A/N - Oh. My. God. It's been so damn long since I updated this. :/ I completely didn't realise until SkittlesKat review and pointed out it had been three months! You all have permission to kill me in what ever way you please. .' Anyway, this chapter has one of my other favourite characters in it! Da, da, daaa. Ace! Ace is cool. Fact. And he is, quite frankly, sex on legs. I mean, look at him! There will probably be tiny hints of a little crush thing going on between Shiroi and Ace but it won't lead anywhere, trust me. She loves Luffy... she just doesn't realise it yet...
Please keep reviewing guys! They help motivate me... believe it or not. Last chapter only got 2 but... hey, what can ya do? (apart from write better...) Anyway... ENJOY.
*Disclaimer* I do not, nor will I ever, own One Piece, any of the characters or anything. I only own my OC's and the made up places and e.t.c. I apologise if any of this material offends anyone. I assure you I didn't mean it to offend in any way, shape or form. This story may contain some coarse language.
Chapter 12 – Brother?
Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Zoro and I all headed back into town in hopes of finding Luffy. We checked all of the food stands only to see no sign of him. I even climbed up high to see if I could catch a scent of him. I easily jumped up the side of a wall and stood on the roof of a building and sniffed the wind. I couldn't smell Luffy anywhere. My nose was only filled with the smell of foods, spices and perfumes. It may have sounded like a nice combination but once piled all together it reeked. I sighed and pinched my nose closed before jumping down. I landed softly in the sand and ignored the few strange glances I received.
"Hey, c'mon! Let go you jerk!" Usopp screamed. I turned around from sniffing the air only to cock my head in confusion as I saw Nami dragging Usopp and Chopper by their collars. "We can live 1000 years for just 1000 bellies! Don't you get it?" I blinked at the odd scene but laughed in my mind. This was something I was fast getting used to. "Enough of your dumb talk. We have to find Luffy. We're done shopping, so we can leave for the next town as soon as we find him," Nami lectured to the struggling males. I turned around and walked back over to the others.
"I wonder where he ran off to," I said to Zoro who followed behind Nami, Chopper and Usopp.
He growled out, "He probably got lost." I smiled and giggled. That seemed like something Luffy would do. I continued walking until I realised Zoro wasn't walking anymore. I halted and looked back over my shoulder. The swordsman had frozen in the middle of the street, staring intently at something. "That guy..." Zoro whispered with a frown. Under the hood of my robes my ears twitched. That guy...? I wonder who he's talking about...
I suddenly heard a name that made us all stop and stare in the direction of an elderly lady. "Eh? Monkey D. Luffy?" Everyone froze. A tall man with jet black, slightly wavy, hair, an orange hat, knee length shorts and no top was stood in front of her holding a piece of ruffled paper. I guessed the paper was a wanted poster.
"There's a chance he's been in this town. I've been looking around here for a while now," the mysterious man explained. His voice was deep and rich. Under the fabric, my ears perked towards the stranger. There was something strangely familiar about the unique tattoo on his back. It was clear it was the jolly roger of the crew he belonged to, so he must have been a pirate. The skull had a long, banana shaped white moustache, with white, slanted eyes. A purple upright cross made of bones sat behind it.
The woman behind the stall peered at the paper one more time before looking at the man. "I've never seen him." She paused before snapping her fingers. "Oh, if you're looking for someone, maybe you should try the restaurant down the way. The master down there is well connected around town." The man retracted the poster and bowed politely.
"Thank you," he said, to which the lady nodded with a small smile on her face. "A restaurant huh?" the stranger said to himself. "I was getting hungry anyway." He turned and began to walk away down the street.
Once he had merged into the crowd, we all snapped out of our curiosity induced silence. "Who was that? He looked really, really strong," Chopper said in wonder. The figure of the man had now been totally swallowed up by the crowd. "And why's he looking for Luffy?" Usopp added, standing up and dusting off his clothes.
"A bounty hunter?" Nami suggested. I shrugged.
