No More Running Away
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the characters used in this fic.
Our story begins on a beautiful day. The sea was vast and calm and the seagulls flew freely through the sky with not a care in the world. But, it wasn't just seagulls that could be seen in the sky today. The West Wind told of in myths was also flying high along with the seagulls.
She had, in her hand, a small creature. This creature was white and resembled a horse, except his nose resembled that of a dog. He also had the ears of a monkey and his skin was the purest shade of white. On his head was a puff of orange hair and a horn, a certain type of horn belonging only to a special creature that was told of in legends but whose existence had not been proven.
He may not have looked like one in his current state, but this creature was a special unicorn who had the power to make anyone around him happy. Sadly, this was the very reason the West Wind was carrying him to a deserted island. The gods wanted him gone and she had to make sure its presence was unknown, and with no one around to make happy, no one would ever know of his presence on this island. Little did the West Wind know that this island would have some very special people visiting it very soon.
She placed the small creature on an island full of trees with fruit growing every second. The trees were, of course, full of fruit for no one inhabited the island at all until now. She felt that this was the perfect place to hide this wonderful creature.
"Oh, Unico," she said sweetly, "I wish it didn't have to be this way, but as long as you're here, the Night Wind will never find you."
Yes, this small creature's name was Unico and he had made many people happy on his journey to escape the gods' wrath. He had met many people on his travels and made friends with a good deal of residents, but sadly, only they remembered him. Every time he switched islands, his memory of being on the previous island was always wiped so he would never remember his friends. It was a sad life, but thinking about such things only made him sadder, and he was already sad enough whenever he was alone.
At last, the unicorn awoke from his slumber. He let out a loud yawn and looked around at his surroundings.
"Where am I?" he asked as he looked back and forth. Then, he ran around the island shouting, "HELLO, IS ANYBODY HERE? MY NAME'S UNICO AND I JUST WANT SOMEONE TO TALK TO!"
When no one replied, he sat down on the ground as tears built up, then he looked into the sky and cried, "I'M SO LONELY!"
Then, he started to sob just as he noticed a big ship headed towards the island. Oh, how he wanted more than anything to make friends with the owners, even though the skull and crossbones meant there were pirates aboard. Come on, we're talking about a guy who made friends with a devil. I'm sure pirates wouldn't bother him.
The crewmembers aboard this fine vessel were quite interesting. One, the captain, was a young boy in his late teens. He wore a Straw Hat, a red sleeveless shirt and a pair of rolled-up jeans. He also had pearly white teeth that never went bad no matter how much he ate, and he ate a lot. When he smiled, he resembled a monkey. Oh, he also had a scar under his left eye and his name was Monkey D. Luffy.
The other crewmember was a swordsman. He had green hair that resembled moss and a scar across his chest, which he covered with a white T-shirt. He also wore a light-green truss around his waste and a pair of dark-green pants. His most threatening feature was the three swords he kept by his side. (Now two since this does not take place after Thriller Bark)
The third crewmember, the navigator, was a young and cute thief named Nami. She had orange hair, a medium build and always had a Log Pose, a shiny ball with a compass in the middle, around her wrist. She also a tattoo resembling a pinwheel and a tangerine, which represented her past. Did I mention her tangerine trees were on the ship? Anyway, I will not go into fashion since it changes in every arc.
Another was an interesting young man named Usopp, who was the sniper of the crew. He had a long nose, very much like that of Pinocchio, and in a way that symbolized the fact that he was a naturally-born liar. He also had eyes shaped like perfect circled, and that was rare for most people. He also had curly black hair and wore a green bandana along with a green tank top and green slacks. Of course, he'd be nowhere without his work boots and his fish lips.
Now we move onto the chef, Sanji. He had short blond hair with part of it covering his left eye. He also wore a fancy suit that he used to please the ladies and complement his gentleman nature. He also smoked at least 4 cigarettes a day and never once came close to catching of lung cancer. (But seriously, kids, don't smoke! It'll ruin your life and that's why I'll never even try it! Plus it makes you look and smell bad)
The next crewmember, often referred to as the pet, was a small reindeer named Chopper. He was the youngest member of the crew. He wore a red top-hat with a medical cross to symbolize that he was the doctor. He also wore red shorts because he always did whatever it took to look human. In his current state, he stood on 2 legs and resembled a raccoon dog. He was also very modest and tried to hide any affection he had towards humans, which he still didn't trust all that much.
Nico Robin was the seventh crewmember. She was a mysterious girl wanted by the government since she was 8. She mostly had a calm nature. She had long black hair and a slim build along with narrow eyes. As for fashion, this also changes in every arc.
Finally, the shipwright of the crew was known as Franky, but his real name was Katti Flam. He was not an average person. He was actually a cyborg, a half-man half-machine type person. And mind you, he took construction very seriously and always had to be perfect, and he also worked very quickly too, and building something quickly and perfectly was a real talent. He had blue spiky hair and a pair of shades to cover his eyes, which looked strangely like Usopp's. He also had big forearms (Think of Popeye) and wore a Hawaiian shirt and a Speedo. He also cried a lot but never had the guts of admit it.
