One Piece, What Never Was But Might have Been
Chapter One. The First Crew Member.
A cloaked stranger comes to town, carrying two swords. He pays with good coin and in a town dominated by a crazy marine Lieutenant, good coin is a welcome a sight as any. Though he seems a little clumsy and remarkably soft-spoken, no one thinks to rob him. They're all good people despite the trying times and his tales of justice are endearing rather than annoying.
He even wants to join the marines! They shake their heads: he'll learn soon enough.
When Helmeppo – the Lieutenant's son – marches into town with rabid pet and it goes wild, the stranger reveals that he is more than just talk.
The wolf howls and falls apart, cleanly bisected.
"Meepo! You killed my Meepo!"
"Your pet was about to attack a child, Mister."
Then the stranger trips and falls onto his face.
"ARREST THIS MAN." Helmeppo wails.
The marines that make up Helmeppo's constant retinue are on him, each grabbing an arm. "This isn't right." The stranger says calmly. "Release me."
Helmeppo is still crying over the corpse of his pet. "I'm the Lieutenant's son! Do you know what that means?"
"It means that… you're… his son."
Only a true naïf would say that without the slightest trace of irony and occasional pause for confusion.
"EXACTLY," Helmeppo screeches. "And that means I'll decide your punishment. It should be fitting for what you did to poor Meepo." He thinks. Those who are brave enough to listen in on the conversation hold their breath. "Thirty days. Fifteen for each of your stupid swords. If you can survive them without food or water, we'll release you. How about that tough, guy?"
"That's illegal," the stranger replies calmly. "Does the Lieutenant know you're doing this?"
Helmeppo smiles nastily. "Oh yes he knows. He's done this before." Pause. "Now let me see that stupid face."
He rips off the cloak.
A bespectacled face that remained feminine despite the boyish haircut stares up at him defiantly.
"Heya! Whatcha doing there?"
Tashigi cracked open a dry eye. A curiously cheerful face loomed in front of hers from behind the stone wall that separated the marine base from the rest of the town. The odd straw hat seemed oddly fitting on his head. Next to him was a panicked kid with glasses was making strange faces as his expression zipped between appalled and frightened as he tugged on the taller one's arm.
"Luffy-san, we can't be caught here!"
Five days ago she would have agreed with the shorter one and told them to leave. Politely, but she would have told them regardless.
But that was five days ago.
"I," Tashigi said through parched lips as she hung limply from the executioner's cross, "am waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
"For thirty days to pass." A rough mental tally put her up to a week, give or take a few days. You'd think it'd be easier to tell time when you had nothing else to do but without food and water every hour seemed like an eternity. She took in deep, painful breath. Though it stung her pride she still found it within her to ask: "You wouldn't happen to have water, would you?"
"Mmmmm… no."
Dejected, she said: "Oh."
"But I can get you some!"
She brightened. Probably not much, but the last bit of water she'd had had come three days ago in the form of rainwater.
"Would you?" She asked hopefully.
A voice that was cheerful, girlish and one that Tashigi would have rather not have heard, all things considered, answered in his stead.
"I will!"
There was a telltale smack of wood meeting stone. Tashigi didn't have the energy to groan but she did sag a bit in her restraints.
"Big sis!"
And with no more caution than if she'd been crossing the road, Rika hopped down from her ladder and into the execution site, holding out rice balls that looked like they were falling apart. Tashigi was appalled at how nonchalant the little girl had become about risking life and limb for her 'big sis'.
"I'm not hungry." She told her, trying not to stare at the enticing plate of food. Straw hat boy and Glasses boy were deep in some sort of argument and she saw them duck away and leave.
"You just said you were thirsty." With a conspiratorial whisper, the little girl added, "I put loooots of water in them."
She wouldn't salivate. She wouldn't salivate. Probably couldn't, actually.
"You should leave," she whispered.
Rika stamped her foot. "Rika's not leaving until Big Sis has eaten!"
"They're not good people, Rika," Tashigi replied testily. Oh how she had been mistaken about marines! "They're crazy." When the girl didn't leave, Tashigi managed: "Please, I don't want to see you hurt."
