Finding a cook.

(A/N: chapter updated will be slower, as I have finished all my drafts and need to write new ones. Enjoy the chapter.)

Akane was drifting out on the sea, not knowing where she should start to find her crew. She did know that a Navigator and a cook were a must before she would enter the Grand line.

Besides that, she would need a lot of money and a map towards the Grand line. Guess she sould just move towards lot of islands and hope there would be a person that would like to join her. She did know where she could get a Navigator for her crew, but then she would need to travel towards west blue, so that would have to wait until she got herself a cook.

Akane traveled with her ship across the sea, the weather being pleasant with a decent wind from the back. It didn't take long for her to reach the first island she'd seen after leaving Foosha Village.

The island looked peaceful, calm and serene, as Akane could easily enter the village that was built there. She paid the man at the dock a few berries to look after her boat, while she was looking through the village.

The people were very kind as they told them about the village and where she could find shops to restock her supplies. Apparently this island was called, Orange Island. She didn't know where the name came from and she didn't bother to ask.

As she spoke to a man that was supposedly the mayor of the village to ask if he knew a cook for her crew, she heard a commotion near the docks where her boat was moored. One look let her know the situation was getting out of hand.

The villagers were ganging up on a really tall man, yelling at him and cursing him. Apparently he had just appeared out of nowhere, which scared the villagers. The man himself just looked around with a slight smile on his face as if he found it funny, though the look in his eyes told a different story. He seemed a bit confused, as he took in his surroundings with rapt attention.

Akane stepped forward as she took in the man in front of her. He had a wild, shoulder length, pale blue hair, while his skin had a healthy tanned colour. His eyes, like her own, were a deep crimson red, while a scar ran down from the left side of his face till his neck. His upper body was naked, though he luckily wore black pants.

The man took her in too, as he felt something strange radiating of off her. It wasn't quite nefarious, but the energy was wild and it grabbed his attention. He knew he shouldn't judge people on their appearance, as the people that had been around him had seemed simple too and were secretly powerful monsters of their own.

Akane was the first to open her mouth and speak up.

"My name is Eldertale D. Akane. Who are you and where did you come from?" Akane said as she introduced herself, trying to come over harmless, as she knew the man was not a simple person. No person could just appear out of nowhere like he did. Maybe if he ate some really rare type of devil fruit, but she doubted he did.

The man once more scrutinized his surroundings as he answered.

"I'm Ban. I come from the Kingdom of Liones situated in Britannia. Where is this place, I was fighting against some low ranking demon and the next thing I know I'm in some really strange place." Ban said as he asked a question on his own.

"I don't know of a place called Britannia, but you are currently in East blue sea, on the Orange Island." Akane said, as she looked strangely at the man in front of her. He didn't seem to know what she meant with East blue as his gaze was filled with confusion.

"I'll get you a map so you can see where we are." The mayor said as he walked away and not long after came back with the world map, though it wasn't very detailed. It showed the four seas, the red line and the calm belt. Everything what was meant to be inside the Grand line was blank.

"I got this from a merchant once, said he had no need for it anymore as it wasn't very useful to him." The mayor said as if justifying why he even had a world map.

Akane didn't bother to question him as she took the map and spread it out over the ground. Ban looked with her at the map across her shoulder. He didn't recognise it with any map he'd seen before. This was supposed to be a world map, so did that mean he was stuck in another world?

"Maa, you can find your home as long a you travel. There should be plenty of Islands in the grand line." Akane said, not knowing of Ban's dilemma.

"Well, it seems I'm not from around here. Guess I need to find a way to go back." Ban said as he seemed a bit lost, the smile that had been on his face long gone.

"Well, you can travel with me if you want. Though I really need to ask you something if you want to go with me." Akane said as she looked at the mysterious Ban.

"Well, I'm all ears. Not that I have anywhere to go right now so I'll gladly travel with you if you can help my find a way back." Ban said as he was quite interested with the girl in front of him. He'd never seen anyone with so many tails before. He couldn't even get his eyes of her ears as they twitch from time to time.

"I'm aiming to travel the world as a pirate. Not one that steals though, but one that searches for treasures and loves to discover new places. I wanted to ask if you want to join my crew and if you want to join, can you cook and fight?" Akane said as she really hoped Ban would join her crew.

"Well, isn't that interesting. Why not, sounds like fun to me. As for what I can do, I can cook and fight, kiddo." Ban said as the lazy smile had returned to his face.

"Welcome aboard then." Akane said as she smiled at Ban, her tails swaying slightly as if touched by the wind.

Ban's grin widened as the girl in front of him was really entertaining.

"Then I want to ask you something too, kiddo. What can you do?" Ban said tauntingly.

Akane grinned back as the smile seemed much like a foxes smile.

"Why don't you find out. Mayor, can we use the mountain behind the village. My crew mate and I need to know each other better." Akane said as she couldn't help but widen the grin on her face.