Post by EJ on Feb 6, 2018 1:43:55 GMT -5
Basic Information
~~~~~~~~~~
“Me nuh convasyate wit’ ‘da fake!”
Important Details
~~~~~
Name
Queen Leti Taylor
Nickname(s)
TayTay
Bootz
Trippy
Chica
White Hair
Chiquita Pero Picosa
(Fiery Little Chick)
Epithet
“White-Haired Taylor”
Height
5’0”
(153 cm)
Figure
Toned, Curvy
Age
19
Gender
Female
Race
Human
Date of Birth
22nd of November
Star Sign
Sagittarius
The Archer
Unique Laugh
“Shiihiihii!”
Crew Information
~~~~~
Situation
Bounty Hunter
Shooter
Bounty
0
Experience Level
~~~~~
Total X-Poinz: 550
Used X-Poinz: 400
~~~~~~~~~~
“Me nuh convasyate wit’ ‘da fake!”
Important Details
~~~~~
Name
Queen Leti Taylor
Nickname(s)
TayTay
Bootz
Trippy
Chica
White Hair
Chiquita Pero Picosa
(Fiery Little Chick)
Epithet
“White-Haired Taylor”
Height
5’0”
(153 cm)
Figure
Toned, Curvy
Age
19
Gender
Female
Race
Human
Date of Birth
22nd of November
Star Sign
Sagittarius
The Archer
Unique Laugh
“Shiihiihii!”
Crew Information
~~~~~
Situation
Bounty Hunter
Shooter
Bounty
0Experience Level
~~~~~
Total X-Poinz: 550
Used X-Poinz: 400
Character Development
~~~~~~~~~~
“ ‘Dats a nice piece ya got ‘dere! Tahnks fuh ‘oldin it fuh me~!”
Personality
~~~~~
Friendly and outspoken, Taylor is one of those girls that loves to talk. She lacks tact, and her flat, on-the-face statements may make you feel like running from her. Then suddenly, she will say something so charming that you will feel as if you’re in seventh heaven. There’s no telling what might come out of this chick’s mouth, but it’s always a reflection of the truth in her. Her forthrightness comes from the fact that she has no illusions about the world. She sees it exactly as it is, and says what she sees. At times, you'd wish that she just weren’t so damn honest!
This young woman is very optimistic, but is far from irrational. She will judge the entire situation in front of her as per the facts, analyze its probable outcome and still believe that things will get better. Usually, she is very calm and composed, however if one were to become rude to her, or offend her, her whole demeanor could flip in the snap of one’s fingers! Amongst the things she may spit flames at you for are calling her “White-Haired Taylor” (although her hair is white), correcting her excessively and underestimating her ability to accomplish something. She thinks the name, “White-Haired,” implies that she's a coward, but most people call her that simply because of the color of her hair. Her speech is heavily riddled with colloquialism and Carib patois, causing more formal, “word righteous” people – as Taylor dubs them – to comment on the way she speaks.
She is quite independent and loves freedom. She says what she thinks, and how she acts shows what she feels. The society and its norms do not matter to her. She is rarely the hypocrite that some people are, and tends to wiggle a few tongues. Her honesty and brusqueness further add to the negative opinions of those who don’t approve of her lifestyle. Don’t allow yourself to be swayed by them, though. Deep inside of Taylor is a woman who is highly enthusiastic about life, and who trusts easily. Many believe that makes the heart vulnerable and defenseless, but that doesn’t worry her, being an intuitive individual that goes with the flow. She deems everything happens for a reason, and the “bad” that may ensue only makes you stronger with the right mindset.
Taylor adores guns of all kinds! Call her a tomboy, call her destructive, or call her straight up sinister; she’d gladly accept all of those labels while stroking and caressing one of her beloved! The louder it goes ‘BANG’ and the harder it bucks, the more she loves it! The young Ciudadelan blue-blood boasts a lot of knowledge on firearms, involving what they are and how they’re made. If you’re the owner of a good, quality gun or piece of heavy artillery, Bootz will most likely harass you over it with a big, bright star in her eye!
Appearance
~~~~~
Taylor is a dark-skinned young woman with a head of medium length white hair and a petite, curvy frame. Her ivory locks are styled in a tousled fashion, with elegant curls and bends flopping from one side to another. Although her bangs fall past her eyes, they seem to naturally create an opening around her cocoa orb, and where her right eye would be if it were visible, as if not to be an obstruction to her vision of its own will. Her right eye is hidden beneath bandages because it “makes her look tougher,” and she’d rather bandage it than wear an eye patch, like a pirate. Taylor goes to great lengths to keep her right eye hidden from everyone else. If someone were to ask – and they'd have to prod quite a bit – she’d tell them that she lost it in a childhood accident. The truth, in reality, is that the eye is blind. The whole organ is completely white, and because of this, Taylor is self-conscious about letting people see it, thinking it makes her look “disgusting and gross.” On her crown rests a pair of dark aviators that are always either on her head or over her eyes.
Her apparel is labeled “dark and drab” compared to the standard women’s fashion of her home island. Whereas you may see most girls wearing extravagant colors that “shine,” “clash,” “pop” and whatnot, she keeps it simple and sports a more rugged attire with darker hues. Trippy likes the wind to touch her skin! Warm, tropical weather is her favorite, so on average she’s in tank tops, or belly shirts with the sleeves rolled up, and cargo shorts. An ornament always around her neck is a handmade necklace of small, white seashells that she collected on the coast of Oli Bay in her homeland. Amongst other accessories, Taylor wears an assortment of bracelets and wristbands around both of her forearms, and dark brown or black combat boots with black socks.
~~~~~~~~~~
“ ‘Dats a nice piece ya got ‘dere! Tahnks fuh ‘oldin it fuh me~!”
Personality
~~~~~
Friendly and outspoken, Taylor is one of those girls that loves to talk. She lacks tact, and her flat, on-the-face statements may make you feel like running from her. Then suddenly, she will say something so charming that you will feel as if you’re in seventh heaven. There’s no telling what might come out of this chick’s mouth, but it’s always a reflection of the truth in her. Her forthrightness comes from the fact that she has no illusions about the world. She sees it exactly as it is, and says what she sees. At times, you'd wish that she just weren’t so damn honest!
This young woman is very optimistic, but is far from irrational. She will judge the entire situation in front of her as per the facts, analyze its probable outcome and still believe that things will get better. Usually, she is very calm and composed, however if one were to become rude to her, or offend her, her whole demeanor could flip in the snap of one’s fingers! Amongst the things she may spit flames at you for are calling her “White-Haired Taylor” (although her hair is white), correcting her excessively and underestimating her ability to accomplish something. She thinks the name, “White-Haired,” implies that she's a coward, but most people call her that simply because of the color of her hair. Her speech is heavily riddled with colloquialism and Carib patois, causing more formal, “word righteous” people – as Taylor dubs them – to comment on the way she speaks.
She is quite independent and loves freedom. She says what she thinks, and how she acts shows what she feels. The society and its norms do not matter to her. She is rarely the hypocrite that some people are, and tends to wiggle a few tongues. Her honesty and brusqueness further add to the negative opinions of those who don’t approve of her lifestyle. Don’t allow yourself to be swayed by them, though. Deep inside of Taylor is a woman who is highly enthusiastic about life, and who trusts easily. Many believe that makes the heart vulnerable and defenseless, but that doesn’t worry her, being an intuitive individual that goes with the flow. She deems everything happens for a reason, and the “bad” that may ensue only makes you stronger with the right mindset.
Taylor adores guns of all kinds! Call her a tomboy, call her destructive, or call her straight up sinister; she’d gladly accept all of those labels while stroking and caressing one of her beloved! The louder it goes ‘BANG’ and the harder it bucks, the more she loves it! The young Ciudadelan blue-blood boasts a lot of knowledge on firearms, involving what they are and how they’re made. If you’re the owner of a good, quality gun or piece of heavy artillery, Bootz will most likely harass you over it with a big, bright star in her eye!
