7A purple coat swished gently in the breeze of the open air of Sabaody Archipelago. The sun was beginning to rise as the owner of said coat walked quietly towards Grove 13. If anyone had bothered to look her way, they may have noticed that as she walked, her feet didn't make a sound, even with the long boots she had on.
Takimi Katya smiled as she approached one of her favourite places on the island. She had been settled on the archipelago for a year now. It was good for business, being in between Paradise and the New World. Simple to distribute Tone Dials with songs, plus there were many groves with decent sized performance areas.
Katya smiled to herself. It had been a tough, but ultimately right decision to follow her dream and come to the Grand Line. The North Blue, where her hometown of Forhargo was, had been her home for many years, but the Grand Line was where you went to be noticed in the world.
"Ah, hello, Katya-san, how have you been?" A voice rose as she walked into her destination building.
"Please, Shakky, you can speak informally to me. You always said I could with you." Katya smiled at the bartender as she climbed onto the bar stool and slid her purple coat off her shoulders. "Where's your infamous husband?"
"Out somewhere causing trouble, no doubt. The usual?"
"Please," Katya shrugged off her bag. "I'm sorry it's been so long since I've come to see you. Please accept my apologies."
"It's never a problem, you're busy, being who you are. Had a few Marines in here the other day who were complaining about temporary deafness." Shakky smirked. "Figured it was your work."
"You had Marines in here?"
"Eh, a few on occasion. They never come back, of course, once they realise who usually frequents this place."
"Bunch of idiots, really." Katya took a sip of the large margarita that Shakky had placed in front of her. "Can't get any better company than pirates. Well, most pirates."
"Not all pirates are the same, though. Had some big-shot rookie come in yesterday. Red hair, mouthy."
"Shit, Kid's here?" Katya cursed.
"You know him?" Shakky inquired with interest.
"We crossed paths when I was away on business a few months ago." Crossed paths was a light word for it. She had sang at the request of a pirate family that had been celebrating on an island and Kid had been there. The man had immediately taken a liking to her and hit on her after the concert. Katya had been bored so she'd slept with him and then made a speedy exit in the morning, one that Kid was not best pleased about. If it were not for her Devil Fruit, she would never have gotten off the island without notice.
"My my, you do know how to pick them," Shakky continued, picking up on her mood. "Apparently there's quite the gathering going to happen soon."
"Oh?" Katya lowered her drink. "A gathering?"
"The rookies with bounties above 100 million, they're all getting closer to the Archipelago." Shakky poured herself a drink and leaned onto the bar. "Maybe you'll run into some this evening. Any idea of where you're headed to perform?"
"Eh, maybe near the amusement park. I'd like a bigger audience this evening." Katya took another long sip of her cocktail. "Any word on whether any of those rookies are around there?"
"A few crews have been spotted there today. You'll have a good audience, if a rowdy one if reputations are to be believed."
Katya nodded her head, before flicking back a piece of brown hair that had fallen in her face.
"The world's changing, young one." Shakky placed a bottle of whisky on the bar and poured herself a small glass. "I have a feeling that something big will be coming. I know you are good at keeping yourself out of trouble, but the more your music sells, the more of a target you could be. You know how the Tenryubito can be."
Katya understood perfectly. The Celestial Dragons were often the reason many singers didn't stay popular for long on the Archipelago. They would demand performers be taken to Mariejois for their own entertainment. Katya, despite being only 21, had been doing well for herself. Her tone dials were selling well, even if her manager Garkin was a sleazy asshole.
"I'll be careful, Shakky-san."
"Take the longer way to the amusement park today, Grove 15 had a lot of ships around today. Some slavers, by the looks of it, and a pirate submarine."
"Not many crews have a sub these days." Katya arched an eyebrow in interest. "Though I guess they are good for stealth."
Shakky smirked "It's not exactly stealthy. It's bright yellow."
"What kind of idiot has a bright yellow submarine?" Katya snorted, and picked up her coat. "Any other crews around that area?"
"Several other Supernovas are wandering around the island. The rumours about most of the Supernova crews aren't great. The Straw Hat Pirates intrigue me most, though." Shakky finished her drink.
"Straw Hat Luffy...the ones that stormed Enies Lobby." Katya mused.
"You're not old to recognise the hat, but I know you know the one that used to own it."
"Hm? I know them?"
Shakky giggled. "Shanks always was your favourite audience."
"RED HAIR?! That hat belongs to him?" Katya gaped in shock. "Maybe I'll have to meet this Straw Hat kid. If Shanks liked him enough to give it to him, well..."
"You never told me the story of how you met him, you know~" Shakky poured out another glass of whiskey for herself.
"He was visiting an island just inside the New World. I was there for a few days myself; I performed for his crew and he told me to keep in touch in case his crew were wherever I was." Katya shrugged. Knowing one of the Yonkou was a feat that most would brag about, but Katya didn't care about bounties or status. Those she performed for were the same thing at the end of the day, an audience, ones that would hopefully tip. Shanks tipped well, even if it was in booze.
