one piece stolen book

Stolen book trying to listen to it

Name: A young swordsman's adventur.

Being X lied. She was supposed to have been thrown to oblivion when she died, she even made sure to curse him right before she exploded the type 95 to make sure of it. Damn Francois. Damn Being X. 

Still, the fact remains that Being X cheated by ensuring that she couldn't let the cursed relic go at that critical moment over Brest, and apparently was willing to send her to yet another life. Oddly, he didn't tell her he was doing that, and she hasn't seen him again, but that's not that unusual. He didn't show back up to gloat until quite some time after her second life began. 

She's a girl again, which absolutely sucks. She had just enough time in her last life to get used to the mortifying effects of berserk female puberty hormones before she died, and now she has to go through that again. She's in an even more technologically backwards area than before, which also sucks. She lived on an Island, known as Nishihoshi island, the last stop of a shipping lane towards a sea known as the "West Blue". Tanya wasn't quite clear on the geography, but it meant that there were many ships passing through. 

There is one good thing about this life: She has a mother. She shared a lot of features with her second life's body, so Tanya assumed that she'll retain those features. Well, with one notable exception: Apparently she had her father's eyes, which were… distinctive. 

In her second life, she was about fourteen months old when she regained her original consciousness, already eating solid food. It took another month or two, even then, to fully recover her eyesight to an adult level of fidelity, although she had initially assumed she just needed glasses again. In this life, she was three months old when she regained consciousness, and had not just perfect vision, but better vision than she ever had without being augmented by magic. This visual acuity made it very easy to catch her reflection: her eyes had an additional ring of black occupying her iris, which were still blue. They didn't seem to be the same shade of blue, but she wasn't sure. Maybe a bit reddish?

Naturally, Mother had a picture of Tanya's father on hand, who also had those eyes, but red. Tanya was honestly surprised they had photography when she first saw it, but then she realized what the picture was: A wanted poster. Her father was a notorious criminal, with a bounty that was over one billion of the local currency. That… wasn't good. From context, Tanya assumed that was a large amount of money, given that the poster gave him four titles, each more grandiose than the last, calling him "Marine Hunter" Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk "the Clairvoyant", "The Greatest Swordsman in the World". Mother didn't talk about him much, but the poster was clearly displayed in view of Tanya's crib, as if the man's stern gaze was guarding her. 

There were other things about her parentage that weren't good. For example, while her mother heavily resembled her second life, there were a few… exceptions. Pretty much the only measurement that wasn't substantially larger than her second life was the woman's waist, although she will admit that her mother wasn't absurdly thin. So she has that to look forward to. She can already imagine the back pain… although to her credit the woman bore the weight without complaint, she was stronger than she looked. 

Another unfortunate facet to her parentage was the fact that her mother was a prostitute. A high-class one, mind you, that seemed to be very selective with her clients, but that selectivity apparently allowed notorious outlaws access, so that wasn't exactly worth much. 

Tanya was three years old when their dreary existence pretending to have conversations with her dolls while steadfastly ignoring most of what was going on around her got interrupted: pirates attacked her island. 

Tanya looked out from her window at the horizon with the rising sun, seeing the large fleet of ships. It was the first time she saw a pirate attack, but supposedly the last one was a little bit before she was born; reading between the lines indicated that it was likely that her father was present at the time. Sometimes, Tanya wondered if her father was not, in fact, a paying customer, but she would expect Mother to have mentioned something like that, while assuming that Tanya couldn't understand her if nowhere else. 

The custom for pirates in this world, she had picked up, was to have a unique identifying Jolly Roger symbol. This one was… rather elaborate. Four crossed bones instead of two, a distinctive skull shape, with four horns. This was one of the three Jolly Rogers that she knew of, designating the largest pirate organizations in the world, headed by the Three Emperors of the Sea. Specifically, this flag belonged to the Beast pirates, which was… pretty much the worst case scenario, she gathered. 

Her mother was quick to react to the attack, rushing into the room and quickly packing some pre-prepared bags, packing away only the doll that Tanya had arbitrarily labeled as her favorite (it was a red dog with a baseball cap labeled 'MARINES', which she had uncreatively named Akainu), her father's poster, and her blanket in addition to the bags before rushing out the back door with Tanya in tow. 

Tanya couldn't really do anything about the pirate attack, so she held on tight to her mother's back as she ran, only occasionally looking back at the now-burning port. 

Where was Being X going with this? 

-------------------------

As it turned out, he was going for 'hey, you have a mom and you're presumably bonded with her, now she dies!'

Tanya was deposited in a cave where dozens of mothers and young children all congregated to, clearly a planned evacuation spot, placed in a pile along with the bags. Her mother then, foolishly in Tanya's opinion, went back out there to do… something. She wasn't quite clear on that part. 

Tanya had just finished getting changed into day clothes by a woman who just needed a distraction, when a massive wave of… something echoed throughout the island accompanied by a massive roar. 

It was… massive. Tanya had felt Being X when he was feeling wrathful, and it was… similar? More intense, though. Fear gripped her as she vividly hallucinated a massive blue dragon making that massive roar, the image of the Beast Pirate's flag come to life. It breathed fire, sowing devastation among the port city, which was followed seconds later by the sound of a massive explosion, with only the barest tremors reaching the inland cave. 

She was the only one still on her feet, or even conscious, it looked like… lots of the women and children had drool bubbled up and dropped from their mouths, practically foaming… although she did black out shortly thereafter. 

Once roused, Tanya was informed that her mother had died in the pirate attack, which… hurt. Tanya's mother wasn't the best, but she was loving to her only child, and it was impossible to be loved without feeling love in return, it went against human nature. So she let the tears flow. She was far from the only one crying in loss. 

Hopefully Being X doesn't screw you out of your reincarnation, Mother. You will be remembered… Bizness D. Nunya. Never will she forget that stupid, stupid name. 

