Wow!
Never expected such a huge response to the first chapter, the story's also already in a community. I have been blown away! Thank you guys so much!
Concerning pairings and the extended crew:
There seems to be a lot of clashing opinions. I've made two polls on my page concerning whether you want an extended crew or pairing. Be sure to leave your vote, each one matters!
Tree Tree Fruit:
People have been asking why it's a logia, as trees aren't an element. Well neither is smoke, sand or swamp. They're forces of nature, just like... I dunno, trees?
Anyway, without further ado.
Nami was bored. Dressed in the best dress she could steal, she sat beside a window on the luxury cruise liner, sipping at campaign with an absent look, watching the waves roll past and the small island in the distance drift by. She had snuck on board this ship thinking it would be a big, glaring target for any pirate worth their name, and on every pirate ship was bound to be a hoard of treasure.
But of course there was a draw back to being a pretty girl on a rich persons ship. That problem being-
"Excuse me miss. Would you like to dance?"
That problem right there.
Looking over her shoulder, Nami found a young man in a suit with his hand held out expectantly, a smug look of overconfidence plastered on his face as he waited his response. In truth, Nami wanted nothing more than to slap that look from his face and shout at him until he fled, but she needed to fit in here as not to rouse suspicion.
"Sure." She said with a sickly sweet smile that oozed falsities as a shiver of disgust shivered down her spine. As her body began to sway to the melody without thought, her feet moving with practiced precision, Nami's thoughts drifted her to what had kept her going all these years, the thoughts of her goals once she was freed from her prison. She was so close, she could just close her eyes and picture herself after her freedom.
She stood on the deck of a ship, looking out over the horizon as the sun bathed her in its light, a fresh sea breeze blowing through her hair. In her hands she held a scroll of paper, and on it, her master piece. It hadn't been completed, not yet, but it would be soon. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes to see the last island for her to map. The last blank space on her map of the world.
Raftel.
A terrified shouted shattered her daydream and brought her crashing back into reality and into the ballroom of the cruise liner and the smug ass holding her hands. But while the shout nearly brought a smile to her face, it brought panic to the room and a girlish squeal from her dance partner with one simple word.
"Pirates!" One of the crewman shouted as he burst through the doors. Yep, Nami had been right on the money. A cruise ship like this might as well be a floating target. "Pirates are attacking"!
His face hurt. Scratch that, most of his body hurt. Getting kicked from one ship to another was bound to do that to you though, so it wasn't really surprising. Coby massaged what was surely to be a large bruise on his head as he gaped at the massive hole in wall in front of him. While he had crashed into the wall and slid down onto the floor like a bad comic, Alvida had leaped over him and crashed right through it. How she could do that without everything aching was beyond Coby, but then again, he often wondered how the very floor she walked on didn't give way under her.
Sighing as he pushed himself up onto his feet, the short cabin boy made sure to look around to spy any of Alvida's crew about. Thankfully, there were none, leaving him free to find a place to hide out until the raid was over. Such was his routine during these events. As he crept around the wreckage of what had once been a wall to find the door, like a civilized person would do, Coby once again lamented as to how he had ended up in the situation he was in.
It was his own fault for not paying attention as to where he had put his feet really, but man if he didn't regret it...
Sighing once more and cursing his luck, Coby looked up from his feet and found and opened door. Curiosity peeked, he poked his head through the gap and called out. "Hello?" Silence was his answer. Slowly, he crept forward, the door creaking as it went. All around him were shelves and cupboards full of foods and cooking utensils and a stack of barrels in the corner. "Huh. Looks like there's no one here..." He trailed off as he swallowed, shifting his feet nervously. "Thank goodness." He breathed out in relief.
Looking about the room once more for anything that may interest Alvida, Coby began his search for something to appease the bloated Captain once the raid was over. She normally demanded to know where had been during these attacks and only ever let him off if he presented something of either worth or interest, like jewelry or a lot of booze. With that last item in the forefront of him mind, Coby's eyes locked onto the largest barrel in the room.
"That's a pretty big barrel..." He muttered as he walked over to it. It lay on it's side, unlike those in the neat stack next to it, so it was likely a new addition. But as he stopped next to it, he finally began to appreciate it size. It was bigger than he was! Whatever was in it was either large or there was a lot of it. If it was food then it'd be good for the ships stores, but it wouldn't get him into Alvida's good graces. But if it was booze...
Shrugging, Coby clambered over the top of it and over to the other side to begin pushing, only to grunt in exertion. It had hardly budged! Whatever was inside it was certainly heavy. Coby found his hopes of the barrel being full of alcohol rising ever so slightly as he put his back and shoulders into moving the barrel. With a heave, the barrel began rolling across the floor.
"Well well well." Came a voice echoed by a chorus of snickers. "If it isn't little Coby!"
The pinkette froze, the barrel continuing to roll forward before coming to an abrupt stop in font of three extra pairs of legs. Slowly, Coby lifted his head to see the three pirates of Alvida's crew standing over him, one of them with their foot planted on the barrel and an eager grin on his face as his friends peered over his shoulders.
"Hey runt!" Chimed in the pirate on the right. "You weren't planning on hiding out down here and slacking off again, were you?" He asked with a glint in his eyes that left Coby feeling unnerved.
"N-Not at all!" Coby denied. "I was just taking this big wine barrel up above deck!" He said as he scampered back slightly, putting a few paces distance between himself and the trio. But at the mention of wine, the pirate to the left, who was most certainly the widest, chuckled darkly.
"Well then, why don't we help you out, runt?" He began as he took a step forward and began admiring the large barrel. "After all, I don't think a skinny little maggot like yourself could roll this all the way to the deck. Let us... Lighten the load for ya." He grinned as he grabbed one end and hoisted the barrel up to a standing position with visible effort.
"W-Wait! What if Alvida finds out?!" Coby cried out in panic as he saw his plan of appeasement crumbling before his eyes.
"Bah!" One of the pirate huffed, his eyes narrowing as he stared Coby down. "What she doesn't won't hurt her. Right, Coby? She just doesn't need to know." The threat was clear, and Coby found himself backpedaling and nodding in agreement. The pirate grinned wickedly, his eyes shifting to the barrel in front of him. "Well then, let's crack this baby open then, shall we?" He chuckled as he raised a large fist.
With a grin of greed and gluttony, he plunged his fist down an into the wood, crashing through it with an audible 'CRACK!' and his fist continued down deep into the barrel, crushing the apples within. "What? Apples?" He asked in both chock and annoyance, but before either of those could grow to anger, a branch like lashing sprung forth from the barrel and wrapped around the arm of the startled pirate before constricting tightly. A brief yelp of pain burst from the unfortunate pirates lips before a thick branch sprouting leaves and sticks struck out from the top of the barrel like a snake, latching onto his face with a resounding 'CRUNCH!' as flecks of blood and broken cartilage sailed through the air.
The pirate slumped to the floor with a 'THUD', blood freely flowing from his broken nose as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Now quivering in the corner, Coby watched as one of the remaining two pirates shakenly drew a pistol and pointed it at the barrel, while the other simple grew paler and paler. As all three watched, however, more root and branch like tendrils of wood emerged from the barrel and began winding about each other, forming a distinctly human shape until, within the span of a few seconds, the wood changed to flesh and cloth. Sitting atop the broken barrel sat a tall, skinny boy with a scar under his left eye wearing a straw hat, a sleeveless red vest and jean shorts.
"M-M-Monster!" The pirate with a pistol yelled as he pulled the trigger, but his shaking hand meant the bullet went wide, missing the boy by a good half foot and bringing his attention to the terrified pirates.
"Well that's just hurtful." The boy said, flashing a cheeky grin and pushing his straw hat further up his head, before his eyes narrowed and his grin dissapeared. Instantly, his arm shot forward and with a cry of "Cobra Branch!", his arm turned into a solid tree branch, leaves and all, with his fist on the end. The blow crashed into the pirate and sent him flying into his friend behind him, the two slamming into the wall with a painful sounding 'SMASH!', both dropping to the ground in a convincing display of unconsciousness.
Coby watched with wide, fear stricken eyes, his mouth hanging agape at the scene that had just unfolded before him. Slowly, the straw hatted boy turned to face him, suspicion clear on his face as he grubbed his chin. Coby, having turned several shades to become alarmingly pale, could only watch with a sliver of fascination as, from the boys elbow, a red orb seemed to swell into existence. Not five seconds later, hanging from the strangers elbow was a fully formed red apple, ripe for the picking. And picking is exactly what the boy did, plucking it from his arm and inhaling it in an instant, as that was the only way to describe how the boy ate it. Coby wasn't even sure if he had chewed it.
