Wow. I honestly didn't expect to get more than a couple reviews for last chapter. Keep it up, guys!
XxCrazyDreamerxX: Thanks for reviewing!
Derpulies: I hope the story lives up to its potential!
Magic Type: I don't want to spoil anything about Newton or his appearance yet, so you'll have to keep reading for #1 and #3. However, I hadn't considered making him a glutton, and it might be nice to add another traditional shounen hero trait like that to his character.
Sonny Daye: Ayyy! I'm glad you checked this out! This should be easy to follow, even if you only know a little about One Piece.
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One Piece: Dark Horse
Chapter 2: Ten Years Later! Enter the Mysterious Travellers!
A metal ship the size of an oak tree sputtered to a stop beside a small wooden dock. Two figures in red cloaks stood at the front of the ship, a bag over each of their shoulders. The shorter figure smirked.
"Land ho." The shorter figure's playful voice sank into the sand of the empty beach.
"Looks like your piece of junk got us here after all," the taller figure replied.
"Told you!" The other cloaked figure crossed his arms, revealing pale, thin sticks-for-limbs. "I'm an engineer! I can make damn near any—"
The short figure's voice suddenly faded as a loud moaning echoed from the ship. The cloaked boy's face sunk. "Oh sh-"
CRASH!
The boat shattered into pieces, crashing down into the sea. Not a second too late, the taller cloaked figure pulled their comrade from the doomed ship and made the leap to solid ground. Once safe and sound, they let go, leaving the shorter figure to lose his balance and fall to the ground.
"Thanks," the collapsed boy muttered. He spit out sand. "I guess I'm not much of a shipwright after all."
"C'mon, boy genius, get up," the taller one said, motioning to a village a couple hundred yards away. "We don't have long."
"Sorry." The short figure shot up and began running towards the rural town, grinning. After a few moments, he swiveled around to run backwards, facing his comrade. "Adventure awaits! What are you waiting for?"
Not even bothering to slow down for the other's response, the shorter figure turned back and sprinted toward the town.
"You idiot! You shouldn't exert yourself like that!" The taller figure worriedly shouted back as they sped up.
The cloaked boy stuck his pinkies into his ears, lightheartedly teasing, "I can't hear you!"
As he neared the town, the shorter figure's cloak fell back over his legs for but a moment, revealing a hint of gleaming silver.
...
The village greeted the two cloaked travelers with a newly painted sign reading, 'Welcome to Salom!' As for the hamlet itself, it was booming from back to front, which ranged just about the distance from the beach squared: roughly 300 yards. Peddlers sold—or at least attempted to sell—goods to a variety of folk. A few Marine personnel littered the more obviously wealthy shops, while the poorer salesmen were stuck in a ghetto of sorts, which took up most of the village.
Like any town, the travelers faced an assortment of life at its entrance. There were a few livestock here and there, some children playing, and a woman who struggled helplessly to fix the broken wheel and hinge on her cart.
The taller figure turned to their comrade, pulled a small bag of coins from their sack and put it in his hand. "I'll buy the food. You get supplies to build a new boat."
The boy nodded. The taller figure put a gloved hand on his shoulder.
"You must have the ship ready by sunset, or else…"
"Tch. Don't worry. I've got this." The boy shrugged the other cloaked figure off.
The taller figure reluctantly nodded. "Have the supplies with you in an hour. We'll meet up here."
"Got it!"
With that said, the tall traveller set off, forced to have faith in their comrade.
...
"Stop him! Stop that kid!"
Barely five minutes in the town and the tall traveller was already encountering trouble. A child—maybe 11 or 12 years old—dressed in rags was sprinting toward the traveller with a bag in his hand. Well behind, a bearded man tried to catch up. It didn't take long to put two and two together. The bearded man had just left a food tent. It was obvious the boy had stolen some of the man's goods.
"That boy stole my fruit!"
Hypothesis proven. The traveller faced the thief. The boy frowned and stepped to the side. Nobody tried to stop him; pedestrians merely watched, apathy and amusement freezing them in place.
The shop owner spotted the traveller and shouted, "Get that kid!"
The boy was just a second from passing the traveller by. The cloaked figure had already decided on their course of action. They stepped out of the thief's way. The boy didn't even bother to look at the traveller as he sprinted past.
