Oh crap oh crap. I did it....why did I do it? Oh for heavenssake's why did I do it. I must have been on crack... oh wait... no... checked myself and it seems I wasn't on drugs or anything.

Well I'm sure some of you are pretty tired of these stories but I'm wanting to give it a go.

And I swear the bandwagon jumped me.

Of coarse no one ever expected them to reach their goals, make their dreams come true. During the late Great Age of Piracy people lost their faith, hopes, and dreams. And then a motley band of teens sailed forth from the East Blue to the Grand Line. The crew that gathered many members instilled new faith in the people they saved. They inspired the rekindled hope in the older and younger generations. They gave them a reason to dream new dreams.

They defied all laws, even the laws of physics, and all the rational thoughts of those who believed in them and those that fought against them. The world crumbled and rose anew as they rose to power. They were the Straw Hat Pirates.

They ruled the Pirate world and even the Marine world at times, but very rarely and it wasn't likely for the Government to ever admit that. They ruled for an odd number of years and the Second Age of the Pirate King was enjoyed with much enthusiasm.

And then history repeated itself.

And Luffy kneeled upon the scaffold with seastone hand cuffs binding his wrists. The spectators either cried or cheered. Every man in the Marine force was there, guarding every entrance and exit, waiting for all hell to break loose.

The Leaders of the New World Government took it upon themselves to journey to Rouge Town where history was to be written and repeated. They read him his crimes. They called upon him one last time.

"Any last words Monkey D. Luffy?" They asked. And the world waited on baited breath to hear the words come from Luffy's mouth. The words they had waited so long to hear since the news of his capture.

Anything to do with One Piece.

And Luffy smiled once again.

"I don't regret being a pirate or being the Pirate King," He began, "I lived my life to the fullest and now it's time to pass on the torch."

The crowd stared in awe at him.

"One Piece waits for those of you who have the courage and will to find it. Long live the Great Age of Piracy!" Luffy shouted and smiled for the last time. The curtains closed on his life. The people watched him die. The second Pirate King was no more.

But the dream lived on.

And that was more than enough for the rest of the world.

The years passed, children were born and they grew old, no one achieved the dream of becoming the third Pirate King. One Piece was still lost to time, except to the remaining Straw Hats. But no one knew where they all resided now. Oh yes there were speculations and guesses and a truth here or there. But no one really knew what happened to them after it was all said and done. They just disappeared the day their captain died. A quarter of a century passed before anyone really dared to dream again and set out to find One Piece.

And that is were the history in the book ends and a new story begins.

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The sun was rising off in the distance and the water started to sparkle on the horizon from what I could see. I was running. Running towards it. There was another person running beside me. A girl. Brown hair. Green eyes. Running for the horizon. Then she stopped and so did I. There was a blanket that I could see but not feel.

The sun rose a little higher.

The girl turned to me, smiling. There was an orange in her hand now.

The water sparkled even more, getting closer to the shore.

"My parents say the sunrise is the best part of the day, they say seize the day … or something like that…" The girl said. Her voice was light, like a whisper.

"The only way I want to seize the day is by living my dreams, as soon as I do that I won't stop seizing the day!" A voice, presumably mine, replied. The girl smiled again. She was wearing a lilac dress

"What's your dream?" She asked.

The sun was higher, reaching the shoreline.

"To be Pirate King"

"Cool! Can I be your first mate?" The tone of her voice was higher but still a whisper.

"Of coarse!" A hand, that had to be mine, reached out to her. And then she stopped smiling.

"But I'm leaving soon."

The sun rose higher over the horizon. The ocean was creeping towards us in high tide. So inviting and bright.

So blue.

"Then I'll come find you and you'll be my first mate!"

She smiled again.

My vision went black.

In This Life

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Reese Mitcol woke up to the unpleasant sight of one of his fellow seamen's occupied hammock dipping just a little too close to his face. He groaned loudly and rolled out of his hammock and landed on the floor. He composed himself and tugged on his boots and stuffed the ends of his pants into them. His thoughts were still occupied with the dream he had, though really it was a memory. It had been 12 years since the conversation with that girl. He smiled as he remembered that it was what started his adventures out on the sea. Though he was just a fisherman, but he couldn't really complain. He had worked for his father, Emil Mitcol, just after the age of 12 and became a well-to-do worker onboard his father's ship, the Maureen, named after his mother who was stuck on land with his younger brother.

The sun was rising over the horizon, just like it had in the dream-memory, and his father was at the bow of the ship facing the sun. He joined the man at the bow of the ship. His father had the same blond hair and blue eyes as he did, though his hair was shorter, and the same love of the sea… and fish. Emil was smiling broadly when he looked down at his son.

"Mornin' boy!" He said enthusiastically.

"Mornin' dad" Reese replied. They didn't say anything for another moment or two.