"My my, you do know some interesting people, Kat."
"All part of my weird life, Shakky." Katya picked up her coat and handed over the Beri for her drink to Shakky. "I'll come by soon." She gave the woman a wink. "Say hi to your husband for me."
"He'll be sad he missed you." Shakky waved her out of the door.
Katya wrapped her coat around her and began the long walk towards the amusement park. It was time to go and see Garkin to discuss her new song. She hated the man, but he was a good manager on the business front. Now she just had to hope she didn't run into any of those Supernovas. Unless she ran into HIM. Then, Supernova or not, she was going to deafen the man who had dumped her without warning permanently.
Trafalgar Law sneezed slightly as he walked down the streets of a shopping district with his crew.
"Bless you." Bepo said.
"Someone must be talking about you, Captain." Shachi remarked with a smile, nudging Penguin.
"It had better not be Eustass-ya, I've had enough of him already today." Law grumbled back.
The four Heart Pirates were on their way to rendezvous with Ikkaku, who had been shopping for supplies. The men hadn't wanted her to go alone and she had threatened them several times as well as ranting about her ability to take care of herself before taking Harris and Connor with her to help shopping after Law told her it was an order. They were in dangerous territory after all. He didn't want any of his crew harmed.
"Shachi, Penguin, I'm going to look into the timings for our investigation tomorrow at Grove 1 with Bepo. You two meet the others and be back to the ship within two hours. Keep your Den-Den Mushis on hand."
"Yes, Captain!" The two saluted cheerily.
The two men watched their Captain and Bepo leave before continuing down the street. Shachi yawned lazily as they ambled around by the shops.
"Where is Ikkaku supposed to be again?" He turned to his companion.
"She said she was looking for some books for Captain, plus some entertainment for us all. We got the essentials yesterday."
"Entertainment..." Shachi began to daydream.
"Not that kind, idiot." Penguin poked him in the ribs. "Some music and card games and things."
Shachi snorted. "Good luck to her on the music, that's for sure."
"Why do I need luck?" A sharp voice interrupted from behind them. The two engineers jumped and turned to face the only female members of their crew.
"Ah, Ikkaku, we were just-"
"You two are here to help me, correct?"
"Yeah, but..." Penguin looked around. "Where are Connor and Harris?"
"I sent them back to the ship with a bunch of things already."
"How much did you buy?!"
"It was within the budget." Ikkaku shrugged. "Come on, I was about to look in this music store."
The two followed her into a large record store, which sold traditional records as well as Tone Dials with multiple artists from across the Blues. An elderly man greeted them as they entered.
"Welcome, welcome, anything I can help you with today?"
"We were hoping to find something to listen to. Long-lasting quality if possible, we have a long journey ahead of us." Ikkaku smiled warmly at the man. For all her sharp words to her fellow crew members, she had a soft spot for young children and the elderly.
"Hm, well, do you have a favoured style of music?"
"Not particularly. Do you have any recommendations?"
"Oh, yes!" The man smiled brightly and handed her a record set.
"Hm, 'Silena Siren'..." She read aloud.
"AHHHH!" Penguin suddenly screeched. "Put that back if you value your life, Ikkaku!"
"What?" She balked.
Shachi was shaking his head vigorously. "Silena Siren is banned listening on the ship! The last time..." He paled.
"Is it bad?" Ikkaku arched an eyebrow.
Penguin grimaced. "Quite the opposite. She's great, it's just...well, she wrote a few songs that anger Captain."
"Not just anger Captain, they make him downright murderous!"
"Okay you two clearly know more about this than me." Ikkaku turned over the cover and looked at the songs.
"Ikkaku, we can't have it on the ship, trust us!"
"Why not?! Be clear with me!" She hissed at them.
"Because some of the songs are about Captain!" Penguin blurted out and Shachi clapped his hand over his companion's mouth.
"Don't speak of it, Pen, he'll know!"
"...you're shitting me." Ikkaku looked incredibly shocked. "Why would someone write songs about Law?"
"They're old songs, but...well, he knew her. We knew her." Penguin continued.
"Oh, you two know Katya-san?" The old man cut in, smiling at them.
"YOU KNOW HER?!" The two men screeched loudly
"Why yes," the shop owner gently walked over to the wall by the far side of the store. He gestured to a small section of the wall that had a variety of photographs with the man and various famous people. Penguin spotted some truly remarkable faces, including Portgas D. Ace, Silvers Rayleigh and Garp the Hero. "Lots of people pass through here. Katya-san was kind enough to sign a copy for me."
Next to a framed - and signed - record that was identical to the one in Ikkaku's hands was a photograph that looked recent. It had a young woman smiling next to the shop owner. She had bright blue eyes and brown hair cut to shoulder length. She was pretty, Ikkaku noted, with a dash of light freckles across her nose.
"Katya-chan..." Shachi gasped. "She's changed so much."
"How do you two know her?" Ikkaku finally asked.
"Because..." Penguin sighed after a long pause. "She was almost a Heart Pirate."