Chapter 1: One Guardian
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of the characters involved except for Guardian G. Gatescholar
It was a calm, clear, day on the grand line as Luffy and the straw-hat crew went about their usual tasks. The crew was scattered throughout the ship inside and on deck. Nothing seemed off until a sudden crash surprised the crew. All of the interior teams were on deck and looking into a large smoke cloud that was streaming from the floor.
"What happened?" asked Nami as she came from her room with Robin and Sanji.
"I don't know, but it must've been pretty heavy to make a crash that loud and to do that much damage," Franky said, aiming his hammer at the smoke cloud.
"Oh, did something happen?" asked Brook who was waking up from his fishing with Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper
"Yes, something happened you idiot! Something crashed through the ship!" yelled Sanji .
"Oh, well, what is it?" He asked.
"We don't know," Nami replied.
"I'm what 'it' is," A voice said from the smoke as a figure appeared.
He was a young man of about fifteen, his body was slightly pale, but most of it was covered by a large voluminous golden robe. In his right hand he carried a black book that was covered in all manner of strange symbols and designs. His hair was short, and flat against his head, but also the gold color of his robe.
"Who are you?" Robin asked.
"I am Guardian G. Gatescholar, leader of the Guardians," he replied with a bow.
"Guardians?" Robin asked.
"Yes ma'am, protector of the worlds and their inhabitants, my mission is to protect the Strawhats from any upcoming threats," Gatescholar explained.
"Thanks but no thanks, we can handle whatever comes next, we need to, otherwise we won't be able to get to the One Piece," Luffy said.
Gatescholar looked over to him and nodded, "Fine, then at least allow me to accompany you to the next island,"
"I have no problem doing that," Luffy said with a grin.
"Excellent," Gatescholar nodded and then proceeded inside the ship and began to explore.
The crew slowly returned to what they were doing before Gatescholar's sudden appearance. A few more hours passed and nothing else eventful occurred during their voyage. After a while Gatescholar asked the crew to refer to him as Gate, since his full name could be a bit of a mouthful.
During dinner Sanji noticed that Gate was still carrying his book, the black bound piece was currently laying on the table next to his plate.
"If you don't mind me asking, but what's with your book?" Sanji said, using his fork to indicate the piece of literature.
"I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner," Gate said with a small smile.
"This is my power tome," he said, as if that was enough.
He was met with blank stares before deciding to describe it further. "I am a student of the Sage arts, and this is my study piece during my apprenticeship. While I am Gatescholar, my powers are much weaker than normal Guardians, but I make up for it with versatility in my abilities. This book contains all my spells that I'll need to know to become a sage,"
The crew was beginning to understand now, some sooner than others.
"Do you know any spells off the top of your head?" Luffy asked, his eyes gleaming with interest.
Gatescholar considered it for a moment, "I do," he said.
He held up his hand, palm upward and in his left the book fluttered to a page where the letters began to glow red.
"Scholar's Art of Fire" a small flame appeared in his hand, a simple thing of red fire. He tossed it between his other now open hand, and then began to juggle it before bouncing it off walls, the ceiling, the floor, and the table. Nothing caught alight and when he was done, he balled his hand into a fist the flame went out.
"That's impressive," Sanji said nodding in approval.
"It's only the beginning of my powers, but like I said, I'm only an apprentice at this stage so I only know two spells without having to consult my book," Gate said holding up to the tome.
After his display dinner continued in the normal fashion, Luffy and some of the other crew members fighting over food while Sanji joined the fray to make sure Nami and Robin had enough. Gate caught random scraps as they flew toward him and ate those while enjoying the scene that played out before him.
After dinner everyone departed for their barracks, Gate was welcomed to the men's rooms and soon was soundly asleep with the rest of the Straw-hat men.
Around midnight he awoke and went over to one corner of the room, he produced his tome and muttered a few sayings that couldn't be heard. The book opened and began to glow dimly. Images of other beings, men and women, like Gatescholar. Showed on the book's pages, each were in a different world and among different people and beings.
"Hm, seems everything's going according to plan so far," Gate said as he shut the book.
A groaning sound alerted Gate to someone moving or waking up.
"Gate?" Chopper's voice asked softly through the darkness.
"What is it Chopper?" Gate asked calmly.
"What are you doing up?" He asked.
"Getting a glass of water is all," Gate said as he returned to his hammock.
"Alright," Chopper had lost interest in the conversation and rolled into his bed before falling asleep again.
Gate soon went as well, leaving the Thousand Sunny silent in the darkness of the night.
The next morning the crew awoke and continued their voyage. The crew asked Gate to assist in daily chores and he happily agreed. When these were completed they all went about their separate tasks. Gate was sitting on deck pouring over his tome. Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook were fishing on deck, but they were more interested in seeing what trick Gate would perform next, but nothing came of it so they went back to fishing.
The day passed uneventfully until they arrived at their next island, Saobody Archipelago.
"We're here," Nami announced to the crew.
Gate looked up from his tome and slammed it shut to join the others on deck.
"That's Saobody Archipelago then?" He asked.
Nami nodded,
"I've never been there, though I have read about it," Gate replied.
The crew went about the ship now, preparing the sails so the ship could coast to a stop in the ports of the town.
(At this point I'm going to say I'm skipping the flying fish riders, while I know this is important not much would change in the outcome and the combat would more or less be the same.)