"Damn it!" The shop owner grunted, glaring at the cloaked traveller. He stopped for a moment to look back at his tent. Underneath the awning, a teenaged boy was lazily juggling fruit. "Hiruk, watch the food!"
"Sure, Pa," the teen haphazardly promised.
The cloaked figure smirked as the shopkeeper ran past in an attempt to catch the thief. As the traveller neared the tent, they noticed one rather expected thing, and another that took them by surprise. The teenager remained unfocused on the food, continuing to juggle fruit. That was not shocking. What really drew the traveller's eye was a girl, who, while the teen ignored the stand, pocketed a few apples.
The girl caught sight of the traveller. She eyed them warily. The traveller merely reached into their bag, produced a heavy coin purse, and set it on the counter. Both the teen and the girl nearly fell back in shock.
"This is for the fruit you just lost, the fruit that girl is taking," the teen vendor finally noticed the second thief and frowned, "and two dozen apples and carrots for me."
"R-right," the teen muttered, dropping their fruit and counting out the money from the purse. While he did so, the traveller dropped their desired order into their bag and slung it back over their shoulder.
The girl continued to watch the traveller as the deal finished. Over the following few seconds, the cloaked figure became increasingly annoyed with the girl's gaze. The figure swiveled around to face the little thief.
"A 'thank you' is in order," the traveller spat.
"Got that right," the teen muttered, sitting back down. "Would've had her arrested if you hadn't…"
The traveller glared at the teen. The shopkeeper's son gulped. "Sorry, sir. Shutting up now."
"As I was saying…" the traveller continued.
"Thank you," the girl interjected.
The traveller paused for a moment, a bit surprised by the girl's sudden response. Slowly, a smile crept over the cloaked figure's lips. They tossed the kid a coin.
"Don't steal, kid. It never ends well."
The girl fumbled for the coin, eventually catching it. She nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
In what the teen believed was a way to earn back the traveller's favor, he shouted, "Hey, show a little respect! That there's a kind man, you stupid little—"
The traveller turned their glare back to the teen. The boy blushed and quieted, sitting back down.
The cloaked traveller wasted but another moment to ruffle the little girl's hair before walking off to find the next thing on their list. Only steps away from their last 'adventure,' the traveller stopped as a man grabbed their shoulder.
"I saw ye." The man was old, bent over, and decrepit. However, despite his age and weakness, he carried a proud smile and walked without assistance. In his right hand was a satchel filled with something round.
"Ye are kind. Ye are different too…that arm." The old man pointed to where the cloaked figure's right arm would be under their cape. The traveller flinched. "I saw it. I saw it ain't normal. Ye ain't normal…but ye're kind. Weird and kind. That means ye're the type 'a person who could use this…"
The old man lifted up the bag for the cloaked traveller to see. The figure cocked their head to the side, curious.
"What is it…?" the traveller asked.
The old man's grin grew as he opened the bag for the traveller to see. Almost instantaneously, the cloaked figure took the bag, their jaw agape. The old man didn't resist.
"Is…is this real?" the traveller stuttered incredulously, "I thought there weren't any left. Not out of Marine hands anyway."
"It's 100% genuine. Just look at it. Ye can tell," the old man replied. The traveller couldn't respond. The hag was right; it certainly looked genuine.
"100 beli," the old man stated.
"Wait, what?" The traveller looked up, eyes wide, "Only a hundred—I mean, fine. Yes. I'll take it."
The cloaked figure wasted no time to produce the desired money. In a matter of moments, the exchange had been made. The satchel and its contents were the traveller's.
"Thank you…I…I'll…" The traveller looked up. The old man was gone. The cloaked figure looked around, but couldn't find the codger anywhere.
As the traveller began to give up on the old man, his deep voice suddenly echoed over the wind.
"Soon…your real payment…soon…."
Lost, but unafraid, the traveller shook the old man's voice away and stashed the newly acquired item into their bag. Then, after taking a deep breath, the cloaked figure continued on.
...
About an hour later, when at last the traveller had secured all the food that would be needed for their travels, they returned to the town's entrance, awaiting their comrade. However, upon their arrival, the traveller noticed that, in fact, the boy was already there, huddled over a cart.
'But no…that stupid kid didn't arrive early,' the traveller thought.
"You idiot!" The traveller smacked their companion on the back of his head. The boy shouted in pain and fell back. "I've been gone an hour and you've barely moved five feet!"