Appearance
~~~~~
Taylor is a dark-skinned young woman with a head of medium length white hair and a petite, curvy frame. Her ivory locks are styled in a tousled fashion, with elegant curls and bends flopping from one side to another. Although her bangs fall past her eyes, they seem to naturally create an opening around her cocoa orb, and where her right eye would be if it were visible, as if not to be an obstruction to her vision of its own will. Her right eye is hidden beneath bandages because it “makes her look tougher,” and she’d rather bandage it than wear an eye patch, like a pirate. Taylor goes to great lengths to keep her right eye hidden from everyone else. If someone were to ask – and they'd have to prod quite a bit – she’d tell them that she lost it in a childhood accident. The truth, in reality, is that the eye is blind. The whole organ is completely white, and because of this, Taylor is self-conscious about letting people see it, thinking it makes her look “disgusting and gross.” On her crown rests a pair of dark aviators that are always either on her head or over her eyes.
Her apparel is labeled “dark and drab” compared to the standard women’s fashion of her home island. Whereas you may see most girls wearing extravagant colors that “shine,” “clash,” “pop” and whatnot, she keeps it simple and sports a more rugged attire with darker hues. Trippy likes the wind to touch her skin! Warm, tropical weather is her favorite, so on average she’s in tank tops, or belly shirts with the sleeves rolled up, and cargo shorts. An ornament always around her neck is a handmade necklace of small, white seashells that she collected on the coast of Oli Bay in her homeland. Amongst other accessories, Taylor wears an assortment of bracelets and wristbands around both of her forearms, and dark brown or black combat boots with black socks.
Traits
~~~~~
Nullification Woman
TayTay consumed the Shii Shii no Mi; a Paramecia-Class Devil Fruit that turns its possessor into a “Nullification Human!” With this power, she can negate the results brought about by various elements, such as the vibrations that cause sound – effectively creating quietness – or the motions that create actions, causing an inorganic thing to become completely still! This ability also extends to principles beyond the physical plane, like emotions and sensations similar to pain! Essentially, anything that makes noise, or is “loud” in a sense, can be nullified by her Akuma no Mi’s power!
Deadshot
Chiquita Pero Picosa always had a scary amount of accuracy since she was just a little girl! Starting off with the slingshot then moving onto firearms, her forte involves anything that has to do with a steady hand and lined up shots. She favors the sniper rifle, and often uses it with promising skill without employing the use of a scope!
Tremendously Athletic
It should come to no surprise that this woman of five-foot-nothin’ is extremely nimble! She can scale objects with relative ease and make moves with her body akin to a stunt woman!
Skills & Attributes
~~~~~
Quick Learner
TayTay picks up on things pretty quickly. Sometimes, you’d only have to show her something once, but if it took any more than that, it wouldn’t be too long to see progression ensuing.
Botany
A feeble attempt at Queen L. Mottie, Taylor’s mother, transforming her daughter from a tomboy to a “proper princess” gave Trippy a bit of knowledge on plants and the conditions they grow best in. While she was never interested in having a huge flower garden, planting the unique fruits and vegetables of the Ciudadela Queendom was always fun and stuck with her.
~~~~~
Nullification Woman
TayTay consumed the Shii Shii no Mi; a Paramecia-Class Devil Fruit that turns its possessor into a “Nullification Human!” With this power, she can negate the results brought about by various elements, such as the vibrations that cause sound – effectively creating quietness – or the motions that create actions, causing an inorganic thing to become completely still! This ability also extends to principles beyond the physical plane, like emotions and sensations similar to pain! Essentially, anything that makes noise, or is “loud” in a sense, can be nullified by her Akuma no Mi’s power!
Deadshot
Chiquita Pero Picosa always had a scary amount of accuracy since she was just a little girl! Starting off with the slingshot then moving onto firearms, her forte involves anything that has to do with a steady hand and lined up shots. She favors the sniper rifle, and often uses it with promising skill without employing the use of a scope!
Tremendously Athletic
It should come to no surprise that this woman of five-foot-nothin’ is extremely nimble! She can scale objects with relative ease and make moves with her body akin to a stunt woman!
Skills & Attributes
~~~~~
Quick Learner
TayTay picks up on things pretty quickly. Sometimes, you’d only have to show her something once, but if it took any more than that, it wouldn’t be too long to see progression ensuing.
Botany
A feeble attempt at Queen L. Mottie, Taylor’s mother, transforming her daughter from a tomboy to a “proper princess” gave Trippy a bit of knowledge on plants and the conditions they grow best in. While she was never interested in having a huge flower garden, planting the unique fruits and vegetables of the Ciudadela Queendom was always fun and stuck with her.
Character Voyages
~~~~~~~~~~
“Me ‘ave a bullet fuh e’ry bounty ‘dem is on ‘da sea!”
Plots
~~~~~
Hush, Little Baby, Don’t You Cry ~ Act 1
(Completed)
Sinful Smiles
(Completed)
Missions
~~~~~
--
Logs
~~~~~
--
~~~~~~~~~~
“Me ‘ave a bullet fuh e’ry bounty ‘dem is on ‘da sea!”
Plots
~~~~~
Hush, Little Baby, Don’t You Cry ~ Act 1
(Completed)
Sinful Smiles
(Completed)
Missions
~~~~~
--
Logs
~~~~~
--
Combat Information
~~~~~~~~~~
“You wanna rahm wit’ me?!”
Fighting Styles
~~~~~
Silent-Silent Fruit
Paramecia-Class Devil Fruit
E-Class (200 XPz)
Thanks to the power of an eccentric Devil Fruit, White Hair uses it commonly as an absolute silencer for her guns of choice, muting the sounds created by gunshots entirely, without the drawback of losing range or power that a silencer attachment stakes. All in all, the Shii Shii no Mi plays a very supplemental role in the way Trippy goes to war with it to the point that an opponent may not even know she were a Devil Fruit user!
Estilo del Arma-Poste
(Gun-Pole Style)
Accuracy & Melee
E-Class
Taylor’s passion for guns is second only to her prowess as a markswoman. She even believes that she was born with one good eye for the specific purpose that she’d always have to close one anyway when looking through a scope or to just increase her overall accuracy. It doesn’t take her long to warm up to a firearm. After a few test shots to get used to a gun’s “temper,” she’s good to go! Boasting a well above average shot, her specialty is sniping. White Hair’s expertise with the rifle extends to the point where she doesn’t always have to look through the scope to hit a target dead-on where she planned to. Lastly, when toting her longer weapons, she often uses them like polearms at close range, batting and spinning them around the way one would with a staff!
Normal Weaponry
~~~~~
Papi
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 0
A brown, wooden flintlock sniper rifle with brass accents of metal for the triggerguard, along the stock and shaft of the weapon. This firearm is five feet and nine inches long with a front blade sight and rear notch sight to aid the marksman in accuracy.
Advanced Weaponry
~~~~~
--
Equipment
~~~~~
--
Techniques
~~~~~
I. Standard Rubber Bullets
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 0
Average lead balls coated in a thin layer of black rubber. These non-lethal bullets are compatible with nearly every firearm Taylor employs, from handguns to smaller rifles.
II. 41.1mm Rubber Bullets
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 1 (50 XPz)
Small, steel spheres – with a diameter of 41.1mm (the size of a British golf ball) – coated in a thin layer of black rubber. These less-lethal rounds are designed for the sniper rifles in Chica’s arsenal.
III. ¡Patada de Giro!
(Swing Kick!)
