Serious: De Draco Venatores: Sun Shine..Pirates..? ((Open to De Draco Venatores and Antler))

Hana stared at the bounty board, she couldn't believe that she was going to choose that crew, I mean, not only was she going to hunt a pirate, but a whole crew of pirates, who were obviously strong, she knew she needed someone to come with her, but who? She had no crew, sadly, she had been searching for some time for someone to actually join her crew, but apparently no one wanted to, and she wondered if she should ask for another bounty hunter for help, since the reward would be pretty much high, they could split it in half and still have a really high amount of money.

Right now Hana was in a village, in an island in the grand line, she didn't know what she should do right now, she was in a bar, drinking some beer while she checked the bounty board, it didn't seem to good for her liking, and like I said earlier, she needed company for the work she wanted to do, there was no possible way for her to do it alone, and succeed at least. She stared at her glass with beer, she liked beer so much, it was almost like an addiction, although she was able to quit it when she wanted, or so she thought at least, and she wasn't dependent of alcohol, nor would be grumpy when she didn't consume it. It was just something she found nice and liked doing it.

She liked the village she was in at the moment, it was really calm, nothing big, nor crowded, something that Hana really appreciated, because that way, she could relax and thing about other things, things that weren't really that important, like her parents. Yes, Hana loved them and everything, and one of her Goals in life was to find them again one day, but to be realistic, it was most probable that they had died long time ago, and that she had not been capable of finding their bodies, that's it. Or maybe the murderers took their body as trophies, no one knew, and Hana was starting to think that she was never going to know what actually happened to her parents.

She remembered her childhood, specially the thunderstorms.

A little Hana stayed below her bed, the thunder was loud, the lightning lighted up her room, making horrible shadows that made her think there were monsters there. She shivered a lot, she wanted someone to be with her, but there was no one who could, the maids were out, the butlers were out, her parents were out working, as always, no one to comfort poor Hana.

She was crying, hot tears streaming down her face. She had no one. She knew it, there was nothing to cry for, but still, she wished there were soft arms, warm arms, hugging her, a kind voice telling her that everything was going to be alright, that she was safe with him/her. She still wanted to feel loved, she didn't know the feeling, or at least not precisely. She wanted to be worth for someone, she knew her parents liked her, because she was the only heir to their mafia famiglia, but that meant nothing to Hana, she wished she was liked because of who she was, not what she was. And that made her upset.

And as thunders and lightning continued throughout the night, little Hana stayed below her bed, thinking it would be a safe place, safe from monsters, safe from the cruelty of the real world, safe from hate. As tears stopped falling down her cheek, and the sobs that were heard around the room, echoing in the walls, stopped. Amethyst eyes closed as the little girl drifted into unconsciousness.

Hana stared at her reflection in the beer, she had seen herself when she was little and below the bed..in thunderstorms.. And just as she blinked, the reflection came back to normal. She wondered why she had been thinking about the past. I seriously need something to do, if not I'm going to become crazy, Hana thought. She wondered around the bar again, thinking who should she ask for help, again.

"And that's all folks!" A county-accented voice called form the mouth of a small den den mushi. That sentence made a sleeping man with brown hair and a leather jacket, who was until a second ago leaning on a wooden bench he called a bunk, shoot up and fall to his little boat's floor. "Damn! Don't tell me I missed it!" The man, who knew himself by the name Jake, called as he got up and rushed the few steps towards the table on which the den den mushi was resting on. "See you all next week on "Pirate Season!" Your number one bounty hunting source" The voice said before the den den mushi closed it's mouth and drifted into a slumber.

This was really frustrating for the young bounty hunter. He waited an entire week in order to pick his next hunting target, but now that he missed the broadcast, he had to wait another week. It's not that he wasn't patient, but as a bounty hunter with no targets, he was running low on money and supplies. He was sailing around the grand line on his little wooden boat for too long, probably a few months, hunting small targets here and there to keep his stomach full. The little flag he had on his boat read "Mercenary for hire", his last hope of getting easy money. Frustrated and desperate, he looked to the horizon to see where he ended up and saw an island to his surprise. He had no choice, he had to dock there.

