Loguetown the town of beginnings, or perhaps in this case new beginnings. Eden's ship was slowly approaching the iconic island city,and having put a full days effort into disguising it a merchant's ship he was finally ready to head into the docks. He took one last glance at the flag hanging in his cabin, a memorial of what almost was,then grabbed his cloak and exited to the deck ready for the day ahead of him. The deck was pretty bare, there were a few crates here and there to help add to the illusion, what the boat truly hid was a bit more rebellious that crates of fruit, and hidden was the way he planned to keep it, for now anyways. He pulled the boat to stop along the harbor and tied it off, there wasn't much time to waste.

The first thing Eden did, being very true to how he is, went to the marine building in town. He did this purely to mock the marines, a way to say he was still better than them. It had been a while since his last run in with the marines and as pleasant as it was, he really missed the excitement of being hunted down. After spending what he deemed long enough mocking them, he set through the streets at the market to see if anything caught his eye. He passed each shop not seeing much of anything special, just passing the time at this point. There wasn't even much of a purpose to him roaming the streets, he already had all the provisions and equipment he needed, and so he decided to head back to the ship and wait for the recruits to show up. He had made sure to include everyone got the message to meet at dock 13, and it was just about midday so they would be arriving anytime now.

A 12 foot tall red head girl, With a large horned helm, a sword nearly as long as she was tall slung over one shoulder, a shield of matching size over the other, wearing what amounted to an armored bikini top and something that could be described as an armored skirt, was the first to arrive at dock 13. An unlucky number, but she made it a point to ignore superstitions for various reasons. Now you'd think a 12-foot tall, oddly dressed, weapon caring woman would be something to draw attention, but this port had seen weirder, and those who knew her by appearance would find it quite natural. Where else would a mercenary go if not to a merchant ship. Strong blades were always needed in these treacherous waters. And while this particular sell-sword had done her fair share of aiding pirates, she was really more known for refusing to accept marine coin, though she would never tell her fellow mercenaries why. So a blade for hire going to a merchant ship, nothing more nature...on the surface at least

She was brought here today the same why she was often brought to a ship. There was a job offer that interested her. But this one was different, this was not a typical job offer. This was, if she found the captain and his goals worthy enough, her first true step to her final goal. Her goal of taking up the path of piracy and attaining glory. She lifted an eyebrow at the ship she had been told to come to as she approached and sighed "Oh my, what a WEE vessel. Ah Hertha you've spent too much time on large merchant boats. You'll need to get used to duck'n your head through doors again." she taped a knuckle against her helm and smiled "Well, least I got 'es...God kno' 'ow many headaches this 'ing 'as saved me." She walked up to the vessel and pounded her fist against the side, making a nice racket when she did.

"YOHO!" she called, knocking again on the hull "ANY ONE ABORD? OR 'AV I COME TO SOON?"

"Hey, did you hear? Red Lightning's in town."

Near the docks, the seedy bar full of scum, scoundrel and miscreants went unusually silent for a few moments, the utter silence kept at bay by the seemingly clueless musician playing his accordion in a corner of the pub. The low muttering resumed as pirates, rebels, and bandits picked back up their conversations of unsavory business deals, murders, thefts and other acts of crime and random violence.

"Wonder what he's after?"
"Probably something big."
"Any big bounties come in to the island recently?"

The musician played a sour note and was subsequently booed off stage. He paid the barkeep for his room as well as the bar's share of his earnings.
"I'm leaving today, my ship's come in. It's been a pleasure doing business with you," the musician said expressionlessly.
The barkeep grunted, "You were a lousy performer anyways."
The musician smiled, that was the best compliment he's had all day. The musician went to his room and began packing his stuff, filling one massive wheeled trunk that was mostly taken up by his equipment and musical instruments. Another case stood by the side, a bass case. "Well, Handel," the musician said to himself, "it seems they've caught up to you." He took one long look at his marine commander's jacket before putting it away and, binding the bass case to the trunk, he dragged the setup out of the bar while a disgruntled pirate threw some food at him for his previous shoddy performance.

Handel thought that Marine HQ must have a sense of irony, sending a previous subordinate to capture him. Handel had known Captain John Ricden, as Lt. Commander Ricden, before he got the moniker of Red Lightning. Handel had been Commander then, but that was all in the past when he still believed in Absolute Justice. He made his way to the docks. He had to find a ship that would take him away inconspicuously and avoid marines. Maybe a harmless merchant's vessel.

