CHAPTER LAST UPDATED 4/11/18

A/N: Thanks for picking up this fic. PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW -it is really frustrating to be uploading chapters that I think are good, but I get absolutely no feedback on. I don't know what I am doing wrong or right, so you guys, PLEASE tell me what you want to see more of, of Whitebeard's crew, or what you want to see Dalzeel do. We will also be seeing the Straw Hats soon.

Thanks, and much love

-C.S Skywalker

P.S I didn't know the name of Palm's crew, so I just made it the Animal Pirates because that seems to be his theme. I will also be using Japanese phrases as much as possible (since I am half-Japanese, it just sounds better to me) so I'll add another note at the end of the chapter to define what each one means.


IV

Raid on the Animal Pirates! Discovery of the Mysterious Devil Fruit!

"How would you feel about going on a raid with us?"

"A raid?" Dalzeel wiped his face with a napkin and gave his division commander a confused look.

"Haven't you heard about them -yoi?" Marco slid in to join the two of them at dinner.

The confused look on Dalzeel's face stayed the same.

"Raids are when we look for other pirate crews to join ours," Thatch explained. "The old man assigned us to Palms, captain of the Animal Pirates."

"Palms?" Marco asked, suddenly. "You sure you can take him?"

"It won't be a piece of cake but I'm sure we can handle it," Thatch replied confidently. "And who knows, we might even find a Devil Fruit in the mix." He winked at Dalzeel.

Dalzeel gave a small smile. "You wouldn't want a Devil Fruit, Thatch?"

"I don't care either way," the man replied. "I'm well enough off with my swords."

"Devil Fruit, huh," Dalzeel muttered.

He couldn't imagine himself with a Devil Fruit. Hell, he hadn't even imagined himself on the crew of the Whitebeard Pirates. What kind of Devil Fruit would he want though? Ace had the Mera Mera no Mi, the ability to be fire. He knew that the little brother Ace always talked about, Luffy, had the Gomu Gomu no Mi, to become rubber, and that Marco was a Phoenix. Dalzeel glanced over at Oyaji, who was, as per usual, drinking sake from his large, lacquered sakazuki. The old pirate made eye contact with the younger, and the look in his eyes made him seem like he knew that Dalzeel was looking to ask him a question. The younger man made up his made and stood up, making his way to Whitebeard.

"Gurarara!" the older man laughed. "I knew you had something to ask me. Ask away kid."

"It's about Devil Fruits," Dalzeel trailed off, suddenly becoming nervous and self-conscious.

"What about them, boy?"

"Thatch asked me to go on a raid, and he said something about finding Devil Fruits," Dalzeel slowly started. "What happens if you find a Devil Fruit?"

"You keep it," Whitebeard replied simply.

"What?"

"You keep it," he repeated. "And eat it. Whoever finds a Devil Fruit, it's theirs. They're the only ones who stake claim to it."

"You keep it," Dalzeel echoed, getting lost in his thoughts.

"Gurarara!" Whitebeard laughed through his sake. "You think you're gonna find a Devil Fruit?"

Dalzeel flushed, embarrassed. "I don't know. I might."

"That's the spirit." Whitebeard took another swig of sake.

"There's one more thing," Dalzeel spoke up. "Something that's important. It's been bothering me ever since I joined the crew."

"Eh?"

"You know what I am, right Oyaji?" Dalzeel asked cautiously.

Whitebeard didn't reply, only gave him a steady gaze back. Dalzeel took this as the invitation to continue speaking.

"Why'd you take me on the crew then?"

Whitebeard took another sip and watched the young man. "You're worried over nothing."

"Huh?"

"I know your past. I know what you are and why your island was destroyed. But that's not a big deal."

Dalzeel stood up straighter, surprised.

"It doesn't matter who you are. Everyone is a child of the sea," Whitebeard smiled. "Gurarara!"

Dalzeel looked shocked momentarily, but then shook his head and chuckled. "You're right, Pops."

"Of course I am, kid."

Dalzeel felt the wind get knocked out of him as the Whitebeard smacked the back of his head.

