"Come on, come on, come on!"
"I'm coming, but slow down! I can't see shit with that blindfold!"
Nojiko slapped Brynlee's shoulder. "Language!"
Brynlee rolled her eyes but focused back on walking as she stumbled onto a rock.
Note to self: start working on Observation Haki so those little gremlins can never get the jump on me ever again.
She could feel Nami's growing excitement, and Nojiko's anticipation. Koala was carefully guiding her along, but even she seemed to be in a hurry, while Sabo laughed every time Brynlee tripped, as true friends do. They'd gotten the drop on her while she was relaxing at home, and she genuinely couldn't tell what was going on – they'd forced a blindfold on her and were now taking her… somewhere. They'd also forced her to wear her cloak, so she could assume they were going somewhere with outsiders, which wasn't entirely reassuring, to be quite frank.
"Ok, we're here! Just a little bit further, come on!" urged Nami.
The ground beneath their feet soon turned into a smooth surface, and a familiar smell hit her – they were in Arlong Park. It was uncharacteristically quiet, though. Usually, there'd be music and laughter and, well, Fishmen, but… she couldn't hear anything.
They abruptly came to a stop.
"Okay! One, two, three!"
The blindfold was suddenly pulled off. Thankfully, it was getting dark out, so her eyes didn't need to adjust to see… all of the people gathered before her?
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRYNLEE!"
Villagers, pirates, and Revolutionaries alike shouted from the bottom of their hearts, and the band set up on the small stage started playing a cheerful tune, and Brynlee was overwhelmed by the sight and the noise, and the colorful lights hung on the fences and the balloons fluttering in the evening breeze and—
Wait, it's my birthday?
"Sha-ah-ah! Told you she'd forget!" laughed Arlong. "Pay up, boys!"
Fishmen and villagers alike grumbled as they handed over their money, while Bellemere and Miss Belo walked up to her, both grinning from ear to ear.
"Happy birthday, kid," simply said the Captain.
"Surprised, huh?" laughed Bellemere, ruffling her hair. "It was all the kids' idea. I was just planning on doing something at home like we did the last few years, but they insisted that twelve years is an important milestone – and, well, they're not wrong! Happy birthday!"
The following half-hour was a whirlwind of people coming up to congratulate her and offer their best wishes, with Brynlee sincerely thanking them all the while still trying to make sense of what was happening. The last thing she'd expected was a genuine birthday party, to be quite frank.
"Happy birthday, Bryn!" exclaimed Sanji, running up to her with a wide smile. "Chef Zeff and I prepared all of the food and drinks – and I personally made the cake!"
"You did?" she asked, genuinely touched. "Thank you, Sanji."
"Everyone at the Baratie insisted on helping out," added Chef Zeff, jabbing her thumb in direction of the various chefs manning the tables and serving people. "They even volunteered to work for free, so you better not waste a single crumb!"
That's why they had me hide my wings, she belatedly realized. And there are also people from the neighboring villages as well, so I'll have to be careful tonight.
"You got it! Thank you, Chef Zeff!"
Everyone started mingling at some point. They enjoyed the food and drinks, many people were already dancing, while others were playing various games, and the rest were simply hanging out and having a good time. Two Fishmen were teaching the younger children how to swim in the pool, Genzo had been coerced into a drinking match and was apparently winning, and Belo and Arlong were laughing heartily, smashing their pints together.
"Here, Bryn."
"Hm? What is this?"
"A gift – Luffy and Ace helped me make it."
Curious, Brynlee quickly undid the wrapping, and was surprised to find a very nice-looking bracelet. Braided leather strings, with three different charms attached to it: a white pearl, a small ruby, and a weird, thin piece of metal.
"The pearl's from me and the ruby's from Ace – we stole them in the city," he grinned, a tad too proudly. "And the last one's from Luffy. I… can't tell what it's meant to be, honestly. He just said it was going to bring you luck."
A fond smile graced her lips. "You guys… I'll cherish it. I'll write a nice letter for you to give them next time you visit."
"That'll make them happy. Well, Luffy will be happy. Ace will act as if he doesn't care but deep down it'll also make him happy."
Brynlee chuckled a bit as Sabo started ranting about his brothers once more – it was difficult to stop him once he got started. Ignoring him, she quickly put the bracelet on, internally swearing to never take it off again.
"Everyone, a toast!" suddenly exclaimed Bellemere as she lifted her drink.
"To that tenacious brat miraculously surviving another year!" chortled Arlong.
"Hear, hear!"
"Cheers!"
"Happy birthday!"
Brynlee could only laugh to hide the tears.
She never thought she'd find true happiness this early in life, but she certainly wasn't going to complain.
The party was still going strong despite it now being early in the morning, but Brynlee had decided to take a moment to herself, still a bit overwhelmed with all of the attention and gifts she'd received. Momentarily exiling herself to the top of the tower in the middle of Arlong Park – which she had to reach by climbing the old fashioned way, since she couldn't show off her wings – she gazed upon the horizon, mindlessly playing with the charms of her brand-new bracelet.
[CONGRATULATIONS]
Congratulations! Despite the dangers, you've managed to survive yet another year!
Every birthday is worth celebrating, so here's a little gift.
Enjoy!
Curious, Brynlee watched as a new option was suddenly added to her profile.
[BUCKET LIST]
You now have the power to create your own subquests. You have a maximum of ten [10] slots available. You can add, erase, or modify a subquest at any given moment, but note that erasing or modifying a subquest will automatically make you lose any progress made. The moment a subquest is added, the system will automatically calculate and assign a reasonable reward.
The sun started rising.
Now twelve years old, Brynlee had a whole new world to look forward to.
Alright, that's a wrap on Brynlee's Childhood Arc, people! You can simple assume that she'll live the next few years in a similar fashion, with a few exceptions that will eventually show up in flashbacks. I hope you guys liked it!