"You're not going to attack me like those guys, are you?" He asked, eyes still narrowed as another apple grew from the back of his left hand.
"N-No." Coby quickly assured with a vigorous shake of his head. He was sure he didn't sound very convincing, but to his surprise, the boy smiled that cheeky smile again.
"Good!" He said as he hopped off the barrel to land on the floor, still crouching as he ate the apple that had grown from his hand. "So, we're abouts am I?" He asked, catching the pinkette by surprise.
"Y-You don't know?" Coby asked as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. The boy shook his head in the negative, and Coby gulped. This guy had just taken down three of Alvida's crew like it was nothing with those weird powers of his, best to just let him know what he wanted and hoped he didn't hurt him. "You're on a cruise ship, but it's under attack by the Alvida pirates right now..." He trailed off. The boy jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the three unconscious men in an silent question. "Y-Yeah, they're pirates."
"Huh." The straw hatted boy grunted. "Well, I'm Monkey D. Luffy." He introduced himself, pointing his thumb at his chest as a hand of banana's grew from the other side of his fist. "What's your name?" Luffy asked innocently as he stood up, surprising Coby somewhat at just how tall he was.
"I-I'm Coby." The pinkette stuttered as his eyes traveled up at down the tall teen before him. "He's got to be at least 7ft 6!" He thought in astonishment. He didn't even know people grew that tall!
"Alright then Coby." Luffy began as he stretched, bones popping in response. "Have you got any food I could eat? I'm starving!" He laughed as he peeled and inhaled the hand of banana's in less than a second.
"But..." Coby began as he pointed to the now discarded banana peels. "What about all the fruit that keeps..." Coby swallowed, not believing the words he was about to say. "That keeps growing out of your body? What are you anyway?"
"Meh, I'm a tree man." Luffy waved off nonchalantly, as if he had explained such a hundred times before. Then again, anyone would ask that question, so it was likely he had. "Fruits alright, and it's good for you and all, but it doesn't really fill me up." He admitted as he looked about the room, his eyes lighting up at all the food he saw. "What I really need is some meat!"
"W-Well, we are in the kitchen so..." Coby trailed off. Luffy seemed to think that was all the permission he needed as suddenly, sprouting from his back at a seconds notice, a mess of limb like branches burst out and began rifling through the cupboards, seizing food and bringing it back to Luffy to wolf down as though he had never eaten food before. "B-But you have to run!" Coby shouted as Luffy emptied the ships store rooms on his own. "There's a whole crew of pirates up on deck! If they find out what you just di-" Coby stopped abruptly as Luffy turned towards him, a hard, calculating look on his face.
Luffy swallowed. "If they come after me, then I'll beat them too." He stated before returning to his binge eating. Coby was in awe of his confidence. He said it as though he was talking about gravity. It was always there, and no matter what you did, you would succumb to it eventually. Much like what would happen if the rest of the crew attacked him. They could try, but he would defeat them. He made it sound so sure, so simple.
"How can you say that with such confidence?" Coby muttered wondrously.
"Simple, really." Luffy shrugged as a leg of ham vanished into his mouth. "I have a dream I'm chasing. Some day I'm going to be the king of the pirates, and it wouldn't do for the future king of the pirates to lose to these guys, now would it?" He asked with a grin as he gestured to the three unconscious Alvida pirates.
Coby's eyes bulged to impossible proportions as his jaw hit the ground. "P-Pirate king?! Are you a pirate?!" Coby shouted in astonishment. Luffy merely nodded, a blank look on his face as he continued eating. "D-Do you have a crew?" Luffy shook his head.
"Nope, just started out. I'm still looking for a crew." He shrugged carelessly.
It was then that Coby's brain stopped working as it attempted to process what he had just heard. Luffy gave the seemingly shell shocked boy an concerned look as one of the branches from his back waved in his face. It seemed to do the trick as Coby suddenly shook his head to the point where Luffy could have sworn he heard his brain rattle around a bit.
"The pirate king is someone who has everything in the world!" Coby shouted. "That means claiming the treasure which represents wealth, fame and power - One Piece, the greatest treasure in the world!" Luffy nodded as he let Coby continue his rant, wondering if he was going anywhere with it. "All the pirates in the world are trying to claim that treasure!"
"Yep. So am I." Luffy stated with a grin as he downed an entire loaf of bread.
"It's impossible!" Coby shouted, furiously shaking his head again, so much so that Luffy wondered is his brain would fly out one of his ears. "Impossible impossible imposs-" A thin branch sprouted from the closest one to Coby and slapped him across the face, stunning him into silence and leaving a sharp red mark across his cheek. "Why'd you hit me?" Coby choked back a sob.
"Cause you were being annoying."
"O-Oh..." Coby trailed off, rubbing his sore cheek.
"It's not about possible or impossible." Luffy began, having paused his eating and his branches receding back towards him, but not vanishing. "I'm doing this because I want to." Reaching up, Luffy grasped the top of his hat and took it off, revealing his mess of black hair as he stared at his beloved treasure with a fond smile. "I decided to become the king of the pirates, and if I die fighting for it, then that's that. But I'll have died knowing I gave it my all. Putting your life on the line for what you believe in, for your dreams and goals... Now that's living." Luffy said confidently, placing his hat back on his head.
Coby stared up at the pirate with eyes shinning with awe and admiration. The determination and the sheer resolve he saw in Luffy had shaken him to the core. Putting your life on the line for what you believe in, for you dreams and goals... Coby found himself frozen to the spot as Luffy's words echoed throughout his head, repeating until it seemed to sink into every fiber of his being. "He's right..."
"Okay, now that I'm full, time to get me a boat." Luffy grinned, the branches finally disappearing into his back ad he strolled passed Coby with an unfaltering smile. "Maybe if I ask nicely..." He wondered aloud.
"I never thought of it that way." The pinkette whispered to himself as his gaze lowered to the ground. "Can I do that too? If I'm ready to die?" Hearing Coby muttering under his breath, Luffy paused at the door and peered at the small boy over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised. "Maybe I can join the marines..." A sheen of will shimmered in his eyes and his gaze hardened. Coby suddenly stood up straight and whirled about to face Luffy, fists clenched tightly.
"Yes!" He shouted passionately. "It's always been my dream to capture murderous villains! Ever since I was a kid!"
"You still are a kid." Luffy pointed out, but he was apparently ignored as Coby continued.
"Can I do it?!" He shouted out, but continued before Luffy could answer. He was starting to find this kids newfound determination amusing, especially since his dream was to become a marine, and yet he seemed to have gotten his motivation from a pirate. "No, I will do it! If I can shed this life as a slave, I'll escape, and then Alvida will - No! Alvida will be the first one I capture!" He announced, almost as though simply saying it was enough to make it happen.
However, Coby went from determined and bold to shrieking and shaking in the span of 0.025 seconds as the roof seemed to cave in from above, the wood splintering under an unseen force as dust and debris shrouded their view of what had just happened.
"So you're going to join him, and catch who?!" Came a rough, horrid voice from the dust cloud. "Eh, Coby?" The same voice asked as the cloud finally gave way to largest person Luffy had ever seen. Alvida glared down at a quivering and cowering Coby, completely ignoring Luffy for the moment, something Luffy was thankful for as several blades sprouted from the door and wall behind him, one of which impaled him right through the chest. Frowning in annoyance, Luffy took a step forward, walking off the blade as his wound was sealed shut almost instantly.
But the movement caught Alvida's attention, her squinting eyes moving to the straw hatted person, and she smirked.
"You're not Roronoa Zoro the pirate hunter." She said as her smirk widened into a grin. As far as she was concerned, the pirate hunter was the only one in the east blue she had to worry about.
"Zoro?" Luffy absentmindedly wondered aloud.
"Coby!" Alvida shouted, earning a pathetic squeak from Coby. "Who's the most beautiful woman on the sea?" She asked with a sneer, but her attention snapped up to Luffy as he suppressed a laugh, only letting a snicker out.
"Shishishi." Luffy chuckled. "Sure as hell not you, ya fat hag!" He shouted, bursting into uncontrollable laughter as each and every person froze at the bold statement.