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 1 (50 XPz)
Using any long-bodied gun bigger than herself, Taylor plants the armament nose first into the ground. Acquiring a sturdy hold, the young woman proceeds to pull herself forward, throwing a heavy, momentous kick at her target before swinging back around her weapon and creating a significant distance between them upon landing.
IV. ¡Patadas de Giro Aumento!
(Spinning Rise Kicks!)
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 1 Variant
Starting off like the original version, this variation involves Trippy pulling herself upwards on her “gunpole,” swinging her legs to deliver three kicks that launch her foe into the air as she flips into a crouching position, balancing on top of the weapon in use. In this “Air Gun Stance,” Trippy can opt to hop up into an aerial shot, use Patada de Giro, drop the gun down into a slide to trip opponents, maneuver around pogo-style or simply exit the stance.
V. ¡Zona Silenciosa!
(Silent Zone!)
Silent-Silent Fruit
Rank 1 (50 XPz)
Creates a translucent barrier of energy that spans outward upon Taylor snapping her fingers, covering a ten meter radius. Within the barrier, she can prevent sound from escaping or entering. As experience increases, so does the range of the technique: D - 25 m, C - 50 m, B - 100 m, A - 250 m, S - 500 m.
VI. ¡Silencio!
(Silence!)
Silent-Silent Fruit
Rank 1 (50 XPz)
The Shii Shii no Mi’s signature ability, capable of silencing the sounds created by Taylor herself, or anything she touches, by negating the vibrations that cause them! When using the ability, Chica must snap her fingers before touching who/what she wants to silence, making anything they do generate no sound at all! Whatever/whoever is silenced by this ability remains muted until deactivation.
~~~~~~~~~~
“You wanna rahm wit’ me?!”
Fighting Styles
~~~~~
Silent-Silent Fruit
Paramecia-Class Devil Fruit
E-Class (200 XPz)
Thanks to the power of an eccentric Devil Fruit, White Hair uses it commonly as an absolute silencer for her guns of choice, muting the sounds created by gunshots entirely, without the drawback of losing range or power that a silencer attachment stakes. All in all, the Shii Shii no Mi plays a very supplemental role in the way Trippy goes to war with it to the point that an opponent may not even know she were a Devil Fruit user!
Estilo del Arma-Poste
(Gun-Pole Style)
Accuracy & Melee
E-Class
Taylor’s passion for guns is second only to her prowess as a markswoman. She even believes that she was born with one good eye for the specific purpose that she’d always have to close one anyway when looking through a scope or to just increase her overall accuracy. It doesn’t take her long to warm up to a firearm. After a few test shots to get used to a gun’s “temper,” she’s good to go! Boasting a well above average shot, her specialty is sniping. White Hair’s expertise with the rifle extends to the point where she doesn’t always have to look through the scope to hit a target dead-on where she planned to. Lastly, when toting her longer weapons, she often uses them like polearms at close range, batting and spinning them around the way one would with a staff!
Normal Weaponry
~~~~~
Papi
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 0
A brown, wooden flintlock sniper rifle with brass accents of metal for the triggerguard, along the stock and shaft of the weapon. This firearm is five feet and nine inches long with a front blade sight and rear notch sight to aid the marksman in accuracy.
Advanced Weaponry
~~~~~
--
Equipment
~~~~~
--
Techniques
~~~~~
I. Standard Rubber Bullets
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 0
Average lead balls coated in a thin layer of black rubber. These non-lethal bullets are compatible with nearly every firearm Taylor employs, from handguns to smaller rifles.
II. 41.1mm Rubber Bullets
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 1 (50 XPz)
Small, steel spheres – with a diameter of 41.1mm (the size of a British golf ball) – coated in a thin layer of black rubber. These less-lethal rounds are designed for the sniper rifles in Chica’s arsenal.
III. ¡Patada de Giro!
(Swing Kick!)
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 1 (50 XPz)
Using any long-bodied gun bigger than herself, Taylor plants the armament nose first into the ground. Acquiring a sturdy hold, the young woman proceeds to pull herself forward, throwing a heavy, momentous kick at her target before swinging back around her weapon and creating a significant distance between them upon landing.
IV. ¡Patadas de Giro Aumento!
(Spinning Rise Kicks!)
Estilo del Arma-Poste
Rank 1 Variant
Starting off like the original version, this variation involves Trippy pulling herself upwards on her “gunpole,” swinging her legs to deliver three kicks that launch her foe into the air as she flips into a crouching position, balancing on top of the weapon in use. In this “Air Gun Stance,” Trippy can opt to hop up into an aerial shot, use Patada de Giro, drop the gun down into a slide to trip opponents, maneuver around pogo-style or simply exit the stance.
V. ¡Zona Silenciosa!
(Silent Zone!)
Silent-Silent Fruit
Rank 1 (50 XPz)
Creates a translucent barrier of energy that spans outward upon Taylor snapping her fingers, covering a ten meter radius. Within the barrier, she can prevent sound from escaping or entering. As experience increases, so does the range of the technique: D - 25 m, C - 50 m, B - 100 m, A - 250 m, S - 500 m.
VI. ¡Silencio!
(Silence!)
Silent-Silent Fruit
Rank 1 (50 XPz)
The Shii Shii no Mi’s signature ability, capable of silencing the sounds created by Taylor herself, or anything she touches, by negating the vibrations that cause them! When using the ability, Chica must snap her fingers before touching who/what she wants to silence, making anything they do generate no sound at all! Whatever/whoever is silenced by this ability remains muted until deactivation.
Character Bio
~~~~~~~~~~
“Tick. Tock. Gun. Shyot. Bullet!”
Place of Birth
~~~~~
Ciudadela Queendom
South Blue
~~~~~~~~~~
“Tick. Tock. Gun. Shyot. Bullet!”
Place of Birth
~~~~~
Ciudadela Queendom
South Blue
{In the Beginning, There was Silence
~~~~~}
Taylor was born into one of the twelve noble families in the Ciudadela Queendom. The Queen L. family was well known for their successful farming and botany franchises. Mottie and Trinidad owned many slaves, which was the reason their businesses were doing so well. With so many hands tending to the large plot of land they owned, there was more than enough labor getting done to make them even more stinkin’ rich, and for no good reason in particular. All the Queen L. family did with their income was buy more slaves and expand their shops. When they had their first child, baby Taylor, they began doing things a little more differently than before.
Now with a baby girl to raise, one who was blind in one eye at that, the noble couple devoted most of their attention to the newborn. On the occasion they had matters to take care of concerning their businesses, they had one of the servants in the house watch over the little girl in their stead. Around the age of five, she was homeschooled, and wasn’t allowed to wander the estate unattended. Mottie and her husband did everything they could to prepare their daughter to take over their fortune and continue their legacy when they passed, however that was never of any concern to young Taylor. She didn’t care much about the wealth, owning slaves or businesses; none of that. When the young girl was asked what she would like to be when she grew up, she simply replied, ”Happy.” They immediately thought she wasn’t that bright, but would come to understand the world soon enough when she got older.
Since servants were mainly the ones attending her when she went on expeditions around the mansion, she often played games with them when she was bored. The older, more experienced slaves frequently told her tales of their pasts, and would answer various questions the curious girl had about the rest of the queendom and the world beyond. Because she was so young, they strayed away from telling her about any of the negative aspects of life in the world as they knew it. Taylor thought the world was amazing and was eager to travel all over and see it for herself one day.
The young noble was raised to be as “girly” as possible. Mottie felt if she were going to be the head of the Queen L. family one day, then she needed to have class and poise. On top of the personal tutor they had hired for her, the young girl was also scheduled to take botany lessons everyday. She enjoyed it, but she was fond of doing things that got her hands a lot dirtier above all, like exploring the tropical forest that was behind their estate. As she got older, she became quite the escape artist, and would ditch the servants so she could dress in more casual attire and run off to Atzintli – a lower-class city of Ciudadela. Taylor got along well with the other kids, but there was always that group of boys that would tease her to no end. They cracked jokes about her being a wannabe pirate because of the eye patch she wore over her blind eye, but she never told any of them the truth behind it. It’d always end up with her getting into a fight with them, which she came out victorious every single time.