-------------------------

Life as an orphan was harsh, of course. The evacuation bag did include money, surprisingly enough, quite a bit of it. The local naval forces, which from the gossip was apparently the dumping ground base, G5, were essentially powerless when Kaido, the leader of the Beast Pirates, decides to come wreck an island for fun. He could apparently turn into a dragon, which was… interesting to see when she saw a picture. How did she see him from inside the cave? Were her eyes magic? She had yet to replicate the feat. 

However, there were still several hundred young men with strong bodies among those forces, so they were whipped by their commanders to help rebuild instead. Literally, with actual whips. 

Oddly, those men were… supernaturally strong. Each of them could effortlessly break weightlifting records back in her original life, and none of them carried anything like a computation orb. It seemed to be pure muscle strength. Was this some kind of subconscious magical reinforcement? Or was this something more like ki, from stories? 

Fortunately, as a three year old girl, she had an automatic excuse to do… basically whatever she wanted, as long as she wasn't endangering herself. She found a group of Marines on their lunch break, the day after the attack. "Hi." She said simply, widening her eyes to make her look extra curious. She clutched Akainu, which given the hat would probably endear her to them. 

The Marines of G5 were exceptionally thuggish in appearance, much sloppier with their uniform than Tanya would tolerate in her own subordinates. They didn't look properly military at all, in fact. But nevertheless, even Yakuza will generally be kind to small children if they're not in a bad mood. "Hello little girl." Said the one with the heaviest scars, but also the fanciest coat. Clearly these men's commanding officer. His voice was as rough as his appearance, but he deliberately softened it to sound like he was merely a heavy smoker. "What's your name?" 

"Dracule D. Tanya." She replied, "Who are you?"

"My name is Captain Doberman." He said, simplifying things for her, although he seemed contemplative. "Are you hungry?" He asked, before glancing at the man who was serving the other Marines. "Another bowl over here!"

Tanya was given a bowl of the thick meaty stew that the Marines were eating, and ate it eagerly; she had not eaten beforehand on purpose. "All of you are so strong." Tanya said, going straight to the point. "How did you get so strong?"

"Well, we're big men, for starters." Captain Doberman said, "We ate all of our meat and vegetables growing up, and trained hard." So unless he was lying, it was probably a 'ki' thing instead of magic, something instinctive. "Who's that?" He said, pointing to Tanya's stuffed toy. 

"Akainu." She said between bites of stew. Apparently G5 had a fantastic chef. What kind of meat was this? It was delicious. She licked the bowl clean. 

"Yes, Admiral Akainu is a fine Marine to look up to." What? At her look of confusion, he explained: "That doll is based on one of the Admirals of the Marines. He is nicknamed Akainu, and he was my teacher."

"Wow…" she said, looking at her doll in a new light. This world understands merchandising? Still, now that she had a knowledgeable adults attention, she might as well keep asking questions. "What's a Royal Warlord?" She asked. 

Captain Doberman seemed surprised at the non sequitur, but recovered. "The Seven Warlords of the Sea, " he began, scowling at the address, "are pirates that the World Government, in their infinite wisdom, have pardoned for their crimes so that they may serve as additional military forces." Really? "They'll bite the hand that feeds them eventually, and be reminded into Impel Down where they deserve." He glanced at her. "where did you hear about them?

Tanya blinked. This was both good and bad news. On one hand, her father was apparently a privateer, and no longer a pirate. The bounty poster must be old. On the other hand, the very large man in front of her hates the idea of pirates turning over a new leaf. But she needed to confirm… "I heard the strongest swordsman in the world is one." She said, inserting a little pride in her voice. 

Captain Doberman coughed. "Well, yes, "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk is among the Seven Warlords, fighting at the Navy's direction against other no-good pirates." 

"He's my Daddy." Tanya said immediately, as if she couldn't wait to share this information. "Mama said so." She brought out the poster. "She said I have his eyes." Hopefully, he can get in contact with the man; he seemed nice enough that he probably wouldn't kill her for being the daughter of an ex-outlaw…

Captain Doberman looked at the poster, then at her eyes. "I see." He eventually said. "Does he know about you?"

"Mama said he did." Tanya lied. All she was hoping for was some child support payments, but the man was very put together, from his photo, so perhaps he had a house somewhere she could use. Or dare she hope for a manor? Or a castle? No. The idea that he'd own a castle is just ridiculous. "Can you call him here?" 

The Marine Captain gave a long-suffering sigh. 

-------------------------

Upon learning her age and the fact that her mother was dead, Captain Doberman agreed to inform her father of her circumstances. 

Granted, those circumstances weren't actually that bad; hidden amongst the materials deemed too critical to abandon was a property deed to their small house, and while the G5 improvised construction crew only erected a simple one room shack on the land, between her money and that shack she was in a decent position to wait for her father to show up, at the very least. It didn't mean she didn't take advantage of any and all available charity, to extend the amount of time she had, but she was better off than a lot of other people in the port. The weather on Nishihoshi Island was chaotic at the best of times, due to the odd continent the place was close enough to to see it. It had miles-high cliffs as a shore, apparently the whole of the "Red Line'' fit that description. It didn't seem geologically plausible to her, but it was right there, so she couldn't deny the reality of it. 

While she waited, Tanya took advantage of the fact that she was no longer restricted to her room for most of the day to wander the island, just her, Akainu, and her knife. No one expects the little girl with the stuffed dog to be armed. 

After the fourth time she was forced to stab someone, she noticed that she seemed to have some echo of her previous life's magic. When she stabbed someone, something resembling a mage blade appeared over the blade, which allowed her tiny and kind of dull knife to cut through bone. 

Still, it was nice to finally learn more concrete things about the world she now lived in. What she had initially thought to be shipyards were actually for whaling, rendering massive sea beasts down for meat and, presumably, other products. They also could be used as a drydock for ship maintenance, and frequently were used that way by the Navy, but the rendering of "Sea Kings" and "Island Whales" was the primary industry of the island, as it was relatively close to their nesting grounds. 

