Sooo... What are the chances of you guys not killing me? Yes, I LIVE! Sorry about the late, late, late update this time around it's just that well, no one ever said life was gonna be easy. After losing a family member around the time of my last update in August, I just didn't feel like writing. Then I started college two weeks after the funeral. I've been a bit busy... Anyway: I do NOT own One Piece. Only Mina.

Chapter 8: Another Beginning

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." -Leonardo da Vinci

The sun was shining brightly the next day as a young woman with a suitcase strapped to her back stood in front of a glaring yellow submarine. Mina looked at the sub with some mild hesitation on her part. Her new crew mates had partied it up at the bar last night so she was sure more than a few of them were hung over from that, including her. Mina had a rather low alcohol tolerance since she was never a drinker. No, a little incident when she was sixteen handled that for her. Ever wonder why no one ever sees a drunk bird? Well, after nearly flying headfirst into several dozen trees really put that in perspective for her and she made a very solemn vow over the toilet the next morning to never drink and fly; or drink in general for that matter. It was just not a good idea and Mina learnt that the hard way. The only reason she drank last night was because someone managed to be sneaky about handing her drinks. When she felt a bit buzzed after a drink, and a rather large one at that, let's just say she was not amused. Luckily for them, she couldn't tell the crew apart after that. They really needed some other distinguishing feature other than the hats in her opinion; however she did spot Bepo in the corner and sat with him the rest of the night. The bear didn't say a word all night, and for that Mina was grateful.

Now nursing a minor headache, the yellow glare of the submarine hurt her head. Mina wasn't looking forward to be on a rocking ship and nursing a hangover. Giving a small groan, she averted her eyes. A shudder suddenly traveling up her spine, Mina whirled around and blindly punched whoever was standing behind her. Again, a tattooed hand easily caught her fist and Mina scowled up at the man.

"Is this going to become a habit Miss Mina?" Law asked; mildly amused by her actions.

"If you keep coming up behind me, yes," She sighed. She knew that she'd probably never manage to punch this man and that was probably for the best.

Letting go of her fist, Mina relaxed her fighting stance and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Law was a bit curious as to why she kept trying to punch his lights out.

"It's nothing personal really," She said nonchalantly. "If you were the one who got whacked on the head and tied to a chair, you'd be rather paranoid about people coming up behind you too."

She had a point there. Though Law wouldn't just go for a punch; no he'd probably kill someone instead.

"Oi! Captain!" A voice called to Law and made Mina flinch and hold her head, groaning softly.

Barely making a note of Mina's discomfort with loud voices, Law looked to his vessel to find that his navigator was leaning over the rail.

"What is it Cosmo?" Law called back.

"The Log Pose is set. We can go whenever," The baseball capped navigator told his Captain.

"We'll leave in an hour," Law ordered. "Make sure we have all the necessary supplies."

With a curt nod, Cosmo vanished from the rail and back into the submarine. With that said, Law turned back to Mina. She was looking out at the ocean with a blank expression and doing her best to block out loud noises.

"You have an hour to finish any errands you might have," Law said, gaining her attention once more.

"Hmm..." Mina looked up at the sky for the briefest of moments.

It was a nice day for a quick flight. Slipping her suitcase off her shoulders, she shoved it in the hands of the penguin hatted man, who she had learned was so aptly named "Penguin" sometime last night, as he passed by her on his way to the submarine.

"Take care of that for me will ya'?" She said with her mind already in flight mode. "I'll be back."

With that said, she turned away from the rather confused man now holding a suitcase and took several paces towards the town. Suddenly she turned on her heel and sprinted full force for the end of the dock. Reaching the end of it, she jumped; transforming mid-jump, all the men could get a glimpse of were gray feathers before Mina was gone. She had quickly banked upwards to the right and away from the submarine before anyone could get a real look at her transformation.

"What was that?" Penguin asked as he scanned the skies for any signs of the Zoan user.

"That was our first glimpse of a Harpy Eagle," Law said, also looking up at the sky for the vanished woman. He didn't see the form of a bird or even a bird-woman anywhere against the azure sky.

"Harpy Eagle?" Penguin parroted. He then looked down at the heavy leather suitcase in his grasp. Luckily there was a handle on the top so he wasn't dragging it around by the straps. "What do I do with this?"

Law didn't answer. Instead he walked up the gangplank and left Penguin to mull over his options regarding the suitcase.

