Usopp and Heracles make a plan. Enjoy!

I have been noticing that while this story is getting a massive amount of views every time I update, no one is favoriting/reviewing anymore. Case-in-point: Last update on Wednesday got me my most views in one day, around 170 or so. And while I'm not complaining about this at all (I assure you), I found it baffling that out of all of those people, only one reviewed.

Now I'm not complaining, and I in fact, am quite grateful so many people are reading my story, but I remind you that Reviews/Favorites are my motivation, and when no one does it, even despite the massive amount of views, I can't help but go into a bout of depression for a little bit, wondering if people really like my story or not. So once again, you don't have to favorite/review if you don't want to, but just know that if you do, I will be jumping with joy. =D

I've bored you long enough. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. If I did, I would be busy drawing instead of writing Fanfictions

7: Pact for Departure

Usopp was fat.

This was an absolute truth. No matter how many times he tried to deny this fact—and it was a fact—Usopp could not escape the truth. He had over-indulged himself in the Forest of Gluttony, and Heracles regretted ever taking him there in the first place.

The island of Boin Archipelago—like most islands on the Grand Line—was incredibly dangerous. Heracles knew this truth well. He was reaching the older half of his life, and in his lifetime he had seen a many strange and curious things on this island; being born here and living here most of his life had helped him with that.

Living in the Greenstone Forest was like living in a battle. Every day something new tried to attack and eat you, and, given the ferociousness of some of the bugs and plants on this island, they were usually able to kill you if they tried hard enough.

Heracles himself was eight when he lost his father to a man-eating bug, and was only twelve when he lost his mother to a disease. This forest had only one main tribe, and they all tried to live within the confines of the "safety zone" as they called it. It was the men's job to hunt for food and to protect the tribe from attacks, while it was the women's job to train all of the children and teach them as much as they could about the island so they could grow up knowing what they were up against.

After losing his parents, Heracles decided he wanted to join the hunting party and become a productive member of the tribe. He was faced with several life and death situations, but he pulled through and gained the experience he needed; by the time he was of age, that of sixteen, to fully join the hunting party, he was already the leader. Under him they were able to discover places like the Forest of Gluttony and many other strange lands on the island that were unobtainable to all other parties before them.

This was not to say that Heracles has never left his island, however, because he has. Young fools always get itchy feet at some point in their life, and Heracles was no exception. He and several of his friends left the island one day when he was in his early-twenties to explore the world around them.

After spending a good amount of years on the sea, one could say that Heracles and his friends had made their own pirate crew simply known as the Stag Pirates. They gained a small reputation in the area, but they were not a barbarous pirate crew by any stretch of the imagination. Very rarely did his crew kill anyone or raid any kind of town; they were known by most as a peaceful kind of pirates, protecting the innocent folk of the islands they inhabited.

It was one day at sea when it all happened.

It happened without warning, and it happened fast. One day while the Stag Pirates were on their ship ready to go to the next island, pirates struck them. He was a little fuzzy on the memory, but Heracles could only remember one thing about who attacked them, and that their captain's name was Kaido. They put up a good fight, but they didn't stand a chance.

Heracles was the only one to survive.

It was either by luck or by the crews ignorance that Heracles was left alive. He was knocked out and bloodied most certainly, but they never bothered to check his pulse. The pirates plundered all they could from the ship and left it to drift into oblivion. Heracles would awake an hour later only to find his crew massacred. Destroyed, he set back to his home and has never since left.

Heracles vowed from that moment on that he would help any stranger he came across in any way he could; that's what he and his old crew did, and that's what his dead comrades would have wanted. So for Heracles to see Usopp become so fat, it made him want to fix that.

"Come on Usoppun!" he cheered to Usopp, who was currently doing sit-ups. "Just a few moreun!"

"Argh! I can't do anymore Heracles!" Usopp said through pants. "Can't we just stop for today?!"

"Of course notun!" Heracles replied. "I'm giving you the deluxun Boin Archipelago workout; with itun, you should be able to get back to your old self in a few daysun!"

