AN: Hi guys! Oh, I promised myself I would stick to one story at a time, but I wound up breaking it! :( This will not happen again for a while, though. For those of you following my OHSHC story, "Late Night Rendezvous," I must apologize! I know I haven't uploaded in forever, but I just am entering a bit of a slump with that story. My obsession with Ouran has kind of been replaced with my obsession for One Piece at the moment, so I just have to say that I'm sorry! (I'm not saying Ouran sucks or anything, but I'm just having a harder time writing for that fandom right now.) Don't be worried though! I'll upload another chapter sometime before the end of my spring break, promise! :D
On to my new story! :D I have fallen in love with One Piece, which is surprising since I thought it was a joke as a kid. Before you say anything, blame 4Kids! :P There won't be any solid pairings in this story, it will be written because I want to get used to writing in this world and focus on the story instead of the pairings. Interpret the hidden pairings in this story as you will, though! XD it's not that hard.
I do not own One Piece. There would have been romance by now and I would have been rolling in money instead of typing a story on FF.
"My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot." ~unknown
Chapter 1:
The Going Merry sailed along the sea in the starry night. All that could be heard was the crashing of waves in addition to the chatter of the Straw Hat Pirates on deck. The crew had been reunited with their navigator, Nami, and so far, all had been well.
Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of the ship, leaned on the side of the main deck. The way the stars brought life to the infinite night sky mesmerized him. Strong winds forced Luffy to keep his infamous straw hat on his head in place with his hand. With an unreadable expression on his face, he turned his attention to the beautiful, unforgiving sea. Just how many secrets did these waters hold?
He returned his attention to his crew with a serious face. "Zoro," he said in a grim tone. The first mate glanced in the captain's direction. Zoro immediately stopped his conversation with Usopp. Whenever Luffy had that look on his face, it usually meant that there was something important that needed to be said. With a confused expression on his face, Usopp watched the green-haired man put his beer down on the floor where he sat. He placed his full attention on Luffy.
The rest of the crew followed Zoro's example, wondering what was going on in Luffy's head.
"I'm bored." The answer was clear: absolutely nothing. This false alarm made everyone have an anime-style sweat drop. Why had they let this guy be their captain?
"That's not my problem," the tough swordsman replied with a scowl. He picked up his beer and took a huge gulp of the refreshing beverage. "Go look for something to do."
"I don't feel like it. Ah! We should sing like pirates!" Luffy gave a contagious, wide grin.
"We are pirates, Luffy." Nami closed her eyes. Frustrated, she whacked Luffy's head and continued, "And we don't even have a musician for that." Luffy frowned at this.
"Hm. Oh, then tell me a story, Zoro!"
Sanji slowly shook his head, smirking. He lit his signature cigarette, exclaiming, "You really expect this nitwit to be able to conjure up a decent story for you?"
Veins pulsing in Zoro's forehead showed his anger. "Oh, yeah, asshole? You think you can come up with something better?"
"Naturally," said the calm, confident Sanji after flipping the blonde hair that covered his left eye.
"Bring it, ero-cook!" Zoro exclaimed with a hand instinctively on his Katana. At times it took all of the self-control Zoro had to not slice that cook to pieces.
The two of them took turns telling stories to the crew. Zoro went first and told a story about a swordsman beating up a cocky cook. Needless to say, it was very uncreative, save for the gory details. Throughout the entire ordeal Nami and Usopp cowered in fear. Sanji's visible eye twitched. Stick to swordfighting, Moss-head, Sanji thought, mocking his rival's green hair. He was certain that he would wipe the floor with his story. Sanji's story was a very… explicit tale of a beautiful red-haired girl (Nami, hint hint) falling in love with a blonde prince charming (Sanji, hint hint). Nami smacked him on the head on multiple occasions while Usopp almost fell asleep. Zoro glared at the cook with scorn and growled. Such reactions from Nami were expected, but it was odd how Sanji's story angered Zoro so much.
Afterwards, Luffy came to a conclusion. He glanced at Sanji and then at Zoro, who were so confident that the other person had lost. "You guys both suck at making stories." Ah, Luffy, Nami thought. She shook her head at the three of them, You're too blunt for your own good. Both of their mouths dropped. Then, boiling with anger, they insisted "a redo."
"I guess that settles it, then," Usopp yawned, scratching his head. He got up and decided to walk to the bathroom. Halfway there, he laughed and hollered, "My story would have been much better! The great Captain Usopp never fails to disappoint!"
