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One Piece: Straw Hat Yuki
East Blue Saga
Dawn Island Arc
Prologue: Romance Dawn
In a small harbor village by the name of Fuusha Village, a pirate crew made it their base for a year now. "Hey Yuki, what're you up to?" Even though the pirates were using the village as a base the villagers themselves held no fear for them. One girl in particular seemed to be quite attached to the pirates.
"I'm sick and tired of you guys taking me for granted!" a seven year old girl by the name of Monkey D. Yuki said holding a dagger above her head as she stood on the dragon figurehead of the pirate ship. The ship's Jolly Roger blew to the east with the wind showing the smiling skull with three scar marks on the left eye and swords as the crossbones behind it.
"Get on with it whatever it is." A man wearing a straw hat said to the black haired girl who was looking at them seriously.
Yuki did and the crew flinched as the girl stabbed the dagger into the underneath of her left eye. Yuki howled in pain and the crew yelled at her for doing something so idiotic.
XXX
"To a great journey and Yuki's courage!"
The pirate crew celebrated at Makino's Party's Bar. They were drinking and eating. A few were singing and others were fighting though it ended shortly because everyone was in a good mood. The captain of the crew, Red Haired Shanks sat at the bar with Yuki sitting next to him.
"It didn't hurt a bit." Yuki said with tears slightly in her eyes and a bandage clearly seen under her left eye.
"Liar that was a stupid thing to do." Shanks said clearly pissed at what the girl had done.
"Hay, see Shanks I'm not scared to get hurt. Let me board your ship now. I wanna be a pirate too!" the girl said happily watching the man she looked up to.
"You, a pirate, yeah right?" Shanks said with a large grin on his facing. The three scars on his left eye showed that he had been through battle. The only other things that stood out of his casual appearance was his red hair and an old straw hat that had a red ribbon wrapped around it.
"Yuki, do you know why we call you anchor? It's because you can't swim." The man said continuing to laugh.
"That doesn't matter as long as I don't fall overboard!" Yuki said clearly angry at the man's denying of her. "Besides I've been training. My punch is as strong as a pistol!" the girl thrust her fist out in front of her like a punch.
"Is that so?" Shanks asked not believing the girl one bit.
"ARE YOU DOUBTING ME!" Yuki yelled angrily.
"Calm down Yuki." Yasopp said while Lucky Roo agreed.
"Yeah, this is a party and we're pirates. Pirates like to have fun." The fat man said happily and other pirates agreed with the girl who was looking at them with admiration.
"Oi, don't go filling her head with that sort of stuff." Shanks said clenching his spoon in his mouth.
"But it's true." Yasopp said knowing very well that the captain knew it as well.
"Just bring the kid with us once." A pirate suggested.
"Okay," Shanks said continuing his meal. "But one of you'll have to stay behind."
"Sorry, lass but you've just been beached." The pirates said not wanting to miss out on an adventure.
"I thought you guys were on my side!" Yuki said angrily at the loss of her support.
"You're just too young." Shanks said looking at Yuki. "Maybe in ten years I'll give you a chance."
"Shanks, I'm telling you that I'm not a kid." Yuki said trying to regain some of her seven year old dignity.
"Okay, okay, here have some juice." The man said passing the glass to Yuki.
"Thanks." Yuki said happily drinking it.
"A REAL PIRATE WOULD NEVER DRINK JUICE!" Shanks said laughing his head off.
"THAT WAS A DIRTY TRICK!" Yuki yelled at the man.
"Hmph, I even stabbed myself in the face so he'd take me with him." Yuki said sighing as she walked away from the bar with her glass in her hand.
"Don't think bad about Captain, he's just doing what he thinks is best." Ben Beckman said lighting his cigarette.
"How do you figure Mr. First-Mate?" Yuki asked looking at the tall man whose long black hair was tied back in a low pony tail.
"The weight of the crew rests on his shoulders. Captain knows a lot about the sea and it can kill you in a thousand ways. He doesn't want to crush your dreams of being a pirate." The man said trying to explain it to Yuki.
"I think he's just having fun mocking me." Yuki said not believing it.
"Hey Anchor." Shanks said after he overheard their conversation.
"SEE!" Yuki said angrily clearly disliking the nickname he had picked out for her. Ben sweat dropped at his captain's mockery.
"I'm glad you and your crew are enjoying yourself." Makino, the owner of the bar said walking into the main part carrying the last barrel of rum she had.
"I love making fun of this kid." Shanks said hitting his hand against the bar table.
"Maybe the lass's got a point." Ben said as Yuki pointed at Shanks with a 'do you believe me know' look.
