A New Wind Blows! Wolfric Hertz Arrives!

[Fox]

On a tiny island in the Pikt Archipelago sat the small town of Falfries. Remote and isolated from the rest of the archipelago, Falfries was where the McLeod clan made its home. The town was buzzing with some exciting news. People scurried around in the street and gathered to peer inside of the tavern.

A young boy with red hair and freckles spotting his cheeks raced past a tall man with dark hair, accidentally bumping him. The boy, Donald, skidded to a stop and bowed apologetically.

“Sorry Mister Kobei!” He chirped, bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly. “Someone washed up on a tiny raft today! Alvin said that they had a pair of giant swords! I’m gonna go see so bye!”

Rather than wait for forgiveness, Donald darted off toward the tavern. As he approached the crowd, he heard a lot of muttering.

“She’s awake…”

“Good lord, how does one person eat that much?”

“I wonder how long she was adrift…”

Pushing his way through a sea of legs, Donald zigged and zagged until finally he popped out into the tavern where a silver haired woman sat at a table. Two greatswords rested on the back of her chair. Her skin was tanned and covered in faded scars. Donald gasped at just how many there were. There was even one over her eye! Her clothes were...kinda light for this weather honestly. Wasn’t she cold? Just a tube top covering her chest with her toned midriff exposed. She wore pants at least but she had sandals on. Flecks of meat covered her face.

Donald drew up his courage and marched over to her. Fewer people surrounded the table the stranger was eating at. The leader of their clan sat across from the stranger with his daughter standing beside him. A couple of other grown ups too. Donald tapped the stranger on her arm.

“Oi!”

The stranger blinked and glanced down at Donald with bright blue eyes and a mouthful of meat.

“Who are you?”

“Donald, shh,” called Graham McLeod’s daughter Sharon.

Slamming her fist into her chest, the stranger choked down the huge bit of meat that she had crammed into her mouth, gasping for air. That done, she popped up out of her chair and squatted down to look Donald in the eye. With the widest of grins, the stranger answered.

“I’m Wolfric! Wolfric Hertz! And I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!”

[Deleted]

Kobei, the dark haired man from earlier, kept a stern look about his face. It was rigid, but not unkind. The clothes he wore were unexpected for this region, for in the cold, snowy weather, he wore a minute amount of clothing. With shorts down to his knees, a shirt more akin to loose cloth wrapped around half of his body, and sandals instead of snow boots, he was a spectacle to behold. On his back where his skin was visible, a long scar across his shoulder blade manifested among many other more recent looking scars. He was imposing, even without the large amount of bulk common to this region.


His curiosity had reached its peak when he heard the news of a new stranger who had washed ashore. It was not but a few years ago when he was in that very same position. Much has happened since then, but first he wondered what kind of trouble this new face might bring with it, and so reluctantly as he may be, he decided to check the tavern.


As he entered, he was greeted with smiling faces and familiar surprise from all kinds of folk.


"Ah! Mister Kobei! What brings ya in here at this time o' day? Thought you was workin on those ships at the dock?" Came one of the patrons who was already working on his day drinking.


With a deeper than expected voice, Kobei spoke with a tone that matched his stern face, though it seemed to be normal since nobody else's expressions seemed to change. "I came into town to gather a few more supplies. Mostly nails and planks... Then I heard we had a new guest. I thought I'd come to check it out. Where are they?"

[Fox]

“O’er there,” answered the patron jabbering to Kobei. He jerked his thumb to where a stunned Donald stared slack jawed up at a silver haired woman. Donald hastily scurried over to Sharon’s side. Sharon stared with suspicion at the woman. From her lips came a single word.

“Pirate…?”

Graham looked up at Sharon expectantly. Hastily snapping out of it, Sharon motioned and gestured with her hands in various ways while Graham watched intently. When she finished, Graham looked to Wolfric curiously, tugging on his beard thoughtfully.

Wolfric stood back up, leaning over to try to get a glimpse at Donald who was clinging to Sharon’s dress. She scratched the back of her head and frowned, confused. What did she say that spooked the kid so bad?

“King o’ the Pirates, eh?” Graham uttered in a gravely old voice that still carried.

“Yeah!” Wolfric replied confidently with a nod. “It’s gonna be me.”

Sharon began to motion to Graham once more, but he waved her off with a hearty laugh as Wolfric plopped back down into her chair. Wolfric crossed her arms and pouted with narrowed eyes at the old man.