"Gurarara!"

xxx

"You all ready for your first raid, Dal?" Ace grinned as he watched the Fourth Division load supplies onto their ship, the Argo.

Dalzeel threw a sack of provisions onto the deck. "I guess I'm going to have to be."

"You got that right." Ace jumped down from his perch atop the railing of the deck and approached him, a much more serious look on his face.

"Hey."

"Hm?" Dalzeel looked up from his job.

"It's not training out there this time, okay?" Ace clapped his shoulder. "Promise me you won't do anything reckless out there, okay?"

"Promise." Dalzeel stuck his pinky out and Ace smiled as he looped his pinky around the others.

"See ya later, loser."

"Hey-!" Dalzeel yelled angrily, but before he could come up with a good comeback, Fire-Fist had already leaped off the galley with a howl of glee.

"Don't go after him." Dalzeel felt a hand on his shoulder and turned. It was Thatch.

"We need you focused, alright?" the look in his division commander's eyes was steely, much different than his usual carefree look, although his smile was kind.

"I got it," Dalzeel nodded, getting back into focus.

"There's a good kid," Thatch said. "Now go below deck and get some sleep. You're going to be no good to us out there tired. I know it's not hard for you to go to sleep, I see you and Ace napping all the time while eating."

"Yes, Commander Thatch," Dalzeel said jokingly and went below deck, falling into his hammock with a deep sleep.

xxx

"Oi, wake up." Dalzeel felt a small nudge on his shoulder.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he turned over and looked to see who had woke him up. It was Spriggs, the sharpshooter. His dark eyes made it seem like he wore eyeliner, and his gaunt face was lit up by the candlelight.

"It's night already. We have the advantage of the fog," Spriggs said. "Get up quickly.

Dalzeel scrambled out of bed and ran to deck. Most of the Fourth Division was awake and about already, getting prepped for battle. He spotted Thatch standing on a barrel, guiding his division.

"I want to hurt them the least as possible," he could hear him saying. "So, we're going to try for diplomacy first."

"Thatch, that's what you tried last time," Dalzeel heard someone in the crowd say. This triggered a few laughs. "Remember what happened last time?"

"Well Whitey Bay was someone I didn't realize had so much of a temper," he replied, laughing as he rubbed the scar on his cheek. "Anyways, make sure you are all in position at my command!"

There were cries of "You got it, Thatch!", "You can count on us!" and "We'll get the job done and make the old man proud!"

Dalzeel shivered and put his arms through the sleeves of his hoodie, pulling out his naginata. The hairs on his arms seemed to stand on end as he prepared for his first raid. Adrenaline ran through his veins and he felt like he couldn't stand still. This was when he could prove he was a true Whitebeard Pirate like the rest of them.

"Hey, Dalzeel."

He heard his name being called and he turned, seeing Davis Benito. He racked his brains, trying to remember what the tall man's specialty was. Benito wore a long coat with the collars flipped up at the ends, and a fuzzy kitten hat with pointy ears. Dalzeel saw the baseball bat wrapped with barbed wire around the end and remembered that Benito was known for his immense strength and the ability to bludgeon the living hell out of an enemy.

"You're with me, kid," Benito grinned, tapping the bat on his shoulder.

The boat shifted as the division let down the anchor and Dalzeel felt the weight of the anchor hit the bottom of the ocean and shake the deck of the boat. Benito gave him another grin and turned swiftly towards the edge of the ship, jumping off the edge.

"Hey! Benito!" Dalzeel called. Not hearing a reply back, he leapt off the side of the ship, landing in shallow water.

Squinting barely, he could see the bobbing of the cat hat as Benito strode towards where the Animal Pirates camped. Dalzeel had to jog to keep up with the tall man -one stride of Benito's was three of Dalzeel's.

"We hide here," was Benito's only words to him as he motioned for the young man to crouch next to him in the underbrush.

He watched as the rest of the Fourth Division rushed past them silently, their footsteps barely making a noise in the underbrush.