"Who knows, but I think we should find Luffy before he does." The man gave me a bad feeling. What did he want Luffy for? Just by looking at him I could tell he was powerful. He had a strong, muscled build and a level-headed disposition. I stared down the street, hoping to catch another glance. "No. He's not." We all looked at Zoro. He was frowning and staring down the street. "That mark," he whispered.
"Hm? Do you mean the tattoo on his back?" I asked. Zoro nodded.
"As a former pirate hunter, I can't mistake that mark," he answered. I opened my mouth to ask what mark it was but I stopped when I saw Zoro's face. He looked like he had seen a ghost. "It can't be... Oh, crap! That woman... Why is she here?" he cried. I blinked at him and followed his line of sight. A tall, blue haired woman was standing at a stall holding a sword. Was she the woman he was talking about?
"What woman?" I asked. I looked from her to Zoro, to her again. "Is it the blue haired one?" I asked, shielding my eyes from the sun in the hopes of getting a better look.
"No!" Zoro suddenly lunged sideways and shoved me behind a massive vase. He also scurried behind it and perched on his heels, peering ever so slightly round the edge. I stumbled back a bit but stayed standing. "What was that for?" I asked. How rude of him to just shove me.
"What are you doing Zoro?" Nami also asked, frowning at him.
"Why are you hiding?" Usopp asked.
"I think there's some ex-girlfriend or something over there," I teased, smirking as Zoro snapped his head back and hissed, "She's not my ex!"
I stifled a giggle while Zoro nervously crawled closer. A deep voice cut through the monotonous hum of the crowd and caught my attention, "A couple of pirate wanna-bees. They started mouthing off and dancing in front of me. I cleaned up their act." The voice belonged to a man with slick, grey hair. He had a gruff, powerful exterior and wore a fur lined jacket open with no top underneath, showing the world his chest. I could see the top of sword peek over his broad shoulders. In his mouth was a cigar – no, two cigars. I wrinkled my nose. Two at one time? That's hideously unhealthy. The others had now thrown themselves behind the pot and onto the sand. "Oh, no!" Usopp cried. I cocked my head slightly and stepped forward, wanting a better look.
"Who is it?" I managed to ask before a section of my cloaks was grabbed and yanked down roughly. I yelped like a puppy as I fell down. "Ow, what was that for?" I asked with a pout.
"Smoker... Wasn't he the Marine captain in Logue Town?" Nami asked, ignoring me. Smoker? I had no idea who this was but at least the name was... fitting.
"That means...! Could it be that he chased after us all the way from Logue Town?" Usopp cried. I blinked and realised that this must have been a foe from a previous adventure.
"Logue town..?" I whispered to myself.
Zoro continued, "Looks that way. And then there's that other guy we saw." The image of the tattoo from the man's back flashed through my mind. I recognised it somewhere deep in my memory. But my head spun trying to remember. "This is gonna get nasty. Where the hell is that idiot?" Zoro yelled.
Luffy had to be here somewhere. He couldn't have gotten far, and this wasn't the largest of towns. It was boarded on three sides by sweltering desert and then the sea on the other. Since Luffy couldn't swim and would have melted in the desert it was safe to say he had the common sense to avoid them. But, then again... this was Luffy... We had decided to head back to the others, who had remained with the supplies, and re-group before seriously setting out to search for out lost captain. We wuickly walked back through the crowds, people blurring past and the occaisional stall vender hoping out into our path, trying to sell his goods. We declined and carried on, focusing on finding Luffy. It was then that my ears twitched and pivoted to pick up a very faint echo. I halted and caught the attention of the others. "Hm? Shiroi, what is it?" Nami asked.
"Did you guys hear that?" I asked.
They looked to each other before Nami asked, "Hear what?" I strained my hearing but could hear anything else.
"I could have sworn I heard someone screaming the word, 'food'." Usopp sighed and sweat dropped.
"That sounds like something Luffy would say..."
"Where'd it come from?" Zoro asked, approaching me, ready to head in that direction. I bit my lip slightly and closed my amber eyes trying to replay the sound in my head.
