Chapter 11: Chronicler

It was a beautiful day upon the Merry, the sun shining bright overhead as the waves rolled lightly against the ship. Usopp was tinkering with his hot sauce stars; Zoro was of course napping; Nami was arguing with a News Coo; Sanji was busy in the kitchen as he fought off a hungry Luffy; whilst I relaxed in the crow's nest, lying down with my arms crossed behind my head, feet tapping to the beat of The Islander by Nightwish. Taking a sip of my soda, I resumed chilling from my vantage point…that is until Usopp started running around the deck screaming his lungs out like a chicken with its head cut off.

"GYYYAAAHHH! IT BURNS IT BURNS IT BURNS!" He shouted in pain, flames shooting out of his eyes. Rolling my eyes, I hopped down to the aft deck where he ran in circles, and grabbing the deck-swabbing bucket, threw it into his face.

"IT BURNS IT BU-!"

*SPLASH*

"There you go…all better." I said smiling and putting my headphones back on as he yelled at me, spitting up the dirty water as he did so.

"(Hack) Did you have to use (Spit) the bucket water?" The sniper sputtered as he rung out his clothes, "It reeks!"

"It was that or throwing you into the ocean."

"You couldn't just go get a glass of tap water?"

"Too far."

"TOO FAR?"

"Would the both of you shut up?" Nami scolded us, rifling her newspaper and causing a small flyer-like paper to drift out. All eyes flew to it as it floated gently to the deck, and all began freaking out.

"AHAHAHA! I have a bounty!" Luffy shouted, holding up his wanted poster for all to see. "30,000,000 Beli!"

"The back of my head is wanted too!" Usopp gloated, shaking the water out of his overalls.

"I give it a week…maybe two if I slack off, before I get one." I chimed in. "Maybe…'God of Thunder'….or 'Storm Lion'…or…"

"or Delusional Idiot!" Nami shouted as she gave me a softball-sized bump on my head. "Who wants a bounty? That just means more trouble for us! Marines, bounty hunters…does any of that sound fun to you?"

"Super fun!" Luffy shouted in glee, spinning around on the Merry's head. "Alright, crew! We're going to the Grand Line!"

"Grand Line! Grand Line! Grand Line!" We all cheered, Usopp and Sanji dancing around as me and Luffy hollered, until a scrap heap of a Marine ship sail right past us. Poking my head over the railing, I saw it pull a 180 and began pursuing us. Smiling like a demon, I walked over to the other side of the Merry, the flotsam ship somehow catching right up to us and pulling alongside, a well-dressed man with light purple hair and two iron knuckle dusters on his hands began shouting. I was already focusing on the small spheres of electricity I was building up in my palms.

"Straw Hat Luffy! You are hereby under arrest! I, Lieutenant Iron Fist Fullbody, am taking you and your crew into custody!" Turning his head towards a crewman he shouted, "Open fire!"

"Tempest Bomb!" Throwing one sphere directly into the barrel of the cannon, it collided with the cannonball inside and created a massive explosion of flame and lightning. "And here's the second!" This one was aimed for their captain, detonating right on the rail in front of him and sending him reeling backwards to the other side of his ship.

"Dang…that all?" I taunted, turning up my music player and slipping into my fighting stance as Luffy hopped down from his seat with Usopp hiding behind Sanji. Several Marines rushed to their captain, helping him up, him shouting orders all the while.

"Don't just stand there! ATTACK!"

Yelling their battlecries, a dozen or so Marines leapt onto the Merry, swords at the ready. Zoro, having woken up from one of his comatose naps, joined me and Sanji in greeting them warmly as Luffy received a haymaker to his head from Fullbody. The first unlucky soldier was welcomed with a roundhouse kick to his neck, the second uppercutted to the chin. Two Marines leapt at me, slashing diagonally, but only hitting air.

"Blitzkrieg" And there I was behind them, grabbing the back of their heads, "Electric Eel". The two of them slumped in my hands, eyes glazed and smoke coming out of their mouths as I chucked them back onto their ship.

"What…what the hell is that waiter doing here?" Their cowardly commander shrieked as Sanji stood before him. Screaming like a little girl, he jumped into the sea to escape.

"Awww….no fun at all if they run away…" I grumbled, the Marines swimming for their lives.

"Everyone! Come here!" Nami shouted, and when all had gathered, she placed a small map upon the ground. "We're getting close to the Grand Line, and the only way there is through Reverse Mountain."

"What a pain in the ass…can't we just enter through the sea?" Zoro griped.