"Oh man, he is so dead..." One of the pirates from up into the hole Alvida had created whispered in fear as his eyes darted from Luffy to his Captain.
"Fat hag..." Alvida managed as she grit her teeth so hard it was a surprise that they didn't break, her fury so great at being insulted. "You little shit! I'll kill you!" She roared and brought her massive mace down upon Luffy's head in unbridled rage. Both pirates and Coby together cringed and averted their eyes as they heard the loud 'CRACK!' of her weapon striking home.
A moment of silence settled over scene, before it was completely shattered.
"Shishishi, you're gonna have to try harder than that." Luffy snickered. Eyes bulged out of their sockets and jaws hit the floor as everyone saw what had become of the tall teen. One hand held his straw hat, leaving his head open to the blow, but where the mace had struck, shone an odd black sheen over his scalp and hair. However, his head, neck and chest had split open like a log under the power of the strike and the mace itself had spiderweb cracks running through it.
"My armament haki isn't strong enough to protect me completely from physical blows, but it's enough to damage her weapon in return." He thought with a smirk as slowly, the iron mace began to fall apart, a single shard of metal at a time until it simply disintegrated as Luffy's haki vanished.
Coby was amazed. Luffy had told him he was a tree man, and he had those weird powers with the limb like branches, but he never could have imagined that those powers would extend to do something like this! This was amazing! No one had ever survived Alvida's club before, and yet, here Luffy was, not only surviving it with his weird and frankly scary powers, but breaking it in return!
Alvida, however, had a vastly different reaction. As he mace crumbled before her and the boy she had struck was pulled back together from the inside by what looked like tree roots, she was slowly backing up. She didn't know what the strange black stuff on his head was, but she knew devil fruit powers when she saw them, and against this weird power she had just seen, it looked like anything she could do wouldn't even hurt him. An odd feeling crept up her spine, one she hadn't felt in a long time, and doused her skull in a cold chill, a single word being at the forefront of her mind. "Run!"
For the first time in years, Iron Mace Alvida felt fear.
"You... You've eaten a devil fruit." She muttered fearfully as she watched his feet become part of the wooden floor. Luffy smirked as he placed his hat back on his head. "I heard rumors but... I never though they existed." She muttered in horror as he conceptions of reality were warped before her very eyes. The devil fruits were supposed to be myths, not real! But yet, here before her, the laws of nature were being violated right in front of her very eyes.
"Yep." He smirked, but paused before attacking, and looked to Coby. "Hey Coby, you never answered her question." He pointed out expectantly. Coby's eyes widened fearfully at first, but as he turned to see the panic in Alvida's face, a realization dawned on him.
"Putting my life on the line for what I believe, for my dreams and goals..." He thought as he clenched his fists. "Not Alvida!" He shouted defiantly. "Alvida's the ugliest, fattest and most disgusting hag I've ever seen!" He shouted, his voice echoing all the way down to the confused cruise ship passengers. Alvida herself looked torn between rage at the insult and fear at the one who had just encouraged her cabin boy to say such things. Unfortunately, as always with Alvida, her rage beat her common sense into a bloody pulp.
"Coby!" She shouted, eyes glassy as she saw red and lunged with outstretched hands. Coby screamed rather indignantly as he saw her put all her size behind the attack, but out of the corner of his eye, Coby caught sight of something just as frightening. Luffy's arm had grown in size, turning from flesh to wood in an instant as his fist swelled into a massive log bigger than Alvida's mace was, and swung away.
"Felled Tree Mallet!" Luffy shouted with glee as the over sized block of wood slammed into Alvida. Hard.
Alvida, clearly not expecting a log the same size as her to knock her out of the air, was thrown back by the brutal strike, feeling several bones creak, groan and crack under the force. The over sized pirate crashed through several walls, each knocking the breath from her, until she came to a complete stop and crumpled to the ground, moaning in pain as her crew watched on, horrified that their previously unbeaten Captain was taken down with a single blow.
"C-Captain..." One of the pirates muttered in terror as he slowly turned to Luffy, his eyes and jaw as wide, if not wider then what ought to be humanly possible. "M-M-M-Monster!" He cried, a cold sweat breaking out over his skin as fear gripped him so tightly he couldn't move.
Luffy let out a loud, good natured laugh. "Yeah, sure. Let's go with that!" He grinned, the gleam in his eyes sending shivers down the spines of all who laid eyes upon him as he crouched, as though readying to attack, yet his feet were still merged with the floor. A tense second passed, before all hell broke loose. Hundreds of branches and roots shot out of the wooden decking and walls, lashing out to wrap around the closest pirate, many being lifted off the deck to be held in mid air as tree branches wrapped around their mouths and bound their arms to their torsos as their legs were trapped as well.
Coby watched on in both wonder and slight fear at the power Luffy wielded so easily. It was amazing! But it didn't stop, as from their immobile positions, the pirates struggled as more branches grew from those already around them, creeping over them to cover them completely and further growing outwards, the branches twisting about one another and fusing together until finally, there on a cruise ship in the middle of the sea, each and every pirate was encased in a tree with only their faces to show.
Some pirates were trapped in their own tree, other trees held five or six. Leaves grew from many and on one or two, fruits sprouted from their tops. The pirates struggled in vain, bound within the trunk of the wooden prison, unable to anything but cry out for help or simply cry. Luffy, on the other hand, looked up and around at all the pirate he had imprisoned on his own, the cheerful grin having never faded as he uttered two words. "Tree Trap."
"L-Luffy?" Came Coby's shaking voice, drawing the straw hatted boys attention. "How..?"
Luffy grinned at his one word question. "I told you, I'm a tree person. I ate the Tree Tree fruit."
Coby opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by the sounds of cannon fire in the distance. He frowned at the sound, but the sudden explosions directly next to the ship prevented him from saying a single word.
"Crap." Luffy muttered. "That's probably the marines." For the first time since Coby had seen him, Luffy didn't seem to be as confident as before. "And I don't have a boat..." He sulked.
Ah, that's why.
"Oh man." Coby whimpered as realization of his own predicament dawned on him. "If the marines find me here, they'll think I'm a part of Alvida's crew!" Panic set in as he hugged himself tightly, before he perked up. "Wait! Luffy, there should be some boats on the side of the ship in case of emergencies! We can get away in that!" He said excitedly, eager to escape possible incarceration.
Luffy grinned. "Alright, let's go!" He shouted with a chuckled, grabbing Coby by the shoulder and, before he could protest, reached his arm up and was seized by a newly grown branch from the deck and both were lifted into the air and tossed towards the side railing of the ship, all to the soundtrack of Coby's screams of terror and Luffy's joy filled laugh.
Before Coby's fears were realized and they sailed over the side of the ship and into the water, Luffy's hand grew into a branch and latched onto the railing and held the two of them in the air above the side of the cruise liner. After a brief second of looking for a boat, the two boys found a small sail boat already lowered into the water. Granted there was already an orange haired girl in it with a massive brown sack, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, and so Luffy launched then towards it, Coby screaming all the way and Luffy cheerfully announcing "Look out below!"
Nami had smiled to herself as she finished lowering the row boat into the ocean and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, her treasure secured and ready to go. Just as the marines showed up too! Perfect timing! But what she was not expecting was the freakishly tall guy and a pink haired midget to suddenly slam into her little boat, the poor thing nearly snapping in half under the impact as it rocked violently back and forth.
"What the hell?!" She shouted at the pair as the boat settled. "Who the hell are you guys?! What are you doing on my boat?!" She demanded hotly.
"Oh, sorry." Luffy said with no remorse behind his words whatsoever as he gave Nami a large, sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his head. "But the marines are here and we're in kind of a rush. Would you mind giving us a ride to the nearest island?" He asked with an almost childlike innocence.
But before anyone could say anymore, more cannon balls exploded nearby, two punching massive holes in Alvida's ship and one knocking over the mast on the cruise ship.
"Crap." Nami gritted her teeth. "I don't have time for this! Whatever, just help me get us out of here!" She ordered as she moved about getting the ship ready for sailing.
"Thanks!" Luffy grinned that cheeky grin of his and moved about to help sett up the sail, the only part of sailing he actually knew how to do and that was only from watching the ships that occasionally stopped by Foosha village. The marines continued to rain cannon fire upon the two ships, but within a few minutes, the trio had their small little boat catching the wind and skimming along the surface of the water at a brisk speed, with Nami steering and Luffy and Coby listening to her orders for adjustments before they were far enough away from the danger zone as to relax somewhat.
