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Also a big thanks to all those who liked the story!
(X)(X)
Chapter three
"Ah! By the way, Smokey, how can I get some seastone for our crew? There will be a lot of pirates with devil fruits on the grand line. And not all of them will be as simple to take care of as Buggy."
Smoke billowing around him, Smoker pursed his lips at the name.
"Seastone is a controlled material. You need a license in order to carry it, much less to purchase it."
Luffy blinked. "Well, yeah, I guessed it might be something like that. So, can you give me that license and tell me how I can get some?" That's why she had asked. Duh.
"This better not came back to bite me latter." Smoker muttered trough his cigars.
Putting aside the papers he had just signed that gave each of the Straw Hat Bounty Hunters a license to sail the grand line, Smoker opened a drawer on his desk and pulled up a new form.
"This paper will allow you to carry on your person and your boat a certain amount of seastone. Considering the size of your crew, I will be generous and allow for three pieces."
He filled in some of the spaces of the form before looking back at her. "A piece is a complete, connected object and you will have to specify which one you want for the registry. 1 pair of shackles, 1 chain or 1 neck brace would count as 1 of the pieces. Otherwise, one of the pieces could also be a raw amount of seastone to be implanted in a weapon tip or but, like this." He showed her his own jitte tipped with seastone. "If you choose this, it will cost you extra, you will have to specify what weapon it will be used for and give proof that you actually used it for that."
Luffy nodded. It sounded about right for a controlled material. "Alright. Got it. Any chance we could get licenses for more pieces later?"
Smoker exhaled, sending a gust of white smog billowing around the room.
"It is a possibility, if you prove yourself in the beginning of the Grand Line. For now, this is the best I can do for you, so you should consider your choices carefully. And remember that if you lose it, you will have to report it, and your chances of getting your hands on more of it will drastically decrease."
Luffy nodded once more, her face showing how seriously she took the matter at hand.
(X)(X)
Nami had been sick since the day before, her symptoms showing just after they had left Little Garden, and Luffy hated it.
She hated not being able to help when her nakama were at risk.
She had never felt so useless.
Not since Sabo.
She had promised herself she would do everything to help her nakama, and never let one of them die. But she still couldn't do a thing.
So, she left Vivi and Sanji to help Nami as best as they could, took the eternal pose into her own hands and took on the role of navigation herself. She didn't reach Nami's feet in knowledge and experience, but she knew enough to get them there without getting lost.
They needed to get to an island as fast as possible. But that wasn't exactly easy. Their logue pose was still pointing towards Little Garden, and trying their luck by traveling towards a random direction could prove fatal for her sick friend.
Their best bet was to still follow the eternal pose. At least they were certain there was an island at the end of that route.
Best case scenario, the route to Arabasta passed close enough to another island that it would be visible from their ship.
Worst case scenario…Well, the fastest they got to Arabasta the best it would be for Nami.
(X)(X)
She had put Zoro, Yosaku, Johnny and Usopp on shifts, one up in the crow's nest, to search the horizon for any sign of land, another on helm duty, and the others helping her with the sails, while she kept a close eye on the eternal pose to make sure the Grand Line mysterious currents and wind didn't change their route.
Things were going well. It had started snowing half an hour before, but a couple of jackets and blankets kept them warm enough – Nami had done a good job with winter supplies in Loguetown – when Zoro called out saying that there was a strange man standing on top of the water.
Luffy thought at first that the mystery man might have eaten a devil fruit that allowed him levitate or something, but then a huge ship came out from under the water, making the Merry tilt dangerously in the subsequent waves.
"Hey! Watch it!" Luffy cried in indignation!
What the heck were these people doing? Couldn't they just mind their own business?
An annoyingly arrogant laugh came from the ship, just at the same time as an animal head was raised into place at the front of the ship – was that a hippopotamus? So cool~
No, focus Luffy! They were bad guys that were putting Nami at risk.
Bad guys that were pirates, if the flag that had just been raised was anything to go by.
The stupid idiots had the gall to invade their ship and raise their weapons at them.
Hearing the noise, Sanji came up from Nami's room to join them, being immediately put at gun point.
"Get the fuck out of my ship!" Luffy said, sneering up at the man they had called Wapol-sama standing on the balustrade of the Merry. Usually she wasn't one to curse, it wasn't polite behaviour according to Makino, but she was too stressed out about Nami's condition to fucking care.
"Maaaaaahahahahaha! You think you can make me?" Wapol finished eating his knife and looked haughtily at them. "I will let you go. I am feeling generous. But I will take your ship, of course."
Luffy sneer didn't leave her face, as she started to contract her arm muscles to send the stupid man flying.
"Ah! I'm feeling a bit hungry. I'll take a taste of the ship."
The man opened his huge mouth, and took a bite out of the Merry.
Luffy's temper, already stretched thin, finally snaped. This was the last straw.
Stretching her arm, she took out the goons surrounding her, making her way towards the ship-eater.
