This chapter was a beast to write. The transition from meeting Moire - and the trio's reactions to each other - to the ensuing One Piece arc was difficult to keep from seeming abrupt and stilted. I'm not sure if I succeeded in that respect. On another note, this chapter took a darker turn than I had originally intended. The flashback was entirely unexpected, but that's my general writing process: the story takes over with a life of its own.

Also, finally you get a description of Moire. It's too bizarre to have a narrator randomly describing herself (as in many first-person narratives I've read) so it had to wait until we were looking through someone else's eyes. Moire's not the type to muse over her appearance in front of the mirror, and certainly hasn't had the luxury of doing so to this point.

Warnings: Very mild language.

"Ne - who are you?"

"Selkraig Moire. Who the hell are you?"

Luffy leaned over his new shipmate, grinning almost as widely as Zoro had ever seen and seemingly unperturbed by the slight hostility in the young woman. The latter was on edge, akin to a cornered animal.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" he replied, as though it was the most obvious answer in the world. "And I'm gonna be the Pirate King! And that's Roronoa Zoro!"

The girl swallowed, though she displayed no other obvious signs of nervousness or fear at Luffy's declaration. Eyes the dark, gray-blue of a stormy sea darted to Zoro and seemed to rapidly assess him before returning to the nearer threat.

For her part, Moire didn't really know how to respond to this particular situation. Interactions with other people weren't her strong suit to begin with, but even she knew just how unusual her day had become. Having seen what this self proclaimed pirate could do firsthand, she was hesitant to engage in battle. Even further deterring her fight instincts was the swordsman calmly considering her from his position beside the mast. She did the only thing she could do: ask questions.

"How did you do that?" She gestured in the general direction from whence she had come and back to her new location.

Luffy snickered. "I ate a Devil's Fruit and now I'm a rubber man! Did you know that you talk funny?"

Moire blinked. She hadn't encountered many Devil's Fruit users in her young life, and certainly none as strange as this one. Pirates she had dealt with, but here was a two-man crew lacking all the "argh" and "destroy" mentalities that she associated with their ilk. The latter comment was almost a given. Her people had a very distinctive pattern of speech, and though hers had been softened by the years she had been separated from her family and home, a hint of brogue still remained.

"Everyone where I come from talks differently than you," she answered shortly, not offering any further details and quickly cutting off more inquiry with a question of her own. "So, why exactly did you decide that it would be beneficial to drag an unknown person onto your boat?"

Without missing a beat, the straw-hat boy responded, "I thought you might be food."

A low chuckle from the swordsman drew Moire's attention momentarily away from Luffy. Perhaps this was some sort of inside joke? It was too bizarre to consider otherwise.

"And if I had been a threat?"

"Well, I would have just pummeled you and thrown you back over there, of course."

Her dumbfounded expression drew genuine laughter from the swordsman and she could do nothing but flounder for a response. She found none, but didn't have to linger in silence for long before Luffy had turned her questioning back on her.

"Hey, are you a pirate? What were you doing on that little piece of wood? Did you get caught in the storm?" The queries were delivered in rapid-fire succession, and Luffy looked as though he was about to ask more when she held a gloved hand up in front of his face.

"Slow down." She took only a moment to consider her answers before responding. "I am not a pirate. I did get caught in the storm, and that little piece of wood is all that is left of my boat."

It was then that Zoro decided he should enter the conversation. After taking in the woman's appearance, her denial of being a pirate had gotten his hackles up. If she wasn't a pirate, he could only think of two possibilities for someone carrying a sword and toting two pistols at their hips: a bounty hunter or a Marine. Neither of those was beneficial to him and his captain.

"All right, if you're not a pirate, what are you?" he rumbled, his thumb toying with the hilt of the white sword at his waist. Moire took note of the subtle threat. "Are you a bounty hunter, or a Marine?"

Moire subconsciously adjusted the thigh-length brown leather coat she wore, making certain it wasn't caught on the hilt of the sword above her left shoulder or the grips of her pistols. If she couldn't go for either of those in the event of a fight, there were plenty of other sharp objects littered about her person.

"Neither," she shot back, injecting a bit of venom into her voice. She was no longer an agent of the World Government, and had never been so willingly.

The tension was almost immediately relieved when Luffy cut back into the conversation.

"So, can you fight? Oh, that's so cool!" He was suddenly very close to Moire. In his hand were the two thin braids of dark auburn hair that hung from her right temple and he was studying the small, round gold charms attached to the ends. Little glass beads were scattered through the braids, as well, but it was the charms and their symbols that had his attention. One was engraved with the kanji for control, and the other for spirit. They were worn and scratched, as if they had been worn for a very long time.

