Everyone can thank CertainDestiny for this chapter getting up so quickly. Getting reviews is great motivation to keep writing!
The Straw Hats were more than a little confused when they entered the town to see a large group of people wearing swim trunks and bathing suits, rushing off to the North.
"Uh, hey," Nami said, stopping someone who'd walked close by them, "What's going on, why's everyone dressed like that?"
"Eh? We're going to the beach!"
"Beach?" Almost all the pirates said in unison.
"Hahaha! You lot ain't from around here, huh? I'm guessing all you've seen is the snow and ice. This island is actually has multiple climates and seasons occurring at once. The North side of the island is always like summer!"
The citizen of the town then bounded off, running to catch up with the others before the Straw Hats could even reply.
"Multiple seasons on one island?" Usopp said in disbelief, "Is that possible?"
"It shouldn't be…" Nami said.
"This is the Grand Line," Robin pointed out.
Everyone nodded at that and accepted it. They'd seen enough weird things to know anything was possible on the Grand Line.
"Mmm! I smell something good!" Chopper said, abruptly moving on to a new topic.
Luffy looked at Chopper and then turned and raised his head a little bit, sniffing the air. "Ooooo! Yeah! It smells really good!"
"Luffy, wait!" Nami shouted, throwing her hand out toward the rubberman who was already far out of reach, running toward a tavern. She sighed and started trudging after him, everyone else in tow.
Altros was in the lounge, laying on the couch and looking lazily up at the ceiling. At least he could use the time to catch up on the sleep he'd missed last night. He had stayed up for several hours, mulling over everything that had happened that day, trying to find some clue as to why Robin was acting so strangely.
He closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep when a faint thud made him snap his eyes open. He turned his head to look at the door to the lounge and listened intently, but didn't hear anything else. He shrugged it off as a tired mind playing tricks on him and closed his eyes again. After two minutes had passed as he tried to clear his head, he heard the creak of the lounge door open and heard footsteps move rather quickly over to him. Whoever it was had to be short after taking all those steps….
"Hey, Chopper, what're you doing back so s-" He was cut off by an angry yell and his eyes snapped open to find a blade poised over his chest and coming down fast.
He barely had time to react, and as his arms moved up, the knife struck, stabbing into his forearm. He screamed in pain and brought his other arm around, fist balled up. He hit his attacker and sat up, looking through teary eyes at the knife sticking out of his arm. He quickly grabbed the handle in a tight grip and yanked the knife out.
"ARRGH! DAMMIT!" He yelled as the knife came loose and he dropped it to the ground.
He gritted his teeth and put a hand over his arm to try and slow the bleeding and then looked up to glare at his attacker who was slowly sitting up. His glare was almost instantly replaced with wide eyes when he saw the attacker, rubbing his cheek and crying. It was just a kid. Then he heard more fast footsteps and another child came and stood defiantly between Altros and the boy on the ground.
"Don't touch my big brother!" The boy yelled angrily.
Altros just blinked at the two small boys and then winced at the pain in his arm. What in the hell? A couple of kids? "What the bloody hell do you two think you're doing?" Altros said through clenched teeth.
The older boy was on his feet now, trying to stand in front of his brother. "You don't scare us pirate!"
Despite the words, the boy jumped back when Altros turned his eyes to the kid. Altros sighed, "Are you trying to get killed?"
"We're killing pirates!" The younger boy said proudly.
"Yeah, we'll kill any pirate that trys to hurt our home!"
Altros groaned and raised an eyebrow at the boys, "And how have I hurt your home?"
"Uh, well…..you were going to! But we'll stop you!"
"Ugh," Altros muttered as he stood up, causing both children to take several steps back. "Come with me you little brats, you're going to help me dress this wound."
Altros started walking toward the lounge door, grumbling about kids and irrational behavior.
A chorus of laughter erupted from the patrons of the tavern as Luffy and Chopper danced on a table with sticks held in their nostrils and mouths. Nearby Franky was yelling SUPER! Repeatedly and posing. It hadn't taken long for the small party to erupt once everyone had gotten to the tavern. By the time they'd all gotten inside, Luffy had already eaten five plates of food. The citizens of the town who were there seemed to greatly enjoy the visitor's antics. Robin had asked about the apparent ease everyone was at and it was explained that it was how the island had always been. They welcomed travelers with open arms and loved to enjoy themselves.
