Chapter 9: A Pirate's Second Life
AN: This is where I stopped last time before the rewrite. Let me tell you now, I plan on going much further with the second try. I'm no quitter, but my muse is annoyingly whimsical at times.
I don't own One Piece.
Review if you'd like.
"Speech."
'Thought.'
"Attacks! (Translations!)"
[l]
...The golden eagle saw what the king of the ravens was about to do and dove forward, knocking the black bird off of its mountainside nest angrily. The eagle had humored this posturing, spineless, coward of a leader for long enough. It was time for action.
Without hesitation, the eagle jumped from its nest and dove down at the king. If it was a fight he wanted, a fight he would get. The air was filled with the cries of–
I woke up with a gasp, feeling my heart pound in my chest. It took a few seconds for me to realize where I was, and I sat there just looking around while I panted for breath. My skin was clammy, and I took a moment to wipe my face off with a shaky hand.
'That dream.' I thought. 'It's the same one I had so long ago. What does it mean?' This was actually the third night in a row I had it. Buggy had dreams too. He didn't tell what they were when I was interrogating him, but they drove him to the point of sailing what should be an Easy Blue crew to the Grand Line and burning down a forest.
Like mine, his dreams about the birds were recurring. The thought of what would happen if I was pushed past my breaking point by the dreams like Buggy was, was frightening. What if I went crazy and killed everyone on The Dragon? What if Enmity was able to take over my mind again?
There was still something else about the dreams nagging at my mind. I was about to close my eyes and meditate on it when the door burst open.
"Yo, Doru!"
My body moved on its own, diving under cover and I readied the fastest weapon I could make. Once my mind caught up to my body, I sighed, standing from the instinctual crouch I dropped into at the first intrusion. "Luffy, you can't just barge in on sleeping people like that." I said, reabsorbing the knives that sprouted from my wrists.
He cocked his head, "Why not?"
I shook my head, "I'd try to explain it to you, but I have a feeling you'd never listen." I said. "What's going on?" There has to be a reason he'd came in while I was sleeping. All I remember is bunking down for the night and having that dream about the birds.
Luffy smacked a fist into his open palm. "Ah! We found an island!"
"Hmph. So?"
"Nami told me you'd give me some food if I woke you up!"
Ah. Of course. I sighed again and brushed past Luffy, headed to the drawer I had full of clothing. "Tell her my treat to you is letting you eat as much as you want," I smirked, "On her tab."
He bolted from the room and I chuckled. Luffy took his food seriously and wouldn't hesitate to tell Nami it was my treat to have her pay for it. If he took a second to think about it, he'd realize that what I told him made no sense. People don't treat each other at another's expense.
Serves her right for making me carry her money. Again, I was petty like that.
"I have a feeling that she'll make me regret this." I said to the empty air, pulling the various parts of my outfit from the drawer. I took my time getting dressed as I wasn't in any hurry to do anything today.
Faintly, there was the sound of Luffy's excited voice from outside. I could only imagine what he was doing. He seemed to be the person who would gesticulate wildly when talking about something he likes.
The shriek of feminine fury outside made me smile as I slipped my feet into my geta. The stomping of feet on The Dragon's deck was like music to my ears. I opened the door and found my path blocked by the shorter navigator. "Oh, hello Nami-san. How are you doing today?" I greeted casually. "Splendid weather we're having, no?" Her downcast eyes were hidden by a curtain of her orange hair. Her fists were clenched and shaking slightly.
I paused with a wince. Perhaps involving her money was a bit too far. I'd pieced a bit of her past together from the scant encounters we'd had, and from it I deduced that money had to play heavily in her life. I haven't seen her so angry before.
"What right do you have," She whispered, dangerously quiet, "to use my money?"
I grimaced, "Nami, it was only a joke at your expense. I have full confidence in my ability to repay you in full, even with interest."
She didn't look any less mad at this, so I beckoned her into the cabin. "Come here, I can show you what I can pay you back with."
Nami stayed at the door, so I ventured back alone. "Alright then, stay there while I fetch something for you. That will work as well."
There was something that I'd always kept with me throughout my years, and it seemed that now was the time to put them into play. I stomped a foot, and a square section of the floor near the bed I had offered Nami slid open. Crouching down, I reached into the darkness and pulled out a drawstring pouch on a long rope.
Returning to Nami, I loosed the string and poured a little bit of the contents into my other hand. I had to be careful to not spill all of them. A myriad of glittering black stones dropped down and I held them up for her to see. "These," I say, "Are very precious stones. As you well know, there aren't many large masses of land in the world. Land that can be mined for precious items is even less common." I jiggled the obsidian pieces in my hand. "To the right buyer, this obsidian can be worth a great deal."
Nami's head tilted up so I could see her eyes and the glimmer of distaste in them. It must have seemed like I was trying to buy her off, and that was not what I was trying to convey.
I closed my hand over the black objects and returned them to the bag, "Of course, these stones will not be enough for what you need your hoard of money for." I say, making a branch to put the now-filled bag onto the bed.
Her gaze focused on my face intensely. I could see some surprise, so I decided to explain. "As an assassin, I need to be adept at gathering information. I like to know about who I share quarters with, to know they won't slit my throat in my sleep." I said as I grew a coin-sized disk of wood and rolled it across my knuckles.
I was taking a gamble here, and this could just as easily blow up in my face as it could work. "First we have to take into account your intense dislike of pirates. When you heard the owner of Inoshishi was willingly harboring them you remarked on their lack of control. This indicates a negative event in your past having to do with them." I said. "Perhaps a raid or a loss of someone close?" I ask, watching her reaction. The minute shift in body language telling me all I needed to know.
"Next, When I was talking to you about Inoshishi Island, you became angered over the fact that people who weren't able to pay for their stay were kicked out. More angered than another person would get." I continue. "That was another piece of the puzzle."
