"Goddammit! You shitty rubber food sink!"
Sanji's angry curse echoed across the previously quiet deck of the Going Merry, followed by the sound of a kick, and Luffy flying across the deck to impact loudly against the main mast, causing the ship to shudder, and attracting everyone's attention to the kitchen door, where Sanji stood, radiating fury.
"What's wrong Sanji-kun?" asked Nami sweetly, though she had a pretty good idea of what happened
"I caught our crappy captain here raiding the food store, just as he finished it all off" Sanji growled, has anger coming off of him in cool waves
"We had just enough to last us to Loguetown, now we have nothing except Tabasco sauce!"
"That's not for eating" Usopp interjected "That's ammunition"
While Sanji and Usopp broke into a small argument over the use of Sanji's food supplies as projectiles, Nami walked over to Luffy, knelt down and pinched his cheek, using his rubber quality to stretch it out
"Luuufy" she said, slowly, but threateningly "Are you trying to starve us all to death?"
"But I was hungry" Luffy wailed in reply "Stingy Sanji wouldn't give me any food"
That answer was not satisfactory to Nami, who punched Luffy with her free hand, before releasing his cheek and crossing her arms
"You'll be lucky if I ever feed you again, you bastard" Sanji replied, lighting a cigarette as he did so
"Being without food on the ocean is one of the worst things that can ever happen to a crew" he continued "It's not just that you can starve, but the ocean is a very different environment to being on an island and lacking the proper nutrition can be fatal"
"We'll pick up a way to keep Luffy out of the food store in Loguetown" Nami said "Luckily, there's a small island nearby that we should be able to reach soon, It's supposed to have a small village on it, so we should be able to get some food"
The day was quite foggy, and visibility was low, so it wasn't until the Merry was quite close to the island Zoro, in the Crows nest, saw the coastline approaching, so called out down
"Oi, guys, you should come up here"
Hearing his call, Luffy, Nami, Sanji and Usopp emerged from below, and headed to the front of the Merry
"What's this island called?" Usopp asked
"Tonpil Island" Nami replied "Although it was difficult to find that out, I couldn't find anything on this island that was more recent than 10 years ago"
"What does that mean Nami-san?" Sanji asked, ashing his cigarette over the edge of the Merry
"I don't know" Nami replied "Even under Arlong's rule the Conomi Islands still managed to get information out… it's how the world knew we were under Arlong's rule"
"I...i….i think I know why…" Usopp stammered out, pointing off the side of the ship, as the fog faded a enough for the Straw Hats to see 5 wrecked ships all around them, all of them bearing one large hole in their hulls
"Oi oi" Zoro said, betraying a little bit of surprise "That's a lot of shipwrecks"
"Could there be a reef around here?" Nami mused "No, it would've been on the map and those ships don't look like they took reef damage"
"Could it be Hawk-Eyes?" Usopp asked, not noticing Zoro stiffen a little at the mention of the name
"No, he would've cut the ships" Zoro replied, shaking his head "This…"
"Looks like a fist" Luffy interrupted, speaking up for the first time "Did something punch these ships open?"
"G…g…giants?" Usopp stammered "Hey guys, I've suddenly developed I-can't-go-on-this-island-disease"
"Then you can stay here on the ship" Sanji replied "We have to find food on this island, otherwise we won't be travelling very far at all"
While the Straw Hats argued over what to do, on the coast of the island a figure in shadow turned and vanished into the forests, a slight smirk on the side of their face as they disappeared
Eventually, the Straw Hats worked out what to do, Usopp decided to stay on the Merry, terrified of the potential that this island was full of Giants, while Luffy (excited by the potential of giants), Zoro, Sanji and Nami went ashore to find food.
The presence of a well-worn path was a good sign, and the Straw Hats started to follow it, into the forest, clouded by the early morning fog
"I hope the ship will be alright" Nami said worriedly "Maybe Zoro should've stayed with Usopp and the ship"
"It should be fine" Zoro replied "We sailed far back from the wrecks before dropping anchor, and he can always send up a flare if he needs help"
The fog appeared to be clearing up a reasonable amount, and a small smoke plume could be seen in the distance, signaling a village, or at least a fire.
It turned out to be a village, or more accurately, a loose collection of houses, small little wooden shacks, six of them, spread out in a loose circle around a well in the centre
The smoke was rising from one of the buildings, slightly offset from the circle, so Luffy went and knocked on the door
"It's about time" a voice yelled from the inside "The food that we've been storing is getting close to going off"
The door swung open rapidly, and a short portly man with a bushy grey mustache emerged, dressed in rough cloth shirt, jacket and pants, with clogs on his feet
"Wow, thanks for the food Ossan" Luffy replied with a grin "Were you expecting us?"
