Queen of the Pirates

Flashback: Troublemakers

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The next couple of months blur together as every day is practically exactly the same. To start everything off, after my mom sent us off with snacks, we spent the day finding the perfect place for the boys to train that wouldn't be randomly attacked by forest beasts, but also close enough to all the danger for when the boys would need to hunt for their dinner. The perfect place was found with minimal altering of our surroundings, just enough to make it a perfect clearing with a tree stump for me to sit at and a tally board to keep track of the boys newly decided fight club.

Once the rules of their daily fighting were decided, there was nothing stopping the boys from going at each other. They'd fight each other an even amount every single day, trying to get stronger and develop new techniques. It's always a big competition between them all to see who will win the most matches against each other. All I can do is sit and watch while keeping track of the wins and losses with whatever boy is not fighting.

While the boys don't let me fight against them, which I don't think I'd want to fight against them anyways, they also don't teach me any moves. I'm able to pick up on a few moves that they keep using, but that isn't helpful if I can test them on someone. For now, I'm content just watching them because I don't really need to know how to fight at this point in my life. I have three boys willing to do whatever it takes to keep me safe. However, I'm not totally left out of all the fun as we do have one race at some point during the day. At first I thought the boys were letting me win as I kept beating them without much trouble, but as the weeks have gone by, I know that's not the case at all. I've just underestimated how fast I am.

After all the fighting and race has been completed, then the boys delve into the real adventure of the day: finding the beast they're going to kill for dinner. This is when I truly get to see their fighting skills in action, and when I know that I have to be aware of my surroundings to evade anything that sets its sights on me. It's my favorite part of the day because it really gets my heart racing for the small taste of adventure we can have before we set out to sea as pirates some years down the line. I can't even start to imagine how amazing the adventures will be once I'm a pirate, but I do know that I am excited to head out one day to see the world. My mother is pretty skeptical about the whole idea, but I'm certain that it's the path I want to follow when I grow up. Not only to follow Luffy, but there's an itch deep within me that I can't explain ever since Shanks and his crew stopped at our village. I know that being a pirate, seeing the world, living completely free, is exactly what I need.

Our days aren't only filled with fighting, races, and killing beasts. I've also gotten quite close with Ace and Sabo as a result of all the time we're spending together. It's clear that Ace and Sabo have taken on the roll as big brother, not just for me but for Luffy as well. They treat us differently, which isn't surprising. With Luffy they push him around, make fun of him, and don't worry when he's in a predicament because he's just another boy that can handle whatever is thrown at him and throw it right back when needed. When it comes to me, they will tease me to no end, but there's a great sense of protection whenever things get rough. They'll put themselves in danger to ensure that I can get away unhurt, which is what I guess any older brother might do.

Still, Ace and Sabo have different ideas of what it means to be a caring older brother when it comes to me. Sabo from the moment we met has seen me as a darling that can do no wrong. He doesn't care that I followed Ace out to their hideout because I'm just too cute to be mad at. Ace, on the other hand, knows that I'm stubborn as hell, and I don't need to be coddled. He isn't mad at me any more for following him into the forest, but it's not because I'm too cute. It's only because I proved myself to him, and I must have said something that night when Luffy was rescued. Either way, I'm glad to have both of them as older brothers.