Based on some feedback I was given, I have gone back and edited Zoro's introduction to the crew. Zoro does join the crew fairly readily, but I hope that by giving you more insight into his thoughts, it makes sense why Zoro see's the potential in Luffy. Having said that, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Prying open a crate of apples, Luffy tossed a couple over to Ace before plonking herself down and beginning to munch away at her own apples. Finding this ship had been a spot of good luck. When their small dingy had shattered in a whirlpool, the pair had only just managed to escape. Ace was thankfully strong enough to swim both of them to safety, with Luffy unable to do little more than be the anchor Shanks claimed her to be all those years ago. Having scrambled aboard the passing ship, Ace and Luffy were quick to hunt out some food.
Now though, the two newly boat-less-pirates watched a small pink haired boy (that had briefly introduced himself as Coby) grip his hair in panic.
Taking advantage of the boy's distraction Luffy studied him, or more accurately, his darkness. He was confusing her. There was evil, and there was suffering, but the darkness that threatened to consume him was different.
"Why don't you leave her then?"
"Are you kidding!? Just the thought of her..." Coby shuddered, slumping to his knees, "Alvida's way too scary! She'd kill me! Impossible! Impossible!"
Fear.
She had seen it before. Sometimes there was a small flicker in Ace, usually when she was about to do something he'd later tell her was incredibly stupid. But she had never recognised it in anyone to such an extent. The bandits certainly didn't express this level of fear, even when Gramps showed up for a surprise visit.
Coby was letting the fear consume him.
She didn't like that.
Having finished his apples, Ace held his hand up for Luffy to chuck him some more. Despite her distraction, Luffy threw more his way, her eyes not leaving Coby. Noticing her distraction, Ace frowned at Coby who was still muttering 'impossible' over and over.
"It doesn't matter if it's possible or impossible. If you don't try you're never going to get anywhere."
Luffy nodded in agreement to Ace's statement, deciding to add her own thoughts on the matter, "I'm going to become King of the Pirate's and if I die getting there then so be it. But I'm not ever going to stop trying."
Coby stared at the pair in awe. Most people would have told him to shut up, or simply hit him by now. Never had anyone offered him any kind of advice on his dream, and certainly not with this level of conviction. Clenching his fists, determination swelled in his chest. He wanted this. It was his dream, and nothing could stop him from chasing it!
"Then... then... I'm going to do it! I'm going to be a great marine!"
Thrusting one fist in the air, Coby beamed at his declaration.
Crack!
Coby's strength fled almost as quickly as it had come, a high pitch shriek escaping him as the roof above them splintered and fell. Luffy shifted up onto her haunches as a fat woman, who she presumed was the basis of Coby's fear, stared down at them.
"Coby! What do you think you're doing?"
Coby curled into a ball, his body shaking in fear. He was wrong. There was no way he could do this.
Luffy grabbed Coby by the collar and motioned for Ace to follow as she launched up through the newly created hole. Luffy and Ace landed in a crouch, whilst Coby landed in a sprawl across the deck, on the opposite side of the hole to where the other female Captain was.
Without any form of introduction, the Captain pointed her heavy looking club in Coby's direction, demanding an answer to her question.
"Tell me! Who's the most beautiful woman on the sea?"
Luffy watched closely as the fear inside Coby grew and then receded slightly.
"You–" Coby choked slightly, "You're a fat old hag! Luffy is way better then you!"
As if finally realising what he's just said, Coby's fear hit an all time high. Alvida lifted her spiked club, poised to strike down the insolent little brat. Ready to crush anyone that failed to acknowledge her beauty. Alvida was prepared to deal with the competition too.
Coby quaked in his boots, his arms raising in a useless defence. This would be his end. A strong hand gripped his shoulder as he was pulled back out of the way by Ace. Through terrified fingers, Coby watched Luffy step forward.
"Luffy watch out!"
The club disappeared. Coby rubbed his eyes in disbelief. The club disappeared? Where had it gone? What had just happened? Meanwhile, Alvida floundered at the loss of her favourite weapon. Seizing on her hesitation, Luffy charged, her fist connecting to Alvida's stomach, sending her flying off the ship and into the water below.
Leaving Coby's side, Ace twisted to stand back to back with Luffy, covering her from the incoming pirates. Together the pair worked their way through the enraged pirates. Coby had never seen anything like it. When Luffy shifted left, Ace moved at the same time. If Ace dropped low, Luffy turned to deck the pirate in the face. Back and forth the pair moved in sync, never letting the oncoming pirates hit them.
It was incredible!
With the last of Alvida's pirate's lying out cold on the floor (or having run), Ace and Luffy clasped their right hands together with matching grins. The thrill of a fight, even a short lived one, sent a high rushing through their veins.
