Greetings, some of you may know me, some of you may not, and some of you are here because you definitely know me and saw that I have posted this. Regardless of why you are here, you are, in fact, here. How many of you are reading this, I honestly don't know, but regardless, thank you for reading this story.
Now that I've said that, I have another set of thanks to give. TomA62975 and nightshadowdark, thank you for looking this chapter over. I'm much more confident to post when the chapter has had someone to make sure I didn't make too many mistakes.
That said, those of you that know me should realize that I typically have Mariokutai-Reincarnated and Chaotyx to thank for looking over my work, but I wasn't sure if Mariokutai would like it and I can't remember if I asked Chaotyx yet, though two betas are enough, and asking for the help of three or four may be overkill for spellchecking or making sure everything is good.
I would greatly appreciate it if you all reviewed so I can know if this story is worth keeping on or not. If the reader number feels like this is unappreciated, I will more than likely take this down, so it is best to know early on so I don't waste a great deal of effort on a dozen chapters, but reviews will suffice if I know at least a few people really like it.
Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I, along with Tom and nightshadowdark, do not own the rights to One Piece. I am not making a profit off of this, nor do I seek to make any money at all. I just write to pass the time, and I share it because I think people will like it. Thank you, have a nice day, and as always, watch out for Sea Kings.
…
I stared out to the sea, just thinking about my family and how I had nearly been disowned. It started with my father, saying I was soon to marry the son of a count. The boy was three years younger than me, and about a fifth as mature. He wanted to marry me right away, and my father wanted the same, to get me married so he could get the dowry and move up in the world.
I left home, partly because I didn't want to marry that stupid rich kid, but mostly because I wanted to travel the world. Mom took it pretty hard, and for three days I prepared to leave while my dad constantly made comments about how foolish I was being, how stupid I was, and how I was making the biggest mistake of my life while mom just, cried.
I sighed quietly as I continued watching the waves, glad I had been able to leave as I had. The ship just wasn't easy to get to. I had a shouting match with my father a week ago on the day I left, and when I was getting ready to board he just, walked out of the crowd toward me. I was ready to scream at him, but he didn't get mad. He just told me that if I ever wanted to come home, for mom's sake, I could. We talked only for a few minutes, but in the end I was able to leave without worrying, telling him that I loved him, and for him to tell mom I love her. I sighed quietly as I started really missing them.
"Hey, don't fall over the edge now." A familiar voice said. I quickly moved back and turned as the captain walked past. He laughed quietly as I put my hand to my chest.
"Don't sneak up on me like that." I said quickly. "I've already had enough surprises from my family." He laughed quietly as he walked past me toward his cabin. I sighed and walked down the rail toward the galley. It was close to lunch anyway, and I really wanted to get something in my stomach soon. As I walked down the hall I inhaled. There was a lot of good food being made. It wasn't a five star cruise, but there was good food, for the price of the ticket. 'Man, this smells good.' I walked down the hall a little more until I got to the dining room and saw that it was nearly empty. As I approached the buffet, I heard a laugh.
"Ah, this is the life." One man's voice said. I tried to ignore the man and grabbed a plate and started moving down to find something I wanted, when an unwelcome hand suddenly swatted my butt. I jumped and turned to him.
"Hey!" I said sternly. "Save it for someone else!" He laughed as I went back to the buffet, but he grabbed my butt again and I turned to him. "Cut it out!" He smirked and I saw that he was drunk, and I suddenly felt another hand trying to grab me, so I turned and punched the offender in the stomach, knocking him down to the floor. I turned again and punched the other one in the face as he started to adopt an angered expression. "Get out of here before I get serious." I heard the one behind me and I turned slightly and elbowed him in the nose, knocking him back again as some sailors came in. The first one grabbed me but I stomped on his foot and he let go before he was pulled away. The other started getting up but was met with a cutlass held to the neck.
"Cool it." The sailor said warningly. "Get up." I sighed and felt my appetite dying down. Fighting did that to me most of the time, and I fought a lot through my school years. It reminded me of when I was a little kid, when I kept getting into pointless fights.