*One Hour Later*

After docking his boat in a hidden spot where he won't be charged for, Jake got off the boat and strode towards a village. He was wearing his usual leather jacket and pants, and he was quite stinky after spending a week on his small boat, with only the sea water to bath in. He reached into his pockets to make sure he had his weapons with him, for the 1,223rd time since he left the boat. He didn't like to show it, but he was quite paranoid. After walking for some time Jake came by a local bar. This was the ideal place for him to be in, since it had both the supplies he needed and bounty posters to look at, and so he stepped in.

After getting into the bar, Jake did something he was already to be doing as a result of an unexplained reflex he had: He scouted the crowd for information. 'Table 9, two former pirates based on their scars and tattoos... Table 11 has a man with his fly open, probably lacking some hours of sleep' Jake repeated in his head. He didn't know why he was doing it, but he gave up on trying to understand it.

After a quick look around, Jake set at the bar, next to a woman who was busy inspecting her glass of beer. Any normal man would have tried to hit on her, but instead, Jake collected information about her as he did with everyone. 'Inspecting your drink is either a sign of Germophobia or depression' He thought, without having an idea what Germophobia is, how weird. After reaching into his pocket and grasping the several coins he could afford to spare, Jake glanced at the bounty board, looking for a chance to get some easy money before he starved to death.

Hana noticed someone sat besides her, she wondered what she should do, then she thought to examine him. Hana turned to look at him, although it wasn't obvious, it would be pretty creepy if someone was staring at you, wouldn't it be? She noticed that he had light brown hair, which was rather messy, she also noticed that he smelled like the sea.. he must have been travelling for a while as to smell like that. Hana wondered what stories this guy might have been through, she wondered if he would like to tell her them, but then she noticed that it would be impossible. Buuut, there was always the possibility for him to join her crew, she would be able to talk to him, and to ask him about his experiences. And not only that but she would be able hunt that crew she was interested in, the Sun Shine pirates, and would get the really high reward. It was a win-win, and she wondered if the guy would like to be part of her plan. Yes, she didn't know him but from what she could see, from his well built body and everything, he was strong, or at least had the necessary strength. So there was no problem in him joining him. Except of course, that she basically knew nothing about him, not even his name. And he hadn't talked to her either.

"Um, hello. I'm Hana Draco" she said extending her hand for him to shook, she was the sociable kind of person, she liked meeting new people, but for some reason it worried her that this person would not like to join her crew, making her feel anxious about it. She knew she had to be strong, and take the risk, but she would at least wait for him to answer AND continue the conversation for a little while, maybe then she would ask him to join her crew, and maybe if he said no, she would tell him to work together and then split the reward, since it was one of her other options. She just hoped the man would accept, not only was she interested in him, but she also need someone to join her so she would be able to take down those pirates. It was necessary. No matter how strong Hana was, it was impossible for her to do it alone. And hell, Hana was really strong, although she had no big faith in herself, maybe she would've been able to beat them, who knows, she just wasn't willing to. They were too much, and she was only one. It was really bad, and it wasn't a good plan, at all.

Jake was surprised by the sudden conversation he ran into. He wasn't the guy that would usually talk to strangers, and since he knew practically no one, he barely ever spoke. But there was something about the woman that made Jake turn around and consider answering. Firstly, the woman was stunning, and Jake couldn't realize how she managed to sit in a bar without being surrounded by drunken perverts. This could probably mean she was stronger than she looked, so perverts preferred not getting in her way. Secondly, she reached for a hand shake, which meant two things: That she was serious, and that she wasn't a Germophobe. Thirdly, she must have noticed something about him that made her wish to speak to him, and since the only things Jake managed to do in the bar since he got in was glancing at the bounty board and stinking up the place, that woman could be a sailor as well. He sneaked a glance at the bounty board to see if the woman was a pirate. She wasn't, and she had no marine uniforms, so there was a chance she was a bounty hunter as well.