It certainly explained why Nishihoshi had so many butchers. She had never noticed that fact, but after she learned of the industry she started to notice just how much of the island's economy centered around it. The loud braggadocious at the public houses were big game fishermen, the smithy, which employed over one hundred blacksmiths, had on display truly massive carving knives, which Tanya had initially assumed to be some sort of bragging rather than a practical tool. 

The most acclaimed artist on the island specialized in scrimshaw, creating works of art from small chunks of the beast's skeletons. Local specialties included dishes with blubber, and blood pudding was inexpensive enough to be served as charity. Half of the Island's businesses related to the local kaiju fishing industry, and it was quite fun puzzling together the whole economic picture. 

"This is the good bit." Said the old man as he pointed to a painstakingly drawn crosssection of a Sea King. "The World Nobles pay good money for this part, called the tendercore, it's delicious, and supposedly grants tremendous strength to the one who eats it." He scoffed. "Nonsense. But the Figarland family pays the most for it, it's the favorite food of their strongest knight, Saint Garling. You need to save this bit for them, or else they might get angry." The old butcher stared at the collected children. "Never make the World Nobles angry."

This world didn't really have public education. However, every child of Nishihoshi was given instruction on Sea King anatomy and knife handling, as cutting up the beasts was incredibly labor intensive work that children ages ten and up were frequently called upon to help with, in addition to most able-bodied men, whenever a body was available to render down. Most of this instruction was oriented around the most useful perspective: how much money could be made off of it, and which parts the Island couldn't directly sell and how they had figured out a way to make use of it anyway. The bones could be used as building material after some chemical treatments, which were refined from another junk portion. It was an admirable example of capitalism at work, innovating new products from available resources. 

Tanya would normally be too young to attend, but she showed up and didn't make trouble so the old man allowed it. One of the older boys raised his hand and spoke: "Has anyone eaten it to check?"

"They did when I was around your age." The old man said, "The size of it varies, so he just wrote down that it was half as big as it was and ate the other half." He shrugged. "Didn't get any stronger, but he certainly got sick from eating raw meat." So, inconclusive then. Given how this wouldn't be the only 'get stronger by eating specific thing' story she's heard in this world… it might be true. 

"Now, this bit here…" The old man continued, pointing to a slightly different piece on the anatomical drawing. "... this piece is worthless, it's called the shitcore. It's filed with vile toxic shit that you don't want spilling out everywhere. Before you go cutting in search of the tendercore, you need to make sure you've gotten this out of the way first." Tanya assumed it was a place where toxins accumulated as it got filtered out of the Sea King's body, or perhaps it was more like an appendix, holding a reserve of useful bacteria. 

"It looks exactly the same!" complained another boy. 

"It does not!" The old man insisted. "Now, here's how you tell the difference…"

Tanya paid close attention. Learning about how to butcher sea monsters was far more interesting than anything else she could be doing. 

-------------------------

After about four months after the attack, the Navy stepped down their presence to the previous amount, which was woefully insufficient for an attack by the Beast Pirates, but the local branch did catch a few pirates. 

Mihawk was nowhere to be found. Further, Captain Doberman was avoiding her, which meant that he didn't have good news. Unfortunately, she didn't even have the closure of knowing that he wasn't coming on purpose, instead of him just being unable to get in contact with the Warlord at his rank. 

Between listening in on whatever adult was teaching a group of children today (even if it was something she already knew, like math), she had taken to supplementing her savings with singing. There was a large quantity of songs to be learned at the docks and taverns, and a little girl singing them always got sailors in a generous mood. Thank you Sister Helga for the choir training. 

"Yohohoho, yo hoho ho!" She sang, "Yohohoho, yo hoho ho! Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Bink's Brew, Sea wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide!" Today she was singing in a bar, run by a motherly woman who thought Tanya's singing was "adorable". "O'er across the ocean's tide. Rays of sunshine far and wide, birds they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by!"

As she sang, the rough sailors, who claimed they were simple merchants but Tanya suspected them of being pirates, cheerfully sang along with her, to the point where she would be surprised if any of them could actually hear her.

When she was eating the free meal that the bartender gave her as her pay, the captain of their ship, an odd man who wore a kimono and makeup that Tanya would normally expect to see on a geisha, put a fair amount of the local currency, beri, in her tip jar. "Ah, I must thank you, little girl." He said, smiling. "That song reminds me of better times. You're a much better singer than little Hiyori was, but those memories hit all the same."

Tanya swallowed the sea king meat stew, chasing it with fruit juice. "Thanks, mister!" She said, a fake smile plastered on her face. "Do you have any requests?" She added. 

"Not unless you know the Lullaby of Itsuki." The man joked, "I'd pay dearly to hear that song again, my sister used to sing it to me when we were younger."

Tanya's face twisted. She does actually know that one. It was an old Japanese folk song, only a few dozen words. But which version does he want? "How dearly?" Tanya asked. The language used in this world was English, although there were some oddities that… not important. 

The man laughed. "Okay, bet." He put his hand into his kimono sleeve and brought out a golden bangle with a ruby on it. "This bracelet's worth about five hundred thousand beri." Given the size and cut of that ruby… sounds about right. That's one rich "merchant". "You're in luck, there are dozens of versions of the song. If you get any of the ones I know, you get this." His grin grew. "But if you sing the exact version my sister sang, that I personally sang to little Hiyori…" He pulled out another bracelet, an exact match for the first one. "I'll give you the set."

Tanya's eyes widened. So… much… money… Tanya immediately started singing in Japanese. "I certainly hate taking care of the crying child." She sang, and the geisha-looking man's jaw dropped in shock. "They hate me for keeping the child to cry, They hate me for keeping the child to cry."

The captain's subordinates were watching and listening, keenly interested in the exchange. "Commander, is she doing it right?" Asked one of them, clearly not understanding the language. 

