Chapter 01: I'm going to be the Pirate King!
XxXxXxXx
Disclaimer: One Piece is owned by Eiichiro Oda
XxXxXxXx
Many years ago, on a small island in the East Blue, a little girl lived in a small village. This girl, though only four years old, was not afraid of anything. She often came face to face with deadly encounters due to her grandfather's 'training' and she treated it as if it was a big game. Nothing fazed her. Her name was Monkey D. Luffia, but she would always demand to be called Luffy as she kicked you in the shin with a smile on her face.
Today was the day that something different happened, as today was the day that a crew of notorious cutthroat pirates had made landfall and decided to use the small village as their base for the time they were in the East Blue. Luffy, not knowing that the pirates were rapidly approaching the island, ran across the village with a wide grin and an echoing laugh that bounce off of everything. She soon came to her destination where her caretaker Makino worked, The Party Bar.
"Makino, I'm hungry!" Luffy yelled.
"Luffy!" Makino smiled. "Finally awaken sleepyhead?"
"Yep!" the four year old smiled as she climbed up the stool, nearly tipping it over. Makino smiled warmly at the smaller girl, and she remembered what the mayor had told her earlier.
"Luffy, you shouldn't go outside alone for the next little while," she said worriedly.
"Why not?" Luffy tilted her head and Makino smiled at the child's oblivious cuteness.
"The Mayor told me that he spotted a pirate ship earlier. It's dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt." Makino said as she set a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk in front of the child.
"It's okay! I'll protect you! My punch is as strong as a pistol!" Luffy puffed out her chest, grinning.
Makino laughed, "I'm sure it is."
And Makino believed it to, the little girl was just as monstrous and scary as her grandfather, Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp.
As Luffy finished her breakfast, the door to the pub opened and the bar, once silent and empty, was filled with laughter and people.
"Oi! Can we get some sake and something to eat?" asked a man with bright red hair, "We have the money to pay."
Luffy turned her attention to the red headed man who had slapped down a stack of Beli, 'Wow, is he one of the pirates?'
"Luffy," Makino started, taking a few wary glances at the pirates, "You should go back to the house, I'll get someone to bring you lunch."
Luffy, once again, tilted her head to the side, "Why?"
Makino looked at the loud crowd and then back at her. Luffy looked at the crowd before looking back at her caretaker before asking, "Are they the pirates?"
The group of men looked at the little girl as they realize what was happening. It was the same story in every village actually.
"But why would I leave because of them?" Luffy puffed up her cheeks. "I don't wanna!"
Makino gave into her urges and pinched the younger girl's cheeks. Luffy yelped in pain, and that was when the red-haired captain took notice of her.
"Really now, we're only here to get something to eat and restock our supplies, you don't need to send the brat away."
Luffy made a face at the older man, "I'm not a brat!"
Makino looked at her with wide eyes, shaking her head in warning. The pirate look surprised, but grinned at her, "You've got spunk, kid. What's your name?"
Luffy stared at the older male intensely, her eyes wide and off putting, causing Shanks to slightly fidget in his seat, the girl's stare was unnerving.
After an awkward silence, Luffy finally answered the man's question. "I'm Monkey D. Luffia, but everyone calls me Luffy!"
He grinned. "I'm Shanks. Nice to meet you, Luffy."
XxXxXxXx
A few months later
XxXxXxXx
'Wow, I can see the entire village from here!' Luffy thought to herself as she stood on the Rising Force's figure head, 'I think I can see Makino's house.'
"Oi, Luffy! What are you doing?" one of the pirates laughed.
"I'm looking at the village!" Luffy yelled, her eyes dancing and her grin wide.
"Well come on down Lu, we don't want you falling off!" another pirate called out.
"That's right!" Shanks yelled while smiling in amusement. With that, Luffy skipped back down the narrow neck of the figure head with her hands straight out to her sides, not losing any balance as she jumped off of it and landed on Benn.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU LITTLE BRAT?!" Benn yelled as the girl gave him a big smile, "You could have hurt both of us!"