"I... I'm not sure. It was echoing too much around the streets for me to accurately pinpoint the location."
"Let's just get back to Vivi and Sanji," Nami said, picking up the pace again. We all followed. "Then we can come back and check the whole town."
And so, that was our plan. It wasn't the best, but it was the most logical and easiest in the current situation. Ideally, I would have easily been able to sweep the town in my wolf form, but that wouldn't have gone down well with the locals. And, since the Marines appeared to be in town, a lot of trouble would have been kicked up. I sighed and instead tried to find of other efficient ways of hunting down Luffy. My mind drew blanks.
We arrived back to the secluded hiding spot. Sanji spotted us from a distance and waved. "Oi, oi, there's bad news," Usopp said as we approached. "We have to leave right away. This place has bad vibes." Vivi frowned with concern.
"Bad vibes?"
I nodded and added, "And the Marines are here." Vivi gasped and Sanji tightened his hold on his lit cigarette.
"The Marines?" Vivi cried.
"And this strange guy too," Chopper added.
"Let's find Luffy as fast as we can and get out of this town," Nami sighed. Things were getting from bad to worse. It was then that Zoro shoved me – for the second time today – behind the remaining chunk of brick wall. "Quick, hide!" he ordered in a hushed voice. Everyone complied and ducked behind the bricks. The sound of many footsteps were fast approaching us, along with the shouts of men. I crouched low to the sand and peeked my head over the wall just enough to be able to see a large crowd of Marines pass by. "Marines," I reported to the others.
"They're making a lot of noise over something," Usopp added, popping up beside me.
"They certainly look like they're in a rush," I said, watching the sand they had kicked up disperse in the breeze.
"It's probably just some dumbass pirate running around the place," Sanji commented from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and shared the same look with everyone.
"A dumbass pirate?" we all asked in perfect unison. The crew seemed to be very good at synchronizing. That sounds exactly like Luffy... No offence.
Zoro stood up a little as more shouts approached again. Zoro suddenly flinched and shouted, "IT'S YOU?" I snapped my gaze away from the others and looked forward.
"Eh? Luffy!" I cried, a grin lighing up my face. Finally, we had found him! Or rather, he found us. Luffy skidded to a halt and grinned over at us.
"Yo, Zoro. Whoa, everyone's there as well." Next thing, Luffy had begun charging over, obviouly happy to find his crew, but forgetting there was a hoard of Marines right on his tail. "IDIOT! Don't come here until you've lost them!" Zoro shouted, but the order fell on deaf ears.
"Great... he's leading them here. What do we do now?" I asked, sweat dropping.
"Our only option is to run," Nami sighed, picking up a sack of supplies. Vivi managed to carry one a little awkwardly.
"We have to hurry and get to the ship," she added. I nodded and picked up the last two sacks with a little difficulty. They were heavy and I had to carry them one under each arm. Sanji also carried two, as did Chopper. Usopp held a barrel of liquid (which made his knees tremble from the strain) and Zoro slung a couple of sacks over his shoulder.
Luffy zoomed past us and called back, "What's taking you so long? Let's get going." I sighed but grinned and took after our captain, running a little awkwardly. The others followed closely and together the crew began sprinting towards the ship's location, followed by the Marines. I ran alongside Luffy, grinning like an idiot. The excitement had gotten to me. Luffy looked back and shrieked, "Ah, he caught up with me!" I looked back also and saw the Marine captain, Smoker, had joined the chase and a fist was flying towards us, leaving a billowing trail of smoke behind it. Was that his ability? Could he control smoke? The fist drew closer but it was suddenly stopped by a ball of fire.
We all skidded to a halt as the fire and smoke collided, swirling to make a fiery mix. The heat radiated off the flames and made my head spun. The glow from the flames lit our awed faces up. Immediately I began looking for the one responsible for such a powerful attack. My eyes scanned the area before landing on a figure who athletically jumped down and landed in the calming fire. "Whoa..." I gasped. It was the mysterious man from before and he himself was on fire. But it was in no way harming him.