"The sleeping child's cuteness and Innocent look!" Tanya continued, singing softly and completely dissonantly with the actual contents of the lyrics. The joke was that babies don't understand that you're complaining about them as you're singing them to sleep. "The crying child's ugly look, The crying child's ugly look." She finished, trailing off and looking at the kimono wearing man with a smug look. "Is that how it goes?" She asked innocently. 

"H-how?" He asked, gripping Tanya's arms with his own. "Is your mother from Wano?" He demanded. Is Wano the Japan equivalent? Noted. 

"Woah, hang on Commander." Said the man's subordinate. "Did she sing it right or not?"

The captain calmed, fixing his slightly mussed hair bun. He handed both bracelets into Tanya's waiting hands. His subordinates all cursed or cheered, money changing hands as their own gambling got resolved. "Where did you learn that song?" He asked, peaceful this time. 

Time to make something up. "After I lost my Mama, I let a lady that was dressed like you stay in my house for a night. She sang it then." Tanya smiled, admiring her new bracelets. "I guessed it was the same one!" After a beat, she asked: "What does it mean?"

"When was this?" The captain asked, grinning and distinctly not answering her question. 

Eh… "Six weeks ago." She said, making it up on the spot. "Had me call her Sakura-baachan."

"Did she say where she was going?" He pressed. 

"West Blue." Tanya said immediately. "Don't remember if she said more."

"Commander, you know how the Navy'll react if we show up there." Another sailor pointed out. 

"I know…" He said, angry. Well, that confirms them as pirates. "Still, I thank you little girl for that taste of home."

"My name is Tanya." She said, bowing slightly. 

"I am Izou." He replied. "Our hold should be loaded up with supplies for the fleet, so I should be going."

It was only after they left that Tanya found out that the crossdresser was actually a notorious outlaw from the Whitebeard Pirates, one of the Beast Pirate's competitors. At least someone understands the value of a port that they can spend their booty at. 

Still, those bracelets will be a fine emergency fund. She already sold all of Mother's jewelry, what few pieces she put with the money anyway. If she takes her time, she can get a better price for these. 

Maybe she doesn't need her father after all. 

-------------------------

It was Tanya's fifth birthday, so Tanya was relaxing, watching the boats come in and out of port. About half of the butcher yards were filled up rendering a Sea King, all of the Navy's boats were out doing something-or-other, she wasn't quite clear on that, but the port was bustling with business as they had more or less completely recovered from the Beast Pirate's raid. 

Tanya liked watching the harbor, particularly from her current position atop one of the inactive butcher yard's cranes. Her new life's eyesight had only sharpened as she grew older, allowing her to make out small details from great distances. She could count the ropes on ships that just barely crest the horizon, and frequently did. 

Currently, she was looking at a very strange, very tiny boat. It looked like a coffin, with a single seat on the deck, literal candles with green flames, and a sail that looked a lot more like a cross than normal sails did. She couldn't quite make out the man's face yet, she'd need him to get a few miles closer for that, but he had strapped to his back a sword longer than he was tall, a massive blade that looked appropriate for a man twice his size, and she meant that literally given that people who were three meters or more tall weren't unheard of in this world. Its hilt and guard also heavily resembled a cross. 

Christianity was actually a thing in this world. Well, sort of. She wasn't entirely clear on the specifics of the whole thing, and it was called Celestianity, but roughly they still believed in Being X, and believed that the Celestial Dragons, another name for the World Nobles, descendents of the 19 original kings that formed the World Government, were basically Jesus. 

Tanya had never heard a more self-serving religious dogma before. She kind of pitied Being X for being associated with them. She was also unclear on where crosses came into things given the lack of an execution/resurrection myth, but figured that it probably wasn't relevant. 

Still, before she could start making out the strange man's features more clearly, a relatively common occurrence interrupted things: a second sea king emerged from the horizon, charging at the butcher yard. This was something that the town's defenses were prepared for, and the massive harpoon guns that dotted the harbor started to aim their payloads at the massive beast. 

At least, until the mysterious man drew his massive sword and swung it at the thing with a hundred feet to spare. After about five heartbeats, the sea king's neck separated from the rest of its body. Keeping going on its path across the sea's surface on sheer momentum, the head crashed directly underneath the crane Tanya was using as a lookout point, while the rest of it was saved from the bottom of the harbor by the aforementioned harpoon guns. 

"Are you alright, kid?" asked the operator of the nearby harpoon gun, shouting over the twenty yards or so of distance between them. He was named Mori, and he was the one who had initially shown her this lookout spot when she was wandering bored, eight months ago.

"I'm fine." Tanya called back."That man on the tiny boat was the one to kill it. He used a giant sword." She said, pointing at it. "He just saved all of you two thirds of your profit in damages." Mori was also, incidentally, the only one to know how good her eyesight was, although that was purely because she didn't bother keeping it a secret. 

"What tiny boat?" He asked, squinting. 

"The one with the cross-shaped mast, to the right of the path the Sea King took, he's still about five miles out." She could usually only make out facial features at three miles, so she still had a few minutes before she could make out more of the man's appearance. Her eyesight was superhuman, not miraculous. 

"Huh. I'll tell the foreman, I guess." Mori said, setting his harpoon gun to slowly reel in before clambering down the ladder. 

Tanya looked over the Sea King head. Was this one a parent? Sibling? Lover? Sea Kings were animals, but they weren't exactly empty-headed ones. Attacking those who hunt their kin was normal behavior, but this beast's corpse could fill the bellies of thousands, either directly through consumption or through the sale of its inedible and luxury parts. 

When she looked back to the harbor, she could finally make out the features of the mysterious man. He was meeting her gaze. Those eyes… It was like looking in a mirror. 