The plate of food was thrust in front of her nose. "Eat!" The little girl commanded. "Or I won't leave!"
Tashigi vacillated. The decision, however, was taken out of her hands.
She heard a metal fence open. "Oi. Bitch. Don't pick on little kids. Or I might have to tell my father on you."
"Oh. You're… you're… a woman."
"What difference does that make?"
"Nothing, nothing, ah, you'll pay a fine and-"
"No. I don't want any special treatment."
"But-"
-POW!-
"I said, I don't want any special treatment!"
"Helmeppo." The swordswoman said, name dripping with venom.
"Oh why, hello there little girl. These for me?" The insufferable ass asked, before popping one of the rice balls into his mouth. Tashigi watched it go with something akin to longing. Helmeppo's face twisted into an ugly grimace. The spot where she'd hit him was still black and bruised. "Byeurk!" He said, spewing rice everywhere. "These are disgusting! You put too much water in them!"
"But, but Big Sis is thirsty-"
Tashigi watched Helmeppo wince and tried not to get angry all over again. What, so he was willing to torture some people but not everyone? Justice wasn't just something that discriminated between gender! He had to face up to the fact that he was an idiot and a bully and so was his father.
"Hey, Bitch," Helmeppo said, surprising her by shoving the other rice ball into her mouth. Her instinct to spit it out in his face warred with the instinct to chew and gratefully accept Rika's efforts and the deadlock made her freeze, mouth hanging slack and open.
"You should suffer like I suffered," Helmeppo told her primly. "Go on then, it's terrible, isn't it?"
Tashigi chewed mechanically and swallowed the whole thing. It was soggy and tasteless. "It's the best thing I've ever tasted," she told him.
Rika's smile was as bright as the sun.
"Yeah, yeah," Helmeppo said, picking the little girl up by the back of his shirt. "You can't be caught here, girlie. Or my dad'll execute you."
The impromptu marine visit left with Rika waving happily as she was carried under one arm.
"You better keep your promise!" Tashigi yelled after them.
"I will," came the call back.
And then Tashigi was left alone again in the execution site. She sighed and licked the inside of her mouth for any lingering grains of rice. The growling hunger hadn't faded but it was less painful than before.
A head popped up over the stone fence.
"Huh, that was weird."
Tashigi's head whipped around. Straw hat boy had come back, glasses-kid was nowhere to be seen. He clambered up over the stone fence. In his hand was a bottle of water. "Here."
Tashigi struggled with herself. In the end, her thirst won out.
"I can't exactly reach it," she pointed out. Then, her heart won out because he was clearly a good kid: "You should probably leave. They're serious about the rules here. I don't want to see you hurt, either."
"Ah," the kid said, waving his hand as he uncorked the bottle and dribbled it enthusiastically into her mouth. She tried to catch as much of it as she could but he was not exactly very delicate and she wasn't in any shape to be terribly agile. "Don't worry about that." He smiled hugely. "I'm a pirate!"
She didn't spit the water out in his face. It was a close thing.
"Are you now," she asked, swallowing the water.
"Yup!" His face took on a pensive expression. "I'm looking for someone to join my crew."
"You're a good kid," Tashigi beseeched, after a momentary pause made her realize he was dead serious. "Don't give up on a normal life, you could-"
He straightened up. "Oi! Being a pirate's my dream! There's nothing wrong with being a pirate!"
Tashigi didn't like putting such labels on people, but the errant thought that the child was mentally handicapped did flash through her head. She poked it out of her brain and tried to calmly reason with him.
"Pirate's kill and murder and pillage-"
"-they don't hafta." He countered, shaking his head. "And I'm not going to either!" He paused. "Well, maybe a little pillaging. Shishishishishi."
She found it hard to rail against that sort of innocent enthusiasm – hadn't she come here with the intention to join the marines? Surely the pirate life must look very attractive and adventurous to some people.
"Still," she shook her head, "most pirates are terrible."
He grinned. "And most pirates are free." He eyed her bonds speculatively.