"You can stop now." Nami said with narrowed eyes.
"Then I mentioned the Fishmen." I said. I wanted to tell Nami that I wanted to help her, but to do that I needed to show her I knew everything. That way she wouldn't be hurt so badly when she finally gets betrayed. She'll have at least one friend on her side.
"The Mad Bomber must have gotten his money from somewhere in order to live on Inoshishi. Where better to get it from than his boss, Arlong? You had a definite reaction to the Fishman leader when we talked the other day. That filled in some of the picture. The takeover of my friend's island seemed far too practiced to have not have happened before."
I flipped the wooden coin and caught it, pointing at her with a wooden edge. "Now, I'm making a lot of assumptions here, but I believe I can see a picture of what happened to you." My hands found their way to my beard, which I stroked slowly.
"Stop…"
"You're from the Conomi Islands, where 'Saw-Tooth' Arlong took over. From what I gathered, he made the template of what the Mad Bomber did to Inoshishi. Arlong made a show of force and demanded the people pay him in exchange for their lives." I looked past Nami, my eyes seeing nothing as I tried to picture in my mind what happened. "There was nobody strong enough to resist him or his pirates, so you lost someone close to you."
"Shut up." Nami said, more forcefully.
"You managed to escape somehow, and now you're amassing wealth so that you can do something to Arlong. Maybe to pay Marines so they'd handle it, but they shouldn't have ever let Arlong set up shop in the first place. The only other option I can think of is to try to strike a deal with him, to pay Arlong an exorbitant amount of money to get him to go awa–"
"I said shut up! You don't know anything about me!" Nami yelled, pulling her staff pieces from beneath her skirt, assembling them, and swinging the weapon at my head in a single motion.
The hand stroking my beard went to intercept it, and I caught the staff single-handedly. Nami tried to pull the staff back, but I was too strong. "Listen to me!" I said, eyes flashing dangerously. "Did I ever accuse you or think badly of you? No! I told you these things so you would know you have an ally!" I made a tendril of wood snatch the bag of obsidian from where it lay on the bed and I grabbed it with my free hand. "The same thing that happened to me happened to you, only yours is far worse! These stones," I said, upending the bag onto the floor, where they clattered noisily, "Can help your money-gathering venture."
I let go of the staff and crossed my arms. "But I know this one thing for certain: Arlong? He will never let your home islands go free unless he's destroyed. He will take your money, thank you, and stab you in the back in the same sentence." I walked around her, and made to join Luffy and Zoro out where they were outside.
Over my shoulder, I said, "Take the obsidian. Your secrets are safe with me. When the time comes for Arlong to be taken out, come to Luffy, Zoro, and I. We Strawhats are a lot stronger than you think and we will never leave one of our nakama behind."
I smiled, which didn't reach my eyes whatsoever, "And don't forget that you have a man with a two-hundred million beri bounty on his head with you." My grin became even more fierce, "I like to think I've earned the price on my head."
I left Nami back in the room and walked out to the deck of The Dragon, breathing the salty air deeply.
[l]
I joined Zoro and Luffy at the beach, where they were relaxing and soaking up the sunshine waiting for Nami and I. At my approach Zoro raised an eyebrow, wanting to know what took so long.
"She was angry at the joke I made." I said, waving his glance off. "As it turns out, Nami is very particular with her money."
Zoro didn't seem satisfied with that answer at all but leaned back on the sand anyway, only to jump up as a small object nearly hit him in the head. Quick as a flash, Zoro had two of his katana out and was scanning the trees for hostiles.
It was the not-so-quiet laughing of our captain that caused him to whirl on Luffy. The straw hat clad teenager had a few rocks in his hand and was pointing at the swordsman. "Shishi! You're dumb Zoro!"
I saw a vein pop into high relief on Zoro's forehead. "The hell was that for, you rubber moron?!" He asked/shouted.
Luffy kicked the sand with his smile still plastered on, "C'mon Zoro, we came here for an adventure! What's the point of being a pirate if you can't have any fun?" He asked.
The swordsman returned his blades to their sheaths, taking a seat once more on the grainy beach. I had to admire his composure. For someone who just got attacked seemingly for no reason by an ally, he restrained himself and listened on the contrary to how I thought he would. From his half-lidded gaze and muscular build, I thought he was a more brutish person who bisected first and questioned later.
I've got to stop judging people by their appearances, it could get me killed one day.
I joined my fellow greenhead on the beach, sitting cross-legged and laying my bow across my thighs because it wouldn't fit on my back while sitting. "People fear pirates, Luffy. What you see as fun can be misinterpreted as dangerous and scary, if only because they've had too many bad memories of pirates." I said. The sunlight was nice over here. It was easy to see why Zoro chose this spot. "Don't worry too much, captain. I'm sure you'll find something to do sooner or later."
Luffy shrugged and laced his fingers behind his neck. "Being a pirate is about having fun and going on adventures with your nakama. The guys who do all those bad things give us real pirates a bad name."
I threw my head back and laughed, "Ahaha! You have an interesting point of view on pirating, Luffy! To hear you say it with such conviction outside of battle is refreshing. All the pirates I've known with the exception of one or two have never shared your views!"
He grinned, "Yeah, I'm pretty awesome huh?" said Luffy. He looked around the beach, "This place is pretty neat, too." He pointed up to the rocky path going inland, "There weren't cliffs like that where I came from."
The leaves on one of the trees on the cliffs rustled like there was a human movement, and I tensed slightly. Zoro narrowed his eyes, "We're not alone." He warned.