-:-

Ah, how Mina loved flight. It was a refreshing feeling when she wasn't being bogged down by any unnecessary luggage. While she did travel this way with just her suitcase hanging off her back, it still got rather heavy at times. Especially after flying with it for several hours without a break in between; so, flying without it was the best feeling in the world to her. Feeling the wind going through her feathers and being high above the trees and buildings of the town, she took in the rather bland landscape. Compared to some other locations she had gotten a bird's-eye view of, this little island was flat. There were no mountain ranges, thick forests, or even any ruins to see from high above the island. No, just your average town really. However, the lack of scenery didn't bother her. In fact nothing bothered her while she flew. She was content to just let the wind carry her. As she glided, Mina kept her wings steady as she beat them to maintain altitude and speed. Finding an updraft of warm air, Mina's wings caught it and soared ever higher into the sky. Marveling at the height she had gotten, her mind was free to wander the clouds that were still above her head so Mina mused over the recent changes in her life.

'I wonder what Grandfather would think about me becoming a pirate...' She thought as she gently beat her wings to change direction.

Her life had changed so much over the course of a few days. Which was nothing new to her really, and the change from Black Market courier to Pirate was't much of a stretch in her mind. Mina's résumé was rather extensive despite her only being twenty-one years old. What job hadn't she had at one point or another? Mina just chalked up her job experiences in being a traveler and since settling in one place just wasn't her style for some reason. After a month of staying on an island, she'd get bored of sitting on her hands and then make the arrangements to leave. She'd admit that flying the Grand Line wasn't the best option that anyone would have thanks to the random weather, so she did make the effort in creating contacts that owned their own ships. However, with her current status as Enki's killer still circulating throughout the world, both the overworld and the underworld would have issues with her now, her contacts were very wary of helping her out. This was partly the reason why she accepted Law's offer so quickly, with the other reason being that it just seemed like a good idea to her.

After nearly an hour of making circles in the sky, the Zoan user reluctantly decided it was time to head back to the ship. Banking off to the right, she turned herself around. She had a small mental debate over flying in as her hybrid form or her more intimidating full transformation. However, she decided to stick with her hybrid form for the time being; after all she didn't want to freak her new crew mates out that quickly. Since Mina hardly knew them she didn't know how they'd react to her fully transformed self. A grin forming on her face as the yellow submarine came into view, she saw plenty of people milling about on deck. Angling herself downward and descending rather rapidly, Mina was very happy about having that big of an audience.

-:-

The Heart Pirates had been milling about on deck for the past hour getting the preparations to leave underway. Moving supplies from the deck to storerooms, it was a rather easy task for some, just a tad tedious and a tad tiring. A few men noticed a large shadow speeding over the deck and eclipsing the sun as whatever was casting the shadow flew overhead. Looking up, jaws dropped when what they could only describe as a harpy flying in low and fast. Massive yellow talons stretched out to grasp the cold metal rail and its slate black wings spread wide in order to stop itself. However, the momentum had been a bit too much so it would've gone toppling over the side if not for the strong grip on the rail.

"Whoa. I think I overshot that a little," The pirates recognized the voice of Mina rather quickly.

Her wings shifting to a more comfortable position, they dropped slightly to provide some relief to her shoulders, Mina turned around to face the stunned men. Smirking widely, Mina felt rather recharged after her flight around the island; her minor headache was a distant memory by now.

"I'm guessing no one told you that I'm a Devil Fruit user if those looks on your faces are anything to go by," Mina observed.

It was true, many of them were shocked at the sight of Mina having wings and set of talons that made bear claws look like mere paring knives. Each yellow toe of her talons ended with a sharp black nail that looked rather dangerous to be on the receiving ending of. They looked powerful to say the least. The size of her wings matched the size of her talons. Mina had an impressive wingspan, going close to seven feet in her hybrid form. The undersides of her wings were a striped slate black and a snowy white. There was another quirk about Mina's hybrid form, one that she rather liked to be honest. She had plumage atop her head. A pale gray double crest stood up on her head, adding to her already birdlike appearance.

"I thought it would be better if you told them yourself, Miss Mina," Law's voice floated across the deck.

Bronze eyes went from her new companions to find her Captain leaning against the doorjamb leading below deck.

"Cat's out of the bag now," Mina quipped. "Besides, they'd find out sooner or later."

"So, what exactly are you?" Shachi asked while studying the wings and talons.

"I'm a Harpy Eagle," The Zoan user informed them.

When she received blank looks from the men around her, it then dawned on her that none of these men were ornithologists and probably had no clue as to what a Harpy Eagle was besides now knowing what the talons and wings looked like.

"I'm going to have to elaborate aren't I?" She had tossed the question in Law's direction.

Law simply smirked at the bored look on her face. Mina didn't enjoy having to explain what a Harpy Eagle was. Sadly, the eagles were rare so she often found herself having to explain what she was to any yahoo who so much as asked.