These were the Straw Hats Pirates, and their ship was known as the Thousand Sunny! Originally, they had another ship called the Going Merry, but it burned down into the sea, so they no longer had it.
Anyway, the crew parked up to the shore as Luffy ran out and started grabbing all the fruit in sight. Nami smacked him on the back of the head and spat, "Don't eat it all! We need to bring some along just incase we run out of food!"
Luffy hung his head in disappointment and handed the navigator the food. Even though he was the captain, Nami was just too forceful to ignore.
Meanwhile, Sanji thought of all the different types of whine he could make with this fruit to present to Nami. His eyes filled with hearts as he joined in with the picking of the fruit.
Unico watched from behind a rock. He was quite amazed at what type of people these were. Never had he pictured pirates being so care-free and fun-loving. Even Franky was resting on a rock strumming his ukulele and singing about the beautiful weather.
Usopp, Chopper and Luffy ran around the island looking for various fun things to do while Robin sat on one the crew's easy chairs reading a book under the hot morning sun. Zoro just sat on the ship with his eyes closed and loud snored escaping his lungs. He wasn't a very active person anyway.
Nami was busy drawing a map of the island. As she examined the landscape, she sat on a rock, and it wasn't just any rock. It was the same rock that a certain creature was hiding behind. Unico felt that this was his chance to make a good impression, but there was one problem. Unico didn't know whether to trust this girl or not.
Still, she seemed harmless enough, so he smiled, wagged his short nub of a tail and said, "Hi, my name's Unico!"
Nami's eyes widened as she looked behind her and noticed the strange creature. She just blinked and asked, "Did you just talk?"
The unicorn nodded as Nami figured this was a result of the Human-Human Fruit, a Devil Fruit. Devil Fruit was a special kind of fruit that gave anyone who hate it god-like powers in exchange for the ability to swim… but hold on, Chopper had eaten the Human-Human Fruit and there was only one of each kind in the world. This made Nami freak out and Unico just stared at her shocked expression then hung his head.
"Sorry I frightened you," he said with shame in his voice, "I'll just leave you alone now."
But, as he walked away, Nami shouted, "Wait! I didn't mean to offend you or anything. It's just that talking animals isn't exactly normal."
Unico just turned around and stated, "But you have a talking animal in your crew."
The navigator sighed and said, "There's a long story behind that, but what is it you want? It seems strange that you would just start talking to me without a reason."
"I wanted to know if you would be my friend," Unico stated as Nami sighed and called Luffy over to the small area. As the captain, it was his job to decide issues like this. (And we all know what the answer it going to be)
Luffy peered down at the small creature and asked, "What is this? Can I eat it?"
Upon hearing that, Unico cowered away in a corner. See, whenever Luffy saw an animal, he thought of meat, which was his favorite of all food groups. He ate at least 20 slabs of it a day.
Nami smacked Luffy over the head and barked, "Don't say that! You scared him out of his mind!"
As Luffy bowed and apologized to the creature, Unico approached and said, "Hi, my name's Unico. I was wondering if you would be my friends."
Luffy was very curious about this. Clearly, Unico was a stranger, but he also wanted to be in the crew. How could Luffy say no? Still, with lots of pressure and persuasion, he was convinced to let the other crewmembers have a vote on whether or not this unicorn should join them.
"What is this thing, anyway?" Usopp asked, examining the creature, "It looks like nothing I've ever seen before."
Then, he noticed the horn and shouted, "AHAH! IT MUST BE A UNICORN!"
"REALLY?" Chopper replied in shock. Chopper was very gullible and believed pretty much anything, so he took this quick assumption very seriously and asked, "How can you tell?"
"He has a horn on his head and his build resembles that of a horse!" Usopp said as Unico sighed and explained, "I don't know what I am. I'm lucky to even remember my own name."
"Well, why are you on this deserted island and why do you want to be in our crew?" Sanji asked.
Amazingly, Unico also remembered why he was on the island. He knew that the reason he was here was because the West Wind took him here. And the reason the West Wind took him to such a place was because the gods were after him. See, he had the power to make anyone around him happy, and this angered the gods for they felt that it was their duty to decide who should be happy. The West Wind had been assigned to take him to a dangerous location where no one lived so Unico could no longer make anyone happy, but it such a terrible place to live, so the West Wind took him to any island she thought was uninhabited. But everywhere Unico went, someone was always there and he would make them happy, and the gods could always sense it happening, so they sent the Night Wind out to seek down and capture Unico. The West Wind did not want Unico to be sent to such a horrible environment, so she did all she could to keep Unico safe.
The crew was saddened by this heartfelt story. Franky had tears rolling down his face as he covered it with his hands and shouted, "THAT STORY IS SO SAD YET I AM NOT CRYING! NOW FOR A SAD SONG!"
Then he played a rhythm on his ukulele and sang, "Young creature sent away from his family and always forgetting about his friends!"
This brought up a conflict. While the right thing to do was end Unico's loneliness, their presence would make his location known. It was decided. As long as he traveled with them, they would make sure he would not be caught. The crew decided it was right to bring Unico along as the ninth crewmember.