EPISODE 𝟎𝟏 ━━ ANYA JEONG'S GUIDE TO MURDER
(ROMANCE DAWN)

THERE ARE VERY FEW PEOPLE that Anya Jeong has come close to loving in her life. The first was her mother, her creator. A woman who only birthed her out of obligation. The woman who was the reason she was born with tragedy in her veins.

There was no love or affection that her mother held for her. Anya wasted years trying to get that attention. But it was futile. Her dreams weren't allowed to be hers. They were her mother's, whatever she wanted. Anya wanted.

With the lack of support from her mother. You'd expect for her to have given up on. But she didn't. Her anger persisted and she decided that she'd do whatever it took in her power to oppose her mother. In every single way. Every pirate and murderer who had ever hired her mother to kill, they'd all be done with by the time she was through. She vowed to herself to kill each and every one of them no matter what.

But, in order to do that. She needed to start somewhere. Which was why she was on the hunt to kill an egotistically easy to manipulate pirate. Someone who was tough enough to give her a fight. But who would fall at the mere mention of hurting their pride.

Which was why she's been working on Captain Alvida's ship for weeks now. Her wanted poster made her worth the cost of $5,000,000 dead or alive. Anya had no money to speak of since leaving her mother and their hometown behind. So she really was looking for a drastic solution. And this was her only one. She had managed to sneak onto one of the other pirates ships to even get out into the sea when her mother cast her out of their home.

A little sucking up while she was on a rival pirate ship Alvida had gotten her here, a job cleaning up for Alvida and her crew. The captain was just a little too ego minded to even think of Anya wasn't telling the truth. She played her like a fiddle. Her plan was simple. In order to kill a monster you needed the necessary tools to do so. So Anya would get those. She just needed to play out the part of a loyal crew member until she could sneak into Alvida's quarters and finish the job.

She'd ever expect it to be someone on her crew whom she trusted. That's what made it so perfect. That was all she needed to do, not grow attached. And get the job done before anyone even noticed. But the only problem was that it been weeks since she first planned to kill her, but she hadn't even found a chance to do it yet. To her utter frustration, somehow Alvida was almost never alone.

The thought of how naive she had been to think it would be that easy didn't cease to infuriate her. She side eyed the canons going off on the ship in the distance as Alvida and her crew raided their fifth ship for the day. She watched the chaos around her with an uncaring look. It was just another day. The bloodshed didn't get any easier to see, but it never phased her. That was apart of the reason Alvida liked her so much.

The captain had the older man and the rest of the men on his ship on their knees now. She narrowed an eyebrow slightly as she watched three members of the crew struggle to carry a barrel up onto the ship. That was odd. Usually the barrels they had stolen from other ships weren't that heavy. But it must have just keene there was more treasure in there for Alvida to get her hands out. The thought disgusted Anya. That woman didn't deserve to live.

If Anya hadn't so carefully masterminded out Alvida's eventual murder she would have killed her earlier. But it had to be perfect. Killing her right away just wouldn't be the smart thing to do. Anya was smarter than that. She always had been. Alvida's sharp tone rang out through the ship. She watched with an emotionless look on her face as per usual. "Where is the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro?" The woman demanded the men on her knees in front of her and her crew.

Some of the men shivered in fear. It made Anya's blood boil. She dug her fingernails into her skin to avoid the disgusted look on her face she could feel coming. Alvida glared at man men, prancing around him like he was her prey. "Don't deny he was on your ship." She muttered coldly. The man just flinched in response. "He booked passage to Sixis Island. After that, I don't know." The man muttered honestly.

Alvida only seemed to get angrier. "Liar!" She shouted coldly. "I know Zoro must be after me. Who else is worthy of his pursuit?" She got closer to him, and she swore she could see the man's face pale even more. "He- He had a list of people to pirates and their bounties." He stumbled on his words as Alvida's anger amplified.

Anya noticed as the weeks flew by on the ship that Captain Alvida's biggest flaw was her ego. She had the intent belief that she was better than every other pirate in the east blue. That she was the scariest pirate in the east blue. But she was wrong, of course.

There would always be people better than her. But her ego wouldn't let it go. Her ego would also be her downfall in the end, if Anya had anything to do with it. She held in a smirk. Just eyeing the situation going on in front of her.

Alvida just smirked. "And of course, I was at the top." How predictable. The man shook his fear, he seemed terrified but had the courage to speak up. "Actually, your name wasn't on it." The man's voice wobbled at the end of his sentence. That marked his final death sentence. The Captain would have let him live if he were to have lied. Her ego would cost this man his life. And it disgusted her.

The man screamed in agony, in desperation as Alvida picked up a spiked mallet. She knew what was coming next. The man screamed, his eyes widening utterly helpless as the mallet neared his head closer and closer. He was screaming in agony until the mallet's spike hit his head and scarlet blood dropped all over the floor.

Anya could hear the exact moment his crushed head hit the floor. Her nails filled with blood on her knee as she watched the man hit the floor in slow motion. There was a loud cracking of the skull. She held in a wince as the light died on in the man's eyes. Immediately Alvida's head swerved to look at her crew. Until her eyes landed on the cabin boy. "Koby, clean up this mess." The woman snapped at the boy.

