Alright. So, everything is probably gonna seem a little confusing to you at first. This is intentional. Gwenyth's brain simply doesn't feel the need to go into every little detail over what it now considers 'normal'. Of course, when a couple of inquisitive visitors ask, she'll explain everything to them.
And therefore to YOU, by default! If you read it, that is...
"PIRATES!" Gwenyth looked up from her sewing to see a man running past the storefront's windows. "MORE PIRATES ARE COMING TO SHORE!"
Gwenyth jumped up from the table and grabbed the tiny shield off the coatrack before running outside. She rushed to the edge of Toguchi where a small party of men had already gathered.
"Doctor!" She shouted. Dr. Yamata, dawned in some archaic battle armor, was trying to flatten his hair as he turned towards the girl. "What's happening? We've still got hours before nightfall!"
"Gwenyth! Go back inside, right now! We'll handle this." She stopped right in front of him, adjusting the straps on her shield to better suit her forearm. Though, it looked more like an incredibly thick, round piece of armor than a full-on shield.
"LIKE HELL! No way, I'm going with ya'll. If something goes down, I can help fight." She motioned to the large, sheathed hunting knife that hung from her hip. The good doctor sighed in frustration before heading past the blockade with the others.
"Fine, but only because we don't have time to argue." The men rushed towards the Western shore where the pirates had been spotted. "But stay out of fighting. Katsuya, rest his soul, would kill me if I let anything happen to you. So head straight back to Toguchi at the first sign of trouble, understand?"
Gwenyth nodded. The small party jogged to the beach as Lou, the lookout, explained the situation.
"There can't be too much of 'em. It was only two small sailboats coming from around the Southern bend, probably headed in from the East."
"Then why all the huff?" Gwenyth asked, a few feet in front of the rest of the group. Younger legs, and all that.
"One of them sails had a jolly roger on it. No doubt they're pirates. Though, it looked more like a clown than anything else."
"That's weird." Gwenyth mumbled before focusing on the dirt road. Once the beach came into view, everyone hushed. The Western shore was where Tabi's official dock had resided. However, it had been smashed to pieces during the first raid. There on the shoreline were two small sailboats, just as Lou had said. Everyone but Gwen quickly jumped into the surrounding bushes.
Gwenyth could make out only three people. One was a man with green hair and several swords, which made her nervous. But a girl with short orange hair bonked him on the head, shouting at him like he was a child. Which made him much less intimidating. The last one was a boy in a red vest wearing a straw hat, smiling and laughing about something. Probably the other guy getting hit.
They were an odd bunch, no doubt. But Gwenyth, standing no less than fifty feet away, didn't feel an ounce of fear. There was nothing about them that screamed for her to run away, or ready her weapon. They seemed like rather normal travelers, and without even talking to them, Gwenyth almost felt she could vouch for their innocence; swearing they had no ill intent for the island or its dwellers.
Gwen felt a pull on her arm, and looked down to see the doctor tugging her into the bushes to hide.
"Hurry, Gwenyth," He whispered," Before they see you!" Gwenyth looked back up at the group of alleged pirates.
"They look more like a group of fisherman to me..." She whispered, talking more specifically about the straw hat boy than anyone else. The doctor pulled harder, but the girl wouldn't budge. All that heavy lifting Katsuya made her do paid off.
"Gwenyth, please! They're pirates, they'll murder you in cold blood! That's what pirates do!"
"I dunno..." Gwenyth trailed off as the redhead hit the laughing boy. "That girl seems to have everything under control..." She thought for a moment before pulling her arm away from Dr. Yamata and walking towards the group. "I'm gonna go see what they want." The Doctor began to pat his clumpy hair down as he whisper-shouted for her to get back in the bushes.
The first to notice her a approach was the swordsman, quickly followed by the other two. She was a little worried now, seeing as how they were quiet and on the defensive. But she kept a strong face and stopped about ten feet away from them. Gwenyth flinched when the green haired man straightened his stance and rested a hand lazily atop one of his swords' hilt. The look in his eye said he was definitely a force to be reckoned with. She crossed her arms despite this.
"My name's Gwenyth Jones. It's nice to meet you. Who the hell are you, and what do you want from this island?" She said with more force than necessary. The boy with the straw hat grinned and jumped in front of her.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and we're pirates! Can I have food?" Gwenyth's hard face fell into open gawking. She also heard some of the men in the bushes fall over. This kid? A pirate? The other girl hit the poor boy over his head.