"Harpy Eagles are a type of eagle that live on certain tropical islands around the world," Mina was going to give them the abridged version of what she was. "They are strictly carnivorous animals that are often the top of the food chain where they live. They aren't your average songbird as they boast the largest talons of any other known eagle."

Mina actually had several classifications when it came to her Devil Fruit; not only was she a bird and therefore could fly, but also a Carnivorous Zoan type.

"You know a lot about what animal you can transform into," Shachi said.

"I made it a point to track down someone who could actually identify what type of bird I am," Mina sighed. "After several years of only knowing that I was a bird, I was a bit curious and managed to track down an ornithologist who happily told me the information I just told you."

In truth, Mina only found out that the Devil Fruit she had was a Harpy Eagle until ten years after she ate the fruit. That was a long time to go without knowing what type of bird she was so it was a welcome discovery in her book.

With that said, Mina stepped off the rail of the submarine and onto the deck. Her sandaled foot hitting the wood gently, she had reverted to her human form in the time it took for her to step off the rail. Her bronze eyes scanned the pirates who remained silent. She was looking for Penguin if her recollection of whom she had handed her suitcase off to was indeed correct. The penguin hatted man wasn't too hard to spot.

"So what ended up happening to my luggage?" Mina asked Penguin.

"Uh, I put it in your room," Penguin was a tad frightened of the Zoan user.

"My room?" She looked over at Law with a questioning look.

"I assumed you didn't want to share a room with any of the men," The Captain said smoothly. "But if you'd rather sleep elsewhere, be my guest."

"No, I'll take it," Mina liked privacy anyway. "Just show me the way."

That's another thing the Zoan user would have to get used to; the submarine. Being away from her element, the sky, would be a bit hard on her for a little while. She enjoyed the outdoors and being cooped up in a metal can wouldn't be the best for her or the people around her. However, she'd deal with it. Or maybe make a bargain with Law in regards to the amount of time they spent surfaced, but she had a feeling that he liked being underwater because it was much harder for anything to attack while they were eighty-thousand leagues under the sea. Mina understood the tactical advantage to having a submarine, it just so happened to be outside her comfort zone.

-:-

As Mina followed Penguin to her room, she made mental notes of which direction to turn and when.

'Damn. This is more confusing than I would've thought,' She sighed mentally. There weren't too many distinctive landmarks to go by in the gut of the metal monster.

"You'll get used to the layout soon enough," Penguin said as he expertly navigated the submarine. "Everyone does eventually."

"That's comforting," She said dryly.

While Mina did have a good sense of direction and always knew the relative direction she was facing; large, enclosed spaces were not her friend most of the time. The core of the problem was simply this: she grew up in a one room cottage and roamed the forests surrounding it for fun. She hardly ever spent any extensive time indoors unless she was ill or there were extreme weather conditions that prevented her from being outdoors. If the feeling she had was correct, being on this submarine was going to drive her up the far wall and back.

Oh, joy.

Penguin's abrupt stop almost made her run into his back. Barely stopping in time, Penguin was none the wiser to Mina's almost blunder.

"Here's your room," Penguin motioned towards the heavy metal door in front of them.

Mina looked around quickly for anything to help her remember the location of her room. All she really saw were pipes that looked rather important for the faculty of the sub. Well, that was unfortunate. Grasping the doorknob, she pulled the door open to see what her room looked like.

The door squeaked open and she saw that her room was rather simple. It was a smallish, rectangular gray walled room with an unmade twin bed that her suitcase was sitting on, a desk shoved in the corner next to the bed, and a small dresser.

'It could be worse,' Mina thought to herself. 'This is at least better than my old apartment that Alderman rented out to me.'

Believe it or not, the apartment had been worse than this. At least she wouldn't be subjected to listening to the midnight escapades of her old upstairs neighbors anymore. There had been a point in time where she seriously began to think that the ceiling would collapse. She wouldn't miss that feeling in the slightest. Besides doubting the structural integrity of her old apartment building, there was also the fact that the neighbors were assholes. Mina was sure that not everyone was going to love her the moment they met her, but she highly doubted that anyone on this submarine could top the crotchety old man on the second floor that hated absolutely everything. And no, that isn't an exaggeration; he actually hated everything from obnoxious children to the roof above his head, Mina would have sooner tossed herself off a cliff wearing Kairouseki* chains than listen to the old man gripe. Well, the past was the past and she no longer had any reason to think of her old apartment building.

"Thanks," Mina turned to Penguin who was still standing behind her.

"No problem," He said. "I'll let you get settled in now."