He flinched and immediately ran to the captain to carry out her wish. Anya grit her teeth. Koby nodded at the pirate timidly. "Coming, Captian Alvida." He muttered quickly as he rushed towards the dead body. Disgusting. Alvida couldn't even clean up her own murder by herself. This woman was the lowest of the low. That's why her death would feel so much better than the hate she feels right now.

She let out a grimace as she watched Koby bring the mop out  to clean up the blood on the deck from the captain's murder of the day. She feels a twinge of sympathy for the older man who died due to Alvida's deadly pride by telling her she wasn't even a target in Roronoa Zoro's crusade of pirate killing. Anya could almost smirk if she could.

Koby pulled out the mop to wash the scarlet red blood off the floor. A moment passed before Alvida turned to look at Anya. Her head snapping to look at the younger woman. "Anya!" The brutish woman screamed. "Watch him. Make sure he does it right." She told her pointedly. Anya held in a scowl. "Yes, Captain." She muttered, tightlipped as she walked over to Koby. The two of them made eye contact for a second.

Koby's eyes widened as she eyed him up. She could see a visible nervous look in his eyes as she just watched him with this unreadable look on her face. No matter what Anya seemed to do he was always so nervous around her, like a mouse. The fact his features were very already mouse-like made it make more sense in her head. He always looked like he was two seconds away from running away in terror. But maybe that's just how he looks.

She was looking over his shoulder as he cleaned up the blood on the wooden floor. "You missed a spot." She muttered at him as the rest of the crew erupted into cheers at Alvida's command. Koby just looked at her for a second. It seemed like he was still trying to figure her out, even if they had both been on Alvida's ship for the same amount of time. He hasn't managed to figure her out yet, and that fact amuses her.

Anya clapped loudly for the captain to substitute the shouts the rest of the crew erupted into, or in Koby's case was forced to. Alvida begrudgingly respected Anya which was enough for her to get away with a few minor things. Anya wanted to do the job right, and for that to happen. All she had to do now was wait as she kept the same unreadable look on her face as always.

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WAITING SOMETIMES OFTEN FELT FUTILE TO Anya as she had to deal with the fact that she never really had a set place to sleep in at night. Alvida had decided that in order for herself to even begun to gain the captains trust she'd have to learn what it was like to forage for herself.

Which meant that she, and coincidentally Koby were stuck sleeping anywhere they could find. The boy had nervously waited for her to finish doing the dishes before he grabbed her to find a place for them to rest for the night.

Alvida always had her on dish duty. Every single night the rest of crew had finished eating, Anya was forced out into the kitchen to wash the dishes until they were all done. Otherwise Alvida would punish her. And Anya wanted to avoid getting into Alvida's bad graces.

Every single night she was forced to wash those dishes she had the urge to smash all of those plates onto the floor. Her hands twitched and ached, but her mind had already made up. So wouldn't even try.

She had a mission, and she'd succeed in it no matter what. Everything needed to go according to plan. She let out a slight grimace as she stared at her hands. She finally had finished the last dish. The crew had decided on eating ribs tonight. Which was hell to wash off plates. It was dark out already. The amount of dishes she had washed she working be surprised if her hands would bleed.

She stared at her now shriveled hands with a grimace. The wrinkles wouldn't leave her hands for ages now. She grit her teeth angrily as she stepped out of the foyer. She could hear Alvida's laughter echoing from the ship's cabin as she walked out onto the deck. She stared out onto the water with a grimace.

She had never liked water. Anya knew how to swim, but she never liked the way her hands felt in the water. Her once calloused hands now wrinkly and old, like the scars she had gotten didn't mean anything now shriveled up from the water. 

Koby sighed in relief immediately when he saw her. "Oh, good. You're done." He stuttered slightly. "Uh- come on." She nodded at him slightly. "You found somewhere less wet tonight?" She raised an eyebrow as she followed behind him. He immediately winced, thinking about the time they had fallen asleep on the deck. That has turned out to be a bad idea because it had started raining that night.

Anya's hair was soaked and she had never seen Koby would mortified. She more blamed Alvida for not giving them a proper place to sleep, but she was in a bad mood for days. Koby led the two of them down into below the ship.

Where they kept the barrels and supplies hidden tucked away where no one could see them. Ropes were hung around the room with millions of boxes as far as you could see. And it was dark, extremely dark. Anya could barely make out her own shadow as she stepped down onto the wooden floor below.

Koby could see her grimace and winced. "Sorry." He muttered softly apologetically. She narrowed an eyebrow at him in confusion. "What are you apologizing for?" She mumured bluntly. Koby gave her a confused look. "Cause this is the only place we can sleep in?" He sounded like he was questioning his statement at the end of his sentence. She shook her head at him with a frown. "It's fine." She shrugged it off.

Koby just frowned in response. "Yeah- I know but—" She quickly stopped him. "But what? It's fine, Koby. I assure you." She said in a tone that left no room for any other explanation. She held in a wince as she heard the creaking of the floorboards underneath as they walked further down. "Makes me wonder how old this ship is.." Koby muttered slightly as she turned into the middle of the room.

Anya immediately grimaced. "It's not too bad. At least it isn't.. the deck." She trailed off. Koby nodded slightly. "Yeah, yeah. Better than getting rained on, I think." She slowly nodded and sat down on the floor, leaning over on one of the millions of barrels spaced out around the room.

She crossed her legs as she sat on the wooden floor. Koby had moved a few inches away to sit near her, cleaning off Alvida's murder weapon with a grimace on his features.

