Leaving

On seeing the new ship and being told by Iceberg to take Franky with them by any means necessary, Fox left the 'abduction' to the men and set about loading their possessions on board and retrieving from Swift Hunter the things Nami had entrusted to her. Fox also retrieved the egg Nola had given her, as it was showing signs that it would be hatching soon.

Franky had been as good as his word and Fox had a small workroom all her own and a slightly larger bedroom. They were placed adjacent to the main men's and women's quarters, the bedroom below the workroom and the two connected by a hatch and brackets on the wall that could be climbed up in the place of a ladder. Both rooms were narrow, but deep: the bedroom on the main deck level was only as wide as her new double bed was long, but said bed only took up the rear third of the floor space. The workroom was slightly narrower due to the shape of the foredeck, but still perfectly adequate for what she had in mind. Franky had installed a long bench attached to the wall in the workroom, one that ran the cabin's full length with cupboards underneath it. Fox would have plenty of room for her various projects and treasures.

Her Eternal Pose equipment and Phantom outfit would remain with Swift Hunter, as Fox could not afford for either to be associated with her pirate identity, but she had plenty of other things to bring on board, like a good chunk of her wardrobe, a wide assortment of weaponry and the associated gear for her various hobbies.

Fox had not had much time for hobbies on the Going Merry; she had initially been too wary to reveal that much of herself to people she barely knew, then as the Merry had become more damaged she simply hadn't had the time or the energy for them. This new ship however was strong, incredibly strong, so she could while away her time with a clear conscience. The white-haired woman's main hobby was making her own clothes; she made clothes for a few other people as well from time to time, but being a solitary soul meant she wore most of her own creations. All her flower-print garments were homemade. She also liked to embroider, knot and occasionally knit –her mother had taught her and her enslavement had honed her skills to a professional level– as well as draw and write. The only hobby she had kept up throughout her time on the Merry was thoroughly chronicling everything that happened in her latest logbook: her father had taught her reading, writing, mathematics, geography and navigation out of his own logbooks and she was meticulous in keeping up her own in his honour. They contained everything from the day's date and weather to sketches of local wildlife and the ship's approximate location, as well as a litany of daily activities, meals eaten, random thoughts and observations.

Fox was also obsessive about keeping up her training; being an assassin meant the vast majority of her skills could be honed in the privacy of the Merry's forward cannon deck. She had not always been sleeping when she retreated there, though she had thus far allowed the crew to think so. Now her secret was more or less out in the open however she intended to train somewhere more visible, if not actually on deck. She was also looking forward to a chance to spar against Zoro in a more open and varied environment than her private dojo. Letting her skills rust and failing to take every available opportunity to learn more would mean disrespecting her shishou; Fox would not bring shame to the man who had made her the most dangerous woman alive.

Once Franky had capitulated and finally boarded Luffy's new ship –not to mention put his swimming trunks back on– Fox pitched in with the rest of the crew in helping set the sails. Usopp had not appeared, leading Fox to suspect he wasn't coming at all. She wasn't sure how she felt about that; on the one hand, he had abandoned the crew out of foolishness, but on the other he had helped rescue Robin. So far as Fox was concerned, his assistance at Enies Lobby meant she no longer felt the need to kill him on sight for the insults he had heaped upon both her captain and herself. Beyond that… Fox loathed cowardice and an inability to face up to reality was a defect she despised above almost every other. The Grand Line was no place for people who couldn't play the hand life had dealt them, no matter how terrible it might be. But if he came back Fox would try, for Luffy and Merry's sake. The little caravel had loved the sniper dearly.

Then she sensed the approaching Marine ship and briefly dashed inside to fetch her hat: while a bandanna and sunglasses were enough to fool strangers, the hat was a necessity to hide from people who were properly acquainted with Dracule Mihawk's daughter.

When Garp started throwing cannonballs at them Fox joined Zoro in cutting them in half to protect the ship, barely taking any notice when she sensed Usopp arrive on the broken bridge overlooking Shipwreck Island. Whatever he was here for, protecting the charming brig sloop Franky had built them had priority. She ignored the shouting completely, letting Usopp's voice wash over her like white noise and not even bothering to allow her mind to turn the sounds into words. She didn't care what he said, she wouldn't let him back if she was captain; since she wasn't it was up to Luffy to decide what to do. She did hear his wailed apology though, and absently took note that her captain had let him on board after it.

After they had named their new ship, the 'Thousand Sunny', and gotten away from Vice-Admiral Garp and his highly accurate cannonballs, Luffy proposed a toast to the return of their lost nakama, the gaining of a new one and the Straw-Hats' beautiful new ship. Fox joined in cheerfully, looking forward to visiting Sabaody and Fishman Island again.

The first thing Zoro had done on seeing the crow's nest that doubled as a training room was challenge Fox to a fight using one of the more exotic weapons at her disposal. He'd sparred against her when she used knives a good number of times –he hadn't won yet as she was just too fast– but wanted to find out how he would have to adapt against something like that meteor hammer. His lover had however emerged from her workroom carrying a trident.

"You haven't seen me use merman combat or weapons style yet, have you?" she told him with a wicked smile, twirling the long weapon like it weighed nothing at all. "How about we stay on deck; this is going to get messy."

It was indeed, as Fox completely blindsided him bydoing something similar to what Arlong had, using seawater droplets to fire powerful attacks in between laying into him with the trident, which was far more versatile a weapon than it looked. She also landed hits from a distance with more force than he had ever felt from her before: it felt like she was bending his body from the inside.

"I'm no master of Fishman Karate," Fox said as Zoro climbed back on board yet again, "But I do well enough to be getting on with. This is a part of my heritage and I refuse to be mediocre even if I will never be able to use it as fully as it is meant to be used."

"As it is meant to be used?" Zoro repeated, coughing up blood on the deck. Her fist had connected with his gut from six feet away like a localised earthquake!

"It's an underwater style; the blows are more effective that way," Fox told him, spinning the trident into a guard position. "Ready for round nine?"

"I'm going to disarm you if it kills me," Zoro growled before charging her once more. The trick was dodging when she took one hand off the trident to throw a punch; even from a good distance those shockwaves were incredibly powerful. "Why don't you fight like this more often?"

"And announce to all and sundry that I'm technically a mermaid? Not a chance," Fox said flatly, parrying his swords and catching one between the prongs of the trident, forcing the swordsman to retreat or lose the blade. "This is my heritage and I'm proud of it, but it isn't who I am. They call me the Cursed Maiden on Fishman Island; the mermaid without a tail who lost the ability to swim. I'm a cautionary tale about the perils of Devil Fruit and getting too involved in humans."

"And you still consider yourself a mermaid?"

"I have family there and people who don't care that I'm all but lost to the sea," Fox said grimly, fending off a flurry of powerful attacks and catching his ankle between the trident's prongs, launching him into the air and over the rail. "I'll not let go of who I am because of something that was done to me against my will!"

Zoro could respect that, though hopefully he would find a way of disarming her soon. This was getting embarrassing.

Goodbye to Water Seven!