No one in Atzintli knew she was a child of noble descent. Taylor was smart, erasing traces of her pampered lifestyle to mingle with the commoners and play with her new friends. Most of the children there were fascinated by pirates, and amongst the many games they played was “Pirates & Bounty Hunters.” Whereas many of the kids chose to be pirates, assuming the names of greats like Whitebeard and the Pirate King, Taylor always chose to be the bounty hunter. She was really good at it, too. She had a slingshot made from sticks and rubber bands, shooting pebbles at her targets with uncanny accuracy for a child her age. When she’d catch and subdue one of the pirates, they’d scream, “Ahhh! I been caught by White-Haired Taylor,” which she’d then proceed to whack them upside the head with her fist. She always thought they were mocking her, as they usually did, implying that she was a coward.
Many years had passed and Taylor’s parents still didn't know she was sneaking in and out of the house almost everyday. It had become routine for the prestigious teenager. First, she’d have a session with her tutor in the morning, then a class with her botany teacher around noon, and spend the rest of the day hanging out with the friends she made under Mottie and Trinidad’s noses. She had learned a lot about the queendom that no one was teaching her at home. She wished to help the citizens of Atzintli; some she later discovered to be former slaves, even from her household. It saddened her to be who she was and have so much when, right around the corner, everyone was struggling for survival. She didn’t know how much money her parents had exactly, but she knew they had enough to make a couple of the lower class families comfortable for at least a whole year. The Queen L. estate was certainly big enough to house them all, too.
One night, Taylor had arrived home later than she usually did, and her parents found out about her leaving the estate. They only banned the young girl to her room, which didn’t bother her much since she could easily sneak out again anyway. The only thing that concerned her was that the servant that had been watching over her wasn’t around anymore. Leaving her room in search for the woman, Taylor asked the other servants about where she was. They were hesitant in telling her at first, but then decided to come clean after it was apparent their young master had smelled something was wrong.
Tobago, the female servant that was to ensure Taylor stayed where she was supposed to, had been punished severely and locked away in the cellar. It was all because she didn’t confess to knowing where the young woman was when confronted by Mottie. The servants that told her looked at each other in uncertainty and fear. They knew Taylor from when she was just a baby, and knew she had a big heart, but they questioned whether they made the right decision in telling her the truth. They knew how outspoken she was, and they knew how scary their master, Mottie, could be. Things were sure to get a little heated if the mother and daughter clashed!
Taylor did what most people feared and stepped to her mother, who initially flipped the subject to the young teen’s whereabouts. She refused to tell her where she had went, raising her voice at the inhumane and snobbish woman, causing her to lose her patience and begin shouting back and forth with her daughter. The two of them argued for what seemed like hours before Taylor stormed off. Neither of the two were willing to give in to the other. Mottie was set in her ways, and Taylor was too fed up to just roll over for a person like her. The young girl was nothing like her father, who seemed to be quite comfortable letting Mottie take the lead in everything.
That night, Taylor had gathered a few of her belongings and was headed for the back door when she was stopped by her mother. When asked where she was going, the girl just said, “Home,” and walked out. Her parents knew she referred to the cabana her father had built for her in their private-owned tropical forest as her paradise getaway home, so when she said it, it didn’t bring much of a surprise to Mottie. Still upset, but concerned about her daughter, she gestured as if giving permission for the girl to do so, but Taylor was going to go whether she liked it or not!
The girl stayed in her cabana deep in the jungle for days. She’d only enter the house to bathe and eat dinner with the family; but even then, she did so silently. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and the girl was still living out of her cabana. It was basically a house in the middle of the jungle. Rambutan trees surrounded the one-person abode, which was the Queen L. farm’s source of rambutan fruits. Trinidad had the cabana built there for Taylor because of her fondness of them.
All the girl did was hone her precision and accuracy with her slingshot, chop a few things with her machete and eat rambutan all day. Living out of her cabana was almost better for her than living in the mansion itself. She didn’t have to take tutoring, didn’t need to attend any botany lessons, and got to go to Atzintli whenever she pleased without anyone checking up on her. That city was as much apart of her as her home in Cuauhmaitl was. She had grown attached to many people there, and the residents knew her as the local bounty hunter – although she had never actually fought any real pirates. The “pirates” she dealt with were only her friends when they’d play Pirates & Bounty Hunters.
One late afternoon, when Taylor was lounging in her cabana, she decided to go out and cut some ripe rambutan from one of the trees surrounding her small house. Upon picking up a cluster she chopped from the branch with her machete, a peculiar rambutan dropped from the middle of the bunch. It was drastically different from the other fruits in the group. While the others were orange with red spines, this one was purple all over, with matching spines that were aqua at the tip. Not only was it a different color, but it was larger too, and had an enticing swirl pattern - all of which attracted young Taylor to the exotic fruit. She had never seen a rambutan like it in her life.
The white-haired girl tugged at one of the hairs on the fruit to peel it open, but the skin didn’t budge. After a few more tries, pulling harder each time, she finally knocked on the hull of the fruit to find that it was very dense and as hard as a coconut. Taylor never really put much thought into its abnormalities since there were many weird varieties of fruit in the Ciudadela Queendom. There were strawberries as big as apples, oranges that can be eaten like bananas, and now rambutan-coconut hybrids! Little did she know the fruit that she came across wasn’t a simple, exclusive rambutan at all. It was one of the infamous Devil Fruits of legend!
Her excitement caused her to forget her differences with her parents, and that night she took the Fruit to dinner to show them what she had found. She didn’t expect Mottie to care much, but Trinidad, who dealt with the farming side of their agriculture business, was astonished. In all his years as a farmer, he had never come across such a phenomena with the rambutans he grew. However, there were a few guests staying at the Queen L. estate that Taylor didn’t know about; a pirate named Magen Herbie, Captain of the Herbie Pirates, and his crew of four men. It was common for the wealthy families living on the outskirts of Cuauhmaitl to allow visitors of the queendom to stay in their homes free of charge. When the girl presented the Fruit to everyone at the table, the pirates immediately recognized the rambutan for what it truly was. Herbie informed the family of what Taylor had really stumbled upon, and told one of his men to fetch his Devil Fruit book so they could look up which one it was.
The man flipped through the pages, looking for a matching picture of the mystical Fruit. They found that it was the Shii Shii no Mi, which turned out to be the fruit Herbie had been searching for. Taylor glared at the pirate captain, promptly telling him that he couldn’t have it. He assured her that he wouldn’t ask for it, and that since she found it first, it was rightfully hers. The girl could sense he was only playing the “nice guy” role, though. Despite his words, he still wanted the Silent-Silent Fruit. He knew the girl’s family was so rich that offering any amount of beri or treasure for the Akuma no Mi would do no good. He had to steal it and ditch the queendom before Taylor or her parents found out it was missing.
That night, Taylor took the Shii Shii no Mi back to the cabana with her and put it on display in the front room. She didn’t care that it was a Devil Fruit; said to give its consumer strange powers. It looked like a rambutan – her favorite fruit in the world – and one that she may never see the likes of again, so she was going to keep it. Nevertheless, her plans to preserve it would soon be foiled. Herbie had stalked the girl back to the cabana, and now knew where she had stowed the fruit he wanted ever so badly. The only thing that kept him from stealing it that night was the fact that it was late and his crew was tired and sluggish after their meal.