"You again..," Smoke ground out. The mysterious man smirked.
"Give it up. You may be smoke but I'm fire. With our abilities, a fight would be pointless," his rich voice reached my ears and made them twitch. His voice was soothing but commanded respect. I liked it.
"A guy with Devil's fruit ability?" Zoro asked in awe.
Usopp stuttered out, "Who the hell is he? Why is he helping us?" He was definitely a pirate for him to be attacking Marines like this.
"Ace!" I looked back to see Luffy staring at the man, his jaw open wide. Is that his name? Ace? It sounds familiar from somewhere...
"You never change Luffy," 'Ace' chuckled, grinning over his shoulder at Luffy. I blinked and looked between the two. They clearly knew each other.
"Ace! It's Ace! You ate a devils fruit?" Luffy gushed, a massive grin spreading across his rubber face.
"Yeah, the mera mera fruit," Ace answered. "Anyway, we can't talk like this. I'll catch you up later! You guys run for it. I'll keep these guys busy. GO!" Ace ordered and we followed. Luffy nodded and shouted, "Let's go!" We didn't need to be told twice.
Again, we were charging off. I stole glances over my shoulder, trying to watch as much as the battle as I could. Fire... what an awesome power! "Wait, Luffy!" Nami shouted as we ran. "Just who was that?"I looked at our captain and saw the massive smile he held.
"Is he someone you know, Luffy-san?" Vivi also asked. I remained silent and waited patiently for Luffy's answer that I was itching to know.
Luffy chuckled, "Yeah. He's my brother."
...
Luffy's... brother?
All of us were thinking the same thing. How was he Luffy's brother? This was so un-expected and had rendered all of us speechless. So we all ran through the streets, zooming past staring locals in silence. My mind was spinning with this new information. Luffy has a brother? Though, I never did ask about family... But then, the two have little resemblance between them...
We slowed to a halt and looked behind us, up into the sky. A massive, sweltering fire ball infused with murky smoke had risen in air. It was an awesome sight. I stared blankly at the sheer power Ace had displayed. "What do you think is happening?" Chopper asked.
"A battle between fire and smoke," I answered softly, grinning up at the fire.
"He said he ate the Mera Mera fruit," Zoro added, the orange glow of the fire highlighting his face.
"But Luffy, is that true? Is that guy really your brother?" Nami asked incredulously.
Luffy laughed and answered simply while gazing up at his brother's work, "Yeah. He's Ace."
"Well I'm not surprised you have a brother... But what's he doing on the Grand Line?" Zoro asked, straight down to details.
"Ace is a pirate. He left our island three years before me in search of One Piece." This didn't surprise me. I had already came to the conclusion that Ace was a pirate. The mark on his back was still at the back of my mind, begging to be remembered. Nami decided we had spent long enough staring up at the fire. "A-Anyway, let's hurry back to the ship. We should get out of here before they come after us." We all followed her orders and carried on running.
"Right, Nami-swan," Sanji cried obediently. I faced forwards as we ran, reeling the heat nipping at my heels even from this distance.
"But I never thought I'd meet Ace in a place like this," Luffy commented to himself. I heard it and looked sideways at him.
"Your brother... he sure is strong," I complimented, earning a grin from Luffy.
"Yup, especially now he has a Devil fruit power!" I now joined Luffy in running backwards, preferring it to staring transfixed over my shoulder. Now I could fully take in the scene as it played before us like a play. From behind us I heard Usopp calling, "Oi, the road splits up!"
"Usopp go left. Everyone agree?" I faintly heard Nami shouting. I barely registered it. Instead, I stared with Luffy at the fire and smoke. It had risen higher in the sky now, twisting and twirling together, the two different elements mixing in an unstoppable mass. I saw Luffy move left out of the corner of my eyes and followed. Suddenly on my right a row of stalls appeared and I was glad I moved when I did.
"Awesome, the pillar keeps getting bigger!" Luffy cried with glee. A grin was plastered on his face and he had shielded his eyes with his free hand (the other was clenching a barrel) in order to see better. "I wonder how much higher it will go before it explodes or something," I added, interested to see the outcome. I then managed to tear my eyes away from the fire ball long enough to switch to running forward again.
