The Straw Hat's Red Devil - Sky Island Saga (No. 3)

OUR RED-HAIRED ASSASSIN

OUR RED-HAIRED ASSASSIN

East Blue Saga - Baratie Arc - Episode 19

RECAP:

After the Straw Hats' victory at the slope and gaining a new ship and crewmates, the pirates sail out into open waters near Gecko Island, where Luffy decides to celebrate. "To our new ship and new friends!" Luffy cheers, and they clash their tankards of alcohol together in their little circle.

"Cheers!" They exclaim, smiling, but it soon sobers up as Zoro looks at Dakota suspiciously. She knew this was coming sooner or later.

"Who are you anyway?" Zoro asks her, looking Dakota dead in the eye, and the other two do the same. She just smiles, then gulps down some of her beer, puts her tankard down, and looks at them, smirking.

"Why I'm..."

{D E M O N I C}

DAKOTA'S POV:

"... Luffy's older sister, Dakota." I beam, smiling at them and seeing the shock on their faces part from Luffy, who laughs as my smile turns into a smirk. "My full name is Dakota Le Roux," I add, and they seem to see the difference in appearance and name. I mean, it's pretty obvious. I have vibrant red hair, while Luffy has raven-black hair. I have unusually cool purple eyes, and Luffy has normal and dull brown eyes. "Man, are they slow?"

"Yeah, Dakota's my big sister!" Luffy beams, looking at me. "We grew up together after her dad and his crew came to visit my village," he exclaims, gigging as our Captain claps his hands together. The three crewmembers shake out of their panic, and Usopp looks at me as if the pieces finally click together.

"Wait! Who is your father?" Usopp asks me, looking at my bright red hair.

"Why, Red-Haired Shanks, of course," I reply, turning serious before breaking into another smile. "Can't you tell from the awesome hair?" I jest, looking at him and seeing the shock on the other's faces as the information sinks in. Thinking about that, it was so long ago when my dad and I visited Dawn Island and met Luffy. "It's been a while, hasn't it Luffy?" I muse, looking at my little brother, who smiles broadly at me.

"Yeah..."

{D E M O N I C}

FLASHBACK: 11 YEARS AGO

Like always, I was sailing the seas with my dad, Shanks, and his crew on my parents' ship, the Red Force, when Dad decided to go to the East Blue on a whim. He called it a holiday. But to me, every day felt like one, though that might be biassed as the youngest person on the ship, who doesn't do 'proper pirate work' as a minor nor an apprentice. Uncle Benn just said, "What the Captain wants, he gets", like we were just getting supplies from a nearby island.

I wasn't small for my age. I may have been 10 years old, but I was already 5'2", but that didn't mean my dad wasn't overprotective of me ever since my mother was murdered on our ship six years ago. Dad was super overprotective, meaning guards outside my bedroom every night like I couldn't protect myself with my daily training, and there always had to be someone with me if I was anywhere on the ship if I wasn't with him.

Even as my dad walked in front of me as we left the Red Force, he would stop every ten seconds before glancing swiftly to his left and right. My uncles and aunts would just sigh in annoyance as they waited on the dock, as my dad did this for the thousandth time. Still, once we got to the bottom of the pier, he used his cloak as a shield and hugged me to his chest for, as Dad said, "protection from the unknown", but I knew he meant boys or enemies like Marines.