There was a near imperceptible 'twang' from somewhere and the hand Luffy had extended got hit with a small object. His skin stretched inward and bounced the missile down harmlessly into the sand. "Huh?" Suddenly Luffy was forced to do a jig of sorts to dodge an incoming hail of objects from a higher position. Sand puffed up around his feet and he was barely able to put one down before he was forced to move again or get tagged by whatever was being shot at him.
Both Zoro and I were on our feet instantly, our respective weapons ready. I reached under my jacket to take off my necklace, which I passed to Zoro. "Here," I said, "Please hold this for me." He accepted the pendant and tucked it into his pants pocket before taking out a second sword to join the first.
"Catch him from a blind spot." He said.
I smiled, "This is not my first time doing this Zoro." I said to him. At my command, a simple arrow with grappling hooks and rope grew from my arms and onto my bow. I quickly dropped the tension in the bow limbs so the arrow wouldn't go too far. After all, what's the point of trying to be sneaky when your arrow tears through everything it meets?
I drew the string back and aimed for a high branch of a tree to the far left of where I suspected the shooter was. My arrow flew true, but it never reached its destination. There was a glint of light as whatever the sniper was shooting ricocheted off of my relatively slow-moving arrow and knocked it completely off course. I could only watch, impressed, as my flanking attempt fell to the sand. "This guy's good." I remarked.
A voice rang out from the trees and my head swiveled to where it came from. There stood a tanned young man in brown overalls with a large messenger bag slung across his chest. He had thick lips, curly black hair, and an olive checkered bandanna on his head. His most defining feature however, was the long nose protruding from his face. "I am Captain Usopp the Brave, and I won't allow you to pirates to come near my village! Even pointing at it is an offense worthy of death! My 80 million men and I will not let you attack this island!"
Luffy looked gobsmacked, "What? 80 million men?" He asked in awe.
Something shiny in the sad caught my eye and I stooped down to pick it up. As I knelt down to grab it, I heard Nami's voice from behind me. "Liar." She said flatly. I glanced at her and noted she had my leather pouch full of obsidian tied around her waist. She wasn't one to pass up free money, it seems.
The long-nosed attacker atop the cliff wiggled dramatically. "Crap! She found out!"
I held up the weapon to scrutinize in the light. It was a metal ball, too large and heavy to be worn as jewelry and yet, too small to be of any use as any form of ammunition I've seen. "What a strange weapon," I mused. "I've never seen one of these before."
Usopp regained his composure and put his hands on his hips. "I-it doesn't matter if you saw through that lie, because I still have many loyal followers!" He said. At that, six small flags popped up from some bushes near one end of the cliffs. Six more rose a little further to the right, and finally… an additional six flags made themselves known a few yards away. These final flags wiggled up and down in the brush.
Nami's tone of voice did not sound impressed, "You mean all three of them?"
The six flags fell to the ground and there was the sound of three young voices crying out in fear. "They found out! We gotta get outta here, run!"
Usopp looked in their direction and yelled after them, "Hey, don't run you guys! Come back, I can't fight them on my own!" He seemed agitated and panicky. If I had to guess, I'd say he never expected this to happen. Even if we were non-belligerent pirates.
While the long-nosed young man on the cliff was freaking out silently, Nami noticed something. Her eyebrows twitched, "Doru, where did you get that pachinko? This isn't the time for gambling you idiot!"
"Mm? Oh, this." I say. "Pachinko is what it's called? I've never seen one before. All I know is that the young sniper up there was shooting these at us." I tossed the metal ball to her for her to look at. "And by the looks of that 'pachinko' the only way to use it as a projectile would be from a slingshot."
She hummed before pocketing the metal ball, "I've never heard of a pirate using a slingshot before."
"Hey!" Usopp shouted irately, "Don't mock me! I'm a very proud person. Because of that they call me 'Usopp the Proud!'" He then loaded another of his unique ammunition into his slingshot and pulled it back. "As you saw, my skill with a slingshot is better than a gun!"
"You say it's better than a gun? Bet your life on it."
Usopp cocked his head but held fast at Luffy's challenge.
Luffy lifted his head to stare the sniper in the eye. "A gun isn't something to scare people with." He said, expression grave.
Zoro flashed an intimidating grin and thumbed one of his swords out. "The man you see here is a true pirate."
For a solid ten seconds, there was a standoff between Usopp and the four of us. I personally believed it was unnecessary, but it seemed like Luffy wanted to make a point to this stranger.
The long-nosed liar held onto his sling even tighter, beads of sweat pouring down his face. I had to stifle a yawn, that would make for bad appearances and all.
Eventually he slumped forward, loosening the tension of his weapon and letting the metal ball fall to the ground. Usopp fell to his knees and looked down at us, "It's just as I thought. A real pirate's speeches are much more intimidating… incredible!"
Luffy broke out of his stony countenance and gave a big smile. He glanced at Zoro and the two started laughing. "Ah, I just copied what somebody else said. It was the pirate I deeply respect, Shanks."
Usopp stumbled back, "Sh-Shanks? You know the great red-haired pirate?!"
"Yeah." He grinned. "Your dad's name was Yasopp, right?"
[l]
After being formally acquainted with the long-nosed sniper, Usopp took the four of us into town to have a nice lunch at a restaurant whose name of 'Food' I raised an eyebrow at. He ushered us into a side booth and sat at the head of the table, quickly ordering a decent amount for us. I decided not to eat, just observe, somewhat due to the fact I was sitting next to Luffy and would hardly get any food regardless.
There must have been some stuff pre-prepared because in less than five minutes the others were sitting back and eating. The rest of the reason I decided not to partake was from the glances I saw the people in the village shooting at Usopp. They obviously didn't like him, and any work he may have gotten wouldn't have paid him well. By no means did Usopp look like he was begging for scraps, but he didn't exactly look like he was living in that mansion on the hill I saw on the way up either.
