One Piece: The Rivet Island Arc
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard © Me
Summary- 3 weeks after rescuing Robin from the clutches of Enies Lobby, the Straw Hats are enjoying their new ship, the Thousand Sunny. However, things take an unexpected turn when the Straw Hats are forced to seek shelter from a raging storm and dock at an island, where they meet an extraordinary canine.
This is a rewrite of my very first One Piece fic. Back then...I was just starting and I was pretty bad, but now that I've improved, I decided to do a remake of the story. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Ch. 1- The Dog in the Storm
It was just a peaceful, sunny day in the Grand Line. The seagulls flew above the ocean's surface, soaring on the salty breeze, and dolphins chirped as they leaped out of the water. On the ocean's waves sailed a brig sloop ship with a grinning lion for a figurehead.
The Thousand Sunny, a ship built to sail a thousand seas...and she is currently the home of the Straw Hat Pirates.
It had been about 3 weeks now, since the Straw Hats rescued Robin from the clutches of CP9 at Enies Lobby. Things were almost looking grim for them, and even though victory had been achieved, they had just barely gotten away from that horrid place by the skin of their teeth thanks to the heroic efforts of the Going Merry...who, sadly, could no longer keep sailing. Knowing how they couldn't possibly force their beloved ship to continue, the Straw Hats, plus Franky, Kokoro, Chimney, Gonbei, Iceberg and the Galley-La shipwrights sent Merry off with a Viking Funeral. Before she disappeared beneath the ocean waves, Merry called out to her crew and thanked them for all the love they gave her.
Despite this, Merry lived on in the form of the Thousand Sunny, whom Franky had built with the help of Galley-La, and after some...convincing on Robin's part, plus the Franky Family, he had decided to join up with the Straw Hats as their shipwright. Just as they were about to leave, though, they had nearly left behind Usopp, who had left due to his arrogance and pride. Thankfully, he managed to realize he was wrong and screamed out his apology at the top of his lungs.
Now, with the crew reunited and even bigger than before, they were currently enjoying their time in their new home. For instance, Nami was taking a bath in the bathhouse, sighing content at the relaxing feeling of the water.
"If this is a dream, I don't wanna wake up," she said. "Taking a bath on a ship while letting the ocean waves gently rock the ship up and down...is there a better feeling than that?"
Meanwhile, Chopper was sitting at his desk, in his new sick bay, complete with medicine cabinet, cot, and wheeled chair that even spins around.
"I can't believe I have my own room, now~!" Chopper said, cheerily as he spun in his chair. "What's the problem?" He then giggled, giddily as he spun around. "Nothing at all~! Hurry up and bring me some patients!"
Sanji only watched through the porthole window with a smile on his face before he went to the kitchen, but concurrently, outside...
SPLASH!
"I caught it! It's a huge shark, this time!"
"Put it in, Luffy! Put it in the fish tank!"
Luffy grinned impishly as he carried a large shark with two horns over his head towards a hatch filled with water, which led to the fish tank in the Aquarium Bar, one of the Sunny's special features. The shark attempted to bite Luffy, but the Straw Hat Captain jumped back and punched it in the head.
"Get in there, you!" he shouted as the shark fell into the tank, where Sanji, Robin, and Franky sat. The tank was already filled with an abundance of sea life...and seeing them made the shark's mouth water.
"Well, look at that," Robin said as she took a sip of her coffee. "Looks like they've caught a shark."
"So," Franky began, "what do you guys think of the Aquarium Bar? Not bad, right?"
"The bar's nice and all, Franky," Sanji began as he eyed the shark, "but I'm more worried about the shark."
XXX
"Come on, let's go see!" Usopp exclaimed as he and Luffy ran to the Aquarium Bar.
"Yeah, the other fish are gonna love this!" Luffy agreed, just as he and Usopp stopped in front of the door.
"Hey!" Luffy called as he and Usopp burst in. "Did you see the shark, yet?! The one with the cool horns?!"
