MYSTERIOUS KNIGHT

-chapter I-

The weather is nice and Thousand Sunny is sailing on the sea once again. The crew is in good spirits that they finally can enjoy normal weather after Punk Hazard. They'll never forget that place, in special the weather conditions.

As they sail to their next destination, everyone is busy doing their own things: Usopp and Franky are working at some new weapons, Brook is cleaning his guitar, Chopper is reading a book about new medicine, Zoro is sleeping, at least he tries to, because Luffy keeps talking about food on and on and Nami with Robin are enjoying tea brought by Sanji.

After a while, Usopp observes some things floating on the water. There were barrels and lots of wood pieces together with some pieces from a flag.

"Hey…what happened here?" he asked, drawing everyone's attention.

"Looks like there was some kind of fight between pirates" Nami said. They stare at the floating objects till even more appeared. This time clothes and weapons.

"Maybe they got eaten by a sea creature…" Robin said with a blank expression that shocked others. Soon after that, they saw blood in the water.

"Ugh! Don't tell me Robin's actually right this time!" shivers went through Usopp's body. Hearing his nakama talking about this, Luffy asked cheerfully.

"What?! Fight?! Sea creature!? Where?!" Sanji sighed.

"Look for yourself stupid. Though we don't know for sure it was a sea creature that did this." Something was strange that's for sure. What if the enemy was close? They thought about that but nothing is seen other than the pieces floating on the water.

"Hey Nami, is there an island or something?" Luffy asked her.

"Well if I remember right…there should be one around here" Nami checked her log.

"W-What's that?!" Chopper said shocked. Bodies appeared on the water, together with the rest of the ship, or maybe said what else remained from it. The ship wasn't small either, but something or someone did this for sure.

"Hey…why some of them look different though" Franky wondered as he looked at the wood pieces.

"What do you mean Franky?" Luffy looked at them but he didn't see any differences from the others.

"Uh well, take a closer look at their edges, they aren't exactly broken are they?" Luffy pouted then looked at the wood pieces again. If they weren't broken than what…

"I believe they were cut by someone" Robin decided to help him.

"Oh I see!" at that time Zoro, somehow woke up from his sleep and joined them.

"It was about damn time you wake up idiot"

"Shut up stupid cook" Zoro said sleepily rubbing his eye.

"Anyway…who did this I wonder" Usopp looked everywhere but there was no sign of the enemy or other ship. After a few minutes, an island can finally be seen.

"Look an island!" Nami said pointing forward. At that moment, everyone regain their usual behavior. As they sail closer to the island, Zoro remained silent looking back at the floating objects and bodies on the water. "Interesting" he grinned.

The island they arrived on is pretty lively. Lots of people are working, some carry boxes with fresh fruits and fish and a good smell was coming from one of the bars.

The crew was happy being welcomed by such things. Compared to Punk Hazard this place is really nice.

"All right! Let's find some meat!" Luffy cheerfully ran to where the smell came from.

"Figures…food again" Nami sighed while Usopp and Chopper nodded.

"Anyway, this looks like a nice place to relax and refill our medicine and food stock so take your time." She smiled.

"Of course Nami-Swan! Please do not worry about me I…" little hearts appeared in Sanji's eyes.

"However! If you'll spend too much on useless things…" her happy gaze darkened.

"Yes ma'am!" the rest answer before she could finish her sentence.

At a certain bar Luffy was eating at his own content and by this, it means that he's eating twice as more and fast than a normal person could.

"This island is great! Oh by the way chef, bring me more!" Luffy said as he continued his meal. Everyone here is shocked by his appetite. Then suddenly Zoro came in.

"Oh Zoro! Home come you didn't get lost?" he laughed.

"Hmph, this bar is close to the ship so even I couldn't get lost" he said then he ordered his booze.

"I bet you were just lucky hehe" Luffy liked teasing him because of his bad direction skills. It was always funny to see this face of him.

Zoro rolled his eyes and tasted his booze. It was really good, he thought.

"Good booze huh?" the bartender smiled.

