The Puppet Master [One Piece]

The Stow Away Pt. 1

A/N: Images used is just found from google searches (unless otherwise stated as fan art given to me).. I don't art well

~Shanks POV~

                We left Loguetown nearly a week ago and made our way towards the Grandline after picking up some supplies. Over the course of those days things started to go missing and tensions were high between the crew. Scuffles were breaking out almost on a daily basis over miscommunications.

                Our first day on the Grandline, in the midst of a hellish storm, I spotted something peculiar, a long mane of white hair trailing behind a small figure, disappearing below deck as the ship was tossed about. It seemed we had a stow away on board.

                I followed the figure below deck to the storehouse and began sifting my way through the maze of crates. A snow white blur darted away from me at an inhuman speed and flitted through a small crack in the crates too small for me to fit through.

                "Captain, we've got trouble!" A voice that sounded like Yassop sounded from above me. It sounded so close yet so far away.

                I sighed and turned to head back upstairs, she'd still be here when the trouble was gone. "What's the trouble, Yassop?" I asked curiously as I returned to deck to find the hellish storm completely over and the sun shining brightly overhead.

                A man with blonde dreads and an unfocused gaze with a flush to his cheeks nursing a bottle of sake threw me a queer look, "What trouble?" He asked with a hiccup.

                "Didn't you just say there was trouble?" I asked curiously.

                He broke into a drunken fit of laughter and tumbled off the barrel he'd been sitting atop. Was it possible that the stow away I'd been chasing had tricked me somehow?

                "I think we may have a stow away on board." Benn Beckman, a tall man with long dark hair, pulled back in a loose ponytail said quietly as he picked Yassop off the ground and righted him on the barrel once more.

                "I know." I chuckled, "And it seems she's causing quite the disturbance."

                "She?" Yassop and Benn asked simultaneously.

                "I guess it could be a he, but I don't know many petite guys with hair that long." I noted.

                "What should we do?" Yassop slurred.

                I shrugged, "She's not hurting anything, just causing some mischief. I see no reason to intervene."

                "Hey, who drank all my sake?" Yassop hiccupped as he tipped back his bottle and nothing came out.

                I chuckled at this, "Now there's the question of the day. Let's drink!"

                The crew cheered and sake was passed around as the sun began to set. I spotted a white blur out of the corner of my eye darting between my men completely unseen heading toward the bow of the ship. The blur paused for a fraction of a second and I could barely make out the features of the stow away. She looked young, like she could be no more than eighteen years old, her frame was small and delicate and her skin was so pale it was almost luminescent in the dying light of day. Her eyes were the color of the sea in a storm, murky green infused with swirls of grey and faint hints of blue. She was stunning and in the next instant she had vanished from my view.

                Who was this girl? Why was she here? Had I known she'd been aboard before we made our way to the Grandline I would have never let her tag along.

                A dark streak in the water behind the ship caught my eye; we were being followed by a Sea King or some other giant sea dwelling creature. Someone would need to stay on watch tonight to make sure it didn't try and attack the ship once everyone was asleep and seeing as Benn and I were the only sober ones left of my crew it was going to be us.

                Most of the crew passed out atop the deck strewn about at random sprawling across the floor snoring loudly. I hadn't seen the white blur the rest of the evening. Where had she disappeared to?

                Benn nudged me as the ship began to rock unsteadily and I paused as I heard the sound of rushing water. The beast was going to attack!

                The girl appeared atop the railing of the upper deck as a massive black serpent beast raised its ugly head from the water. I watched in awe as the girl outstretched her hand toward the enormous serpent. It sniffed her curiously for a moment looking ready to lash out. Once it had picked up on her scent the immense serpent nudged her hand softly with the tip of its snout.

                "Hello Linda." The girl said softly, her voice was soft and sweet and made me think of what angels would sound like.

                The serpent responded with a strange hissing sound and gave the girl another nudge.

                "I've missed you too. Thank you for watching over the ship." Her stormy sea green eyes shifted slightly to the direction of the crew as one of the rookies began to stir from his drunken stupor. The girl dismissed the giant sea serpent with a wave of her hand and in the next instant she was nothing more than a white blur disappearing below deck.

                Benn and I exchanged curious glances.

                "Did she just command a giant sea serpent?" Benn asked quietly.

                "I believe she did."

                "I think perhaps she's from an island somewhere here on the Grandline." Benn noted.

                "I think you might be right." I chuckled.

                What an interesting little stow away.