“What are you laughing at you, old geezer?”

Shifting uncomfortably while her father chuckled, Sharon scanned the room, looking for some form of help. When her eyes landed on Kobei, she almost looked relieved and tried to catch his eye, gesturing him over.

After a moment or two, Graham settled down, setting his eyes on the pouting Wolfric.

“Och, that’s a big claim, lass,” he said finally, smiling a bit, “I dinnae if anyone can do it, much less some wee lass who washed up on some twigs.”

Wolfric slammed her hand down on the table, causing the silverware to rattle. Her eyes were livid.

“I will! Just you wait!”

[Deleted]

Kobei caught Sharon's eyes almost immediately and walked over to her, his arms crossed at the mention of pirates. As he entered the group crowding around Wolfric, his eyes glanced from Sharon to the so called pirate-king-to-be.


"So then, we have a pirate here? And she wants to be king of the pirates... Why did you fish her up? You know pirates bring more trouble than they're worth."


Kobei turned to Sharon and began to sign his hands in an attempt to comfort her. He then turned back to Wolfric with a glare.


"How did you wind up here, Pirate? What of your men and your ship? Were you the captain or just some lackey?"

[Fox]

Something flickered in Graham’s old eyes as he considered the fire in Wolfric’s own eyes. He tugged at his beard thoughtfully and glanced at Kobei as the young man approached the table. Graham read his lips. It was easy to do with a straightforward man like Kobei. He sat back in his chair, curious as to how this would all play out.

Wolfric glanced at this new guy. She crossed her arms and pouted at him as well.

“I don’t want to be King of the Pirates. I will be the King!”

Graham couldn’t help but smile at her insistence. She certainly had the drive. Straightforward people were easy to read even though Sharon continued to sign their words to him. He could see the passion behind them even if he couldn’t hear them.

“We didn’t know she was a pirate,” Sharon said, looking to Kobei with a slight degree of relief, “And...well, she was half-dead not but a few minutes ago.”

As Kobei turned to address her, Wolfric grinned widely, jabbing her thumb into her chest.

“I’m the Captain! And well, I don’t have any of that stuff yet! I’m new. Set sail on a raft...that didn’t go too well…”

Wolfric rubbed the back of her head, chuckling to herself.

“I’m looking for crewmates! Know anyone who’d be good?” She asked, turning away from Kobei to the old man across from her. She bounced back up into her chair, feet on the seat, and squatted down. She leaned in intently.

“Well, lass, we be a village of musicians. An’ I cannae speak for any of me clansmen who might be wantin’ to join ye,” Graham answered with a wry smile before gesturing to Kobei.

“But Kobei ‘ere’s a fine shipwright and an outsider like ye self. Cannae speak for him either, mind.”

“Father!” Sharon hissed with a sharp tap to his shoulder. She bit her lip and shook her head. What had gotten into him? She just couldn’t see what possessed him.

But Wolfric could. She recognized that twinkle in the old man’s eyes. Slowly, her head craned around to look at Kobei with obvious stars in her eyes. Her lips curved into a somewhat devious and mischievous smile.

[Deleted]

Kobei's eyebrow curved upward as he laughed at the mere thought of ever becoming a pirate. He laughed more that this Woman had no crew and no ship, but thought she could conquer the seas and be king of the pirates anyway. Kobei didn't often laugh, so the mere sight of this forced everyone around him into a fit of laughter.


After a while, he calmed down and went from a laugh back into his straight, stern face that the citizens of this island know and love.


"What an entertaining thought. No, I will not join your crew, nor do I intend to become a pirate. You won't find anyone around here who wants to convert to piracy. Most of the folk around here are either Musicians, Fishermen, or both. They have work to do and so do I, so if you'll excuse me, I will be off to get my supplies as I had planned."


Kobei, thinking his point had been made clear, strutted off and out the door to gather his supplies once more.

[Fox]

Wolfric’s silver hair was wild. So much so that two little tufts of it stuck up like little wolf ears. Right now as Kobei and those around him erupted into a fit of laughter, those little wolf ears drooped but not far. She stared at Kobei’s retreating back with a certain breed of stubbornness.

Graham watched her and chuckled, shaking his head. He knew that look. He feared he just might have set the biggest nuisance on Kobei. Well, it would be good for him. It took a special kind of person to make that straight stick of a person laugh.