Sighing and wiping the sweat from his brow, Coby looked up at Luffy, who still wore that smile. He was leaning back on the side of the boat and looking to the horizon beside the pinkette, the two of them balancing out the oddly heavy sack on the other side of the boat. Nami hadn't said anything since they had been able to calm down, seemingly focusing on the task at hand of navigating while occasionally stealing glances at her two unwanted passengers.
Deciding to make idle conversation, Coby broke the ice. "So Luffy." He began, well aware that not only Luffy, but Nami was watching him as well. "If you want to claim the One Piece, that means that you're heading to the Grand Line, right?" He asked, neither of them noticing Nami frowning at them.
"Yeah." Luffy confirmed absentmindedly as he returned to staring out at the horizon.
"That place is called the graveyard of pirates." Coby pointed out, Nami's unnoticed frown deepening at the mention of pirates and her suspicion of her two passengers growing into something possibly hostile.
"Yeah, that's why I need a strong crew." Luffy's smile grew a little as he turned back to Coby. "That pirate hunter guy, what's he like?" The teen asked, and Nami felt her perspective change somewhat.
"If they're looking for a pirate hunter, they couldn't be pirates, right?" She thought, now more confused than suspicious. "If they want the One Piece, then their pirates. So why look for a pirate hunter?"
"You mean Zoro?" Coby asked, Luffy nodding for him to continue. "I heard he's being held at a marine base." Coby mentioned offhandedly.
"Huh, so he's not that strong..." Luffy muttered, clearly disappointed as he scratched his chin.
"Not at all!" Coby shouted, sitting bolt upright as though someone had run an electric current through his back. "He's a terrifying beast of a man! A demon in flesh!" The pinkette exclaimed, an underlying tone of fear in his voice as he suddenly frowned. "Why are you asking me this?" He asked, confused as to why the self professed future pirate king wanted to know about a pirate hunter.
Luffy grinned back at Coby. "Well, there are at least three positions I need filled before I head to the Grand Line." He announced, sitting straighter and holding out three fingers, indicating to the first. "First, a first mate." He then pointed to the second finger. "Then a navigator, cause I'm not so good at that." He admitted as he moved to the last finger. "And a cook. The cook is important, cause I like food." Luffy announced.
Coby frowned at this. "Well that's true, you will need those three, although I don't know if there's a chef alive who can sate your appetite..." Coby trailed off as he remembered watching Luffy empty out the entire kitchen of the cruise ship on his own. Luffy, however, simply laughed at this. "But I still don't know how pirate hunter Zoro fits into this." Coby reasoned.
"Simple." Luffy shrugged. "Like I said, I need a first mate, and he needs to be strong." He stated, Coby's eyes widened in realization.
"B-B-But that's impossible! Impo-" A solid 'Thump' left Coby nursing a bruised head. "Sorry." He muttered dejectedly.
Nami, however, had given up trying to come to her own conclusions. "Excuse me, but are you guys... You know..." She trailed off leaving the sentence unfinished. Luffy spared her a brief glanced before reclining back against the side of the boat, his hat covering his face and his hands behind his head and he relaxed.
"Pirates?" He offered.
"Yeah."
A grin stretched across his face. "Well, Coby here actually wants to be a marine." Luffy said, earning a surprised look from Nami.
"Wait, if you want to be a marine, then why did you run from them back there?" She asked as she pointed back over her shoulder in the direction they had come.
"Well, you see..." Coby trailed off, squirming slightly under the scrutinizing attention. "A few years ago, I was going fishing near my home town, and I stepped onto a small boat, but it turned out that boat was owned by the Alvida pirates and, well... They kinda made me the cabin boy." He summarized. "And it if the marines caught me back there, they probably would have just locked me up with the rest of Alvida and her crew."
Nami gave him a perfectly blank look that conveyed that she considered him a complete idiot for doing something so stupid before she turned to Luffy. "Well, what abou- Land!" She suddenly interrupted herself, standing up to point to the dark spot on the horizon that was slowly taking shape.
Soon, both Luffy and Coby stood as well, the two of them watching the shape of buildings take place on the relatively small island. But as small as it may have been, looking rather stout, it was obvious that many tall buildings dominated the island, particularly to twin chimney looking buildings near to one side.
"Yotsuba island." Nami muttered, eyeing the objects of her next target, while Coby's eyes widened at the name.
"So then that's the 153rd marine base." He said in slight awe as he watched the massive buildings of the base come into clearer view the closer they got.
"Is this where I'll find this Zoro guy?" Luffy, not at all phased at being a pirate about to make landfall on an island home to a marine base. Coby merely swallowed and nodded his head. "Good." The straw hatted teen said with a grin.
Luffy grinned as he strolled through the market district of Shells town, stalls and merchandise lined the sides of the street as salespeople reeled in customers with sweet talk and quality products. He enjoyed the feel of the town, even as several people gawked at his unusual height. Normally, upon being on solid ground, he would have roots in the ground as he walked, picking up nutrients in place of food, but he felt this bustling town would most likely find the sight somewhat irregular, to say the least. Instead, he simply walked on normally, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the feel of the busy street. It felt carefree, lively and relaxed. Everything that Coby was currently not.
"Hey, Luffy, please just forget about getting him to join your crew." The pinkette midget begged as he jogged to keep up with Luffy's long paced steps. The two of them stood out quite a bit, being strangers in town. Their number would be three, but as soon as they made landfall, Nami had secured the boat, thrown a tarp over it to hide the large sack that Luffy guessed was full of treasure, and had taken off.
"Well I haven't decided if I want him on my crew or not, so relax." Luffy said as he caught sight of some fresh produce for sale. He did like pears, and he hadn't found a pear tree to assimilate so he could grow his own yet... "I need to know his character first. If he's a good guy or not." Luffy finished as he restrained himself from buying the entire stall of pears, and settled for picking one.
"He was arrested because he's a bad guy!" Coby shouted in frustration.
Taking a bite, Luffy nodded in appreciation at the crunchy, juicy fruit. "Mmm, tasty." He approved, flicking a coin to the woman running the stall. "I wonder if that Zoro guy is inside the base..." He muttered to himself, but before he could ponder the thought further, everybody within earshot recoiled in what looked like fear, staring at him with wide eyes that shook as they fixed on him.
"It seems that Zoro's name is taboo here..." Coby whispered to Luffy as he took in the sights of the people around them. He found it odd. What was the point in being afraid of a name? Names couldn't do anything.
"Anyway." Luffy began, walking away from the seemingly terrified civilians without a second thought, Coby nervously following him. "Let's get you to the marines base." He smiled as he finished off his pear, core and all, as he resumed his leisurely stroll down the road.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure I'm ready..." Coby admitted, twisting the hem of his shirt about in his hands as he eyes the ground between his feet. "But I have heard that Captain Morgan is in command of this marine base." But, much to Coby's dismay, as soon as the marine Captains name was heard, not only did those within earshot flinch and backpedal, but most of the people on the entire street did.
Luffy, watching this with a raised eyebrow, soon found himself chuckling as he walked away. "What a strange town." He commented merrily.
"That's strange." Coby muttered, holding his chin in thought. "I can understand being afraid of Zoro, but why would they be scared of a marine Captain?" The midget wondered aloud. Luffy, though, was having flash backs to days he had been put through the most grueling of trials and tribulations, all at the orders of a marine Vice-Admiral. A shudder ran down the pirates spine. "This worries me..." Coby murmured.
"Well, this is it." Luffy sighed, his head tilted back as he stared up at the foreboding iron gate that stood before the marine base, with large, over sized lettering for 'Justice' slapped across it in black paint. It was almost impressive to Luffy. Almost. It probably would have if they used iron for the wall as well instead of the much easier to break stone. Unfortunately, only one thought really came to mind as he stared up at the gate with Coby beside him.
"Think they're compensating for something?" The wood man asked with an amazing display of self control as he restrained himself from snickering at his own joke. Coby, however, was less amused by the cheap shot, as he stopped staring up at the gate in marvel to shoot Luffy a scowl, but said nothing. What else would he expect of a pirate if not to insult the marines.