The following day, Taylor didn’t go to Atzintli, staying home with her precious new Fruit. The things Herbie said about it played over and over again in her mind. For some odd reason, she just couldn’t believe the man when he said he didn’t want it anymore. If she were searching for something for a long time, she knew damn well she wouldn’t give up on it that easily. The Shii Shii no Mi was glued to her side up until she heard something moving through the brush outside her cabana. When she went to check it out, a look of shock took over her face when the being who emerged from the shadow of a rambutan tree wasn’t an animal, her father or any of the servants, but the suspicious pirate captain himself!
His presence spelled trouble. Only a handful of individuals knew of the cabana’s whereabouts; Mottie, Trinidad and a few of the Queen L’s slaves; and neither of them disclosed its location – let alone existence – to guests, especially pirates. “Surprised to see me?” He asked with a toothy grin. The one-eyed girl only grabbed her machete and hugged the Devil Fruit tighter, ready to do whatever she had to in order to protect herself and her Akuma no Mi. “You still think I want that Devil Fruit, little girl,” the man laughed. “Well, you’re right! I'll tell you why... You see - Hey!”
Taylor took off running into the jungle in the middle of Herbie’s speech and he chased after her. She skillfully weaved in and out of trees and rolled down hills before shooting into different directions, while Magen stumbled and tripped over himself trying to keep up. No one knew the Queen L’s jungle as well as Taylor, but what the captain lacked in knowledge of the land he made up for in stamina. The white-haired girl was able to buy herself some time to rest by hiding, but as soon as she began moving again, the pirate would hear her movements and be on her trail again.
“Gahahahahaha! You’re really making this interesting, girl!” He barked in no particular direction of the jungle as he crept along slowly to where he supposed Taylor was hiding. “As I was saying before,” Magen continued, “-the reason why I want the Silent-Silent Fruit so bad is because it gives its user the ability to silence all sounds. With that power, I can become the greatest thief! Breaking and entering would be a cinch because no one would ever hear me smash a window or bust open a lock! You should just come out, girl! I won’t hurt you! Just hand over the Fruit and I’ll be on my way!”
Taylor never bought a word he said, save his reason for wanting her Devil Fruit. She was at the end of her rope. Running away with the Fruit was no longer an option. There was no doubt that she’d be caught the next time he started chasing after her, so she figured if she couldn’t keep the Fruit as it was like she wanted, then she wouldn’t let him have his way and eat it either! Herbie began to become agitated when he finally heard a thump in the bush. The sound was of Taylor’s machete chopping open the extravagant Fruit and hitting the ground. Before the man could reach where she was, she darted out of the bush and in the direction of her house at the fastest speed she could, but to no avail.
“Got you!” Captain Magen shouted as he closed the distance between himself and the ebony girl. Taylor attempted to swing her machete at the man, but tripped as she turned, losing her grip on the handle of the blade as she fell to the ground. The Shii Shii no Mi was tucked under her opposite arm in a way that made it appear to be in tact, but when she collapsed, both halves also fell out of her grasp. Unaware of the fact that Taylor had already sliced the Fruit in half, Herbie assumed it was the impact of her fall that split it. Ignoring the girl and reaching for one of the halves – which happened to be the one Taylor hadn’t taken a bite of – the man bit into the flesh of the sweet-looking, but bitter-tasting, Fruit and began to laugh in triumph.
“Akuma no Mi sure are disgusting, but I can feel the power coursing through me already!”
The white-haired girl began to creep away from the pirate blinded by his own bliss. She began to crawl away slowly, unconsciously activating the Fruit's ability to silence the sounds that would usually be caused by grass and leaves being rustled around. Herbie only noticed when he saw the girl moving in the corner of his eye, and his laughter gradually stopped. He picked up the other half of the fruit and, low and behold, it had indeed been bitten into. Gritting his teeth in anger, he lunged after Taylor and grabbed her by the throat, withdrawing his pistol from its holster. “You little b*tch! I’ll make you pay for eating my Fruit!” He shouted as he cocked his flintlock and aimed it directly at the center of the girl's face.
BOW!
A shot fired, but Taylor felt nothing. She was alive and well, still staring down the barrel of the pirate’s gun, which started to lower little by little. It was not she who had been shot, but the pirate captain himself, and the perpetrator was none other than her father. “Step away from my daughter, you scoundrel,” he scowled in an ominous tone – rather uncharacteristic of the passive-natured man. Even Taylor was shocked to see him acting so grave. The way he let Mottie control everything, you’d never think he would have the backbone to stand up for himself – sad as it was to say about her own father – let alone shoot someone. Blood dripped from the pirate’s mouth as he looked down at the hole in his rib cage. The bullet had pierced his right lung, and he was only able to manage a few steps backward prior to dropping to the ground. The young teen was speechless, yet surprisingly calm.
“Are you okay?” Trinidad asked, lowering his rifle. The girl only nodded before posing a question of her own. She knew her father had a gun collection and liked to hunt, but the chances of him showing up then and there with a gun was pushing a miracle.
“How did you know?”
“I overheard Captain Magen’s crew talking about his plan to steal your Fruit, and how the ‘Queen L. girl’ would get it if she stood against him... Such a noisy, uncouth bunch they are. I’ve contacted the guards and they’re in custody already.”
It was a good thing that the Herbie Pirates were such morons. If it weren’t for them, and evidently her father’s good ear, Taylor would have most likely ate a bullet! The Herbie Pirates were handed over to the authorities after the incident, and Herbie himself was hospitalized before being convicted. Despite the fact that he tried to kill their daughter, Trinidad wasn’t going to let the man just lie there and die. Conversely, Mottie expressed how she wished he had done differently.
After the matter, Taylor took the pistol Herbie had dropped and used it in secret with her new ability, firing off silent shots that’d normally alert someone in the estate. The game, trees and whatever she could use as a target in the jungle is what she used for target practice. The girl was a natural with the weapon. It only took her a few shots to get warmed up to the kick it had, and when she did, she would hit her mark nine times out of ten. Within a short period of time, she fell in love with the gun. Unlike what she did with everything else she loved, she didn’t show it off to anyone. It was for her own personal safety at home. No one she knew would approve of her having it in the first place; not her parents, not her family’s servants, and certainly no one in Atzintli. The boys might’ve thought it was cool, but she knew they weren’t mature enough to handle a gun. They’d mess around and shoot one another on accident for all she knew.
The next time Taylor returned to Atzintli, she witnessed something that spurred a fatal twist in her comfortable tropical life. The meager little city’s only inn, which was a common spot for Taylor and the gang to hangout, was getting closed down. The owner was unable to keep up with the government’s increasing tax rate on the town, and was evicted from the property on the spot.
“I swear,” the innkeeper cried, “It’s like every year, the damn rich get greedier and greedier! Sooner or later, they’ll just abandon this city and everyone in it!”
Tears of her own were fought back through clenched fists and gritted teeth. Watching the man’s pain weighed significantly on the white-haired girl’s heart. She felt guilty for what everyone in Atzintli was going through. She deceived them all by hiding her noble background just to have fun in an environment that they struggled to live in. At the end of each day, the thought of losing her home – or anything important to her for that matter – never once crossed her mind. It was never any of her concern. It was always there, and for all she knew, would always remain. That’s what reality was to her before that moment. Little did she know, the dilemma before her extended well beyond the sovereignty of the queendom.
“I’mma become a real bounty hunter…” The fiery teenager paused, drawing a deep breath. Everything suddenly went quiet in the immediate area. No one in the group even noticed the lack of sound coming from their surroundings, or the old man weeping, until Taylor let out an exasperated shout.
“N’ CAPTURE E’RY PIRATE ON ‘DA SEA!! AND USE ALLA ‘DEY BOUNTY TO HELP E'RYONE IN ‘DIS CITY!!”
