Despite my earlier bitching, the dried meat that I was currently eating was actually pretty good, more like jerky than anything else. No spice to speak of but eh, what can you do?

I ripped off another piece, chewing thoughtfully as I adjusted my position on top of the crates I was sitting on to get more of the breeze coming from the sea.

"So yeah, that entire batch of wood I ordered was barely even good for kindling. You'd think that they'd know better than to leave it all uncovered in that kind of storm but I guess stupidity comes in all types." Charles sighed from his place beside me, scratching his head under his hat.

"Sorry to hear that man." I held out some jerky for him to take which he did so happily, "Did they at least give you a discount on it?"

He smiled, "Discount? Ha! I made 'em give me a full refund! Told the man I'd never do business with them again if they didn't" He chewed on his jerky, "Probably won't anyway to be honest. Can't put a whole lot of trust in folk who ruined that much good wood."

Charles was the dock keeper who had greeted me when I had arrived in Kara town and was actually a pretty cool dude. His little ramblings about whatever came to his mind were really helping me get my thoughts in order. He seemed to enjoy having someone to listen to him too so it was a win-win.

He launched into another story about how shifty wood salesmen were these days, and I kept half an ear out to listen while the majority of my thoughts returned inwards.

My encounter with One had shaken me, as much as I really hated to admit it. Despite his words when I died, I didn't think I would ever see him again. I hadn't in over nineteen years and now that he had shown up, I had a feeling things were going to get complicated and probably very fucky.

I didn't like when things were fucky, it messed with my whole vibe. I may not have actually had a plan outside of finding a crew, but knowing that someone was watching what I was doing and judging me made my fucking skin crawl.

The best thing to do now would be to skip town. Kara wasn't the only port nearby, just the biggest. It wouldn't even take more than two days of sailing to reach the next one.

The problem was I didn't even know if I wanted to leave. I was pretty sure I had stumbled on to something pretty good here, or at least interesting enough to think about actually hanging around. Brogy was an interesting guy and whatever he and his crew were about to get up to was bound to be interesting.

Maybe I'd just ignore that shit with One and stay a bit longer. It wasn't like he was actually doing anything to mess with me so far…

I'd hate to have to step in and change the channel as it were.

Actually, no. Fuck that.

I stood from my crate, hopping down and interrupting Charles as he began to talk about his kids and the problems they were causing around his house.

I turned to him with an apologetic smile,"Sorry to cut you off Charles but I think I'm gonna go on and head out. I haven't found what I'm looking for here so I think it's best to try my luck someplace else. Probably better to head off while the sea's still calm."

He looked a bit surprised at my sudden departure but gave me a smile anyway, "Oh, alright then. I guess I'd better be getting back to work as well. Docks ain't gonna sweep themselves."

He slid off of his own crate, planting his feet back on the dock and turning to grab the broom that he had left nearby, "I appreciate you listening to this old man rambling on for so long. I know my wife complains I can go on about nothing just about all day" He laughed.

I waved him off with a smile as I made my way to my Sloop, floating just a few feet away "It was no problem. It was some great white noise to help me get my thoughts in order."

He scratched his head, "Not really sure what that means but happy to help! You stay safe alright? And don't be afraid to come back and let me yap your ear off some more!"

I laughed at his words, "I might just do that. You stay safe, you hear?"

"I'll try my best. Never know what kinda crazies we get through here these days." He muttered.

As I crouched down to unmoor my ship, I froze at the sound of numerous boots hitting the wood of the dockj and then the distinct click of rifles being primed in my direction. I turned slowly to find several Marines now standing on the dock, pointing their weapons towards me. What the hell?

"Ma'am, disembark the Sloop immediately!" The one at the front commanded, "You are under arrest!"

As I rose from my crouched position, their weapons followed me unwaveringly and immediately I knew that fighting back was not in the cards unless I wanted a few more holes in me than I woke up with.

Off to the side, I could see Charles watching the proceedings with wide eyes. He looked towards me worriedly and I just gave him a reassuring smile, darting my eyes to the side.

He got my meaning and began walking away from the scene. Good, I didn't know what was going on but I didn't want to drag the man into it.

I turned my attention back to the Marines who were beginning to get impatient, clutching the stocks of their rifles harder, "Disembark the Sloop! I will not ask you again!"

I held my hands in the air in surrender "I don't suppose I could ask what I'm being arrested for?" I asked as I complied with their demands, stepping off my ship and onto the dock.