Rather than laughing, the man flipped his shit
"Quick, get inside, before anyone sees you!" he said urgently
"Why?" Nami asked
"I don't have time to explain, but you could get killed"
Mostly to settle him down, Luffy, Zoro and Sanji headed inside, giving Nami no choice
The man shut the door quietly behind them, and sighed with relief
"Please, make yourself comfortable, I may not have had visitors in over ten years, but I haven't forgotten how to treat them"
The interior of house was very sparse, as expected of a tiny village on a remote island, but it seemed comfortable enough, the most notable feature was the small shrine in the corner of the main room, with a picture of a small family, but none of the people pictured was the man who let them in
"That's a long time" Nami commented "Even for an island this small and remote, why haven't you had visitors in ten years?"
The man's face darkened as he sat down on a chair "I'll explain everything, but first I've been incredibly rude, my name is Jin"
"Luffy"
"Nami"
"Zoro"
"Sanji"
"What brings you to Tonpil Island?" Jin asked
At exactly the same time, Nami and Luffy both replied
"We asked our question first" from Nami
"We need food" Luffy replied
Jin laughed, hearing both the replies
"Yes, you did" he said, only replying to Nami at first
"And I don't think we can help you" he continued, addressing Luffy "We don't produce much, and anything we have surplus goes into tribute"
"Tribute?" Sanji asked "Tribute to what?"
"To the pirates that control this island"
The Straw Hats all glanced at Nami, whose face had darkened, reminded of the situation her own home village had been in until just recently
"Tell us" Nami said "We're a little familiar with this kind of situation"
"It started about ten years ago…"
*Ten years earlier*
Jin emerged from his house, into a bright sunny day on Tonpil Island, and smiled at the sun
"What a beautiful day" he murmured to himself
"Uncle Jin! Uncle Jin!" a child's voice called loudly
Jin's smile got even wider as he turned around to see a little girl, clothed in a small yellow dress, running towards him
"Hello Moll" Jin greeted cheerily "Are your parents' home?"
Most of the residents of Tonpil Village had moved there out of a wish for isolation, and tended to keep to themselves as much as possibly, but Jin was close with one other family, consisting of the parents Caleb and Thea, and the children Joel, Moll and Layne, in that order of age
"They sent me to come get you" she said, completely out of breath from running "Pirates!"
The blood drained from Jin's face, and the day suddenly didn't feel so bright and sunny anymore
Wordlessly he took off at a sprint, heading in the direction that Moll came from, with her lagging behind, having not had enough time to recover
Please be alright, Why would pirates be here?
Jin and Moll arrived at the shore, to a horrible sight
The pirates had captured Caleb, Thea, Joel and Layne and had them kneeling on the beach, facing Jin and Moll
As Jin stood in horror, he heard a scream as one of the pirates who had been lying in ambush grabbed Moll from next to him, and then another one bashed him on the back of the head and he heard no more
"What happened to the family they captured?" Nami asked "Are they still with the pirates"
Jin shook his head glumly
"After I woke up I found myself back in the village, the pirate captain had appeared and the entire village was captured"
*Ten Years ago*
"This village is now under the control of the Berlin pirates" the captain, who Jin assumed was the namesake Berlin, said grinning
He was a tall man, wearing a red captain's coat over his shoulders with two flintlock pistols tucked into the black sash that held up his brown pants, shirtless with skull and crossbones tattooed onto his left pectoral
"You worthless villagers will now pay tribute to us in food, otherwise… we'll exterminate you"
As he said these words he pulled out his pistol and placed it against Thea's head, who was kneeling in front of him
"Is that acceptable?" he said sweetly, looking her dead in the eye, punctuating each syllable with a tap of the pistol
Thea looked up at him, her bruised face showing nothing but contempt and defiance, and she spat at him, the globule landing directly in Berlin's eye.
Jin abruptly paused, suddenly overcome with tears as the recollection of what happened next became too much
Nami urged him to continue
"He shot her, and when Caleb, Layne and Joel protested, he shot them too" Jin said, summarizing that painful event into a few short words, tears still streaming down his face
"He took Moll with him, back to their hideout… to keep the rest of us working, he took the bodies somewhere on the island, denying us the chance to give them a proper burial… and that was ten years ago, since that day, a thick fog falls over the island every morning, and some of the other villagers have reported seeing a water demon roaming the woods, and we all stay away from the shore"
Luffy's eyes lit up at the words Water Demon
"Ossan, I've heard enough" Luffy said abruptly, standing up "If that guy comes back here, I'll kick his ass"
"Maybe you won't need too" Sanji said "Ossan, do you know there are six shipwrecks off the shore of this island"
Jin's reaction was one of complete surprise
"That explains why the tribute collectors are so late… and why you were able to sail in, but what wrecked those ships?"
"We don't know" Nami explained "We only stopped here to get food to continue on our journey"
"Of course" Jin replied, I wouldn't expect you to get involved in our problems, but if you do help us… you can have all the food that we have stockpiled"
With some deliberation, the Straw Hats agreed, Nami and Sanji headed back to the ship to inform Usopp, while Luffy excited about the prospect of a water demon, went looking for it, dragging Zoro along with him
"A water demon, how cool" Luffy said excitedly, as he and Zoro wandered the forests of Tonpil Island
"Yeah, I wonder if I can cut it" Zoro replied, not as excited as Luffy, but close to.