She groaned. Now that she had some food in her, she had enough energy to do wasteful things like that. "Don't tell me you want to free me so that I'll join you."
"I'm not sure yet. These are really weak ropes. Where I'm going, I'll need some strong people to back me up."
She recognized that challenge.
"I'm strong!" Tashigi replied, affronted. "If I wanted to, I could get free in an instant!" Well, closer to two or three instants. She had been hanging here for over a week with very little food and water. "But I agreed to this and I'm not leaving until I finish this stupid thirty-day trial," she harrumpfed.
He laughed. "I'd die within a week," he said honestly and without rancour. "Shishishishi. My name's Luffy. Monkey D. Luffy."
"Tashigi." She replied, feeling oddly enough like she'd just lost some argument. "Just Tashigi."
"I'll remember that!" He promised her. And then if she had had water in her mouth she would have spit it out. "I'm going to be the future pirate king."
"What?" She said, trying to grasp the enormity of what he wanted. "But that's…"
"Ne, ne, what's your dream?"
It was a bit of an oddball request and Tashigi wanted to know why someone would want to be the pirate king but answered regardless: "I'm going to take swords away from bad people."
"All the swords in the world?" Luffy asked guilelessly.
"No…" Tashigi admitted, feeling a little shallow. "Just the really good ones. They're crying, you know? You can hear them. They were made by honourable people," like her father, "and want to be used honourably. So I'm going to take them back."
Luffy nodded in a way that told her everything had gone straight over his head. "But that means you'll need to be strong, right?"
"The strongest," she confirmed. "Because I'll have to hold onto them."
Luffy laughed.
From far away, she could hear shouting. Luffy blinked and looked up. "That sounds like Coby. Shishishishi. I'm going to go see what's up."
His arms stretched and held onto the stone wall. Tashigi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. A devil fruit?
"Seeya!" He then zoomed off like an arrow released from a bow and Tashigi was left looking at dust.
Then Rika screamed and she was struggling with her bonds.
"So you want to be a marine, huh, kid?"
Coby shook in his boots. Managed to nod his head. Besides him, Lieutenant Axe-Hand Morgan towered as he ordered another plate of something. They'd come here looking for water and since Coby had been sure that Luffy would somehow manage to get himself killed by the dominating Lieutenant if Luffy opened his mouth, Coby had sat down besides the Lieutenant to distract him while he pushed Luffy to go fetch water.
"Yessir." He replied, still shaking. Why had he mentioned his dream? It was bound to lead to bad news.
"You know what's the most important thing about being a marine, huh?"
"Helping people?"
"WRONG!" The Lieutenant roared as he banged his axe on the table, leaving a deep gouge. "It's power."
"Oh." Coby whispered. That didn't sound very nice.
Then again, the entire situation stunk of something rotten. Why was a young lady tied up to an executioner's cross for having done nothing more than stopped a rampaging beast? Even if she did have a reputation for violence and mayhem she was clearly not the one at fault. 'Sword Collector' Tashigi might almost be as infamous as 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro but that didn't give them leave to just tie her up like some sort of sick trophy!
"So, how much power do you have?" Morgan asked. Coby shuddered.
"Zero?"
"And me?" The voice was dangerous.
"A lot more than that?"
"Exactly! Exactly!" The Lieutenant laughed uproariously all of a sudden before slapping Coby on the back, causing Coby to spit out most of what he had been eating. "You understand! That's why the people here serve me without me paying – because they respect my power. Don't you see?"
Coby didn't. Before he could put voice to such a suicidal thought the door to the restaurant opened.
"Daddy," Helmeppo said tentatively, sounding anything but pleased.
"Helmeppo." Morgan replied, indifferent, turning towards the door. His eyes narrowed. "What's that you got there."
"Oh, just some no-name brat that was wandering near the marine base," Helmeppo laughed nervously. "Nothing big, just escorting her home with a warning-"
"Execute her."
"Daddy?"
"Execute her."
Coby stood up, knees shaking. "Sir, you can't-"
Morgan sighed as he stood up. Then he backhanded Coby through half the restaurant. Chairs and tables crunched as Coby was made into an impromptu cannonball. He slid to the ground, dazed when his back finally hit the wall with a sick crunch of bruised flesh meeting brick.