Nami, as usual, was yelling at Luffy to knock it off. Usopp was proudly telling one of his tall tales though no one seemed to be listening. Zoro had already found a group of people and they were all chugging down their drinks. Sanji was floating from one woman to another, complimenting them and pledging his undying love to them. Brook had somehow pulled a violin out of thin air and was happily playing and singing.
Despite all the noise and attention being given to the Straw Hat crew, everything went dead silent when the door opened and then closed. Altros stood there, each hand gripping a shoulder of the young boys. He looked around and took in a breath, "Do these belong to anyone here?"
"Boys!" A man shouted.
Altros released his grip on them and the two children ran to their father, hugging to him closely. They started shouting, "He's a pirate! They're pirates!"
"Pirates?" Some one asked.
"Uh, well, you see…" Nami started to explain before being interrupted.
"Yeah, we're pirates," Luffy said as though he was surprised he had to say it at all.
Everyone visibly tensed up at the rubberman's words and the Straw Hat's looked around somewhat nervously, or in Usopp's case, very nervously.
"What's the problem?" Zoro said, "We're just here to rest and resupply."
Someone cleared their throat, "Excuse us, we don't mean to offend, it's just that the last time pirates came to this island, they destroyed an entire town. That was quite some time ago, but we remember it well."
"We aren't here to cause trouble! Honest!" Nami said, waving her hands and trying to grin convincingly.
"They're lying; they're here for the treasure!" One of the small boys shouted, stubbornly refusing to believe them.
"Treasure?" Nami said, beli signs suddenly floating across her vision.
"It's only a superstition," someone said, "Besides, even if it were real there's no way to find it."
Nami's demeanor rapidly changed from excited to depressed, at that news. She wanted to ask more about it but wasn't able to when Altros walked forward to the man the boys had run to. He pulled a knife out and held the blade, offering the handle to the man.
"I assume this is yours then."
"It's got blood on it!" The man said as he took the knife.
"Relax," Altros said, "It's just mine."
"Yours?"
"Yeah. Your kids snuck onto our ship. I was resting and they tried to kill me. Would've done it too if he hadn't yelled."
"What!" The man said, looking down to his boys. "Why would you two do something so foolish? I am so sorry, sir, please accept my sincer-"
"It's alright," Altros said, putting his hands up, "I'm alive and no one's hurt. Besides, your kids have heart. They wanted to protect your island. Can't really fault them for that."
Usopp scratched his head, "Uh, but Altros, they tried to kill you…"
Altros looked at Usopp, "Like I said, I'm alive and no one's hurt. Might as well just leave it at that and move on."
"Where are you hurt?" Chopper asked, trotting up to Altros.
"It's just a scratch on my arm," Altros said, "I've already taken care of it. It's fine."
"I am so sorry…" The man started saying again.
Altros stopped him, "It's fine. You've got brave kids. Maybe a little foolish, but brave."
Altros looked at the two boys who were just staring at him in disbelief. They had thought for sure he was going to kill them, but instead he'd just marched them off the ship and back to town, and he'd called his wound a scratch. They couldn't believe he would lie about that gash.
"Now," Altros said, "I believe I heard some sort of party going on before I came in…"
Almost immediately the sound of a violin started and Brook started singing, "Yohohoho….yo-hohoho…."
It took a few minutes, but the tavern returned to the lively place it had been before Altros showed up, almost everyone seeming to forget what had just happened. Altros looked down when he felt a tug on his arm.
"I'm sorry, mister…." One of the boys said.
"Me too!" The other added.
Altros smiled and crouched down, "Apology accepted. Just be careful from now on. There are people out there who would hurt you for what you did."
The boys nodded their heads vigorously and Altros stood up. He smiled and gave them a wink before turning to go join the rest of his nakama. He felt a strange sense of contentment at the situation. Those kids had reminded him of how much he liked helping children learn and grow. He smiled sadly as his thoughts turned to Davin, but he allowed the memories to pass and joined in on the festivities.
Nami gave up trying to calm Luffy down and looked around. She saw Robin resting her head in her hand and looking at Altros. She smiled knowingly, that was right, she still had to help Robin. Now just to figure out how….