Usopp had been lying most of his life, anyway. Whether they were lies to the townsfolk or made-up stories to please Kaya, the marksmen had told enough lies to make your head spin. Fabricating stories came as naturally to him as breathing. Of course, these stories would have mostly consisted of Usopp's "adventures" and "great feats." Back when he was with Kaya, Usopp told her stories about the supposed "adventures and battles" he faced when exploring the four Blues.
Luffy turned to Usopp and smiled one of his big, bright smiles. "I guess that means you're the storyteller of the ship, Usopp!"
Usopp suddenly halted. Silence ensued as he turned around slowly. "Uh… What?"
Zoro and Sanji glared at the coward, silently intimidating him. It was as if the glares were meant to pass along the message, "Go ahead, Usopp! See what happens…"
Unable to keep his cool, Usopp's legs started shaking. He put up his hands in front of him to deny the offer from the captain. "Well, uh, sorry, Luffy, but I'm going to have to say no. See, uh, my time on the ship should be spent working on improving my weapons! Ah, yes! That's what a marksman does, after all!" Usopp suddenly gained confidence, as if he himself believed what he said, too.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way!" The proud Usopp left the four remaining crew members alone.
Luffy stole a glimpse of Nami, which did not go unnoticed. "Don't even think about it, you idiot." Nami protested, "Navigating is a full-time job. I don't have the time to go around telling stories whenever you please."
"Hm," Luffy replied as he began pacing on the deck of the ship. He walked around in a circle and then eyed the sea again out of habit. "You know what this means, right?"
A gust of wind came blowing from where the transfixed Luffy's attention was. Luffy's short, black hair ruffled in the wind while he held onto his hat again. In addition to this, he added a long, unnecessary pause. In fact, is sounded as if it were added solely for dramatic effect (which is wasn't...maybe).
Luffy smirked. "Our crew needs a Storyteller."
And so, their trip to the Grand Line was put on hold. It was just for a storyteller, too! Anyone but a member of Luffy's crew would find it ridiculous. They had learned to adapt to Luffy's weird choices, so it would be kind of odd for them if he didn't do such a ridiculous thing, anyway.
The next morning, everyone but Zoro was in the galley. He was nowhere to be seen, but people just assumed he was sleeping or training (maybe both…). Sanji, the cook, was preparing breakfast for everyone. He wore his trademark black suit like usual that day. What was Sanji making today? Luffy licked his lips then pondered this as he picked a piece of lint off of his red vest. There better be some meat! Luffy sat next to Nami. Her big, brown eyes were hidden behind a newspaper.
"So, Nami, where are we going now?" Usopp asked. His curly, out of control black hair was partially covered by his favorite dark yellow plaid bandanna. He began toying with the expensive pair of sniper goggles perched on top of his head. How he managed to get these goggles still fascinated him.
Nami looked up and tucked her short orange hair behind her ear. She had a light blue t-shirt on with a nice pair of short-shorts. "Enro town. It's the closest place near us. Hey, Sanji-kun, I'm actually quite hungry, can you—"
In what seemed like a split second, Sanji grabbed everyone's breakfast and brought it to the table, balancing them on three of his limbs like a pro.
"Meat!" Luffy said. Sanji knew him too well. Luffy grabbed a handful of bacon and jammed them all in his mouth. While proceeding to fill his plate, Nami cleared her throat.
"We should get there soon. Everyone be on guard and try not to cause a scene."
"What a clever idea, as always, Nami-san!" Sanji commented as he sat does at the table next to Usopp.
After breakfast, Nami went outside and announced they could see the next town. After Luffy cheered, most of the other members prepared to arrive on land. The Straw Hat Pirates docked their ship at one of the many ports. Numerous ships had been docked there, along with theirs.
The excited Luffy jumped off the ship without waiting for the others and landed without a scratch on him.
"Don't do that! You're gonna cause a scene, Luffy!" Nami screamed after her captain.
"You should know him, by now." The surprised navigator turned around to see Roronoa Zoro randomly pop up from the other side of the ship. By now the crew knew not to question where Zoro was when he's gone.
"Yes, I know. It's kind of unavoidable, isn't it? Wait there, Luffy! Somebody's going to come down with you!"
"I'll pass." The captain replied as he gave one of his big, goofy smiles. "I'm going to go exploring!" He ran off in a random direction, leaving the crew to fend for themselves.