"You think you're fooling anyone, son? That's the same brat that tried to feed the prisoner yesterday too, huh?"
"No…"
"I already told you why I've never hit you." The Lieutenant said. Helmeppo's hand briefly rose to meet his bruised eye. "Just because you're not worth hitting doesn't mean you can get away with disrespecting my power."
"Dad-"
"What are you two waiting for?" Morgan roared. The two marines to Helmeppo's side stiffened. "Execute her."
"Sir, without proper authorization we can't just-"
Coby had heard enough. With a terrified roar he picked up one of the chairs and ran towards Lieutenant Morgan. Said Lieutenant sidestepped his charge and punted him through the front window. Glass tinkled and crashed and he hit the ground covered in minor cuts and bruises.
He was about three feet away from Helmeppo and the other marines.
And Rika.
With a desperate yell he grabbed the little girl and started running.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" The Lieutenant roared. "GET THEM."
Bullets whizzed by but their aim was terrible. Coby suspected why but screamed anyway. He didn't get far – Lieutenant Morgan might have been huge but Coby was about a third of his size, a sixth of his weight and carrying a little girl.
There was no contest.
"Those who disrespect me," the Lieutenant roared as he chased after them, "will die."
Rika whimpered and Coby screamed all the louder. The axe descended and Coby felt something crunch into his side.
Rika screamed as she escaped his grasp.
And then Luffy was there, slamming into Morgan with the speed and force of a bomb. The Lieutenant was sent flying as Luffy landed on his feet. The pirate got to his feet and adjusted his straw hat.
Everyone conscious stared at him with their jaw trying to head towards their feet.
"Hey, Coby what are you yelling…" the cheerful tone became more sombre as he noticed the state of his friend, "ne, Coby, what happened, you're bleeding, wow this is pretty bad but you're going to have an epic scar-"
"Save her," Coby said weakly, trying not to despair at the fact that Luffy had just sent Morgan flying by accident (then again, he had done the same to Alvida, hadn't he?), pointing a trembling hand towards the girl. "Save-"
Luffy grasped his hand and pulled Coby to his feet even as he pressed his hand against the wound. His other arm twirled out and caught Rika and then reeled her in.
"Ne, you'll have to explain this to me," Luffy said as he sprinted back towards the marine base as gunshots chased them down the street. "Because I don't get it. I'm pretty sure you're the one that needs saving, actually. Do you know if marine bases have good doctors?"
Tashigi had never wanted to become an outlaw.
The moment Rika screamed she had a horrible premonition and scraped her arms raw trying to get out of her bonds. After failing in that endeavour she had taken a deep breath and concentrated. Wood cracked and then splintered as she strained and finally gave way she snapped herself free of her restraints through pure muscle power.
That was when the marines on duty noticed that she was free. One hectic instant later that involved a lot of dodging on her part and some shooting on their part she had two cutlasses and two flintlock pistols. She carefully put them down when she noticed her swords, waiting – apparently – for her release. She apologized to the two men who she was certain were merely honourable men caught in a bad position because they'd only shot to wound and hadn't even raised the alarm then took her swords back. One quick check later revealed that they were both fine and after strapping them to her belt she ran outside.
Luffy was running up the road, two people on his back, "hiya!" he said cheerfully. "Do you know a good doctor?"
Her heart went cold thinking that it might be Rika but her voice popped out next, putting those fears to rest. Then the bloody arm sagged and she felt bad at her relief.
"Big Sis," Rika wailed. "He got hurt trying to save me and Morgan's still after us-"
"There's a medic in every marine base," Tashigi said, taking a steadying breath. Then she pulled Shigure out of its sheathe as she faced the road. This was probably one of the silliest things she had ever done. Kashū hummed thoughtfully but didn't complain at her choice. "Leave Rika here. Go save your friend." She ordered.
"Shishishi! Thanks Tashigi!" Rika got down and ran to her side.
Then he was off again and despite the frantic shouts, Tashigi was fairly certain that no marines would shoot him. Not when all he wanted was a medic.