"DON'T SAY THAT, YOU IDOIT! NOW WE REALLY WONT GET ANY FOOD!"
"Eh? Pirates? For real? Ya don't look it." Gwenyth said, thinking back to the pirates in the movies and the ones who, not too long ago, stormed this very beach. The straw hat popped up again as though he hadn't just been clobbered.
"Yep! We are! I'm the captain, Zoro's the swordsman, and Nami's our navigator." He said in a childlike way.
"Uh..."
"Don't listen to him," The redhead, Nami, said from beside Gwen, pointing at the other two. "They may be pirates, but I'm just traveling with them for the money." Gwenyth nodded, though the whole thing was rather confusing, while Luffy began to pout and whine.
"So, wait a sec," Gwen pointed to the straw hat boy, "You're the captain?"
"That's what I said!"
"But if you're the captain... then you can't possibly be a part of that other pirate crew, right? 'Cause they already have a captain..."
"Ooh~ You have other pirates here, too!? SO COOL!" Luffy shouted with excitement in his eyes. Boy, was he loud.
"You want 'em, you can have 'em. We certainly don't." Gwenyth said getting in a bad mood. Straw Hat began to jump up and down, blabbering about the island having pirates and adventure. She wanted to punch him. Those pirates were no laughing matter. This group of people must have just been travelers who liked to pretend they were pirates. There was no way any real pirate would behave this way. Right?
"Oi, I've got a question for you girl." The swordsman, (was his name Zoro?) finally spoke up.
"My name's Gwenyth," She repeated, keeping a hand on Luffy's face to keep him from getting any closer to her. He was still blabbering on about having an adventure. Zoro ignored the two.
"Who're those people in the bushes?"
As if on cue, the men tumbled out and onto the beach, in a rather pathetic heap, shouting: "WE'VE BEEN CAUGHT!" Gwenyth felt a sweat drop down her head. She removed her hand from Luffy's face and crossed her arms again.
"Just some of the islanders. A look out saw the jolly roger on your sail, and we assumed you were another threat." She explained.
"It's not ours, it's Buggy's." Luffy responded with a nod.
"Who's Buggy?"
"I beat him up."
"Did you, now?" Gwenyth asked skeptically. He didn't even answer the question, she thought as another drop of sweat rolled down her head. Luffy nodded again with a "hm". This must have been his 'serious face', she mused. He was kind of adorable, in a childish way, but she could see why Nami liked to hit him. Doctor Yamata took this moment to stand in front of Gwenyth with his arms extended, much to her and the pirates' surprise.
"I'll never let you hurt our Gwen, you bastards!" The pirates stared at the man, tilting their heads in confusion.
"Calm down, doc." Gwenyth said pulling him back. "You heard 'em. They're just hungry travelers. They'll be on their way once we give 'em something to eat." The mentioning of food got Luffy all hyped up again. Dr. Yamata, whose left glasses lens was now cracked, began to flatten his hair.
"B-But you heard them, Gwenyth. They're pirates!"
"Yep, we are." Luffy nodded and Nami hit him again, shouting at him to shut up. Gwenyth laughed a little.
"Well, whatever they are, they don't mean any harm. Right, Mr. Captain?"
"Right! I just want food!" He said smiling. Gwenyth nodded.
"I know we don't have much to spare, so I'll just give them some of mine." The islanders went to protest, but Gwenyth quickly cut them off. "After all, this island is know for its hospitality. What would it say about us if we shooed away hungry visitors with nothing to eat? That would be very rude of us, ya know." She tut-tutted in a Maaya-like fashion. Bringing up their kind nature was a bit of a low blow, but it silenced the men nonetheless.
"Here you go," Gwenyth said, placing a bowl of fruits and vegetables on the now cleared sewing table. "Sorry I don't have anything else."
Her guests didn't seem to mind, as the two men devoured the food while Nami ate more like a human being. Gwenyth snatched two apples out of the bowl as quickly as she could. It didn't look like she'd have any food left over once they left. She wrapped the apples in cloth and put them in a cupboard, before picking up the discarded clothing from earlier. Sewing to the sound of her company's chewing.
"So, what happened here? To this island?" Nami asked after finishing her second piece of fruit. Gwenyth stopped sewing, and looked up at her guests.
"We're under attack." The three visitors jumped from their chairs.
"What!? Right now?" Nami asked franticly.
"I don't see 'em! Where?! Where!?" Luffy shouted, bits of food flying out of his mouth.
"Well, not 'right now' right now. But yeah, right now. Kinda..."