"It's pretty good, huh?" Usopp asked. I shook the cobwebs out of my brain and tuned into the conversation. Luffy had already finished at least eight plates off and was starting in onto a leg of meat on a bone.
He tore off a chunk of the leg and disregarded what Usopp just said. "I met your dad when I was young. You look just like him, so when I first saw you, I thought you were his son."
"Really?" Usopp asked. "I never thought my dad would be on such a great pirate's ship."
Luffy shrugged and tore the rest of the meat off the bone, "I dunno what he's doing now, but he's probably still sailing with Shanks." He picked up an apple and smiled in fond remembrance. "Your father is really an elite marksman. He was always telling me about how he had 'a son your age named Usopp.' I've heard it so many times I felt like my ears were going to fall off!" Luffy said with a laugh. "Yasopp's a great pirate, and he's really proud."
Usopp was beaming, "I always knew he was a great pirate… To push aside one's life and indulge in the sea… I'm so proud of my father!"
Nami placed her utensils down and rested her elbows against the table, "Then that makes our discussion much easier. Do you know of anyone who has a large ship in this village?" She shot me a pointed look and I scoffed. It's not my fault it The Dragon was too small for her comforts. The yacht was never meant for a large crew anyway.
Usopp gave a sigh and gazed out the window, seemingly reading between the lines. "As you saw walking through here, the village is pretty small. I noticed how small the ship you arrived in was, and I'm afraid there's no way you can get a larger one here. Sorry." There was something else in Usopp's eyes when he was looking up through the window, almost like fondness.
"On top of the hill…" Zoro noted. Usopp winced slightly. "There was a large mansion."
Nami clasped her hands together, "Hey, do you know them? Maybe we can ask them for a ship!"
The sniper suddenly shouted, "You can't go there!"
He then flipped to an anxious bearing just as fast as his angry outburst arrived. "Ah! I… I just remembered that I have to do something!" He got up from his chair so fast it nearly toppled to the ground. "I know the owner of this place well, so go ahead and get whatever you want. Tell him to put it on my tab!" He said quickly before picking up his large bag and bolting out the door.
We watched him leave while Luffy grabbed another apple. Nami peered out the door curiously, "What's going on? What was with his hurrying?"
I nodded. "From what I can tell, it has something to do with that mansion we saw. I don't mean to betray Usopp's trust so quickly after we met him, but I see that mansion as the only way we can acquire a new ship. He was right about this place being but a small village." It wasn't my job to tell us what to do, so I turned to Luffy. He was captain after all, and I was more comfortable working under orders in the shadows. "What do you say we do, Luffy?"
He frowned and patted his stomach, "Usopp said we could get whatever we wanted and to stay away from that place. Until I get a reason not to go there, I'm going to eat!" He laughed and stood up so the old man at the counter could see him. "Ossan, some more of everything!"
Nami's eye twitched, but I shrugged and sat back. I had no opinion either way for getting a new ship, so I was perfectly fine with sitting back for now.
About ten minutes later the owner of the restaurant came back and started piling food onto the table. The sight of such a wide spread made my stomach growl. I picked up a fork and speared a juicy-looking steak. 'It wouldn't hurt to eat a little.' I acquiesced. 'After all, Usopp said he knew the owner well and Luffy's already ordered all this stuff. What's the harm of it?'
Suddenly all the food on the table disappeared and I blinked several times to assure myself what I saw was in fact, real. Even the steak on my fork was nowhere to be found. "Wha-... Ju-... Luffy?! I was going to eat that!"
He turned to me and made an inquisitive noise while chewing. "It looked like you weren't going to finish it."
My fingers twitched and I had to restrain myself from throttling him. "I was hungry you idiot!"
Zoro looked at me. "Why didn't you eat before then? Luffy was occupied with Usopp."
"I didn't know he had such a nice relationship with the owner of this fine establishment, so I didn't want to burden the sniper with having to pay for another person atop whatever Luffy scarfed down."
He grunted and raised his mug to his lips, "Your loss then."
I was going to retort but was cut off by the door bursting open and a few voices chorusing, "The Usopp Pirates are here!"
The owner just shuffled his newspaper and grumbled under his breath like old men tend to do.
Nami leaned out of her seat to get a better look at the commotion, "What's going on?"
The three boys approached the table with wooden swords raised high and confused looks on their faces. They came level to where Luffy sat and the one with the dark green hair waved his sword around. "Hey, what have you pirates done with Captain Usopp?"
Luffy finished drinking from his mug and set it down with a content sigh. "That was some good meat!" He said, patting his slightly distended stomach.
The kids flinched back, "M-Meat?! Don't tell me the captain was…"
A smile grew on Nami's face and she stifled a laugh. I closed my eyes and inwardly sighed. The kids seriously thought we ate Usopp? I couldn't understand how people could be so dumb. At their age I was prowling through the forest and being taught how to move so as to not crunch the leaves underfoot with my Tou-san. What's with these people and being so innocent?
Then again, I didn't exactly have the most normal childhood, according to what Zen said once I told him of my previous life.
The shadows seemed to gather around Zoro as he relaxed with a hand propping his head up, looking rather evil. The Usopp pirates held onto one another tightly. "What have you done?!" The one with the green hair, It seems he was the spokesman, asked.
"You captain…" Zoro started, shadowing his face and grinning like a madman. "Was eaten!"
I crossed my arms and huffed. If they really wanted to do this to the kids, then I'd play along.
"Luffy still didn't let me eat my steak." I turned to the kids. "I had to settle for Usopp, see. Do you know how stringy he was? There was just about no meat on him!"
The kids turned to each of us, horrified, then looked at the only person who hadn't spoken. They all pointed at Nami and freaked out. "AHH! Onibaba!"