"That... That... That was incredible!" Coby exclaimed, snapping Ace and Luffy out their high.
The force of the attention that had swung his way caused Coby to wilt slightly, his hands wringing together with nerves.
Ace snorted with amusement, as he waved the young boy over.
"We should probably get you out of here."
The decision having been made, there was little reason to stick around, so Luffy, Ace and Coby loaded into one of the small supply boats and set sail.
Luffy leant against the boat's side, head back and eyes closed as she listened with half an ear to Coby yabber on about her lack of regard for the dangers of the Grand Line, and some pirate hunter named Zoro. Coby finally came to a stop as he waited for Luffy to answer him. Instead Luffy nudged Ace's foot with her own, gaining his attention.
"Can we keep him?"
Pushing his hat back from where it had covered his face, Ace quirked an eyebrow at her.
"No."
"I'm not an animal!" Coby huffed with indignation before continuing, "Besides I'm going to be a marine!"
Luffy stared at him intently. The hairs on the back of Coby's neck rose as he became increasingly unnerved by her silence.
"What?!"
Luffy hummed in thought. The fear inside him had lessened but it was still strong. The evil inside him though... that barely constituted as a speck.
"You'll be a good marine."
"I- I- I will?"
Closing her eyes again, Luffy responded, "Yeah. You're a good person."
A very confused Coby looked to Ace for some kind of clarification on what just happened. Ace didn't provide him with the answers he was looking for as he merely shrugged his shoulders with a half explanation.
"Luffy's a pretty good judge of character."
Ace tilted his hat back over his eyes as his thoughts strayed to Luffy's abilities. Describing her understanding of others as 'pretty good' was a massive understatement. Luffy's ability to judge a person's character was unparalleled. In all the time he'd known her, Ace had never seen her misjudge someone, with the exception of himself.
He didn't know what she saw when she looked at him, but he was fairly certain that when they met, Luffy had over looked the evil inside him in favour of having a friend. Any friend, regardless of how dark he was. It was the only explanation that Ace had for her lack of regard towards the black that stained his soul. Whatever the reason, he was grateful for it, for her. He just hoped that there would never come a day when Luffy looked at him and, realised that she didn't want to be near a monster like him.
Coby wanted to be a marine. Fortunately for him, the next island the trio stumbled upon had a marine base. The marine base that had in fact, managed to catch the 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro. Too nervous to go on his own, Coby was grateful that Ace and Luffy has been willing to walk him to the base, even if they wouldn't be able to go in with him for obvious reasons.
Escorting Coby was no particular hardship in Luffy's opinion, particularly as she really wanted to see this so called pirate hunter. Skirting around the front gates, Ace, Luffy and Coby, popped their heads over the marine base wall, the two former hoping to catch a glimpse of the renowned pirate hunter, despite Coby's adamant declarations that Zoro wouldn't simply be tied up in the courtyard - except that he was.
Luffy's arms leant across the top of the marine base wall, her head resting on top of her overlaid hands as she took in the scene before her. Cocking her head right, then left, Luffy decided.
"I want him."
With a sigh, Ace prayed for patience from any deity that would listen.
"Luffy, you can't just decide these things for people."
"Sure I can." Luffy stated, offering her cheeky grin to her exasperated brother.
Their conversation came to a halt as a little girl carrying a ladder, propped it against the wall beside them. Ignoring the strangers, and confident that she wouldn't be seen by the marines, the girl climbed to the top of the ladder, ready to go over the fence. Ace rapidly stopped that plan, grabbing her by the hood of her jumper.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Frantically pressing a finger to her lips, she shushed him.
"Shh! I have to take these to Zoro-san."
Lowering her back down onto the ladder so only her head was visible, Ace pointed to the sign in the courtyard.
"Yeah, no. See that sign? That means little girls shouldn't do things like breaking into a marine base to feed prisoners."
The girl in question looked up at him, puppy-dog eyes at full blast. Unfortunately for her, no one could pull off the bambi eyes quite as well as Luffy could, and if those didn't affect him 95% of the time, this girl had no chance. Ace's concern however, was quickly proven to be misdirected.
"I'll take them for you. Make sure you wave when Zoro looks over."
With that Luffy plucked the rice balls out of the girl's hands and hopped over the wall to greet her first crew member (excluding Ace). Ace's head thumped against the wall as Coby panicked.
"What is she doing? Luffy-san! What are you doing? Ace-san, what is she doing?"
Ace merely groaned in response.
Strolling up to Zoro, Luffy offered him a one handed wave.
"Yo. I'm Luffy. I'm looking for a pirate crew. Come with us?"
"No."
Luffy pouted at the flat-out refusal, but she had a feeling he'd come around.