The amount of blood that dripped into that bucket of water made her slightly wince. She was used to the blood and gore, but it was still something that she disliked seeing. She crossed her arms slightly and leaned her head against the wooden barrel. Silently wishing she was anywhere but here.

Minutes passed with complete silence between the two. Anya counting the callouses on her hands until her hands went less wrinkly from the amount of dishes she had to wash. Koby gingerly pulled Alvida's mallet out of the water bucket when she heard something off in the distance.

Her face immediately scrunched up in worry, looking around in confusion. "Did you hear that?" She said out-loud to the boy in confusion. He heard swerving around in suspicion.

Koby's face paled slightly. "Yeah... Yeah I did.." He fearfully looked at her. They could hear the banging noises getting louder five feet away from them. Anya snatched the mallet from Koby, who nearly flinched in surprise.

She tried to give him an apologetic look but he looked too scared. She slowly crept towards the position of where the sound was coming from. "What are you gonna do with that?" He muttered in absolute confusion.

She gave him a look, it was obvious what she was doing. "I'm gonna hit the intruder with this if there's anyone down here-" She replied. He looked like the blood just drained from his face. "Anya, that sounds like a terrible idea!" He whisper yelled as they got closer to the mysterious banging sound.

She waved her hand out dismissively at him, while he stared at her like she was mad. There were worried humanoid sounds coming a few meters away from them. As if someone was there trying to get out of something. She narrowed an eyebrow in confusion. Koby slowly crept towards the sound in front of her. She kept Alvida's mallet right above her head, ready to swing at any point.

The two of them could hear the humanoid sounds get louder. She looked around, analyzing where the sound could possibly be coming from. The room was dark enough that she could only make out Koby's figure off in the distance. "Who's there..?" He muttered as the two inched closer to one of the barrels that seemed to be the source of the noise.

Anya could practically feel Koby sweating from beside her. He looked scared shitless. The floorboards creaked loudly as they stepped closer to the noise. Koby finally reached the barrel after a second, Anya gripped the mallet in her hand impossibly tighter. Holding it over her shoulders like sole warning that she could hurt anyone with it. She stayed completely silent as they came in front of the obnoxiously loud barrel.

She was almost certain there was one of the people on the other ship Alvida had failed to kill hiding in there. If she were to find out they had found one of them, she would be pissed. And probably never trust her or Koby ever again. Which means all of her planning had been for nothing. She grit her teeth slightly at the thought.

All of a sudden the barrel started moving. She swerved around to look at the barrel, when to her hilarity a figure jumped out of. She could hear Koby screaming bloody murder beside her as she fumbled back in surprise. Why did he scream that loud?

She just stared at the figure that had just jumped out of the barrel with a clear look of a disbelief. She stumbled back as Koby started to run away. Alvida's mallet hit the creaking floor with a thud. 

She stared at the figure with a blank expression on her face, trying to figure him out. She realized something in those few seconds she stared at him. If Alvida heard Koby screaming she'd try to come down here to see ruckus was about. She couldn't have that. And Alvida couldn't find out they found a stowaway! Then they would be in trouble for sure. . . her thoughts were interrupted by the figure running after Koby.

"Hey!" She watched the figure go after Koby. She contemplated grabbing the mallet again for a second. Until she thought against it, Alvida wouldn't be happy if she saw that Anya had bloodied her mallet with the blood of someone who wasn't one of her many death conquests.

She scowled slightly at the thought. "Dammit." She muttered to herself in frustration as she ran after the stowaway. She had been thinking for too long, who knows if the stowaway is safe at all!

The exact moment she caught up with the two boys, she saw the stranger holding his hand up against Koby's mouth to stop him from speaking. She had wondered why Koby had suddenly stopped screaming. Looks like she found out why. "What are you doing!" She hissed, glaring at him intensely, staring at him certain that he was probably some nutcase who snuck onto the ship.

The stranger ignored her and instead shushed her. She gasped in response. "How dare you—" She could hear Koby's muffled out screams silenced by the stranger's hand over his mouth.
"Knock it off." The stranger whispered to the pink haired boy, shushing him and Anya again. The stranger slowly took his hand off Koby's mouth once he stopped screaming.

Anya just glared at him, unable to get in-between the two of them without making enough noise that the entire ship could hear. A completely terrified Koby stared at Anya for help desperately.

The girl could only wince in response. He muttered out completely terrified. "Please don't kill me." She grit her teeth at the tremor in his voice. "I swear to god if you kills him—" The stranger interrupted her before she could say anything else.

He just stared at the two of them, laughing. "Hey, hey, hey. I'm not gonna kill anyone, all right?" He said to the two defensively. He looked surprised at how immediately violent she was.

Anya scoffed. "You're not gonna kill us my ass—" The stranger interrupted her again. Wow, she really was starting to not like him. "I just need you guys to be quiet." The boy stared at Anya more specifically. The girl just scowled in response, crossing her arms with an annoyed look on her face.

Koby gave her a pleading look, she huffed and nodded unhappily. The oddest part about the stranger was that he looked around her and Koby's age. She could make out his curly hair in the dimly lit room. But she can't recall having ever met anyone like him before.

He's new. Anya doesn't like new. After a best of silence between the three. The stranger speaks again, gingerly taking his hands off Koby's shoulders. "But first things first," He started smiling, going to stand up. "Do you have any food here?" He asked.