"But I didn't," Luffy said as her eyes grew watery at Benn's berating.
"Idiot!" Shanks yelled as he hit Benn over the head. "Quit making the kid cry."
Shanks picked up the girl and swung her onto his shoulder, "Let's go get something to eat!"
A few minutes later the Party Bar was filled again and Shanks had sat Luffy at the bar, "Why were you on the figure head?"
Luffy looked up at the ceiling, "I was bored."
The red-haired captain fell over comically at the child's answer.
"Luffy," he sighed. "You're as agile as a cat and crazy like one too."
Said girl merely gave him a lopsided grin. "I'm as strong as a tiger too!"
Shanks let out an exasperated sigh, "Let's drink up and celebrate!"
"To the brat's craziness!"
"And to our greatness!"
"I'm not a brat!" Luffy yelled at them before she went back to sipping her milk. Shanks looked at her curiously.
"Hey Luffy, you drink a lot of milk." Shanks stated as she finished off her glass and held it out to Makino for more.
"Makino said it will help me grow up big and strong so I can be a good Pirate!" Luffy said before she took another sip, "And it tastes really good too!"
Shanks let out a laugh, "Pirate? You? You can't even swim!"
Luffy pouted and Makino giggled at the child. "I'm four!"
"Not being able to swim is a pirate's greatest weakness!"
"I can still learn!" Luffy countered. Shanks stared at Luffy for a few more seconds and opened his mouth and let out a loud bark of laughter.
"How long are you going to stay?" Luffy asked, wanting the red-haired man to stay longer.
Shanks paused and thought for a second. "We'll probably set sail a few more times before we head back to the Grandline, we've been here a quite while after all."
Luffy pouted once more, "Aww."
"Sad that we're leaving soon?" Shanks teased.
"Hmph!" the raven-haired child snorted, turning away from him and focusing on her food.
"Hey!" Shanks cried indignantly.
Yasopp snickered as he thought of his own kid, "Sad that little Luffy won't miss you, Captain?"
"Not at all..." Shanks murmured as he slumped against the bar, looking ready to burst onto tears.
As his crew laughed at him, Shanks turned around on his stool and placed his hand over his heart, "Oh woe is me, ignored by a four year old!"
Luffy looked up as the red-haired captain shed crocodile tears over his imagined pain.
"Hey Shanks," Luffy said to get his attention, "Next time you go out to the sea, bring me with you!"
Shanks looked at her before breaking out into laughter.
"Are you laughing at me?!" the girl yelled.
Shanks laughed even harder. "You can't handle being a pirate, kid!"
"Yes I can! I've trained really hard! My punch is as strong as a pistol!" Luffy grinned. Shanks didn't catch Makino making a knock it off motion or see her worried expression. Generally people who doubted Luffy got hit with her monstrous strength.
"Pistol? Wow… really?" Shanks asked monotonously.
"Why are you being so mean to me?!" Luffy yelled at him, her right fist lashing out.
The crew watched, astonished, as the tiny fist connected with their captain's stomach, causing their captain to double over and fall off the stool. As his crew broke out in laughter once more, Shanks staggered back to his feet before leaning on the bar, "What are you feeding that monster?"
"Meat and milk!" Luffy said as she chugged down her third glass.
As Makino nodded, Shanks let out a sigh, "I see..."
Members of Shanks' crew began to tell her about the wonderful life of a pirate. Luffy beamed at them, causing a few to feel faint from visions of an angel. While Yasopp could have sworn by his bottle and son that he saw flowers and sparkles behind her as she imagined life on the sea, Shanks was claiming he saw a devil cat behind her eyes as fire and brimstone filled his vision.
"Don't give her dumb ideas, guy," Shanks sighed with a fork in his mouth.
"But it's the truth, right?" Lucky Roo asked his fellow crew mates.