I put the plate down and walked out as the sailors spoke to the other people, and I made it into my room without incident. Locking the door, I sighed as I went over to the bed, but I turned and saw myself in the mirror. I looked myself over for a minute.
I looked at my outfit in particular. A loose short sleeved green shirt, untucked, a pair of faded loose fitting blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers. I couldn't see why they wanted me. My face was rather plain looking, and my short brown hair almost made me look like a boy. My flat chest didn't help much with that. With that small thought, I moved closer to the mirror and looked at my face intently. My eyes were just, chocolate brown. There was nothing special about me, but still they were after me.
Shaking my head, I walked over to my bed and flopped down on it, crawling until my head was on the pillows, and I groaned quietly before closing my eyes. After the past few days, I was just tired and needed as much rest as I could get. Dad trying to disown me, mom fearing that he would, then finally being forgiven and told I always had a home. Now, a couple of guys deciding I'm worth a quick rape or something. I don't know why, but I always seemed to attract freaks or perverts.
'Why didn't I just stay home?' I thought pitifully. 'Maybe a wagon to another part of the island, but no, I had to want to travel to West Blue. What was I thinking?' I sighed as I rolled and pulled myself into the blanket, effectively wrapping myself up. It was early, but it had been a long day for me.
…
I woke to a thunderous crash from somewhere outside. I slightly got up and promptly found myself more wrapped up than before. Struggling, I heard screaming for a while before I managed to free one arm, but by then someone was hitting my door.
"Whoever is inside, open up!" A man yelled. The door came free and I gasped at the size of the pirate. Having just been forced awake, I didn't know what was going on. He laughed and walked over. "Come on boy, let's go." He picked me up as I struggled, but I eventually gave up and forced my voice to deepen a little.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked. He shifted and I saw him pick up my luggage, so I started moving. "Hey, what are you doing?" I shifted and he moved so that I was held over his shoulder easily. "Hey!"
"What?" He asked smugly. "Can't handle being a hostage? I could kill you right now." I glared at him and he laughed as he walked out. I saw the rest of the ship's crew being tied up, but I was more worried about my luggage. It had everything I owned in it, and my personal treasures, along with everything that showed my gender. If they all thought I was a boy, maybe I could avoid the unsavory thought of what they could do to me. "Cap'n, got a present for you." I shifted and saw a man in a long gray coat with a black tricorne hat, the traditional pirate captain hat. He turned, showing off long curly black hair, a thin mustache that was curled at the tips, and a long and thin goatee. He looked confident, with a white ruffled shirt, black pants and a pair of black shoes with long white socks. He had a sword at his side, a simple fencing sword. What caught my eye the most was the fact that his right hand had a glove, but the left didn't. I quickly spotted that glove though, held in his shirt pocket. "I believe you asked me to find a suitable cabin boy?"
"Yes, Mr. Trevor, thank you." He said. He had a calm and light voice, and he looked at me as I moved my arm up and glared at the man holding me. "What a thoughtful gift. I'm sure he'll fit right in." He nodded his head and I struggled. "Wait, he wants to say something."
"You'll regret this." I said. He laughed.
"Perhaps." He said. "But I'll enjoy having you clean the ship while we have you. Mr. Trevor, if you will." He was so casual about what he was doing, but 'Trevor' just walked over to the boarding plank. "Now, when we are finished, you will be untied enough to get loose, and you will go about your merry way, sans my new cabin boy." I moved again and put my hand on Trevor's head, making him laugh.
"Keep playin' kid." He said. "This is happening, like it or not. And don't lose your blankie, 'cause it's all you get, apart from your luggage." I lowered my body and sighed. He lowered me near the mast as other pirates walked by, so I looked up and saw their Jolly Roger. It was normal, at a first glance. But I soon noticed that the skull had the mustache and goatee. "We're nothin' special, but we get around. They call us the Sea Devil Pirates. And now, you're a Sea Devil too." He suddenly put something on my head and I looked up at him as he held my head still. When he was done he laughed. "There. Proper bandanna. Keep it close. You'll only get one if you can't go after it." I lowered my head and reached up, but I didn't remove it. It would work, kind of.
"Why me?" I asked, still in my 'boy' voice.