"Hello" Jake answered, and accepted the hand shake with his own. 'A firm grip, this woman is stronger than she seems' He thought as he shook Hana's hand. "I'm Jake" He answered, feeling slightly dumb by the fact that he didn't know his last name. Now, Jake was facing the hardest part of making a conversation: Thinking of something to say. Since she wasn't a germophobe, Jake guessed she was upset about something since she inspected her full glass before he sat down. "Can I help you with something?" He asked politely, trying to hide the endless amount of thoughts that were running through his mind.

Hana Draco smiled brightly at Jake, whom had just introduced himself, even if Hana was surprised that he hadn't told her his last name, she shrugged it of, it wasn't like a last name was so important for her, she loved her last name but if Jake didn't want to tell her his, she was fine with it. Now she had the urge to smile more as he shook her hand, she might have tightened her grip a little unconsciously, since she noticed Jake's expression and they shook hands.

Then he asked her if she needed something. In fact, yes, Hana thought as she looked at the bounty board for the 116th time today. "I kind of want to ask you something. Are you, by any means, a bounty hunter?" She asked, her voice full of interest, which was evident. If he was indeed a bounty hunter, she would ask him to join her crew, obviously he might say no but she would lose nothing in trying. And also, like she had thought before lots of times, she could ask him to be ally, just for the job. Hana was actually really interested in Jake, he seemed... Different, might be the word to describe it. She took a sip of her beer as she waited for Jake to respond.

A few meters away from the pub, there was a pale man with broken glasses and a stained lab coat dragging something in a large burlap sack. People were staring at him wondering if it was some kind of body, but they dispersed that thought when the man dropped the bag and revealed half of a robotic arm. They went on with their lives, doing whatever they wanted to do and could do except for the man. He was under the command of a fat, lazy slob who liked to threaten anything that could move. The man reached the bar where his so called boss was hanging out with his friends. "Ha ha! What a good one, Wess!" "That one was pure gold!" "Shut up guys, I know it." Wesley James Harrison, that was his full name but went by the nickname of Wess. He was about six foot two, had a fully shaved head and more than enough stains on his shirt to feed a man for a day and a bounty of 45 000 for successful arson, attempted rape, and two murders of innocent lives. The pale man plopped the sack by the door and headed in to tell Wess the good news. "Pant, pant....Hey...Wesley, sir! Pant...I got the robot fixed just like you asked!" Wess got out of his chair quickly and slapped the pale man across the face to shut him up. He approached the man who was rubbing the spot on his cheek and said to him in a quiet voice, "Shut up, nerd! I only deserve this robot! If people had their suspicions of the robot confirmed, they'll all be after it's metallic ass and then I'll have competition! So keep your voice down or I'll shove a piece of glass down your throat!" The man was quaking in his shoes and replied, "I-I-I'm sorry s-sir! Please forgive me! The robot is outside the bar." Wess walked back to the table with his friends and slugged down the last of his beer before walking out. A dozen seconds later, he ran in, grabbed his servant and pulled him out of the bar. "What the hell is this, John?" "It's, um, your robot....Wesley, sir." "Then why isn't it moving?!" "I guess I left out one tiny detail...the robot needs a certain word or phrase to activate it. Other than that, everything is it tip top condition, if you ignore the rust, moss and dents. "Why can't you just hit the piece of scrap to get it working again?!" Wess' voice was starting to get louder and people in and out of the bar were starting to stare. John was backing away from him and said to him, "But that will damage the internal mechanisms and possibly shorten its lifespan if you do that! What if it suddenly just blew up on you after you hit it?" Wess grabbed John by the collar and threw him into the bar with great force. "Gah! Why can't the nerd do ANYTHING right?"

John screamed as he flew across the bar crashed into a table, knocking the wind out of him and bruising his body parts. "Owwwww....I'm tired of all this abuse....but I can't even throw a punch correctly...Maybe I can get a ride on a boat if I run fast enough-Oh crap." Wess stood in front of John and picked him up by the neck, telling him, "You've failed me for the last time. Plus you're trying to run away from me. No one runs away from me!" "But this was my first job for you....Ack!" Wess slammed John into the ground and pulled out a switchblade. "Lights out, John."

