ONE PIECE: THE SEARCH FOR THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE
1 – Books and pirates! The story of a boy called Dan
Loguetown, 22 years ago. Wealth, fame and power. A man conquered everything this world had to offer. Pirate King, Gold Roger, who would come to be publicly executed. His last words inspired millions of citizens to go explore the sea and search for adventures… Search for his greatest treasure.
"My treasures? If you want them, they're up for grabs now. Go get'em! I left there everything I had!"
Well, I wasn't there to witness this great moment since it happened a few years before my parents even thought about conceiving me. Or even married each other, for that matter. But I do know about it because that was the first thing I was ever told about the world of pirates.
Brush Island, East Blue.
This is my homeland. It's a somewhat large island that, seen from above, resembles a brush, hence its name. Brush has both flat and mountainous terrain, with the great majority of villages and populated areas located at the flatter regions, close to sea level. There's a larger city which connects all those villages, called Stylo, and that's where I live.
Brush is a generally peaceful island, but every once in a while, it comes through rough times. The climate's mostly sunny over the year, if you take away the three-month rainy and cold season. Because of the constant sunlight and the high temperatures, most of the town's houses are painted white. I live in the "line" that separates the downtown from the city's outskirts.
My name is Daiki, but that's enough of a weird name for me to like being called by a nickname, Dan.
It's simpler, right?
18 years old, living with my parents. Actually, it's just me and my mother, since my father passed away a few years ago.
"Daiki, dear! Are you done yet? Come down already!"
"No, I'm stuck! Just one last sentence!" I said as I gripped my pencil tightly in my hand and tried to come up with an appropriate ending to yet another of my one-shots.
"Please hurry! I need your help for the house chores and you know it!"
"Be patient! I'm coming!"
This voice is from my mother Karen. She's a well-known mystery novelist in the island. People usually joke she put an entire library beside my cradle right after conceiving me, so I could read them in my formative years. Truth is she's the one who taught me all about writing. What's ironic is that now she complains about the time I spend on it…
It can't be helped. She's my mother after all.
Throughout the years, I turned into sort of a writing maniac. I'm just not in a good mood until I work in a story well enough to like it. Since me liking my own stories doesn't happen much often, I tend to write and rewrite them indefinitely until Mom bursts through the door, decides I spent too much time not helping with the house duties and drags me down to the kitchen.
Thus, bickering ensues.
"Daiki! Come down now!" Yeah, better stop now. She's getting angry. Trust me, you DO NOT want to see her angry.
"Oh, man…" I sighed. "Coming!"
I went downstairs to the laundry area where Mom washed some clothes. She's always dressed in her apron, hair pulled back in a ponytail most of the time.
She's at times strict with me, but, that's because she wants me to be a good person. Like every mother in the world. She'd give her life for my sake, but I'm never letting her do that.
"Daiki, my dear!" She called. "You're spending too much of your day in your room!"
"I'm practicing, mom." I replied. "Don't you always tell me to do that?"
"Yes, but you should get out more often as well. There's a whole world out there to give you inspiration. So, what are you writing this time?"
Yes, I said she'd protect me for as long as she could, but she wants me to fend for my own ass too. Keep a sharp mind and sharp body for the future or stuff like that.
"It's a little drabble about the adventures of a group of explorers searching for the greatest treasures of the world!" I said, stars in my eyes.
"Oh, there you go. That's all you write about, don't you?" She said, somewhat indifferently. "How about this: don't just draw from your imagination to write your stories. Why don't you go have some real adventures of your own?"
"Wha?" That's what I mean with 'fend for my own ass'. Or at least learn to. "Here we go again…"
"You're eighteen already." She insisted. "It's time for you to think about starting your own life. Find a goal of your own and act on it. Your father had a goal. He wanted to travel the world. Even if he was a pirate-"
"If you're going to talk about that again, why don't you shut up?!" I cut her word, only to freeze immediately at what I just said. "Sorry… I… I just…" Whenever I hear the word 'pirate', I have this knee-jerk reaction to shout angrily. Believe me, this is not the first time it happens.
"Father…"
Yeah, my father was a pirate. His name was Jahn Richards. Even though he isn't here anymore, he's still my hero. I catch myself every once in a while recalling all the stories of adventures he told me when I was little.