"Even though this is just a small rural town, this booze was brought from the next big island. "The Food Land" is the name of the complex we have a contract with" Luffy continued his meal still listening to what the bartender had to say.

"Years ago, this island used to be robbed and attacked by pirates almost daily but since last year, the incidents have halved and now everyone can work again." He smiled but then realized he talked too much and had other orders to take.

"Oh sorry! Once I remember all these things, I can't stop talking about them." He apologized then he returned to taking orders

"Wow that's great huh?" Luffy barely said with his mouth full. Zoro nodded then he continued drinking. After a while, a man came in and sat at a table were two others were drinking.

"Hey did you hear?"

"About what?"

"You know! People say that Mysterious Knight destroyed the pirate's ship that attacked us a few days ago!"

"Really?!" apparently they talked about the ship that was crut to pieces they saw before arriving here.

"So did anyone saw his face?"

"Sadly no…it seems he left before anyone saw the whole thing."

"Damn! Who is he anyway?" and so they continued their talk. Zoro grinned and went to their table.

"Zoro…?" Luffy looked at him wondering what he is going to do. Once arrived near their table, the men looked at him doubtfully.

"So I heard this mysterious person is dealing with the pirates that cause you trouble." Zoro asked them.

"Uh yeah…there are all kind of rumors about him though we don't know his real name or how he looks" one of them answered, still intimidated by Zoro's gaze.

"I see…so where can I find him?" he actually was intrigued by this "Mysterious Knight"

"I doubt you'll find him today…in special in the middle of the day with so many people here" Zoro nodded and thanked them for answering his questions and the bartender for the booze, then he left.

They remain silent as he watched Zoro leaving.

"Oh don't worry! He's my nakama" Luffy said cheerfully as they gave him a weird look.

Meanwhile at a small library, Chopper and Robin were looking for new books.

"Hey Robin! I took all the books I needed" Chopper said cheerfully as he showed them to her. Robin nodded then smiled back at him and after that they went out of the library.

"This place is so peacefully right Robin?"

"Yes…it sure is"

"Even the birds are happy to see us!" Chopper giggled as he pointed to a certain bird that was flying nearby. Actually that bird was a hawk and Robin wondered what was it doing here in the middle of day.

The hawk was flying above and observing them closely. It was an odd silence till the hawk flew right in front of Robin.

"R-Robin…?" Chopper is confused at what is happening and so is Robin. After a few seconds, the bird flew away leaving the two of them puzzled.

At a souvenir shop where Nami and Brook stopped by. The shop was filled with all kind of things such as mini sculptures, key chains and badges.

"Hmmm what's this?" Nami thought, looking at one of the badges. "Mysterious Knight" was written with big bold letters and behind it was a symbol with two big knives.

"Nami-san look at this!" Brook showed her one of the sculptures of a person who wears a cloak and wields two knives in his hands.

"Who's this "Mysterious Knight"? she asked and the shop owner heard her.

"So you're tourists! Well I'll be more than happy to tell you about him" The woman started telling them the same story Zoro and Luffy heard from the bartender.

"It's like a hero huh?" Nami said looking at the rest of the merchandise.

"Of course! Times were difficult back then but since he appeared everything changed." The shop owner said with gratitude.

"Meow!" suddenly a cat appeared from an opened window. Before it could get closer to them, the cat hissed at Brook.

"I think she is afraid of your costume" apparently the woman thought that Brook was wearing a costume

"Costume? What costu-" before he could finish his sentence, Brook was stopped by Nami.

"Play along stupid! A walking skeleton isn't normal remember?" she warned him and Brook nodded.

"Anyway, we'll be going now, thank you for everything." Nami said as she dragged him out of the shop.

"That was close…we shouldn't let people know we're the straw hat pirates because this place is too quiet for us to make a big fuss here." She sighed. As they left the shop, the cat form earlier slowly followed them till Brook saw it. For some reason this time it wasn't scared of him.

"Awww isn't she cute?" Nami smiled as she went to pet it.

