"PIRATES! PIRATES! PIRATES HAVE BEEN SIGHTED OFF THE SHORE!" the cries of the young boy were soon drowned by the panic that ensued.
The villagers, not unfamiliar with the doings of pirates began scrambling to their homes. Mothers swooped up their children and ran inside their houses in fear. Merchants gathered up their wares and closed down shop. Even the bars closed down, their drunken occupants kicked out onto the streets as the owners locked the doors and windows in an attempt to discourage the pirates from paying them a visit.
Not long after, a large ship with a lion figurhead made anchor at the docks. The few townspeople that were brave enough to poke their heads out noticed that the ship sported a flag with a skull wearing a straw hat. The sight of this was enough to strike fear in their hearts, and they quickly went back inside to the safety of their homes. This was no ordinary pirate ship they were looking at. This was none other than the Thousand Sunny Go, captained by the fearsome Monky D. Luffy with a bounty of 300 million beri. The man who, with the help of his monstrous crew, took the island of Enes Lobby off the map and declared war on the World Government. They would be lucky if any of them managed to survive this fearsome visit.
Or so went the thought of the townspeople as they peered out through the cracks of their houses, waiting, with baited breath, to see who would descend from the ship. The first man off the ship was none other than Mugiwara Luffy himself. The straw hat on his head spoke for itself. As the rest of his crew assembled, the townspeople braced themsleves for whatever calamity might strike them.
"Ne, Zoro- why isn't there anyone here?" Luffy asked, truning to his first mate. "It's no fun if there's no people.
"Probably scared of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew from hell." Zoro replied, a crooked smile appearing on his face. Behind him, Nami began to laugh.
"About time people started showing us some defference. If I'm going to have a bounty, might as well get some use out of it."
"Demon lady" Zoro muttered beneath his breath. A second later he was forced to to duck as Sanji's leg came whistling over his head.
"Bastard! What do you think your saying to Nami-san"
"It's fine Sanji" a sickeningly sweet smile enveloped Nami's face. "And don't think I've forgotten your debt Zoro- the interest is still going up every day you don't pay."
"Why you-" The rest of Zoro's words were lost as his captain grabbed them all in his rubbery grip.
"C'mon guys- let's go get some MEAT!!" Luffy yelled launching his friends into a nearby restaurant- ignoring the closed sign and the barred door that clearly showed the owner didn't want any guests.
Zoro grunted as he picked himself up off the floor. That captain of his was going to kill him someday if this continued. He looked up to find that Luffy had demolished the entire front wall of the place. A whimpering sound reached his ears and he turned to see a family huddled in the corner. The father's arms were wrapped around his wife and son in an effort to protect them, but he could do nothing to hide his own shaking.
Zoro let out a demonic laugh. "Hey you- our captain wants some meat. You got anything here?"
The man cringed as he looked up into those merciless eyes. This was truly a demon he was looking at. He muttered a reply, but becuase of the fear the gripped him, his words were not comprehensible.
"Huh? Come again? I can't hear you old man."
"Swordsman-san. You're scaring him. I'm sure that right now he's imagining that you'll cut him and his family into pieces and leave them dead in a pool of blood. You can't be too forceful about the way you say things." Robin announced, making her way through the wreckage to Zoro's side.
Zoro looked at the woman with a raised eyebrow. "Uh huh, and I suppose you never-ending optomism is supposed to do the trick?"
Robin ingnored him, and turned to the man that was cringing in the corner. "It's okay if you don't want to get up. Do you mind if we use your kitchen?"
The man let out another incomprehensible string of words.
"Well I'll take that as a no. Cook-san?"
"Yes- Robin-chaaaan!" Sanji came twirling into the building at the sound of a beautiful lady calling his name.
"This man has kindly given us the use of both his kitchen and his wares. Do you think you could make us something to eat?' Robin asked sweetly.
"Of course- anything for my Robin-chan."
Sanj quickly prepared something for the crew, and soon the eight of them were seated at a table, eating and laughing. Some of the townspeople began coming out of their homes. True, this was an infamous pirate crew, but there didn't seem to be any immediate danger, and they had to get on with the selling of their wares. It wasn't long before the town was bustling with people agian. However, there was a noticeable gape left between them and the pirates who were finishing up their meal.
Luffy jumped up from the table, all the meat was done and Chopper had already bandaged the wound that he had sustained in an unsuccessful attempt to sneak food from Nami's plate.
"Alright! Time to explore the town!" Luffy yelled, grabbing Chopper and Ussop and heading out.