In the Loguetown marine dock No1 John Ricden sat in-front of a Den Den Mushi holding its receiver listening to the marine on the other end. "Are you sure that it was Eden?" the marine captain asked into the transmitter "it was him no doubt about it what would your order be?" John thought over it for a minute "have all marines in Loguetown on high alert keep them on the lookout for any associates of his and sent some extra men to patrol the docks. Inform me if you find anything" he calmly said while hanging up the Den Den Mushi he placed his cap on his head. Before stepping down the ramp he turned to marines on bored "keep me inform if there's an update," he said walking off into the city to find and capture this new pirate crew.

Logue Town, the town of beginnings. What a joke. Logue Town was just a town full of scoundrels, liars and worse of all, pirates. Eva hated this town but put up with it's stench of piracy to put food on the table. After all, bounty hunters needed bounties, especially rookie ones like herself. Even though she had been in the game for a few years already, she had yet to make a name for herself. Yeah, she had a bounty on her head, but all bounty hunters were required to have one if they weren't allied with the marines. And she sure as hell wasn't siding with them anytime soon. Eva's hatred was first and foremost directed at anything pirate-y. Second on that list was marines. Her uncle always talked smack about the mindless marines and the corrupted government they worked for and whatever her uncle stated was usually right. So she kept that stigma deep-rooted in her heart as she scoured the back alleys of Logue Town.

A few days ago, she had gotten some information about a bounty recruiting members for his crew here on the island. After a little digging, she found that it was Black Hole Merrick, a rookie captain who had made a name for himself sabotaging an execution of another pirate crew. Why anyone would do something so stupid was beyond Eva, but he came out alive in the end and has had a bounty on his head since. Someone like that was bound to draw the attention of not just the marines for sure, but maybe he would attract some curious big bounty names. And even if she didn't find anyone passing B-1,000,000, she could still test her new skills on some small fry. Training, no matter what kind, was always good.

Eva made it to the docks in no time flat, having learned all the short cuts and back roads of the island long ago. She had expected to put in some more work into getting information about where the would-be captain was when her attention was averted to a freakishly tall woman hitting the side of what seemed to be a merchant ship. Eva was standing by dock 3 and from this far she knew that the red-haired chick was some kind of giant human. Giant humans, although not as rare as they used to be, were still pretty uncommon around these parts. Eva had a feeling she wasn't from around here. Maybe she had come to check on Black Hole's offer. It seemed likely and even if it wasn't, it might lead to some valuable information or better yet, bounties. Eva decided to make her way down to dock 13, hiding behind a few barrels and silently watched the scene unfold.

An eighteen-year-old boy walked down to the harbour; he had received info about a captain recruiting and was curious. He stopped at place and started at multiple ships that were docked. He had heard about the captain “Black Hole Merrick” before but he didn’t knew anything more about him. He didn’t even know what ship could Black Hole Merrick be, it could be a small merchant ship or a big fancy ship. He had no clue what to do, he walked passed a dinghy looking pub and blinked a couple of times. A thought pop in his mind, maybe they’re some bar goers who might know what ship might Black Hole Merrick have.

Before he entered he took a map out of his pocket and bitterly smiled. “I hoped this is what you wanted old man” He whispered as he put the map back. He entered the bar, shady looking pirates and maybe rebels were mumbling about on different tables. The smell made him sick but he endured it. He looked around, hoping to ask someone who didn’t look like creepy, maybe the bartender would help.

“Found any good bounties?”

Before even moving he heard someone saying that and panicked a little. He turned his head around and he saw a bounty hunter, even before he could put on his hood someone realized quickly it was him.

“Hey look its Lucky Luck!” Eyes were now looking at him. One shady guy stood up tried to get him by the arm. With quick thinking he grabbed a grey card from his pocket and threw it on the floor causing smoke and mist to fill the bar. To avoid anymore trouble he put on his hood and with nearly everyones vision blocked he ran out the bar. He wanted answers but not trouble, he cursed to himself. Then he heard shouting behind him, he needed a place to hide, something small and unexpected.