"Yuki-chan, do you want something to eat?" the dark green haired woman asked the girl and Yuki cheered.
"Just put it on my treasure tab." She said grabbing her silverware happily.
"Treasure tab?" Shanks questioned. "Don't try to swindle the lady."
"I'm going to travel the seas as a pirate and get lots of treasure. Then I'll come back and repay her later." Yuki said making it sound like a promise.
Makino laughed softly at this. "We'll celebrate when you come back." She said going along with the girl. She placed the plate of food in front of the girl knowing very well her appetite and went back to cleaning her dishes.
"Hey, Shanks?" Yuki asked taking a bite out of her meat.
"What is it?" Shanks asked curiously.
"How long are you guys going to be staying in this village?" Yuki asked.
"Let's see, we've been using this village as a base for about a year know so after another voyage or two we'll leave here for good and head north." The man said looking at Yuki who seemed to become a little down.
"Two more voyages huh?" she asked herself. Makino noticed the look and smiled with a small inaudible sigh. "I'm going to learn how to swim by then."
"That's good, do whatever you want." Shanks said continuing to eat.
The door of the bar was kicked open and off its hinges sending it half way across the bar floor. "Make way for the scourge of the mountain." A man said entering the bar with a small crowd behind him. "This is so called pirates. First time seeing them, they look like a lowly bunch to me."
The Red Haired Pirates stayed silent as the man walked up to the bar, crushing the wooden door on his way. Shanks continued his meal, only stopping when the mountain bandit, Higuma the Bear, put his hand on the table a little too close to him.
"We're mountain bandits. Now don't go wetting yourself, we aren't here to wreck your bar." The man said sounding all high and mighty with himself. "Give us ten barrels of liquor and we'll only damage the bare minimum."
"I'm sorry, we just ran out of liquor." Makino said trying not to cause a scene.
"Hm, then what are these pirates drinking? Fruit juice?" the man asked not believing the woman.
"It's true; I just served the last of it." Makino said.
"I feel bad now." Shanks said and Higuma glanced down at him, noticing Yuki who was standing on the ground.
"Here." Shanks said holding up a bottle of rum. "It hasn't been opened yet."
Higuma looked at the bottle and began to reach for it before slamming his fist against it shattering the bottle and spraying its orange substance on Shanks and slightly on Yuki. Shanks looked at his wet self and then at the floor.
"I'm wanted." Higuma said holding up a wanted poster of him. "I have an eight million beri bounty on my head. Do you honestly think that a simple bottle of grog is enough?"
"Ah, ah, now the floors all wet." Shanks said completely ignoring the man and bending down and picking up the broken pieces of glass. "Sorry Makino, do you have a rag, I'll clean it up."
"That's okay, I'll do it." the woman said coming around the counter. As soon as she did, Higuma had his sword out and slashed the bar, shattering the plates and glasses on it. The sudden action knocked Shanks over and the man held onto his hat.
"If you like to clean, then clean this up." The man said walking towards the exit with his band behind him. "Let's go. There clearly isn't any alcohol here."
After the bandits were gone, Makino kneeled down in front of Shanks and began to dry off the sleeve of his white shirt. "Are you okay?" she asked him.
"Ah, it's all good." Shanks said casually raising his hand before snickering.
Soon most of the crew was bursting out in laughter. Shanks joined them and took off his hat. This however didn't amuse Yuki. The girl stood up on the seat and yelled at them angrily.
"HOW CAN YOU SIT THERE AND LAUGH! THEY MADE YOU LOOK LIKE A COMPLETE IDIOT!" the girl yelled at them.
"It's not that I don't understand your feelings, but all he did was spill a little drink on me. It isn't something to fight about." Shanks said and Yuki looked away. "Oh come on."
"I don't care anymore." The girl said before glancing over at a pale blue fruit that was in a box next to her.
Shanks smiled at Makino after assuring her that everything was fine when he heard the sound of eating. He looked up at Yuki and smiled at the girl. "Eating again Yuki?" he asked before noticing what she was eating. Shanks instantly stood up and walked over to the girl.
"What did you just eat?" he asked in a tone that the scared the girl a bit. Yuki swallowed the poison tasting fruit and looked at Shanks scared. Said man instantly grabbed Yuki and instantly began to shake her by her ankles.
"What are you doing Shanks?" Yuki questioned as she was shaken and men gathered around, understanding what had happened.
All of a suddenly, Shanks's hands went through Yuki and the girl collapsed to the ground. Shanks rubbed his hands trying to get the heat back into them as they were partially covered in snow. Yuki instantly sat up and watched as her feet reattached themselves to her ankles in a mass of snow.