"Oh, yes," Robin answered, casually. "It's a very fascinating specimen...but it doesn't seem to get along well with other species."
Luffy and Usopp looked at the fish tank...and found the shark with a bib wrapped around its neck, a knife and fork in its fins, and a hugely bloated belly as it let out a gurgling belch.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH~!" Luffy and Usopp shrieked in comical shock.
"WHAT DID YOU EXPECT WOULD HAPPEN?!" Sanji questioned. "DOES THE FOOD CHAIN MEAN SOMETHING TO YOU, YOU MORONS?!"
"THAT'S IT, YOU STUPID SHARK!" Luffy barked. "SANJI, BARBECUE THIS DAMN FISH!"
"Hold it, hold it!" Sanji exclaimed. "You can't just barbecue a shark! It's a fresh fish! We could make...uh...oh! Sashimi sounds good, or boiled shark soup...even some tempura!"
"Ooh, hearing that makes me hungry~!" Luffy said as his stomach rumbled, noisily.
"Didn't you just eat like 10 minutes ago?" Usopp asked in a deadpan tone. "Not that shark tempura doesn't sound good, though."
Up in the Crow's Nest/gymnasium, Zoro let out a lazy yawn as he looked outside the window, keeping a lookout. Personally, this was his favorite room because this was the only place he could put his training equipment and not have to worry about Luffy and Usopp's antics interrupting him. Plus, it made a good napping spot, too.
At that moment, Nami came outside, wearing a bathrobe and wiping her face with a towel.
"Haa..." she sighed. "Man, what a great bath. I almost didn't wanna get outta there." She then looked up at the sky. "This ship is amazing. It's almost like a hotel on the sea, but with no charge, of course."
As the Straw Hats continued to enjoy themselves on their new home on the seas...Zoro just happened to spot something out of the corner of his eye. At first, it seemed like he couldn't make it out, but then his eyes went wide as it drew closer: a large cluster of storm clouds.
"Oh, crap," the swordsman cursed before he picked up the intercom. "Hey, guys! We got a problem! Incoming storm clouds off the starboard bow!"
"What?!" Nami questioned as she looked to where Zoro had spotted said clouds, and sure enough, there they were. "Oh, no..."
Soon after, everyone else came outside, just as the clouds were getting closer.
"That doesn't look good," Sanji said, almost nervously.
"Franky, quick!" Nami called. "Take the helm!"
"SUPER leave it to me!" Franky exclaimed as he hurried to the helm.
"Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, tie everything down!" Nami ordered.
"Right!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper nodded before they ran to keep their supplies secure.
"Zoro! Sanji! Furl up the sails!" Nami exclaimed.
"Aye-aye, Nami, my dear!" Sanji exclaimed with heart-shaped eyes while Zoro groaned in annoyace before they ran to bring the sails up.
"Robin, maybe you should help, too!" Nami added.
"Of course," Robin agreed before she crossed her arms, which caused more to sprout on the mizzenmast and furl up the sails. Soon after, the storm clouds were upon them, and with it came a downpour of raining and rumbling thunder. FWASH! Lightning flashed and cracked the heavens, causing Chopper to shriek as he jumped onto Usopp's face.
"GAH!" Usopp cried as he tried to pry Chopper off his head. "CHOPPER, GET OFF, I CAN'T SEE!"
"SCARY LIGHTNING!" Chopper cried.
CREEEEEEAAAAAK! The Sunny lurched to the left as the wind howled, nearly capsizing as the crew tried to keep themselves on their feet, but thankfully, Franky managed to set her upright, again.
"Don't worry about a thing, guys!" Franky called out. "As long as ol' Franky's at the wheel, the Sunny will power through anything! That's a SUPER guarantee!"
"Yeah, bro!" Chopper cheered, just as Usopp pulled him off his face and gasped for air.
"You trying to kill me or something?!" Usopp questioned.
"Welcome to the club!" Zoro called.
SPLASH! The waves crashed against the Sunny's hull, so harshly that Luffy almost got knocked overboard, but thankfully, Robin used her powers to keep him from falling over the rail.