"Right!"
"Captain, why don't you take her with us one time? It's not that big of a deal!"
"Yeah!" Luffy agreed happily.
"Well, then next time one of you will stay behind and she will take your place," Shanks commented dully.
"We've said enough! Let's drink!"
Luffy's right eye slightly twitched, "Meanies."
"The most important thing is that you're still too young! Wait at least another 15 years and I'll reconsider taking you out to sea," Shanks told Luffy.
Luffy blew the extra pieces of her hair out of her face. "By the time I'm that old, I'm not going to want to go to sea with you."
"That's harsh!"
"Hmph," Luffy snorted and held her glass out again for another refill.
As Shanks turned back to his food, Benn walked over with an empty mug for a refill as well.
"Luffy," Benn stated, placing his hand on her head, "You should try to understand Captain's feelings."
Luffy tilted her head, "Understand Shanks' feelings?"
"Yes. After all, he is our leader. He knows that being a pirate is interesting, but he also knows that a pirate's life is hard and very dangerous," Benn explained. "Do you understand? He doesn't purposely tease your ambition of being a pirate."
Luffy puffed out her cheeks, "I don't understand! Shanks just thinks I'm stupid."
As if on cue, Shanks pointed at her. "Brat says what?"
"What?" Luffy repeated, not getting the joke. When the crew began laughing again, Luffy understood that Shanks was making fun of her and punched him again. Benn could feel the sweat drop on the back of his head as his captain was sent flying across the bar once again by a four year old child.
"Captain," Makino beamed. "You really shouldn't tease Luffy."
"Why not?" Shanks asked with a smug, but pained, grin, "Making fun of her is my joy."
"Meanie," Luffy said as she turned away from him again.
Suddenly, the front doors slammed open, one of them falling off its hinge. "Excuse me!"
Luffy flinched at the mean looking men that had filed into the bar. The one in the lead had a sneer on his face that she didn't like.
"So this is what pirates look like, huh? This is the first time I've seen any around these parts. They look pretty dumb to me." the man then slammed his hand on the bar counter. "We're mountain bandits, but we're not here to cause any trouble. We just wanna buy a few barrels of sake."
"I'm so sorry," Makino apologized with a pale face, "But we just ran out of sake."
"Oh?" he drawled out. "That's strange. Then what are they drinking? Is it water?"
"It's sake," Makino said, "But that's all we have."
"I'm sorry. Looks like we've finished all the sake here," Shanks apologized rather cheerfully, "Sorry about that."
He then grabbed an unopened bottle and handed it to the bandit, "Here. If you don't mind, take the last bottle. It's not opened."
The leader sneered at the pirate as he took the bottle. Looking between the pirate and the bottle, the bandit's sneer deepened as he brought the bottle down on the captain's head.
"Just who do you think I am? Don't take me so lightly," the leader snarled, "One bottle is not enough!"
The pirates were up and ready to fight as their captain hit the ground, soaked in booze. As the man groaned, he motioned for them to stand down.
"Sorry, Makino," Shanks groaned, "I didn't mean to soak your floor with booze."
As the woman tried to wave Shanks off from cleaning the mess up, the mountain bandit spoke again. The crook pulled out a want poster, "See this? My head is worth 8 million Beli. I'm one of the prime fugitives here, and I've killed 56 people. Now that you know who I am, don't mess with us again. After all, mountain bandits and sea pirates don't mingle very well," he finished.
Luffy glared at the man turned to start walking away, only to stop when Shanks spoke, "Sorry about that, Makino. Do you have a mop?"
"Ah," Makino replied, slightly startled. "I'll clean it up."
The bandit looked down in disgust and slashed the counter with his sword, "Well, it seems like you really enjoy cleaning. Now you can enjoy doing it more,"
The fugitive walked out of the bar, "Later, you bunch of chickens."
"Are you alright, Captain?" Makino fretted over the man on the floor. "Did you get hurt?"