But as he tuned back to the iron gates, it dawned upon Coby that as a marine, he and Luffy would be enemies from here on out. It was a pity, really. He had begun to enjoy Luffy's company, with all his odd little quirks and his occasionally scary devil fruit power. He wasn't a bad guy, yet here would be where their ways separated. "This is were we part ways, Luffy." He began as he felt tears stinging his eyes and quickly made to wipe them away, not seeing the odd look he got from Luffy, who then shrugged and walked over to the wall. "We've only known each other a short while, but-"
Coby abruptly stopped as he noticed Luffy, instead of listening to the pinkette's heartfelt goodbye, had turned his legs into tree trunks and grown them until his head peered over the top of the wall.
"Hey Luffy, what are you doing?!" Coby cried out in panic. Luffy was a pirate, the marines would arrest him on sight if they saw him! "Well, I suppose they won't actually." Coby realized. "He's not known at all, they'll just see him as some guy looking over their wall in a suspicious manner."
"I'm gonna look for Zoro." Luffy said with a casual indifference, a hand on his hat as he looked about the base.
"He wouldn't be out here." Coby sighed, questioning just how smart Luffy was. "He's probably in solitary confinement deep underground."
"There he is!" Luffy cheered as suddenly, his tree trunk legs shrunk back down and became flesh and blood once more. "Perfect!" He grinned as he ran closer to where he had seen the famed swordsman. After running roughly a hundred meters along the wall, Luffy stopped, his legs growing into tree trunks again until he was looking over the wall, his entire upper body leaning on the stone casually as he stared intensely at the man bound to a wooden cross in the field of the base.
Coby glowered up at Luffy. Not only was he seven and a half feet tall naturally, but he could grow even higher at the slightest whim! It wasn't fair... Before he could mope anymore, however, Coby was surprised to see Luffy's feet turn into wood too, before digging into the ground much like the roots of a tree would, and Luffy's legs melded together, growing until they were but a large, singular tree trunk with Luffy's torso sicking out the top instead of branches and leaves.
"Huh. I wonder why he did that..." Coby wondered. Slowly, he looked up to find Luffy staring back down at him.
"Did you change your mind or something?" Luffy called down.
"What? What are you talking about?" Coby asked with a frown.
"You said you wanted to join the marines, so go on!" Luffy said with an encouraging smile as he stunk back down, but his legs remained that of a tree trunk. "You've got a dream of being an Admiral, of pursuing your justice and capturing pirates." The pirate said as he rested a hand on the midget's shoulder. "So go on, live your dream. I know I'm going to live mine, and when I become the king of the pirates, then we'll meet again on the high seas. Besides, keep hanging around me and they'll think you're a pirate." He grinned
Coby looked Luffy in the eyes, tears threatening to spill again before he nodded furiously. "I will! I will become an Admiral! I will pursue justice and then when we're both the greatest pirate and marine, we'll meet and battle!" Coby boldly declared, his chest puffing out in pride as Luffy took his hand back. "But until then, Luffy..." He said, much quieter but still proud, still looking Luffy in the eye with pure will and determination as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "I won't forget what you've done for me. Ever." His voice was chocked and cracked, but he manage to get it out, and Luffy returned the smile that grew upon Coby's face.
"Until then, Coby." Luffy then held out his hand, the promise offered.
"Until then, Luffy." Coby clasped Luffy's hand and the two shook, their futures bound to be intertwined from that moment forth. With all said and done, Coby turned and began walking to the large iron gate with a sense of purpose and a steel-clad resolve. Luffy smiled after the small pink haired boy fondly. He'd remember this promise, but for now, he pressed his lips into a tight line of determination. He needed a crew first, then he'd journey to become the pirate king and then battle Coby when he became an Admiral, and all that was done, he'd return his hat to Shanks.
Luffy smiled. He liked that plan. It left plenty of room for the adventures he wanted to have in between. But first, his first mate needed to be found.
His tree trunk legs growing once more, he peered over the fence. "So that's Zoro..." He thought as he studied the man bound by the thick ropes. Zoro certainly looked intimidating, with his low hanging head and tanned skin, his dark bandanna on his head and a green sash around his waist, he looked like a sleeping dragon. Luffy grinned. He wanted to poke the sleeping dragon. But before he could do anything, a ladder was suddenly propped against the fence beside him.
Looking wide eyed, Luffy watched as a small girl with short pigtails climbed up the ladder, and he could swear she was humming the theme to some spy movie. It was something about impossible tasks... or was it missions? Meh. Watching on, the girl made it to the top of the ladder, turned him and held a finger to her lips. Nodding in understanding, he grinned in amusement as the girl threw a rope over the side of the wall and climbed down.
"Interesting..." Luffy thought as he watched her scramble across the field, something clutched tightly to her chest until she reached Zoro, but Luffy couldn't see any trace of fear in her. She wasn't scared of Zoro, no, she seemed to be more... happy. Curious, he watched the interaction as the girl unwrapped the little package to reveal two rice balls that she then offered to the bound swordsman.
"Huh..." Through listening to the conversation that took place, Luffy learned that Zoro had been bound to the cross and hadn't eaten anything in weeks. Of course, Luffy could do the same, but only because he'd have roots feeding him everything he needed, water included, like he was doing at the moment. But without that advantage, he'd give himself a couple of hours, maximum, before dying. He'd admit, he was impressed by how long Zoro had apparently gone on without anything.
But the moment was ruined by a blonde man with a hilariously ugly shaped face and hair, wearing a horrible purple suit and flanked by two marines. Luffy watched as the situation devolved, the blonde man stealing and stomping the rice balls into the ground, belittling her because she apparently used a wrong ingredient, and then, much to Luffy's anger, ordered one of the marines to throw the little girl over the fence.
Acting quickly, his fingers grew long and tangled together before he threw it into the air, a large net of thin, woven branches taking to the air to catch the girl as she passed over the wall. Willing the tree trunk to bend, he followed her momentum to the ground before his legs emerged from the wood to roll along the dirt, his body cradling her tightly in the net of wood.
After coming to a stop, Luffy slowly rose, untangling the girl as the branches shrunk back into his fingers, leaving her sitting on the ground, blinking her wide eyes several times to understand what had just happened.
"Are you alright?" Luffy asked as he knelt down in front of the girl, looking her over for injuries. She didn't have any he could see, but still, it never hurt to be cautious. "Are you hurt?"
Slowly, the little girl looked up to meet Luffy's eyes, and blinked. "I'm alright." She said, although she sounded very distracted and slightly spaced out. "How did you..." Luffy frowned. How would he explain devil fruit power to a child? He was horrible at explaining things! He mentally shrugged to himself. When in doubt, go for blunt.
"I ate a devil fruit." He stated. The girl frowned, looking even more confused than ever.
"What's a-"
"Ask your parents." He advised quickly, not particularly feeling like divulging all his knowledge of devil fruits to a small girl for the sake of her understanding of what he could do. "Anyway, you should probably head home before the marines try to hurt you again. Do you know how to get home from here?" He asked, hoping the girls stupor was short lived.
"Yes..." She muttered, slowly nodding her head as she did.
"That's good." Luffy smiled as he stood up and offered the girl his hand. "Come on, let's get you home." He said in the most assuring voice he could must. The little girl smiled eagerly and took his hand. He was so much taller than her that he had to bend down for her to do so, but he didn't much care. "So what were you doing giving food to the guy the marines locked up?" He asked as they made their way through the town, Luffy having to walk slowly, taking one step for each of her five.
"Big brother Zoro isn't a bad man!" The girl said heatedly, earning a raised eyebrow from Luffy. "It was all the meanie Helmeppo's fault! His dad's Captain Morgan, the big mean guy in charge of the marine base here. He's mean to people and makes them do things they don't want, like paying him heaps of money cause he think he's great, but he's not." The girl ranted, Luffy listening with interest the entire time.
"But because of that, Helmeppo thinks he can do want ever he wants! He brought a pet wolf, and then he brought into mommy's cafe and when I went to give him his food, it attacked me! But then, bid brother Zoro saved me by cupping the wolf up!" The girls eyes lit up as she recalled her rescue. Luffy, now wanting to beat Helmeppo into a bloody pulp, felt a small smile tug at his lips as he watched her, until her expression fell, the girl suddenly looking more melancholy.
"But because of that, Helmeppo threatened to start executing people if Zoro didn't agree to what he wanted. Now, Zoro has to survive being tied up for a month without food or water, but he's only got a week to g- Oh, we're home!" The girls face lit up as she ran to the cafe in front of him, leaving Luffy behind to think on what he had heard.