"Why are you looking at me!" She roared. The three fell to the floor, shell-shocked. "You guys are being stupid!"
"Not so funny now, is it Nami?"
"Shut up Andoru!"
Zoro and Luffy started to laugh at the kids on the floor while I picked up my mug to take a drink.
Eventually everyone settled down after I explained that, no, we didn't eat their captain, and that he just said he had somewhere to be. Once they were done panicking over the sniper Luffy asked where could be found this time of the day. Nami swiftly followed up with asking the boys what they knew about the mansion on the hill.
The Usopp Pirate with the round head and sandy hair grinned widely. "We can actually show you both, if you want. They're both in the same place!"
Then the kids dashed out of the odd restaurant named 'Food' and we were forced to leave the table to catch up.
[l]
We were led up the hill to where the fenced-off estate was, the kids chattering the whole way. The hedges and ornate fencing gave me no pause, whereas the others took a moment to marvel the scenery. It's not that the manor wasn't impressive, which it was, but I was more interested in why Usopp would be coming to such a well-off house.
Luffy whistled, "Wow… It's huge!"
The one with the sandy hair, whose name I learned was Tamanegi, turned to face us and said "If you can't find Captain around this time, then he's usually around here."
Luffy scratched his head, still looking at the large house. "What does he come here for?"
The Usopp Pirate with purple hair and the orange cap, Ninjin, put his hands behind his head and spoke without a care in the world. "To tell lies."
Nami put her hands on her hips and leaned forward, "That's not something he should do!" She scolded. I 'accidentally' let a snort of laughter out at her of all people reprimanding them for lying, which turned into innocent coughing at her glare.
Piiman, the green-haired Usopp Pirate, spread his arms. "There's nothing wrong with that." He turned to Tamanegi, "It's different, right?"
"Yeah, it's different!"
"What does that mean?" Zoro asked, finally tearing his eyes off the mansion.
Ninjin started the story of how the girl living here in the mansion was very weak from her depression after her parents died. Her name was Kaya, and nothing could be done to cheer her up. Tamanegi picked up here with how Usopp comes up to the mansion just to make up lies so Kaya could be happy. Piiman finished off with how Usopp's ability to lie was apparently first-class.
"Ah, so he's a good guy?" Luffy questioned. All three kids nodded with big smiles.
Ninjin grinned wider and said, "I like how he's always meddling in other people's business!"
"I like how he overreacts!" Piiman said.
Tamanegi curled up his fists excitedly, "I like how he lies!"
Still leaned forward, Nami asked if Kaya had cheered up at all. The three looked at each other and spoke at the same time. "Yes!"
Luffy lifted a fist in the air, "Good! Let's go in and ask her for a ship!" He announced.
Piiman scratched his head, "But getting in is impossible, though. There's always these big guards standing at the gate."
I laughed gently, "I don't think that will be much of a problem." I said, pointing at the fence. "Look." Luffy had already scaled the fence and was preparing to do… something.
"Let's have a look." He said, leaning back and stretching all the way down to the ground. "Gomu-Gomu no…"
The kids all screamed and held one another at the sight of Luffy's Devil Fruit ability. While they were bunched up, I scooped them up into my arms and dumped them onto Luffy's chest. "He's going to catapult us in there." I informed the other two Strawhats who quickly joined in the Luffy-dogpile.
"Sorry to Intrude!"
The tension in Luffy's limbs sent them flying upward and I was impressed at the height they managed to get from nothing but rubber-powered stupidity. "...Nice." My approval faded into chagrin when I noticed their trajectory carrying them clean over the house and to the backyard. I sighed and placed my hands on the ground, easily finding the grass's roots and feeling if the network extended all the way back there. When I found out it did, I sunk into the ground and made my way to where I hoped they would land, passing underneath the fence and all the guards Piiman was so worried about.
I got there around the same time everyone else landed on the ground. Purely for dramatic effect, I waited until they all got to their feet before emerging from the roots. I gave a mischievous grin and wiggled my fingers in greeting.
Nami smacked me upside the head, "You could have done that the whole time?!" She screeched.
"Just for me," I said. "There wasn't any use in taking the Luffy-slingshot when I could've gotten here in the same amount of time with less pain."
"Successful entry!" Luffy said from where he was laying.
"A...are you alright?" I heard a timid voice ask. We looked up at the window from where the voice came and I saw a very pale blonde girl leaning out the window across from where Usopp was sitting in a tree. She wasn't as colorless as my skin, but normal people definitely aren't supposed to have that pallor.
Let it be known that Usopp is a fast-thinker because he immediately put his hands up to placate the girl. "It's alright. They heard how great of a pirate I was and came over to join the Usopp Pirates!"
"No, that's not it." Luffy said, securing his hat more firmly on his head as he stood up. "We have a favor to ask you."
The girl looked slightly taken aback, "A favor? From me?" I felt pressure on the grass far behind us, someone is coming.
"Yes, we want a large ship-" Luffy started.
He was cut off by another voice. This one was rather haughty as was the man who bore it. "You there! What are you doing here?"
We turned to see a pasty man in a full tuxedo stalking up to us. He had a stern, angular face and round glasses. He made a flamboyant gesture and pushed up his glasses with his palm, which did nothing to distract me from the fact that it looked like he had the image of golden poop hand-stitched into either side of his suit coat.
I eyed his face for a moment, wondering why he looked so familiar. Then it hit me. I had seen this face not too long ago. It was hanging in the Marine Captain Morgan's office, and that face was in the poster of a dead man. Whether this person actually was Captain Kuro, or just a lookalike, I'm not taking any chances. He was a dangerous man when he was still 'alive'. It was sad that he hadn't even bothered to change his appearance that much because he still had that stupid oily greenish hair gel.