The inhabitants of Greenstone Forest were obviously very much in shape (as evidenced by Heracles still being incredibly strong despite his age), and they were able to achieve this by instituting a very rigorous workout program designed for every inhabitant to undergo. Heracles went through it when he was a child, and ever since, he has been doing it once a month to stay in shape; and now he was passing it down to Usopp(un) to make sure he was returned to the shape he was in before he got here.

"I'm gonna die!" complained a very sweat Usopp.

Despite his complaints, the workout was doing its job. Heracles had been putting him through it the entire week, and already significant improvements were being seen. He had lost well over a hundred pounds and was losing more every day. This was also in part thanks to Heracles very strict diet of only the healthiest (albeit nasty tasting) plants the forest had to offer. This of course meant banning Usopp from the Forest of Gluttony, much to his chagrin. Indeed, Heracles was sure Usopp would be fit as a fiddle in only a few weeks time.

Meanwhile, Usopp continued to scream in agony.

— — —

At nights, they would often build a campfire to ward away most of the wildlife that was around to try and attack them. Even with this failsafe method, the bold are not deterred by this, and usually at least one attacks a night. Because of this, both Usopp and Heracles have to be on a state of alert. Even though Heracles was the one who did most of the saving, he found that Usopp could be a pretty reliable partner when it came to battle. His strange staff (he believed it was named Kabuto) was highly effective in warding off—if not killing—any attacking animals.

They spent their time around the fire and would often eat (Heracles usually some kind of meat, while Usopp had some kind of bad-tasting vegetable) and talk about their lives. Heracles found himself amused with the stories Usopp would normally tell, even though he could tell they were obviously lies.

"And then, after we fought off so many marines," Usopp said, finishing up one of his stories, "we were completely surrounded and thought we had lost. Then, out of nowhere, our old ship that shouldn't have been able to move anymore, the Merry Go, came to our aid and delivered us safely from the Buster Call."

"So it came completely on its own, eh Usoppun?"

"That's right."

"That's a pretty good lie," he said with a lackluster voice, causing Usopp to get angry and throw something at him.

"It's not a lie damn it!" Usopp persisted. "Did I ever tell you about the time we were eaten by a massive goldfish before two giants sliced us out of its belly?"

"Mmhmm," Heracles replied with the same kind of voice. "That'sun a good lie as well."

After another item was thrown at Heracles, he decided to get serious. "So tell me Usoppun," he started, "you keep talking about your crew so fondly, yet you ended up here all aloneun. What happened to them?"

Usopp looked down and didn't respond for a while.

"Well…" he said finally, "to put it shortly, me and my crew were separated. We fought a really powerful enemy who teleported all of us to different areas; I just happened to appear here and then I met you, and here we are."

"I seeun," he said after a long pause. "Let me ask youn, how badly do you want to see them?"

"They're my friends and crewmates!" Usopp exclaimed. "Of course I want to see them badly! I would never abandon them and they would never abandon me!"

Silence reigned for a few seconds before Heracles spoke. "A long time agoun, I used to be a part of a pirate crew. We sailed the seas for a few yearsun before we were attacked; I was the only survivor. I since returned home and back to my tribeun. I swore I would protect them and make sure the same thing didn't happen to them. But eventually…"

He paused for a while, and despite wearing a helmet, Usopp could tell that some tears were coming from his eyes. "One dayun, while I was away alone to nab a particularly dangerous bug, the entire tribeun was attacked by a pack of vicious man-eating plants. I was able to kill the bug, but by the time I returned…my entire tribe was…"

He put his helmet up and rubbed his arms across his eyes.

"I was once again the only survivor, and as far as I knowun, I'm the only human left alive on this island. I've lived this way for many years, and sureun, there have been many visitors, but none of them ever stayed."

"Heracles…" Usopp said, not sure of what to say next in light of his story.

Sniffing, Heracles put his helmet back down. "So I've decided that I want to help you find your crew Usoppun. We'll leave this islandun and go find them!"

Usopp could barely believe what he was hearing, but he reacted by hopping over the fire (despite his still impressive girth) and hugged Heracles. "Do you mean that?!" he asked. "I would be eternally grateful if you meant that!"