Eden was kicking back in his desk chair sitting in his cabin playing around with his devil fruit powers. On his ship he held gravity at about 3 times normal gravity, it was great training plus it deterred common thieves and pests. It had been about twenty minutes since he returned from the town, and it hadn't taken long for his impatience to surface. So to hopefully pass the time faster he began to focus on floating his body weightlessly within his cabin, the experience was quite calming and he was sure it was as close to swimming as he was ever going to get. All was going well as he drifted through the empty space of the room, that was until he heard a sudden racket from the deck of his ship, it was so loud as to interrupt his weightlessness and he hit the floor with a loud thud. "I'll be out in just a moment." He shouted back to girl causing the disturbance on his deck.

He quick straightened up and exited through the door. Upon exiting he saw a very tall woman waiting for him, one would not assume she was a giant by her stature alone. Looking at her again though she had classic giant attire and the way she talked confirmed that it was in fact, the unique sell sword, "Hertha Redrivers, I've been expecting you. And no worries you are just on time." He walked across the deck as he scanned the neighboring area for any familiar or not-so-friendly faces. "I assume you are here in response to my message?"

Hertha gave a slight grin when the owner of the ship appeared. He hadn't used any of those ugly nick names she had been given over the years. A Decent start, she had a habit of sinking the ship of any wanna-be-pirate-captain who started off calling her 'the runt' or 'the cheep'. Honestly, all these little men had such little respect! Probable because they didn't like the idea of a woman having the skill and power to punch a hole into the bottom of their boats. Ah well, she had always been a picky girl, so why not to with her potential Nakama. That surely wasn't something to be half hearted about.

"Aye" she replied "Tha' be mah name an' tha' be the reason why I'm here." she responded plainly, taking a seat on the deck, it was as close as she could get to being eye level with the man comfortably. "Ah pictured you talla' Black Hole Merrick...though I do that a lot I suppose." she mused to herself. "Ah must say you are the first captain to try an recruited me in a looooooong time to truely 'ave my interest. Not many men can stan' on a ship again afta' what you wen' through." Hertha was a plain spoken sort, not the kind to really hold back her words or thoughts. What she said was probable not tactful, but it was the honest truth.

"I 'ave some questions before I will truly consider taken ya' up on ya' offer." she said in the most serious tone she could muster "What is your goal? Why does Eden Merrick wish to sail beneath the jolly roger?"

"This ship seems to belong to a fruit merchant," Handel thought to himself as he approached dock 13, noticing crates of fruit. A very large woman appeared to be conversing with someone from the ship. From her attire, Handel could only assume she was being hired to protect the shipment from pirates, though pirates usually had no interest in fruit unless the crew happened to be suffering from scurvy. Well, if they were hiring bodyguards, Handel figured he could try his hand at becoming a defender of fruit too, anything to get him off this island and as far away from Ricden as possible.

Handel passed by some barrels before stopping in his tracks. He turned his head to the side, confirming what he thought he saw. There was a woman crouching behind those barrels, staring at the merchant vessel. Handel didn't know why, perhaps his curiosity got the better of him but he was compelled to ask, "Umm...what are you doing down there?"

“Isn’t this my lucky day…”

Lucky told himself while he was running for his life. With all of his speed he ran, he didn’t know where he was going. Through a small crowd of people and multiple twist and turns. After a while he turned around he realized he wasn’t being chased anymore and he was at Dock 13. With a sigh in relief he leaned against the wall and took of his hood. He looked around the area; it was pretty bare, with a couple of people and only a few boats scatter about. He didn’t know what to do now, asking about Black Hole Merrick seems harder to do and searching for him by himself will take all day. He pulled out his grandpa’s map again and looked at it.

“What you want do you want me to do old man?” He wondered, as he was about to put the map back it flew right from his hands. “Hey! No!!” before he could reach it the map flew around fast, seemingly taunting him; it flew around the ships and soon moved closer to a merchant’s ship with at least two people talking. He ran to catch it, hoping it wouldn't go any further from his reach. “This isn’t my day."

Eva hadn't expected to see her target casually stroll out of the captain's quarters of the merchant ship so soon. It was almost too easy. Sure enough, the conversation between Black Hole Merrick and the giant woman was a lot softer than Eva expected, especially seeing as the woman had a booming voice earlier. Eva was curious to see what the two were conversing about but didn't want to expose herself yet. There was a chance they were talking about the rest of the potential crew. Maybe she should saunter over to them and pretend to be an interested crew member. It would bring their guards down and make it easier to gain information. She could just leave later on and snipe Merrick from afar.