A sleek green throwing knife grew from my wrist and detached to land gently between my fingers, hidden in the palm of my hand. Any wrong move from the man towards the Strawhat Pirate crew, and I would put this knife right into his trachea. No time for him to move, and no regrets on my part.
Kaya whispered the man's name to herself, but the wind took the sound away.
"You're trespassing," He nudged his glasses up again, "and causing trouble here."
Usopp tensed up in his tree.
Luffy peered at Kuro, "Who is this guy?"
Kaya gripped the windowsill while Usopp slid around the trunk of the tree. "Excuse them Klahadore, these people-"
"You don't have to tell me." The man said, cutting his young charge off. "I will listen to your explanation later." He turned back toward us. "As for now, I'd like if all of you would leave at once. Or do you have something to bring to my attention?"
Luffy smiled, happy to have found someone to talk to. "Yeah, we'd like to get a ship…"
"Absolutely not!" 'Klahadore' barked, once more pushing his glasses up.
Luffy slumped down and Zoro put a hand on his shoulder as the man looked up at the tree. "Usopp-kun." He called. I felt the sniper grip the tree tighter in response, then start to shimmy back into view. "I hear rumors of you often. You're pretty famous aren't you?"
The sniper chuckled as he brought an arm around a stubborn branch to haul himself to his feet. "Really?"
Kaya looked away sadly, as if she knew what was going to happen.
The finely-dressed man continued, "So, you've faced much danger before, that's really something at your age."
Usopp gave a cocky grin as he leaned up against the tree, "You can call me 'Captain Usopp!' That'll help spread my name around."
Klahadore lowered his head with a slight grin, hiding his triumph from Usopp. "Captain, eh? I've even heard stories about your father." The way he said 'stories' made it seem like an insult. Usopp grit his teeth and glared at the man. Kaya called down to stop him, but he continued undeterred. "You're just the son of a low-class pirate!" He said.
I saw Luffy lift his head from his slump, watching the proceedings with a serious face unlike the joviality he was expressing earlier.
"Although I doubt anything you'd do would surprise me, could you please get down from there and stop bothering our ojousama?"
"You called my father low-class?" Usopp snarled. The name of a man he idolized was being sullied and he would not let that slide.
Klahadore humphed and pushed his glasses up. "You come from a completely different world than our ojousama. What is it that you want? Money? How much does it cost to make you go away?"
"That's enough Klahadore!" Kaya shouted from her window. "Apologize to Usopp-san at once!"
The man leveled a stern look to Kaya, "Why should I apologize to a barbaric man such as he, ojousama? I'm only speaking the truth." He turned to Usopp to continue raking him over the coals. "You must be filled with so much anger toward your idiotic father who abandoned you and your mother to go look for treasure! As a pirate!"
The sniper in the tree looked furious, "You bastard! You'd better stop insulting my father!" He shouted, jumping down from the tree limb with the help of a small grappling hook. His fists were clenched in anger as he made the landing and stepped forward in front of the Strawhats.
There was a smug little smile on the face of 'Klahadore,' "Why are you so agitated?" He laughed. "It's times like these that you should just do what you do best: lie. Just say you have nothing to do with your father, or he's not really your birth father."
Usopp's face turned red and he bolted at the man, swinging a fist that made solid connection with Klahadore's face. The man tumbled to the ground and Kaya gasped. The young, impressionable Usopp Pirates called after the sniper.
"See?" The man who I'm certain now is really Kuro in disguise, asked as he pushed himself up from the ground. "His first response is to become violent. No wonder they say 'Like father, like son.'"
"Shut up!" Usopp said, "I'm proud that my father is a pirate! Being a brave warrior of the sea is something to be proud of! It's true that I'm just a plain old liar, but I've got the blood of a pirate in me! That kind of honor isn't something that can be imitated!"
Kuro chuckled, "Pirates are the warriors of the sea, eh? You're pretty naïve to think like that, but this only proves that you have the filthy blood of a pirate within you. You like to lie and resort to violence whenever you get upset. The only reason you're here is to get on ojousama's good side to get her wealth!"
"What are you saying?! I-"
"Whether or not you have an ulterior motive, just the fact that your father is a pirate is proof enough!" Kuro said. Usopp moved in close to grab at the man and lifted a fist to hit him again.
'And this is where I step in…'
Long vines wrapped around both men and forcefully separated them both, thickening into sturdy branches. The men made noises of surprise as they each lost balance and were supported only by my constructs. "Some of us who sail these seas come from noble blood before they become pirates. I would know." I say as I approach them. "Even among the pirates, there are those who are respected and looked up to as rulers. We all know of Gol D. Roger, do we not? He could tell any pirate to do something, and I would be willing to wager a great deal that they would follow his orders to the letter. The world we know now hates him, but he was the King of all pirates when he was alive, dying to the marines only because he wanted to."
I stepped up to them until I was between Usopp and Kuro. "Take another great pirate, 'Red-Hair' Shanks. He is very famous as a 'criminal,' but he too, is a nobleman among pirates." I smiled at Kuro. "Would you like to guess who is on Shanks' crew? You should know this already, Klahadore. It has to do with the man you were mocking out as barbaric."
The man leveled a glare at me, "Nobility of a pirate still carries the dirty blood of a pirate! Who are you to defend this wretch of a bastard child?"
I grinned and leaned in, "Nobility, Kuro." I whispered so only he could hear. "I am nobility, final vestige, and heir to an ancient people from before the World Government erased history. Who are you? A man too afraid of being a pirate who hatches a plan to fake their death. To serve a sick little girl with lots of money. Pathetic. You're not worthy to lick the dirt from beneath Usopp's boots. I know who you are, and I won't hesitate to expose you to the entire island before killing you just to protect the 'bastard child'."
