YooHoo! (A One Piece Fan-Fiction)

9. Sabaody Archipelago

YooHoo!

- An arbitrary adventure of the nautical variety -

9. Sabaody Archipelago 

"Maybe nothing in this world happens by accident. As everything happens for a reason, our destiny slowly takes form..." 

-Silvers Rayleigh, One Piece

Silvers Rayleigh enjoyed his secretive life on Saboaody Archipelago. It was an interesting way to spend ones time; wandering through the numbered groves, smiling at cheerful tourists and pirate crews new and old, watching the bubbles dance, taking a satisfied sip from his hip flask, get caught by slavers, end up at a human auction house, use a burst of Haki to knock out weak-minded bidders and guards, pilfer any spoils they had in their pockets, and be on his way back to Shakky in time for another re-fill of his flask and a well-deserved break before repeating the cycle.  

However, when the slavers that day brought in a sobbing mermaid and an unconscious blue haired girl, he couldn't help but feel some anticipation to be out of Grove One and not be back for some time.  

He had lived a while, and it showed, his strength and ability to escape this awful place of broken men and women bought like play things in a toy shop by nobility, was unperturbed most of the time, but today, something felt strange and he didn't enjoy the bubbling worry coursing through his conscious.  

The mermaid wouldn't stop crying, lashing out when they tried to restrain her and snap the explosive collar round her neck, but it was futile and she was shoved in the holding cells just like the rest of them.  

The girl with blue hair, still unconscious had been unceremoniously collared and dumped near the railings, her cuffed relaxed arms slapping against the metal bars and creating an disturbing symphonic that resonated through all of the abducted personnel. She still refused to wake up, until Disco - the auctioneer, had her removed from the holding cell so he could gather her personal information, slapped the blue haired girl awake, right across where another mark marred the youthful pallor of her right cheekbone. She yelped, eyes a startling shade of baby blue, much lighter than her hair, which Rayleigh could tell was not her true colour- blonde was seeping through at the top of her scalp.  

"Nice to see you are awake. Normally I wouldn't go to such lengths to wake someone up, but you sleep as soundly as the dead, my dear" he says smarmily as she cradles the sore side of her face, "It's not good to damage the merchandise, but you were already blemished, not much we can about that, so long as the other side of your face is clear we should get a nice price for you!"  

"P-price?!" the girl stutters quietly. 

"Yes, do you happen to know where you are?" the blue haired girl shakes her head, "You're in Grove One of Sabaody Archipelago, the human auction house to be more specific..." 

The blue haired girl whimpers, eyes watering. She touches her arm, unconsciously scratching it until it pains her to do so and the scratching ceases. 

"Now, if you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me?" Disco presses, and the girl albeit unsure to answer but knowing her predicament nods, "Name?" 

"A-Aiko Smith." Where have I heard that surname before? Rayleigh thinks to himself, Why does it seem so familiar... my memory isn't what it used to be... 

"Age?" 

"N-nineteen..." 

"Lovely, young and beautiful, just how the World Noble's like them! Now, any talents you have? Are you a singer? Can you cook at all? Juggle?" with each shake of the girls head, Disco is fervently trying to find a redeeming quality in the child. "Can you do anything at all?" he spits angrily as his questioning turns out to be fruitless.