She hoped she wasn't wrong.
"Rika, go hide," she ordered.
"No, Big Sis-"
Rumbling steps as a crazed looking Lieutenant Morgan ran towards the Marine Base. Tashigi shooed Rika away and then zipped low and blocked his charge with her blade.
It held despite the enormous force that Morgan brought to bear with his axe.
"You." The marine rumbled. "Get out of the way. Your execution isn't scheduled for another three weeks."
Tashigi bristled. They would have still executed her? Anger lent her strength despite her general feeling of exhaustion and she shoved him back a few steps.
"Have you no pride?" She asked, pointing her sword at him. "Justice is-"
"Justice is power," Lieutenant Morgan replied, charging in. Tashigi didn't have the energy to perform one of her special attacks and just dodged the blow and slamming the flat of her blade against his temple as she leaped over him.
He didn't fall. Tough guy.
"You attacked me," Lieutenant Morgan said, almost sounding surprised. "I'll execute you for that."
"You were going to execute me anyway," she shouted, furious, readying another charge.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Helmeppo and his lackeys arrive. They looked a bit uncertain at what to do.
Morgan took the initiative.
"True enough." He whirled like a spinning top. "AXE TORNADO."
That had to be the stupidest attack she had ever seen. She dodged it cleanly and then realized that Rika hadn't run nearly far away enough and ran back. She parried three blows and then tackled Rika to the ground and rolled. The marines hesitantly took out their guns and aimed in her general direction.
"Are you going to shoot a little girl?" She asked them, appalled. "Think for yourselves-" Then Morgan growled and charged on her. Blows rained down and Rika screamed as Tashigi forced Shigure to parry each one. She chucked Rika to the side.
Mistake.
"Execute the girl," Morgan growled.
"But sir-!"
Blows continued to rain down. Tashigi slowly made it to her feet as she took Kashū from its sheathe and start doubled her blows, more interested in keeping Morgan's attention on her than trying to beat him. The man was clearly insane. The shallow wounds she inflicted did nothing to dispel his attention.
"ARE YOU DISOBEYING A DIRECT ORDER?"
"Sir, sir…"
One of the marines, more cowardly or less moral pointed a trembling gun at Rika.
Tashigi slammed Shigure into Morgan's foot, eliciting a scream from the giant marine. Then she pushed.
The gun went off.
The bullet went wide.
The axe, however, was descending towards Rika. Tashigi had an instant's choice and took it. "Kamaitachi!"
It was an attack performed with the flat of the blade that was meant to break bones. She heard his ribs crunch. She had enough time to see Lieutenant Morgan's eyes widen in shock. Then he fell. One of the marines dropped his smoking gun.
"I didn't mean it! I didn't-"
Tashigi took a deep breath. Helmeppo was frozen shock. So were the marines.
"Rika, Rika, listen to me and run."
"Big Sis-"
"Please, Rika."
Rika gave her a tearful hug and scampered off.
"He needs a medic," Tashigi pointed out still breathing hard as she tried to approach the shellshocked marines. "Then he needs to be arrest-"
She wasn't expecting it, but it didn't make it any less embarrassing. Morgan roared to his feet and she only managed a half turn and a step back before the axe slashed her from shoulder to wrist in one long gash. She fell back, torn jacket fluttering, hand clamped over the shallow, uneven wound.
Idiot, idiot-
Then Luffy arrived.
His eyes were murderous. For a moment, she couldn't recognize him. His eyes flickered from her to Morgan and then away to the marine complex.
No, to his friend. Coby.
The boy cracked his knuckles.
"Are you the one in charge?" He asked.
"YOU-" Morgan roared, hoisting his axe.
Luffy's hand extended and caught the axe blade. Amazingly, Morgan didn't appear to be able to budge an inch.
Then again, all his ribs were broken.
"Are you the one in charge?" Luffy asked patiently.
"OF COURSE I AM." Morgan roared, blood still leaking from his odd metal jaw. The internal injuries he accumulated just by standing up must have been horrific. Tashigi was impressed despite herself.