"Super!" Franky exclaimed. "I need to go get some cola refills" and with that he headed out. Robin and Nami soon followed hoping to find some fashionable clothes, and of course Sanji trailed behind them, hoping to help them with their shopping. He had some ideal outfits in mind that he would love to see them in.
Zoro grunted and got out of his chair. He might as well go find a bar somewhere and drink to his hearts content. On the way out he turned his head back to the family that was still cowering in the corner.
"Thanks for the meal- and you might want to get that wall repaired. Makes it easy for people to come in here and steal stuff."
He wandered down the streets until he found a pub. Upon entering he immediately noticed a cloaked figure in the very back corner hidden in the shadows. With one glance he could tell that this was not some innocent villager coming in to grab a drink, but it didn't involve him and he made his way to the counter and asked for a drink.
Zoro was on his tenth mug when a couple of customers who had too much to drink decided to bother the cloaked young man in the corner.
"Oi bro, c'mon and have a drink with us. It's no fun with just two. You've been in that corner for a while now, but you haven't drunk anything. Come have drink with us"
One of the men moved to put his arm around the figure in the shadows, and before he realized what was going on, the man was lying on floor, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Don't touch me" These were the first words Zoro had heard the stanger speak. His voice was calm but it was low and held a menacing ring to it. Obviously this stranger wasn't exactly one to socialize.
"Hey, I'd appreciated it if you guys didn't make a mess of this place," the barman criticized. "If you're going to fight, take it outside."
As the stranger turned around to stare at him, the barman regretted ever saying a word. The stranger's hard gaze drilled into him before it relaxed.
Zoro, watching from the side was surprised at what happened next. The stranger opened his mouth to speak, and instead of the cold menacing words he expected, the stranger courteously appologized to the barman, paid for his meal, and left the bar- or tried.
Luffy, who had walked in the bar looking for Zoro, was just in time to see the cloaked youngster beat the pulp out of the drunken man.
"COOOOL! Hey you in the weird cloak- your pretty strong right. I didn't even see what you did there, but that was really cool. Hey wanna join my crew?" Luffy exclaimed jumping up and down in front of the stranger.
Zoro sighed as he heard the familiar phrase that always ended up getting them involved in a huge mess. The stranger's eyes turned hard again as they focused on Luffy.
"No thanks." That was all he said, but his tone was clear. the young man didn't appreciate being scouted in the least and he wanted nothing further to do with Luffy. He made to leave the bar again, but Luffy blocked his way with an outstreched hand.
"C'mon- you're really strong right? I want really strong people in my crew. How you flipped that guy over was really cool. Join my crew."
As the stranger looked back at Luffy, his alread hard eyes turned dangerously menacing. He was about to say something when Ussop peered out from behind Luffy's back.
"B-Better n-not Luffy. We d-don't need s-someone as scary as this in our crew. This g-guy l-l-looks really dangerous."
"No! I want him in the crew" Luffy responded stubbornly. "Hey, cloak-guy. What's your name?"
"No need for you to know" the stranger responed, obviously trying to end to conversation. "I'm leaving as soon as I can find a ship to get me out of this dump."
"Really? then why not come on our ship? We're gunna be leaving as soon as the log sets anyway."
The stranger turned around, giving Luffy his full attention for the first time. "Doesn't sound like a bad idea. How much do you want to take me to the next island?"
It was at this very moment that Nami happened to walk in, followed by Robin and Sanji, who was barely distinguishable underneath all the bags he was carrying. "Hmm, fare to the next island- that's gunna be a bit pricey. You never know how long it'll take and we have to account for food and lodge. 1 million berri should be enough."
"Don't have it." Zoro grunted with amusement. This guy wasn't one to waste words.
"It's fine, Nami." Luffy put in happily. "This guy's going to join our crew, we don't need any money. Speaking of which, you never told us your name."
"I'm called Silver" the stranger responded. "And I think you misunderstood something- I'm not joining the crew. I just need a lift to the next island."
"Well there you have it- guys Silver is part of our crew now!" Luffy announced, ignoring the last statement. Silver looked like he was going to protest again.
"Don't worry about it. For now it looks like you got a free ride with us." Zoro said, getting up from his chair and downing the last of his beer at the same time.
"Oy, oy- does it matter to anyone that I'm completely against this." Ussop's voice drifted out from behind Luffy's back. "This guy looks like he'll kill us in our sleep."
Luffy laughed, "Don't worry about, Silver's cool. Hey Nami, when does the log set?"
"As if that settles everything." Ussop mumbled as Nami replied. "The villagers said that it should be set by sunrise so we'll have to spend the night in town."