“Well, there ye have it, lass. Going tae give up yet?” He asked.

Wolfric looked back at Graham. The two exchanged mischievous glances before Wolfric bolted out of her seat, grabbing her swords and raced out of the door. The crowd made room for her as she rushed out.

Sharon frowned and looked down at her father uncertainly.

“This can’t be good…”

Outside, Wolfric quickly caught sight of Kobei. She jogged up over to him and leaned around his side.

“Well, if you’re not gonna join my crew, how about making me a ship?”

[Deleted]

Glancing back at Wolfric slightly annoyed, Kobei sighed and shut his eyes while still walking forward.

"Do you have the money for the supplies necessary to build a ship? They don't grow on trees you know."

Kobei looked forward again with a huff, knowing full well a woman who just washed ashore would have no such funds.

"Besides... I have a strict 'No Stranger' policy when it comes to building ships. I mostly fix ships, and building one from scratch takes time and resources we just don't have here. Pirates haven't exactly been the kindest around here when they've stopped by. What makes you any different? How can i trust someone i only just met? How can you expect the people of this village to trust you? These people are good people. Don't go causing trouble around here or.."

Kobei stopped and glared Wolfric straight in the eye with fiery passion and fury that could scare the bark off a tree. A brief blister of electricity flowed through a metal button on his shorts as if it had been carrying a current recently.

"You'll have to deal with me."

[Fox]

Nervous sweat immediately began forming on Wolfric’s face at the mention of funds. She didn’t have any money. Not a single beri to her name. Wolfric supposed it was a little tiny bit optimistic to think that this stick in the mud would just give her a ship. She pushed her fingertips together sheepishly.

“But...but…”

Wolfric couldn’t even get in a word edgewise before the stick in the mud was drilling her with another barrage of questions. The No Stranger policy wasn’t really fair. How did he expect people to buy from him? Wolfric averted her eyes as his line of questioning grew more and more unfair. It was his last comment that really upset her.

The squirming nervousness of earlier was swiftly replaced by indignant rage great enough to rival Kobei’s own passion. Wolfric glared and booped his chest with her finger.

“I haven’t even done anything! You can’t just judge people like that!”

Crossing her arms, Wolfric held her nose up high, looking sidelong at Kobei. Yeah, she’d take the high road. Mean stick in the mud. She would show him! Ha! Wait. Money. While she didn’t have any of that, she did have…!

“My stuff! Crap!”

Wolfric patted herself down. Nope! It wasn’t there! Ack! She whirled to Kobei, eyes wide.

“Quick! Where did they fish me up?!” Wolfric asked before abruptly shaking her head and turning away, “Nevermind! A meanie wouldn’t help anyway!”

With that, Wolfric shot off down one of the streets toward the water, leaving a dust cloud in her wake. Oh man! It would suck if she lost that! No! Please say that it made it…! Wolfric put some extra speed in her step as she raced down the streets.

[Deleted]

Hmph. She finally left him alone. Now he could get back to his business! Kobei went to a couple shacks where he gathered supplies for the day. It took an hour or so and a cart full of wood and metal parts before he was finally done. When all was said and done, though, he heard a commotion in the distance as well as panicked screaming from a child not far off. Fearing the worst, Kobei immediately locked his cart in an alley away from view and raced off in the direction of the noise.


On the edge of town was a group of kids whom Kobei knew to be the sort to always tell someone when anyone arrived, whether it be merchant, marine, or pirate. They were the very children who likely spotted Wolfric lying half-dead in the water. They looked panicked and ran over to Kobei with haste. The fear in their eyes was shadowed by the worry and haste in their quivering voices.

"Pirates! Off shore! It's another raid!"

Anger grew on Kobei's face as his fists clenched and he grit his teeth. He looked to the children and began barking orders.

"Quickly! Run into town, most of the villagers are gathered in the tavern because of the new woman who washed ashore! Tell everyone to get into their defensive positions as soon as possible! We have no time!"

Kobei knew what a raid would mean if they were caught off guard. After what happened the first year he was here, he could not let these pirates go unnoticed. Was this Wolfric to blame? Did she lie about not having a crew? It didn't matter. He had to be harsh and think critically for the safety of the village he swore to protect.