"Yeah, well, you did tell me not to overexert myself," the boy retorted, his hood now having fallen back over his head. Like his arms, the boy's face was pale. His eyes were as blue as ice and his hair so light blond it appeared white.
The seventeen-year-old's rebellious smile nearly drove the taller figure to hit him again. "You stupid—"
"Please, don't!" A woman jumped between the two. The boy sat up. "He helped me. My cart had broken down and he—he helped me."
"Was helping, actually. Not quite done yet. I was just about to finish when you hit me." The boy rubbed the growing bruise on the back of his head and glanced at the cart.
The traveller sighed, massaging their forehead. "Yeah, yeah. Finish up, but make it quick. We've still got to get out of here by nightfall."
"Tch. Give me thirty seconds," the boy retorted. He immediately huddled back over the cart and continued his work, grumbling to himself, "'s not easy fixing something without tools..."
The cart's owner, the woman, stepped back and looked between the two travellers. She frowned.
"You need to leave by nightfall…? Why so soon?"
The taller traveller simply crossed their arms in a non-response. The boy didn't reply, slowly frustrating the woman. Suddenly, he got up onto his feet and faced her with a smile.
"All done! Sorry, what was it that you were asking?" The boy wondered, dusting off his hands.
The woman repeated her question. "Your…companion?" The boy nodded to confirm her suspicions. "Your companion said you needed to leave by nightfall. Why?"
"Oh, that." The boy whispered, his exuberance fading for a moment. Suddenly his frown turned upside down and he exploded with enthusiasm and confidence. The boy used his thumb to point at himself as he declared. "Y'see, miss, we're pirates! Marines are on their way here right now to capture us for execution!"
"P-pirates?" The woman exclaimed, stepping back. Everyone within hearing distance turned his or her focus to the commotion. The young pirate remained unfazed despite all the attention, merely smiling to himself as he leaned back against the cart.
The only person to remain fixated on something else entirely was the boy's companion, who stared coolly at the town's entrance beside the welcome sign.
"Yes, pirates," came a new, deep voice.
Suddenly, all eyes—including the boy's—followed the taller traveller's gaze toward the welcome sign. Standing there, weapons at the ready, was a squad of Marines. Near the front, holding two wanted posters high in the air, was a higher-ranking sailor—a young, blue-haired man dressed in standard Marine garb, including the cap. His jacket was undone, revealing an open baby blue button up. Underneath the coat he wore a brown leather belt that held a variety of knives and blades.
"Those two," the man continued, "are Barr D. Newton, worth 15,000,000 beli, and Sebastian 'Bullseye' Casey, whose head's worth a whopping 55,000,000."
"15,000,000 beli? Hell yeah!" Newton fist pumped.
"Get back, Captain," the still-cloaked Casey demanded, pushing Newton behind the cart.
"Judgment Day has arrived, pirate scum," the Marine growled. "I'm Captain Rex Picard, and I swear to you that you will not leave this island alive!"
Casey raised her hands just as the Commander lowered his.
"FIRE!"
...
Suck on that cliffhanger! XD Honestly, though, I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter, shit gets real!
With every crew member I add (whether it be the 2 in these five chapters or more if I continue past it), I'll release their character sheet as if I was submitting an OC to a story. Just thought it might be a fun way to get to know a bit more about the characters (or as an easy reference if you've forgotten some basic background info or their appearances).
Name: Barr D. Newton
Alias: Newt
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Role: Captain, Engineer
Appearance: Measuring out at a meekly 5'6" and weighing only 105 lbs., Newt's far from big. The young pirate's shaggy hair is so light blond it appears white. In fact, most people assume it is. Newt's eyes are a light blue consistent with the color of ice. As for standard clothing, Newt tends to wear white shorts, and different colored sneakers and tank tops. However, his shorts aren't always unchanging. His only consistent apparel is the ratty white jacket he wears day-in and day-out, and a black beanie with a yellow sash tied around its lower half.
Power/Weapon: Fiercely intelligent and a natural engineer.
Goal: To become King of the Pirates.
As for the rest, well, how's a story fun if there are no surprises?
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NEXT TIME ON DARK HORSE: Bullseye
Casey- Octoshotgun blast!
Casey- I need a moment alone with you.
Newt- That doesn't sound good.
Casey- You have to live! You have to live so you can dream on - so you can change the world!