"Captain wanted a cabin boy." He said. "What better way than getting a kid like you on a cruise. You'll fit right in, if you get into it right now. You're with us now kiddo." I moved the blanket and tried to get out of it and he laughed. "You'll be sleeping in the cargo hold for the first few days until we get around to putting in a bunk. You'll be getting up early, and what Captain Ben says, you do." I nodded as I got up, and he shoved the trunk into my arms. I stumbled as he put the blanket over it, folding it quickly. "Now, get down to the hold. If you're hungry, whatever's in the barrels is yours for now." He pushed me and I nearly fell as I made my way toward a downward staircase.
'I should have stayed home.' I thought. I looked down the stairs before I slowly started my descent, looking around the large trunk. 'Stupid luggage.' After a minute I made it to the bottom, and I looked around to see that there was a lot of dirt and grime. 'Why me?' The only thing that kept me from arguing was the thought that they'd kill me. As I walked, my stomach grumbled quietly and I set my chest down in a small and fairly clean area. As I moved the blanket I stopped and sighed before looking around. 'Well, whatever I want from a barrel.' I walked over to one and looked at it before opening it carefully. It was full of water so I closed it again and went to the next one. It was also a water barrel, so I went across the hold as I heard movement above. I opened a barrel and saw a strange fruit sitting on top of a pile of sugar. It was dark, but not black. More like, really dark red that shifted to blackish red wherever I wasn't directly focused, but as I stared it seemed green for a few moments, and it was just like the red, blackish where I wasn't looking but dark where I was. I stared for a few moments as it went from green to blue to gold, and I slowly reached in and turned it. It was, smooth at first, but then kind of rough, and then fuzzy. It was changing every few seconds. It was heavy one second and light as a feather the next. 'What kind of fruit is this?' I stared at it and it felt like it was growing. It was roughly the size of a cantaloupe, and oddly lighter for a moment. 'I must be starving. I'm just imagining this, freaky fruit. It's soft enough right now though, I hope.' I put the lid down and took a bite, and somehow I should have expected the exact thing that surprised me. The first bite tasted fantastic, the best thing I've ever had in my life. But, the second bite was amazingly less so. It started out with a perfect mix of sweet and sour, a little salty, and just a little savory. The second bite was more than twice as sour, a lot less sweet, and the other tastes were gone. I looked at it for a second before seeing the inside colors shifting just like the outside. I waited before taking another bite, and it was like grape flavored cotton candy. I ate it slowly, waiting for specific colors, like purple and red. After finishing the strange fruit I licked my lips and looked for another, but there wasn't much else in the barrel. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it was a barrel full of sugar. I put the lid on and sighed as my stomach made an odd sound. Not hungry, not sick, but definitely not a sound I recognized. 'Oh man, I hope that means I'm full.' I heard footsteps and I walked over to another barrel and opened it.
"I'm glad you're settling in." The captain said. I looked into the barrel and saw more sugar, but not another of the strange fruit. "The food barrels are next to the water." I lowered the lid onto the barrel and he laughed. "Don't be mad. You've been given a good opportunity. You're currently just cleaning your new room, but soon you'll be my personal cabin boy." I turned to him and looked up. "Speak your mind."
"I'm not a cabin boy." I said in my normal voice. He seemed surprised.
"I see." He said. "Well, all the more reason for you to make yourself useful. We've been at sea for a very long time, and if the others realize this…" I felt the color drain from my face. "Yes, you know just what they might do. I won't, because you are just a young girl, and I'm not that kind of pirate. Just pretend you're a boy, and I'll keep your secret."
"Wh-what's the catch?" I asked quietly.
"That you stop opening the sugar barrels." He said. "The cook doesn't want any chance of the sea air making the sugar stick together in clumps." I nodded. "Once you're set up, start cleaning. I'll have Mr. Trevor bring down a mop and pail, some rags, and perhaps a small knife. No one stays on this ship without some form of defense. I treat my crew like family." I nodded again as he turned. "One thing to remember." He turned his head. "We may be Sea Devils, but we're honorable pirates. Only the Marines or fools who attack us feel the wrath of our cannons." He started walking when he stopped. "What's your name?"
