It's that time again, time for another crew member as these pirates sail along East Blue towards the Grand Line. I got tired of them wandering about aimlessly so I decided to give them the great navigator...Ulysses.
One Piece: My Name is Ulysses
Knothole Island, East Blue
"Good morning Ulysses!" The older man with a scruffy beard called to the young man.
The boy looked up from his work and removed his magnification spectacles as he set down the Log Pose he'd been crafting for days. He walked across the deck of his ship and exited his cabin to look at the older man. "Hello, Mr. Brom. Checking in about that barometer for your crops?" He said as he spied the older man on the ground. It had been a few years since Ulysses had arrived on the island and crash landed into this tree. He had grown fond of these islanders and their need for navigational equipment on this island with ever changing weather.
"Just want to make sure that my snow cabbage come in nice." He said with a grin.
"Alright then, I finished with it last night. Let me just…" The young man said before looking off into the distance.
"Something the matter Ulysses?" The old man said.
"A storm is coming in. It's going to be a big one, so tell everyone to fortify their houses." Ulysses said as he tossed the barometer down. "I'm going to go warn the Pepper Pirates."
Not far from Knothole Island
"Ah! I love this warm calm weather, the sun feels so nice today." Cooro said as he stretched out on the boat.
Matthew sat next to him looking over the calm waves and blissful clouds, "Yeah."
Thomas walked up, "I finished lunch, I made us some rice balls for the trip. Hey, is that a storm cloud on the horizon?"
Cooro sat up and looked over at the gray plume on the horizon and extended his hand to get a feel for the wind, he felt the raging tempest quickly approaching on the horizon and tried to extend his power to tame the wind. He lowered his hand and looked at his crew, "We might want to get out of that thing's way, trying to tame it is like putting a leash on a Sea King."
"The storm's that bad!?" Matthew asked as the cloud approached rapidly.
"Um…it's worse." Thomas said as he saw the water spouts on the horizon.
"Well fu…" was all their doctor was able to say before the storm raged around them. They rushed about the boat frantically trying to move the sails in the right direction and guide it out of the storm but it was no use.
"Everyone, hold on to something and let go of the ropes and rudder!" Cooro cried.
"What!?" Mathew cried out.
"Just trust me!" He yelled back as the crew did as they were told and the ship was tossed about and torn by the storm. As they bobbed and swayed on the violent waves soon they were stopped by the large mass of land that rose quickly from the distance. They leapt quickly onto the land, as their boat was thrown after them by the winds and landed upside down on the island. They ran towards the forest for shelter and waited out the storm. As quickly as it came, it was gone and instead the sun beat down on the cloudless island.
"Man, what is wrong with this place!" Thomas said as he ran back to the boat to try and salvage his dishes and pots.
"I know, that storm came out of nowhere." Matthew said as he helped Thomas flip their tiny boat.
"Are you all alright?" A voice called from up in the trees.
"Yes, we're fine thank you." Cooro said as he turned around to see a large owl. "Cool! This island has giant talking birds too!"
"What? Oh, I'm terribly sorry about that." The owl said as it began to change shape into that of a young man wearing a white button down shirt and black trousers with suspenders. He had chestnut colored curly hair and dark brown eyes. "My name is Ulysses, I am the local weatherman for this island."
"Cool, so you ate a Devil Fruit too!" Cooro said as he quickly climbed the tree to take a closer look at the new guy, as Matthew and Thomas returned from their trip to the boat.
"Oh, who's this now?" Thomas asked as he carried the heavy bundle from what used to be their kitchen.
"His name is Ulysses, and he's a weatherman." Cooro said as he turned back to Ulysses, "So you can control the weather?"
Matthew sighed, "Cooro, a weatherman is someone who predicts the weather by taking readings from their surrounding area."
"Like a navigator?" Cooro asked Ulysses.
The young man chuckled, "A little bit yeah, I predict how the winds will flow and whether or not storms will spring up." He replied.
Cooro smiled and stood up, "It's settled then, you're going to be my navigator."
Matthew sighed and Thomas chuckled at their captain's antics at recruiting another member, but Ulysses just looked at him, "You guys are pirates?"
"Yep, the Cooro Pirates! Sailing the seas for the Grand Line and the Sea of Dreams!" Cooro pronounced with a laugh.
"Sea of Dreams?" Ulysses asked, "I didn't know pirates still cared about all that."
"Yep," Cooro said, "I want to travel the world and make the Crow Sword famous, to become strong enough to rival the Pirate King!"
"I want to become a great doctor, known throughout the world as a preserver of life and defender of freedom." Matthew said as he smiled imagining the future.
"I want to own a restaurant on the sea, where everyone can eat, drink, and forget about their worries for a while." Thomas said with a grin, "Where everyone wears a smile and the performances are legendary across the Grand Line and New World."
"Those are pretty admirable dreams for pirates," Ulysses said, "Most pirates just want power or money. To conquer and subjugate other humans for the sake of vain glory." He said with a somber expression as if remembering something from a terrible dream.
"Who cares about that?" Cooro asked with an expression of boredom, "Being a pirate means being free, when you enslave others you're a slave to them as much as they are a slave to you. The minute you leave they will run free, so what's the point in staying in one place, to give up freedom for security is no way to live. It's much better if one has both."
Ulysses was stunned as was Cooro's crew, for this was probably the smartest thing he'd said. "So you believe everyone should be free?"
"Yeah pretty much, so are you gonna join my crew or what?" Cooro asked impatiently.
"Ah, and who are these people?" A man in a tight pink frilly blouse and black bell-bottom pants asked, his hair was combed over to the right as he twirled his curly moustache. Some castanets were hanging from his wrists and he had polished dance shoes.
"I don't know brother, but they are not very Hank." Another man looked identical to the first said, he however wore a loose blue silk shirt and tight white pants. His hair was combed over to the left and he had a straight moustache, he had metal on the heels of his shoes though.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves; we are the brothers Caliente and Picante." They said in unison, "And we are the captains of the Pepper Pirates that run this island, if you wish to stay there will be a toll." They said with a devilish grin.
Ulysses backed away in fear and Cooro stood his ground, "Matthew, if you would give them my answer."
Matthew stepped forward with his hands in his pockets, "Yes, captain."
"Oh a captain?" The man known as Caliente said, "Well in that case the toll will be…"
He didn't get to finish this thought before Matthew rushed up to him quickly and punched him in the face sending him into a tree and breaking his nose. Blood spewed from Caliente's face as he looked up at Cooro with tear filled eyes, "You have a four hours to get off this island before I remove you from it!" He threatened the captain of the Cooro Pirates.
"Go ahead and try, we're going to defeat you and take Ulysses with us." Cooro said. "And he will be our navigator!"
The two ran off and Ulysses looked at them, "Why would you do that? You're just going to cause more trouble for everyone here, and then what you're going to make this place your turf?"
"No, I'm going to set you free and take you with me as my navigator." Cooro said.
"You don't know the first thing about me, what my people went through on my home of Clockwork Island. The suffering we endured at the hands of that damned pirate Bear King." Ulysses said as he shook with rage.
"I don't care." Cooro said, "I want you to be my navigator."
"But I still won't be free!" Ulysses screamed.
Cooro went up to him and head butted him, Ulysses looked up through the blood and tear stained eyes to see a man determined, "You will be free, free to pursue your dream in the Sea of Dreams with us. Now get up, I need all my nakama to fight."
I guess we'll have to wait till the next chapter to see the fight play out between the two crews.