So just a fun little short that I wrote for my creative writing class. It features Shanks and Mihawk although it is a bit different...(wouldn't want my teacher thinking I was crazy)
My prompt for writing this story was based off a sheet that my teacher gave us with phone numbers. The last 4 digits of my phone number was my given prompt. Which was...
Main character: Pirate
Objective: Learns to drive
Conflict: Stubs toe
Resolution: Forgives neighbor
(I might have tweeked it a bit)
Enjoy!
Of Cars and Pirates
Driving is not a pirate thing. This proves to be a difficult concept for Captain Shanks-a-lot to grasp. After a particularly long voyage, Captain Shanks-a-lot, better known as just Shanks, decides to settle down and take a break from pirating. For some odd reason, the only idea that he could come up to waste his spare on is to learn how to drive. So, here he was, in his current predicament.
Shanks stood nervously in front of his neighbor's house. In his head, he ran through various phrases that he could greet his neighbor with. He'd been working on getting rid of his pirate speech. It'd be bad for him if someone found out he was the captain of a notorious pirate crew.
The door swung open. "Yo! What's up, Hawky?" Shanks exclaimed with a bright smile on his face.
The man known as Hawky gives Shanks an unimpressed look, and shuts the door as soon as he realizes who it was on his front step.
"Aww, come on, Hawky! Don't be like that." Shanks whined at the closed door.
Hawky, as Shanks refers to him as, is a middle aged man. He has jet black hair, cut short to avoid getting in his way, that stuck up in all different directions. Hawky is tall, with perfect posture and well dressed with a suit, complete with dress shoes and a tie.
Shanks, on the other hand - though lean and muscular - was much more laid back than his neighbor. He dawns a loose Hawaiian shirt and board shorts despite the chilling autumn weather. His vibrant red hair could be spotted from a mile away. Although one would say his most distinct feature is the thin, pale scar across his left eye.
"Hawky!" Shanks called out in a singsong voice while knocking on the door obnoxiously. He had a childish pout on his face as his neighbor opens his door in annoyance.
"Please refrain from making a ruckus this early in the morning. I also must ask that you refrain from addressing me in such a casual sense." Hawky said in a stoic tone.
"But Hawky! I like this nickname!" Shanks exclaimed, completely ignoring Hawky's previous comment. If Shanks was being honest, he couldn't remember what Hawky's real name was. The red haired man had come up with the nickname after he noticed his neighbor's keen eye for small details. Hawky was a very meticulous man.
Shanks had originally dubbed his neighbor as Hawkeye but quickly changed it to Hawky because he simply thought it was better.
"I am a man of my word, so I shall teach you how to drive as promised." Hawkeye stated as expressionless as ever.
"Yes!" Shanks jumped up, fist pumping in joy. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to grab the keys."
He darted off, an almost crazed smile on his face.
Hawkeye waited a moment, enjoying the peace that came with the absence of Shanks.
The silence was shattered.
Shanks came running down the street, whooping with joy and jingling the car keys in his hand. Hawkeye opened his mouth to warn Shanks of the rock, the size of a baseball, lying dauntingly on the path.
He didn't get a chance to, as Shanks came crashing down, faceplanting on the sidewalk. This man - nearly in his thirties - rolled on the ground, howling in pain.
"Hawky! I stubbed my toe." He blubbered childishly.
Hawkeye had half a mind to return to his house and lock the doors. Instead, he stepped past Shanks, who was overdramatically sobbing and whining about how he shouldn't have worn sandals.
How this man ever managed to run a pirate ship is a mystery to everyone.
"Quit dawdling around, let's go." Hawkeye wasted no time getting into the passenger seat. "Quickly or else we aren't going."
Shanks instantly shot up forgetting all about his injured toes, and flung open the door to the driver seat. "Alright, I'm ready to go!"
The calm and serious neighbor spent the next 15 minutes teaching the ecstatic redhead how to operate the car.
"Do you understand?"
"Yup, of course!" Shanks exclaimed, his eyes glinting with excitement.
Hawkeye suspiciously eyed the other man, almost sure that everything he had said went in one ear and out the other.
"Alright, you may try driving now. Cautiously." He added.
Shanks shifted the car into drive gleefully.
And then floored the gas.
The next ten minutes are spent with lots of harsh reprimanding from Hawkeye and lots of whiplash. Finally, Shanks got the hang of driving.
"Slow down and turn right here." Hawkeye informed gently as to not startle Shanks who had quickly found out how powerful the car was.
"Right? What the heck is a right? Oh. You mean starboard. You meant starboard, right?"
"Right. Not starboard, right."
"Right, not starboard, right." Shanks repeated. "Wait, right as is correct or right as in right? Are you sure you're right? I'm sure right and starboard are the same thing, right?"
"I haven't got the faintest idea of what you are talking about." Hawkeye practically growled in annoyance.
As Shanks continued to blabber about right and starboard, Hawkeye - true to his nickname - spotted an oncoming car and reached out, jerking the wheel sharply to avoid an accident.
"What are you doing? I told you to turn right!" The stoic man had begun to raise his voice. His patience was running low and the chances that he'd die in a car crash with his obnoxious neighbor was beginning to seem very high probable to him.
"Jeez, stop yelling. So it was a simple mistake." Shanks replied nonchalantly.
"How could I not yell? We nearly died there! Now slow down before we hit something."
"Don't tell me what to do! I'm the captain of this ship!" Shanks emphasized firmly.
"This is a car." Hawkeye deadpanned. "Nevertheless, keep your eyes on the road and -" He grabbed the wheel again and yanked it violently to avoid, yet again, another crash. "That is it. You are not allowed to drive again."
Shanks just laughed mirthfully, parking the car perfectly. "Alright, alright. I forgive you for yelling at me." He got out of the car at the same time as Hawkeye. "I'm just kidding, Hawky!"
The man was busy eyeing the perfect parking job suspiciously, wondering if it was just luck.
"I'm actually a very good driver! It's not much different from sailing! In fact, I would even say sailing is harder." Shanks admitted, patting the other man on the back. "You should have seen your face though!"
"W-what? B-but..." Hawkeye was completely stunned. Suddenly, he angrily snarled, "Then why would you drag me into this?!"
Shanks just snickered and replied with, "But did you die?"
Hawkeye sighed in resignation and got back into the vehicle. Maybe driving was a pirate thing after all.