As she continued to go over different strategies in her head, Eva didn't notice the footsteps behind her. The sound of a confused male voice spooked her and the blond spun around to see a tall, dark-haired man wearing glasses. He was looking strangely at her and it took her a moment to realize she did in fact look strange kneeling behind a barrel while watching two people talk. Eva blushed as she scrambled to get up. "N-nothing!" She announced, mentally cursing to herself for her stammer, "I was just looking for something, that's all." She turned away from the bespectacled man, hoping to avoid any more embarrassment when a thought occurred. She glanced at him, then at the ship, then back at him.

"Are you headed over there?" She asked. Eva tried to remember if she had seen his face on a wanted poster before but nothing came to mind. It was another strike but she still had Merrick to bring to authorities. And that was only two potential crewmates for the would-be captain. There certainly had to be more. Eva decided that she would converse with this man first and see if he was headed for the ship. If he was, she'll tag along so it wouldn't be that suspicious for a non-invite to appear.

For the sake of remaining hidden, Handel had kept his ear to the ground regarding information concerning bounties and bounty hunters. When the eavesdropping woman turned around, Handel realized that he had already made a stupid mistake because he recognized her as Eva Solkreuz, an up-and-coming bounty hunter he had heard of and seen posters of. He was about to make a run for it when she asked him about the fruit vessel. Her greater interest in the ship rather than in him suggested that either the marines had not publicized his bounty for security reasons, or Miss Solkreuz wasn’t very good at her job.

Playing it cool, Handel replied, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am headed over there," wondering what about this merchant ship drew this hunter's interest. "Do you like fruit?" He asked, as he began to make his way over to the ship. He couldn't see behind the large woman at who she was talking to, but he hoped it was the fruit merchant whom Handel hoped was looking to take on more hired hands or stragglers.

[Post deleted]

"Really no worries at all. Im not a man of large stature, especially compared to that of a giant." The next comment pierced through the open air like a knife. Eden had almost forgotten that what happened to him and his nakama was made quite public. They spared no expense to spread word about his failure, what better way to put fear in the hearts of pirates than to make an example of any pirate daring enough to challenge him. Though the expedition had not been a complete waste, they had manage to cover the tracks of the well known pirates they saved, in fact because his actions they had now publicly made their way to the new world to spite the marines. He almost lost himself to thought, but the woman's follow up question brought him down to his senses.

"What is my goal? That's funny thing to ask, because I dont have one. To me being a pirate means being free. Free to take care of yourself, and to do and explore as you please. That is what I wish to do, I wish to be free again. I also have a promise to my nakama that needs to be kept." Eden's eyes began to gleam as he opened his mind to dreams of being free, and as they did he stared deep into to Hertha's eyes. "And I dont plan to let anything stop me. So tell me Hertha Redrivers, do you want to be free with me? Do you want to join my crew?"

The giant red-head gave him a conflicted smile when he finished his reply. "Oh lad, that is a fine goal indeed. The kind of answer that I can truly respect, admire even...honestly it is even, at least part, of what I wan' fer myself under the pirates flag... " She said closing her eyes and folding her arms as if going deep into thought "But I an' sure if it be the one ta' get me to join ya' crew." She furrowed her brows a bit as if she was really thinking hard before opening them and sliding her large, swore, sheath and all, off her back and laid it in her lap. "See, I 'ave a...more defined goal. I wan' to be known as the greatest warrior in all the world. I wan' my blade to clash with the greatest warriors I can find, I wan to over come endless challenges with my strength and skill, I wan my name to be so great that my skill in combat will reach the ears of the gods in their halls long before my soul goes to join them." As she finished speaking she gripped her blade as an act of determination

"That, would be captain, is my goal." she said with a sigh "So, you can see my 'esitation aye? If I sign up with a captain who is jus' gonna puts' about the same stretch of sea with no drive for greater fame or glory, Then I won't be making any steps towards my goal. But there aint noth'n say'n ya wont sail a corse that goes towards my own either..." She pursued her lips and sighed "I ain't much of a gambling girl. But I won't say no to ya just yet...Perhaps if I like your taste in crew I'll have a bit more to tip the scale, aye?"