I let go of Kuro and stepped back, turning to Usopp. "What do you say Usopp, want to take another swing at him? He did insult your father after all." I said, standing back and giving him free reign. The vines dropped off of the long-nosed pirate and he cracked his knuckles, only to be halted by Kaya.
"Please, don't hit him Usopp-san! Klahadore isn't really a bad person… He's only doing it to protect me." She said from her window. Usopp's clenched fist slowly loosed, and it dropped to his side. "Please let him go, Green-san. He's only a harmless butler. He doesn't even like to hurt flies!"
I turned to Kaya and gave a bow before letting Kuro go. The pirate-acting-butler tumbled clumsily to the ground in a practiced motion that looked just too perfect to be real. "As you wish, ojousama. I am only protecting a friend of Captain Luffy's. I mean no insult."
From the ground, the man glared at the assembled group, "Get out of here! Don't ever come back to this place!"
Usopp gave Kuro one more nasty look before pushing past him, "Yeah, I get it. I won't come back. You can count on that."
With Usopp out of the picture, 'Klahadore' turned to the rest of us. "All of you must leave at once!" He ordered loudly.
I raised my chin in a challenging manner, but had no choice but to follow after my captain when he decided to leave. "This isn't over." I whisper to him with a wicked grin as I pass by.
[l]
We decided to stop walking by the side of the road. Somewhere along the way, Luffy and Tamanegi managed to disappear, but the kid lived here and I had faith in Luffy's ability to beat any enemy on this island. As it was, I could easily find them as long as they were touching the root network of the island. Unless the villagers here dug a wall extending at least twenty feet underground and cut themselves off completely from the plant life, I don't see a way I could lose him.
I hope.
He's annoyingly slippery.
I'm not the only person to have noticed Luffy's absence either. "Hey, where'd Luffy go?" Nami asked.
Zoro answered her from the ground he was relaxing on "Who knows? Probably went after the other 'captain'."
The kids piped up from where they were also seated. "He's probably at his spot!" Piiman chirps. "He always goes there when he's upset! You wanna check it out?"
Zoro hardly spares them a glance before closing his eyes again. "Nah." He denies.
"Hey, where's the last one of you anyway?" Nami asks. "There are three of you and he's gone."
"Ah. Tamanegi!" They chorus. "He always disappears then comes back a little later running and screaming."
As if on cue, the onion-headed youngster comes up running and screaming incoherently about a strange man walking backwards. The others must have been able to translate because Piiman and Ninjin immediately called him a liar. "It's the truth!" He shrieks, pointing down the road. "Just look!"
Sure enough, a frighteningly thin man was walking backwards down the road while holding his hat down over his eyes. He turned to face us and I winced. He wasn't as ugly as the Mad Bomber, but he tried. There were red heart-shaped shades over his eyes, he had almost no nose and a blocky face. As if he ran out of skin and needed to make his head extra skeletal. His outfit didn't clash, and he wouldn't have looked that strange if not for the socks stretching over his green pants. And his face of course.
All things considered, I'd seen worse.
"Alright then, watch this ring closely."
Huh? Oh. I blanked out again. I've got to stop doing that.
He swung the sharply-bladed ring on a string in front of the kids. "Okay, when I say 'One, Two, Jango!' You'll feel sleepy. Here we go. One… Two… Jango!"
All three kids collapsed bonelessly to the dirt as well as the hypnotist himself. All four were caught in his trick and were snoring away in sync.
"What's with this guy?!" Zoro asked irritatedly.
Not being there for most of the conversation, I shrugged.
Eventually, the man got up from his daze and started moonwalking again. "Ask again later for another performance." He said as a farewell. He left us all while muttering something about not closing his eyes for the hypnotism.
I joined Zoro on the ground once the man was gone. "He was a strange one." I say. "Not very bright, but appearances can be deceiving." I turn to Nami. "Ne, Nami-san. Do you mind waking me up from my nap once something interesting happens? I didn't get much sleep and I'd much appreciate catching up."
She turned away with her arms crossed. "Fine." She grumped.
[l]
"Captain!"
I jumped up from my cat nap just in time to watch Usopp barrel past us with a determined and grim look on his face. My bow was out and an arrow was on the string before I had time to assess the situation. There was a certain amount of physical restraint I had to use to not loose the arrow at the teen who startled me awake like that.
We all watched him run past. Nami leaned forward on the fence she was perched on. "D'you think he's still angry about his father getting insulted?"
I let my arrow slide back to rest position, reabsorbing the wood used to make it. "No… the look on his face pointed to something else. He's not mad at the insults, but I'd say he at least found out some of the truth."
"Truth?" Nami asked, wary of any kind of hidden information I might have suddenly found. "What do you mean?"
I debated answering before deciding that Usopp had really discovered Kuro's identity based off of the urgency with which he ran away and the face he was making. I think he knew, so I supposed the cat was out of the bag, so to speak. "Klahadore is not all who he seems. If you remembered the picture hanging up in Morgan's office, you'd see that the pirate in the picture was the exact same man that told us to get out of Kaya's mansion. You may argue that he was just a lookalike, but his ability to manipulate Usopp into a blind rage coupled with the agility he showed when I dropped him points to something much more than a humble butler. In fact, his name is Kuro."
"Where's the coast you three were talking about?" demanded Zoro to the kids.
The three completely ignored him. "Hey, something must have happened at the coast for him to have a face like that!" They said to each other.
"I know that!" The swordsman barked. "Just tell me how to get there!"
The kids nodded to each other and bolted off down the road with each of us in hot pursuit. "It's not far!" Ninjin said over his shoulder. "Just through the forest a bit, then we'll reach a cliff. That's where he goes when he's feeling sad."
I easily pulled ahead of them with my long strides and inhuman strength. "If it's just past the forest and hits a cliff then I can get there faster than any of us. I can travel through the tangles of roots and pop up where the closest plant rises above the ground."