"Don't you remember the joy of your childhood? All the times you were happy whenever my dear told you some of his wacky stories?" She said.
"Yeah, I do, but…" I replied, meekly.
The day a group of pirates invited him to become their comrade and leave us is always on my mind. I always wondered why a married man would leave his son and wife to go travel around the world…
"Goodbye, sweetheart… goodbye, little Dan." I said, mimicking what he probably said at that time.
It's probably unwise for a man with a family to just leave it for a big trip, knowing full well he might never get back, but all it took him to convince me was a promise…
"I will be back. Be sure of it."
I was five when he left us. I loved him even though I didn't know much about anything.
"Explore the world, huh…" I whispered, lost in my recollections.
Dangerous enemies, mysterious islands, desperate situations, he went through it all. He never abandoned the smile in his face. He was always more than happy to tell me about his adventures. He'd also leave a lesson I take with me ever since:
"Friendship is the key to success. If you have friends on your side, the impossible will be nothing."
"Hm? No! No, no, no! It's different with me! I don't want to become a pirate!" I caught myself, quickly shaking my head left and right to shrug off all the thoughts running on my head.
"Quit lying to yourself, son…"
"What?"
"No, nothing!" She waved it off. "Ah, please, could you go shopping? We're short on food. Here, the grocery list and some money. Use it wisely, ok?" She said, gently shoving me to the door.
I glanced at the list and sighed before I left my home to take a walk around the city. Shopping… I could use that to get some air and put my mind at rest.
Sometimes it's just boring to walk all by myself, but this time it wasn't.
In my way to the market, I heard a lonely, loud shout overcoming the noisy avenue, right before much louder noises came from a nearby restaurant. A few people burst through the doors, running away and screaming.
"Wait, wait, please!" I stopped one of the fleeing customers. He panted and seemed to be terrified. "What's happening in there?"
"Pirates!" He screamed, still breathing hard and trying to calm himself. "Pirates are… pirates wreaking havoc! They just barged in to take the money and tear the whole place down!"
"What? Why?"
"I don't know but… if I were you, I'd run as far away from them as possible!"
"Please do it." I said, looking forward. "I want to check this out."
"Don't do it! They're dangerous!"
"Sorry, gentleman, but… whenever I hear the word 'pirate'…" I said, clenching my right fist and looking ahead. "I just have this itch to beat them to a pulp…"
The man didn't reply, somewhat taken aback. He then probably said mentally 'screw it, I'm outta here' and left.
"Good luck!" He still shouted, a few feet away.
I slowly walked closer to the entrance to stand right beside the door and eavesdrop on the action inside. Aside from the loud crashing noises that occasionally came out of the restaurant, the supposed pirates spouted threats after threats.
"That goes to show you all! No one who messes with Captain Slayer's crew will be alive to tell the tale!" One of them, very burly-sounding, bellowed.
"Today, we're taking over this restaurant… tomorrow, the whole island!" Another one, just as loud and melodramatic.
What? They intend to take Brush over?
Yes. It doesn't happen all that often, but it happens. Every once in a blue moon a hostile pirate crew comes to the island just to turn it right the hell upside down and pillage whatever they can find. Most of the time, the people gather together and overpower any assailants by their sheer numbers and determination, but in that blue moon, the invading pirates are too powerful for them to take on…
Since that whole large-scale raid and setting-the-island-on-fire incident, each and every citizen raised his/her awareness about the homeland, but more on that later, when it's appropriate…
Because now…
"Haha! Just wait, we're coming back for more!"
"Not on my watch."
…now's the time to kick ass!
"Huh?"
Three in total.
As soon as they walked out of the restaurant to the quickly-emptied avenue, carrying rather large bags of… whatever it was they were stealing, I managed to turn their eyes to myself.
"Huh, just a boy? What, wanna play with us?" It turned out that the burly-sounding guy was indeed burly. Dressed just like a pirate mook, with a bandanna, plain t-shirt and simple shorts.
"As long as you're pirates, I have plenty of reasons to play with you." I said, trying my best to stand my ground.
"Hoh… looks like we've got ourselves a cheeky bastard to deal with, right, Butcher?" Standing right beside the burly guy, there was a thin, blonde-haired guy, who carried a dagger in his waist and smirked at his partner-in-crime.