"These are from that little girl over there."
Not looking over to where the others were, Zoro opened his mouth to accept them, failing to notice Helmeppo and his two marine bodyguards.
"What's this! Giving up already Zor-o?" Helmeppo asked condescendingly. Shrugging his shoulders, he smirked, "Just as well I suppose. I was going to kill you anyway. Such a shame about your pretty little friend here. Marines! Finish them."
Luffy's hat shielded her eyes from view as the marines raised their rifles in preparation, took aim, fired.
"Black hole."
Thrusting her palm out towards them, the darkness consumed the bullets leaving no trace to suggest they'd ever existed. As the darkness disappeared, the marine's eyes bulged out of their sockets. Helmeppo shook with fear. A single thought consuming his mind, monster.
Zoro broke the tense silence that had taken over the courtyard.
"What the hell was that?!"
Grinning at him over her shoulder, Luffy's chirped response was at odds with her explanation, "My Yami Yami no mi powers. I control darkness."
Hearing her explanation, Ace lifted himself up to perch on the wall. Sparing a quick glance to the kids, Ace realised that this would probably get messy.
"Coby, you should take her home. We'll meet you back in town."
A scared Coby nodded, retreating from the fence line dragging the young girl behind him.
Pleased that they wouldn't be getting in the way, Ace dropped into the courtyard. Bypassing Luffy, Ace headed towards the prisoner.
"Hey there. Need a hand?"
Not really expecting a response, Ace pulled out his dagger and started cutting through the ropes, totally content to let Luffy handle the two marines and the other... thing.
With two punches and a well aimed kick, Luffy's task was accomplished in a matter of seconds.
Zoro rubbed his sore arms as he watched Luffy and Ace bicker between themselves about Luffy's demanding that Zoro be a part of her crew. Whilst being a pirate didn't particularly appeal to him, he owed them for setting him free. As the pair argued, neither of the pirates seemed inclined to back down as a shadow fell over them. Acting on instinct, Zoro unsheathed the dagger strapped to Ace's belt as he dashed passed him, slashing into Marine Captain Morgan's chest. The dust of the courtyard flew into the air as the tyrannical leader landed with a thud.
"Nice one Zoro!" Luffy cheered as Zoro handed Ace's dagger, hilt first, back to him.
"I already told you I'm not joining you." At Luffy's pout, and her rapidly widening puppy eyes, Zoro tried to salvage the situation, "But thanks. That bastard's had me tied up here for over a week."
Luffy's jaw dropped, all pretence of being upset flying out the window.
"A week! With no food?! Man. I would not survive that."
Ace's fists curled at the thought of anyone even thinking of harming Luffy like that. In attempt to reign in his murderous thoughts, Ace directed his need for an outlet to the unconscious marine captain. Stamping down on the flat edge of the axe embedded in the marine's arm, Ace grinned as the weapon shattered beneath his boot. After all, it wouldn't do to leave the marine with the axe he'd tried to hurt his sister now would it?
Zoro meanwhile shrugged as nonchalantly as he could manage having watched Ace decimate the weapon by stepping on it. It was rapidly occurring to Zoro that neither of these self-proclaimed pirate's were normal human beings.
"Not everyone's built with the same level of strength."
His words had meant to inform the girl that his strength was superior to her own, but thinking back to her strange powers, and her brother's own brute strength, his words no longer held the bite he'd intended them to.
"Shishishi! Of course not! I'm going to be King of the Pirates! Which is why you should come with us!"
Zoro's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to follow her round about logic, that he couldn't quite make sense of in his head. His mind continuously tripping over the blunt, matter-of-fact tone, she'd used that she would be King of the Pirates. He'd seen this type of determination before. Luffy was watching him, waiting for his reaction, and Zoro knew why. She was waiting for him to laugh at her. Or to tell her she couldn't do it, either because she was too young, or because she was a woman, or simply because it was impossible. He wouldn't laugh at another person's dream. Not when he was chasing his own dream that people sneered at. Not when it was a good dream.
Meeting Luffy's gaze, Zoro felt his resolve shift, and harden. The marine's hated his guts, a fact that was unlikely to change now that he'd attacked the base commander, and being a pirate didn't sound too bad.
"I'll join you on two conditions. First, if you get in my way from becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman I'll gut you myself."
Luffy laughed off the threat, "Shishishi. I expect nothing less."
Ace eyes narrowed on the swordsman. Nobody would be touching Luffy. Not on his watch. Moving in closer to stand by Luffy's side, Ace barely kept his words from coming out in a growl.
"And the second thing?"
"I need my katana back."
Nodding at the request, Luffy gripped Zoro's wrist with her left hand, and Ace's with her right, bouncing towards the Marine base, and dragging the two older males behind her.