[Fox]

Thanks to some helpful villagers, Wolfric managed to find the remnants of her raft. Raft was a strong word for it. It was a pile of logs and sticks loosely held together by vines. She’d made it herself. At the time, Wolfric had been proud of herself, but after a rough voyage at sea with it, she could only think of how she’d almost fallen off of it or through it a hundred times. But that wasn’t important right now!

Wolfric dug through the remains, tearing up the vines that held it together. In a tangle of them was a suit of armor, inadvertently hidden by the raft itself. Honestly, it had just been too heavy to go on top, so she’d bit it into the raft. The armor was some of her stuff, but not what she was really looking for.

Picking up the helmet, she lifted the visor and peered inside. Crap! Not there either! Wolfric tossed the helmet aside and started pawing at the sand. It couldn’t have gotten far, right? Come on...she had to find it!

Her hand hit something hard in the sand. Wolfric’s hair ears perked up. She dug with all the energy of a dog with an especially precious bone to bury. Until...yes! Wolfric pulled out a pendant from the sand. After washing it off in the water, Wolfric tied around her waistband. The pendant was a fiery red and tied with some pretty strong cord.

“Phew…”

Sitting back on the sand, Wolfric heaved a big sigh of relief. Stuff secure. She closed her eyes, smiling and drifted off for a well deserved nap. She’d try that stick in the mud again after it. Before Wolfric could grab even so much as a few winks, sounds of shouting roused her.

“What’s going on…?”

Jumping to her feet, she followed the sound of voices through the underbrush. She had to walk along the edge of a cliff until it finally came into view. Pirates. They were docking in the cove next to the beach her raft was on. Huh. Wonder what they wanted here.

Wolfric idly watched them set off for town, leaving behind a few guys to guard the ship. Huh. That ship looked pretty battered actually. Like it went through a huge storm or battle or something. They were probably gonna get the stiff treatment from Kobei though with his no strangers policy.

“Alright men, let’s go,” called the Captain. She was a pretty well endowed pink haired woman. “We’re gonna take everything they’ve got and burn this town to the ground!”

A resounding cheer went up among the crew. Hey! That wasn’t very nice. Wolfric stood up, grabbing the hilt of one of her swords.

“Hey you bastards! Not so-“

As Wolfric slammed her foot down on the cliff’s edge, it gave way beneath her.

“Wh-whoa!”

Using her devil fruit powers, Wolfric disappeared into her sword, sucked inside of the metal. Ha! Now she just had to- A rock struck the sword on the blade, sending it spinning wildly. Nausea welled up inside her. That hurt...ow! More rocks crashed into her as she landed in a heap in a pile of debris. One hit her right on top of the hilt. Dizzy and sick, Wolfric phased in and out of consiousness.

“Captain Flora…!”

“Go check it out idiot. The rest of you, with me!” She barked, moving off toward the town.

~~~

Sharon jogged over to Kobei, out of breath. She’d just come from the tavern to alert Graham and the others. She grasped her chest lightly and glanced down the road with fear and uncertainty. Villagemen jogged up behind her with an assortment of weapons in their hands.

“The children are all holed up in the tavern. I could only get a few men,” she managed after a moment.

“Jus’ let them try tae take us!” One of the men jeered, the others grunting their approval. They raised their weapons into the air.

Bang! Bang!

Two gunshots rang out through the air in rapid succession. One hit the arm of a man raising his weapon. The other hit another man in the shoulder. From way down the road, Captain Flora smirked behind two smoking barrels.

[Deleted]

"All of you, behind me!" Kobei grunted, stepping forward with enough force to stir the dirt. On his hands were metal gauntlets with what looked to be metal knuckles with wires under them and a button on the side. Without hesitation, he ran forward and to the side in case this insane woman decided to fire anymore bullets his way. His speed was impressive to say the least.

It didn't take long for Captain Flora to get impatient and start unloading shots toward Kobei, only to be met with his weaving through crates and barrels at inhuman speeds and blocking what bullets he couldn't dodge with his gauntlets. They seemed to be quite sturdy for a pair of metal gauntlets, enough so to deflect bullets with ease. Once he reached her, Kobei gave Captain Flora a strong punch in the gut, sending her reeling back several feet, but not enough to send her to the ground. She was tougher than he expected.

Moving from his attack position to a more defensive posture, Kobei readied himself for another flurry of bullets to come his way.

[Fox]

“Tch!”

Flora steadied herself as her men gathered up behind her. With their eyes on her back, she couldn’t be struggling against this nobody. She was Captain Flora of the Petal Pirates! She had a ten million beri bounty! And Flora would show these bumpkins just what that meant.

“You’re fast, I’ll give you that,” she commented with a smirk.

With a flick, the barrels of her two revolvers opened and spilled their spent shells on the ground. Reloading with fresh cylinders, Flora skated to the side firing one off rapid fire and then darting back the other way firing the other.

“Zig Zag Bang Bang!”

A collective “oooh” and some snickering cane from her crew. This was a tough one to deal with. The captain’s speed and reflexes with a gun were second to none. Even with his own speed and reflexes, that punk would have a hard time with this!