The innkeeper’s lament came to an abrupt stop, his mouth left ajar in shock of the young woman’s loud outburst. Everyone’s attention was diverted to the Queen L. child with widened eyes. The subconsciously activated ability of her Devil Fruit wore off, but the silence still lingered for a few moments before it was broken by the laughter of her friends. They all thought it was a big joke, but the innkeeper was still frozen in astonishment. For some odd reason, her exclamation sounded extremely authentic. Nothing about it seemed like a “child’s little dream” to him. It was a sincere declaration, one he felt the true Queen of Ciudadela would have made.
Later that night, Taylor gathered a bunch of things back at her cabana, deciding she was going to set out on her journey right then and there. All was well until she realized something amiss. She needed a bigger gun than the pistol she took from Herbie if she wanted to challenge every pirate in the world. She knew exactly where to get her hands on some nice weapons, she just never had the urge to “borrow” them before. Trinidad loved to hunt, and collected various weapons; from spears and bows to semi-automatic rifles. Taylor knew where they all were, and for the first time, would use her Devil Fruit powers to sneak into the castle and her father’s armory.
Although she was a “Nullification Woman,” getting there wasn’t any easier than it would have been without her power. It wasn’t like she could turn invisible either, so she still had to stay hidden. Upon reaching the armory, she silenced the door and left it open to make use of the light from the halls of the estate. She didn’t plan on staying too long. She was only going to grab the rifle her father used against Captain Herbie and roll out, but when she took a good look around the room, she found it hard to leave.
The lighting wasn’t that great, but the white-haired girl could make out the shapes and sizes of the guns well. Taylor didn’t hold a lot of knowledge about guns at the time, so she left the decision up to her instincts; and it told her that the bigger the gun, the better it was. It became even more difficult for the girl to choose because she wanted every big gun that her father had displayed on the wall. Creeping around the armory, she stumbled upon a large, black box with a gold plaque on the front of it that read “Lælia.” What was inside almost made the teenaged girl squeal.
Lælia was a sniper rifle over six feet in length, and was hands down the biggest gun Taylor had ever seen up close. Her search had ended right there. She was satisfied with the rifle she had found, and would grab the gun and a few clips of rubber bullets before hauling ass out of the armory and back to her cabana. Being sneaky wasn’t on her agenda anymore. She wanted to test out her new toy as soon as possible, and if anyone tried to stop her, they’d involuntarily be making themselves target practice!
With the last of her armament put together, the girl was finally ready to embark on her journey, but not without testing the new piece she had acquired. Firing Lælia for the first time nearly sent Taylor hurdling backwards. She had never used a sniper rifle before, but after experiencing its kick and witnessing its power, they were now at the top of her list of favorite guns – which was every gun in existence, but Lælia was now the queen of them all! It was then decided that she’d practice with the rifle until she was completely comfortable with it, whether it took days, weeks or months; And exactly in a month, two weeks and a day, the young woman was what she would consider capable of taking down the pirates she was destined to cross!
~~~~~}
Taylor was born into one of the twelve noble families in the Ciudadela Queendom. The Queen L. family was well known for their successful farming and botany franchises. Mottie and Trinidad owned many slaves, which was the reason their businesses were doing so well. With so many hands tending to the large plot of land they owned, there was more than enough labor getting done to make them even more stinkin’ rich, and for no good reason in particular. All the Queen L. family did with their income was buy more slaves and expand their shops. When they had their first child, baby Taylor, they began doing things a little more differently than before.
Now with a baby girl to raise, one who was blind in one eye at that, the noble couple devoted most of their attention to the newborn. On the occasion they had matters to take care of concerning their businesses, they had one of the servants in the house watch over the little girl in their stead. Around the age of five, she was homeschooled, and wasn’t allowed to wander the estate unattended. Mottie and her husband did everything they could to prepare their daughter to take over their fortune and continue their legacy when they passed, however that was never of any concern to young Taylor. She didn’t care much about the wealth, owning slaves or businesses; none of that. When the young girl was asked what she would like to be when she grew up, she simply replied, ”Happy.” They immediately thought she wasn’t that bright, but would come to understand the world soon enough when she got older.
Since servants were mainly the ones attending her when she went on expeditions around the mansion, she often played games with them when she was bored. The older, more experienced slaves frequently told her tales of their pasts, and would answer various questions the curious girl had about the rest of the queendom and the world beyond. Because she was so young, they strayed away from telling her about any of the negative aspects of life in the world as they knew it. Taylor thought the world was amazing and was eager to travel all over and see it for herself one day.
The young noble was raised to be as “girly” as possible. Mottie felt if she were going to be the head of the Queen L. family one day, then she needed to have class and poise. On top of the personal tutor they had hired for her, the young girl was also scheduled to take botany lessons everyday. She enjoyed it, but she was fond of doing things that got her hands a lot dirtier above all, like exploring the tropical forest that was behind their estate. As she got older, she became quite the escape artist, and would ditch the servants so she could dress in more casual attire and run off to Atzintli – a lower-class city of Ciudadela. Taylor got along well with the other kids, but there was always that group of boys that would tease her to no end. They cracked jokes about her being a wannabe pirate because of the eye patch she wore over her blind eye, but she never told any of them the truth behind it. It’d always end up with her getting into a fight with them, which she came out victorious every single time.
No one in Atzintli knew she was a child of noble descent. Taylor was smart, erasing traces of her pampered lifestyle to mingle with the commoners and play with her new friends. Most of the children there were fascinated by pirates, and amongst the many games they played was “Pirates & Bounty Hunters.” Whereas many of the kids chose to be pirates, assuming the names of greats like Whitebeard and the Pirate King, Taylor always chose to be the bounty hunter. She was really good at it, too. She had a slingshot made from sticks and rubber bands, shooting pebbles at her targets with uncanny accuracy for a child her age. When she’d catch and subdue one of the pirates, they’d scream, “Ahhh! I been caught by White-Haired Taylor,” which she’d then proceed to whack them upside the head with her fist. She always thought they were mocking her, as they usually did, implying that she was a coward.
Many years had passed and Taylor’s parents still didn't know she was sneaking in and out of the house almost everyday. It had become routine for the prestigious teenager. First, she’d have a session with her tutor in the morning, then a class with her botany teacher around noon, and spend the rest of the day hanging out with the friends she made under Mottie and Trinidad’s noses. She had learned a lot about the queendom that no one was teaching her at home. She wished to help the citizens of Atzintli; some she later discovered to be former slaves, even from her household. It saddened her to be who she was and have so much when, right around the corner, everyone was struggling for survival. She didn’t know how much money her parents had exactly, but she knew they had enough to make a couple of the lower class families comfortable for at least a whole year. The Queen L. estate was certainly big enough to house them all, too.
One night, Taylor had arrived home later than she usually did, and her parents found out about her leaving the estate. They only banned the young girl to her room, which didn’t bother her much since she could easily sneak out again anyway. The only thing that concerned her was that the servant that had been watching over her wasn’t around anymore. Leaving her room in search for the woman, Taylor asked the other servants about where she was. They were hesitant in telling her at first, but then decided to come clean after it was apparent their young master had smelled something was wrong.
Tobago, the female servant that was to ensure Taylor stayed where she was supposed to, had been punished severely and locked away in the cellar. It was all because she didn’t confess to knowing where the young woman was when confronted by Mottie. The servants that told her looked at each other in uncertainty and fear. They knew Taylor from when she was just a baby, and knew she had a big heart, but they questioned whether they made the right decision in telling her the truth. They knew how outspoken she was, and they knew how scary their master, Mottie, could be. Things were sure to get a little heated if the mother and daughter clashed!