But I froze.
Somehow, Luffy and I had ended up in a deserted alleyway with none of the crew around us.
Oh, dear.
"Err... Luffy," I said whilst stopping. He continued running so I snatched the collar of his vest and pulled him to a stop.
"Hm?" he asked in confusion. He was stood in front of me so I placed my hand on the top of his head – being mindful of his treasured hat – and turned his head to look behind him. His body followed and he stared silently at the long alleyway in silence. "Eh?" he cried as it finally dawned on him. He looked about, perhaps thinking the others were hiding and ready to jump out and scream, "Got ya!", but no such thing happened. Luffy dropped the barrel upright in the middle of the narrow passage and perched himself atop it.
"That's strange...Why are we the only ones here? Where did they go?" he asked innocently. I sighed and shook my head.
"It's not where did they go, it's where did we go," I replied. "We've somehow managed to get lost." I stepped back and dropped the two sacks I had been lugging around onto the floor. I sighed with the relief of dropping the weights and leant against the cool stone wall in the shady side of the street. "I think we must have taken a wrong turn," I suggested, thinking back to when Nami told everyone to go left. But we did go left. I followed Luffy and we definitely went le- Oh... I followed Luffy. I sighed and mentally face-palmed. Because we were running backwards Luffy had gone his left, not the others' left – who were running forward.
"Now I'm the baka getting lost..." I looked up at the shadow of the buildings above us. I could see a head wearing a hat shape breaking the smooth line of the buildings. At first I stupidly thought it was my shadow but I realised it couldn't have been, so I snapped my neck upwards. "Jeez, you don't even look like you're trying to escape." Luffy's head shot upwards as well. Crouching on the edge of a building and grinning down at us (well, more Luffy) was none other than the fire controlling Ace. "Yo," he said simply, raising a single hand in greeting before jumping down.
He landed neatly and stood to his full height. It was now, when I was closer, that I was able to get a full, good look at Luffy's brother. He was tall, taller than Luffy and was well built. He made Luffy look scrawny in comparison. He had a handsome face; smooth skin with a few freckles dotted across, with dark eyes and black hair turning slightly wavy and falling from under his hat. A large grin was set across his face as he stared at his brother. "Ace!" Luffy cried, jumping up off the barrel.
"Long time no see, Luffy."
"Same to you." The two shared unstoppable grins and laughed before setting up and arm wrestle on the barrel.
I felt like I had faded into the background as the two engaged one another in an arm wrestle. It was a stalemate while they conversed. "How many years has it been?" Luffy asked.
"Dunno. But you've still got that whole 'my pace' thing. You haven't changed a bit from when we were kids," Ace chuckled. I didn't mind standing aside and watching the two. I was content to just stand and observe the two brothers reuniting after obvious years of separation.
"Neither have you, Ace. I was surprised to hear you ate a Devil's fruit, but nothing else about you has changed. Like that time you snuck into the farmer's field and ate a hundred watermelons... then spat out the seeds like a cannon and ran away!"
"That wasn't me, it was you."
"Then he gave you that huge lump on your head!"
"That was you, too! I was laughing the whole time."
I giggled at the recount of a memory that, evidently, Luffy had wrong. Their faces had turned red with the effort they were exerting. Still, it was a stalemate. It was hard to believe, but scrawny Luffy was just as strong as his brother, in arm power anyway. Eventually, the barrel beneath them gave way and burst, water gushing to the floor. I skirted away slightly as it reached me. The two brothers grinned and clapped hands together. "I guess we're both still the same," Luffy said. I considered this. Still the same? So Luffy has always been Ace's equal?
"Yeah," Ace chuckled.
"Sure brings back memories," Luffy sighed gleefully. Ace grinned at his brother before his eyes turned to me. I blinked when I noticed and suddenly felt a little nervous under his gaze. "Ah, you must be one of Luffy's nakama," he said, smiling at me. I nodded and smiled back.