Anya immediately grimaced. Are you kidding me? A glutton?

He just stood up and stared to waltz around the room like food would suddenly pop up somewhere. Anya immediately felt her eye twitch. "I- you scare us half to death yet the only thing you're concerned with is eating?" She said, the thought of that completely unreasonable in her mind.

Koby seemed as equally as confused. "What?" He muttered. The two of them shared a concerned look as the stranger kept looking around.

Koby frowned. "Alvida doesn't let us eat until she finishes her meal." He muttered unhappily. He still seemed a bit shaken up by the fact the stranger had basically given him a heart attack. She was honestly frustrated for him.

Anya huffed. "Sometimes when I don't finish the dishes on time she won't even let me eat.." She scowled just thinking about it. The boy in the straw hat looked down at them in confusion. "Who's Alvida?" Anya could feel herself loosing braincells another moment in the boy's presence.

Koby blinked in confusion. "This is her ship." He answered with a fearful tone in his voice. He was often terrified whenever talking about Alvida or anything to do with her.

The straw hat stranger nearly bumped into one of the ship's equipment. "She's captain of the Alvida Pirates." The boy continued when the stranger just stared at him in confusion. "Oh, that's great!" The stranger answered oddly excited for someone faced with the acknowledgement of a clearly dangerous pirate.

Koby blinked again in confusion. "It is?" He questioned. Anya narrowed an eyebrow. "How is that good, like at all?" She muttered. The boy just nodded at them with an optimistic grin on his face. "Yeah!" He opened a vial, smelling it to see if it was edible. But it clearly had been left there for a very long time.

Anya just stared at the curly haired stranger in disbelief. "How is that even remotely good for you?" The boy just smiled in response. "Because I'm a pirate too." He referred at himself with a grin. She hadn't felt this agitated with a person since she left home.

Koby stared at him in confusion. "You don't look like a pirate." He said, confusion on his features. Anya nodded slowly in agreement. "You look too scrawny to be a pirate." She muttered carelessly. The boy didn't seem even a bit offended by her comment, like it didn't bother him any bit.

The boy seemed to just shrug it off. "Well.. what do they look like then?" He looked at Koby for an answer, ignoring Anya completely. She just rolled her eyes instinctively at the stranger. She crossed her arms slightly. Koby took a second to answer him. "Pirates.. are scum." He muttered with hatred. "They're thieves and murderers." He said.

Anya nodded in agreement. "They're people who don't care for anyone other than themselves." She huffed. The stranger's eyes just widened slightly. He just turned to look at them with a smile. "Not the pirates I know." He said. Anya narrowed an eyebrow in suspicion. "And how do we know that you aren't lying to us?" She stepped towards him defensively. While the boy just shrugged at her.

The boy just shrugged. "You don't have to believe me." He didn't even seem to care, and that's what irked her more. Koby frowned. "I don't get it.. why would anyone want to be a pirate." He shook his head with a grimace.

The curly haired boy smiled. "It's the best thing there is! You have the... the wind in your back, the salty sea air, your loyal crew by your side. You never know what's on the horizon."

She narrowed an eyebrow at him as he continued. "It's all about being.. free." He finished with a wistful sigh. Immediately Anya shared a look of distaste with Koby. She was glad that they both agreed that this guy was completely, and utterly insane.

Anya rolled her eyes at him. "On Alvida's crew there's hardly any freedom." Koby scowled. "She tells me when to eat, when to sleep. and I even have to paint her toenails." He was clearly frustrated with their situation. Anya patted him on the shoulder pitifully.

She didn't know much of what had happened to Koby to get him stuck onto Alvida's ship, but she was sure that it wasn't good. She wouldn't make him have to relive that in order to explain it to her. Anya just sighed. "She forces me to do all of the dishes and when she thinks I haven't washed any of them properly. She doesn't let me eat for weeks." She clenched her fist, biting her tongue.

The boy stared at them in surprise. "So why don't you just leave?" He muttered in confusion. Okay now Anya was getting pissed. Was he stupid or something?

Koby gave him a look. "No one leaves Alvida." He uttered fearfully. Anya's plan to kill Alvida had been in full swing. But now this new guy might just undo all of the work she did to get this far in her murder attempt. "She'll never let us go." Koby muttered, shaking his head.

The stranger shook his head at them. Forbwing, like the thought of them having no freedom whatsoever was unfathomable. "You should never let anyone tell you what you can't do." He told them. "If I did that, I never would've left my village to go find the One Piece." He smiles.

Koby stared at him in confusion. "Gold Roger's treasure?" Anya had a similar reaction. "No one's even sure if it even exists." She stared at him, he was clearly an oddity in itself. No one has ever found it, at this point it seems impossible. Koby nods slowly. "It's impossible. Every pirate in the world is after that." He added.

The boy stared at them. "Why shouldn't I be the one to find it?" Anya could come up with many reasons as to why. But she held her tongue. The boy just continued speaking. "As soon as I'm out of here, I'm on my way to the Grand Line." He said like he was proud of himself. She wasn't even sure how this guy survived for this long.

Koby's face paled. "Pirate graveyard. There are a-hundred-foot waves and sea beasts that'll crush your bones." He muttered, horrified. Anya had heard stories of the Grand Line, but she had never realized it was that dangerous. "Once you enter the Grand Line, you never return." Koby said, face pale and full of fear.

