A Pirate's Life for Me

Fleeing Alabasta!

The Shark

Turmoil had been rampant in Alabasta for some time now. With the decline in power of the King, missing place of the princess and all sorts of rumors of dance powder and droughts. The once prosperous kingdom was crumbling and drying out. Naturally the tension only raised as rebellions began to form. Rogue citizens taking matters into their own hands and plotting their rise against the failing government. It was only recently all out war broke loose about the kingdom. The castle raided when word of the king attacking his own people spread far across the desolate sandy dunes.

My timing to travel clearly couldn't be worse. I am Hoshiko, the wielder of the Shark-Shark fruit. Devour-er sounds more appropriate I suppose. My hair is a greyish blue and falls in two dense braids all the way to my ankles, its weight typically fueling the knots in my neck. Since ingesting the plump blue fruit my eyes have become a pale pink and with the fade in color has gone my eyesight. Things are but blurred shapes and hues most often in the light. However what I lack in sight I more than make up for in sound and smell. I track blood better than a hound dog and often get around fine with the faint sounds that surround me. I have spent the past year or so exploring the seas, stowing myself aboard all sorts of ships as transport. The rather petite nature of my body makes it rather easy to stealthily hitch a ride on almost any ship. Alabasta has proven to be my match.

Ports are tightly secured by the palace, more so with the rebellion footing supplies from passing merchants. Particularly after an incident exposing the illegal smuggling of some sort of powder by the palace itself, things have seemed tense in importing department. Not to mention the influx of pirates grows sparse with the presence of one of the eight warlords which inhabit these lands and defend its people from their treacherous actions. Days became weeks and I found myself growing more concerned as my stay became extended, unable to find an opening of escape aboard the few passing ships. Things grew far more sour as I found myself in the middle of an all out civil war amongst rebelling citizens and the royalty themselves. Buildings collapsed all around as the fighting broke out, blood staining the pale sandstone streets. I had to find shelter and a way out of the chaos that seemed to engulf the kingdom of Alabasta. My only saving grace was rushing my way out of the city and finding shelter in the uninhabited desert that lay around it.

With nothing but a few supplies strapped to a pack along my waist I made my way through the churning streets and out the main entrance of the high and mighty city.

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A few days had passed and I found myself traveling up the path of the Shandora river. The clashing and commotion from the city had since passed, and I was clueless to the state of what might have been left. Did the palace win? Would there even be ports left in the bloodbath to saunter through? The dry desert heat was slowly draining my existence from the outside in, my steps long and dragging. My strength was so faint my very thoughts seemed to almost echo within my skull as if resonating from another being entirely and I was but an empty vessel left to process its words. My reality certainly seemed to split when along the horizon of the river I spotted a ship - no two! One stood out distinctly as a jolly caravel. Its wood was a bright golden oak, and at its head a humorous ram statue protruded out towards the sea. Along its marvelous mast hung dingy dirty sails, tied up tightly as her anchor kept her in place not far from the shore. Nothing claimed the floating goat other than a small black flag strapped to the tip of the crows nest with what was surely a skull and crossbones painted on its canvas. The symbol seemed to have something of a funny hat but from this distance and the blistering heat waves it couldn't have interested me less. This was a pirate ship and that was all I needed to know !

I rushed closer, looming quietly around the shore as I inspected her closely. My sight failing me, there was nothing to do but sit and listen. Silence. There wasn't even any distinct pirate scents that seemed to waver the air. It seemed all crew members were boarded to a separate ship nearby and none remained vigilant of her as she floated peacefully a good distance away. Perhaps the crew was wrapping up a few errands back in the city, possibly looting what remained before making a sneaky departure? There was no time to waste, as any moment they could return and there would go all hopes of escaping this elongated vacation I found myself in. Clutching the rope in which bound the anchor I quietly made my way up her sides, feeling for her ledge and assuring to take my time as to not cause any commotion. Anyone could still be inside the vessel whom hasn't come out. Once boarded I was extra cautious to sneak across her interior and scope for any lingering pirates. "That's odd." My lips beckoned as I found myself standing aboard nothing but an abandoned ship. "Usually someone is left to guard ..." I continued to ponder, but this was no time to question the responsibility of these outlaws. They were nothing more than a transport anyways. Finding my way to the depths of her cabins, I made myself at home within an empty barrel seemingly made to store supplies on their journey. Seeing it was empty meant they possibly had no use to fill it and so it serviced a make shift chamber. Assuring there was a hole to pass air, I found myself sealing the lid above my head and coiling my small frame into the most comfortable position I could muster. With my legs tucked to my body and my knees pressed beneath my chin, I wrapped slender arms around my center and fluttered exhausted lashes until my eyes found themselves closing and turning all the blurry surroundings a pitch black.