"I'm Shiroi. It's nice to meet you, Luffy's brother," I said politely, bowing. Ace chuckled loudly and shook his head.
"There's no need to be so formal," he laughed. I grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry, but after seeing what you're capable of I can't help but give you respect." Ace waved it off.
"That was nothing."
Luffy suddenly sprung into the conversation. "Shiroi is my newest nakama!" he cheered. "She's a wolf! She's got the ears..." Luffy trailed off as he was now peering curiously at the hood on my robes. "Eh? Ah! Your ears are gone!" he cried in horror. Ace just stared, confused, while I sweat dropped. "And your tail too!" Luffy added, looking behind me.
Laughing a little I reassured my captain, "No, Luffy. They're still there; I've just got them hidden by my cloaks. See?" I wagged my tail a little and sure enough Luffy saw it moving under the cloth.
"OH!" he said in relisation. He chuckled and stood up and decided to poke my hood, to check if my ears were really still there. They twitched and Luffy chuckled, like the joyful idiot he was. He then pulled the hood completely down and I welcomed the fresh air. I sighed but smiled, finding his idiocy endearing. "Sorry about this, he never has quite gotten over the fact that I have ears and a tail," I said to his brother. Ace laughed and agreed.
"Yeah... Luffy has always been easily impressed."
Ace reached into his pack and pulled out a canteen with water. He sloshed it about a bit before taking a swig. "Ace. What are you doing in this country?" Luffy asked. My ears perked up and fixed on Ace, waiting for his answer. I was curious. I couldn't help it.
"Huh? What? Didn't you get my message in Drum?" Ace asked in confusion as he wiped his mouth clear of any excess water.
"In Drum?" Luffy echoed. Ace frowned slightly but ignored it.
"Well, nevermind. It wasn't anything important." He offered the water canteen my way. "Would you like some?"
"Oh, no, that's OK. It's your water," I said a little sheepishly, declining his offer.
"And that's your water all over the floor. Please, I insist," Ace pressed, motioning to the remains of the broken barrel. I sighed and gave in, giving a playful smile.
"Well, if you insist." I accepted the canteen and took a few mouthfuls. I hadn't realised how over heated and thirsty I was until now. I then handed the canteen back to Ace, who offered it to Luffy. "I have some minor business to take care of in this part of the ocean. I figured I'd try and meet up with you," Ace explained whilst Luffy accepted the water.
"Minor business?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. Ace nodded and grinned.
"I'm with the Whitebeard pirates."
Of course! That's where the mark is from! It's Whitebeard's Jolly roger!
"Whitebeard pirates?" Luffy asked, cocking his head to the side. Surely he had heard of them, right? Ace turned his back to us and jabbed a thumb at the tattoo.
"This is the Whitebeard mark on my back. My greatest pride." Luffy and I both admired it before Ace turned back to us. Then, as if he had suddenly had a brilliant idea, Ace asked, "Luffy, how about joining the Whitebeard pirates? Your nakama too, of course." Ace winked at me at the nakama bit, making me smile back and, much to my surprise, blush a little.
"No," was Luffy's straight answer. He didn't miss a beat. Ace erupted into a fit of laughter and I giggled a little too.
"Yeah, thought so. Just thought I'd ask," Ace laughed. He raised a hand and placed it on his hat. "Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I've ever known." I had heard the name Whitebeard once or twice in the past from other people's conversation I 'over-heard' and knew enough to know that Whitebeard was definitely a force to be reckoned with. "I've decided to make that man the Pirate King," Ace added absent mindedly. "Not you, Luffy." I grinned as the two had a small, well-meaning stare-down.
"So what? That's just one more person I'll have to fight. I'm going to be the Pirate King," Luffy said with firm determination.
I grinned also and added, "And I'm willing to help Luffy in any way I can to achieve that dream." I stood by Luffy's side and together we grinned at Ace, who grinned back. Then, still holding the canteen, Luffy began chugging back water.
Ace's smile dropped.
"Hey, don't hog it all Luffy!"