Taylor did what most people feared and stepped to her mother, who initially flipped the subject to the young teen’s whereabouts. She refused to tell her where she had went, raising her voice at the inhumane and snobbish woman, causing her to lose her patience and begin shouting back and forth with her daughter. The two of them argued for what seemed like hours before Taylor stormed off. Neither of the two were willing to give in to the other. Mottie was set in her ways, and Taylor was too fed up to just roll over for a person like her. The young girl was nothing like her father, who seemed to be quite comfortable letting Mottie take the lead in everything.
That night, Taylor had gathered a few of her belongings and was headed for the back door when she was stopped by her mother. When asked where she was going, the girl just said, “Home,” and walked out. Her parents knew she referred to the cabana her father had built for her in their private-owned tropical forest as her paradise getaway home, so when she said it, it didn’t bring much of a surprise to Mottie. Still upset, but concerned about her daughter, she gestured as if giving permission for the girl to do so, but Taylor was going to go whether she liked it or not!
The girl stayed in her cabana deep in the jungle for days. She’d only enter the house to bathe and eat dinner with the family; but even then, she did so silently. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and the girl was still living out of her cabana. It was basically a house in the middle of the jungle. Rambutan trees surrounded the one-person abode, which was the Queen L. farm’s source of rambutan fruits. Trinidad had the cabana built there for Taylor because of her fondness of them.
All the girl did was hone her precision and accuracy with her slingshot, chop a few things with her machete and eat rambutan all day. Living out of her cabana was almost better for her than living in the mansion itself. She didn’t have to take tutoring, didn’t need to attend any botany lessons, and got to go to Atzintli whenever she pleased without anyone checking up on her. That city was as much apart of her as her home in Cuauhmaitl was. She had grown attached to many people there, and the residents knew her as the local bounty hunter – although she had never actually fought any real pirates. The “pirates” she dealt with were only her friends when they’d play Pirates & Bounty Hunters.
One late afternoon, when Taylor was lounging in her cabana, she decided to go out and cut some ripe rambutan from one of the trees surrounding her small house. Upon picking up a cluster she chopped from the branch with her machete, a peculiar rambutan dropped from the middle of the bunch. It was drastically different from the other fruits in the group. While the others were orange with red spines, this one was purple all over, with matching spines that were aqua at the tip. Not only was it a different color, but it was larger too, and had an enticing swirl pattern - all of which attracted young Taylor to the exotic fruit. She had never seen a rambutan like it in her life.
The white-haired girl tugged at one of the hairs on the fruit to peel it open, but the skin didn’t budge. After a few more tries, pulling harder each time, she finally knocked on the hull of the fruit to find that it was very dense and as hard as a coconut. Taylor never really put much thought into its abnormalities since there were many weird varieties of fruit in the Ciudadela Queendom. There were strawberries as big as apples, oranges that can be eaten like bananas, and now rambutan-coconut hybrids! Little did she know the fruit that she came across wasn’t a simple, exclusive rambutan at all. It was one of the infamous Devil Fruits of legend!
Her excitement caused her to forget her differences with her parents, and that night she took the Fruit to dinner to show them what she had found. She didn’t expect Mottie to care much, but Trinidad, who dealt with the farming side of their agriculture business, was astonished. In all his years as a farmer, he had never come across such a phenomena with the rambutans he grew. However, there were a few guests staying at the Queen L. estate that Taylor didn’t know about; a pirate named Magen Herbie, Captain of the Herbie Pirates, and his crew of four men. It was common for the wealthy families living on the outskirts of Cuauhmaitl to allow visitors of the queendom to stay in their homes free of charge. When the girl presented the Fruit to everyone at the table, the pirates immediately recognized the rambutan for what it truly was. Herbie informed the family of what Taylor had really stumbled upon, and told one of his men to fetch his Devil Fruit book so they could look up which one it was.
The man flipped through the pages, looking for a matching picture of the mystical Fruit. They found that it was the Shii Shii no Mi, which turned out to be the fruit Herbie had been searching for. Taylor glared at the pirate captain, promptly telling him that he couldn’t have it. He assured her that he wouldn’t ask for it, and that since she found it first, it was rightfully hers. The girl could sense he was only playing the “nice guy” role, though. Despite his words, he still wanted the Silent-Silent Fruit. He knew the girl’s family was so rich that offering any amount of beri or treasure for the Akuma no Mi would do no good. He had to steal it and ditch the queendom before Taylor or her parents found out it was missing.
That night, Taylor took the Shii Shii no Mi back to the cabana with her and put it on display in the front room. She didn’t care that it was a Devil Fruit; said to give its consumer strange powers. It looked like a rambutan – her favorite fruit in the world – and one that she may never see the likes of again, so she was going to keep it. Nevertheless, her plans to preserve it would soon be foiled. Herbie had stalked the girl back to the cabana, and now knew where she had stowed the fruit he wanted ever so badly. The only thing that kept him from stealing it that night was the fact that it was late and his crew was tired and sluggish after their meal.
The following day, Taylor didn’t go to Atzintli, staying home with her precious new Fruit. The things Herbie said about it played over and over again in her mind. For some odd reason, she just couldn’t believe the man when he said he didn’t want it anymore. If she were searching for something for a long time, she knew damn well she wouldn’t give up on it that easily. The Shii Shii no Mi was glued to her side up until she heard something moving through the brush outside her cabana. When she went to check it out, a look of shock took over her face when the being who emerged from the shadow of a rambutan tree wasn’t an animal, her father or any of the servants, but the suspicious pirate captain himself!
His presence spelled trouble. Only a handful of individuals knew of the cabana’s whereabouts; Mottie, Trinidad and a few of the Queen L’s slaves; and neither of them disclosed its location – let alone existence – to guests, especially pirates. “Surprised to see me?” He asked with a toothy grin. The one-eyed girl only grabbed her machete and hugged the Devil Fruit tighter, ready to do whatever she had to in order to protect herself and her Akuma no Mi. “You still think I want that Devil Fruit, little girl,” the man laughed. “Well, you’re right! I'll tell you why... You see - Hey!”
Taylor took off running into the jungle in the middle of Herbie’s speech and he chased after her. She skillfully weaved in and out of trees and rolled down hills before shooting into different directions, while Magen stumbled and tripped over himself trying to keep up. No one knew the Queen L’s jungle as well as Taylor, but what the captain lacked in knowledge of the land he made up for in stamina. The white-haired girl was able to buy herself some time to rest by hiding, but as soon as she began moving again, the pirate would hear her movements and be on her trail again.
“Gahahahahaha! You’re really making this interesting, girl!” He barked in no particular direction of the jungle as he crept along slowly to where he supposed Taylor was hiding. “As I was saying before,” Magen continued, “-the reason why I want the Silent-Silent Fruit so bad is because it gives its user the ability to silence all sounds. With that power, I can become the greatest thief! Breaking and entering would be a cinch because no one would ever hear me smash a window or bust open a lock! You should just come out, girl! I won’t hurt you! Just hand over the Fruit and I’ll be on my way!”
Taylor never bought a word he said, save his reason for wanting her Devil Fruit. She was at the end of her rope. Running away with the Fruit was no longer an option. There was no doubt that she’d be caught the next time he started chasing after her, so she figured if she couldn’t keep the Fruit as it was like she wanted, then she wouldn’t let him have his way and eat it either! Herbie began to become agitated when he finally heard a thump in the bush. The sound was of Taylor’s machete chopping open the extravagant Fruit and hitting the ground. Before the man could reach where she was, she darted out of the bush and in the direction of her house at the fastest speed she could, but to no avail.
“Got you!” Captain Magen shouted as he closed the distance between himself and the ebony girl. Taylor attempted to swing her machete at the man, but tripped as she turned, losing her grip on the handle of the blade as she fell to the ground. The Shii Shii no Mi was tucked under her opposite arm in a way that made it appear to be in tact, but when she collapsed, both halves also fell out of her grasp. Unaware of the fact that Taylor had already sliced the Fruit in half, Herbie assumed it was the impact of her fall that split it. Ignoring the girl and reaching for one of the halves – which happened to be the one Taylor hadn’t taken a bite of – the man bit into the flesh of the sweet-looking, but bitter-tasting, Fruit and began to laugh in triumph.
