As it is custom in this island, an old man is in the harbor, tending to a little boat he seems to have been taking care of for quite a while. It is nothing but a simple boat, but the man still smiles when seeing it. He takes off whatever sticks to it after being in that same dock for God knows how many years, cleans its inside and repairs whatever needs to be repaired during storms and whatnot. Even so, the little boat, though it is far from new, still seems good, and able to sail as many seas as it may need in the future. After a while, the old man finally seems satisifed with his work and turns around to go to his house.
And just then, a single girl with blonde hair and yellow eyes, wearing a large white blouse and a pair of black shorts, appears in the horizon, paddling furiously through the sea. Her raft is slowly sinking as the ropes start coming undone. The girl seems to be in quite a hurry as well, almost as if she wasn't able to swim. Of course, no one would guess at first sight that the girl actually has the powers of a Devil Fruit, rendering her unable to swim.
"Nonononononononodon'tsinkdon'tsinkdon'tsink!!" The girl begs her raft not to let her drown. The old man, upon seeing her, returns to the shore, looking quite worried. When Emeri spots him there, she seems to have seen the hope at the end of dispair.
"You there! Please help me! I'll, hng, I dunno, give you something! Just help me! Sinking like this would just be shameful!""Y-Yes, grab a hold of this, little girl!" The old man throws a life saver near the raft of the girl.
"HOW IS THIS GONNA HELP ME YOU STUPID IDIOT GEEZER!" Emeri lashes out, but even then, the old man seems calm.
"Leave your raft there girl and grab a hold of that life saver! It is as much as I can do, little girl!" He shouts at her. Emeri, after hesitating a bit, finally nods, even though she doesn't seem to agree with the old man's decision of merely throwing a life saver to her. He should have gone in his own boat and help her, instead of being such a cheapstake. Emeri jumps and grabs unto the life saver, even though she does feel a bit desperate being with half of her body in the sea. The old man starts pulling her to the shore and the raft finally becomes undone and sinks to the bottom of the sea, or well, not exactly, as some of the logs still stay afloat, but not enough neither near enough for Emeri to have been able to survive that.
With a relieved sigh, the girl finally reaches the shore, breathing heavily and seemingly exhausted.
"Thanks.... thanks, grandpa." And even then, the old man is already walking into the city.
"Hey! Are you really going to leave me here?!""Don't be ridiculous. Come 'ere, if yer gonna help someone, you might as well go all the way with it. Let's go get something for ye to eat, little girl." "I am not only a little girl! I am a pirate! But I'm not going to turn down a meal when someone offers me one. Let's go, old man." The girl follows happily after the elderly man.
Time later, the girl is now eating in a little bar. In front of her, there is a dish filled with meat and a lot of side dishes, like salad and whatnot. Even if she seems to be minding her manners like a true lady, it doesn't take out the fact that standing beside her is a pile of dishes that has just been cleaned out by the same girl.
"You eat quite a lot, gal." The old man says, from behind the counter.
"Are you sure yer a pirate though? You don't seem like it at all." Cleaning her mouth carefully with a napkin, the girl seems to have finished and leaves the knife and fork she had been using until now. After letting out a relieved sigh, the girl turns to the old man.
"I'm not gonna pay any of this, just so you know." She says, nonchalantly and with a big smile on her face. The old man only nods, seemingly already knowning that that would be the case.
"If you had any money, I'm plenty sure you wouldn't be travelling by raft." The old man laughs a bit, his laugh being hoarse and sickly, as he starts coughing a bit after laughing. Emeri seems a bit flustered and takes a sip out of the tankard in front of her.
"Anyways, I just started my journey, so it can't be helped. In any case, don't you think that pretty boat in the shore shouldn't just be in the dock? I mean, there are so many things to do out there and-!" Of course, she was trying to talk the old man into letting her use the boat she saw at the shore, but before she could finish or before the old man could answer, a large group of people enter through the door, most of them being men. They start taking some of the seats all across the bar and soon, the bar has already filled out with just some chairs being free for the taking. Luckily enough, they didn't seem to notice Emeri.
The owner seems to be in quite a frenzy, tending to all of their orders. Emeri seems to be enjoying the drink inside her tankard at the time too, before someone suddenly sits in front of her with quite a loud motion and stomping on the ground.
"Good evening, missy. It seems you are here alone. You wouldn't mind some company...." More and more men start gathering around her. "Right?" The old man seems to be worried about her, but at the same time, does not do anything to help her at all, seemingly scared of the men. What Emeri didn't know, of course, was that those men were all part of a group of notorious bandits in Dynamo Isla. The Dynamic Group, as they call themselves, of course having the worst kind of naming sense, none at all.
"Please leave. You are an eyesore." She says, smiling at them. The one that seems to be the leader, stands up, seemingly furious.
"What was that?! You seem to be damn confident of yourself you perfect idiot!" The man unsheathes his sword.
The girl seems to be in quite a pinch, and the old man can just whisper under his breath.
"Damn fool! She's going to get herself killed... There's a limit to how much of a blockhead one can be!" He silently prays that someone will help her, anyone brave enough to stand up against a group of notorious bandits.