With that, the penguin hatted man left her to her own devices. With the door squeaking shut, Mina sighed deeply as she looked at her room. There was a small porthole above the desk that provided a sense of time for now. Mina decided that standing awkwardly in the middle of the room wasn't the thing to be doing right now. Her eyes slid over to her suitcase on the bed next to a set of white sheets, a pillow, and a blue blanket. Heaving yet another sigh, Mina began to settle into her new home. Opening her suitcase, she was greeted with the sight of one hell of a disorganized mess. Of course being on the run for quite awhile can make anyone slip in the way of organization, it wasn't a good thing because now Mina didn't know what the hell she had in her suitcase anymore. Digging through multiple Eternal Poses, which she could probably sell a few of, torn clothes that needed to be mended, and a tiger pelt she managed to find her journals. She had two journals; one for the information she collected around the Grand Line, which was a heavy brown leather bound book that would make a very nice weapon if she needed to use it as a blunt instrument, and one of her own personal thoughts and memories, a much more thin, black leather bound book. Also taking the tiger pelt out of her suitcase, she draped that over the back of the wooden chair in front of the desk; it would be used mainly for comfort purposes. Setting the two books beside the lamp on the desk, she turned her attention to seeing what was in the deep recesses of her suitcase.

-:-

In the end, Mina had a total of: ten Eternal poses, clothes that needed mending or just flat out replacing, a toothbrush, her sewing kit, a roll of bandages, several pieces of expensive jewelry, her wallet which was dangerously close to being empty, and her bowie knife. Mina was rather displeased to find her favorite blouse not only looking like it was pulled out of a pig's ass, but also missing a button. In the same vein, however, she was pleased to have found her favorite bracelet in the mess; a tiger bone and jade bracelet. Alternating jade and bone beads, the bone beads were pure white and coated in an almost enamel-like substance, making them look smooth except for the tiny carvings on the bones. It had been made from the same tiger that had given her it's pelt, so the jewelry held some sentimental value. Clasping the bracelet around her left wrist, she sat on her newly made bed now at a loss of what to do exactly.

She didn't have to wait for long because the sound of someone knocking on the door reverberated through her room.

"Come in," She gave them the okay. At least they had the decency to knock.

When the door squeaked open, a bright orange jumpsuit and white fur were the primary colors Mina saw. It was Bepo, the talking polar bear. The Zoan user didn't know why Bepo could talk; she just went along with it. Sometimes it was easier to just go with the flow instead of fighting it. Frankly Mina just wasn't curious enough to ask how the polar bear could talk.

"It's lunch time," Bepo said. "Captain told me to come get you."

Had it been more than three hours already? Last time she checked- Oh right, she didn't have a clock in here. She was going to need a clock sooner or later if the submarine was going to be underwater all the time. So it had been roughly three hours since they left the last island. The blaring siren warning everyone that it was diving sort of clued her in that they left. And there was also the fact that it almost knocked her off balance; no wonder her bed was bolted to the floor.

Standing up, Mina went to follow the polar bear down the hallways of the sub. Shutting the door behind her, the twenty-one year old turned to Bepo who was waiting patiently for her so far.

"Since you're new," Bepo began. "You're below me, got it?"

An amused smile broke the bored look that had been plastered to her face for the past several hours.

"Really?" She asked with a bit of humor in her voice. If he was indeed her superior, she wasn't going to argue with the bear. "Alright."

As they walked to the galley, Mina couldn't help but wonder how she ended up with a polar bear as a superior. If this was going to be the start to her stint as a pirate, she couldn't wait to see how well this little adventure turned out.

*Kairouseki- A.K.A.: Seastone.

Harpy Eagles: Specifically the American Harpy Eagle, it lives in Central and Southern America. It is an apex predator and strictly carnivorous. Females weigh the average of 13-20 pounds (6-9 kg) while males weigh 8.8-11 pounds (4-4.8 kg). Harpy Eagles routinely favor pray weighing more than 15 pounds (7 kg) as they can lift things equal to their own body weight and indeed have the largest talons of any eagle and exceeding the length of Grizzly bear claws with the size of 13 centimeters (5.1 inches). Those talons can exert a force of 530 pounds per square inch. And their standard wingspan is anywhere from 5'9" to 7'4" (176 to 224 cm).

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave a review! Yeah, I'll admit that this chapter was a bit boring. Sorry for not making anything exciting happen too soon, but it's a breather chapter. Next chapter will be much better than this one. I'll admit that I don't have anything typed out for the next chapter, so it'll be a little while before my next update. But I promise one thing: an update before the New Year. Next time, Arc II starts and it'll boy is there a surprise. Catch ya' later. -praeses