"Whoa!" Luffy cried before he looked up at Robin, who smiled at him. "Thanks, Robin! You saved my bacon!"
"My pleasure," Robin answered as she pulled Luffy aboard.
"This isn't good!" Sanji shouted. "It doesn't look like this storm is gonna let up, anytime soon!"
"If we don't find a way outta this soon, we're sunk!" Zoro added.
"Nami!" Luffy called.
"I'm already on it!" Nami answered as she stood at the helm with Franky, looking out to the horizon. At first, she couldn't seem to spot anything with the rain buffeting her face, but then, she gasped as she saw something, just northwest of their position. Due to the distance, it looked quite small, but then Nami looked down at her Log Pose and saw that the needle was pointing directly at it.
"Franky!" Nami called. "Steer the ship just 40 degrees to port!"
"Got it!" Franky answered as he began to steer the ship to Nami's instructions.
"You see something, Nami?!" Luffy called.
"Yeah, there's an island up ahead!" Nami replied. "The Log Pose is pointing right toward it!"
"Then let's go!" Franky exclaimed as he grabbed the lever. "Everybody, hang on tight, you hear me?!"
Heeding Franky's word, the Straw Hats quickly grabbed onto the railing, the mast, and even the rigging, just as the cyborg pulled the lever, and the back cannon soon began to glow a bright light.
"Oh, man, I love this part!" Luffy grinned.
"I don't!" Usopp bemoaned.
"Coup de...BURST~!" Franky shouted, and then, BOOM! The Sunny soon went flying right through the sky with Luffy cheering and hollering the whole way as they soared towards their next destination.
XXX
Woooooooo...KERSPLASH! The Sunny landed on the sea after what felt like hours of flying through the air, and as Nami had said, there was an island right up ahead, and upon getting closer, they saw that there was a port town with shops already docked at the harbor. Nami decided not to risk getting spotted by anyone, so she advised Franky to steer the ship to the East side of the island and hide her inside a cave. Once there, the Straw Hats decided to take a moment to sit out on the deck to recuperate and think of what to do until the storm subsided.
"Ugh...I hate storms," Chopper said as Robin dried his fur off with a towel.
"Yeah, I'm not to keen on 'em, either, little bud," Usopp said as he dried his hair.
"I just got through taking a bath," Nami said in irritation as she dried off her hair, as well, while Luffy opted to stand on all fours and shake himself dry like a dog, causing Zoro and Nami to cry out in surprise.
"Dammit, Luffy!" Zoro cursed. "You're getting us wet, again!"
"Sorry," Luffy apologized as he stood up, only for Nami to bop him on the head.
"Idiot!" she shouted.
"So now what do we do?" Franky asked.
"Well, I got good news and bad news," Sanji answered. "Bad news is we're running low on food."
"Aww, man~!" Luffy groaned.
"Good news is since there's a town on this island, we can go to the market and restock our supply," Sanji added.
"While we're at it," Franky began, "might as well see if I can get some more carpenter supplies. Gonna need some extra nails, screws...oh! And cola, too. Used up the last of it for the Coup de Burst."
"And we also need to find out how long the log sets here," Nami said.
"Well, looks like we have no choice," Luffy said. "Let's head to town, you guys!"
"Right!" the Straw Hats nodded as they prepared to disembark.
XXX
The rain had gone from a torrential downpour to just lightly pouring. Even so, everyone was trying their hardest to keep out of the weather by staying indoors. Even the cats and mice in the alleys did their best to hide from the rain. However, the only ones who were out in it were the Straw Hats, who walked through the streets as the rain kept coming down on them, although Nami, Robin, Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper were the only ones who had umbrellas, while Luffy, Zoro, and Franky didn't seem to mind the rain, at all.
"...Maybe we should've waited until the rain stopped," Nami said.
"Yeah," Sanji said. "I mean...the only ones who are brave enough to be out here in the rain are us and...that dog right there."