"I love how these people don't know their place… just pathetic." Another one spoke up, cleaning his nails on his black t-shirt. He also had an oversized knife on his waist.
"Now, I distinctly remember you saying something about taking over this island, is that right?" I said, crossing my arms.
"Wha… H-how do you know?!" The burly man shouted.
Wait, they were trying to hide it? Not very smart…
"Y'know, if you were trying to be secretive about it, announcing your plans to a restaurant full of people doesn't help your cause." I said, cracking my knuckles.
"Grr… enough talk!" The blonde guy yelled. "It doesn't matter whether you know or not! You will be powerless when Captain Slayer gets here! We're going to take over this island and set it up as our base!"
"And now that you know this precious little snippet of information…" The pale guy in the black t-shirt stepped forward, already unsheathing his knife. "…we have no choice but to silence you."
"Anytime you want."
I clenched my fists, standing upright in preparation. The three dropped their bags in the ground and rushed through the street with their weapons out, screaming.
"Finally…"
I would talk more to myself, but they jumped at me all at once, thrusting their knives forward. I knew better than to just try and face them head on.
I rolled under them in that small gap they left when they were in mid-air, standing back up as they stopped and turned their eyes back to me.
Not missing a beat, the burly man stepped forward and brought his fist back before he landed a punch in the roomful of air where I was right before I dodged out of the way. Surprisingly fast for a man with his build, he kept swinging his arms at me and leaving me no choice but to keep dodging and swerving.
Somehow he increased the speed of his punches and landed a few in my chest and face. I flew a few feet backwards and fell on the ground.
"Ouch, that hurt…" I said, slowly getting back up. "I must've gotten rusty…"
"That's all you can do, kid? Haha, you're all talk!"
"Don't worry, big man, I'm not even started!"
I stood up again, immediately being greeted with a fist to my face.
"Hahah, one more in the jaw! You're too… huh?"
"Sorry, pal. Close, but no dice."
This time, I stopped his oversized hand with my own, ready to take his opening and show him the result of my years of training.
"This is how you punch!"
Clenching my fist as hard as I could, I landed a sock right in his belly, sending him a few steps back. Since he looked likely to withstand that single punch, it was the code for me to hit a stride. Two steps forward and I jumped to land a kick in his chest, got back to the ground and crouched prior to jumping again and kicking him in the jaw.
"Bastard!"
The two knife fighters came down on me, swinging their weapons left and right. As one of them swiped, I evaded the knife and punched him right in the stomach, quickly moving out of the way as the pale guy tried his luck but missed, giving me a chance to grab his arm.
"Don't run around with pointy stuff."
"You…"
I twisted his arm and slammed him full force on the ground.
"Stamp Stomp!"
Just to be sure, I stomped his chest.
One down, two to go.
"I'd better dispose of you quickly… I have some shopping to do."
I sprinted down the avenue, determined not to give them any leeway. I surprised the already-staggering blonde guy, disarming him with a punch to the face followed by a knee to the gut. The burly guy was back on his feet, however, quickly landing a punch on my face in return. It hurt like a bitch, but I was well enough to keep going.
"Damn… Mom's gonna beat me up if I get back home with a broken nose…" I said, tending said nose.
"Whazzup, momma boy? Gonna cry now?" The burly guy taunted.
"No, me make you cry now."
He charged again, bringing a fist forward, but I dodged it and landed a punch in his gut.
"I can't deal with you lot all the time. Leave us alone!"
Another two punches in his belly and, to finish…
"Conclusion!"
A jump and a boot to the head and the last of the trio is down.
Cleaning my hands and brushing off the dust in my clothes, I walked to the large bag they were going to steal and took it back to the restaurant. As I made my way there, a man who I think is the owner ran to me.
"Wha-wha-what happened out here? Where are those thieves?" He asked, panicking.
"Over there, sir." I pointed to their lifeless bodies on the street. "Want me to dispose of them?"
"Yes, please…" It then dawned on him. "Wait, you dealt with them? How?!"
"Why, violence-based negotiation, of course. Here's a bag. Is it yours?" I asked, putting the bag down.
"Yes, it's the food and money they looted… or tried to… I don't know how to thank you for…" He said, at loss for words.
"Don't mention it. Anyway, I'll take these three far away before they wake up and spread the news. I don't know how or why, but they want to take our island to themselves."