Jake was thunderstruck by the highly specific question. The question sent his mind into a tantrum of paranoia. 'How could she know that? Does she know something about me? Should I interrogate her? Kill her? Run?' He thought, each option seeming more reasonable than the other. But then, he managed to get a hold of his twisted mind. 'Why am I so afraid? Anyone who knows something about me can only help me unfold my past!' He thought, trying to convince himself and his instincts to let go of the pistol he kept in his pocket.
"Umm... What a weird coincidence, I do actually hunt bounties for a living" He answered, but before he managed to continue the conversation, a man came rushing into the bar and approached one of the pirates that Jake spotted at table 9. The man spoke about a recent achievement of his, and was quickly slapped in the face for doing so. Such violence triggered a primal instinct in Jake's mind that made him shove his hand into his pocket, grasping the pistol once again without pulling it out yet. He watched as the man got dragged out of the bar and then thrown back in, but when the violent man, who seemed a little bit drunk too, threatened the other with a switchblade, Jake sprang out of his stool and turned to face the pair.

"Hey Hey! No need to make any rash actions! Especially not some that you will regret later!" He said to Wess, the words shooting out of his mind without him thinking about them. The words just came out, like he used to say that sentence a million times before but couldn't remember doing it. He glanced at Hana, trying to see if she was going to take a side as well. The big guy seemed to have a gang with him, and Jake might need some help if things got ugly.

Hana smiled slightly as she heard Jake say that he was a bounty hunter, he had looked in the verge of panicking when she asked him if he was a bounty hunter, he might have thought that she was a pirate and would kill him if she knew he was a bounty hunter, but boy was he wrong if he thought that. She was about to ask him about joining her crew, or allying with her, when two men barged in the bar, they started to fight, more like one attacking the other, who was thrown over a table, which was almost knocked over.

Hana noticed that Jake stood up and went to the man, he said something about not doing anything he would regret later on. She also stood up and went to Jake, ready to help him if things got ugly, she tensed her muscles, having them relaxed before so she would look a little wimpy, and glared at the man who had the switchblade. "Listen to this man and stop it. Now" she said with a deep cold voice, hoping the man would follow her orders, if not, it wouldn't be a nice evening for him, or at least Hana would not let it be that way. She smiled cruelly at the man, hoping that he would get scared, everything she had done would've scared any normal guy, now the answer, was Wesse a normal guy? She hoped he would be scared anyway, she wanted to be in peace and ask Jake to join her, and she wouldn't have it until he leaves.

Wess looked at the two trying to dissuade him from murdering John, who was gasping for air and whatnot. He looked back at John and glared at him before lightly cutting his face with the switchblade before releasing him and declaring to his friends, "Come on guys, let's get out of here! Starting to smell awful." Then Wess and his friends got up and left the pub and everything went back to normal. John was lying on the ground catching a quick breath before thanking his saviours. He got up using a table as support and said weakly, "Thank you for saving me, I would've died if you hadn't been there. I must go now, but thank you for helping me."

John quickly ran out of the pub and headed directly to his home. However, he dropped a slip of paper on the way out that at first was important to him, but now it was just something that would end up blowing up on him. On one side, it said ROBOT ACTIVATION WORD in big capitalized letters and on the other side was some kind of incomplete word or phrase. The writing on it was erased slightly, smudged and ripped so it was hard to decipher what the word actually was. But John got some of it down, and wrote "THIR" on the slip of paper hoping that it would've helped him with the robot problem.

Hana smiled kindly at the guy and nodded. "You're welcome, it seemed like that... you should be more careful.. bye" she said and she noticed the guy had left before she could say anything, therefore making her talk useless, he hadn't heard it anyway, saying welcome was something not necessary anyway, at least he did say thanks, and that's what mattered. She wondered what she should do now, and she thought about walking out of the bar to yell at the man "you're welcome" so she looked at Jake and then left the bar saying 'I'll be right back', and was going to tell the man what she had planned when she noticed a small paper fall from his pocket, she walked to the paper and picked it up form the ground.