Well… it looks like her father has finally shown up.Like Award Reply946Requiem_JeerDec 17, 2023Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 2 View contentRequiem_JeerDec 17, 2023Add bookmark#2Father's boat still needed several minutes to reach the dock, plenty of time to get down from the crane and walk there. Well, it's plenty of time when you account for the mildly superhuman levels of agility and strength that she's developed through frequent climbing, running, and eating plenty of meat. Meat was actually cheaper here than, say, leafy greens, although she made sure to eat vegetables too. One story drops were casual, and there were enough ropes and chains around that swinging was actually a practical method of moving short distances. There was even some traffic that she needed to avoid as she went, butchers and day laborers moving around to help haul the new sea king into the other half of the butcher yards, the beast getting cut into sections to better fit. 

Father was dressed in an interesting manner. He wore no shirt, but had a black trench coat with dark pink sleeves that had floral designs in a lighter pink, the coat's interior matched the sleeves. The coat was open, showing off his thickly muscled torso. He had a cross on a necklace, although now that the man was within half a mile, she could make out a small seam: it was a knife. His white pants and black boots were not particularly interesting, purely functional. He was clean shaven with distinctive sideburns that were clearly shaped with attention to their aesthetics, and had a black hat with a plume decorating it. 

In short, her father was a man that cared about his appearance and had an eye for fashion. She assumed he was assessing her equally, as his eyesight was likely as good if not better than hers. Unless he was older than she thinks, the man looked less than thirty. 

She wore faded blue overalls and knee high sea king leather boots in her size, the legs tucked into the boots as was necessary in the butcher yards. Underneath was a simple brown shirt that had a drop of sea king blood drop on it on the way down, the red stain looking like she had gotten cut to those unused to the sights of Nishihoshi. She had her knife in her pocket, and she realized she was gripping the hilt tightly; it was a nervous habit. She had a thick winter jacket tied around her waist by the sleeves, the weather could drop into freezing temperatures with as little as two minutes notice, although she could usually feel it coming a bit further out than that. 

Mihawk waited until his tiny coffin-shaped boat reached the dock to stand, grabbing a rope that was already tied in a lasso-like knot and tying it to the dock in a move so smooth and graceful that you could miss that he did it at all, the rope practically tying itself to the dock as he simply walked off his boat. 

He walked straight up to her, having not dropped eye contact since the second he stood up. "Well, what do we have here?" He asked, his voice bored, although there was an odd undercurrent to it. 

"I assume your presence here is a coincidence, then." Tanya replied drily. It made sense, the man's been here before, presumably he could have reason to visit again. 

"I came here to stock up on wine." He admitted, "I'm killing time." He elaborated. 

Well, that's… not as bad as it could be. Tanya was vaguely aware of the types of goods that flowed between the Grand Line and the West Blue, and among them was the product of a particularly famous West Blue winery. If he just wanted a crate of bottles for his wine cellar, coming here every few years to stock up at a reasonable price wasn't exactly a bad idea, and didn't necessarily mean he was some kind of drunkard. "Well, you owe child support." Tanya said, as if it was fact. It was. 

Mihawk raised his eyebrow. "Where is your mother?" After a moment, he added: "And how old are you?"

"Today is my fifth birthday." Tanya said, did he not remember the last time he came here? "Mama's dead." She added, even as a lump formed in her throat. It wasn't even her first time as an orphan, why does it still hurt? 

"Your guardian, then." Mihawk said. 

"I don't have one." Tanya explained, blinking away the tears her traitorous eyes leaked out. "I live alone. I told the Marines to send for you twenty months ago." 

Mihawk's uncaring expression slipped into confusion. "...what." 

Tanya looked around. They were drawing quite a bit of attention… "Follow me." She said, turning and walking deeper into the island. 

Mihawk followed, disregarding his boat. 

-------------------------

"You live here?" Was Mihawk's first question when he saw the sturdy but simple shack that was in the lot that used to be a comparatively nice two bedroom house, even if that house was also a one-woman brothel. The size difference between the lot and the structure inside it was stark, and honestly a bit of an eyesore now that all of the surrounding lots have been rebuilt. 

"The Marines were pretty fast to erect these sturdy shelters after the attack." Tanya explained, fighting to keep her voice even at the mention of those incompetents who did not deliver her message. "The weather here's too chaotic to not have something to keep the heat in." Now that she thought about it, the insulation they put into these shacks was actually fairly impressive. She wondered what they used. "I get water from the communal well down the street, and the chaotic weather also means that it's never below freezing for longer than two hours." She gestured to the large pile of blankets that was atop her mattress. "This is enough for those times." 

Mihawk opened his mouth to say something but she held her hand up. "Do you have winter clothes?" She asked. The air pressure just shifted…

"On Hitsugibune." He replied. Of course he named his coffin boat 'coffin boat'. Does he even understand Japanese? …Or Wanogo? She should have asked Izou about that when he showed up the second time. 

Tanya unraveled the knot on her winter coat's sleeves and put it on. "You have ten minutes to get something warm on." She warned him seriously. Outside, she could hear a few old people complaining about their joints and warning everyone to bundle up. Just another day on Nishihoshi. 

Mihawk's expression was still difficult to read, but he seemed… impressed at her familiarity with the local weather patterns. It was just normal for someone who spends their lives here… He walked to her bed and, after taking off the massive sword from his back and laying it against the wall, sat himself down and wrapped himself in the available blankets. "We'll talk while the freeze passes." He said, his voice softer than before. "What's your name?" He said to start. 

"Dracule D. Tanya." She replied as she put her hood up. She pointed to his bounty poster on the wall. "Technically Bizness D. Tunyav, but…" Tanya went silent as she tried to figure out how to phrase 'I don't want my name to be a joke like Mother's was' without sounding disrespectful to the dead. "...I like it better this way." She eventually said without elaborating. 

Mihawk raised both eyebrows. "D.?" He asked. "What's it stand for?"

