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Enzeru
Her Ladyship
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Old 06-05-2016, 02:46 AM

(Hey guys! Thank you for going through the trouble to click on this thing and read at least this far. I've been out of the writing game for a long time so my skill is probably sitting a high school level. Pretty sad for my age, no offence to you high-schoolers with great writing skills. You know who you are. Anyway, if you would like to provide me with feedback, please private message me directly so we can keep this thread clutter free like a butterfree. I have no idea what that was. Anyway, enjoy! Oh, looks like I'm going to lose my formatting too, bummer. Will fix when I'm back on a PC and not a tablet.)


One Piece: Life and Times of a Bounty Hunter with a Heart
Chapter 1: The Hunt Begins


The wind swept through the redhead’s mane, tossing the strands about like a crashing wave out at sea. Today she would leave her homeland to go much further than she had ever dreamed she could go. Her bright green eyes flashed with excitement, knowing her next adventure would be the greatest yet. There were still a few preparations left to make before her journey would begin. She climbed down from the tall fir tree she had been sitting in, careful not to lose her footing or get pricked by the needle like branches. When she reached the ground the young woman drew her bow and crouched down. One last hunt for a gift of meat to give the village before her trek.

Slowly she crept along, her soft boots quiet on the melting snow. Her ears and eyes as trained as a prowling snow leopard on the hunt. Forward she crept, close to the ground, a white cloak masking her green jacket from potential prey. It wasn’t long before she happened upon a large bear, ambling through a grove of trees, sniffing at the trunks.
Male, territorial. Take him down in one shot through the eye.
The young woman raised her bow and took aim. She made a sharp whistle that cause the bear to turn and look in her direction. As soon as she could see the creature’s eyes, she fired. The shot went through the bear’s eye and into the head, causing it to slump to the ground like a fallen bed sheet. She waited thirty seconds before slowly approaching, another arrow drawn just in case. She tapped the bear twice with her foot before quickly putting away her bow and taking out her dagger. She severed an artery in the neck of the creature and allowed it to drain. Once she felt it had drained enough, the huntress removed a rope from a brown messenger bag she carried. She quickly tied the creature to a fallen log and began to drag it by the rope back to the village. It was hard work to bring in a bear and many times she had to stop and rest to prevent sweat buildup in the still chill wind.
Once the young woman arrived at the village she was greeted by a group of small children, all of them were excited to see such a small person carry a large bear. It wasn’t long before some of the village men noticed her standing there chatting with the kids. Naturally, this was her way of covering up the fact she could not possibly pull the beast any further. The snow had given way completely to packed dry ground, making it no longer feasible to pull the log along with such a small frame. She watched as the men, together hoisted the bear up and carried it away to butcher it as she bragged to the kids about her strength.
“That, my young friends, was nothing. I once pulled a bear twice that size.”
“B…bears get bigger than that?”
“Some of them.”
“Mirra! Get your butt home, you’re not done packing.” A woman’s voice boomed through the village.
“Sorry guys, mother calls. Be safe while I’m gone and don’t take on more than you can safely handle.”
After waving goodbye to some rather down looking kids, the young woman rushed off to home to finishing packing. She slipped into the door while her mom’s back was turned and shoved a fresh blackberry muffin in her mouth. Without turning around, her mother spoke.
“I knew you would want them before you left.”
“Caught again. How do you do that?”
“Years of experience. You’ll catch on when you’re older, maybe after you have a child or two of your own. Now go finish packing, we’re all excited to see you off.”
Without another word, Mirra made her way through the large wooden house and climbed the winding, decorative, stairway to her room. She opened the door to see her walls lined with trophies from previous hunts as well as wanted posters of pirates. After having so much success with hunting and trapping animals, she felt it was time to move forward. The world was so much larger and there was so much good she could do.
“As soon as you’re done, come down here a moment. When your papa gets home we have something to tell you.”
This was something new. Normally she didn’t get called down from her room like this. Normally it was ‘what did you do’ or ‘what happened here’. After quickly packing fresh supplies in her first kit, the redhead rushed down stairs.
“Done. What did you need to tell me?”
“Wait until your…”
Before her mother could finish saying what she had to say, her father, a large burly man with a graying red beard that covered most of his face, burst into the house, a huge grin under his beard.
“I always hoped you would choose this path, kiddo. Now that yah finally have there’s something we need to tell you. We’re both retired bounty hunters. There’s a reason we moved to an island the world government didn’t control. Well, aside from your mother’s family being a founding member of this place forever ago. We moved here because we believed in doing the right thing by people. We don’t care if they’re pirates or marines. Taking sides is hogwash. It got us in trouble but whatever. My point is, even though you’re hunting them, remember people are still people. Except the Celestial Dragons, those bastards can burn for all I care.”
“Connor! Language!”
“Sorry Elenor. Just trying to be real here. I know you’ve been studying the pirate activity in the world and you’re curious to get out there and catch some bad guys. Jut remember, some of them might not be so bad. Take old salty Seymour. You think that old fart is a retired fisherman, he’s a pirate. Well, used to be. Now he’s a carpenter and makes toys for the village children to keep em amused during the winter blizzards. Then there’s your older brother. He’s a marine and never comes to visit or write to us or anything. Everything I heard about him is cruel, like how he treats his own men. That’s not even starting on why we banished him. He’s a dishonor. Not to say the roles are completely switched, but just giving you an example of how they can be.”
“I understand, there’s good and bad in everyone. Half the people in this village are former pirates that needed somewhere to live their life in peace. The other half are the opposite of the spectrum looking to do the same. This village is amazing because the people are so different but work for the same goal. We don’t judge, we welcome.”
“That’s why when you retire they’ll elect you queen. You’ve always been smart and capable. I saw that bear and I know the trick you used with the log and snow. You might can fool those kids and some of the men, but I know better. Now, before you go double check everything. Everyone is waiting to see you off.”
“When you say everyone, do you mean…”
“The entire village. We even found a boat to get you started out. They’ll take you to the next port .”Good place for some work in my opinion. There is a bounty office there as well. Grab you a bingo book and get to work.”
“I promise I’ll send some money home every so often to help out since I won’t be bringing in meat for a while.”
“Don’t worry about it, just because I retired to blacksmithing doesn’t mean I’m not a great hunter and don’t count your mother out, either.”
“We’ll be fine. You enjoy your adventure.”
“Thank you both.”
“Now let’s get going.”
After a final check of her belongings, Mirra was ready to go. When she opened the door to leave, she was surprised to see the people of the village were standing there lining the path to the docks.
“Everyone. I. I don’t know what to say.”
As she made her way everyone wished her luck and began following her. Soon everyone in the village had gathered behind her to see her off. She turned and faced them at the gangplank.
“Thank you all for seeing me off. I’ll be the greatest hunter in the world. No matter the prey, I will be able to capture it! You’ll hear my name again, I swear it.”
To the cheers of the crowd, the young huntress climbed aboard the vessel and set sail. Salty Seymour tapped her on the shoulder as they raised the gangplank.
“Get homesick for the sea?” She asked, greeting the old man with a smile.
“Aye. I don’t have much longer and I’d like to go out one last time.”
“Who will take your place? The kids will miss you.”
“Most people don’t know about my apprentice. He’s going to take over. Nice young man with no desire to go to sea.”
“Glad to hear the village is in good hands with us gone.”
“Aye.”
The ship left port, those on board excited for whatever adventure awaited them on distant shores.
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