You watched the children kick a well worn ball back and forth across the street, weaving it expertly through the adults that passed by. They were dressed in rags practically, them and everyone else in this little village. But they all seemed happy. The work at the docks looked difficult and the sun beat down on the island all day long yet they didn't seem to mind.

The sweat that rolled down your spine hardly had the time to reach the small of your back before it evaporated completely in the heat. Yet despite the general small complaints, things felt good.

Where the people suffered financially, they prospered in other, unseen ways. You almost envied them.

"Miss?" The stall vendor in front of you reached forward to brush his fingers along the draping fabric of your sleeve. The people here seemed awfully touchy too.

You instinctively pulled back but focused on him.

"My apologies." He retracted his hand and dipped his head into a quick, polite bow. "But, um, the payment? For the fruit?"

"Oh, right. I'm sorry." You reached into the pouch tied to your hip, taking out the last of your berries and placing them on the stall, close to the man's hand but not in his palm.

"They're fun to watch, aren't they?" He chuckled as he slipped the money into his own bag, jutting his chin towards the children. "Their boundless energy astounds me, and I see them out here just about every day."

You smiled back ever so slightly as you let your eyes wander back to them, your fingers playing along the rugged edges of the local fruit you'd bought.

"But miss....." There was a hesitance to his voice and you looked back at him in time to see his eyes dart around. "I've seen them all over town, the wanted posters. We've had them here a while, since the last visit from marines looking to restock on some supplies. I'm not making any threats, you seem kind enough, but if I noticed your face....."

"It's only a matter of time until others do as well." You let out a forlorn sigh. "Thank you for the warning, I was planning on heading back to sea soon anyway."

"With that little thing?" He pointed to your vessel at the docks.

You called it a "vessel" loosely. The only reason it held such a title was because it floated.

When you escaped from the marines a few months ago, you'd managed to get to a beach and hastily tie together some sturdy enough logs and float away safely with them. Since then, you'd added a few more logs to it but it still remained nothing more than a raft, not even a makeshift mast or sail for it, just a couple of oars to push it and some rope attached to one of the logs with a heavy bag of sand on the end.

"Yessir." You chirped. "It's gotten me this far and I trust it to get me further."

"You've been on that thing, on these seas?"

"I have a feeling that it's lucky." You chuckled. "No worries, thank you for the fruit!"

He sputtered, unable to form actual words in response to what he had to perceive as stupidity, plain and simple.

You trotted down to the close by docks and jumped down onto your raft, dropping the bag you had over your shoulder onto it and your fruit. As soon as you sat down, the raft bobbing dangerously, you untied it from the post you'd strung it to and picked up your oars.

The man at the stall gave you an uncertain wave goodbye as you parted from the docks, on your way back out to the ever unforgiving Grand Line.

----

"Day 76 of complete and utter freedom." You hummed to yourself as you scratched another tally into your notebook before closing it and shoving it into your bag. It was still quite full of provisions thankfully, even after being stuck on the raft for a few days.

The sea stretched onward in all directions, uninterrupted by ships or land. And it was all in utter turmoil.

Rain came down in sheets at a sideways angle from the force of the winds. The waves rolled up and came crashing down angrily. The whole world appeared to be roaring at you, casting dark, thunderous clouds up above and threatening you with bright, flashing lightning.

Yet strangely enough, you were unaffected. Before the water ever reached your raft, it calmed and leveled out, sending only soft waves rolling under the logs. The rain never touched you, or the raft for that matter, and instead moved around overhead to fall into the surrounding sea, like some invisible umbrella was overhead. Really all that you felt was the relentless wind. It was like it grabbed at you with increased ferocity to make up for everything else that was unable to touch you.

It felt like the sea was angry with you and it had every right to be. Someone, something like you, shouldn't exist. Yet you did.

You, the anomaly like no other. There was no question to why the marines wanted to keep you so bad, at least no question to those that knew about you.

For the vast majority of the world, they only knew what was on your wanted poster, the very same one you'd managed to pull out of your bag and look over for what had to be the thousandth time. Even with the wind trying to pull it out of your grasp, you could still read it.

Wanted Alive
(L/n) "Gaia" (F/n)

A picture of you from your days locked up on the marine based was used. One where you looked hollow, physically there but not exactly present mentally. You were staring directly at the camera, not smiling but not frowning either. There was no gleam to your eyes, not even a flicker of light. It wasn't long ago but you felt like you'd become so much better since then, like you'd found your spark.

Along with everything else, listed below the dismal picture, was your rediculous bounty. Because of how special you were to the marines, they had given you the generous price tag of one million berries. Overnight, you'd ranked up almost with the four emperors of the sea.

You'd heard the rumors surrounding you on your visits to different islands, the made up stories people liked to paint you with. In some, you were just some poor, unlucky girl. In others, you were a heartless, killing machine, slaughtering any and all that crossed your path. Your favorite ones involved people somehow deciding you were some kind of robinhood, stealing from the marines to give to unfortunate folks along the Grand Line.