She had at first wanted to send him flying off as far away as possible. He was clearly a devil fruit user if he had been able to eat a knife, and that would send his pedantic followers after him traying to save the bastard.
But that was before he hurt her ship!
She already had one nakama sick, she wouldn't forgive him trying to hurt another one.
A kick between the legs and two punches to the back of the head and he went down like a light.
Looking up, she could see that her nakama had already taken care of the rest of the invaders.
"Sanji, get the chain. Put it over his mouth, let's see him trying to eat that."
"Yes, Luffy-chwan~!"
Sanji came back from the storage room so fast that he had already wrapped the chain around Wapol by the time the peanut gallery up in the enemy ship had realised what had happened.
"HEY! HOW DARE YOU PEASANTS DO THIS TO WAPOL-SAMA!" One of them shouted
"HOW DARE YOU LOWLY SCUM! WAPOL SAMA COMANDS THESE WATERS!"
Zoro snorted. "We are bounty hunters. I see a pirate flag up in your ship. That is self-explanatory to me."
"Sh-Shut up!" The feeble came back was telling.
"Whaa… Cufcuf cuf" Wapol wheezed as he woke up, clearly not enjoying the process of being rolled up in a seastone chain.
"Unhand me this instant!"
"Yes! Unhand Wapol-Sama, or we will fire the canon at your ship!"
Luffy laughed. "Really? And let your precious Wapol-Sama be swallowed up by the sea? We all know he can't swim."
"Are you crazy! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
The bounty hunters laughed, as the idiot pirates spluttered at their blunder.
Shaking her head, Luffy turned her eyes to the pirate crew in front of her. It was time to move this forward. They couldn't waste more time. "We are bounty hunters, so taking you into custody would be pretty easy. But I will propose a trade. You probably have a doctor, or more than one doctor even, on board you ship. You give us a doctor, we give you your King."
The leading man on the other side seemed to hesitate for a moment, but Wapol certainly didn't.
"Do as they ask! Do it! Do it!"
The pirates rushed to follow their orders, and soon enough an old man with grey hair, glasses and a beard was pushed on to the ship.
"Who are you" Luffy asked, narrowing her eyes at a possible trickery. How would she know if the man was a real doctor?
"I… I am Doctor Ramon." He said with a slight stutter, clearly nervous.
Luffy tilted her head, wondering how to figure out if the other guys were following their deal or not.
"Anyone have a medical question we could ask to test this one out?"
Her nakama looked at each other, all lost for words.
"Umm… A well, I have one!" Usopp rose a shaky hand from behind the mast, his face joining it and appearing from his hiding spot. Luffy nodded at him, silently telling him to go ahead. "What is leukaemia?"
The man blinked surprised, before fixing his glasses and clearing his throat. "Hem hem. Leukemia is a cancer of the body's blood forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system. There are many forms of leukemia, some that are more usually found in children and others in adults. The main cause is…"
"That is enough. Usopp, was that right?" The young man nodded vigorously. Luffy would have to thank him later. All this had probably bought back bad memories of his mother's illness.
"Very well. I need you to treat a crew member. We are not pirates, and will not force you to do anything you do not wish to do. As soon as we arrive at an island with medical help, we will leave you with enough supplies to get you back to wherever you wish to go, and gold enough to repay you for your service. Is that agreeable?"
Speechless, the old man could only nod.
"Good" Luffy nodded, pleased with the outcome, and turned back to the pirate ship in front of them. "Sanji bring him here. With the chain please."
"You better give us back Wapol-sama!"
Luffy sneered. "I will give him back. I promised after all."
With Wapol now in place standing on top of the balustrade as close to the pirate ship as possible, Luffy gave Sanji a nod and he started peeling of the seastone chain.
Knowing she would need it, she pulled her arm back as far as she could in a preventive measure.
"Maaaaaahahahahaha! You stupid bitch! You think we will just leave now? Men, prepare the cano… BWAH!"
Calculating the perfect timing, Luffy had brought back her arm and punched the bastard in the face, sending him flying far away, as soon as he started spewing his stupid nonsense.
"WHAAAAAA! Wapol-sama! Why did you do that!?"
Luffy raised her eyebrow. "You think I was going to let you invade my ship now? You better go get your stupid Wapol-sama before he drowns"
"WHOOOOOOONNNN" Laboon finally came out, sending a big wave of water over the pirate ship and frightening the pirates into running off after their leader.
"REMEMBER! US!" one of the weird guys shouted back at them.
"REMEMBER! US!"
(X)(X)
Old man Ramon proved to be of some help, teaching them ways to bring Nami's fever down from the dangerous 42ºC to a more manageable 39ºC.
He wasn't much help however in finding a cure.
"With what you told me of your latest travels, I think this disease was brought on by a mosquito bite or something of similar nature. Most likely in your last island. From your description, an island like that would have many diseases that have long since been extinct in normal environments, which would mean our bodies have no natural protections against them."