"Indeed Nami-san! I can't believe my eyes though I don't even have eyes ohohohoho!" Brook made his joke as Nami frowned at him. The cat let Nami pet her but then she ran away.

Meanwhile Zoro was walking through the village, though for some reason there were fewer houses.

"Uh where is this road leading to?" he wondered as he kept his way forward. Zoro walks for about 10 more minutes till nothing can be seen than trees.

"A forest? Oh no…" he cursed his bad direction skills. Zoro looks around but it seems he was stuck there. He sighed till he smelled something.

"Smoke? Here?" apparently smoke was coming from somewhere. Zoro decided to follow it deeper into the forest and as he walks, the smoke can be seen from far away. Somehow he managed to get out of the forest and a house appeared in front of him.

It was a relieve for him. Sure it wasn't the way back to the village but it's better than nothing. At that moment Zoro stopped, drawing out his swords. He looks around but no one can be seen.

"You can get out now" he grinned as he took his battle stance. Then a sudden strike almost hit him but Zoro managed to dodge the attack. After that even more attacks were aimed at him but he dodge all of them easily.

"Impressive" Zoro heard a voice but he kept his guard up.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you" a woman appeared on top of the house.

"Oh it's alright now, I just wanted to test you that's all" the woman smiled, taking back her sword.

Zoro looked at her with doubt but seeing her not wanting to fight anymore, he also took back his swords.

"My name is Kana and I live here" she jumped down, pointing at the house.

"Please come in, I'd like to talk with you, sure if you want to" Zoro hesitates for a moment but then he agreed to this. As they walked in, Zoro observes how different this house looked compared to the normal ones. It seemed old and parts of different materials were scattered everywhere.

"Oh I'm sorry for this mess…my husband tend to get carried away with his work but I can't blame him though" she smiled.

"Hey Kana! Help me with these will you?" a voice came from outside.

"Speaking of him…"as Kana went to welcome her husband, Zoro also followed her to meet him. The man carried two gigantic rocks on his back and was breathing hard.

"You should have left one for me you know…" Kana said amused.

"Ha! As if…you always slow me dow-!"before he could finish his sentence, he dropped the rocks and took out his sword glaring at Zoro. "Who are you?!"

"He's just a guest calm down Hayato!"

"No…he's not just a simple guest! Take a better look at one of his swords"

Kana was surprised at her husband's actions but looking at Zoro's swords, she gasped, realizing what Hayato told her.

"Leave!" Hayato shouted while Zoro confused looked at Kana however she refused to meet his gaze. Seeing both of them like this, Zoro decided to leave.

"Hmmph! What the hell just happened?" first of all Kana seemed like a nice person despite the fact she attacked him while Hayato went berserk on him for no reason. Was he jealous or something? Zoro thought about that but then she shakes his head. "No that can't be…he mentioned something about one of my swords but which one? Zoro wondered as he tried to find his way back to the village.

Meanwhile, Luffy finished eating and now he was returning cheerfully to the ship. He saw that Nami, Brook, Chopper, Robin, Usopp and Franky were already there.

"Uh don't tell me you were eating till now?" Nami sighed.

"Yeah! The food is really good here!" Luffy answered tapping his full stomach.

"So did anyone saw Sanji or Zoro?" Usopp asked. For some reason these two haven't returned yet.

"Zoro ordered booze at the same bar where I ate but then he left looking for this "Mysterious Knight". They lookedat Luffy surprised. It seems that everyone heard something about this person today.

"wow so it's like a suuuuper-hero?" Franky was intrigued by him.

"I'd like to meet him! He seems really cool!" Chopper said with excitement which gave Luffy an idea "How about it guys? Let's meet him!"

"No, we don't have time for that. We'll leave as soon as the two idiots return" Nami said determined and Luffy pouted.

"Please Nami! I really want to meet him!" sparkles appeared in his eyes and she looked at him doubtfully. "Well I…" before she could decide, they heard some people shouting about something

"The pirates from earlier have return!"

