Fanfic: Destined for Flames (One Piece)

Name: Flynn D. Raya

Nicknames (answers to): "Little Red" (Portgas D. Ace), "Aka" (Roronoa Zoro), "Ray" (Yasopp/Red-Hair Pirates

Epithet: Red-Haired Demon

Bounty (currently): 50,000,000

Affiliation: Straw Hat Pirates

Family: Red-Haired Shanks (father), Flynn D. Mia (mother), Jonah (stepfather)

Physical Appearance: Short in stature. Eye-catching, viciously red hair. Bright pink eyes. A pin-straight, off-white scar cuts from her left eyebrow down to just below her left eye. Most common expressions are a wide, playful smile or a hearty scowl.

Tend to dress boyishly, never in skirts or dresses unless forced. Favorite outfit consists of a pale pink tank top, black jeans (of which she has numerous pairs), black combat boots (with or without decorative buckles), her white bandana (tied around her neck, tucked into her boot, or around her head) and a stolen Marine vest (which, sadly, did not survive her trip to Alabasta).

Personality: Raya is a determined, strong-willed girl with a heart both compassionate and merciless when the time calls for it. She is sarcastic and playful, preferring to sail calm seas rather than fight twenty-four-seven.

Her nakama are her everything, owing to her rarely-seen fear of loneliness and abandonment, both of which stem from the death of her parents at the hand of Blackbeard when she was just eight.

Raya may forgive, but she has a habit of holding grudges, and will not hesitate to bring up someone's past wrongdoing if she feels it's advantageous to her. This is shown in the extreme case of her grudge against Blackbeard: She's stated that her reasons for becoming a pirate are (1) to be a part of the next Pirate King's crew and (2) avenge her parents' senseless death by killing Blackbeard herself.

She isn't find of admitting her weaknesses, not for fear of scorn, bit simply because she doesn't want to admit them to herself. Only a few trusted friends understand the depths of her fears.

Weapon: A gold-emblazoned katana with a beautifully crafted red hilt and sheath, named Yuragu Honoo (Dancing Flame). Honoo, whom Raya can communicate with owing to the fact that each sword contains its own "spirit", has a strange connection to the spirit of Wado, Zoro's sword.

Has a decent proficiency with firearms but prefers a sword in combat.

Relationship: Romantically involved with Roronoa Zoro.

Author's Thoughts: Raya is... well, Raya is my absolute favorite character I've ever created, inside or outside of fan fiction or Wattpad. She's complex and tricky to write, but oh-so entertaining to imagine.

In her, I've placed a lot of the qualities I wish for myself. She's outspoken, she's truthful and at times even blunt, and she is fearless when needed. One of the things I most admire about Raya is actually her vulnerability. Strange, maybe, but I quite like the side of her that confused in Zoro on restless, moonlit nights. She's sweet and shy in a way she would never want to be. And to me, it's a nice contrast to her rather coarse personality.

I don't have many things I dislike about her, if anything really. She's a charming character and I don't care if that sounds conceited coming from me. I love her and I hope to keep her with me for a long time, even after her story is finished.