"What the hell does that mean?" Zoro grumbled sitting back down.
"A group of pirates from the West is circling the island. Their not letting anyone in or out. Not even trade ships with supplies we're beginning to get desperate for. How you guys ever got passed is beyond me. They've been blowing up every ship that's tried." She sighed. "Almost every night for the past few weeks they've come ashore and ravaged the island. Toguchi, where we are now, is the center village connected to the other five. Everyone who could ran here for safety and we've turned it into a stronghold. Which you saw. We can't leave the village by ourselves, even in the day time, because there are still groups of pirates hanging around. And because of them, it's all the more difficult to send out a search party to the other villages."
Gwenyth took a deep breath and put her head down. Trying not to cry in front of these strangers.
"Last I heard, Unmei, the village I was staying at... was burnt to the ground. It's the second furthest village from here, and, like I said, some of those fuckers are still on the island. So, we haven't been able to check for conformation... or survivors." Gwenyth's head popped up when she felt a hand circle hers. Nami gave her a sad smile, and Gwenyth could feel a sense of understanding. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her free hand, giving Nami's a tight squeeze with the other.
"Do you have family there, in Unmei?" Zoro asked, looking out the store window.
She nodded. "Yes, my... caretakers. They... They're the closest thing I have to family in this world. But, so far, our search party has only made to Dale, the closest village to the south. They only found six survivors before pirates started shooting at them... Four people died trying to make it back..." Gwenyth paused. Her silence was broken by a knock at the door. She looked to the clock on the wall.
"Oh! Right, um." She stood up, walking towards the door while still facing her guests. "It's almost time for the changing of the guard. I can't take you back to the beach, currently. So you guys can stay here if you'd like, or walk around a little. After I get off duty, I'll ask for some help escorting you."
"Gee, thanks!" Luffy chimed happily as she opened the door. A small group of women with children was on the other side.
"Hello everyone. Come on in, you guys," Gwenyth welcomed, opening the door wider. The children ran in as their mothers thanked her and said their goodbyes.
"W-What's going on?!" Nami shouted over the kids. Gwenyth closed the door with a small boy in her arms.
"I told you, changing of the guard. Those women are able bodied, so it's their turn to stand watch."
"But... they have children..."
Gwenyth nodded, shifting the toddler onto her side. "So do the men and woman coming off guard, and the men and woman who will be going on guard later."
"How many shifts are there?" Zoro asked before pulling his white sword away from a little girl with sticky fingers. Gwenyth placed the boy in a group of other toddlers.
"Four: Morning, afternoon, night, and midnight. Pretty much everyone has a shift, unless you have a necessary skill like me. Or Dr. Yamata, Chef Black, or her husband Smith Black, the blacksmith. But we have shifts to watch the children of the island. Mine is the afternoon shift, as you can no doubt tell."
"What's your skill?" Luffy asked, looking up from the group of children he was playing with.
"I'm the seamstress' apprentice. Since the pirate raid happened so fast, those who fled didn't have enough time to grab most of their things, including clothing. So I've been making some for the townsfolk practically nonstop for the past weeks."
"Why have the apprentice make the clothes instead of the master?" Zoro asked, standing on a chair while glaring at the group children who kept asking to touch his hair and swords.
"That's right!" Nami shouted with stars in her eyes. "Doesn't Tabi Island have a famous seamstress who makes beautiful gowns for cheap?" Gwenyth nodded.
"That's Granny Maaya. Her work is worth every Beri and more. But..." She looked down. "Like I said, my caretakers are in Unmei, so I'm the next best thing..." She felt a tug on her arm and saw a little girl.
"Hey, Gwen-chan? Can you sing us a song?"
"Yah, sing a sung Gwen-chan!"
"Yeah, pretty peas?"
"That's 'pretty please', dummy!"
"Oh, yeah. What he said!"
Gwenyth laughed. In the face of such dark times, she felt children needed to be distracted, less they get too afraid and end up becoming a hassle. So during her first few child-watching shifts, Gwenyth did nothing but sing and act out Disney songs and showtunes. This resulted in a sore throat for the next couple of days, but the children were much more comfortable with her 'babysitting' them while their parents were 'busy'.
"Alright, alright. What should I sing?"
"YOU CAN SING, TOO!?" Luffy shouted, possibly more excited than the children. She nodded smugly.
"Not professionally, of course. But I'm pretty damn good, if I do say so myself." She stated proudly, not at all ashamed to show her ego.
"SO COOL!" She nodded some more, basking in his loud praise.