"Wha-what the hell was that!" Yuki asked staring at her legs terrified. Shanks knelt in front of the girl and gripped Yuki's shoulders.
"That was the Yuki Yuki no Mi. It was one of the logia type Devil Fruits. Whoever eats it becomes snow and can never swim again." The man said sternly.
"EEHHH!" Yuki yelled at the realization that she could never swim.
"You IDIOT!" Shanks yelled.
XXX
Yuki ran down the road that led to the village with a basket in her hand. She smiled as she greeted the fish monger and asked for some fish. The man happily laughed at Yuki and the how the girl was so cheery.
"Hey, snow-girl, the pirates left without you again." He said with his wife sighing behind him. "And you can never swim again for the rest of your life."
"I don't care if I can never swim. I'm going to be a pirate who doesn't fall overboard." Yuki said before lifting her finger and forming a snowflake on the tip of it. "I'm glad that I ate the Yuki Yuki no Mi. Look what I can do."
"Don't think it's so great being gawked at because you're a freak." The mayor of the village said crossing his arms and looking at the girl disapprovingly. "Yuki, I will not let you become a pirate, you'll disgrace the village. I know that captain is not such a bad guy but you stay away from those pirates." Yuki however was ignoring the man by putting her fingers in her ears and sticking out her tongue.
XXX
"They've been gone for a while." Yuki said sitting in the empty bar with Makino.
"Do you miss them?" the woman asked looking at Yuki with a smile.
"After last time, no." Yuki said defiantly. "I misjudged those guys. I thought they were really strong and everything but they were just a bunch of cowards."
"That might not be the case." Makino said smiling still. "Sometimes it takes more courage not to fight."
"You wouldn't understand. A true pirate has to stand up for themselves." Yuki said clenching her teeth on the rim of her empty glass.
"I guess I don't then." Makino said laughing a bit.
"That's right, you don't." Yuki said not getting the small joke and light heartedness of the woman.
"Make way for the terror of the highlands."
Yuki looked at the door of the bar as the mountain bandits entered. "What, no pirates today? It smells better." Higuma said as him and his men sat at the bar. The man slammed his fist onto the circular wooden table. "What are you waiting for? We're customers, serve us drinks."
XXX
The sounds of someone being pushed against the well in the center of town, laughter from a group of men and pounding feet echoed throughout the small harbor village. The sounds of whispers and nervous talked mixed in as well as shouts and a door slamming. Soon footsteps mixed in with the others and they rushed in the direction of the well.
There Yuki was sitting with Higuma's foot in her face. The man had his hand on the hilt of his saber and was glaring down at Yuki with his men surrounding him. "I don't know what I did wrong." The man said.
"Take it back stupid bandit." Yuki said glaring up at the man with little fear.
"That does it." the man said gripping the hilt firmly.
"Please wait."
The bandits and Yuki turned to the mayor of the village and Makino who were staring at them with desperate looks on their faces. Higuma looked at them with more of a glance and was slightly annoyed at the interruption.
"I don't know what Yuki did, and I have no intention of fighting you, but please let the girl go." The man said bowing down.
"Mayor!" Yuki said surprised that the man bowing his head to scum such as these guys.
"Old folk know what to say." The bandit leader said with a smirk. "But it's already too late. This girl did the worst thing possible. She called me names and she attacked me."
"You know what you did. Take it back! Take back what you said about Shanks and the guys. YOU BASTARD!" Yuki yelled angering the man even more.
"You really are a hopeless brat." The man said pulling his saber out and placing it next to Yuki's neck. Yuki continued to watch the bandit, no fear of the blade that was ready to cut her head off.
"I was wondering why nobody came to greet us at the harbor."
The group that caught their attention this time was Shanks and the Red Haired pirates. Makino and the mayor, Woodslap, looked at him, surprised at the appearance of the man and Yuki stared at him in a same manor. The bandits however didn't seem as fazed by the large crew of men.
"So, you pirates cleaning up this whole village?" Higuma asked meaning to make fun of the pirates but Shanks ignored them and began to step forward, never moving his eyes off of Yuki.
"Yuki, didn't you say that your punch was as strong as a pistol?" the red haired man asked the girl.
"SHUT UP!" Yuki said not questioning why the man was asking and almost forgetting about the man who was trying to kill her.
"This has nothing to do with you." Higuma said as one of his men put a pistol to Shanks's head. "Back off before you get killed."
"Bet your life on it?" Shanks asked the bandit who put the gun to his head.
"What are you talking about?" the man questioned but didn't back down.
"I'm saying that you're risking your life pointing that pistol at me." Shanks looked at the man and pointed to the gun. "This isn't a child's game." As soon as the words were said, Lucky Roo shot the pistol he had in his hand, killing the bandit instantly as the bullet pierced his skull.