"Say what?" Nami asked as she and the rest of the Straw Hats looked to where Sanji was pointing, and that's when they saw a large house...actually, more like a mansion, sitting in the heart of the city, and in front of that...was this white dog that reached up to Luffy's waist in height, with big, pricked up ears, cherry blossom pink eyes, a long snout, and a silver chain-link necklace with a skull-and-crossbones charm fastened around his neck. He just sat there, staring with stoic eyes, even as the rain poured down on him, drenching his fur.
"How come he's just sitting there?" Chopper asked, a bit worriedly.
"Who cares?" Zoro asked. "He can do whatever the hell he wants."
"I agree with Zoro," Usopp said, nervously. "He doesn't look all that friendly to me."
"Yeah...maybe we should leave him alone," Nami said.
"Uh...hey, where'd Straw Hat go?" Franky asked, causing the others to look at the spot where Luffy once stood.
"What the-?!" Nami questioned, only to spot her captain walking up to the dog, and all she could was slap her palm against her forehead. "Oh, no."
"Maybe it won't be so bad," Chopper said. "Maybe the dog's friendly!"
"Hi!" Luffy waved to the dog. "I'm Luffy! What's your name?"
The dog didn't respond. Hell, it didn't even look like he noticed Luffy at all.
"Hello~!" Luffy called as he waved his hand in front of the dog's eyes, but still, no reaction, causing him to give a slightly disappointed sigh, but then he grinned. "Oh, I know!" He then held out his hand to the dog. "Shake hands!"
Still no response. Not even a twitch of the leg.
"Seriously?" Luffy asked.
"Luffy, don't you go doing anything I wouldn't do!" Nami warned. "I mean it!"
"You know he's not gonna listen, right?" Sanji asked.
"Hmm..." Luffy hummed, curiously. "Maybe he's dead."
As if to test that theory, he proceeded to poke the dog in the chest, tug on his ears, and prod his nose...but that proved to be the last straw that broke the camel's back for this dog. Before anyone could even react, the canine growled viciously before he opened his jaws and snapped them shut on Luffy's wrist.
"YOW~!" Luffy yowled. "LET GO OF ME, YOU STUPID DOG! THAT HURTS! OUCH!"
"Yep, I knew it," Nami deadpanned before she and the others ran to help their captain. While she, Chopper, Usopp, and Robin grabbed Luffy, Zoro, Franky, and Sanji grabbed hold of the dog and began to pull, but the dog's fangs were clenched tight on Luffy's wrist, and the more Luffy struggled to get free, the more dog's sharp teeth dug into his flesh.
"Get him off, get him off, get him off!" Luffy urged.
"We're trying, Luffy!" Zoro barked.
"Dammit, what is up with this dog?!" Sanji cursed as she tried to use his foot to pry open the dog's jaws. "It's like trying to open up a bear trap!"
"Forget using your foot!" Franky cried. "We need a crowbar or something!"
"HEY, YOU!"
The group froze before they turned around and spotted a woman holding an umbrella with a ten-gallon hat upon her long, blonde hair that went down to her shoulder blades, a pair of dark green high-waters, and a mahogany sweater that revealed a bit of cleavage.
"What do you people think you're doing to Blizzard?!" she questioned. "Let him go, right this instant!"
"...Blizzard?" the Straw Hats repeated while the dog, known as Blizzard, kept biting down on Luffy's wrist.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next time on One Piece: The Rivet Island Arc.
Hillary: I'm sorry about Blizzard. He's not very good around strangers.
Usopp: That's okay. Luffy more or less brought it on himself.
Luffy: Hey!
Sanji: So, your dog's name is Blizzard, huh?
Hillary: Technically, he's not really MY dog. I'm just looking after him for my husband.
Nami: Boy, this almost sounds familiar.
Chopper: How come Blizzard's sitting out in the rain?
Hillary: Well...let's just say that Blizzard's upholding a promise my husband made to him. It's been three years...and he's still waiting for him to come home.
Luffy: ... ... ...
Next time: A Dog's Resolve
Review, please!