suuhai herself is also offering a reward for the return of her necklace or any information regarding its whereabouts.

XXX

Translations:

Svenja: german for swan, feminine form of Sven

Suuhai: worship/adoration/admiration/cult

Muma: nightmare/incubus/succubus/demon appearing in a dream

Tenryūbito: celestial dragon

Kizoku: noble; not to be confused with, Sekai Kizoku, world nobles

Hiougi: folding fan/blackberry lily

Shinkai no Tama: shinkai means, deep sea; tama is royal stone (tama reference from Inu Yasha)

Note: I will be writing names as they are spoken in Japanese; example Suuhai Muma, Suuhai is the surname and Muma the given name (that is if the person in question has both and/or both are known). So with Muma's character the story has turned slightly supernatural, of course I kind of think OP already has a supernatural-ish feel to it, hello devil fruits, sea monsters, and mermaids? It's not too hard to imagine a succubus entering in now is it?

Songs that contributed to the making of this chapter:

Devil in Disguise- Elvis Presley

A/N: I hope this turned out okay I kinda only skimmed through it real quick before posting, I had most of this written over a month ago just needed to finish up a few scenes. And I know, I know, there's way too much time in between post I apologize. I ran out of free time faster than I thought I would. I had hoped to be farther along before the end of November because, sadly, I've been living at work for the past month and barely had time to sleep. But I got a great idea thanks to that short hiatus from writing, a slight change to my original plan, but I think it makes it better. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of the story so I can update at least every two weeks if not weekly. I have parts of each chapter written up to my current chapter 10 (I really want to get to chapter 10 soon, it's the scene where I came up with Ann's character. (Sometimes I wish I had started out there but I wanted to add a little background first.)). Feel free to flood my inbox to push me into posting faster.

Memmi, Bisepadi & Shiary: Thank you guys so much for your wonderful reviews. I get very excited each time I see a new review or new alert/fav subscriber.

Original Post: 1/1/12