“Akuma no Mi sure are disgusting, but I can feel the power coursing through me already!”
The white-haired girl began to creep away from the pirate blinded by his own bliss. She began to crawl away slowly, unconsciously activating the Fruit's ability to silence the sounds that would usually be caused by grass and leaves being rustled around. Herbie only noticed when he saw the girl moving in the corner of his eye, and his laughter gradually stopped. He picked up the other half of the fruit and, low and behold, it had indeed been bitten into. Gritting his teeth in anger, he lunged after Taylor and grabbed her by the throat, withdrawing his pistol from its holster. “You little b*tch! I’ll make you pay for eating my Fruit!” He shouted as he cocked his flintlock and aimed it directly at the center of the girl's face.
BOW!
A shot fired, but Taylor felt nothing. She was alive and well, still staring down the barrel of the pirate’s gun, which started to lower little by little. It was not she who had been shot, but the pirate captain himself, and the perpetrator was none other than her father. “Step away from my daughter, you scoundrel,” he scowled in an ominous tone – rather uncharacteristic of the passive-natured man. Even Taylor was shocked to see him acting so grave. The way he let Mottie control everything, you’d never think he would have the backbone to stand up for himself – sad as it was to say about her own father – let alone shoot someone. Blood dripped from the pirate’s mouth as he looked down at the hole in his rib cage. The bullet had pierced his right lung, and he was only able to manage a few steps backward prior to dropping to the ground. The young teen was speechless, yet surprisingly calm.
“Are you okay?” Trinidad asked, lowering his rifle. The girl only nodded before posing a question of her own. She knew her father had a gun collection and liked to hunt, but the chances of him showing up then and there with a gun was pushing a miracle.
“How did you know?”
“I overheard Captain Magen’s crew talking about his plan to steal your Fruit, and how the ‘Queen L. girl’ would get it if she stood against him... Such a noisy, uncouth bunch they are. I’ve contacted the guards and they’re in custody already.”
It was a good thing that the Herbie Pirates were such morons. If it weren’t for them, and evidently her father’s good ear, Taylor would have most likely ate a bullet! The Herbie Pirates were handed over to the authorities after the incident, and Herbie himself was hospitalized before being convicted. Despite the fact that he tried to kill their daughter, Trinidad wasn’t going to let the man just lie there and die. Conversely, Mottie expressed how she wished he had done differently.
After the matter, Taylor took the pistol Herbie had dropped and used it in secret with her new ability, firing off silent shots that’d normally alert someone in the estate. The game, trees and whatever she could use as a target in the jungle is what she used for target practice. The girl was a natural with the weapon. It only took her a few shots to get warmed up to the kick it had, and when she did, she would hit her mark nine times out of ten. Within a short period of time, she fell in love with the gun. Unlike what she did with everything else she loved, she didn’t show it off to anyone. It was for her own personal safety at home. No one she knew would approve of her having it in the first place; not her parents, not her family’s servants, and certainly no one in Atzintli. The boys might’ve thought it was cool, but she knew they weren’t mature enough to handle a gun. They’d mess around and shoot one another on accident for all she knew.
The next time Taylor returned to Atzintli, she witnessed something that spurred a fatal twist in her comfortable tropical life. The meager little city’s only inn, which was a common spot for Taylor and the gang to hangout, was getting closed down. The owner was unable to keep up with the government’s increasing tax rate on the town, and was evicted from the property on the spot.
“I swear,” the innkeeper cried, “It’s like every year, the damn rich get greedier and greedier! Sooner or later, they’ll just abandon this city and everyone in it!”
Tears of her own were fought back through clenched fists and gritted teeth. Watching the man’s pain weighed significantly on the white-haired girl’s heart. She felt guilty for what everyone in Atzintli was going through. She deceived them all by hiding her noble background just to have fun in an environment that they struggled to live in. At the end of each day, the thought of losing her home – or anything important to her for that matter – never once crossed her mind. It was never any of her concern. It was always there, and for all she knew, would always remain. That’s what reality was to her before that moment. Little did she know, the dilemma before her extended well beyond the sovereignty of the queendom.
“I’mma become a real bounty hunter…” The fiery teenager paused, drawing a deep breath. Everything suddenly went quiet in the immediate area. No one in the group even noticed the lack of sound coming from their surroundings, or the old man weeping, until Taylor let out an exasperated shout.
“N’ CAPTURE E’RY PIRATE ON ‘DA SEA!! AND USE ALLA ‘DEY BOUNTY TO HELP E'RYONE IN ‘DIS CITY!!”
The innkeeper’s lament came to an abrupt stop, his mouth left ajar in shock of the young woman’s loud outburst. Everyone’s attention was diverted to the Queen L. child with widened eyes. The subconsciously activated ability of her Devil Fruit wore off, but the silence still lingered for a few moments before it was broken by the laughter of her friends. They all thought it was a big joke, but the innkeeper was still frozen in astonishment. For some odd reason, her exclamation sounded extremely authentic. Nothing about it seemed like a “child’s little dream” to him. It was a sincere declaration, one he felt the true Queen of Ciudadela would have made.
Later that night, Taylor gathered a bunch of things back at her cabana, deciding she was going to set out on her journey right then and there. All was well until she realized something amiss. She needed a bigger gun than the pistol she took from Herbie if she wanted to challenge every pirate in the world. She knew exactly where to get her hands on some nice weapons, she just never had the urge to “borrow” them before. Trinidad loved to hunt, and collected various weapons; from spears and bows to semi-automatic rifles. Taylor knew where they all were, and for the first time, would use her Devil Fruit powers to sneak into the castle and her father’s armory.
Although she was a “Nullification Woman,” getting there wasn’t any easier than it would have been without her power. It wasn’t like she could turn invisible either, so she still had to stay hidden. Upon reaching the armory, she silenced the door and left it open to make use of the light from the halls of the estate. She didn’t plan on staying too long. She was only going to grab the rifle her father used against Captain Herbie and roll out, but when she took a good look around the room, she found it hard to leave.
The lighting wasn’t that great, but the white-haired girl could make out the shapes and sizes of the guns well. Taylor didn’t hold a lot of knowledge about guns at the time, so she left the decision up to her instincts; and it told her that the bigger the gun, the better it was. It became even more difficult for the girl to choose because she wanted every big gun that her father had displayed on the wall. Creeping around the armory, she stumbled upon a large, black box with a gold plaque on the front of it that read “Lælia.” What was inside almost made the teenaged girl squeal.
Lælia was a sniper rifle over six feet in length, and was hands down the biggest gun Taylor had ever seen up close. Her search had ended right there. She was satisfied with the rifle she had found, and would grab the gun and a few clips of rubber bullets before hauling ass out of the armory and back to her cabana. Being sneaky wasn’t on her agenda anymore. She wanted to test out her new toy as soon as possible, and if anyone tried to stop her, they’d involuntarily be making themselves target practice!
With the last of her armament put together, the girl was finally ready to embark on her journey, but not without testing the new piece she had acquired. Firing Lælia for the first time nearly sent Taylor hurdling backwards. She had never used a sniper rifle before, but after experiencing its kick and witnessing its power, they were now at the top of her list of favorite guns – which was every gun in existence, but Lælia was now the queen of them all! It was then decided that she’d practice with the rifle until she was completely comfortable with it, whether it took days, weeks or months; And exactly in a month, two weeks and a day, the young woman was what she would consider capable of taking down the pirates she was destined to cross!