The thing was, none of it was true. Well, maybe the unlucky girl ones were. They had some truth to them as far as you were concerned. But since the day of your escape, you'd simply been sating your lust for exploring. You'd wanted to see all kinds of islands, meet new people, and you'd been doing just that. The different sceneries, the interesting foods and cultures. It all drew you in.

You were finally getting to understand the world around you and indulge in a learning experience you'd only ever dreamed of. But you had lingering worries.

With a bounty like yours, it was hard for the tougher bounty hunters to resist the temptation. You'd been able to avoid any conflict so far but in reality, it was only a matter of time until someone found you and tried to take you back. And that was part of the reason you jumped around so much.

If you stayed in motion, the chances of getting caught were smaller. And on rare occasions, people like the vendor at the stall would let you know when your time was running out. It amazed you that someone in such a poor town was even willing to let so much money walk away but then again, you'd seen what good, genuine people the townsfolk were. Most people weren't so kind when such a large reward was at risk.

But you'd been smart thus far. Anytime people got tricky, you were two steps ahead of them and already on the move. You were always listening. Always watching. And while your freedom was wonderful, always being on guard was beginning to ruin it.

You only found solace at sea, when you were completely alone on your island of logs. But it wasn't quite right. You wanted something.....more than that. A real life.

You let out a heavy sigh and shoved the poster back into your bag. The storm was beginning to recede. The waves were calming and the wind had completely stopped. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and with the snap of your fingers, it finally began to land on your head. You didn't mind the rain, at least when it was like this. The downpour earlier was understandably unfavorable.

You laid back carefully, wincing at the ever present ache to your body. It was a little worse in bad weather but you were learning to get used to it. Your time in the marine base would never leave you, physically or mentally. But for now, you enjoyed the feeling of the cool rain hitting your skin as you closed your eyes.

It only felt like a moment, like you were laying back to slowly blink and soak in the rain. But when you opened your eyes, there was no rain and your raft had come to a halt. You must've dozed off.

There was still a thick layer of clouds in the sky, casting a gloom all around you. You liked the foreboding atmosphere though, it fit the island you'd managed to stop at.

Trees loomed over the small beach, casting dark, reaching shadows in your direction. Beyond them, you could barely make out strangely shaped hills through a thick mist that permeated the area. They rose up like the ocean water but then branched forward and curled under at their ends, creating spiraled ends and defying what would have been considered natural for such landmasses. And past even that, was the silhouette of what appeared to be a castle.

You were hit with the sudden urge to get up and explore the area. It was rare to come across a place like this, all doom and gloom. And that somehow excited you.

With some effort, you managed to get off your raft and drag it far enough onto the beach that it'd stay put. Then, you grabbed your bag, slung it over your shoulder, and began walking down a worn trail leading inland.

The dirt was hard packed from years of travel, yet you didn't see anyone nearby. And after a few minutes of walking, you began piecing together what may have caused the lack of people.

You came across ruins soon enough. Parts of stone buildings that had crumbled into rocks and dust. Old remnants of weapons laid about in the mess; broken, rusted swords and shattered spears. Everything utterly useless. The ruins stretched on, sometimes giving way to thickly wooded areas or clearings, but always making reappearances along either side of the trail.

The castle took form over time, the vague, suggested shape turning into a lovely victorian style build with proud spires and large, ornate windows. You couldn't wait to get inside and see what had survived the wreckage that you assumed came from some great fight that ultimately destroyed the inhabitants. It was the only thing left standing so there had to be something of interest inside. But there was this tingling at the nape of your neck that bothered you, the feeling of being watched.

You weren't alone on the island and the more you walked, the greater in urgency the feeling grew. But you stayed calm on the outside, even though you could feel the ill will being focused in your direction from multiple entities. They were biding their time so you'd bide yours as well. There was no need to rush into anything.

So you continued along the path, watching it grow from the worn dirt, to patchy stone, and finally to an actual walkway that led straight up to the castle doors. You stopped some distance from them, having decided to see what was following you before venturing any further. You turned on your heel and came face to face with a band of creatures unlike anything you'd ever seen.

They looked like giant monkeys or apes but they all wore some kind of armor piece or another on their person, a few even welding swords. One was closer to you than the others and bared it's teeth into a snarl while it brandished a sword, towering over you like it's size alone would be enough to intimidate.

"I'm just here to explore." You explained yourself calmly, hoping it could understand. "I won't take anything, I'm just curious is all."

The rest of the creatures began screaming and bouncing around, encouraging the front most one to fight you. It grasped the sword in both hands and let out a howl as it leapt into the air, ready to come down on you full force. And still you stayed put.

"I'd rather not fight." Your words were calm as ever, yet they were laced with a tone that promised if you did fight, they would not win.

And that was all it took. They felt your intent and they all shivered and stepped back, their group bully mentality destroyed in a mere second.

The one that appeared to be the leader fell short on its attack, stumbling backwards as soon as it hit the ground to avoid cutting you. The fear was evident in its eyes and it backed off with the others.

"Thank you." You gave them a slight nod in acknowledgement. "I'll be respectful to what's in the castle, don't mind me."

And you turned back around, once again heading to the doors to investigate the secrets inside.