For those wondering, in case it wasn't clear, Sanji does NOT know about Brynlee's wings yet. They're, frankly, not that big, and she's learned to fold them and tie them so as to hide them under a cloak - which does make her look a bit like a hunchback, but better than nothing. I know some people will say "It doesn't make any sense! He'd have noticed if they're fighting together!" or "Brynlee would have told him by now!":
1- Yes, they train and spar together every couple of weeks for a few hours. A lot of that time is spent on separate training in order to properly build up their muscle mass as well as learning the moves, however, so when they do spar, Sanji's already pretty tired and won't pay as much attention. Also, he specifically avoids kicking her back when sparing, because he's afraid of hurting her "more than she is". In the end, Brynlee's his friend and he doesn't want to ask questions that might hurt her or worse, make her hate him.
2- It never came up. She can't show him at the Baratie since wayward Marines regularly drop by for lunch, and the few times he's on the island, they're training out in the open and she can't risk someone spotting her when she's distracted. Other than that, there wasn't ever much of an occasion, and also, Brynlee didn't particularly look for one. Sanji's her friend and she trusts him, but a LOT of people already know her secret, and she simply figured there was no point in randomly announcing it at this point. She's basically waiting for the right time but, well...
As for the [BUCKET LIST], here's a few details since it won't be properly explained for a long while: Brynlee can essentially invent her own subquests, and the SYSTEM will automatically calculate an appropriate reward the moment it's registered. However, subquests that are too easy to accomplish or at too closely related to the cannon storyline won't have good rewards. For example, if she creates "Go back to Loguetown", she'll earn a measly sum, whereas if she creates "Learn to navigate", the reward will be more substantial, since there's work to be done. She can also add numbers so, for example "Beat 10 Marine Captains" would also earn her a better reward than if it was "Beat 1 Marine Captain". So, basically, the reward depends on the work done to accomplish the subquest so, while she could set up really easy ones, it would be better to set up harder ones for better rewards in the long run.
Anyway, if you have any further questions, feel free to ask them - I'm always happy to answer!
Next chapter: six years later!
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[CHARACTER PROFILE]
-STAGE 0-
Name : Lucky D. Brynlee
Age : 12 years old
Race : Lunarian
Devil Fruit : [ERROR]
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[EQUIPMENT]
Nami & Nojiko's Friendship Bracelet
Sabo, Ace & Luffy's Friendship Bracelet
Money: 24,718,150 B
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[SKILLS]
Flight: 12/20
Pyromancy: 2/20
Invulnerability: 7/20
Spear Wielding: 0/20
Harmonica: 20/20
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[FEATS]
Silver Tongue: 9/20 (+1)
Bloodlust: 2/20 (+1)
Anger of the Fallen: 1/20 (+1)
Heart Sight: 1/20
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[ABILITIES]
Instincts of a South Bird
Gambler's Reward
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[TITLES]
Angel of the Seas
Protector of Cocoyashi
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[BUCKET LIST]
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[QUESTS]
-ONGOING-
Survival!
You must live, no matter what.
Weed Killer
Pull out 7000 weeds (70,000 B)
Kind Helper
Help 300 people (300,000 B)
Orange is the New Gold
Pick 30,000 tangerines (300,000 B)
Winning Hand
Win 10,000 games of card (3,000,000 B)
One Strike
Destroy 10,000 targets practicing Fishman Karate (100,000,000 B)
A Fish in the Ocean
Become a level two black belt Fishman Karate practitionner (200,000 B)
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-COMPLETE-
Silver Tongue
Convince the merchant ship to ferry you to Cocoyashi (FEAT)
Safe Haven
Find your way to Cocoyashi Village! Hopefully you'll be safe, there. (1,000,000 B)
Hero of the People
Save ALL of the villagers of Cocoyashi. (TITLE)
Heart Sight
Give Arlong a means to an end. (FEAT)
Weed Killer
Pull out 15 weeds (150 B)
Pull out 50 weeds (500 B)
Pull out 100 weeds (1000 B)
Pull out 300 weeds (3000 B)
Pull out 500 weeds (5000 B)
Pull out 750 weeds (7500 B)
Pull out 1000 weeds (10,000 B)
Pull out 3000 weeds (30,000 B)
Kind Helper
Help 1 person (1000 B)
Help 15 people (15,000 B)
Help 50 people (50,000 B)
Help 100 people (100,000 B)
Orange is the New Gold
Pick 1 tangerine (10 B)
Pick 15 tangerines (150 B)
Pick 50 tangerines (500 B)
Pick 100 tangerines (1000 B)
Pick 300 tangerines (3000 B)
Pick 500 tangerines (5000 B)
Pick 750 tangerines (7500 B)
Pick 1000 tangerines (10,000 B)
Pick 10,000 tangerines (100,000 B)
Winning Hand
Win 1 game of card (100,000 B)
Win 15 games of card (150,000 B)
Win 50 games of card (500,000 B)
Win 100 games of card (1,000,000 B)
Win 1000 games of card (10,000,000 B)
One Strike
Destroy 1 target practicing Fishman Karate (100 B)
Destroy 15 targets practicing Fishman Karate (1500 B)
Destroy 50 targets practicing Fishman Karate (5000 B)
Destroy 100 targets practicing Fishman Karate (10,000 B)
Destroy 1000 targets practicing Fishman Karate (100,000 B)
A Fish in the Ocean
Become a level one black belt Fishman Karate practitionner (100,000 B)
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-REFUSED-
The Winning Side
Convince Arlong to take you into his crew. (FEAT)
Sneaky Thief
Sneak into the 16th Marine Base and steal a document. (SKILL)
XXXXXXXXX
Save XXXXXX! (XXXXX)