-somewhere in east blue-

The sea, in all its murky indifference, jealously guarded its riddles. From dawn's first blush to the twilight's fading sigh, its waters whispered secrets that only the brave or the foolish dared to unravel.

Amidst a brewing storm, the ship's deck turned chaotic. Footsteps thudded urgently, muffled by the raging wind. From the crow's nest, a voice bellowed through the turmoil, "Captain! Starboard side-something's floating!"

The captain, a figure of authority and impatience, pushed through the thrumming throng of his crew. His first mate shadowed him, their eyes scanning the thrashing waves. A splintered piece of wood struggled against the current, accompanied by a leather backpack. The makeshift raft bore a small child, barely 8-9 years old.

Then came the gasp-a collective intake of breath as the sea's cruel hand swatted the child into its depths. Without a word, the captain shed his straw hat, handing it off as he dove into the churning abyss. Down, down he went, into the sea's dark embrace, his figure swallowed by the surging waves.

Moments later, he emerged, gasping, the child clutched tightly, the backpack a cumbersome weight. He climbed the ladder with care, placing the unconscious girl on the deck as his first mate retrieved the sodden bag. A gold medallion glinted from around the child's neck, its surface etched with a skull encircled by cryptic symbols.
The thunder distracted him from the thoughts of how and why. Making sure the girl was breathing, he moved her to the small infirmary below deck. The doctor of the crew was hot on the heels of their captain, immediately taking charge once they reached the infirmary. There were quite many questions that were bothering the crew-

who is this girl?

what was she doing in the middle of the vast sea?

there were no islands nearby so how did she even get there?

was she part of some ship passing through but unfortunately got caught in the storm?

but that is near impossible as it had barely been an hour since the storm began and they saw no sign of another ship.

how can this be?

Where the hell did she come from?

For such a long list of questions, there was not even a single answer available. The voice of the crew's doctor drew the attention of the Captain, "She has a slight fever but nothing serious. She should be good as new after some rest."

"Great! She can also tell us what happened once she wakes up." Captain cheered as he took a swig of rum.

"Don't get your hopes up. It's also possible that she doesn't know anything. After all, she is just a 8-9 year-old-girl.", suggested the first mate. Humming a little in agreement the Captain advised his first mate to get the crew to settle below deck. The Captain decided to stay with the girl, a couple of hours had passed and the storm seemed to have escalated. The seawater crashing against the ship was roaring alongside the thundering clouds. It had been a while since they last encountered such bad weather. The golden-yellow glow from the lantern in the infirmary grew less bright as the storm turned the surroundings darker. The sudden stirring and soft moaning sound made the Captain face the inhabitant of the infirmary bed. The girl slowly opened her eyes lazily and blinked a few times as she sat up. Yawning, she noticed her surroundings with confusion building up in her eyes. It was an amusing sight for him as he witnessed the rapidly changing expressions on her face, at last, her eyes settled on him and he gave a small smile to make her comfortable. She did not smile back instead her brows knitted together as she spoke in a low voice, "Akagami no Shanks", then remained silent for a few seconds before letting out a loud exasperated groan, pulling the covers over her head and falling back asleep.

Now it was his turn to be muddled. He had received various sorts of reactions from people he crossed paths with over the years but this kind of reaction was a first. Opting to not get lost in this haystack of questions, he picked up his bottle of rum to drink the night away. He can't go to sleep leaving his crew to deal with the storm alone.

Fresh soft wind invaded the infirmary carrying the brinky salt water aroma. The darkness of the room fading away with the daylight woke up the two occupants. The first to fully wake up was the little girl who was stretching her arms and soon found in front of her eyes a red-haired pirate with a straw hat lounging on the chair right next to her bed.

"Aaaah!", the sudden burst of sound startled the red-haired Captain to jump out of his seat in alarm, letting out an equally loud scream if not louder, "Aaaaaaaaahhh!" Rapidly surveying the room for the supposed attack he found nothing aside from the little girl he saved last night, looking at him with big hazel eyes.

"Oh! you're up. How are ya feeling? No headaches or fever, right?", he asked with a bright smile but all he got as a response was the girl staring at him in shock.

"I am Shanks, like you said last night. How do you know me exactly?" He tiptoed around the questions to not make the girl any more startled than she already was.

Silence.

Utter Silence.

Shock-faced Expression.

Same response as before, sighing he decided to wave his fingers in front of her face to get her attention. The action seems to have brought her out of her stupor but it just got more bewildered for the pirate when she started pinching and lightly slapping herself. She looked like she was trying to wake up from a dream. While the girl was busy in her antics the room slowly filled with the first mate and the remaining senior officers of the Red-hair pirates. Each of them was equally curious about the sudden burst of scream. The eight-year-old adopted daughter of the Captain had accompanied the first mate after hearing last night's event.

The crew blinked back and forth from the girl lost in her weird antics and their captain trying to get her attention. No one had any idea what to say or who to say anything to. Everything came to a stop once the girl stopped to stare at her palms for a few seconds. Everyone waited with abetted breath for her to say something although they weren't expecting what she said. In one swift motion, she brought both her palms to cover her face, and letting out a frustrated groan she growled,

"Fuck."

A comical silence followed as the crew contemplated whether to laugh or scold her. The room suddenly boomed with the laughter of their captain.

It had been 15 awkward minutes since your little cursing phase and you have been very contemplative of how the bloody hell you ended up in a fictional universe. You were 100% sure that you lived on the global warming-riddled Earth where all of this was nothing but a manga and anime series all thanks to the creative genius of Oda. You were also positive you were planning on spending your depression-filled day with a little outing and decided to go boating and - 'What the hell happened after that? Why did I decide to go boating when I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO SWIM?'