"Oh, oh! I know what song, I know what song!" One of the boys shouted with his hand raised, much like a student in a classroom. Gwenyth pointed at him, still grinning wildly.
"YES, HIKARU, DEAR, WHAT SONG WOULD YOU LIKE?" She shouted, happy that the children were now able to recognize some of the songs she sang. It made her feel a little less lonely. Even if they usually called them by the wrong names. It was the thought that counted.
"Um, uh, the one... with the... uh... spoon... of... medicine?"
"A spoon full of sugar, you mean?"
"YEAH!" Gwenyth laughed and cleared her throat. She started off with Mary Poppins' small amount of dialog before jumping head first into the song. She danced around and with a few of the children as she acted out the words. She made faces and overly dramatic gestures, which they all reacted to splendidly. Even her more mature guests were smiling and keeping the beat in some small way. Her immature guest was just as loud and rambunctious as the children.
"Make a man! Make a man!" One of them called out when she was done.
"ALRIGHT!" Gwenyth shouted with a grin. "Let's get down to business!" She sang/shouted stomping her foot loudly on the floorboard. The children jumped up acting as troops, albeit more giddy and giggly. She hopped around them acting like she was their serious, unintentionally comical general. Though, all she would do was make faces and pick them up. Twirling them into different places and positions.
This included Luffy who, though she didn't pick him up, was laughing the entire time. She held his hands and spun around with him to the other side of the room and back. Both so dizzy once they returned, that he instantly fell down and she nearly tripped over his limbs. She attempted not to step on them, only to toppled over trying to help him up. They bashed foreheads which caused a loud string of curses to erupt from the girl. The onlookers were exploding with laugher throughout the entire spectacle. Gwenyth had long since lost her place in the song by then.
She continued her performance for the next few hours or so, until comically collapsing to the floor crying: "NO MORE! SPARE ME! NO MORE!" A round of disappointed "aw"s filled the shop, from children and pirate captain alike.
"Please? Just one more! Please?" A round of 'please'-ings filled the air around her. She sat up and looked at each of their puppy-dog faces before rolling her eyes and sighing.
"Fiiiiiine. But this is the last one for real! And it's gonna be a lullaby, 'cause that'll be easier on my throat." The children, and Luffy, nodded in agreement with shining eyes.
She cleared her poor, poor throat, though it was already accustomed to the abuse, as the children either sat or laid down around her. She cleared it again before singing a soft, low version of Ave Maria. Though it was technically a religious prayer, and Gwenyth was in no way religious, it was still one of the most beautiful and calming songs she had ever heard. Her notes were more airy than pure, but it seemed to add to the sleepy nature she was trying to give off.
Once she finished, all of the children were either droopy-eyed or dead asleep. The pirate captain was in the later group, snoring quite contently on the wooden floor. She stood up carefully and whispered to the still awake children.
"You guys can go play, but try to be quiet for the others, okay?" They nodded and slowly rose, walking away from the sleepers. Gwenyth smiled and walked back over to her still awake guests.
"That was amazing! Where did you learn those songs?" Nami whispered. Gwenyth smiled as she took her seat and picked up her work again.
"Thanks. There was this karaoke joint near my house. My friends and I would always go there after school to goof off. So the songs are practically etched into my brain."
"YOU'RE SO COOL!" Luffy shouted, now awake and rushing towards the girl.
"SHUT UP, ASSHOLE, YOU'LL WAKE THEM UP!" She said bashing his face in with a tin can full of buttons. The noise of which made the sleeping children twitch. Some even looked up before laying their heads back down and falling asleep once more. Luffy didn't seem to mind the new red mark on his face as he continued talking, thankfully quieter.
"You should join our crew! You can sing for us and make us stuff to wear!" Gwenyth blinked at him, finally finishing the shirt she'd been working on since noon.
"What?"
"That's a great idea! She can make me all sorts of clothing for free!"
"What?" Gwenyth asked again, glancing at Nami.
"No doubt we'll need a change of clothes or two when were on the Grand Line. But we still need a cook. Can you cook?"
"What?" She repeated, staring at Zoro like he was crazy.
"And she can sing for us! Our singing spleen-stress!
"What the hell's a spleen-stress?" Gwen asked looking lost, bewildered, and confused.
"That's seamstress, idiot! Get it right!"
"Right! That! Our singing seamstress!"
"I have no idea what's happening anymore..."
Oh, Gwenyth how I adore you~ She's so immature yet surprisingly responsible. How does she do that? I have no clue.