There were several things he now knew he was going to do. Firstly, he was going to beat this Helmeppo guy bloody. Secondly, he'd raze the marine base, and thirdly, Zoro would be joining his crew. He sounded like a good guy, and with his reputation, he had to be strong. Luffy frowned. Maybe he should swap two and three around and get Zoro to show him how strong he was. Then again, Coby would be in that base too...
Luffy nodded as he headed for the cafe, thinking of grabbing a bite to eat before following a new plan. He couldn't destroy the base with Coby in it, so he'd just have to do it after making sure Coby wasn't in it. His plan set, Luffy opened the door, and stopped. He blinked at what he found inside. It was full, for sure, but everyone looked stiff, uncomfortable and were sweating nervously. All because of who sat in the middle of the room, his feet propped up on the table and he loudly laughed at something he'd said, food and spittle falling from his mouth, and two marines at his back.
Helmeppo. The first person on his shit list so far. A large, shit-eating grin broke out onto Luffy's face as he ducked through the door unnoticed, but he paused as he heard the next sentence coming from the blonde. Slowly, the grin faded from Luffy's face.
"You know, I think I'll execute Zoro tomorrow." He said aloud as if he were discussing the weather. Luffy watched on, seeing no hint of taking back what he had just heard as Helmeppo laughed. Luffy lowered his head as his fists clenched, his hat shadowing his eyes as he seethed.
Slowly, his arm shifted from flesh and bone into a tree branch, growing until it reached the ground and kept going, burrowing through the lino and underground as his feet planted roots below them. Seconds passed as he remained just a meter inside the door, his large grin making his silence somewhat eerie to those who had noticed him, until their eyes widened upon seeing his arm. But before anyone could say anything, four large tendrils erupted from the ground, shaking the earth and spraying dirt into the air as they rose.
Each as thick as a man, two lunged for each marine, who were both in shock at their sudden appearance and immediately engulfed in living wood, the tendrils wrapping around them and joining together, completely encompassing the two soldiers before falling still. Helmeppo, having fallen from his seat in fright and scrambled backwards whilst screaming the entire time, looked up at the two spires of wood, the only evidence of their prisoners being their head sticking out of the top.
"Tree trap." Luffy muttered as his arm reformed, his grin returning as he caught the look in Helmeppo's eyes.
"M-My daddy w-w-will he-heat abou-t this!" He shrieked in terror, his face losing all its color, the blonde pointing a shaking finger at Luffy. Luffy, for his part, just grinning and slowly shook his head. Before Helmeppo open his mouth again, hundreds of of thin roots lashed out from around him, latching onto him and growing further to wrap around him and beck into the earth, pining him to the ground as they slowly crept up Helmeppo's body as he screamed in a higher pitch than Luffy had ever heard anyone scream before, and he had heard the screams coming from Grey Terminal when it burned.
"I heard about what you've done, Helmeppo." Luffy began once the root had wrapped around every part of the blonde body sans his head. "Time for your comeuppance."
"No! You can't!" Luffy frowned, turning to find a brown haired woman behind the counter, a pleading look on his face. "If you do this, his father would take his anger out on not only you, but the entire town as well!" She begged. Luffy then noticed that behind her, the small girl from earlier was hidden behind her legs, peeking out from the side with a fearful look.
"She's right you know!" Helmeppo chimed in, snot running from his nose to his lips and tears on his cheeks and he tried to look confident by smiling, only to end up with some horrible look of insanity. He looked like he was about to continue, but a root quickly gagged him.
"Don't worry." Luffy assured, smiling his carefree smile. "Once I'm done with this guy, I'm grabbing Zoro and then we're taking down everyone in the marine base, Morgan included."
The people in the cafe, despite their fear of what the boy had done, looked to each other, both hope and apprehension written of their faces as they shared muted conversations among themselves. Helmeppo let lose a muffled string of words Luffy couldn't decipher. Curious, the root shifted out of his mouth.
"That won't work!" Helmeppo announced, his smile back in full force. "Not only do you not stand a chance against my daddy, even with with your weird powers, but Zoro's a swordsman, they have honor and pride! And he wouldn't take you side anyway, he's a pirate hunter! And even if you looked past that, he wouldn't do anything until he's fulfilled his end of our bargain! His honor and pride as a swordsman demand it!"
Luffy gave him a bland look. "You still call you old man 'Daddy'? How old are you?" He asked incredulously. Slowly, silence settled into the cafe as everyone looked to the now uncomfortably shifting Helmeppo.
"Sh-Shut up!"
"Besides." Luffy started anew. "I'm pretty sure Zoro's gonna consider your agreement over once he learns you planned to execute him, which goes against your deal." The tree man pointed out. "And unless you dad knows haki, then he's not gonna be a problem." Although he had no idea what this 'haki' was or how it would help in a fight, Helmeppo paled even further, something Luffy didn't think was possible considering he was sheet white after what the pirate had done to his guards. "Now then, I think think that while I'm kicking ass, the good people of this town can decide what happens to you." He smirked.
Slowly, the roots holding him down began to push out from the ground growing larger and thicker as they shifted about. Soon, he was hanging in the air with his hands and feet encased in thick hardwood as the roots conglomerated into four large, trunk like tendrils that left the blonde suspended in the air in an 'X' shape. Helmeppo sobbed and whimpered with fear as the townspeople watched on in a mixture of fear of Luffy's powers and satisfaction on seeing Helmeppo get what was coming to him.
Luffy grinned at the now eye level Helmeppo. "Well guys. he's yours." He announced as a pineapple grew from the teens wrist. "Have fun." Tearing it open barehanded, he began to scoop out handfuls of pineapple and eat as he turned and began walking out of the cafe. "I've got a swordsman to recruit."
If there was one thing Zoro had expected to happen not seven days before he won the little wager he had bet with that blonde prick, Helmeppo, it was for a mass of roots to burst from the ground. The swordsman had been staring mournfully down at the dirty rice left over from Ririka's rice balls when the soil shifted, lifting up and cracking as what started off as a small spire of roots tangled together to form a point.
Slowly, the roots continued to grow out from the dirt, growing taller and wider until it stood a solid two feet taller than him and was as wide and a mans shoulders. It was then that the roots began to shift about in place, molding themselves into a different shape until, within a few seconds, a thin, lanky teen stood in front of him. "The sun's finally getting to me. I'm hallucinating." He said resolutely.
"Nope." The boy grinned as he sat down cross legged in front of Zoro. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy." He introduced himself. "And you're Roronoa Zoro. I've come to make you an offer." Luffy announced as, much to Zoro's surprise, several apples began to grow from Luffy's body. Picking one of them, Luffy held it out, offering it to Zoro. "I want you to join my crew."
Zoro stared down at Luffy with a blank look on his face. If he was seeing things right, some freakishly tall kid had popped out of the ground like a damn weed, grown fruit from his body and asked him to join his crew. The hell was he supposed to say to that?! Sighing, the swordsman resigned himself to his hallucination. "Might as well play along. Not like I've got much better to do." He thought.
"Look, kid-"
"Luffy."
"Yeah sure, but I'm kinda busy right now. I'v-"
"I know what's going on." Luffy interrupted. Again. Zoro gritted his teeth. Geez this kid was getting on his nerves. "But Helmeppo's planning on going back on his word. He's going to execute you tomorrow." At this, Zoro's eyes widened before quickly narrowing in suspicion.
"Why should I believe you?" He growled. "I staked my honor on this, my pride as a swordsman. Why should I just take what you say at face value?"
"Fair enough." Luffy shrugged, still holding the apple in front of Zoro as he picked another and began eating himself, silently berating himself for not eating anything in the cafe. "But while you're bound by you word and honor as a swordsman, Helmeppo isn't." At these words, Zoro had to concede his point. "And after everything you've heard him say and seen him do, did you really trust him to keep his end of the deal?"
"That's... an excellent point." Zoro silently lamented.
"Right now, Helmeppo's a little tied up in the cafe. I can cut you free if you want, but there's this guy, Captain Morgan, I think he might be a bit of a problem." Luffy grinned. "But it's up to you. What do you want to do?"