"Nope." I interjected as I stepped forward, "Going through the Calm Belt is out of the question."

"Why?" Usopp chimed in.

"Unless you wanna fight through where the Sea Kings make their nests and breed…I'd recommend Reverse Mountain." After that, Usopp turned blue with fear and sealed his lips.

"Before that, we should stop and get some meat!" Luffy stated abruptly.

"We'll stop here," Pointing at a small island on the map, Nami continued, "This is the famous city, Loguetown."

"Famous for meat?" Luffy cocked his head in question.

"It's known as the City of the Beginning and the End…" Zoro chimed in, not even sitting up from his position.

"It was where Gold Roger was born and where he was executed." I said.

"The birthplace…and the final place…of the most powerful man in the world…I wanna see it!" Luffy saying this as he rose up.

Turning to Luffy, I spoke, "And they say that there is a Marine captain there who catches all pirates who land there…so we need to be careful Luffy." Turning to walk back into the cabin, I looked for something to do…spending hours upon a pirate ship tended to wear on my boredom.

It wasn't until I rummaged around where a large shelf of books were kept that I found something interesting, after sorting through numbers of Nami's navigational encyclopedias, Sanji recipe books, and Usopp's tall tales that I found a large leather-bound tome, a small buckle clasping the two ends together. Written in bold upon the face was a single word…'Logbook'. Undoing the clasp I opened it, thousands of blank pages fluttered back as I flipped through to the front, and finally seeing text I began reading. It began where Nami had first encountered Luffy in Orange Town, and I read for what seemed only a few minutes, as only 24 pages of text covered what had happened in Syrup Village and most of the Baratie…it lasted to the point where Luffy had become a busboy there…and abruptly stopped.

"Huh…they must've not yet recorded what had happened on Commi Island…" I thought, closing the book and setting it down, I began to walk away until I noticed the cluster of pens and pencils sitting near the shelf. Picking up a few pens and the Log, I went back to the deck and pulled out a lawn chair to the aft, and began recalling the story, filling where Nami had stolen the Merry while under Johnny and Yosaku's watch, Luffy and Sanji fending off Krieg's pirates onboard the Baratie, Zoro's encounter with Mihawk, of his and Usopp's pursuit of Nami...all the while filling some pages with illustrated drawings of the crew and of our enemies.

It wasn't until I heard Sanji's calls for lunch a few hours later that I was broken out of my daydream-state of writing, having only gotten to where Zoro had defeated Hatchi. Taking the book with me, I heaved myself up and headed for the kitchen. Grabbing one of my sodas, I sat down next to my crew, in between Usopp and Nami, I took up a fork and began eating, a delicious noodle-based dish with various meats hiding within its sauced folds.

"Enjoying the Log?" Turning my head, I saw Nami picking up the Log and wave it front of me. "I forgot to write in it after defeating Ar…" Shifting through the pages, Nami had stumbled upon where I had drawn and written, her eyes filling with surprise as she took in every detail and word. "Have…have you been writing in this?"

"Yeah…" I replied, rubbing the back of my head, "Sorry, but I had to when I found it…"

"No…no…this is great! Look at how he drew us!" Flipping the book around and showing it to all, she spread it wide, revealing two illustrations of Nami on one side and Luffy on the other page.

"Awesome! You're good, Khurt!" Luffy chuckled, using the crew's distraction to snatch away food from the others' plates.

"Ooh! What a beautiful drawing of Nami-swan, though it pales in comparison to her loveliness!"

"I wanna see mine! Where's the great Captain Usopp?...Hey! My nose isn't THAT long!"

"Yeah…its longer." Zoro jeered, slapping away Luffy's outstretched hand.

"I had meant to write in it, but I got so busy on my maps…."Nami spoke up again, closing the book. "But it looks like you have it well in hand!"

As she handed it back to me, Usopp spoke up, "Yeah it is good! You should be our Chronicler!"

"Chronicler, huh?" I thought, rubbing my beard. It was then I stood up, striking a heroic pose with my foot on my chair, throwing my arm diagonally upward, finger extended. "I accept the job!...Damnit Luffy! Hands off my pop!"

End of Chapter

Khurt's Corner

Khurt loves to write and draw, ever since he was a kid. He currently has several stories back home…some even being fan fiction.

AN: Sorry it took so long to come out with a new chapter, but I was debating whether or not to have them actually land in Loguetown, so I instead decided to give Khurt a job onboard the Merry…perhaps not as crucial as Doctor or Navigator…but someone needs to write the legend of the future Pirate King. Keep the reviews coming!