Chapter Three: Brothers, Birds, and Clowns
Luffy sat on the ship's figurehead and looked at her crew and temporary crew. Elliot was steering the ship. Boris and Mar were coloring while Boris spoke about random things. Zoro fell asleep against the mast. Mei was reading a book in the crow's nest. Luffy smiled, pleased at how well they all got along together… well, for the most part. A fight almost broke out earlier between Zoro and Elliot when Zoro noticed and made a rude comment about Elliot's long animal ears. Luffy had to break up the fight because she didn't want bullet holes and/or sword markings on her boat. Suddenly, she got this weird feeling that someone was talking about her.
-Elsewhere, Same Time-
Marco followed Ace to a fort on a small island without a town. Marco looked at the well-built fort and raised an eyebrow when he saw the flag on top. It was the flag of the Top-Hat Pirates... and waiting outside the fort was the captain the Blonde Gentleman Sabo.
"Sabo!" Ace called out in greeting.
"Hello, Ace, good to see you again. And you brought a friend this time." Sabo smiled at he invited them in.
"Right, Sabo, this is Marco. Marco, this is my older brother Sabo," Ace introduced them as Marco thought 'Ah, so that's why we came here'.
The three of them sat down at the table in what Marco guessed was the fort's meeting room.
"So, I'm guessing you heard about Luffy," Sabo said. Ace nodded and clenched his hair in his hands.
"Yeah, she left the island early. She was supposed to wait one more year!" Ace said, annoyed and more than a bit worried.
"Excuse me," said Marco, gaining the attention of the other two. "I want to help find your sister, but I kinda need to know things about her. Also, what's so bad about her leaving home early?" he asked, a little curious about the girl who was currently driving Ace mad. Sabo seemed to be the calmer of the two.
"Our sister is named Monkey D. Lilynette, or Luffy, as she prefers, I still don't get why whoever gave her that nickname called her it in the first place," Sabo mumbled.
"Duh, do you remember how puffy and soft her hair was when she was eight? It was fluffy, all you have to do is take out the F and you get Luffy," Ace stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Sabo groaned and Marco chuckled. "It's too bad it flattened out when she started to grow it out though. I couldn't fluff it out anymore." Ace grumbled the last part.
"Yeah, and I lost track of how many times Luffy bit your hand because she didn't like you rubbing her head. I should have known you wouldn't stop even after we realized how sharp her teeth were." Both Sabo and Ace winced as they thought of times they had both felt the pain of one little girl's bite. Mostly because they ticked her off in some way and they can still count the number of teeth marks on their bodies today even if they were hard to see. When the people on the Whitebeard crew first saw the bite marks on Ace they would ask if he was bit by a shark when he was little. Ace would change the subjuct quickly but they could hear him mumble"More like I made a reptail very angrey at me," and they dropped the subjuct.
"Anyway, Luffy is seventeen years old right now. She has coal-black hair, tan skin and eyes… well most of the time anyway." These two pieces of information confused Marco. "She's very friendly. Her personality makes it hard to tell, but she's actually kind of smart for her age; I think she could have something like a selective-photographic memory that mostly works at odd times. She can handle herself in a fight, but… well, she has limits and conditions that both help and hurt her in a fight," Sabo wrapped up.
"And what are these conditions and limits?" Marco asked.
"Well, she mostly has a brawler-like fighting style. She can take a hit and return 'em, but it's sloppy and she can be a bit clumsy at times. Sure, she's good at turning a bad situation around, but it'll only take one lucky shot that could hurt her badly. Next she has this weird weapon that… well, I don't know how to explain it. I just know that it changes shape when Luffy wants it to and that she stole it from a ship that came close to the island once. It takes a bit of her energy to make it change shape though," Ace explained the best he could.
The weapon sounded semi-familiar to Marco, but there was one thing still bugging him. "Alright, but what's with the explanation on her appearance and the thing with her teeth?"
The two brothers sweat-dropped and glanced at each other quickly before Sabo spoke up. "Well, the thing is, she ate a devil fruit. A mystical Zoan devil fruit to be exact." Marco's eyes shot up in shock, but they weren't done yet. "She can swim, too." That nearly caused Marco to pass out.
Pinching in between his eyebrows, Marco sighed as now he knew why Ace and Sabo were worried. A pirate with devil fruit powers that couldn't swim was seen as dangerous, one that could swim… well… that's a whole new ball game. A knock came from the other side of the door before a tall thin man in a red suit with a matching top hat at his side came in. His long black/green hair was tied back in a pony tail and he wore orange-framed, square glasses. He had four claw-like scars on his face and was wearing a very serious expression.