Dalzeel didn't know if his confused look gave it away but Benito reached over him and parted the leaves. They had a full view of the camp of the Animal Pirates. Their captain, Palms was pacing around impatiently. He was a slim man with curly, black hair and black circles around his eyes. Dalzeel turned his head to the side and scrutinized the man. He slightly resembled a panda, the boy decided. On his head and shoulder, he had an indumentum made of panda fur, with the animal's head on his own as a head covering. He also wore a pair of shoulder pads secured by straps that ran diagonally across his bare chest and donned long, striped gloves. Around his waist he had another indumentum of fur, that was spotted similarly to a leopard's.

The pirate captain's outfit was so outlandish that Dalzeel was puzzled as to why Whitebeard would want him to submit to be a subordinate crew. He looked weak. Nothing like how Marco did, or Thatch, or even the old man for that matter.

"He looks weak," Dalzeel murmered.

"Don't underestimate your opponent by looks, kid," Benito replied.

Dalzeel flushed. He wasn't trying to strike up a conversation with the beater, much less have him hear the stupid thing that he had said.

"Palms is a lot stronger than he looks."

Thatch appeared, followed by two of the strongest of the division, Miranda Alvel, the pike man and Garcia, the long, mustached rapier wielding swordsman.

"Palms!" Thatch said jovially. "Long time no see! It's been a while."

Palms jumped back, drawing his long, curved sword, his entire crew leaping from the shadows. "Fourth Division Commander Thatch! Don't pretend like I don't know why you're here."

"What are you talking about Palms?" Thatch laughed off the opposing pirate's accusation and stepped closer towards him.

"Stay away from me!" Palms swung his sword, warding off the Whitebeard division commander.

Thatch sighed, and his eyes darkened. "So be it."

There was a slight twitch of his left hand and Benito grunted. "It's time to go, kid."

"Battle Cannon!" the bat-wielding pirate yelled, taking an Animal Pirate by surprise.

He swung the barbed bat once, twice, three times around his head and took out the knees of one of Palms' Animal Pirate. Benito's (barely) opponent flew in the air, screeching.

"Oi, Dal-chan!" Benito yelled cheerfully. "That one's flying your way!"

Dalzeel drew his naginata. "I'm ready for anything."

Eyeing the young Whitebeard Pirate, the flying Animal Pirate seemed to gain control, drawing his own weapon, a sword, from its sheath.

"You seem awfully inexperienced, kid," the pirate smiled. "How would you like the taste of cold steel?"

"Never," Dalzeel gritted his teeth, taking a strong grip on the handle of the naginata. "Underestimate your opponent!"

"Target," Dalzeel flew into the air, and drove his naginata into the man's shoulder, blowing past him in a streak of blood and blade. "Dart!"

"AUGHHHH!" the man cried, blood spewing out of his mouth.

Dalzeel touched down next to Benito as the older man smiled at him in approval.

"Nice job, kid."

"How dare you hurt our pirate crew?" a pirate yelled in outrage.

"We're not hurting you," started Benito, getting his bat to the ready.

"We're simply trying to help you see the better side," Dalzeel finished.

"AARRGGHH!" the opposing pirate charged.

"Assault," Benito started, going for the pirate's legs.

"Drive!" Dalzeel ended the attack by slashing his chest.

"Looks like you're holding up fine," Thatch called as he easily parried Palms, their fight drifting towards Dalzeel and Benito.

"You too," Dalzeel replied, pushing the stunned pirate to the side, away from harm's way.

"Hahaha," Thatch laughed. "Palms is a good opponent, but he's no match for me."

"Why you-!" Palms roared as he counterattacked.

Dalzeel surveyed the battlefield. As he had guessed, the Fourth Division was doing well against the Animal Pirates. There was the occasional downed pirate, but that was almost rare to be seen. All was going well, and he assumed, for the best, that they were going to get the Animal Pirates to become another subordinate crew.

As his eyes raked the jungle, there was a strange looking covering of leaves. His eyes narrowed. That wasn't the natural way leaves fell. Dodging the attacks, and ignoring Benito's question of where he was going, he made his way towards what looked like a hidden cave. As he finally arrived at his destination, he yanked on one of the leaves, causing all the others to fall apart, and revealing what he had seen through it all -a hidden cavity in the rock.

