One Piece - Tales of the Pirate King
Disclaimer: One Piece is property of Eiichiro Oda. I am not Eiichiro Oda
Prologue - Waking Up
It was a day like any other
The sun shined, the birds sung, and the flowers bloomed, the spring of the Foosha Village making the tulips, roses, and lavender flowers the small town grew rise and decorate the world, waiting for the harvest that would produce valuable perfumes
Monkey D. Luffy was a little boy that lived in the village. The seven years old was, as far as anyone knew, an orphan whose grandfather, the venerable Garp 'the Hero', technically abandoned, letting the child live on an old house he owned, where he was cared by… practically everyone in the little village
He also was a big fan of pirates, seeing them as the freest people in the world, unlike marines, who always had to work and do their duties and had no time for him. Yes, he was bitter that his grandfather would only visit once every blue moon, thanks for asking
The seven years old was, at the moment, whining about the attention he was receiving, in spite of his last antics being made just to receive it. A few weeks before, the friendly 'Red-haired' group of pirates started visiting the village, using it as a base of operations, and the little boy, to convince the crew that he was big and strong enough to go with them, stabbed himself under right under his left eye
Thus, the child found himself under the care of Makino, the kindly green-haired barmaid of the sole establishment of the village, the Partys Bar, and 'Red-haired' Shanks, captain of the pirate crew that carried his epithet, a blood-haired man wearing a straw hat and with three scars over his eye, dressed in a white shirt under a black coat hanging at his shoulders, brown trousers, and simple flip-flop sandals
And to make matters worse, they still didn't accept him into the crew!
"I'm telling you Shanks, I'm big enough and strong! My fists are as powerful as pistols!"
The blood-haired man just snorted on his drink, even as his own crew tried to encourage him into taking the child for at least one journey. Shanks silenced the suggestion by telling them that one of his crewmates would need to give their space for the child, and the men, more in love with adventure than the boy, swiftly abandoned him
"No fair, traitors!"
"Calm down Luffy; hey, Makino! Bring some orange juice here!" - Shanks called the barmaid, swamped with work but still with a genuine smile on her face, soon delivering a mug filled with the liquid: - "Here, have some juice Luffy"
"Thanks" - "Pft, See! What type of 'adult' drinks juice!" - And so laughed Shanks, and pouted Luffy, the boy moving to a chest on the bar and finding a massive fruit inside
Before he could take a bite, the door was slammed open, and entered a massive man
Easily as tall as Shanks, but with tanned skin and dark hair held in a topknot ponytail and a beard, and was dressed in a faded red long coat over a white shirt, black trousers, wooden geta sandals and a golden necklace, a sabre hanging on his left side; behind him, stood many more men, each one wielding sabres, clubs, axes or flintlocks
"We don't want trouble, just some, say, ten barrels of sake" - He spoke with a smile, which turned into a frown upon hearing Makino's answer:
"Sorry, we're all out of sake"
"All out?" - He made an act of looking around at the silent pirates, who watched him with wary gazes, muttering amidst themselves: - "Then what is this that the pirates are drinking? Orange Juice?"
The barmaid just scratched her cheek sheepishly, admitting: - "Well, that is the last of the sake"
"Sorry pal, we got here first" - Chuckled Shanks: - "Here, this bottle is still unopened; no hard feelings, right?" - Continued the blood-haired man
That was the wrong thing to say. Taking the bottle, the man proceeded to smash it on Shanks' head, knocking the pirate from his stool and showering him with glass shards and rice wine
"Do you know who I am? I have a bounty of eight million Berry, pirate, and killed fifty-six people. Do you really think that such a measly amount is enough for me or my man?" - Said Higuma, for that was what said the paper piece he waved, a bounty poster with his face, his name and his bounty on it
"Hey! Apologize to Shanks!" - That, however, was also the wrong thing to do, the number one child fan of the 'Red-haired' pirates witnessing the act, being right beside his idol: - "He's ten times more awesome than you!" - Pointed out Luffy, also pointing at the mountain bandit
That drew snickers from both bandits and pirates, through for different reasons: - "Kid, shut up, unless you want to die" - The bandits, for example, snickered mockingly, shutting up the more amused ones from the pirates
And that was the last wrong thing spoken on the bar, Shanks' hand going towards his sabre: - "Didn't you say you weren't after trouble?" - He spoke, with false cheerfulness, his crew copying his actions, hands hovering over flintlocks, swords, and in Benn Beckman's case, musket
"Oh, the pirates do have some bark in them" - Once again snickered Higuma: - "And what are you gonna do about it? Give us your sake?"
"If I were to cut down the brat for insulting me, what could you do to stop us?"
Shanks answer wasn't to him: - "Sorry about the mess, Makino, we'll clean it up" - And the barmaid, her smile much more frigid and scared, sighed in almost relief, well aware of what was going to happen
Not that Luffy saw it, picked up by the woman and dragged over and behind the bar, taking the chest with the strange fruit with him. Shouts of surprise and pain followed alongside shots and the clash of metal with metal and leather, the pirates moving suddenly and in a deadly fashion; the fight didn't last even thirty seconds, the surviving bandits either knocked down unconscious or running for the mountains
And Higuma? - "Done… Makino, call Wood Slap, he should be able to claim the bounty. Beckman! Help me with the corpse!"
Luffy also didn't saw the corpse, but understood enough when Shanks and Benn carried an object, the red-haired man blocking it from the boy's sight with his body. Feeling much less hungry than before, the child was deposited back on his stool, the now closed chest put in front of him, the barmaid giving him a hug as she joined the pirates in cleaning the establishment of blood and conflict marks
And that was how Luffy learned that being a pirate wasn't all about having fun, nor a marine only about duty. In the world dominated by water, it was a matter of life and death; the mountain bandit poking a monster in human skin and paying the price, and the child learning a very valuable lesson
How will that change the future perhaps? Who knows. But as Shanks felt the wind on his skin as he stood outside the bar, he couldn't help but feel it heralded something
A new era was beginning. And he smiled widely for reasons he couldn't deduce, as he felt that the world was not ready for it
And it was going to be hilarious~
AN Starts here: So here it is, my first official story... there's nothing really to say, through, so I'll just ask you to rate and review
Peace!