[h2]Dirk Messir[/h2]
It wasn't every day Dirk found himself around clothes. At least, not normal person clothes; most of what he was used to was his own unwashed rags, and the excessively rich tastes of his previous masters. These seemed rather in-between-ey by comparison, so he assumed that was what "normal clothes" meant. Regardless, he was among clothes now - his Divine Purpose had brought him to the small-ish shop called Chipper's Clothing unseen, but then it had decided to fail by ringing a bell when he pushed the door open. Or maybe that was intentional? The shopkeeper was coming over in a green apron and brown trousers and such, anyway, and from his expression, he seemed to be a rather conscientious fellow.

'Goodness gracious, my boy, whatever do you think you're wearing?' the old man asked in a somewhat shocked tone, only to be taken aback by the blunt, surprisingly quiet response of 'Not a boy. I am twenty two, and that's really offensive.' Dirk seemed less offended than he claimed, taking his time to stare intensely at the shopkeeper, head tilted to one side with a slight frown, before glancing round to take in his surroundings - wooden architecture, intended to soothe and calm, only slightly offset by the glinting metallic frames holding the variety of clothes. The frames reminded Dirk of his torture at the hands of the divine father, but also distracted him for a moment from the shopkeeper taking him further into the building, introducing himself as the shop's namesake and asking for the slave's own name.

'Dirk.'

'What a lovely name. And might I ask what brings you here, in those, uh... rags, no less?'

Though the man seemed nice, Dirk had known little kindness in his time, and took several seconds to stare again before formulating a whispered response: 'I was in the house. The big one on the hill. I was going to. Er. The guy said I was a. Pleasure? Slave.' Chipper's eyes widened at this revelation, murmuring something under his breath as Dirk continued. 'I didn't want that. So I used my martial arts skills. He died. But there's more of them, so I escaped. Now I have to fulfill my Divine Purpose.'

The shopkeeper nodded, then broke into a wide smirk. 'Hmph. The fat bastard got what was coming to him. Some of those World Government types... they're just dreadful, you know? I- well, of course you do, my apologies.' He took a brief look across his property, then looked at Dirk again with a rather warmer smile. 'Well, look. How about you pick out some clothes for yourself, Dirk, and we can discuss payment options... let's say "later" for now.'

[i]Oh, right. Money buys things.[/i] Dirk had almost forgotten that fact of the real world. Fortunately, he had an object worth a lot of money. He pulled out the strange fruit with one hand, and his knife with the other, and began explaining that 'This is worth a lot of money. If I cut out a slice-'

He was stopped when Chipper's hands covered his own, his expression grave. Before the man could speak, Dirk interrupted with 'Please stop touching me,' the man removing his hands post-haste before quietly asking whether Dirk knew what he held.

'A knife. And this fruit. Apparently, you get power from. Eating it?' Dirk asked. 'So I figure you can eat some of it. And get some power.'

'I'm afraid the Devil Fruits do not work like that, Dirk,' Chipper informed him quietly. 'They will lend their full power to the first being who consumes even an ounce of their flesh, at the cost of rendering the bearer of such power unable to swim. If you stole this from a World Government official... let's just say you'd do well to hide it from prying eyes, eh? And, perhaps, leave this island as soon as possible, if you value your life and freedom.' Another few moments of staring, and Dirk sequestered the knife and Devil Fruit away again. 'But for now,' the man continued, 'please, take your pick of clothing. You must have been getting such bad sunburn through all those holes.'

Time passed, and Dirk picked out a selection of brand new clothes, the shopkeeper insisting that he would provide freely to any man or woman who actively opposed the World Government's tyranny - underwear, black socks and shoes, dark trousers, a wide necked grey shirt, a neck chain with a small bell on it (Chipper admitted that these were cheap as dirt despite the hefty price tag, and he only really sold them to those youths who for some reason thought they looked cool), and finally a black longcoat that covered most of what lay underneath, complete with white-striped hood (though his new friend asked if he really wanted to wear that in such blistering heat). He changed into his new attire, transferred his weapon and his Devil Fruit to the longcoat's pockets, discarded his old rags, and finally found himself leaving the shop. He said his goodbyes to the shopkeeper, agreeing that he would return to see the man some day if he succeeded in fulfilling his Divine Purpose before Chipper passed on, and ultimately slipped into the crowd. The goal: to escape Loguetown as soon as possible.

And to do that, he'd need a ship.