"No, I'm fine," Shanks replied. "Phew."
Unexpectedly, the entire crew burst out laughing. "Our captain looked so silly! He fixed you up real good, Captain!"
Shanks too began to laugh. Luffy was not amused. She then looked at the mess and then back at Shanks, "Why didn't you fight back? You could of beat that weakling easily!"
Everyone stopped laughing abruptly, and continued to stare at the red haired Captain.
"Ha ha," Shanks chortled. "Sorry, sorry. I really didn't feel like fighting him at the moment."
Luffy jumped off the stool and brushed the invisible dirt off of her shorts, "Whatever, bye."
"Ah, Luffy, wait –" Shanks grabbed her wrist, trying to stop her from walking out the bar and went to pull her back. The force of being yanked in the opposite direction had a drastic effect on the 4 year old, her head popped clean off her neck and shoulders.
Everyone's eyes bulged out as they stared at the girl's head, which suddenly blinked as a pair of cat ears appeared from underneath her hair, "Why's everyone looking at me like that?"
"Her head… it came off and she's still talking!" Shanks screamed.
"No way," Yasopp yelled. "Don't tell me!"
"What!" Luffy shrieked when she saw her body, with a purple and pink striped tail, running around in circles, "Why is the rest of me over there!"
"It's gone!" Lucky Roo cried out. "The Devil Fruit we took from the enemy isn't here!"
"WHAT?!" the rest of the crew yelled as Yasopp managed to grab both Luffy's disembodied head and her headless body, and attempted to put her back together.
"Luffy!" Shanks yelled as he held a picture a fruit in front of her face, "Did you eat this?!"
She stared at the picture, one depicting the small pink and purple watermelon she had eaten, "Yeah, It tasted pretty bad. I thought it was a desert."
"That's one of the Devil Fruits! One of the rarest treasures of the sea!" Shanks roared, shaking her hard enough to nearly cause her head to pop off again. "Whoever eats will gain inhuman abilities, but in exchange they will never be able to swim again!"
Luffy's eyes went wide as her new ears perked up and her tail bushed out, "WHAT!"
All Shanks could do was sigh as the little girl started running in circles again screaming bloody murder at the news, "At least we know something about the fruit's powers now."
XxXxXxXx
Makino sighed as she glanced at Luffy. After the girl had calmed down enough for Shanks to explain the fruit to her, all the girl could think about was how cool it was that she was now part cat. Shanks had explained that she had eaten a Zoan Fruit, one that allowed her to take on the form of an animal. It was obviously a pretty rare one, since Shanks said most fruits had immediately identifiable patterns. Most were cataloged, but every once in a while, an unidentified fruit would pop up.
He had also said that the Zoan Fruits often came in different models for different species. For example, Luffy had eaten what was now known as the Neko-Neko Fruit, but its model, the type of species that she could turn into, was unknown. He ruled out most common cats, such as lions and house cats, due to the strange purple and pink stripes that patterned her fur.
Luffy seemed different from most other Zoan users. According to Shanks, the first time most Zoan users activated their transformations, they went into their full animal form. Luffy only sprouted bits and pieces, and the furthest she could go was what Shanks guessed was one quarter cat and three quarters human. Shanks tried to prod her into a full transformation so he could figure out the model, but Luffy said that every time she tried it felt like there was a wall blocking her and she always thought of a large purple and pink cat rolling over as it slept.
All this did was make Shanks even more suspicious. She was clearly a cat girl, but her head could come off when she wanted it to. Now that she had control of it, it was her favorite way of scaring people around town. It had to be some special creature, he was sure of it.
To that end he had called his crew together and set sail to a nearby island reputed to have the largest collection of knowledge in the East Blue. He needed to try and figure this out before Luffy hurt herself or someone else. That had been close to two weeks ago. As Makino and Luffy sat in the Party Bar, the young woman watched as her charge sighed, her new ears laying flat as her tail twitched lazily. Makino couldn't help but think of how cute it was that Luffy was lounging in a sunbeam like a giant cat.