Fruit? What the hell was this guy talking about? Eva wondered as she raised one trimmed eyebrow at the bespectacled man. She wasn't sure if he was right in the head but when she glanced back at Black Hole Merrick's ship, she saw that after taking a good look, he had made his pirate ship look like a fruit merchant's. She had to applaud the captain for a job well done. At least he didn't try to stick out like some idiot pirates she had come across. Seeing as she might have kept the man waiting for her reply, she quickly turned back to him with a hesitant smile. "Er... yes I do." She replied awkwardly. She still couldn't tell if he was clueless about who actually ran the merchant ship he was headed for or if he was doing a very elaborate act to throw her off the trail. Before Eva could interrogate him any further, she saw a brown-haired boy out of the corner of her eye running towards Merrick's ship. She spun her head around, curious to see who else showed up for his call. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw the familiar face of Lucky Luck, a bounty who was known for causing fights wherever he went.

She spun back to the man she was previously conversing with, a plan forming in her head. Two bounties were already in sight and she needed to get away fast. However, if this stranger was indeed a part of Merrick's crew, she had to be very discrete in her departure. "If you are headed over that way, I can go ahead and accompany you. That merchant seems to be selling some fruit. Unless you're here for more than just fruit." There was no need for her to leave so suddenly, especially if she didn't want to raise any suspicions. Also, following this line of conversation will help weed out more information if she was careful.

"Yes, I am headed over there," Handel replied, "I'm actually here seeking employment. What about yourself?" He said this while walking towards the ship, expecting Eva to accompany him since she said she would. He relaxed as he decided that Eva wasn't here for a bounty, and was only grocery shopping.

Earlier in the conversation, Eva had looked over Handel's shoulder. Out of curiosity, Handel absentmindedly turned his head that way while walking, but before he could figure out what she had been looking at, a flapping browned piece of paper flew into his face and clung to it, preventing him from seeing and breathing. In an idiotic-looking panic attack, Handel frantically grabbed at his face, clawing at the piece of paper before he managed to peel it off, gasping for breath. When he had regained his composure, he looked at the paper. "What is this, a map?" He looked up to notice a familiar-looking brown-haired youth running straight at him.

The map seemed to get further from Lucky’s reach and was getting even closer to the merchant’s boat; each chance he took it flew farther away from him. His entire focus was on the run away map, soon enough he was running around looking like an idiot trying to get it. He was quick but the map seemed to have a mind of its own, it took a quick sharp turn going away from the merchant boat. It was finally caught but not by his hands, it flew onto the man face, he ran towards the man who had it. But upon running towards the man he somehow slipped and landed on his face.

'You got to be kidding me...' He yelled in his mind after he landed on the floor. He didn't want to get up after that horrible chase 'I hate my life, I will murder that map in some way somehow.' He lifted his head up to see the man with his map, lowered again and sighed bitterly. "Can..I have my map back?"

John Ricden was searching the most seediest bars in Loguetown 'asking' there owners about Eden using his bounty poster. The marine captain noted the reaction of some of the patrons ether them leaving or hiding there face form. Striking out at the last eight bar/pubs along the docks he started to wonder if Eden had already left Loguetown and just to head back to his own ship and search the local island for him. Luckily something did happen he saw a man frantically try to remove a piece of paper from his face he laughed but it stopped dead when he saw who it was, 'well well if it isn't Handel,' he thought as John walked towards him in-till he was behind him "Hello Handel," he said to former marine.

"Oh, is this your map?" Handel asked, lowering it from his face. Upon closer inspection he recognized Lucky Luck, a small-time troublemaker who had gotten himself a decent bounty. He suddenly realized that he was standing between a rock and a hard place, with the bounty hunter Eva behind him, and the bounty Lucky in front. Then a familiar voice called him from behind, so Handel turned around and saw Ricden. Smiling gently with his eyes closed and sweating profusely, Handel slowly lifted the map back up in an awkward gesture, in an awkward moment, between him and Ricden, covering his own face.

"If I can't see him, he can't see me!" Handel thought to himself in a moment of cathartic bliss. He lowered the map. "Second mate Ricden!" Handel replied casually and in a friendly manner, raising his other hand to wave, "Well, I guess I can't call you second mate anymore since you're a captain n---"

Handel suddenly ducked down mid-sentence, reached for the dolly carrying his massive trunk and bass and, pulling it along behind him, immediately began belting for the merchant ship as if his life depended on it because it did. He considered the possibility that as a bounty hunter, Eva was in league with Ricden and had only been playing dumb to let Ricden arrive. Handel ran and thought these things, forgetting that he was still clutching the map in his hand.