Moire snatched the ends of the braids out of Luffy's hand, glowering. "Yes, I can fight. You'll find out how well if you touch those again," she snarled.

The captain put his hands up, smiling sheepishly, "Sorry, sorry."

"Where were you going when you got caught up in the storm?" Zoro interjected. Apparently it was up to him to ask the important questions.

Moire cast about quickly for a suitable answer, scanning the locations she remembered nearby. Zoro didn't miss the hesitation. "I was going to visit family in the Organ Islands, near Orange Town."

"Were you alone?"

Which answer would make me appear less threatening? The obvious would be no, but then I would be the only survivor of an apparent shipwreck. Then I should be more concerned about my shipmates, presumably, and my lack thereof would seem suspicious. But if I'm traveling alone, then that seems strange in itself. Shit, I'm taking too long to answer. I should have died a dozen times over in the past if I was this poor of a liar.

"Yes, I was alone," she finally decided.

One corner of Zoro's mouth turned down. He wasn't satisfied at all with what the girl was telling him. He could almost see the thoughts flying behind her storm-cloud eyes. She wasn't fidgeting or avoiding his gaze, as most liars did, but she was hesitating a breath too long when she answered. Her attire and appearance sent up red flags almost immediately. She wasn't particularly tall - he'd judge her just below his shoulder when they were standing - but he could tell her shoulders were a little wider than an average woman her size, hinting at muscle beneath. The open jacket and skin tight black tank top she wore further confirmed that assessment. She did not seem uneasy in the least with the two pistols slung low on her hips. Her dark blue, fitted pants tucked into a pair of calf-length brown leather boots. She was dressed like a career fighter: nothing frivolous, nothing to get in the way, except for the satiny, dark crimson scarf looped around her neck. Yet she claimed to not be a pirate, bounty hunter, or Marine. Mercenary or thief were also possibilities, but those didn't quite seem to fit, either.

Luffy, of course, was completely oblivious to the rising tension between the two. "Well, you seem really cool, Mora," he exclaimed, butchering her name. "Want to join my pirate crew?"

"It's Moire," she retorted, "and no."

Luffy's face fell. "Aw, why not? We're going to the Grand Line to find One Piece! I'm going to be the King of the Pirates, and he's going to be the world's greatest swordsman," he declared, pointing over his shoulder at Zoro.

"I have my own goals. Sorry." Her tone clearly stated that she was anything but sorry.

"Besides, I don't think a two-man crew is getting very far in the East Blue, much less the Grand Line."

"Oh, I'll find more crewmates. We could think of a job for you, but we still need a navigator, a cook, a musician - "

Zoro groaned, his forehead falling into his palm. "Luffy, why are you so obsessed with having a musician?"

"I'm not joining your crew. You're obviously an idiot if you go around inviting people whom you know nothing about." This kid is bloody crazy!

"I'll convince you sooner or later. We've got a while before we get to land, anyway!"

Staring back into Luffy's grinning face, Moire wished he'd just put her back on her little drifting piece of wreckage and leave her alone. She still had to find her brother and get revenge for their lost home and family.

Moire had to resign herself to the fact that she was forcibly saddled with Luffy and Zoro for the time being. Her acknowledgement of it hardly meant that she was particularly thrilled about the situation. For much of the remainder of the day, she ignored the two almost completely before Luffy began annoying her into sharing a bit of her food with him. Once he realized she had it, however, she had to keep a dagger handy to fend off the captain's stretchy, greedy hands.

For his part, Zoro kept a close eye on Moire. She hadn't reacted to either of their identities - only to the fact that they were pirates - so he felt safe in assuming that she was no bounty hunter. Still, the girl was hiding something, and if he had to guess, that something was very dark. She was talented in subterfuge, he would give her that, but every now and then a sadness, tinged with rage, usually kept buried deep, would begin to surface in her eyes as she fixed her eyes on the horizon. After a moment, she would seem to catch herself and he could almost see her shake her head to rid herself of whatever place she had gone to.

By that evening, the winds had utterly calmed. The little sailboat was going nowhere on wind power alone, and its three inhabitants began to take turns rowing with the single set of oars. It was slow going as they paced themselves to make the most of what energy they had - well, except Luffy, who threw himself to the task with his usual enthusiasm and vigor. Moire had retreated into herself further, having exhausted what curiosity and geniality she could muster, and weathered the arrangements in near silence.