~~~

“It’s a couple of swords.”

One of the Petal Pirates scratched his head at that. Weird. That was all there was in this pile of rubble. He could have sworn that he’d heard a voice. Oh well. Might as well take these back on the ship. They looked pretty valuable.

Grabbing the handles, he heaved them out of the rubble with more than a little elbow grease. Damn! These were heavy. How was anyone supposed to wield two of these? Issuing a grunt, the pirate shrugged and started dragging them across the sand.

Tink!

One of the swords tapped a rock.

“Wuh-huh?” A deep and ominous male voice echoed from behind the pirate. Yelling in surprise, the pirate dropped both swords and whirled around, drawing his pistol.

No one was there.

Confused and a little spooked, the pirate holstered his pistol and picked the swords back up.

“Hey! Hands off!”

A voice full of fury and menace called out, causing the pirate to drop the swords again. Gun in his hand, he whirled about frantically. That voice had been so close!

“Where are you?!” The pirate screamed.

“Right here,” Wolfric replied in a low menace almost like a whisper. Slowly, one of the swords rose up of its own accord until it was completely upright. The Petal Pirate’s eyes bulged out of his head.

Wolfric swung around and slammed the Pirate with the flat of the blade. He flew off and splashed down into the water. Slipping out of the sword, Wolfric held her head.

“Ugh...still dizzy…”

Wolfric tried to shake herself out of it as she remembered where the rest of the Pirates had gone. Into town! The people here had been really nice to her! They’d even fed her. She was not about to let them bust the town up. Taking off at a sprint, Wolfric raced away from the ocean side and towards town.

[Deleted]

"Tch!" Kobei replied as he managed to desperately dodge most of the bullets. Two of the bullets, however, managed to cut across his shoulder and thigh, leaving bloodied wounds that he covered up for a moment. The pain was tremendous, but he couldn't let his enemy know that. Besides, he had felt this kind of pain before and had grown accustomed to it.

With the same blinding speed as before, Kobei ran forward and leapt over the pirates in front of him, landing behind them and unleashing a flurry of blows on the ground that blew smoke into the air and caused the earth to tremble, causing the lackeys of Captain floral to fall flat on their faces. He began to dash away from the men who were injured in an attempt to lead the pirates further into the village for a safer fight.

"You bastard pirates couldn't hit a fish in a barrel!"

[Fox]

“Oh no?”

More bullets zipped through the air. Every single one of them hit their targets. The men surrounding Sharon all crumpled to the ground in a matter of seconds. Before Sharon could resist, the hot smoking barrel of Flora’s gun pressed against the skin under her chin. It burned, but Sharon didn’t make a move as Flora slid behind her with a viper’s treachery.

“If you don’t want this bitch’s head blow off, you’re gonna start playing nice, boy,” she demanded, smirking at Kobei before looking down with disdain at her crew. “Get up you idiots. Start collecting valuables.”

Flora craned her head around to sneer at Sharon, tapping the gun against Sharon’s throat. Her finger traced the trigger gently. Sharon stood stock still, staring at Kobei. Her skin was white as a sheet, and her face glistened with a cold sweat.

“We need a shipwright. Know any of those, sweet pea?” Flora purred.

“N-No…”

Flora’s sneer quickly morphed into a scowl. She shoved her gun under Sharon’s chin painfully.

“You live on an island, and you don’t have anyone who works on ships?! What do you take me for, an idiot?”

~~~

“Huh...I coulda sworn the town was back this way…” Wolfric mumbled to herself as she stared out at the ocean. She glanced to where her broken raft laid half buried in the sand. She scratched her head, frowning at it.

“How’d I get back here?”