Zoro hung his head in silent contemplation. He couldn't go back on his word, but if Helmeppo backed out on his end, then Zoro was free of from dishonoring himself. Then again, this could all be an elaborate lie. If so, then he could just cut the kid up and end up right back at where he is now. But if he was telling the truth, if he is actually real and not some heat induced hallucination...
A gleam shone through Zoro's eyes for a brief moment, bringing a smile to Luffy's before the swordsman's head lurched forward but two inches, straining himself as he did so, but his teeth sank into the fresh apple nonetheless. His eyes widened as sweet juice seeped out and into his mouth, his eyes nearly watering. After nearly a month without food, a fresh apple might as well be the best tasting thing he had ever known.
"I'm gonna take that as a 'Yes.'" Luffy grinned as he slowly rose. Like he had done so many times throughout his life, Luffy shaped and molded the wood of his arm until from the elbow down, it was a thin, compressed wooden blade. After some careful and somewhat slow swipes later, Zoro was free from his bindings. He stumbled forward a bit, wide eyed and shocked as Luffy caught him. Looking up at the lanky teen, Zoro was met with another apple. "You're gonna need your strength back, and quick." Luffy grinned.
Swallowing what was left of his first fruit, Zoro straightened himself. "I'm going to need my swords." He announced as he held the second fruit in his hand. It felt so real... Was he really free or was this just a freakishly convincing dream as he hung on that post, knocking on deaths door? Shaking his head, he quickly bit down on the fruit. He had never had a dream so vivid and real before. Until he was proven otherwise, he'd treat this as reality.
"Any idea where they are?" Luffy asked as he looked about the base. His roots were deep underground and spread out like a labyrinth, hidden under each and every building, just waiting to grow strong at his whim. He could take this base on his own, but he wouldn't. Not yet. Coby was still here and now he needed to find Zoro's swords.
"That blonde prick took them when we made our bet." Zoro snarled as he finished his third fruit, having plucked his from the back of Luffy's back.
"Well he didn't have it when I saw him, so they should be somewhere in this base, right?" Zoro nodded in agreement at the sound deduction. "Well then, I hope you're in the mood for a bit of fighting, cause it looks like we're going to have to go door to door." Luffy grinned.
This was good. Ever since Shanks had finished his basic training and slowly stopped visiting and Luffy grew strong enough with his powers to equal, but most of the time beat Ace, Luffy's grandfather had been the only one that really put up a decent challenge. This Captain Morgan guy... "I hope he's strong. I could use a good fight." Although he doubted it. This was the east blue, and according to his gramps, hardly anyone here had even heard of haki, let alone believed it was real.
"I can fight hand to hand just fine." Zoro said. "But against marines armed with swords and guns? I'm gonna need something." Luffy took this as something of a challenge.
"Lets see if this works..." He grinned cryptically as he hunched over slightly. Slowly, from his back, twin long, lightly curved protrusions began to emerge. Zoro's eyes widened as he watched, but didn't comment until finally, twin wooden katana fell to the ground, perfectly shaped and flawless. Raising an eyebrow, Zoro wordlessly picked them up. Turning them over in his hand and giving several experimental swings, Zoro was taken aback.
They were well balanced, comfortably heavy and well crafted. With a gentle touch, he thumbed the base of the blade and was surprised when he felt his skin pierced, as though such a light touch had given him a paper cut. But there was one thing bugging him in all of this.
"What are you?" Zoro asked as he looked up to meets Luffy's gaze, who seemed indifferent with the question. "You pop out of the ground like a damn flower, turn you arm into a wooden blade and grow fruit out of you body, and now this?" He listed, gesturing to the twin swords in his hands. Luffy, for his part, merely sighed.
"Have you heard of devil fruits?" He asked.
Zoro gave him a piercing look, accompanied by a heavy silence. "Are you saying their real?" He finally said. Luffy nodded.
"I ate the tree tree fruit. I'm a tree man now." He explained. "I can create, turn into and manipulate any type of tree I want, so long as I assimilate it by merging with one."
"Huh." Zoro nodded, not bothering to over think the potentially world shattering revelation that fruits that gave people reality defying powers actually existed. He open to all things that could make him stronger, mythical fruits included. An inflexible swordsman who refused to accept things he had seen to be reality often broke. That and he still wasn't sure if this wasn't a dream.
"While I'm not sure how wood's gonna hold up against the real thing..." He trailed off, wondering how wooden swords could be as heavy as steel blades. "It's better than nothing." He finished. He preferred three, but it wouldn't feel right to wield his signature three-sword style without Wado Ichimonji. "Let's go." He said with a determined glint in his eyes as Luffy handed him another fruit, a banana this time.
"Let's go get your swords." Luffy grinned as he cracked his knuckles before his body began to twist and churn, malforming to become an amalgamation of horror right before Zoro's very eyes. "Nightmare of Elm!"
Captain 'Axe-Hand' Morgan took in a deep breath as he watched on with pride. Before him, nigh on a hundred marines struggled, pulling and heaving on the ropes as on the other end, a massive, fifty foot statue of himself was being erected upon the top of the marines base. His chest swelled and puffed out, his back straight as he stood tall and unmoving, his axe-hand held across his heart.
"I am great." He announced to himself, a gust of wind accompanying his announcement to billow out his captains coat that he wore as a cape, the marines about him shaking nervously in his presence.
"Yes sir! Well said, Captain Morgan, Sir!" The nearest marine complimented with a sharp salute.
"After years of construction, it is finally complete. A symbol of my greatness!" The Captain continued, boasting his ego to the heavens. "Listen up!" He shouted, swinging his axe-hand about in a circle to point at those around them, the marines having to duck to avoid being decapitated. "Rank is everything in this world! Now, as Captain and the highest ranking man here, I am the greatest man on this island! My word is law, my deeds are just, because I am great!" Evidently he didn't know many more words of praise aside from 'Great'.
"Captain Morgan!" A young marine shouted as he burst from the door, beads of sweat upon his brow underneath the gaze of the sun and the cold piercing of the eyes of his Captain.
"Speak!" Morgan barked furious his speech had been interrupted.
"S-Sir!" The marine saluted. "A situation has arisen in the town! It's your son! He and his guards were beaten and are now being paraded through the town on posts! The townspeople are gathering and throwing food and stones at them!" He announced. All around him, the marines of the 153rd branch stiffened. They knew it was only a matter of time before the townspeople began to grow furious with the tyranny of their Captain and revolted. They dreaded the day, for it was the day that their Captain ordered them to slaughter the towns populace.
"Bah!" Morgan sneered, a furious rage etching onto his face. "I don't care for my pathetic son, the ungrateful wretches can do what they wish with him and those failures that guarded him. But if they revolt, they challenge my greatness! I will not stand for it!" Turning about, he addressed the men lifting his statue. "Men! Lower the statue to the ground! Carefully! If there's so much as a scratch on it, then I'll kill the lot of you!" Spinning about to face those empty handed, he roared. "Ready yourselves! We're going to slaughter those traitors!"
A grim air set in above those atop to the roof. They knew the choice before them now. This, the moment in which they would decide their fates: Live a life full of regret, fear and probable imprisonment, or deny the tyrant's orders, save the people and probably die themselves. They looked among themselves, none wishing to chose, but all wanting to be better than what they were.
"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Morgan roared, and suddenly it dawned upon him. They were harboring treason in their hearts. His expression darkened, his fury long forgotten as wrath became him, black and merciless. "So that's how it is, is it?" He seethed through gritted teeth. The marines shifted, the choice had to be made, and soon. Live and lose themselves, or stay true and die?
Fortunately, they didn't need to make the choice, as at that moment the entire base shook and rumbled. Struggling to catch themselves on the suddenly unstable structure, the marines, Captain included, looked about for the source of the disturbance. Then the shaking stopped. "What the hell was that?" One of the marines voiced the thoughts of all.
Their answer came as the door from the roof into the base suddenly leaped off its hinges, flying across the roof to crash into Morgan and bounce off of his large frame and fall from the roof. Every head turned to look at the doorway, and every pair of eyes, sans Morgan, widened upon who they saw.
"Hey Zoro, anything in there?!" Came a young voice from behind the swordsman as he stared out at the gathering of naval personnel. Zoro blinked at them. The marines blinked back.
"Nah, just another bunch of shitty marines and their dumb Captain on the roof." He sighed in disappointment. A vein bulged on Morgan forehead.
"Kill him!" He roared, pointing his axe-hand at the intruder. "I want his head mounted on on my wall by dinner!"