To their utter horror. The boy just smiled. "It sounds kind of fun." The two of them just stared at him like he was crazy. And Anya was almost 100% sure that he was crazy. "Are you insane?" Anya stared at him. "That's not fun whatsoever! You could die, and probably die really horribly too." She just glared at him.

Any other arguments she had was interrupted by the all too familiar sound of Alvida sleeping from up above. She couldn't tell you the amount of times she's been kept up by the sounds of Alvida's snoring. She sighed slightly. The boy blinked in confusion, before smiling and staring up at the ceiling. "Wait!" He gasped. "Is... is that... is that one of the sea beasts?" He asked.

Koby just shook his head, staring at the boy weirdly. "No. It's just Alvida snoring." He muttered. Anya held in a chuckle. "Her snoring sounds like a dying whale, right Koby?" She asked the boy, who gave her a strained smile in response. "Yeah.." He muttered.

He then turned to look at the stabbed. "Look, If you want to get out of here, it's now or never." He told him. Anya gave Koby a look of disapproval, muttering to him under her breath. "Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. We don't even know this guy. We don't even know if we can trust this guy- we don't even know his name!" She whisper yelled in pure irritation. Koby sighed.

He whispered back to her. "Okay, fine. Just— hold on, okay Anya?" He stared at her wth a pleading look. After a few seconds of silence, she gave in. For some annoying reason she couldn't say no to Koby. Maybe it was the face that he was the only tolerable person she had been interacting with on this entire ship. But she doesn't want to think about it too much.

The three of them peaked their heads out up above to look out at the main deck. Koby pointed at the lifeboats. "Lifeboats are tied at the stern of the ship." He told him. "You'll need one to escape. I guess we'll have to buy you some time.." Koby muttered, already trying to come up with a plan to get the stranger over there without the sleeping pirates up above deck noticing.

Anya stopped the stranger before he could go any further. "Hey, hold on. First of all. Who even are you? You haven't given us your name, or even who you are. How do we know that we can trust you?" She glared at him intensely, but he didn't even seem threatened by it.

He just turned to look at her, and grinned. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm going to be King of the pirates!" He grinned at her brightly. For the first time in her life, Anya Jeong has never been so confused. All Anya could do was stare at him in disbelief. "You... king of the pirates?" She muttered in confusion.

The boy just grinned in response. "Yep!" He said. Koby blinked in confusion too. "Really?" He muttered in disbelief. Luffy just nodded at them again. "Yep!" There was a moment of silence between the three of them. "Alright.. let's get this over and done with." Anya muttered with a huff as she stood up and carefully climbed back onto the deck as quietly as possible.

Luffy and Koby followed behind her. Koby shut the trapdoor softly behind them as she quietly stood back up on the floor of the main deck. As they climbed up the stairs Anya could hear the rest of the pirates snoring softly as they slept. She held her breath as they walked up the stairs, anything could wake Alvida up.

They reached the top of the stairs. There was a boat paddle on the floor that Luffy picked up immediately.  "Gonna need one of these.." He said and grinned. Anya sighed. "Right.." She had the urge to bite her nails. Hopefully Luffy would be out of their hair soon, so her plan would come to fruition. She had planned on killing Alvida today while she was sleeping. And todays had seemed to be the perfect day too.

Her reasoning was that Alvida would want to sleep a lot after Roronoa Zoro's rejection of her bounty. Him not hunting her would hurt her ego so badly she'd need to sleep it off for a few days to emotionally prepare to continue to go after him, and eventually kill him if she knew Alvida well enough.

But Monkey D. Luffy brought a wrench into her plans. Anya and Koby could have been celebrating Alvida's death by now if he hadn't arrived. She had the urge to punch something.

Koby nodded at Luffy as he picked up the oar. "Head due north. You should hit land in a few days." He told him. Anya huffed. "Good luck, or not." She whispered. Koby gave her a look. "Anya!" He chastised her. "Be nice, please." To her utter horror, Luffy just smiled. "Anya, that's a pretty name." He said, clearly missing the fact that she didn't like him.

The girl just rolled her eyes at him in response. "Yeah, yeah whatever just go." She shooed him away dismissively. Luffy nodded. "Right... North. Which way is north?" He muttered in confusion, turning around with the oar in his hand. "No, no, wait!" Anya yelled, but the damage was already done. He had slammed the hilt of the paddle right into the ship's bell.

Anya could already feel her eye twitching. Pirates started waking up at the loud noise caused by Monkey D. Luffy's utter stupidity!

Alvida yelled from her quarters loudly. "What the hell is going on up there?" She shouted shrilly. Anya turned to glare at Luffy angrily. "Look what you've done! You ruined everything!" She was about to scream at him until Koby grabbed her by the arm to calm her down. "Anya! Come on, it's not worth it-" He muttered to her quietly.

Meanwhile Alvida had properly woken up and arrived. "Shit." Anya muttered under her breath as she moved slowly away from the pirate. Koby moved slowly, fearfully getting behind her. "What's the meaning of this?" Alvida glared at the two of them intently. Anya could feel her face paling slightly. Which she wasn't sure was out of embarrassment or fear.

