Otherworldly || One Piece Fanfiction

VI | Bounties and Rivals

Aella put down her duffel bag on the sturdy wooden floor of the boat that was gifted to her six months prior, before flying back up and landing on the railing of the Red Force. The crew members were all standing there, Shanks in front of them all.

"So... This is it." The woman said, looking slightly lost. She didn't know how to do this, dammit. Saying goodbye was never her thing. With Zac, it was much easier; seeing as he wasn't even going to remember her.

This... This was different. This was the crew she had travelled with for the last three years. Being out on the open waters, in these dangerous yet amazing seas... one just forms a special kind of bond with whomever they were travelling with. Add that to the fact that they had taken good care of her and trained her; helped her whenever she felt homesick or lonely-- It was hard.

But this wasn't really a goodbye, either. More like a 'See you later'. She was setting out on her own adventure, yes, but she was going to meet them again (even if it was as rivals). It was just bound to happen at some point, seeing as she's aiming to join the Straw Hat pirates. 

There was still about a year left before Luffy was supposed to set out, but one simply never knew what to expect from the ocean. Heading to the East Blue earlier was not really a bad thing, especially since she was going to have to traverse through Paradise alone; that was just asking for something to pop up and delay her.

"This is it, Whirlwind. You better make a name for yourself, don't want all that training to go to waste." Shanks grinned then rubbed the back of his neck apologetically, eyeing the ships in the distance. "Sorry for not being able to take you closer to the red line than this. Apparently, the Old Man is in the area and the Marines want us to stay away from each other."

"Yeah, it's okay. Thanks for everything, Shanks, everyone. I really appreciate what you've done for me over these last few years. I'll see you again sometime." Aella smiled, feeling more at ease now.

Shanks ruffled her hair, sticking out his tongue when she swatted his hand away with a half-hearted scowl. "Stay safe,"

"Now, that's almost impossible. Staying safe is bound to become a foreign concept when I join him, after all."

The redhead guffawed, agreeing. Luffy was bound to be so reckless that his crew was never going to catch a break, she knew that. She looked forward to that.

After sending the pirates one last grin, Aella turned around and jumped back onto the railing. She waved over her shoulder, calling out one last "See ya!" then hopped down to her own boat.

The boat wasn't too big or too small; just big enough to fit a small cabin that held a hammock, a desk and a small bathroom. It was specifically designed so she could use her powers to operate it, seeing as it was built with an engine that transferred the wind she would send out from her legs into the water, which effectively launched the vessel forward (though it still had sails for when she didn't want to keep using her Devil Fruit). Aella didn't particularly care about how it worked, just that it did.

The woman looked up at the sky, thanking whatever deity was up there for the clear weather that was a rare phenomena here in the New World. She then glanced at the nine Navy battleships and smirked mischievously. "Hey, would you mind if I got rid of them?" 

Ben paled, Yassop grinned, and Shanks let out a loud laugh. "You do that; they would've probably tried to stop you from going any further, anyway!"

Aella's smirk widened --a part of her was wondering how and when the hell she had become this reckless and mischievous. Shanks had definitely rubbed off on her, it seemed-- as she propelled the Glider in the direction of the Marine vessels. Bringing her wrists together beside her hips, wind slowly started swirling in her open palms as some Marines finally started paying attention to her.