Queen of the Pirates

The Pirate Hunter

+~*~*~*~*~*~+

"I love being out on the sea," I lean my back against the side of the boat, kicking my feet up on the seat. "Open sky, open blue, and just spending time with my friends."

"I have a few questions," Koby speaks up from his place in front of me on the floor of the boat. "More for Luffy than you Akari. Sorry."

"No worries," I wave off the boy. "I'm not nearly as interesting as the boy who can stretch like rubber."

"Your freckles are coming out," Luffy turns around from his place on the figurehead area if there was a figurehead for this small boat. "That is interesting. No matter how much you hate them, I like them."

Koby looks back at me, focusing in on my cheeks. "Whoa, you do have freckles."

My cheeks heat up in a second, and my head turns to look down at feet. "Don't you have something to talk to Luffy about, Koby?"

"Oh, yes," Koby shifts around. "You said that you were a rubber-man, right Luffy?"

"That is right," Luffy confidently answers.

"That means you must have eaten the fruit of the gum-gum tree...amazing."

"It was amazing that he ate the whole thing with how disgusting it was," I lift my head up just enough to see Luffy.

"I was hungry," Luffy shrugs. "But yeah, it was the gum-gum fruit that turned me into rubber. It scared Akari so bad the first time I stretched out my cheeks."

"Now I mess with you and your stretching abilities all the time," I giggle.

"Luffy, you are going after the One Piece, so that means that you will have to go to the Grand Line," Koby brings the conversation back on target.

"That's right!" Luffy grins.

"It is the Pirates' Graveyard, though."

"That is why I am putting together a super crew. There's me, and then Akari who can use shurikens and fix weapons."

"Like a blacksmith?" Koby looks back at me with wonder on his face.

"Trained by the best in our village," I sit up straighter, letting the embarrassment of earlier float away.

"What was the name of the guy that was mentioned back with your old crew who is imprisoned at the Navy Base?" Luffy speaks up.

"Roronoa Zoro!" Koby replies, looking back at Luffy.

"If he is a good guy, I want him on my crew," Luffy chuckles.

"Isn't he a pirate hunter?" I furrow my eyebrows as I squint at Luffy. "He's famous."

"Akari is right!" Koby exclaims. "You are just talking crazy now, Luffy. Never, never, never will he join your crew. He's a demonic beast. Not from this world!"

"How do you know he won't join?!" Luffy snaps back.

"Koby just doesn't want you to get your hopes up," I run my fingers through the tangles of my hair. "Right, Koby?"

"Yeah, that's right," Koby takes a deep breath.

"So, a demonic beast?" Luffy is back to his cheery self.

"They call him Roronoa Zoro the Pirate Hunter. He's like a hound out for blood, roaming the seas for men with large bounties on their heads," Koby messes with his glasses. "I heard that he is a demon in human form. There's no way he is human from the tales told to me."