"They've been away for a while now," Makino said as she cleaned a wine glass. "Do you feel lonely, Luffy?
"Not really," Luffy said with a lazy shrug.
Makino smiled as the girl yawned, obviously ready for a catnap as someone entered the bar, "Excuse me."
"We're back again," Higuma, the Bandit leader, sneered. "Well, it looks like the pirates aren't here today. It sure is quiet."
He plopped himself down on a nearby chair as his men filed into the building and demanded, "What are you waiting for?! We're customers! Bring us some sake!"
XxXxXxXx
Makino burst through a door, "Mayor! Hurry! Something bad has happened!"
Woop Slap looked up, startled, "What's wrong, Makino? What's all this fuss about?"
"Luffy was..." Makino panted. "Luffy was taken by the bandits!"
XxXxXxXx
"How interesting," Higuma said as he smirked, looking down at the hissing and spitting girl "She's really acting like a little kitty cat."
"That hurt Meanie!" Luffy snarled as her tail bushed out in anger, "Didn't your mommy tell you not to step on someone's tail!"
"Didn't you know most people don't have tails, little girl?" Higuma said as he leaned over her. "Who would've thought such a thing as an actual cat-girl exists in this world? I bet if I sell her to a circus, I can surely get a lot of money."
"Shut up, you creep," Luffy hissed as her features shifted to the furthest point she could go. Her eyes became slitted like a cats, her purple ears were pinned back as she bared her sharpened fangs at the man. Her bushy purple and pink tail swished back and forth in her agitation as her hands and bare feet became a cross between paw and the normal appendage, each digit tipped with small claws.
"What did you say brat?" Higuma asked as he leaned in closer, thinking that there was no way that the little freak girl could harm him. He was proven wrong.
"I said to shut up, you stupid old man!" Luffy yowled as she took a swipe at the man's face with her claws, leaving four long scratches across his face.
Higuma roared in pain as he slammed a foot into Luffy's stomach, causing her to collapse, "You stupid little BITCH!"
"Let the child go!" Woop Slap yelled as he arrived, panting as his knees shook from the exertion. "Please! I don't know what Luffy did, and I don't want to argue with you, but I'm willing to pay! So please let the child go!"
"Mayor..." Luffy murmured under her breath.
"As one would expect," Higuma laughed a disgusting laugh. "It's the elders that know the proper way to deal with any situation. But it's too late! You can't save the little brat now because she really made me angry. When weaklings like her dares to attack me, it pisses me off more than anything else!"
"You've damaged my face brat, so I've made up my mind," Higuma drew his sword with a hiss of steel, "I'm not going to sell you, I'm going to kill you instead."
"Luffy!" Makino cried out.
"Please let the child go!" the mayor begged. As Higuma went to draw his sword back, a gunshot cracked through the air, a bullet causing the bandit to drop his sword as it impacted with the blade.
"I was wondering why no one welcomed us at the port," a voice said. "So this is where everyone is hanging out."
Shanks walked down the street with his men following close behind, "Hey, you guys are the bandits from the other day, right?"
Then turning to Luffy, Shanks smirked a little,"Luffy! What's wrong? Isn't your punch as strong as a pistol?"
Luffy turned her head to look at him, tears in her eyes, "It is."
Shanks' eyes widened at her tears. A frown briefly crossed his features before he disappeared. The bandits gasped as their leader doubled over in pain and the girl disappeared as well. As the bandits looked around, they saw the pirate captain handing the crying child to the bar keeper.
"Here Makino, keep a tight hold of the brat while we deal with these idiots."
The bandits snarled as Higuma straightened up and pulled his sword, "Idiots are we? Well it's a sight better than the cowards you are."