"A Mister Edward Newgate is on the Den-Den Mushi for a Mister Pheonix and Mister Portgas."
"Thanks, Kurollo, and I told you, just call me Ace."
"I shall make note of that, Mister Portgas," the now-identified Kurollo said before leaving the room. Ace sighed before he let his head fall to the table in exasperation. Meanwhile, Marco just looked confused as to what happened. As he opened his mouth to ask, Sabo cut him off.
"Kurollo has trust issues, has had them since his brother scared him and caused the death of his best friend."
Marco nodded but got back to the present problem. "Come on, Ace. We've gotta tell Pops about this," Marco said before leaving the room. Ace nodded to Sabo before following Marco. Sabo sighed and relaxed for a few minutes before he remembered one little thing.
"Damn. Forgot to tell him what the devil fruit Luffy ate does…"
"He'll find out soon, Captain Sabo," a voice said suddenly. Sabo jumped a bit in surprise.
"Kurollo!" Sabo shouted in shock. "Must you do that? And how did you get in here without me seeing?" Sabo asked, more than a little startled at how Kurollo appeared on his left side when he had left the room through the only door on Sabo's right…
Kurollo smirked. "I would tell you, Captain, but it is not my job to break the fourth wall," Kurollo said before leaving again. This left Sabo confused as hell.
-On Luffy's Boat-
"Um, what kind of bird is that?" Mar asked. The crew looked to where Mar was pointing in the sky and saw a pink bird.
"It's a Bellia Bird! An island must be close by, I'll follow the bird through the sky. Mei, keep track of me and lead the way. Elliot, steer the ship where Mei tells you to," Luffy said before letting out her wings and flying after the bird.
"Any reason why Luffy wants you to follow the bird?" Boris asked, confused.
"'Bellia Bird, Bellia Bird, o how lovely you fly. A true beautiful sight to a traveler's wary eye. Following your path is a true way to get some place where a treasure lies. Weather, food, shelter, or fun, who cares, not I.' It's an old song. It's based on the legend that those who follow the Bellia Bird will get somewhere they need to be," Mei explained as they followed their happy-go-lucky captain.
-Luffy, Ten Minutes Later-
Luffy woke up on a roof…
"Dang, must have had a narc attack mid-air again. Oh, well, at least I didn't wake up underwater again. It was kind of funny to see Ace's and Sabo's reactions after that thou. I guess I better find out where I am," Luffy said, then she heard a commotion. Luffy looked over and saw an orange-haired teen surrounded by three male pirates. Luffy saw red. If there was one thing Luffy hated it was a group of men ganging up on a woman. She quickly whipped up a mini-tornado and sent the three flying without damaging the surrounding area or hurting the girl. Years of practice with aiming at her brothers when they made her mad allowed her to do this.
"Hey, you okay, miss?" Luffy called, jumping down from the roof and running up to the girl.
The girl smiled. "Yeah, my name's Nami, what's yours?"
"I'm Monkey D. Lilynette, but call me Luffy. Hey, do you know why there isn't anyone here?" Luffy asked, noticing that they seemed to be the only people in town.
"Yeah, I do, but let's talk somewhere more comfortable… I kinda have to ask, why do you have an owl on your shoulder?"
Luffy blinked and saw that there was indeed an owl on her shoulder. It was a mix of blue, white and tan feathers. "Oh! It's a young Gust-Owl. I didn't even notice him until you told me."
Cue Nami anime falling.
-House, Later On-
So, this Buggy the Clown guy has basically terrorized the town?" Elliot asked for clarificaton. (He, Mar, and Mei had all found Luffy and Nami while Boris was following the very lost Zoro for something fun to do.)
"Yes," Nami confirmed.
"Um, why is that bird on your shoulder?" Mar asked randomly in the hopes of calming herself down.
"It's a Gust-Owl. Gust-Owls tend to flock toward strong winds or stay near things that make strong gusts. This one is young, so it's only the size of a full-grown barn owl. He'll grow to be about the size of a turkey vulture, but thankfully, he'll be cute instead of ugly," Luffy said.
"Wow, you sound like you're part bird yourself, Luffy, you must get along with soldier bunny over there," Nami said teasingly. (No, she hadn't seen Luffy's hybrid form or Elliot's ears yet. She was referring to Elliot's belt buckle and Luffy's bird knowledge.)
"I AM NOT A RABBIT/BIRD!" Elliot and Luffy shouted out in anger at he same time, surprising the other people in the room and Nami to fall off the chair had been sitting in.
Suddenly, Boris burst through the door panting. "Guys! Zoro! He's been-" Boris was cut off by an explosion outside.
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