Near as she could tell, it had a similar meaning to 'von', where it meant she was descended from a noble lineage or had earned it, but whatever culture that practiced such a thing has been long dead, now just a blind family tradition. But she couldn't exactly explain that without having the concept of 'von' already known to her audience. "Dunno." Tanya said instead. "Mama didn't know either. Family tradition, she said." All she knew about her grandfather was that he was named Bizness D. Selle, and that he was a Sea King hunter that got lost at sea. She also never met her grandmother Mai, who sailed off to become a reporter after Mama was old enough to make it on her own. Mama always made sure to point out her articles in the World Economic Journal when they popped up. She was a gossip columnist. "What's it like being a Warlord?" She asked in return. 

"Boring, mostly." Mihawk replied, "There's rarely a challenge for me to enjoy." Ah. He was a battle maniac. That explains so much. "I spend most of my time sailing around, fighting challengers, finding the few swordsmen worth my time and dueling them…" He shrugged, waving his hand vaguely. "Sometimes the Government calls me for a meeting with the other Warlords, sometimes that's interesting, but it rarely is."

"Does it pay?" Tanya asked. 

"Not directly." He answers immediately. "In addition to my bounty, " He looked at his old poster. "-being rescinded, I can redeem the bounties of others." So he was turned from a "Marine Hunter" to a Pirate Hunter. Poetic. 

Mihawk was about to ask another question when the weather finally shifted fully, the temperature of the air plummeting from the balmy spring weather it was before to below freezing over about ten seconds. As usual, Tanya's sinuses complained at the rapid shift and she sneezed, fixing the imbalance that irritated her nose. Mihawk sneezed at exactly the same time. 

Fortunately, putting on her coat ten minutes before the cold front arrived meant that her insulation was already warmed by her body heat. "How do you eat?" He asked, looking around the shack and seeing no kitchen. 

"Fairly well." Tanya explained, "The restaurants give me discounts in consideration for my status," to be more precise, the restaurants have inflated prices to bilk the foreign sailors, and locals pay much lower rates, and run up tabs to conceal this fact from their other customers, "-and I can sing well enough and know enough songs to earn free meals, and tips sometimes." Wait, she's lost sight of her objective. "But now that you're here, I can make long term plans." Depending on how much support he was willing to give a random bastard of his. 

Mihawk stared at her, his gaze searching. "You said you were five?" He asked. Ah, she's acting too mature. Kind of on purpose, but if he disbelieved her parentage…

"It's my birthday." She repeated, pretending to not know that she was being strange. It worked in her second life… "I know you probably don't have a gift for me." She added, missing the point on purpose. She stared into his eyes with her best innocent expression. 

"...You're not staying here." He said after staring at her for a whole minute. She counted. 

Tanya smiled widely. "So you're taking me with you?"

Mihawk did not immediately reply. "...if nothing else, I could take you to my parents. It would be safe there." Good enough!

"In that case…" Tanya said, "I have arrangements to make." Like finalizing the sale of the land, packing, settling all of her tabs… "After the freeze passes, we'll start by getting you your pay." Mihawk raised one of his eyebrows questionably. "For the Sea King you killed." She elaborated. "You saved them from having to fix the harbor from that Sea King attack and you deserve compensation for that."

"...You are five."

-------------------------

The coffin boat was not designed for a passenger. She had initially wondered how the man handled storms in that tiny boat… but as it turns out, he just cut the clouds with his big black blade every time things started to get rough, and somehow that worked. That 'Best Swordsman in the World' title was not just for show, apparently. He could just… send out flying slashes at will. Powerful ones. 

She spent most of the time tied to the mast, because she fell into the water twice within the first two hours of the trip, before they even reached the crossing station for the Red Line, purely because the waves kept throwing the boat around, but Mihawk's superhuman balance meant that he just sailed the ship with no issue, even when the boat was ninety degrees because of its position on a massive wave. The boat was light enough that the man just grabbed the mast and manually fixed the orientation mid-air if it wasn't right-side up for whatever reason. Large waves were dealt with by, you guessed it, him swinging his sword in the direction of the wave, which split even the largest waves in two. 

When the boat gently arrived at the Red Port, the government-controlled passageway through the Red Line and also the way to the World Government's capital, Tanya was not ashamed to admit that she had not handled the rough conditions with dignity. "Land, beautiful land!" She declared, hugging the dock. She misses being able to fly. 

After a chance to refresh themselves, they made their way across the massive continent. There apparently wasn't a tunnel through the Red Line at the port, like she had assumed. Or rather, there was, but it was underwater and required a special procedure to allow an ordinary ship to become a submersible. As the coffin boat was very small, it was instead carried on the special lifts that were used to ascend the cliffs, and they didn't even have the most luggage on the lift, which was called a "Bondola". 

"What are my grandparents like?" Tanya asked as the bondola ascended. She was looking over the railing, watching the sea get further and further away. 

Mihawk took a moment to think about his answer, and presumably his own childhood. "I didn't get to see my Father much growing up." He admitted, "He was the Vice Captain of a pirate crew, and he dropped by for a few months every year, and taught me swordsmanship." Tanya wondered how much the student had surpassed the master in this case. "My Mother raised me, of course, and retired from captaining her own pirate crew in order to do so when I was around your age. She opened a bar, which is where we're going."

Tanya nodded along with the story. "Are they expecting us?" She asked. 

"I was going to visit on my way to my next duel with Shanks, so they're expecting me." He explained, "They're not easy to get a hold of via snail, so you'll be a surprise." For some reason, this world had something resembling a cell phone network. This network involved weird snails that could somehow communicate with each other with radio waves. It was very strange. 

After a moment, Tanya was struck with a realization. This was the first time in this life that she got to breathe in air that didn't stink of saltwater. She took a deep breath. It's been so long… "Is the bar on the Red Line?" Tanya asked. 

"No." Drat. 

-------------------------

The Sabaody Archipelago was yet another example of very strange geography. It was a mangrove forest rather than actual land, with root systems great enough to provide a foundation for structures and such. This included a mysterious sap that created bubbles that could float. 