"They aren't many but they still won't leave!" hearing this, the crew decided to take a look as well. A big crowd already formed in the middle of the village. It seems that two pirates from the ship that was destroyed on the sea, came back and now they are arguing with the rest of the villagers.

"Who was the bastard that destroyed our ship?!" "We didn't do anything to him and he attacked us!"

"He's the hero of this place! He fights everyone who attacks or robs us!"

"Well that's because you won't tell us where the treasure is!"

"And we already told you: there is no treasure on this island!"

"But it has to be! We know it!"

And so the two pirates keep arguing about a hidden treasure but the rest of people insist that there is no such thing here. Luffy and his crew also listened to them and now they're curious about it.

"Treasure?! whe-" Luffy was stopped by Nami before his enthusiasm could cause them trouble.

"Luffy! Keep it down, we don't want to look bad cause we're also pirates…although…I wouldn't mind staying here some more." She grinned, her eyes turning into bellies. The others sighed but Luffy was glad that Nami changed her mind.

Meanwhile, Sanji and Zoro met and started to argue like they always do

"Ha! I bet you got lost all day"

"As if! I was looking for someone"

"In that forest? Yeah right"

"At least I wasn't looking for women till now"

They continued like that till they reached their ship. Thousand Sunny got lively again, everyone enjoying dinner which was made by Sanji.

It was getting late so after everyone ate, they went to sleep. The only one who couldn't was Luffy. For some reason he won't fall asleep so he decided to go for a walk.

Luffy jumped off the ship and looked around. It was chilly but peaceful. He walks for a while, looking at the big starry sky. It's been a while since couldn't sleep. He remembers this happened when he trained with Rayleigh two years ago and how they used to stay up till late talking about all kind of things. Luffy smiles, remembering all the stories he heard from him but even if the training was brutal, Rayleigh was an amazing man and he'll always respect him.

It was quiet till something crashed nearby. Luffy heard it and decided to look around. It was an odd sound, as if a metal hit something.

"Hey! Is someone there?" he asked but no response is given back. Soon after that, footsteps can be heard. Hearing them, Luffy tried to follow them, in order to find out who it was.

"Stop I don't want to fight you…that is if you're not a bad guy." Both of them were running but the person in front of Luffy was really fast.

Luffy was getting tired of this, so he stretched his arms and launched himself right on the person before him. Luffy gets up and apologize "Sorry…I didn't mean to land on you"

The person in front of Luffy is wearing a big cloak which covered the body while the face can't be seen because it was too dark.

"Let me help you" Luffy offered his hand but nothing happened. That person was shaking but managed to get back the weapons where they were dropped from the impact caused by Luffy. Slowly, it gets up, still maintaining a distance between them.

Luffy suddenly remembers something: The hero from this island who wears a cloak and has two knives as weapons…could this be…?

"Wait…you're Mysterious Knight aren't you?" hearing this, the one in front of Luffy stepped back, throwing something on the ground. The small object opened, releasing a gas which affected Luffy's vision. Everything was covered in this gas while the strange person disappeared in it.

"Hey where did you-" at that moment something fast cut through Luffy's skin, leaving a small wound on his right arm. It seems like the mysterious figure passed near him while Luffy remained there not knowing in which direction to go.

After a few seconds, the gas disappeared and something big appeared on the sky. Luffy looked at it, not sure what exactly it was. It looked like a big bird-like creature, caring the person from before.

Without hesitation, they flew away to the next island which was at west from this one.

Luffy sighed. He really wanted to talk with 'Mysterious Knight'. Something about him seemed odd and Luffy was intrigued by this. But even so, he felt like this wasn't the last time they meet.

"Heh maybe next time" he looked at the sky, deciding to return back on the ship.

Far away on a island, two figures landed. Apparently the bird-like creature from before was a human with devil fruit powers. Both of them sighed relieved that Luffy didn't find out about their identity.

"Phew…I didn't expect anyone to be out there at this hour" the guy withdraw his wings, returning to his normal human form.

"But really that was a close one…" the other one caught his breath and took his cloak down, revealing the face.

"…Alexys"