She knew what Alvida could do to traitors. Koby's face paled, he looked terrified. "Alvida, I can explain." He stuttered slightly, trying to explain themselves although he was terrified. The woman just stared at them even more angrier now. "You two dare betray me to a bounty hunter?" Anya gaped. "Him? A bounty hunter?" She muttered in disbelief. Koby shook his head quickly. "No, that's not it at all!" He uttered defensively.

Alvida stared down Anya intensely. "And you... I trusted you girl.." Alvida never cared to address Anya by her name when she was angry. It made her feel like she was a stupid little girl being punished for breaking her toys. Anya immediately glared at her back angrily. "I am not a traitor! All of this is his fault!" She pointed at Luffy.

Alvida just stared at her. "I don't believe you." Something in Anya snapped. "All of my loyalty, for nothing? Has all of my sacrifice meant nothing to you?" She glared at her, hands shaking with frustration. She stepped slowly closer towards the woman. Facing her with pure fury in her eyes.

The woman just huffed. "You're a child. Children are meant to be loyal. You haven't sacrificed anything. Children are sheltered. You're lucky I've given you something to sacrifice." All Anya saw was red. All she wanted in that moment was to rip Alvida's organs right out of her body and throw them out into the ocean swallow her body parts whole.

Alvida then turned her attention to Luffy. Glaring at him in confusion. "And you, you're too scrawny to be Roronoa Zoro." She looked at him, like she was sizing him up with just one look. Anya could feel her fury rise. Alvida always had some kind of way to irritate her.

Luffy just smiled, like he was meeting an old friend. She had remotely no idea how this guy had managed to be so painfully optimistic all of the tjme. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy." He said emily with a grin. Alvida stared at him with contempt.
"Never heard of you." She said, frowning slightly.

The boy just smiled again. She could see the way Koby instinctively stepped farther behind her. Now she was really starting to not like this.. Monkey D or whatever he called himself. Luffy didn't seem even a bit intimidated by Alvida. Which was probably the worst part. "Well, remember the name, 'cause I'm gonna be King of the Pirates." He asserted.

The rest of Alvida's crew began to laugh at that comment. Anya's mouth stayed close, nothing coming in or out. He sounded like he really believed that. The fact they were making fun of him made her angrier.

But she clenched her fist behind her back. Alvida laughed with her crew. "You must be new around here, boy, because who is the most powerful pirate on the seas?" She turned to look at her crew. All of the other pirates immediately shouted out Alvida's name at that moment.

Anya's gaze stayed fixated on Alvida's face, with pure hatred. Next to her, Koby seemed too pale to even process what was happening in front of them. Alvida then noticed that Koby hadn't joined the others in their mantra of the captain's name. Anya was aware that Alvida was ignoring her. But she knew she could get to Koby. He was more terrified of her than she was.

Alvida's eyes were staring him down. "Ah." She muttered, a look of realization on her face. The woman dropped her mallet to the floor loudly. She noticed Koby's eyes widened as he stepped forward to look at the captain. Alvida just glared at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you, Koby." She said. "Who's the most powerful pirate on the seas?" She asked mockingly.

Anya had never so badly wanted to kill someone in her life. But she held her tongue. She knew if she did something now, they would be outnumbered. She had to find them some way out of this which didn't involve either of them getting killed. Luffy could make a good sacrifice if they needed to run away. Unless he was good at fighting... so they could possibly need him.

Her racing thoughts were interrupted by Alvida's voice's tightening with anger. "Answer me, you sniveling runt." Anya was about to punch the lights out of her until Luffy interrupted. "He doesn't have to." He said, looking at Koby with a grin. "Koby's his own man." The boy in question shook his head, mortified. "Shut up." He hissed at the other boy hastily.

Anya had the urge to face palm again. "Yes, please shut up Luffy." She glared at him. Alvida meanwhile, shook her head. "No, no, he's not." The woman said. "He's mine, and he'll always be mine." She seemed entirely convinced of that. Alvida had more of a hold on Koby than she ever did on Anya, that was for sure.

Sometimes she even swore that Alvida was aware of the fact Anya could fight back. So she pushed her as far away as possible.

Luffy shook his head at the pirate captain. "That's not what he told me." He just smiled, like he was building up to something. If he didn't soon. Anya was going to loose her mind, because at this point she can't see a way out of this that doesn't involve the three of them walking the plank.

Alvida huffed. "Anya and Koby are apart of my crew. They are mine." She said with growing frustration now. Anya's jaw cleanched. Luffy hummed in thought, shaking his head at the captain. "They said that you were mean. And cruel." He just kept speaking. "And that you're as dumb as a sea cow." She'd probably be laughing at that comment if they weren't about to die.

Koby immediately shouted defensively. "No, Captain Alvida! I didn't!" He assured her loudly. Anya, meanwhile had finally lost the last remaining bits of her sanity. Alvida can go to hell for all she cares. For the record she is stupider than a sea cow. "I did." Anya muttered under her breath.

At that exact moment Alvida swung her mallet at them. Anya immediately ducked down. Luffy had moved his oar in one swift accidental movement. His hand shot up, the side of the long piece of wood landing onto Koby. Knocking him down safely out of the mallet's way. Anya's shoulder sagged in relief. She hadn't hit him. Thank god. But Alvida was clearly pissed. So she was sure she'd keep trying until she did hit one of them.