Makino and the mayor gasped at the murder while the pirates seemed unaffected. Yuki stared, not as shocked as the other two but defiantly not in a manner that suggested thats he was used to this sort of thing. The bandits too were freaked out at the death of their member.
"You unfair bastards." One said. The pirates scoffed this off.
"Unfair?" Yasopp as if he didn't know the meaning of the word.
"We aren't saints. We're pirates and we don't play by the rules." Ben said casually.
"I'm only going to tell you this once." Shanks said lifting his head and glaring at the bandits. "You can call me names, pour drink on me, you can even spit on me. I'll laugh all of that off, but nobody ever hurts a friend of mine."
"Shanks…" Yuki said staring at the man. The words however made Higuma laugh.
"Nice speech." The man mocked. "FINISH THEM!"
The bandits charged at the pirate crew. Shanks stood where he was as Ben said he could handle them himself. The black haired man raised his long pistol like club and swung at the bandits knocking all of them down and easily defeating them.
"Strong." Yuki said utterly amazed at what the man just did. This however frightened Higuma and the man lifted his foot off of Yuki and stared at the pirates scared.
"This has nothing to do with you. The brat started it!" he said panicking.
"There's a bounty on your head isn't there?" Shanks asked in a way that made him seem eager for the fight. This frightened the bandit even more and he pulled out a smoke bomb catching the group off guard.
As the smoke cleared, the group noticed that Higuma and Yuki were gone. The realization made Shanks panic. "AAHH he got Yuki, what do we do!" the man asked looking at his crew for help.
"Calm down Captain." Lucky said. "If we search the village, we'll be able to find him eventually."
"Man, the guy…" Ben said as he smiled at his captain and his antics.
XXX
"This is a perfect plan." Higuma said as he held Yuki by the back of her shirt. "Nobody would expect a bandit to run out and hide at sea."
"LET ME GO YOU BASTARD!" Yuki said yelling at the man.
"You really are a hopeless kid. Bye bye." He said as he tossed Yuki into the ocean, far away from the main land. He laughed as Yuki began to drown.
This rather annoying laughter ended when a large sea serpent came up behind him. Luffy stared shocked at the Lord of the Coast still flailing as he couldn't swim and she was beginning to lose all her energy. The serpent bit the dingy that Higuma was on, swallowing the man with him before turning to Yuki who began to scream in fear as the animal charged her.
Water churned around the girl and a strong arm gripped her and held the girl close. Yuki gripped onto the shirt and looked up at Shanks who was glaring at the sea monster.
"Get lost." The man said continuing to stare down the much larger animal. The look frightened the creature and it ran off.
"I owe you Yuki." Shanks said as he looked down at the girl affectionately. Yuki was clinging onto him and tears were beginning to form. "Makino told me how you defended us. Thanks."
Yuki never looked up at the man until he spoke again. "Come on Yuki. You're a big girl. Big girls don't cry." He said but Yuki continued to.
"But Shanks." Yuki cried. "YOUR ARM!"
"It's only an arm." Shanks said indicating the left arm of his which was now gone. "It's a small price to pay. I'm glad that you're safe, Yuki." Yuki continued to cry at the fact that her hero, the man she looked up to, risked his life and lost his arm for her and was acting as if it was nothing.
XXX
"So, you guys really leaving?" Yuki asked as the pirates began to pack up their ship. Shanks turned to the girl and smiled.
"Yup. We've stayed in this island for a long time, maybe too long. You gonna miss us?" the man asked never actually looking at the small girl.
"Ah, I'm going to miss you." Yuki said. "But I won't ask you to take me with you. I decided to become one on my own. I'm going to become a pirate captain."
"Bleh, I would never take you with me anyway." Shanks said sticking his tongue out at the girl. "Like you can become a pirate."
"I WILL!" Yuki said obviously pissed. "I'm going to gather a crew that will beat yours! One day I'm going to find One Piece! I'M GOING TO BECOME THE QUEEN OF THE PIRATES!"
The pirate crew smiled at the small girl's declaration. "Oh, you're going to be better than us?" Shanks questioned as Yuki looked at the ground. The man took off his hat and placed it on Yuki's head, taking the girl by surprise. "Then take good care of this hat for me. It means a lot, and one day, return it to me, when you become a great pirate."
Tears began to pour out of Yuki's eyes as the man walked away and the pirate crew set sail. Makino put her hands on Yuki's shoulders. They were considerably pale compared to Yuki's tanned skin. The girl was looking up at Shanks with tears in her eyes, clutching the straw hat dearly. Shanks smiled at the girl as they sailed away from the island.
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