The moment that I set foot on the dock, two of them immediately rushed forward, grabbing me and forcing my hands behind my back. I grunted by resisted the urge to throw them off of me until I knew exactly what was going on or what I had done to deserve such treatment.

Luckily I didn't have to wait long. The head Marine of the pack strode forward, "You are under arrest for the suspicion of collaborating with a known person of interest. You will be escorted back to base where you will answer some questions for us." He explained.

I frowned. Person of interest? The only people I had talked to today were Charles, Brogy and… oh right. Rachel. The woman who was being chased by a group of Marines at least double the size of the one currently arresting me.

.

They must have seen me talking with Rachel and now they assumed I was part of whatever her and her crew was doing. Fucking great. And they just happened to find me right as I was about to leave? This had that grey-eyed bastard's fingerprints all over it.

I briefly debated fighting them off. It would have been much easier to do so now that they were closer. Throwing a few in the water would ensure they couldn't shoot me in the back while I dealt with their buddies and after that a few swings of my axe should take care of them.

I decided against it after a moment. For all I knew they just wanted to ask me a few questions. No need to escalate things so drastically without cause.

I sighed as I was led back into town, the procession of Marines following behind me every step. Hopefully whoever they were taking me to wasn't too unreasonable. After all, I hadn't even done anything illegal.

You know, yet.

As I soon came to find out, the reason that the Marine presence in Kara town was so high was due to the fact that s base had recently been built on the island itself. How I hadn't heard of that fact before, I had no idea, but it was there and that's where my captors took me.

It wasn't a complete base and was seemingly still in construction. The majority of it was built though enough for them to take in prisoners apparently.

As confiscated my axe as well as all the money I had on me and I had a feeling that I wouldn't be seeing the latter any time soon, if ever again. They also took my map, which I was probably the most annoyed about. That was kind of the whole key to my adventure at the moment!

Now, about an hour later, I was sitting in what was clearly some sort of interrogation room, my hands shackled together on the table in front of me.

I looked down at my bindings, a pair of heavy shackles wrapped around my wrist and connected to one another by a thick chain.. They were just regular iron and seemed pretty poorly maintained, covered in rust and cracked all to hell. If I tried hard enough I could probably just break out of them, but then I would have literally an entire base's worth of Marines to contend with, so I decided not to do that.

Good thing too, because only a second or two after I made my decision the door to the room opened and in strode a man with a white coat on his shoulders.

I looked him over, taking in his shaved head, stern glare, and muscular arms, one of which had a tattoo that simply read 'JUSTICE', and came to one conclusion. This guy was a hard ass.

"You haven't tried to escape. Good, at least you have some brains unlike most we get here." Was the first thing he said as he entered.

I just shrugged, the movement jingling my shackles, "Eh, I thought about it but I figured it probably would have ended badly."

"Yes it would have." He nodded as he sat down across from me. "I am Lieutenant Hill. I am the acting officer in charge while Captain Togi is away at the main base and that means you will answer to me during your time here."

I raised an eyebrow, "So what is this? An interrogation? The guys who led me here said you had some questions for me."

"Some questions is putting it lightly." He said, reaching into his coat. He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and slammed it on the table.

I leaned forward, examining it curiously. It was clearly a bounty poster but the subject of the bounty was rather surprising.

It was a picture of Brogy's captain. The woman was striking a cute pose and smiling widely at whoever took the picture. In the background was a building billowing with black smoke, burning merrily only a few dozen feet behind her back.

Underneath the poster like always, was the subject's name and their price.

Rachel Wall

Wanted: Dead or Alive

13,300,000 Beri

My eyes widened slightly at the amount of money she was worth. That was easily in the top ten highest bounties in the East Blue. I was surprised. I'd never heard of her before. Maybe it was a recent development?

"We have several eyewitness reports saying that you were seen conversing with this woman mere minutes before Captain Togi arrested her." Hill jabbed a finger at the poster, "What I want to know is what exactly is your relationship with this woman? What did she say to you?"

I shrugged, "I've literally never met her before today. She ran into me on the street and we talked for all of thirty seconds before you interrupted her and she ran off." I told him truthfully.

The man stared me down with a heavy frown on his face, clearly not believing a word I just said. I just stared back placidly, not saying anything else.