When even the moon had set, it was decided that the three would take turns keeping watch as the others slept. Without argument, Moire accepted the first shift, her stormy eyes already drinking in the star-littered night around them.

Once the others had gone to sleep, there was not a sound to be heard except their snoring and the gentle lapping of water against the hull. Every now and then, there came a noise from far off that Moire imagined might be a whale breaching the surface, but all else was still. She found herself staring, unblinking, at the stars, searching for patterns that were not there. This was the wrong season, and she was on the wrong side of the world.

"What is that one called, Daddy? The one that looks like a snake?" her brother asked, indicating a long formation of stars. He knew the answer, but nevertheless wanted to hear again about the fearsome beast that gave the constellation its name.

Her father chuckled, his laugh rumbling deep in his thick chest. "That is Hydra," he replied, humoring his son. "A Hydra is a special kind of sea king that lurks in the furthest reaches of the Grand Line. It's a good thing for us that it doesn't like to be bothered with people." He paused.

Playing along, Moire asked the question he was waiting for: "And why is that?"

"Well," he replied, putting on his storytelling voice, "they say the Hydra is a giant, even among Sea Kings. Its teeth are as long as the beam of a warship! And if any mortal ever feels its dreaded breath, he or she will surely die of the poison. It would take someone fearsomely strong to ever wound the creature, with its armor-like scales, and then they must avoid the blood. The blood of a Hydra can eat through another's flesh like acid. There are even stories that say once the Hydra is dead, it will come back to life again, even stronger than before."

A voice calling from the forested path that led to the shore interrupted any further tales of the Hydra. "Aeneas! Murdoch! Moire! It's time for bed - Eonan is already asleep!"

It wasn't long before the woman who had called them was in sight. Her dark hair was silvered in the moonlight, and her pale blue eyes washed out to the shade of liquid mercury. She stopped when she spotted the three wayward members of her family seated on a blanket in the sand, placing her fists on her hips and sighing in a long-suffering fashion.

"What is it this time? Sailors or stars?"

Aeneas smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head and mussing short, pale blond hair. "A bit of both, I suppose."

"I know how much you three enjoy the sea and the sky - strange among our people, you are - but it is high time to get these bairns tucked into bed!" The last was directed solely at her husband with a pointed look. Her gaze was not angry or upset; perhaps it was closer to resignation with a trace of frustration.

Rising to his full, rather impressive, height, Aeneas gestured to his children to do the same. "I am sorry Coira." His eyes were full of genuine apology as he spoke. "You know how we can get carried away sometimes."

She smiled then, her pixie-like features lighting up with the warmth of it. "That I do. And 'tis fortunate you have me about to keep you in line!"

Moire lifted the blanket from the sand and folded it, giggling in delight when her father swept his wife literally off her feet. Coira gave a little indignant squeak and swatted ineffectually at her husband's shoulder. The size difference between the two made her seem no bigger than a child in his arms. As Aeneas made his way up the path with his now-laughing prize, Moire and Murdoch hurried after, their own amusement ringing in the night.

Looking ahead at her parents and to her side at her brother, his dark hair falling into his cobalt eyes and grin splitting his face, Moire couldn't imagine a better life.

The next day, the ship arrived.

Moire was flung forcibly from her nostalgia by a particularly loud snore from Luffy. She had been so deep within the memory that for a moment she hardly recognized where she was. When she came to, she realized she was already palming a knife: one of the several tucked about her person that could be either thrown or wielded in-hand. The smooth metal in the dark caught her eye and she stared hard at it, lip curling in something akin to disgust.

How many lives have I ended just like that? she wondered. How many were innocent? How many good people who simply got in the way of men with questionable morals?

Her past sins had never outwardly affected Moire. She had been molded into a killer; death was the result expected when she was sent out. She was an arrow strung to a bow, striking wherever she was aimed without question. There had been no room for hesitation, no place for guilt, only survival. In that moment, however, she fully realized the weight pressing down on her: the weight of dozens of souls, all of whom left behind families, dreams, and things undone. She had survived on the thought of revenge against the organization that had forced her into doing its bidding, but could that possibly atone for the crimes she had committed?

"Blood can never erase blood," her father had told her when she asked why her people never fought back when they were oppressed. Instead, they would move on to a new home in a quest for peace.

With newfound doubts roiling in her mind, Moire never found herself becoming tired. Instead, she kept watch over the otherwise sleeping boat for the remainder of the night.