Destined for Flames (One Piece Fanfic)

Alabasta Bound

Raya's POV

Days pass, turning slowly into weeks.

I have fun on this ship, Red Force. The crew is the next best thing to my nakama, and they treat me as one of their own. I love all of them, but Benn and Yasopp will always be my favorite shipmates.

Besides Dad that is.

I have managed to beat Yasopp in a drinking contest, even if it wasn't the one we bet on. (I had a pencil curly Q mustache and a black eyepatch covering my closed eyelid for six days before I got rid of it with rubbing alcohol... it wasn't pleasant) I have a sneaking suspicion that he let me win though.

We also engaged in some intense shoot outs. Course we didn't shoot at each other. Benn and the others set up targets around the ship and they judged us on how close to the center we shot from different distances. I discovered that I'm actually pretty proficient with a gun, though I suck with basic things like slingshots or crossbows. I also never beat the sniper. Not once.

Dad taught me how to handle my blade, which he says really IS mine now. I'm glad. Now that I know it isn't just my father's, but Red Haired Shanks', I really don't want to let it go. Again, I'm actually surprisingly good with a blade. I guess I have Shanks to thank for that, cause apparently Mom had no talent for the art whatsoever.

I still haven't been able to figure out how Dad and his crew support themselves. The past month they've done nothing but party and play. I'm not complaining but it just doesn't add up. Maybe Dad has other ships he commands that do the heavy lifting.

Anyway, today is my last day aboard Red Force. Well, yesterday was my last day. Today's the day I leave.

The sea is calm right now, but since coming to the Grand Line, I've learned how unpredictable the weather can be. Bright, sunny, and beautiful one minute, dark, roaring and ugly the next. I'll have to be careful when I set sail.

In my hand I hold an Eternal Pose for Alabasta. The Eternal Pose is a form of Log Pose, which lock onto the magnetic signal of the islands along the Grand Line, the only way to navigate here. An Eternal Pose is always set to one island, so no matter where you are, and how long you stay there, it will always point to that one island. In this case, Alabasta.

Why Alabasta, the desert country? I asked Shanks about it yesterday and he told me that it's because Alabasta attracts a lot of visitors, especially the city of Rainbase.

People there might of heard something about the Straw Hats, so I should just ask around, see what I can dig up. It's a good plan, made even better by the fact that I don't have one of my own.

I'm ready to go. The only thing left to do... is leave.

All the crew members are on one side of this ship, shifting impatiently as they watch me say goodbye to each part of the vessel I've called home for the last month. Shanks' room, where I slept, by my own insistence, on a cot in the corner, is the hardest to say farewell too. Dad told me stories of his time aboard Gol D. Roger's ship there, made me laugh and cry with memories of Mom. He taught me tricks to nursing a hangover and how to deal with wounds so that I wouldn't appear weak. I got to know my father there, and part of me will always be there, waiting for the day I can come back and reclaim it.

Trailing my fingers over the worn railing, I make my way back to the crew, saying silent goodbyes to the wooden deck, with all its imperfections. Some even caused by me.

The crew, even the ones I don't know by name, crowd around me, some smiling, others blubbering. I hug them each in turn, holding back my own tears. I'll save them for the proper time.

When I've finally scrambled through the crowd of distraught pirates, I find myself facing my three favorite people on this ship.

"I'm going to miss you two," I murmur, throwing my arms around Benn and Yasopp's necks. They each embrace me like I'm their own daughter, and I can faintly hear Yasopp sniveling in his effort to remain calm and collected.