"Robot activation word..." she looked at the other side of the paper where it said THIR, she noticed that this was the possible reason why the man was beat up so she decided to not say anything out loud and went back to the bar, putting the paper on her pocket. "Jake I have a proposition for you, join my bounty hunter crew" she said going straight to the point, she was really decided to make Jake join her crew. It was now or never, and she really needed help for the mission she had chosen to do.

Jake allowed his hand to loosen a bit inside his pocket after seeing the grunts leave the bar. He didn't mind shooting anybody, but he did mind the fact that ammunition costs, and he had nothing to pay with. He noticed that Hana was quite irritated by the man's manners, but he didn't allow such things to occupy his mind. And then, just when he managed to get his head straight, Hana spoke.

'Bounty hunting crew? She's unusually aggressive.. Perhaps she's on to me! Wait, what did I do that she can pick up on? Run? Hide? Kill?' Jake thought as Hana made her proposition. The thoughts rushed through his head, powered by his unexplainable psychic, he tightened the grip on the pistol in his pocket once again, but managed to stop himself in midact. 'Wait, Calm down! You're doing it again! Snap out of it and act like a normal man will ya?!' He thought, fighting his paranoia. 'An attractive woman just asked you to be her companion, how could you consider refusing to that?! Well, for once, you're not a mindless goon driven by libido, but that doesn't mean you have to refuse!'.

"I..." Jake spoke, rambling through his thoughts. 'What the hell? If things won't be going well you can always leave! It's not like you have nay other options right now, you're broke!'. "Gladly, I'll gladly join a bounty hunting crew" Jake said, after overcoming his own mind. "At least for one hunt" He added, leaving a spot for an escape route in the future.

Hana nodded, slightly sad because Jake said that probably for only one hunt, but she thought it would be enough for meeting him and maybe in the end he'll decide to stay in her crew, something that would make her really happy, since she wouldn't need to be alone anymore.

"Well," Hana started, looking around before smiling brightly at Jake. "The plan is to hunt this entire crew of pirates, I know it might sound impossible but I believe in our abilities, so I'm sure that we'll succeed no matter what" she said handing a bounty paper to Jake which had the sun shine pirates there, but she knew there was something else they needed to work on first before hunting some shiny pirates. Looking for a robot.

Now, Hana was aware that she couldn't tell Jake about the robot in a public place like the bar, it was a really really bad idea,, and she knew it, so without thinking she grabbed Jake's hand and pulled him out of the bar and into a alley. She looked at him seriously, completely forgetting that she was still holding hands with him, and told him about the robot. "Listen Jake the guy who was beaten up on the bar left a paper behind. I noticed this and picked it up. It was an activation paper, it has the password for the activation of a robot, I know this because of the other man's screams, amyway, I need your help to find the robot amd activate it, somehow I think it'll be worth it" she finished smiling she had a feeling that everything was going to turn out fine and that they needed that robot.

Jake whistled at the sight of the Sunshine pirates' bounty, a quarter of it would be enough to get Jake going for quite some time, not to mention half of it! But a crew with such a large bounty must be either powerful or dangerous...
"You sure you wanna mess with someone with that size of a bounty?" Jake asked, but before he could be answered, Hana dragged him out of the bar and into an alley.

For a moment, Jake considered pulling his pistol and shooting the girl who was abducting him, but then he managed to get a hold of himself, and decided to wait and see what Hana had in mind. After hearing Hana's plan, Jake couldn't help but doubt his decision of joining her. Her plan was quite childish...

"Finding a robot? Do you have any idea how many people find robots lying around? I'm gonna go and guess none" Jake said. He freed his hands from her grip and turned to walk towards the bar. "You might want to spend some time in actually planning how to hunt down this crew of yours, we're only two people you know..." Jake said without turning back.

He got to the entrance of the bar and stepped in, but a large sack that was left there almost made him trip. 'Dammit who would leave such a thing here? It belongs in the trash' He thought, considering picking it up and tossing it into any nearby dumpsters. But then, a memory flashed into his mind. He stretched his head out of the bar door and called to Hana. "Say Hana, didn't your little pen pal leave this sack over here?" He asked, verifying his thoughts.