Heracles, however, was not so joyous to get hugged by the massive Usopp. He held up a feeble hand and said, "Usoppun…you're too heavy…UNH!"

With all of his strength, Heracles was able to move Usopp onto the side. "Sorry," Usopp said, scratching the back of his head. "I just got a little carried away."

Taking in large quantities of breath, Heracles stated, "It's fineun…Oh, and by the way, since we have a timetable nowun, I'm going to have to accelerate your exercise program to make sure you lose the weight even faster now; can't have you going like this now can we?"

"WHAT?!!!"

— — —

The last week and a half were a blur for Usopp. Heracles could be quite the sadist when he wanted too, and what he was forced to do proved it. They were mostly things that were unspeakable, and as such Usopp reserved the right to keep them to himself. The plus side (that is the only plus side), is that Usopp had lost all of that massive weight he had put on. He was now back to his slim self, and he now learned his lesson: never become a glutton; the consequences are dire.

Heracles was leading him into the edge of Greenstone Forest to show him a surprise. Usopp wasn't sure as to what it was, but he knew better than to ask; lest he spoiled Heracles fun.

"This way, Usoppun, we're almost thereun," he said, pushing past some brush.

Usopp passed by several man-eating plants and massive bugs on the way to this area, so he figured that this surprise better be worth it; and worth it it turned out to be. Heracles stopped right at the edge of the forest; it was clear that this was the coastline, as the ocean was clearly visible from their vantage point. He walked over to an area crowded with all manner of plant-life and started to move it.

"Here it isun!" he said excitedly.

"What exactly is it Hera—"

Heracles successfully moved all of the brush and revealed an old looking, but still very sturdy ship. It was around the size of the Merry Go, and it looked like it hadn't been touched in a long time. On the front was a statue of a giant stag beetle, and the picture of a stag could clearly be seen on the ships main sail. The ship had a level of cannons below the deck, and a level of cannons on the deck. There were double-sided stair cases right next to what looked like the Captain's Quarters.

Usopp walked closer to it and marveled its presence. He touched the wood and said, "This ship is…"

"This is the ship me and my crew used to sail," Heracles said with pride. "Welcome, Usoppun, to the good ship Stag!"

"You used to sail it with your crew, huh?" he repeated. "It doesn't look like it's that badly destroyed."

"True," answered Heracles. "Stag was badly damaged after my crew was…well, you knowun, and by the time I sailed it back to this island, it was an even worse wreckun. However, spending my life on this island has lent me a sortun of chore. In my free time I would keep coming back to Stag and rebuilding itun with some of the wood I had. Although it's not perfect, I'd say it's almost restored back to its glory days. Don't you worry Usoppun, Stag'll sail just fine."

They both boarded the ship as Usopp was able to marvel it from on top now. Its age was clear, but it was obvious to Usopp that Heracles put a lot of time and effort into restoring the ship. As someone who has felt that way as well, Usopp gained a new respect for Heracles.

"I've supplied the ship with enough food and water for a weekun," Heracles explained. "Nowun, if you could just kindly tell me where it was you and your crew were separated?"

"It was Sabaody Archipelago," replied Usopp. "You probably haven't heard of it but—"

"Haven't heard of itun?" Heracles repeated. "Don't be ridiculous Usoppun. That used to be me and my crews favorite place to go. Luckily for us Usoppun, I know that route well, and I even know a shortcut there, and it shouldn't take more than a few days for us to arrive and you can be reunited with your crewun."

"Really?!" Usopp said in an elated voice. "That's fantastic! Let's go now! The sooner we get there, the better!"

Heracles had a good laugh; he reminded himself of him from the old days. "Very wellun, alright Stag, you ready? Let's go!"

He pushed off of the Boin Archipelago and they were suddenly on their way. Heracles was right, he did know a shortcut, and it paid off well for the two of them.

They arrived at Sabaody Archipelago in four days time.

Usopp and Hearcles depart...

See, now wasn't that great? You know what would make it better? If you favorited/reviewed it. And if that was too much, I just hope you enjoyed it.

Please Review! (Look to the above "rant")