"Oh no… not again…" The owner grimaced.
"I know. I won't let it happen."
I said, walking away, waving an arm to the restaurant owner, and dragging the unconscious trio to a safe place.
"Your father said the same thing before he died! You should run away!"
"Yeah, maybe I should!" I stopped, turning my head to him. "But then, we'd all be dead."
I then went on my way, tending to the pain in my jaw and nose. Oh boy, Mom's going to lay a good verbal smackdown on me again…
…
"You got into a fight?! Again?! I can't believe it!"
See? Verbal smackdown.
"Uh… yes?"
She sighed, palming her face. "Come on, where did you get hurt? Did you break something? What did you do now, huh?"
As soon as I arrived home with the groceries, she dragged me to the sofa to check my wounds. Just a few scrapes and an aching jaw and nose. Nothing broken, it seems.
"Nothing, just beat up some pirate thugs trying to rob a restaurant."
"Ugh… is that chronic hero syndrome of yours acting up again?" She said, giving me that look. The condescending look that would make any child shrink into a corner and admit their mistakes.
"Hero syndrome? Mom, they tried to rob a restaurant! You think I'd let them have their way? Not in a million years!"
"I know…" She said, in a calmer tone. "I know you want to protect our home, but that's just like me or any other person living here. Don't take all the responsibility to yourself. When push comes to shove, the people get together, as it always happened. We can fend for ourselves just fine."
"Always, except for that damn one time!"
She remained silent.
"Everyone was powerless to stop them, even Dad!" I said, standing up and turning away from her, facing the door. "He trained me for a reason. He left me his treasure for a reason! So that if anyone tried to invade, I'd kick them out just like he did!"
"You can't do much alone, son." She said and paused. "I'm going to bring the bandages."
She walked out.
As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. I may be strong, but I'm just one guy.
The Marines do come to help whenever the people don't succeed in driving off the pirates by themselves, but they usually take too long to get here, since there's no Marine base set up and no future plans to set one up… it seems they just forget about us when we don't call.
Which immediately brings me back to that large-scale raid. We did send the emergency call, but when the Marines arrived, it was more to assess the damage, treat the wounded and bury the dead. Too late to watch the pirates run wild through the town, loot everything they could before they set it ablaze…
Dad went to confront their leader and fight back as many of them as he could but… he was killed. No matter how strong he was, he was just one guy.
I lived my life up to that point hoping one day I could be a cool pirate just like he was and travel the world just like he did, but that single incident showed me the harsh reality. Showed me how cruel and unforgiving pirates can be. I ultimately decided I wanted no part of it.
Problem is: Dad's adventures instilled a desire in me. A desire I tried to suppress, but that is still there. The desire I have to gather enough courage and go on a great journey around the world. Gold Roger's death instilled that same desire in many a person, awakening their dreams with the promise of romance, adventure and the greatest treasure of the world, the One Piece.
Mom knows more than what she lets on. She's been pushing me forward since the day I told her my goal, when I was little. It's pretty grand and vague coming out of a child's mouth.
I want to write something I call the Ultimate Adventure. The best and most exciting adventure of all time.
However, I don't want to write it just with my imagination, but with real life experience. Meet real hardships and troubles, make friends, make enemies, meet different people and different places, have a look at what the world has to offer… in short, be a cool adventurer and tell people about it.
Thus, I live every day with these conflicting thoughts at the back of my mind.
We better get back to earth now… I drifted off way too far. Sorry, I tend to wander into the recesses of my mind when there's nothing to do to keep it busy…
I sighed before lying on my back at the sofa in the living room. Mom's sure taking her time with the bandages…
"Huh?"
Just then, I noticed a little face hiding behind the front door. I sat back up to look back at him (or her) but the boy (or girl) disappeared and ran away. I humphed, dismissing it. The kids sometimes peek at our houses and do that knock-and-run prank. You know, at the thirtieth or so time, you tend to stop caring about it altogether, but Mom always threatens them with her wooden spoon whenever she catches the little pranksters. Or a leek onion. One or the other, it always winds up in their butt.
Uh, what was I talking about?
Hmmm... it seems that danger's already around and much earlier than expected! Will the visitors be pirates after all? Anyway, it's gonna be a very special visit for our young writer! Just wait... Chapter 2 is waiting for you! Don't miss it!