Luffy punched him. Morgan's metal jaw cracked and then he was literally sent spinning towards the heavens, an imprint of a knuckle clearly etched on his face.
Luffy snorted and then nodded to himself.
Morgan landed a moment later, making the ground crater.
"You only put his dream on hold," Luffy said darkly, "you didn't destroy it." Then he kicked the corpse towards Helmeppo and the other two marines. "Here," he said, sounding disinterested, "take it."
Surprisingly, the marines saluted. Towards both of them.
Helmeppo was still staring in shock.
Luffy yelled towards the marine base: "ALRIGHT. I BEAT HIM. NOW GO HEAL MY FRIEND."
She heard an answering yell of assent that was nearly drowned out by pained whoops of joy. Had the boy beaten everyone in the marine base to get him to the infirmary?
He turned to her, suddenly all sparkles and smiles.
"So, you want to join my crew? I kind of need a navigator."
"I'm just a swordswoman," she told him. She knew enough to row a boat and that was it. "Actually, Luffy, thanks but-"
"Awww, why not?"
His pleading, puppy eyes were deadly.
Tashigi vacillated. She was technically an outlaw now. Regardless of whether she was right or not, the Lieutenant had been acting with marine authority. The law was clear on her being a criminal. Especially since she'd also knocked two law-abiding marines unconscious.
"Maybe I can accompany you-" She said uncertainly.
Luffy whooped and grabbed her by the injured arm. She winced and he suddenly realized she was hurt. "Ne, ne, you're strong, arentcha? Just some spit and bandages and you'll be all fine tomorrow-"
"I think it'll take a bit more than that," she said, grinning despite herself. Only two people had called her strong without her having to beat it into them. She slid her katanas into their respective sheathes.
"I'm starved," Luffy announced. "Let's go get something to eat!"
Tashigi's stomach made an assenting growl.
Leaving the still saluting marines, they marched into town.
Since the fight was over, she managed to fall flat on her face within the first four steps.
"How on earth do you fit that much into there?" Tashigi asked, trying not to stare. Her arm was stitched up, bandaged, the wound cleaned and her stomach contented after the first real meal in days. Luffy had managed to eat quite a bit more than a real meal. Maybe four or five.
"I'm a rubber man!" Luffy said, as if that explained anything.
"Even if you're a rubber man," Tashigi started, uncertainly, "that doesn't clarify-"
"Oh, let him eat," Rika's mom said pleasantly as she tossed more ingredients into the wok. "You are our town saviours after all."
Tashigi honestly wasn't sure what to make of that. This was the sort of thing she had dreamed of doing when taking swords from people who didn't deserve them. But she had dreamed of being a marine while doing so.
Not a… pirate.
"Big sis and big bro are really strong!" Rika said, grinning from her own plate. Tashigi wasn't sure how much Rika's mom knew about the situation and was honestly a little scared to ask. She hadn't exactly shown herself to have the best of judgment when thrust in a situation that required protecting her.
After another four plates Luffy sighed in contentment. "Phew." Then, disconcertingly, he stared right into her eyes. "Tashigi, if you don't want to be a pirate, that's okay." He grinned. "It's not for everyone. Shishishishi."
Two weeks ago her response would have been instantaneous.
Today…
"I…"
The door to the house opened. Lieutenant Junior Grade Rokkaku entered and saluted.
"On behalf of the marines," the goateed man said solemnly. "We would like to thank you." There was a 'but' coming and Tashigi could hear it: "However, we would like to know: is it true that you are pirates?"
"Shishishishi, I definitely am a pirate." Luffy agreed. Rika's mom discreetly removed herself and Rika from immediate attention by ushering her away.
Eyes turned to her.
Tashigi was at a loss. What was she supposed to say?
"I…"
Luffy gave her a beaming smile and Tashigi realized that there were good and bad marines too. A marine wouldn't be able to take swords away from other corrupt marines – not for a long time – but a pirate?
She added her smile to his.
"I'm a pirate too."
Author's Note: Let's see how long the muse lasts this time, shall we? Chapter two should be up tomorrow and after that, well, it's a mystery!