Shanks' hat shadowed his eyes as he walked forward towards the man, "You know, normally we wouldn't both with such little fish like you. We have to leave something for the bounty hunters after all. But you've gone and pissed us off by attacking that child."
Shanks momentarily paused as one of the bandits cocked his pistol and aimed it at his temple, "You know, if you're going to draw a gun, use it. Don't just threaten someone with it or else..."
A shot rang out causing the villagers to flinch as Lucky Roo, in speed that belied his large frame, appeared next to the man and put a bullet in his head.
Higuma watched impassively as the man collapsed, but his men were not of the same mind.
"You bastards!" one yelled as he drew his weapon.
"Watch out, these guys fight dirty,"another spoke as he readied his weapon.
"Dirty?" Benn Beckman asked as he stepped forward, "Come on and use your heads, we're not saints or anything, so why should we fight fair?"
"I mean, what did you think?" Shanks said as he drew his sword, "You're staring attempting to stare down a crew of pirates that sail under me, The Yonko Red-Haired Shanks."
Higuma's eyes bugged out as he realized who he had previously attacked as he started to back away. As he took a single step, Shanks was suddenly in front of him, sword at his throat, "Normally if someone dosed me in booze or threw food in my face I would laugh it off and forget about it. But you took it too far and attacked one of the people close to me, an innocent little girl at that. So, in lieu of my normal punishment of beating the shit out of you and leaving you for the Marines, I'm killing you."
Higuma couldn't even move as the sword flashed forward and decapitated him. His men didn't even get a chance to run as the Red-Haired Pirates descended on them, carrying out the punishment as declared by their Captain. No one hurt someone under their protection and got away with it.
As Shanks turned back to Makino, the villagers tensed up. Luffy was watching him with wide eyes as she realized what he had done, but she wasn't scarred like the adults, she realized that he had done it because of her.
"Men! Drag this idiots out to the Coast and feed them to that pesky Sea King," He said before her turned back to Luffy and grinned, "Hey Luffy, I think we figured out what kind of cat you are. Even brought you back a couple of books on it."
Luffy sniffled as she took the two books, one was a book of mythical creatures with a book mark in it and another was a story book labeled 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. Flipping open the first book, she saw the image of a large purple and pink cat with a face splitting grin. The words on the page and the picture caused her to grin widely in return as she spoke, "The Cheshire Cat."
XxXxXxXx
"So you're leaving?" Luffy asked with a sad little grin.
Shanks nodded, kind of disturbed that the girl never stopped grinning after he had given her the books,"Yep. We've stayed here long enough. It's about time we move on. Are you upset?"
"Yeah, but I won't ask you to take me along anymore. I'll become a pirate myself!" Luffy proclaimed as her grin grew larger.
"Heh," Shanks chuckled. "I wouldn't take you even if you begged me. You don't have what it takes to become a pirate."
Luffy twitched, annoyed at the Captain, "Yes I do! One day, I'll find a crew that's as strong as yours! And then I'll find the world's biggest treasure! And… and…"
Shanks raised an eyebrow, "And…?"
"AND I'LL BECOME THE KING OF PIRATES!"
"Um, don't you me Queen?" Shanks asked, a grin of his own stretching across his face.
Luffy shrugged, "Whatever."
Shanks let out a bark of laughter at her response. He took off his hat and bent down. "This hat is my gift to you. It's my favorite hat, you know! When you become a great pirate in the future, you'll have to return it to me. It's a symbol of your promise to surpass me."
Shanks laughed at the surprised look in the child's eyes as he walked up the ramp to his ship.
"That kid's gonna be big," Benn commented as he pulled in the ramp.
Shanks grinned, "I know, she reminds me of me at that age, if not a few years older."
"Pull up the anchor!"
"Set sail!"
Luffy stood at the dock waving her hands as ship disappeared into the horizon, "I'll be better than you ever were Shanks!"
XxXxXxXx
Author's Note: LEAVE ME ALONE PLOT BUNNIES! PLEASE!