Zoro, being second in command, was in charge of the crew when Luffy wasn't around so he was the one who needed to approve of the order before I just ran off. Luckily he wanted to find Luffy and easily okayed the plan. "Go! We need to find Luffy."
"Don't wait up for me!"
I spotted a nice old oak to run headfirst into and I was greeted by the vision of the world in black and white as I sunk seamlessly into it. The rest of the group made surprised sounds but I paid them no heed. I would explain later if they wanted me to but I had my orders to find the Captain.
Using the powers given to me by the Torio Mokuzai no Mi to find the cliffs at the edges of the root network was all too easy. Unluckily for me, there were two possible places that could qualify as the place the kids were talking about. One place where the roots ended at a cliff was at the North side of the island, and the other was on the South side. Since we were approximately in the middle of the island I decided to go to the North first.
I emerged from a tree overlooking a sandy white beach and to my surprise, a dark ship with a scaly design on the hull and a forest-green sail was snarling back at me from where it was moored in the sand. 'The Dragon? What's it… Ah, this is where we came from.' I thought. 'I'll have to tell the others about the second cliff once we meet up. I need to find Luffy first though.'
I pushed myself all the way out of the tree and did a careful search of the area. Seeing no Luffy in the higher-up section of the cliff, I jumped the entire distance down to the beach. I landed with a spray of sand and scanned very closely for any of the colors associated with Luffy.
Again seeing nothing I took my bow off my back, nocked an arrow with a rope trailing behind it, and fired at the tree I'd come from. Checking the entire area of the Northern cliff took an annoyingly long five minutes, which weren't exactly wasted but I still wasn't happy with choosing the wrong cliff first. Before I knew it I was off and into the root network again. I knew the destination this time so the travel time was cut down considerably.
There was the pressure of five pairs of feet on the grass once I got closer. Six smaller shoes, a pair of heels and the heavy feeling of an adult male in boots. I surged from the plantlife and looked immediately to Zoro before they could comment on my lateness. "There's a second cliff just like this one on the North side of the island. It's where The Dragon is moored, but Luffy wasn't there. Orders?"
He simply pointed down to where the cliff flattened out to a rock face. "No need to look for him any more. We found Luffy."
I followed his finger to find the teen sprawled out in his head all the way at the bottom of the cliff. "Well then." I say. "He should be fine. A drop like that shouldn't hurt him unless he landed on a sharp rock or something. From what I see from here that path has been worn smooth by the water. Nothing sharp to poke holes in our rubber captain."
We quickly made our way down the precarious cliffs and I only had to save Tamanegi twice from falling to his death and Piiman and Ninjin both once before deciding to lash them to my back. Other than that there wasn't any incident on our small trip down the cliff to where Luffy was lying. The kids were a little frightened to approach him but I walked right up and poked his butt with my bow.
"Yo, Luffy. What are you doing here? Get up. Now isn't the time to be scaring the kids with your apparent death." I say.
He snored in response.
"I know you're tired, but you need to wake up. They're looking at me like I'm weird now." His fingers twitched. "Yes, all the way Luffy. You still have to help Usopp-san save the village from the big bad pirate."
With a mighty yawn and a sunny grin, the rubber pirate rolled over into a sitting position. "Man, what a great nap!" He announced as if he wasn't awake when I first poked him… Or he actually was sleeping and I made a fool of myself.
I glanced at Zoro who was looking at me strangely to confirm my suspicions. I closed my eyes in resignation then turned around with a warm smile like nothing had happened. "See? He's fine!"
Nami rushed past me and knelt next to Luffy, "Hey, did you see Usopp? He ran by like he had to do something really badly."
Luffy fixed his hat upon his head and nodded, staring into the distance. "Yeah, but I didn't see him leave. There was this weird guy with a circle on a string that made me sleepy, so I took a nap." Ah, that must've been that hypnotist we saw on the road. I had a feeling there was something wrong with him when he first shuffled by. "He met up with that butler guy and it turns out they're both pirates. The butler guy was someone named Kuro and the circle guy is going to lead a pirate crew into the village and kill Kaya."
I narrowed my eyes. "Why would he do that? He's already out from beneath the Marines' notice after the faking of his own death."
Luffy put a hand to his chin, "He said something about making an accident and stealing her money in a won't."
"A will." I corrected. "So that's why. Kuro is nothing but a coward and wants to take a defenseless girl's money so he can live a 'peaceful' life." I shook my head. "He's a terrible pirate."
Suddenly, the three Usopp Pirate kids ran off shouting about having to save important stuff from the pirates and having to make a run for it. We peered off after them but I decided it would be for the best to let them go. Having the kids out of the way of danger is the best thing for their livelihoods with the current situation.
Nami gasped, "Oh no! If we don't help her then we'll never get to talk to her about a new ship!"
Luffy also gasped, "Crap! We need to get back to the restaurant before all the shop owners leave! If we don't get there fast there's not going to be any food left!"
Zoro smacked him with the sheath of one of his swords, "Now's not the time! Think about food later."
I crossed my arms. "Regardless, we have to meet up with Usopp and make a plan. This is his village we're saving after all We can't just go and not include him in any plans we make. Besides, he's a pretty good shot with that sling of his." I turned to Luffy, "What say you, Luffy."
He stood up and smacked a fist into an open palm. "Yosh! As captain, I say we go with what Doru said! Let's find Usopp and make a plan."
[l]
AN: That's a wrap for this one. I had to split this into two chapters because of how long it was getting. On a side note, I have no idea what the Japanese would be for 'Gum-Gum Sorry To Intrude'
Have no fear, I will be back with another chapter!
...Who knows how long that'll be...
The-Lancer-of-the-Sun