It also contained the bar that Mihawk's mother ran, Shakky's Rip-Off Bar. Shakuyaku looked very good for a fifty-one year old woman, Tanya would have guessed early thirties by her looks alone; which explained why she guessed mid-twenties for the thirty-year old Mihawk, and her appearance also killed any hope she still had for having a non-hourglass figure once puberty kicked in. That's going to suck. There was also a rather strong family resemblance between mother and son, although her eyes were more ordinary than Mihawks. "Oh, if it isn't my favorite young man on the Grand Line." Were the first words out of the woman's mouth when the pair of them entered the bar. 

The bar had customers, pirates by the looks of them. "Hey, you said I was yer favorite." The one in the fancy hat said, slurring his words. 

"You're my favorite customer, yes." Shakuyaku confirmed, "You're the one who's paying, after all. He's just the one that will stop anyone from skipping on their bill." She elaborated, still in that sweet tone of voice she had been using. She took a drag from her cigarette. Ugh, Grandma's a smoker, lovely. "Isn't that right, Hawky?"

The pirates all paid attention to Mihawk, and one by one seemed to recognize him. "I-it's Hawk-Eyes!" One of them shouted. "Run for it!"

After a brief but chaotic scuffle, the bar was cleared and their bill was paid (the prices were exorbitant, but the place wascalled the Rip-Off Bar…), with a generous tip for the bartender, before the bar was closed early for the day. Tanya only had to stab two people who tried to take her as a hostage. If they got medical attention, they could even manage to recover the use of their hands. 

"So who's this little cutie?" Shakuyaku asked after the chaos was over, pinching Tanya's cheeks. If there was any doubt that this woman was a grandmother before, they are now gone. "Here, have a glass of milk."

"This is Tanya, my daughter." Mihawk explained, which caused Shakuyaku's eyes to gleam with interest. "I only found out about her two days ago, on my way here." The man had not had a proper night's sleep during all of that time, instead taking naps during the Bondola trips. 

"Does this mean I'll hear wedding bells in the future?" Shakuyaku asked. 

"Mama's dead." Tanya informed her in the blunt way that only children can get away with. "The Beast Pirates attacked and she died." This was surprisingly good milk, she wondered what animal it was; there was no guarantee that it was a cow in this world, and it didn't taste quite like any milk she's had before, maybe some kind of seal? Tanya licked away the lingering liquid on her upper lip. 

"Well that's just a shame." Shakuyaku said, "Feel free to call me Grandma, by the way." She turned back to Mihawk. "Your Father's on a coating job, he'll be back in a few hours. You look tired, go into the back and take a nap. I can handle a little girl for a while." Tanya felt the sudden urge to prove her wrong. As usual, she suppressed the whim of childish irrationality after evaluating the idea for potential merit. Sabotaging her relations with the grandparents could end up with her right back where she started, if he even goes that far. 

Mihawk didn't verbally respond, but he walked into the back rooms and Tanya heard him start removing his sword and coat once the door closed. 

With custody properly transferred, Grandma's gentle smile widened. "Let's go shopping." She said simply in a conspiratorial tone.

…she's in danger. 

-------------------------

On one hand, Tanya did sorely need a new wardrobe. Most of her clothes barely fit, and several had to be adjusted as she outgrew them. Further, she wore clothes for dock working in Nishihoshi's conditions, with the sole exception being a single dress she had received as a gift. On the other hand… did everything have to be so girly? 

That isn't to say that she only got dresses. They were just all embroidered with flowers. "I'm just going to outgrow these in half a year, why are you spending so much?" She eventually asked as she modeled a dress with a long skirt with a slit up the leg. It had flowers and snakes as a design. "I'd be fine with some sturdy clothes instead of all of this delicate fabric."

Grandma chuckled at Tanya's complaint. "That fabric is more durable than it looks, Tanya." she explained. "It's Kuja flax; very breathable, very tough." She took the skirt between her hands and pulled at the fabric. "Very stretchy." The segment she pulled at tripled in length before going back. "It's also in the traditional Kuja style, of course. It's what a Kuja princess should wear."

It did feel nice in the warm climate of Sabaody, that was true. "I'm not a Kuja princess, though." Tanya pointed out. "Also, who are the Kuja?"

"They're my people, of course. You may have heard legends of the Island of Women, where men are forbidden." Grandma explained. "Amazon Lily, the home of the Kuja. I used to be their Empress, before I came to settle down here."

Ah, that explains a bit. Dressing the granddaughter in traditional clothing is pretty normal. The skirt does seem fairly easy to move in… "What happened?" Tanya asked, more to continue the conversation than actual curiosity.

"The same thing that happens to all Kuja Empresses." Grandma said solemnly. "One day, it'll happen to you, too." That sounded ominous. "I contracted… Love Sickness." Oh. She's just being dramatic. 

"Love sickness?" Tanya asked incredulously. When in doubt, repeat the last thing they said. 

"The title of Empress and the title of Captain are one in the same, on Amazon Lily. The Kuja pirates are among the most fearsome on the seas." Grandma said, getting out a second dress, this one also in the Kuja style but in purple instead of red, and with minor differences in cut. "The previous Empress, Gloriosa, had abandoned the Kuja in an attempt to cure her own case of Love Sickness. It was a dark time for the Kuja."

Tanya started undressing so she could put on the new outfit. Having a family comes with strings, she knew this. It was still better than having to fend for oneself when one was not in a position to get gainful employment that wasn't glorified begging. "What happened?" Tanya asked. 

