"Come on, you got this." You were hyping yourself up for a real risky move.

You'd snuck into a marine base and gotten on top of the tallest building in it. At the far end across from you was your destination. A somewhat shorter building with one open window, beckoning to you. Through it was what you were searching for. A treasure map.

What the Marines wanted with it was beyond you, but that didn't matter. You'd been watching from your perch for a while and saw the base's captain pull out the map to look it over and put it in a drawer of his desk. All you had to do was swoop in, grab it, and leave. Your captain wanted the map for the treasure it led to and you wanted the notoriety that came with stealing it right from under the Marines' nose. It'd be a real win-win.

It was now or never. The captain had left the room a few minutes ago and you assumed he wouldn't be back in time to catch you. You stretched out your wings, feeling the breeze play with your feathers, and jumped. It was the middle of the day so of course people would see you but you planned on that. It'd be impossible to miss the pitch black wings with silver splatters dotting them. And they'd know exactly who came.

You tucked and rolled into the office, snapping your wings closed so as not to bend them and dashed to the desk. There was a chorus of shouted commands and warnings down below, letting you know that you had indeed been spotted. Now you were on a time limit. Lucky for you, the captain felt secure enough in his own base to not only leave the window open, but not lock the desk drawers either. The map was neatly folded up on the top drawer, just begging to be taken.

So of course you did, opening it quickly to make sure it was indeed the map and not something else. Satisfied with what it was, you folded it back up and slipped it into the bag slung across your shoulders. You reached the window and were ready to jump out right as the door slammed open. The Marine captain stood there, panting heavily like he ran up from the bottom floor to get to you.

"Sorry captain, a little too slow don't cha think?" You giggled and let yourself fall out of the window.

His frustrated cries followed you as you opened your wings and pushed yourself up in the air, sailing over the baffled men below as they tried to shoot you down. You were too quick though. The bullets flew behind you as you flew out to sea in search of your Captain's ship.

----

"(Y/n) you're worth a fortune, you know that?" Your captain roared with laughter, sloshing his drink around.

He was a large man, definitely intimidating to look at. He had a harsh face with an ill kept mustache and beard. Not only was he tall, he was round. There was no other way to explain it. But despite his appearance, the man wasn't all that tough. In fact, you were the strongest part of the crew, which was a little sad to say when people looked at you. There was no one on the ship smaller or more petite and you were the only woman of course. It took a lot to convince other pirates that you were a force to be reckoned with.

No, your captain ran a different kind of ship with an interesting outlook on pirating. He avoided fights or getting a high bounty, preferring to enjoy the free lifestyle and countless riches you helped bring in to fuel his love for alcohol and partying.

Even now, the whole crew was celebrating what you'd done, drinking and dancing around the ship. As fun as it was, you thought it wasn't a good time for that. You'd flown away from the base in the wrong direction on purpose, in case they chose to follow you and find your ship, and then turned around to go the right way once you were out of sight. But there was still always the chance they'd figure that out and come to find you.

It was hard enough convincing your captain he needed to set sail to gain some distance but he wouldn't do any more than that. The sails stayed furled so the ship wasn't going very fast, it wouldn't be hard for the Marines to catch up if they did find you. And you hated it when fights were unavoidable, it usually ended in you protecting half the crew because they couldn't fight to save their lives. It was like you were babysitting a bunch of grown men.

"Captain I appreciate the compliment but we really ought to be going a little faster." You flapped your wings once to lift you off the ground high enough to stand on the railing, watching the horizon line for incoming ships.

"Don't worry! You were careful, they won't find us. Now get down from there and have a drink!" He shoved a full mug to your chest, almost knocking you down. A couple flaps and you were able to keep yourself upright.

You sighed as he wandered off to hound some of the men for a game of cards. This isn't what you signed up for when you first went out to sea. It was hard to find a captain willing to take you though, and you weren't keen on becoming one yourself. No one took you seriously as it was. As your captain put it, you're a "pretty little angel." And frankly, that's just not scary.

Your devil fruit gave you permanent feathery wings that came in very handy on a regular basis. But it also made you seem that much less intimidating than you already were. It was frustrating, especially when the crew, who were all weaker than you, didn't take you seriously either. Maybe you should go get a bunch of tattoos, or some gnarly scars or something. That'd help, right?

You took a sip from your mug. Drinking would be okay as long as you didn't have too much. Flying drunk wasn't easy. You've tried and it never ended well. With the crew busy, it'd be a good time to check out the map again, this time taking in all the details you can from it. You sat on the railing, placing the mug beside you, and took off your bag. You didn't keep much in it, a coat, a knife, and some dried rations for emergencies, it was important to fly light after all. Right on top of all that was the map.

It was old, yellowed with frail edges and corners. When you opened it there were some worn spots revealed where the fold marks were, indicating years of fingers running over the creases. Though the ink was faded in some spots it was still readable for the most part. The island depicted had a vaguely oblong shape with what looked to be a volcano or mountain at the top of it. The name of the island was above the picture but it was horribly faded and impossible to read. Literally the only part you couldn't make out.

You'd have to hit the books to find the name of the island, see if it was recorded somewhere. Instead of marking where the treasure was supposed to be, on the side was a detailed riddle for how to reach it. You'd have to set foot on the island to make sense of it but you were confident you'd be able to solve it. It wouldn't be too complicated once you were in the surrounding areas it mentioned.

Supposedly this would lead to a huge trove of gold and precious metals that no one had been able to locate yet. It'll be nice to get a hold of it and take a portion of the earnings for yourself. You were hoping to have a custom made bow done up for you. Something that'd be easy and quick to fire while in the air. It was something you've wanted for a long time but haven't gotten enough money together for. People who made good bows were hard to find and very expensive with guns being to preferred option nowadays. The smaller market meant higher prices and more selective craftsmanship. And you were picky.

Something caught your attention. The hairs on the back of your neck tingled and you snapped your head up to search the sea. Sure enough, there was a marine ship heading your way. They'd found you. You groaned and folded up the map, placing it in your pocket this time as you shouldered your bag.

"Captain!" You got to your feet and motioned the man over. "Remember me saying we should be going faster?"

He nodded, puzzled at your attitude. You pointed out to the ship, easily in sight without the need of a telescope or binoculars.

"Next time I suggest something I'd like people to listen." You growled as he turned red, smiling sheepishly.

"Will do little miss." He chuckled and shouted orders for the men, sending them scrambling to finally unfurl the sails to pick up speed and prepare the cannons.

You helped as well, flying up to get to the sails faster. As you lighted onto one of the posts of the main mast, you couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was something else besides the Marine ship. Looking around again, you figured out why. You were sailing right to second ship, one much worse than the marine ship.

"Captain!" You yelled down with a new sense of urgency.

"We're going as fast as we can girl, what more do you want?" He grumbled, oblivious to what was going on.

"No there's something else!" You released the sail and jumped down to the deck. "We need to change direction now. We're sailing right into another pirate ship."

"That's fine, I'm sure they'll see the Marines and turn tail." He laughed until you yanked him down by the collar.

"No it's not fine. It's the Kid Pirates. We need to change direction now." You grit your teeth, fuming at his lack of care.

You weren't the navigator or really anyone who should be making such important calls. But you were the strongest fighter on this ship and there was no way you'd be able to go toe to toe with a worst generation pirate crew. You knew your limits and Eustass Kid wasn't known for his kindness.

"R-right, we'll do that." The giant of a man trembled like a scared rabbit at the mention of the pirates. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was really in charge on this ship.