Cindry
Chapter 8: Cindry
The Free Raven was truly a work of beauty.
Its silvery white sails, made out of the last of Yuki’s skin change she’d shed in Water 7, looked magical against the reddish-brown Adam wood of the hull and masts, with the dark speck of their Jolly Roger waving in the wind.
The fact that it had something to appease and entertain each and every member of the crew helped too.
Gin loved spending time in the higher deck, where he could feel the freedom of the wind on his face, or in the Captain’s Quarter’s small sitting area where he kept their captain company in the less busy moments.
Wyper enjoyed the workshop belowdecks more than anyone had thought he would, tinkering around with the dials he’d brought over from Skypie.
Raki had a whole sickbay to commandeer as she saw fit and a patch of garden to grow her medicinal herbs in.
Nola could almost always be found lounging on a warmed rock in the sleeping quarters, whilst Yuki had the moon pool from where she could show up inside the ship whenever they weren’t on deck.
Cricket loved the fully stocked navigation room of the ship, where they stored the maps and the eternal Log Poses he insisted on buying wherever they went, and could be found there whenever he wasn’t at the helms.
Mr 1 enjoyed the wonders of their new training room, with its spacious glistening floors and training tools.
Crocodile spent an unusual amount of time in the library, even though the room wasn’t yet to its full capacity by far.
Paulie was usually either in the workshop tinkering away in companiable silence with Wyper, checking the rigging or in the crow’s nest as the designated lookout.
The Yagara Brothers had a pool of sweet-water surrounded by Raki’s garden and where the sun shined from the window that went down from the ship’s main deck.
Strangely enough, their captain seemed totally enamoured with the kitchen and pantry at the ship’s prow, even though they had taken it in turns to cook. Or at least those who had any idea of how to cook without burning the ship down.
HPOPHPOPHPOP
The Yagara Brothers, they soon discovered, were as different from each other as they possibly could be.
Ranto, the youngest of the three, was the leading force of the trio: outgoing, cheerful, trusting. Though also the most brutal when threatened. His name meant ‘Tempest’ and his favourite food was the Mizu Mizu meat.
Mako, whose name meant ‘Sincerity’, was the middle brother: shy, but perceptive and a great judge of character; she was often sneaking apples off Raki.
Ryo was the oldest of the three: gruff, distrustful, the most aggressive towards any unknowns and also very protective. His name literally meant ‘Defy’ and his favourite food was onigiri.
What the three of them shared was an unconditional love towards their captain and a love for mischief.
HPOPHPOPHPOP
Gin noticed soon enough that their captain was distracted. When asked about it, his answer left them with even more questions.
“I’m not sure, but I think I hear a voice? It’s telling me where to go and that we’ll find something, someone, there. I know it’s strange, but I feel like this is really important.”
The crew all trusted in their captain and, even though they had to admit that what they were told was strange, they had also learnt not to ignore Aiko’s feelings.
And so no one questioned it when their captain set the course through the thick black mist that enveloped them as they entered the infamous Florian Triangle.
HPOPHPOPHPOP
Their captain’s strange premonition put them on the path to a small bare island. More of a rock almost than it was really an island.
They had almost missed it in the thick mist they were in, but their captain had steered them right towards it as if he’d known where it was all along.
HPOPHPOPHPOP
When Victoria woke up, the first thing she saw was a strange fruit staring back at her.
Yes, staring.
The fruit had what seemed like a hundred tiny eyes of different colours and shapes.
Her first thought was that, even though it now seemed like a dream, her talk with Death had definitely not been a dream.
Her second thought was that she was alive.
Alive and free for the first time in ages.
Her third thought was that she wasn’t alone.
Around her, not crowding her, but definitely focused on her, was a strange group of men ―and a woman.
Victoria would’ve spent some time studying them individually, but then one of the figures, a short man with a mask and red hair that blended into black crouched next to her.
“Are you alright?”
She stared for a moment, taking in his kind eyes and the way he slowly brought a hand into her sight offering to help her up.
She accepted it after a moment of hesitation, the words from Death resonating in her mind.
Once she was upright again, the man bent down and picked up the fruit she’d first seen. She didn’t have time to worry that he’d steal it, for a second later he was holding it out for her.
“Here, I think you dropped it.”
Yes, this was definitely a strange man.
Victoria bit into the fruit and decided to trust.
HPOPHPOPHPOP
Although she could clearly remember a voice ―Death’s voice― telling her this was her second chance, she didn’t tell them about it and the memory slowly became more unclear.
She did, however, tell them about Moria and how she didn’t remember anything after that.
The righteous anger they felt in her name made something that she’d thought frozen over after Hogback’s experiments warm up in her chest.
“He was always a creepy old fucker.” Snorted Crocodile.
HPOPHPOPHPOP
The first time Victoria broke a dish, she thought this was it. They were going to think her a freak and kick her out and the easy camaraderie she had with them would be gone.
That was until Aiko took one look at her, picked a plate up and dropped it from high enough that it broke.
When asked what he was doing, he only said:
“Victoria’s got it right. These dishes are uglier than ugly.” And broke another one.
After Victoria explained how she hated dishes and how it was something that had annoyed Hodgeback to no end, they didn’t throw her out either.
Somehow, the whole crew ended up breaking all the dishes on board and eating only out of bowls.
HPOPHPOPHPOP
Victoria had many quirks, some as annoying as her hate for dishes and some not quiet so obvious, but she knew well that she was what most would define as strange.
She didn’t feel like that with this crew. They made her feel welcomed and as if her quirks were nothing truly odd. Granted, they weren’t the most normal people either, but she wasn’t going to complain.
The first few days on board the Free Raven, one of her quirks was her being covered almost head to toe in black clothes. Not something very strange, but a quirk that she hated all the same.
A quirk she was able to leave behind when Aiko, in all his strange wisdom, addressed the reason for it.
Victoria hated her scars, hated what they represented, what they remined her of.
But when Aiko looked at her, and talked to her and touched her, she forgot about it. Because then her scars became a reminder that she had survived and began to live her own life.
Aiko made her feel that she was beautiful, not despite her scars but because of them.
And she couldn’t be more grateful for that.
HPOPHPOPHPOP
Her tattoos weren’t something so easily ignored. Especially the one that marked her as Zombie 400. So when Mr 1 adressed her in his deep but quiet voice and offered to cover hers up with a new tattoo, she didn’t hesitate to accept.
The number was soon replaced by a beautiful blossoming lotus flower.
HPOPHPOPHPOP
It was a day before leaving the Florian Triangle that Victoria officially joined the crew and decided to reveal what her new Devil Fruit ability was.
She could change her appearance.
She couldn’t take on someone else’s appearance, no, but she could change her own attributes and take on wholly different looks by changing her hairstyle, her eyes colour, her build and a thousand other little details.
Funnily enough, her new ability coupled with her acting skills made for a rather fearsome combination.
Something their future enemies would someday learn to fear.