A/N: Images used are just found from google searches (unless otherwise stated as fan art given to me).. I don't art well

[Age 16]

~Talia's POV~

            "The Rising Dawn strikes again! Firsthand witness reports The Rising Dawn has viciously slandered the name of Whitebeard and has even so boldly claimed that if given the chance she would slaughter him..."

            I looked at the newspaper with a grimace. This was the third edition they'd run saying I'd insulted Whitebeard in some fashion. They were trying to get me killed. My wanted poster was printed along with the article, as it had been with every article before it, so the Whitebeard Pirates would know their mark.

            Exhausted and beaten down from being on the run for weeks, I dragged my feet as I finally managed to stumble upon what looked like a quaint little settlement. Keeping my head down and my face hidden behind my long frosty pink hair, I slowly made my way into town hoping to find a place to rest.

            "Doesn't she look like..."

            My head jerked at the conversation and my heart immediately began pounding in my chest. I turned to the group of men talking and relaxed as I spotted them standing around some men's health magazine.

            People bustled past me busily on the street not even giving me a second glance as they went about their daily lives. Once I was sure there wasn't any present danger I continued into town in search of an inn that would put me up for the night. It had been so long since I'd actually slept in a bed, or at all for that matter. Every night I'd get startled by the slightest sound thinking I was going to be attacked at any moment.

            The name they'd given me, The Rising Dawn, had been littering every newspaper for the past few weeks. If they didn't want to kill me because of all the slanderous things I 'said' or all the threats I 'made', they'd surely want to kill me for obnoxiously appearing in their news every day. Last week the newspapers said I was starting a fight with Kaido and the week before that it was Shanks. It didn't come as much of a surprise to me that they were trying to get the attention of all these big shots. They wanted me dead, but they didn't want my blood on their hands.

            "...Whitebeard Pirates..."

            My ears perked up at the sound of the name and I felt my heart jump into my throat as my stomach took a sickening drop. An overwhelming sense of dread gripped my heart and I was suddenly frozen in terror. I listened intently for the conversation to continue but realized whoever had been talking was just passing by and I'd only caught a whiff of their conversation.

            This place wasn't safe anymore. I couldn't stay here. Someone was bound to discover me if I lingered any longer. With a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach, I turned and bolted out of the town, running as fast as my thin weak legs would take me. I'd never been much of an athlete before; I'd spent at least 23 hours of my day reading books. Physical exercise was the last priority on my list, and it showed. After nearly a hundred yards I was ready to collapse, my lungs were screaming in protest and my legs began to feel numb.

            A great span of woodland lay before me and I ducked beneath the low hanging branches and cast myself into the safety of the dense jungle. Vibrant green vines clung to trees like boa constrictors, upturned roots tried to trip me at every turn, and overgrown underbrush attempted to drag me back as I fought my way through the thick jungle. Mosquitoes seemed drawn to my naturally sweet scent and I swatted at them futilely as they pelted the revealed skin on my arms and legs.

            Strange vicious hissing sounds came from a nearby shrub and I halted my useless attempts at fighting away the mosquitoes. "Don't be something scary." I groaned as the hissing got louder. "Please, don't be scary." My voice turned into a whimper as I heard something move from within.

            An ugly copper, black, and crimson speckled serpentine head slithered out from beneath the bush and I found my gaze locked on a pair of coin sized bright yellow eyes. My stomach took a sickening turn as my heart stopped beating and I suddenly felt as if all the life had been drained from me. A scream bubbled up in my throat as the man-eating snake slunk toward me.

            "Why does it have to be a snake?" I groaned as I looked to the heavens as if expecting some kind of divine intervention, "I think I'd rather face the pirates."  I grumbled sarcastically as I thought of the Whitebeard Pirates who would surely be out for blood after the most recent news article.

            I screamed as the snake hissed at me before bolting in a new direction of the jungle. The trees began to thin out and the forest appeared somewhat brighter a little ways ahead. My heart rejoiced as I realized I would soon be out of the accursed jungle. Just as I was about to break free, an upturned root caught my ankle and sent me crashing to the ground safely outside of the jungle. I landed flat on my face smacking my stomach, and chest into the earth so hard it left me winded.

            "Well, that was graceful." I mumbled softly to myself and resorted to lying still on the ground until I could get my breathing under control and stop the painful throbbing sensations in my head, chest, torso, and all over the rest of my body.

            "Oi! You alright?" A voice called out to me and I groaned inwardly, I had hoped nobody was around to witness my disastrous, hysteric and possibly mental display.

            Shakily I raised my hand and waved them away hoping they'd just leave me there to die. My lungs felt like they were caving in and the rest of my internal organs felt like they were on fire as they struggled to make up for my poorly performing lungs.

            "You were right." Another voice boomed, "The scouts just returned, the villagers told them the girl that challenged Oyaji ran off into the forest."

            Oyaji? I felt all the blood drain from my face and my heart slip into cardiac arrest. The Whitebeard Pirates called their captain Oyaji. My eyes grew wide as I realized just how bad my situation was. "Okay, I'll take the damn snake." I whimpered hoping for some more divine intervention.

            "You sure you're okay?" The voice that had called out to me before sounded as if it were getting closer.

            I needed to run! Now! As quickly and gracefully as I could manage, which meant at a snail's pace and after stumbling and nearly face planting into a nearby sapling, I scrambled to my feet. I caught a glimpse of the man approaching me. He was tall and ruggedly handsome with unruly blonde tresses atop his head. A small amount of stubble lined his perfectly chiseled chin. Knee length dark trousers clung to his legs and he wore black sandals that wound up his ankles and a tribal looking band wrapped around his left calf just above his sandals. His purple jacket was worn open to reveal his well toned chest and the mark of Whitebeard in dark ink that he wore with pride. His electric blue eyes widened as he looked at me and I turned and bolted into the forest before he could react.

            "THAT'S HER!" Someone else called and my heart began to race as I heard thundering footsteps behind me.

            I tore off the path in hopes that the tangle of underbrush and thorns would slow them down.

            "GET BACK HERE!" Another voice snarled from behind me, they were catching up!

            I attempted to leap over a semi-large shrub just as someone launched some sort of long range slashing attack at me from behind. My ankle got snagged in the shrub and I instantly hit the ground getting the wind knocked out of me for the second time. The trees around me splintered from the attack and I felt nauseous as I realized had I not been athletically challenged that it would have been me getting sliced to ribbons by the attack.

            Panic settled in as the Whitebeard Pirates caught up to me and I immediately cowered away from them as they surrounded me with weapons drawn and looks of pure loathing on their faces.

            "On your feet." Someone barked at me.

            My legs felt gelatinous and useless and I wasn't sure if it was due to the paralyzing fear or the fact that I'd ran more in the past three weeks than I had in my entire lifetime and my body was just fed up with it. Hesitantly I chanced a glance at the surrounding pirates as my body trembled uncontrollably. The electric blue eyes of the first division commander locked on me and I watched in awe as his face took on a curious look. Just what look of pure terror was reflected on my face?

            "P-please don't k-kill me." I managed to whimper.