"I had that dream again dad…" Reese said offhandedly.

"Did you now?" Emil replied, sounding a little shocked. Reese nodded, "Well then, I guess I can't stop you from doing what you want. You're 18 now right? Least I could do is get you to a starting point….or not land on the trade island!" Emil started laughing again. Reese chuckled with him but knew his dad understood.

"Mom won't be happy I guess…" he mused.

"Nope, in fact I think she'll be right pissed with you." Emil remarked, "But she'll have to deal with that. You're going to be Pirate King so she'll have something to be proud of when you come home again. Mind you, you better come home. You're brother has been meddling with those magical arts so he might resurrect you and then kill you if you don't come home in one piece." His father warned.

"Yeah yeah, I'll be home sooner or later…." Reese drawled, "Bringing One Piece back with me too if I can manage to get a big enough boat." He added as an after thought.

The Red Line was coming over the southeast horizon now. The rest of the fishermen crew was waking up at that moment. Most were tired still but ready for the new day. The sails were snapped open and full of wind. Catching the breeze they rode the wind heading southeast.

"LET'S CATCH THAT HORIZON MEN!"

________________

The Red Line was completely impassible if you wanted to keep your ship. Well that was about 12 years ago before the Marines finally tired of having to trade ships every time they crossed the Red Line. So they had exceptionally good miners and technicians ground out a large hole in the side of the Red Line that divided the North and East Blue. So after 12 years it was dug up and mother nature did the rest of the work smoothing out the route. A fast current roared through the dark tunnel that made the trip last about half an hour at the most. It was known as the Red Rapid Current. Reese had been on the ship for the last few journeys through the Red Rapid Current and felt that he was ready to man the riggings for the trip.

But before they could pass through it though they had to pass Marine inspection.

"Papers please." The Marine officer held out his hand expectantly and waited for the passing of the papers, "Fishing merchants…business in the next port town…All right everything seems to be in order Mr. Mitcol. It's wonderful to have your trades coming through again. Now we just need to sweep the ship and then you may pass through."

"Of coarse, wouldn't want there to be any distrust between us now would we. I can't have anything like foul trade ruin my reputation. It's inspections like this by you fine Marines that keep my company running smoothly." Emil waved them onboard, "Ah but Reese, please do fetch my best wine stores from my quarters please. I have no use of them and I'm sure these men could do with a good drink every now and again!" Reese looked at his father incredulously but wasted no time in heading off for his dad's quarters. Before he took a step though his father pulled him back sharply, "And grab that box under the wine while you're at it" He whispered. Reese nodded and took off again.

While grabbing the wine bottles, that were from a very good year, he noticed the small black box in the corner under the far back wine bottle. He smuggled it under his arm and carried the bottles back up to the deck. The rest of the crew was none-to-pleased to see the bottles be traded off to the Marines but kept their mouths shut. Emil and the Marines waved their goodbyes and the channel opened so their ship could pass. The tunnel loomed over them and the current sped up as they traveled down the center of the Red Rapid.

"Reese, run and put that box back as quick as you can, then run back up here. I need you and Himmy at the riggings for this run." The speed picked up like a roller coaster on a 30 degree fall. Reese didn't have much time to put the box back. He ran down the stairs and tripped as the ship gave a harsh lurch to the right, the ship had hit a rock protruding from the wall. The box flew from his hands and landed near his backpack. The crew was shouting and someone screamed. In the rush of adrenaline as the speed picked up once again Reese decided that the box could handle a trip in his pack and stuffed it in there and ran back to the deck.

It was almost completely dark in the tunnel. There was a small hole of light at the end that was growing larger by the minute. Himmy was already tying up some of the sails and needed his help. He jumped up and clung to the mast, his body melted into a rocky, clay, substance and wound it's way up the mast. Finally his body reformed on top of one of the sails and began pulling them up and tying them down. Himmy gave him the thumbs up and clung to the top of the mast.

"WOOOHOOOO!" The crew screamed down below. The cheapest form of entertainment lay within this tunnel. It was a rush Reese hadn't gotten in awhile and joined in the screaming, cheering, and hooting of his fellow seamen.

His soon to be former seamen.

The tunnels end came upon them and the light of the sun blared in their faces as they rocketed out of the tunnel.

They were in the East Blue.

Well I bet I threw some of you who know me for a loop. And you know what goes on from here. But let me just say something. I would really appreciate detail. If anyone seriously wants their character on here then really take the time to put thought into it. I'm not saying I won't take your character. But anyway.

Name:

Nickname:

Gender:

Race:

Position:

Appearance:

History:

Attack style/Weapon/Devilfruit nad attack names:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Birthday: (don't give me a year)

Quirks/Scars/Tattoos/Etc:

And that should be it... if I'm forgetting something please feel free to remind me.

Also I won't be updating until next week. I won't be near the comp this weekend.