Summary: the straw hats find a mysterious person grievously wounded on the site of what was once a battleground. Luffy being Luffy wants him to join the crew. But what happened to him and why does he walk a path of self destruction? Rating subject to change, no pairings yet.
It was a truly peaceful day, not a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze carrying the scent of cherry blossoms from the island behind them. The straw hats were relaxing after a normal adventure, at least normal for them. Ran around, dethroned a dictator, punched a bunch of marines, got away, the usual. Usopp was keeping watch in the crows nest as Sanji noodled around Robin and Nami. Zoro napped against the railing, Luffy and Chopper were dancing to one of Brook's songs, and Franky was down in the ship whaling away on something with a hammer. As I said, peaceful.
"Uh... HEY GUYS THERE'S A BIG BOAT NEARBY!" Usopp shouted to those down below.
Maybe not as peaceful.
Everybody was scrambling around. "Where is it Usopp?" Luffy called as Nami made her way to the wheel.
"Off the starboard side!" Usopp called. He used a scope to look closer. "Uhhh... g-guys? That's not one big boat... that's three marine warships surrounding a smaller boat... all four of them are destroyed!" He shouted, getting a bit nervous at the sight. "W-what do we do?"
Luffy grinned his usual cheeky grin and Usopp gulped nervously. He knew what that grin meant. "N-now Luffy... we n-need to be cautious-" "YOSH!" Luffy interrupted. "NAMI! Make towards the mystery boat!" he cheered. "And Sanji! I'm hungry!" "You just ate TEN MINUTES AGO!" The infuriated blonde chef shouted back. "Besides, it's not a mystery boat. Usopp clearly stated it's multiple destroyed ships. We should see if there are survivors there." He continued, lighting a cigarette and taking a drag.
"Yosh! I smell an adventure!" Luffy cheered, ignoring Sanji, who just sighed and shook his head. By now everyone could see the wrecked ships. Masts were broken, hulls were split, one was smoldering quietly, cannons were overturned. The marine ship closest to them had several things hanging off the side. Their eyes widened as they realized that those "things" were actually corpses of marine soldiers who were hanging off the shattered railing by their intestines, which were spilled out of jagged gashes in the stomachs of the soldiers. Nami placed her hand over her mouth as brook's jaw dropped. "W-what happened?" Sanji asked, looking around with shocked eyes. Franky came up from under the deck and blinked. "That is super disgusting..." he muttered. Even Luffy had lost his cheerful demeanor, but only mildly.
"Whatever happened here, it was fast and brutal." Zoro mumbled, taking in the slash marks on all the ships as the thousand sunny came alongside a marine vessel without the gruesome ornaments. The gentle breeze, previously carrying the sweet smell of cherry blossoms now carried a scent that could only truly be described as the stench of death. The crew attached ropes to the ship and extended the gangplank so they could board. Leaving Usopp, Nami, and Franky behind to defend the ship in case something attacked. That settled, they walked onto the demolished wreck of a ship that used to be part of the world government's pride and joy, the marines. Now it was more akin to a pile of firewood one would hide behind their shed. Barely any boards remained intact. They looked and saw several ropes binding the small ship in the center. A skull and crossbones hung in tatters from a mast that was listing quite drastically. The group split apart to investigate.
"This wreck is approximately three days old." Robin announced, though no one knew how she knew. She held up a journal. "That's the last logged date in this marine captain's log." She explained. Zoro meanwhile jumped down to the ship in the middle. Blood coated the deck, and bodies of dead marines were scattered all about. However, there were three marine corpses laid shoulder to shoulder, and from the look of the coats, they were the captains. Zoro tilted his head in confusion. "Oi guys! Somebody arranged these corpses here!" He called out. Upon closer inspection of the deck of the ship, he realized something else. Seven bloody trails leading down into the ship. Following them, he climbed down into the oddly barren hold of the ship. Not a speck of food was there. Deeper in, he saw seven boxes, crudely fashioned. Opening one up, he saw a peaceful looking corpse inside. That is when he realized that they were coffins. He recoiled from the dying stench. His head whipped up as he heard a call of "CHOPPER!" from luffy. He scrambled back up and joined the exploration party as they rushed to Luffy's voice. "COME QUICK THIS ONE IS ALIVE!" They all exchanged confused glances. Alive? Someone survived this? They didn't think it possible.
They gathered around Luffy who crouched down next to a body. "Oi Luffy... he looks rather dead..." Sanji stated, sweatdropping. He wasn't wrong either. The poor man they were gathered around definitely looked dead. His shirt was missing, and there were dozens of slash marks and bullet holes on his chest. He was surrounded by a huge crowd of bisected marines. His tattered black pants did nothing to hide how bony his legs were. His ribs were visible, and his spine almost was visible, his gut was so caved in. One arm was at a jaunty angle, and the other one was clutched to his chest, holding a pouch to his chest. Upon closer examination, they saw his chest rising and falling very shallowly, and as chopper checked, it was revealed that yes he had a pulse. It was obvious however, that he was not going to live much longer. Chopper switched to heavy point to pick him up. He gasped. "This guy is as light as Brook!" He screamed, rushing back to the sunny. Dried blood was crusted all over his body and face. The others continued to investigate, trying to figure out what had happened.
Back on the sunny, the trio that were there looked up in surprise to see chopper returning carrying a body. "Prepare the infirmary!" He screamed. Brook and Usopp quickly leapt into action as Nami stood there paralyzed. She watched in horror as the body of the man was carried into the boat. "He's alive, right?" She barely whispered, horrified at the man's condition. She noticed the thing he had been clasping fall to the ground, so she picked it up, wondering what the corpse-like man had wanted to protect. However, she decided to respect his privacy and not peek. Though she had to admit the urge was incredibly strong to see if he had treasure in it. Chopper immediately got to work cleaning, stitching, and extracting. He was so focused on his work he didn't notice as the others returned. Everyone had gathered around the door to the infirmary as chopper worked furiously, no one wanted to go near the diminutive reindeer in fear of getting in the way. Minutes turned to hours, and finally chopper emerged from the infirmary and closed the door behind him.
"He's... alive..." chopper stated, wiping sweat from his forehead. "However, he isn't gonna wake up for a while. He is desperately gonna need food and drink when he wakes up. He was dehydrated and seemed as if he hadn't eaten in maybe a week." Sanji grimaced. He knew the pain of starvation personally. "I will make him a meal as soon as he awakens." He said determinedly. Those who weren't on the expedition immediately began questioning the rest on what happened. Robin told them about the log book dated for three days ago, Zoro told them about the peculiar arrangement of the marine captains, the empty hold, and the seven coffins, Luffy told them about the discovery of the man, and Brook wrapped up with the conclusion of their expedition, talking about the complete lack of any supplies there, and the brutality of the massacre. When all was said and done, the nine crew members looked at each other silently, then towards the door of the infirmary.
"What happened...?" They all silently wondered.
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Hey all! Os here once more! I've decided to give this whole fanfiction thing another shot! I can't guarantee how often I'll update but I will try to make sure that it actually happens!