Luffy moved back so he didn't get caught as well. Lo and behold, Alvida glared at them even harder. Koby was kneeling down, clearly on the verge of sheer panic. He was onto holding the oar that had pushed him down for dear life. She can see how letting Luffy continue speaking was a terrible idea now. In hindsight she thought he was actually going to say something useful. Alvida glanced over at them angrily. Getting ready to swing again.

She saw Koby take a shaky breath in as Alvida glared at him. Anya decided that she needed to find a way to counteract Alvida's hits. Even for a little bit. There were clearly more people on the crew than them. They were outnumbered. But if she's smart enough she could get them out of this unscathed. Alvida swung again, screaming even louder than before.

Alvida's weapon swung again. Hitting in-between Luffy and Koby. The impact shoved Luffy to the right, while Koby was pushed to the left. Unluckily for Luffy, he had been bumped into one of Alvida's crew members. The oar was now broken in half. Koby held one side, while Luffy held the other.

While Anya swiftly kicked a piece of broken wood with her foot. She ducked down to grab it. Hopefully she could use it as a makeshift weapon. She didn't have a weapon on her right now. Which wasn't a good thing. Considering their current situation. Alvida screamed angrily as she missed. She tried going after Anya, but she had already moved out of the way.

Her hand hastily reached for the long broken piece of wood she managed to kick apart. Alvida's mallet swung around in circles. Just in time, Anya had managed to grab the broken piece of wood. She had broken it apart from something that was apart of the ship. But that didn't matter right now. Before she could counteract the attack. Alvida swung at them again.

Her eyes widened in shock as Luffy flipped over to avoid her mallet. "What the hell?" She shouted louder than she meant to. Since Luffy had managed to avoid Alvida's weapon, she had accidentally hit one of her crew on accident. Anya held back a snicker at the scene. That one's gonna leave a mark. Another pirate had moved to hit her.

She held her makeshift weapon in front of her. With no mercy in her eyes, she swung. The man fell to the ground with a thud. Luffy whistled loudly at her, looking impressed. Anya ignored him and kicked the man's body away from her. She wiped the blood of the wood. Hopefully the thing wouldn't break so she could use it again.

Another pirate had his gun out. Before anyone could react. The man held the gun out to shoot Luffy. Anya's eyes widened in horror. "Shit—" Another pirate had grabbed onto her leg to keep her from stopping the bullet. She struggled to get free. Helpless as she watched the bullet hit Luffy right in the chest.

To everyone's utter confusion. Luffy just smiled, when suddenly the bullet bounced right off him. It was as if he was made out of rubber. The man who has shot him fell bwck with a thud on the floor, very much dead. Anya's stared back at Luffy in shock again. "What the fuck." He just smiled at her in response. Somehow not horrified about the fact that he almost died!

How is that even possible? The bullet had just bounced back right off him!

It hit the other guy in the chest instead. The pirate who had been hit had screamed in terror right before the bullet bounced onto him. The other pirates gasped around them. Alvida was even concerned. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen her surprised.

Luffy cheered to himself in victory. While everyone else was gobsmacked by what just happened. Anya moved back slightly, moving back to stand beside Koby. Looks like Luffy can take care of himself. He was right in front of Alvida's face now. The woman looked even angrier. She looked like she felt insulted by him somehow defying all odds.

If anything, he would have been dead by now. But he wasn't. She wouldn't lie if she was a little intrigued by how he managed to do that. Alvida swung her mallet out one last time. This time it was aimed right at Luffy. The boy immediately bent back in a way that shouldn't be humanely possible to avade Alvida's attacks. It was akin to a slinky doll stretching out. But instead it was with human skin.

His back hit the bell with a loud resounding noise. Anya however was only flooded with questions running through her head. Can human skin even stretch that much? She didn't have time to question it because she had just seen it before her eyes. Luffy smirked at Alvida. "Whoo!" He cheered again to himself. She could almost see Alvida's eyes twitching.

The woman stared at the stretchy boy with wide eyes. "What kind of a monster are you?" She muttered in shock, disgust laced in her voice. "The stretchy kind." Luffy responded a grin on his lips and clear mock in his tone. All of Alvida's angered was on him now.

Alvida was about to swing again until Luffy's head stretched out above his head to two ropes up above their heads. "What the hell is he doing?" She muttered in confusion, her hands moved out to grab Koby by the shoulder so they could step back. Just in case anything happened.

Luffy's hands stretched out as he jumped to avoid Alvida. The woman had hit another one of her crew. Luffy's otherworldly long hands had managed to help him evade the attack. He was up above their heads now, the rope only holding him as he swung himself onto the other ropes next to him. Alvida breathed heavily in anger. Moving towards him, though he was out of reach. Luffy slid down from the rope he was hanging onto.

He had landed in front of her and Koby as he jumped down in front of the ship's wheel. The other pirates had moved back, seemingly afraid of Luffy and his strange abilities. Alvida shouted again as she swung again at him. She didn't even see that Luffy had moved behind the wheel. His hand was casually touching the wheel like nothing was wrong.

It was like watching in slow motion as Alvida's mallet hit the wheel. She thought she was hitting Luffy. But he suddenly flipped over as Alvida's swung, the mallet breaking the ship's wheel almost completely. He was extremely flexible.