"A grand tournament was held to replace the Empress, and I won." Grandma said matter-of-factly. "So after five years of captaining and ruling, a pirate ship full of men came to the shores of Amazon Lily. We attempted to repel them, of course." Grandma sighed, smiling as she reminisced. "But the Captain just took our attacks as an enthusiastic welcome, the maniac." She was smiling as she said it, which Tanya could understand. It reminded her of her battle maniacs, the ones she left behind. They probably thought quite poorly of her, after her screw up at Brest. "This was before the two of them had become big shots, of course." She said, apparently forgetting that Tanya didn't actually know who she was talking about. "The Vice Captain, my Rayleigh… it's a common story, he was a lot older than me, but I was just overtaken by the Love Sickness. I had to have him, or I'd die." Her resolve melted as she laughed at herself for the silly assertion. "Or so it felt like it at the time. Long story short, I sailed with them for a few years, came back to rule for a bit, and had to leave when the other Kuja realized your father was, in fact, a boy. He was four at the time. Came here and set up shop."

"At least it ended well." Tanya said, trying to keep her opinions on the matter out of her voice. Was this really a story one should be telling a five year old? "Is the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock, a Kuja?" She asked. She knew of the current Seven Warlords of the Sea, of course. "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World" ascended to that post just last month, it was in all the papers. 

"She took over from my successor about two years ago, or so I hear." Grandma said, nodding. "Hancock's really made something of herself since the last time I saw her." She paused, her smile vanishing for a moment. "But that's a story for when you're older." After a beat, she added: "Much older." Tanya was a little curious about why that story was so unsafe, but not enough to ask. 

When Tanya had a full wardrobe of about twelve outfits, only four of which weren't some kind of dress (including one copy of her father's outfit plus a shirt) plus a travel chest to put them in, and other miscellaneous things that were important to have, they returned to the Bar, where her grandfather was seated with his son. 

Her grandfather was a man dressed in simple clothes with a nice-looking sword at his waist, blonde but with many gray hairs and a goatee that was much darker, although still half-gray. "This must be Tanya." He said, smiling as he ran his fingers through the tuft of beard he had dangling on his chin. "You look mighty cute in your new dress, I must say."

Tanya was wearing a simple white dress with some subtle embroidery decorating it, similar, if fancier, to the one she wore at the orphanage in her second life and now owned three copies of, although the embroidery was different for each one. She wore a dagger on a sword belt, one that Grandma deemed 'fashionable'. The fact that the handle was molded to look like a snake made the Kuja origins of the dagger clear, but while it was a bit big for her to use her trench knife skills with it, and it was a little short for her to use it two-handed effectively for her other weapon skills to translate, she could still coat it with a mage blade, or whatever she was doing, so she could probably improvise with it just fine. "Thank you." She said, as was expected of her, before yawning. It was getting late…

"Well, this conversation can wait for tomorrow." Rayleigh declared, "Shakky, can you put her to bed?"

Tanya tried to stay up and listen in to the conversation the adults had, which surely had to do with her custody, but they filled the time with smalltalk until she had dozed off. 

-------------------------

In the end, it was decided that Mihawk would take responsibility, officially claiming her as his daughter, and take her along with him on his travels. He bought a boat that, while of a similar size (only half again as large) and aesthetic as his coffin boat, was much more capable of housing two people, and had amenities that his old one just didn't have. Like actual beds. They were coffins, and they had restraints to prevent rough waters from causing significant injury to the occupants, but it was quite comfortable. 

They spent a week at Sabaody as the new boat was built, which was plenty of time for the men to fit in some swordsmanship lessons between visiting the amusement park, the gambling halls, and a concert. 

"Just keep swinging until we tell you to stop, exactly like we showed you." Grandpa said, which wasn't a huge surprise. She learned some kendo in her first life, she knew the score. Even if the shinai she was using was heavier, and the exact swings were subtly different. The point was to ingrain the motion, and to build the appropriate muscles. Thoroughly unpleasant, but she had resigned herself to learning how to use a sword well before Father had actually shown up, and expected at least this much as part of it. 

The two men were lounging on beach chairs on Father's old boat as Tanya practiced at the shore, wearing vacation shirts like American tourists and shorts with sandals as they fished. Yoru was placed in the boat's sword stand, along with Grandpa's sword, which was a straight blade that seemed a little large for the man's frame, but it was clearly well used and cared for, and he was supposedly a "big shot" pirate back in the day. She wondered if he still had an active bounty… His sword was still smaller than Yoru, so oversized swords are just likely how they learned. It did explain why her shinai was so damned heavy, it must be five whole kilograms at least. 

But… she was definitely stronger in this life than she was in the second. The meat heavy diet certainly helps, but she couldn't have swung this weighted hunk of wood nearly this much without using magic, before. Her first life she probably could, when she was sixteen and still on the kendo team, but it would have been close, and assumed that the weight of the training tool was not scaled up. 

It was a little strange, training to fight on the ground. She thought that she was past making mistakes from no longer being able to fly, but she kept finding herself adjusting her feet to direct her flight formula rather than to properly adjust her balance, although she caught herself most of the time before she disrupted that balance beyond some shameful weaknesses in her stance. 

Weaknesses that the two men had noticed, although given that she could count Grandpa's gray hairs from her position it was not surprising that Father could spot her mistakes from a similar distance. "Your footwork is wrong." He said bluntly. He took a stance next to her. "Pay close attention."

His movements seemed rather strange at first, like he was teaching her wrong… but when she copied him, letting her legs move as he did, she realized he was compensating for the differences in balance between them. How did he do that? 

After a few iterations and adjustments, tapping her legs with a stick as she moved them incorrectly, he let her do it with the sword movements as well, and after two more corrections in form, bade her to continue before going back to the boat to resume fishing. Tanya kept swinging the shinai, focusing on the proper movements instead of remembering her old battlefields. 

After Tanya had long stopped counting, and her arms and legs felt like jelly, she was invited onto the boat, and promptly collapsed. Grandpa burst out laughing at her pained whine, and Father got back up, leapt onto the beach, picked her up, and settled back onto the boat, holding his fishing pole with one hand while the other kept her steady on his lap, lightly pressed into his chest. Wait… she remembers this. This is a hug. 

Father hugged her to his chest as the boat rocked steadily to the waves. Tanya settled in, deciding to rest her eyes along with the rest of her. 

This was her life now. …It wasn't bad.