The forest of Tonpil Island was largely unexplored, after making a clearing in which to set up the village, the original settlers had largely ignored the space around them, partially out of respect and partially out of principle, resulting in a wild untamed area of nature that housed numerous dangerous creatures and hazards of nature.
In fact, as Jin had described, the last people to enter the area was over ten years ago, and several of the pirates who had entered had been eaten by the wild beasts that had claimed the area as their habitat.
That Luffy and Zoro proceeded to beat up mercilessly as they made their way through the forest.
Eventually, they made their way to a strange clearing, by what looked like a cave entrance, the area being strangely clear of the beasts
"Luffy" Zoro warned
"Yeah" Luffy replied "I know"
Without warning Luffy stretched his arm forward and reached into one of the bushes that lined the side of the clearing, extracting its very stunned occupant, who slammed into the ground, throwing up a small cloud of dust as he landed
The occupant was around Luffy's height, with messy brown hair, a patchy, and short beard, dark green unbuttoned over shirt with rolled up sleeves, black shirt underneath that, with blue jeans and black shoes, as well as a single fingerless glove on his left hand, that appeared to be made of cloth the same color as his jacket, sectioned with armored plates that were a dull grey, over the back of his hand and half of his fingers.
To his credit, the man immediately jumped up and took a defensive stance, while Zoro drew his sword and Luffy took a similar stance
They stood at a standoff, neither willing to make the first move until Luffy got sick of it
"Oi, do you know anything about the water demon that's supposed to be around here? We're looking for it"
The man didn't relax in the slightest
"What's it to you?" he asked, his mistrust clearly evident in his tone
Luffy relaxed his guard and grinned widely
"I want it to join my crew"
This caught the man off guard, so he relaxed a little and chuckled
"And just who might you be?"
"I'm the man who's going to be the pirate king"
This caused the man to do a double take, and with that he relaxed completely, and gave Luffy an odd look
"Why would you want to be king of pirates, Pirates are scum, they attack innocent people and commit crimes across the globe?"
"That's not how pirates are supposed to be, real pirates just want to be free"
By now Zoro had put away his sword and had quite enough of this conversation
"Who are you, are you one of the villagers?"
The man shook his head
"No, I'm…"
He was interrupted by the sound of a loud bang, which attracted all their attention, as a large firework streaked through the sky and made another large bang as it exploded
"That's Usopp's flare isn't it?" Zoro asked
"Yeah" Luffy replied "He must need help"
Without another word they turned and ran towards the shore, and the Going Merry
The man hesitated a little, before decided to run after them, inspired a little bit by Luffy's raw honesty.
*About an hour earlier*
By this time of day, the morning fog that Jin had described to them had all but cleared, and the Going Merry and the six Shipwrecks near Tonpil Island were completely visible to the large pirate battleship sailing towards the island, to the complete and utter fury of Berlin, aboard the ship.
Berlin closed up his telescope and literally shook with fury as he eyed the Pirate symbol flying above the Merry
Luffy and Zoro arrived at the shore and were greeted with a horrible sight, Nami, Sanji and Usopp trussed and kneeling in front of a large man wearing a red captain's coat over his shoulders with two flintlock pistols tucked into the black sash that held up his brown pants, shirtless with skull and crossbones tattooed onto his left pectoral.
From the description given by Jin earlier, Luffy and Zoro instantly recognized him as Berlin
Berlin grinned as they came into view, surrounded by his crew, with three of the Straw Hats already captured, he felt invincible
"So you're the rest of the shitty pirates trying to take over my island" he said "I was wondering why six of my ships failed to reappear, it seems like I should've come out this way myself sooner."
Luffy looked Berlin dead in the eye
"Let my crew go" he said calmly
While Luffy and Berlin were engaged in staring down each other, Jin arrived, having come running at the sound of Usopp's flare, and quickly taking stock of the situation in front of him, he knelt down, instantly reminded of that day ten years ago, when he watched Berlin take over his island
Noticing Jin arrive, Berlin smiled, deciding to use the situation as another reminder to Jin and the rest of the villagers as to who held the true power over Tonpil Island
"No, you and your crew are going to surrender your weapons, and get to working in these fields, otherwise…" and he paused as he lifted Nami up and placed his pistol close to the side of her head
"This lovely young woman gets it" he finished
Luffy exchanged a glance with Zoro, and then looked at Nami
"If you shoot her, there is nowhere you will be able to run, nowhere you will be able to hide, where I will not find you, and make you suffer"
Nami nodded, the gag in her mouth preventing her from making any noise beyond a muffled sound of agreement
This was enough to make Berlin hesitate, unused to situations where people weren't afraid of his every word; the threat of his crew, and his pistol had never not been enough to make people comply with his orders before, but as quickly as his hesitation overtook him, he dismissed it, how could those two possibly hurt him at all, they were outnumbered three to one, including the tied up crew.
"Bad luck for you then" he replied, as Luffy watched impassively while he shoved Nami forward onto the ground and pointed his pistol at the back of her head
"Maybe you just need to see how serious I am"
Berlin pulled the trigger.