"This is going to be so much fun!"
Luffy lounged in her chair, feeling fully sated after stuffing herself with food. They had found Coby not long after wandering back into town, who had officially introduced them to the little girl, Rika, and her mother. The latter had been kind enough to provide them with as much free food as they wanted.
Since settling down to eat, Coby had taken it upon himself to try and bring the pirate's up to speed on the matters of the Grand Line, with varying levels of success. Ace was listening, but didn't seem very interested, whilst Zoro seemed to be more interested in his alcohol.
"They say the second half of the Grand Line is called the New World. It's controlled by the Four Emperor's, some of the most fearsome pirates on the sea."
"Sounds like fun!"
And Luffy... well... it was hard to tell what was going on in her head at all. But at least she was sort of paying attention. Even if it was to all the wrong parts.
"Luffy! How do you not know any of this?! These people are seriously dangerous, Red Haired Shanks–"
"Shanks?! Shanks is one of the four best pirates! I didn't know he was a... a... what did you say they were called?"
"The Four Emperors."
"That is so cool!"
Ace smiled at his sister's glee, although he had to admit he was a bit shocked.
"Who knew your Shanks was such an important guy?" Ace asked rhetorically.
"You... You know him!"
"Shishishi! Yep!"
Zoro's eyes widened fractionally. If his Captain had already met such a great pirate, surely he had to be on the right path to find Mihawk. Perhaps being a pirate really wouldn't be so bad after all...
Coby slumped over the table in despair. He'd never met anyone that was as excited by the prospect of danger as Luffy was. The only thing warning her of the dangers had achieved, was increasing her anticipation to get there. Feeling he was too late to back out now, Coby mumbled the rest of the information he had.
"The others are Big Mum, Kaido, and Whitebeard. Whitebeard is said to be one of the few people alive that could match the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger."
Ace spluttered, choking on the piece of meat he'd been devouring. Zoro thumped him on the back, clearing his blocked airway so he could breathe once more. With a screech, Ace pushed his chair away as he braced his arms on the table. Gaze locked on the ground.
Luffy's head snapped towards Ace, concern etching her features, but she didn't comment. Clenching his hands into fists, Ace took several deep breaths as he fought to keep his emotions in check. Dropping back down into his chair, he angrily shoved another piece of meat into his mouth.
"I'm going to defeat this Whitebeard guy if it's the last thing I do."
After a beat, Luffy resumed eating once more and Zoro continued to finish his drink. This left Rika to fill the silence, recounting to her mother the amazing feats that they had all gone through that morning.
The bell hanging over the door chimed as marines filled the restaurant. The leader of the contingent stepped forward. He was sporting a black eye, that had possibly come from Luffy, Ace or Zoro, as they had run through the halls of the base, raiding any room they came across as they looked for Zoro's katana.
"I'm going to have to ask you pirate's to leave this town. We appreciate that you removed Captain Morgan from his post, but we can't let you stay here."
Rising to her feet, Luffy rest her hand on Ace's shoulders, smothering the growl that was rumbling in his chest.
"It's okay Ace. It's time to go anyway."
Draining the last mouthfuls of his drink, and stuffing the last pieces of food in his mouth, Zoro and Ace rose, heading out the door without a word. Luffy paused as a small hand latched onto her blue shorts.
"But that's not fair! You shouldn't have to go!"
Ruffling Rika's hair, Luffy grinned down at the upset girl.
"Be a good girl for your mother, Rika."
Gently detaching Rika's hand, Luffy headed out the door with a careless wave over her shoulder, as she jogged slightly to catch up with the Ace and Zoro.
"Take care, Coby."
The marine lieutenant startled as the young boy waved goodbye rather than going with them.
"Wait, isn't he with you?"
Luffy turned to walk backwards, an eyebrow raised. Exuding her darkness towards Coby, the young boy shrieked, falling to the ground.
"Like that scaredy-cat could be a pirate."
Coby jumped to his feet in outrage, "I'M NOT A SCAREDY-CAT! I'M GOING TO BE A MARINE!"
The marine grabbed Coby to keep him away from the black tendrils. He did not want to find out what those things would do to a person.
"Cool it. It's obvious you're not together."
Luffy grinned at Coby's proclamation. Pulling the darkness back, she made him a promise.
"I'm sure we'll see each other again someday. Somewhere on the Grand Line."
A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed/faved/followed 'Sail With Me'! If you have any questions feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to answer them.
To my guest reviewer, Narya Anima:
Thank you for reviewing! I guess it is a bit sad that Ace won't be Second Division Commander, but he get's to be First Mate to the future Pirate King, so I think the trade off works out.
Chapter Edited: 25-09-16