Zoro smirked as he crouched and readied his two wooden swords. While unconventional, they worked damn well. "Hey Luffy? I'm just gonna deal with these idiots for a minute, you keep looking." He called over his shoulder, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. With a roar, the assorted marines drew their weapons, most with swords or pistols.
"Alright! Have fun!" Luffy shouted back.
Wordlessly, Zoro leaped out from the door frame and into the oncoming swarm of white and blue uniforms with a battle cry. "Bull..." He began as he lunged, the twin blades his hands held out like the horns of a steer. "Needle!" He seemed to blur through the writhing mass of marines, heading directly for the man in command. Moran watched in unrestrained hatred as his men were flung aside like rag dolls in the aftermath of Zoro's charge, baring his teeth and growling as he brought his axe-hand in front of his chest just in time to block to two wooden swords from skewering him, like so many of his men had been.
"Roronoa Zoro." Morgan spat like he had tasted bile. "You should have been executed as soon as you were caught!" He roared, heaving to shove the blades man away from him for a moment of respite. But Zoro would have none of it. He surged forward once more, like a hound on its bleeding prey, lashing out with terrible speed and precision. His arms a blur, he continued to press forward, forcing Morgan on the defensive as he constantly gave ground in an effort to avoid being hacked and slashed into pieces, his muscles screaming in protest under the constant strain of a lengthy battle.
"Ha!" Zoro laughed, a bloodthirsty grin on his face as he pressed his advantage. "The likes of you could never kill me!" At these words, he leaped backwards, finally yielding his advantage after nearly ten minutes of constant swinging, panting lightly with a thin sheen of sweat glistening on his skin. He carefully examined his swords. Although wood, they had held up against proper swords exceptionally well, having but a myriad of indents along the blade. With their weight and surprising resilience, he figured Luffy must have made them extremely dense. Looking up from the swords, Zoro found Morgan to be a stark contrast to himself.
The overly proud and confident man sucked in great gulps of air and looked as though he had just been doused in water. With this brief reprieve, Morgan was able to assess the damage done to his men, and soon found himself fuming. Each and every man who had attacked Zoro was on the ground, bleeding from large cuts and whimpering from massive bruises.
"Traitors..." Morgan hissed through clenched teeth. "Inept, useless damn TRAITORS!" His voice grew louder until it was a mighty bellow, veins throbbing under his skin. "Once I'm done with this piece of trash!" He pointed his axe-hand to Zoro. "I'll execute you all my self!" He looked as though he was going to continue, but Zoro had already heard enough, his voice was just annoying at this point.
Placing both of his swords over the opposite shoulder, holding his forearms in an 'X' in front of his chest, Zoro charged straight for Morgan who, being but one leap away, didn't have time to raise his axe in defense or even dodge. "Purgatory Demon Slash!" The swordsman announced as he slide to a stop behind Morgan. The entire world seemed to hold its breath for a moment, frozen upon the image of the two men standing so still.
"No... I'm too great... to fall." Morgan groaned before twin bursts of blood from his horizontal wounds painted the ground at his feet crimson. Zoro grunted as, at the same time, the wooden swords shattered into splinters. A pity. For wood, they did a hell of a fine job. It was then he heard the 'thump' of Morgan falling to his knees for a few seconds before completing his decent, his body hitting the floor.
"Hmph. No one's too great to fall." Zoro huffed, his thoughts briefly travelling to all those times his childhood rival had bested him. "It's that fall that makes us who we are, and the climb back up that makes us great." He said as he shook the memories from his head. "Gotta find Luffy and my swords." The swordsman thought as he turned about, walking past Morgans fallen form to find that straw hat kid.
"Y-You did it..." Came a trembling, terrified and awed voice. Coming to a stop, Zoro raised an eyebrow as he laid eyes upon a marine to his right, propping himself up against the rail of the roof. He was staring with eyed at the swordsman, his hands over the large horizontal slash across his chest. He had obviously lost a lot of blood, as his skin was pale and uniform red. "You defeated Morgan... Thank you!"
Zoro recoiled at the sudden appreciation, having not expected it from a marine he had so easily cut down, but he didn't really have time to ponder it. He had lost his swords, he was weaponless in an enemy base. He needed to find his swords again, his real swords, before he was found by any marines that could still walk. Shrugging off the odd thanks, he made for the open doorway to look for Luffy, but as luck would have it, he needn't take more than three steps, as Luffy then found him.
"Hey Zoro!" He shouted and waved. He had returned back to his human shape, something Zoro was thankful for, and ran out onto the roof with three swords tied across his back. "I found some swords, but I wasn't sure if any of them were yours or not, so I took all of them." He smiled his carefree smile. Zoro seemed to relax as he caught sight of his blades, specifically, Wado Ichimonji.
"Thanks. And they're all mine, by the way. I use three-sword style." Zoro said with a grin as Luffy stopped in front of him, the fact that he towered a full two feet above him no longer something he found disconcerting. Morgan had stood another two feet taller than Luffy, and yet he had been all hot air, and although it was true that he knew Morgan was probably weaker than Luffy, Zoro still found it comforting to know he had brought someone even taller so low.
"So..." Luffy trailed off as he looked about the roof at the one hundred marines that had fallen to Zoro. Luffy had felled his fair share of marines further down in the base, if not more than Zoro had, but it was still a damn impressive sight to behold. "Now that I've helped free you, gotten you your swords and you've proven you pretty strong." Luffy grinned. "You're gonna join my crew, right?"
Zoro gave the tall teen a hard stare for several silent minutes, his gaze unblinking. He didn't have anything against being on whatever crew this kid had, but there was one thing he needed Luffy to understand first. "I have a dream. A goal, really." He began as he fixed his swords to his waist, relishing in the comforting feeling of their return. "I'm going to become the worlds greatest swordsman." He announced. "Know that if I join you crew, I'll pursuer that dream to the ends of the world, no matter what you goal is or the purpose of your crew is."
Luffy, while previously grinning, positively beamed at the firm resolve in Zoro's voice. "That's a good goal." The pirate assured. "And I wouldn't have it any other way. After all, the king of the pirates can only have the best on his crew." Zoro raised an eyebrow at that. Pirate? He shrugged. He wanted to be the best swordsman in the world, laws be damned. Besides, 'pirate hunter' wasn't something he'd ever called himself.
"Alright then Captain." Zoro smirked as he saw Luffy's smile become inhuman, growing to an impossible size. "Where to first?"
"Actually." Luffy began, looking about the rooftops of the marine base around him. "I promised something to someone important before I started out to be a pirate." He said cryptically, remembering the final promise he had made with Ace as he had left. "Since you're the first member of my crew, I guess this is the real start of being a pirate." The tree man reasoned, as he spoke his feet shifted into wood and began mapping out a root system in the roof and walls of the building. "So let's start out with one hell of a statement."
"Hardwood Catastrophe!"
Nami's jaw dropped, her eyes bulging in not terror, but sheer disbelief. The map clenched dangerously tightly in her hand was all but forgotten as she drift out to sea in her small ship, watching from a distance as before her very eyes the laws of nature were given the single finger salute. She could hear the crumbling, even all this distance away, as chunks of the massive buildings that made up the 153rd marine base fell from the structures and crashed into the ground.
Marines scrambled about in terror as the base was torn apart around them, colossal roots, massive branches and titanic trunks grew at unnatural rates, swelling out from the walls of the base and expanding to crush all in their way. Within minutes, entire buildings had been wrought asunder and ground into dust under the now, giant sized forest and hundreds of trees over a kilometer tall grew up, reaching for the sun as wood twisted and groaned under its growth.
Within five minutes, the marine base in Shells town had been replaced by an ancient looking forest that dominated the skyline of Yotsuba island, each tree as wide and ten men and taller than the buildings they had replaced.
All the while, Nami stared, mouth agape, at the impossible happenings that had taken place, decided that she needed to sit down after feeling a little light headed. "What do people do after seeing something like that..?"
And there's chapter two!
Is it me or is it a little disturbing that Helmeppo, when he first appears, is a twenty year old man who still calls his father 'Daddy'?
Anyway, hit up the polls, every vote counts!
I'm going to try and get through the East Blue saga quickly, hopefully leaving each Recruitment/villain arc to one chapter so we can get to the Grand Line soon.
Let me know what you thought of the chapter, feedback helps!
Until next time!
Toodles!