"Hmm, I see. If you aren't affiliated with Firebrand, which I personally find hard to believe, then whose crew are you a part of?" He questioned.

I scoffed at his assumption, "First of all, she just gave me her hat to deliver to someone in the tavern where I was going anyway. Secondly, I'm not a member of any crew. I'm not even a pirate!" Technically. "I left my hometown just a few days ago and this just happened to be the first place I ended up."

Hill just scoffed, "And you just happened to come to the largest pirate port on this side of the East Blue? Unlikely."

I scowled at his attitude, "I don't know what else to tell you. I literally just left my home and headed for the biggest port I could find to look for work. I'm not a pirate."

He scowled, "No? I find that hard to believe. Normal upstanding citizens don't go around carrying a map carved into sea stone with them when they go into port. Were you hoping someone would see it and land you a spot on their crew? Maybe it'd lead you to a great treasure or something?"

I scowled at his surprisingly correct assumption and he grinned as if he had done something, "You pirates are all the same. Think that just because you've got a map or some fancy sword that you can become the next Pirate King or something equally asinine."

He stood, placing the poster back on his coat and turning to leave, "Now then, since you don't want to cooperate, maybe a few days in a cell will make you a bit more agreeable. I'll check back in a week or so to see how you're feeling."

Well that was fucking quick. I stood as I stared after him in disbelief, "Really dude!? I haven't even done anything!"

There was no answer and I huffed. What a dick. I had expected the Marines to have a few assholes in it from what I had seen of canon, but I didn't think literally the first ranking officer I met would be one too.

I leaned back in my chair and sighed. Just my luck. Literally my first day of trying to be a pirate and I got arrested for running an errand. Hopefully I'd be out of here quickly.

The man who Hill sent to lead me to my cell glared at me the entire way there. It actually got to the point that I could practically feel the heat from his gaze on my back and began swaying my hips a bit more deliberately just to get his eyes off of the area.

No dice. That man was single minded in his anger towards me or maybe pirates in general, and even the sight of my swaying ass did little to deter him. Truly, he was a model Marine.

We stopped in front of a cell with dark iron bars. Half of the cell was obscured by thick grey stone, probably to give the occupants some semblance of privacy.

Around us there were several cells that were already occupied though none of the inhabitants looked all too interested in us, merely glancing our way before going back to whatever they were doing.

The Marine stepped around me momentarily to unlock and open the door. As he did so, he kept glancing back at me as if he was expecting me to disappear when he turned away and when he saw I was still there he glared at me even harder. What was this dude's issue?

Just for that, I made sure to give him a mean nickname in my head. Maybe frowny? He didn't really have any distinguishing features apart from that. Kind of plain really but I guess most Marines were.

As I thought to myself, Frowny managed to unlock the cell door. He slid it open with a jarringly loud noise before turning and stepping behind me once more.

"Get in there, pirate." Frowny shoved me forward, or at least tried to. He pushed hard against the back of my coat but all it did was make me lean forward a bit. I looked back at him with an amused glance as he stared in shock, before stepping forward into the cell on my own.

The door slammed shut behind me and I turned back to find the man stomping back down the hall, clearly agitated. I snorted, stretching my shackled arms into the air.

"That guy needs to lighten up. Between him and Hill, I think there's probably enough wood shoved up their asses to keep Charles happy for a good while." I commented dryly.

"Ooh, you met the LT? Great attitude right? I personally think he just needs to get laid but he didn't appreciate my input very much."

I turned in surprise at the voice, just now realizing that I wasn't alone in the cell. I raised an eyebrow at what I saw, "Seems a little bit unnecessary."

The cell's other occupant gave me a blinding grin, shifting lightly and rattling the chains currently bound around every single one of her limbs, "I thought so too! But they wouldn't listen when I told them that the collar wasn't really necessary." She pouted, blowing a strand of red hair out of her face.

It was Brogy's captain, Rachel. The woman was completely bereft of the gold she had been wearing and was chained to the wall, but other than that she seemed to be in high spirits.

Very high spirits given the massive smile on her face. Though I was beginning to suspect that was more of a permanent fixture for the woman than anything else.

"So stranger," Rachel said, giving me a small wave. Or she tried to at least, the chains in her arms restricted her movement far too much to actually do the motions. She gave them an annoyed glance before looking back at me hopefully, "I don't suppose you've got a way to get me out of these things? There's an itch on my upper back that I really need to scratch."