Palms had to be hiding something here. Venturing deeper into the rock, he placed his hand on the wall for guidance, grabbing the handy torch that was placed a few feet into the cave.

It wasn't long before he tripped on something.

Dalzeel let go of the torch, rolling over whatever had caused his fall, the torch casting long shadows on the walls of the cave, making it seem like he was surrounded by people.

Scrambling back, and pulling out his naginata in defense position, Dalzeel look towards what had made him fall.

It was small, and brown, looking like it could only fit something small inside-

Only a damn chest, he thought to himself. He was a fool for getting nervous like that.

Putting his hands on the lid of the chest, he pushed with all his might to get it open. No success.

Dalzeel stood back up again to get the torch, using the light of its fire to look for a key, or something to open the chest.

Rock? No

Bigger rock? No

He finally looked towards his prized naginata. With a breaking heart, his shoved the blade into the opening of the chest. It would have to do. The weapon was his prized possession, but he was sure he could fix it once they got back onto the Moby Dick.

"HURNGGHHHH!" the young man grunted as he struggled to get the chest open.

He could feel the blade of the naginata slowly begin to crack. Just a little bit more, just a little bit more. The chest opened a sliver, making a hissing noise as it de-suctioned itself from the bottom.

KRACKKKKK… an even bigger crack in the naginata appeared. Dalzeel prayed to all the gods he knew as he gave one, last, final heave, knowing that his weapon was going to crack as soon as he got the chest open.

CHINK! KRACK! Both the chest and the naginata cracked and opened simultaneously, causing Dalzeel to fall backwards with the force of it.

He looked quite ridiculous, with his feet over his head and his ass hanging in the air, but he quickly gained composure and scrambled back to his knees. The curiosity of what was contained in the chest overcame the loss of the naginata.

Peering over the edge, he trembled. Was it treasure? A long-lost relic? He knew that the rules on Whitebeard's crew was, essentially, finders' keepers.

His eyes met what the chest held, and he almost had to keep from sighing aloud.

Fruit. It was a long fruit, almost like an aloe leaf.

He sat back disappointed, the fruit in his hand. Dalzeel wound his hand back to throw it, but then changed his mind. He had always heard Ace say to never waste food, so he knew he must not waste what "treasure" was given to him.

He finally sighed, loudly.

"Itadakimasu," he said, trying his best to sound grateful, and took a large bite out of the fruit.

He chewed. And chewed. And chewed, his face slowly falling. His mouth turned into a squiggle, and his face turned green as he struggled to swallow the foul fruit.

"GAH!" he gasped for air as he finally swallowed the entire thing down.

"That was absolutely disgusting," he grunted, for no one in particular but himself.

And then it hit him.

He looked back down at the fruit in shock. The words of Thatch echoed in his ear. "We might even find a Devil Fruit in the mix."

His mind went back to his conversation with Pops.

"Thatch asked me to go on a raid, and he said something about finding Devil Fruits," Dalzeel slowly started. "What happens if you find a Devil Fruit?"

"You keep it," Whitebeard replied simply.

"What?"

"You keep it," he repeated. "And eat it. Whoever finds a Devil Fruit, it's theirs. They're the only ones who stake claim to it."

"You keep it," Dalzeel echoed, getting lost in his thoughts.

"Gurarara!" Whitebeard laughed through his sake. "You think you're gonna find a Devil Fruit?"

Dalzeel flushed, embarrassed. "I don't know. I might."

"That's the spirit." Whitebeard took another swig of sake.

His hand shook. This was it. This was what the crew was talking about when they told him about Devil Fruits. This fruit, this fruit was-

His mind scrambled as information suddenly flooded his brain.

This fruit was-

"Oi!" a loud, angry snarl came from the mouth of the cave.

Dalzeel turned to see the outline of a large, muscular, angry man, swinging around a torch of his own.

"What have you done to the chest, brat?" he said, viciously.


A/N:

Translations:

Mera-Mera no Mi: Flame Flame Fruit

Itadakimasu: Something that Japanese people say before a meal and used before receiving something. It essentially means thank you for the meal.

PM me if I missed any other meanings, and PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE. It means so much to me.

Thanks,

C.S Skywalker