"Luna D. Veluria." I said calmly. He looked over at me for a moment.
"What's the D for?" He asked. I was silent for a moment before shrugging.
"I don't know." I said. "My father thought it was a fitting initial, but I don't think there's a name behind it anywhere that I know."
"Well, be that as it may, you're just Lad for now." He said. "Anyone says Lad, you look at 'em." I nodded as he walked out.
…
I walked past the barrels and opened one. Three days had passed since I became 'Lad', and I still didn't have my own bed, or even a hammock. What I did have was a painful headache from the previous night. One of the men, a tall skinny guy named Terrance, gave me a drink, and since I didn't know what was in the tankard he gave me, I found out the hard way that rum is surprisingly good. Three tankards later, I wound up on my bed thanks to Captain Ben.
I pulled an orange out of the barrel, then two more, and closed the lid before sitting down and peeling them. I hadn't felt good all of yesterday, and my skin felt strange, like I was standing in the middle of a fire, but it was just far enough that my skin felt warm, not burning. As I peeled the orange I heard footsteps, and Captain Ben walked into the hold with a couple glasses of water. He walked in time with the rocking of the ship, never letting the water spill.
"Morning." He said, causing me to wince. I peeled more of the orange and set it down on a barrel next to me, and he set the first glass near me. "You're lucky. You were close to blowing your cover." He sat down across from me as I set two of the oranges down, pulling a wedge free and offering him the other side.
"Please stop yelling." I said quietly. He chuckled quietly before taking a wedge for himself. As I ate my piece he just watched. "Are we moving?"
"We're becalmed." He said. "The wind has died down considerably, so we're just enjoying the quiet while it lasts. There is a ship scheduled to be by this area in about three days. We'll wait, take what they've got, and then we're going to go to port, specifically a secret haven for pirates known as Tougarest. It should be a good place to get some proper clothes to hide any of your remaining feminine features." I slowly ate another piece of the orange.
"Don't let me drink like that again." I said quietly. "One, and that's it." He nodded as I set the orange down and grabbed the water, quickly downing the entire glass.
"Also, while I'm here, there is talk among the crew about something strange." He said. I looked at him. "Apparently, the manifest of the ship we took last, was carrying something in one of the sugar barrels. Something, strange. It was labeled as 'classified'. It was a fake merchant ship, and apparently it was a Marines vessel." I nodded as I went back to the orange. "From what I can tell, we're going to catch some fire from that. That's also why we're going to Tougarest. They won't come after us there. We're allied with some others, or, we're in talks for an alliance." He reached behind him and pulled out a bar of chocolate and broke it in half, opening the package and setting the wrapped half on the barrel. "Have you looked in more than the one sugar barrel? I'd like to know if you might have seen something, strange. A weapon, a book, documents?" I shook my head. "For all I know, it could have been a Devil's Fruit hidden in the bottom." I thought for a moment about the strange fruit I had eaten. The thought that it could have been Cursed crossed my mind rapidly. "Well, whatever it was, we'll find it sooner or later. No point in digging through it all right now." I nodded slowly. "I'll go back up. Enjoy the chocolate. It's Dutch Gourmet." He got up and walked away as I ate the last of the orange.
'Devil's, Fruit.' I thought slowly. 'It makes, sense.' I swallowed the orange and imagined the strange fruit. 'It'd have to be Cursed to, change that much. But what did it do to me?' Another thought quickly crossed my mind. 'If it really was, I'm like a hammer now.' I lowered my head and slowly reached out to the chocolate and picked it up. 'I can't swim now. I can never swim again.' I slowly took a bite and I looked at it. It was several small bricks, filled with, caramel. 'Carmel in chocolate? Wow…' I slowly ate it as I thought quickly about my future. I couldn't swim, and I was on a pirate ship. The odds I would end up going into the water was fairly likely, especially around Marines ships. I sighed heavily as I reached for my trunk and I looked to the door as I pulled out my personal treasure. I pulled it to my chest and looked at it. A small stuffed bear my mother had given me, and I had patched it more times than I ever meant to. It wasn't a special one, but I always carried it with me. "Mom… I'm, a Cursed Pirate now… Dad was right. I should have stayed home."