She grabbed Koby's hand then, pulling them out of the way of the line of fire. The wheel was on fire now. Bright, hot red flames peeking out from the wheel Alvida had just hit. She had broken her own ship. Luffy landed back in his feet, turning to look at the two of them with a grin. Anya stared at him with a shocked expression on her face.

The fire went on. It looked like it was getting bigger. Alvida had seemed to realize what she had done. She screamed bloody terror at the sight of the large fire building up. Anya could see the flames getting bigger. She could hear wood burning as she eyed the flames. The smell was almost lethal, it smelled as bad as it looked.

She was used to the smell of burning. But this was just something else. Alvida turned to look at Koby. "You! This is all your fault!" She screamed in his face. The pirate then looked at Anya. Her gaze was fiery and bloody. She had a look in her eyes that she wanted to kill Anya on the spot. "And you, you fucking traitor!" She shouted.

Koby flinched as Alvida screamed at them. Her mallet had then moved to hit him. In a flash of light, she had moved swiftly in front of him. She squeezed her eyes shut as she braced herself for impact. She shoved Koby out of the way, her eyes squeezed as shut as they possibly could. "Anya!" She heard Koby yell out for her, his voice cracking in horror.

The mallet moved out slowly. Alvida held it above her head as it descended towards her. Anya took a shaking breath in. Her hands were shaking, but that didn't matter. She clenched her fists tensely. She hadn't planned for this, she hadn't planned for any of this. But she knew that Koby couldn't survive the hit.

But maybe, just maybe she could. Her mother had put her through worse. She braced herself for the spikes that would eventually hit her head. But the hit didn't come. She opened her eyes hesitantly in confusion. Her eyes widened in shock of the sight of Luffy in front of her blocking the mallet from hitting her head.

The mallet hadn't even hurt him! It bounced off his hat without any pain. Alvida had fallen backwards, her mallet hitting the ground. For the first time ever, she had seen Alvida afraid. It was probably the only time Anya had ever seen this woman frightened. "That's enough." Luffy said, glaring at the now terrified woman in the eyes.

Anya was frozen in shock. She moved backwards in confusion. She wasn't dead. Oh my god. She's not dead!

Luffy adjusted the hat on his hand. Moving his hand out, in preparation for a punch. "Gum Gum..." He trailed off. His hand stretching out at least 2 meters away from the ship. The rubbery like hand had stretched out so far that she knew that Alvida was done for. "Pistol!" Luffy yelled as his arm swung back. She watched in awe as his hand stretched back to his body. Stretching back to Luffy like a rubber band. His hand had finally landed towards Alvida. The hit was instantaneous. The impact sending her flying back right out of the ship. And right into the sea.

Anya laughed in shock. "Oh my god!" She shouted in shock. She had never seen anything even remotely like this before. The water splashed loudly as Alvida disappeared completely from view. "Anyone else got a problem with Koby and Anya?" Luffy asked, staring at what was left of Alvida's crew.

The rest of the pirates spoke amongst themselves in harsh whispers. They all shook their heads in silence, some muttering no's and such. Anya was still processing what happened. She snapped out of it quickly. She didn't realize she had dropped the wooden pole she was using earlier. Turns out she'd have to find another weapon.

She sighed slightly in relief that none of them had died. Luffy turned to look back at them. "Come on." He didn't seem too shocked at what just happened. Anya wasn't even surprised at this point. "We're gonna need a boat and enough food for a few days." He told her and Koby as they processed the shock of what had happened.

Anya blinked softly. Nodding slowly at him. He was right. The ship was slowly burning inside of itself. They had to leave. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the flames just getting larger. Her eyes were fixated on the bright orange red light. Luffy had stepped away from then the .

Koby stared at him in confusion. "Me?" He muttered in shock. "Yeah!" Luffy said, an expectant look in his eyes turning back to look at them. "You guys are coming with me, right?" Koby stared at Anya for a second. He was waiting for her to agree. She exchanged a tentative look with him.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, we should go." She muttered. The flames only growing bigger. "We should leave before the flames engulf us all." She mutters as she looked at the boys. "Come on!" She grabbed Koby's arm. The boy jumped in surprised, but nodded. "I can hear you know." He muttered as the two of them followed Luffy's lead.

They had managed to grab a few food supplies on their way out. Luckily Anya had found her things. Alvida had stolen them from her when she first joined her crew. She was only allowed to have them back when she had proved her loyalty. But now.. Alvida was gone. Anya had her katana back, and her bag full of other things she had taken before she had left home.

She was slightly relieved when they had left the ship. One of the emergency boats Alvida had lying around was what they decided to use to sail out of here. Anya had no idea how to navigate, but knew they had to figure it out if they wanted to leave. The fire burned on, nearly engulfing the whole ship into flames as they drifted away from it safely on their tiny boat.

It was safe to assume that Alvida was dead and gone. For once in her life, Anya was relieved. Good riddance. Turns out all her planning hadn't been for nothing.

█⠀⠀⠀. ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ RAI SPEAKS!! . . .
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This took so long to write on god. But it was so worth it! This chapter was so fun to write. This is only halfway through episode one but took a while to write. Thanks for being so patient everyone. Thank you for reading!! This chapter was long as a result of me trying to figure out how I wanted certain scenes to go. But this was really fun to write anyways! Hope you guys enjoy!

Let me know what you think of this chapter by commenting! It gives me motivation. School is killing me rn but I'm gonna attempt to update whenever possible! Toodles ♡︎