"So, what does this mean?" She asked, her arms closed over her chest.
Everyone except Yosaku, who was keeping an eye on their path, was sitting on the floor or leaning against the wall of Nami's cabin, anxiously waiting for news.
"Good news is that this is not transmissible from one human directly to another. So, all of you are safe."
Zoro frowned. "And bad news?"
The doctor shook his head. "Bad news is that I can't cure it. Only try to lessen its impacts for now. It's an unknown disease for me. An ancient one. I would need a laboratory to test samples of her blood and medical books to reference in order to find a possible solution."
Luffy sighed, in disappointment. "Alright. So, we still need to find an island as soon as possible. Nothing changed there."
Rubbing her face, Luffy closed her eyes for a moment. She needed to keep positive. Nami was not cured, but she was better. It was good that her fever was down a bit. It was not a solution, but it was still better.
"But Nami is better now" She said to the room at large, looking around at all of her nakama. "Thank you for your help doctor. I know we took you into our company in a very rude way, but I hope you can forgive us. We will do as I promised before, and take you where you wish to go."
Vivi, Sanji and Johnny seemed surprised at her capacity for polite conversation, but Zoro and Usopp just grinned back at her. Those two had had more occasions to see her silver tongue at work.
The good doctor smiled peacefully. "Fear not young lady. I find myself in better company in this ship, than on my previous one. Wapol-sa… well, Wapol had not exactly given me a choice in joining him. I had to do it to save my family, and then was taken from them by force. So you see, I was not the most devoted follower."
Sanji raised a brow. "Ohhhh. We would love to hear all about it."
(X)(X)
The story was interesting, but the best part was finding out that somewhere around the area there was an island that used to have a lot of doctors.
Well, all the doctors were supposed to be on Wapol's ship, though some of the doctors had gone into hiding after the King's stupid orders, but that wasn't the important part. They had a doctor. They needed books and a lab… labortorty… or something like that.
And those two thingies… there were still a lot of those on the island.
Now they just needed to find it.
It was time to hope that she had enough of those karma points Makino sometimes spoke about. Hopefully that would give them good luck.
They needed it.
(X)(X)
That night, when Zoro came out to relieve her from her shift he must have seen something on her face, because he smiled and nudge her with his shoulder.
"Don't second guess yourself Luffy. You did good, and the Doctor didn't mind the forced swap thing."
She pouted. He was right, the actions of that afternoon didn't sit well with her. "Still not happy with it."
Zoro snorted. "You wouldn't be you if you were happy with it." He sent her another smile. "So don't be happy with it. But accept it and move on. It was a good lesson for all of us. Next time we find an ancient island we will all use mosquito repellent or something."
"Shishishishishi!" Luffy laughed, feeling lighter somehow. "Thank you Zoro. You're a good first mate!"
The swordsman blushed a bit, not that anyone noticed in the darkness. "And you're a good captain Luffy."
The rubber girl smiled back.
"Not that I usually agree with the green head over there, but this time he is right Luff-chan! You're a good captain, and you made a good decision for the situation." Sanji said from the top railing. From the newly lighted cigarette, he had clearly come out from the kitchen to get a smoke and heard their conversation. "So, stop fretting about it. I have just the perfect midnight snack to help with that!"
"Uaaaaa! Thank you Sanji! You're a great cook too!"
"Thank you Luffy-swan!©©"
"Tch, stupid love cook"
"You said something marimo?"
"You wanna go?"
"Shishishishishi!"
"Wheeeeeowwwwww!"
"You're the best too Laboon!"
(X)(X)
After going back inside, Luffy remembered to leaf through the 'Straw Hats Bounty Poster Collection: Grand Line Edition'. There was no poster for a Blackbeard.
That meant he was a new pirate, or a pirate that was usually on the other end of the grand line, the New World, and that had for some reason come out to the very beginning of Paradise.
She would have to try and find out about it on their next island.
Now Wapol, that could be dangerous.
"Tu-tu-tu-ru. Tu-ru-ru-ru-ruuuuuu. Tu-ru-ru-ruuuu-ruuuuuu. Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-ru-ru-ru-ru-ruuuuu. Ru-tutu-ru-tu-ru-ru-tuuuuuuuuu…"
"Hey, Luffy, what is that song?" Yosaku asked from the other side of the kitchen table.
Luffy frowned in annoyance. "The waiting ring from the Marine Grand Line Capture Hotline. The bastards have been giving me music for the last fifteen minutes."
"Tuuuuuuu-ruuuuuu-ruuuuuuuuuuuuuu…"
"Whaaaaaa!" Pulling her hair in exasperation, Luffy slammed the mouthpiece into place. "You know what, screw it! I'll just call the old man"
Punching in the new number, Luffy was pleased to see that it was picked up in a matter of seconds.
"Vice Admiral Garp's communication officer here. Who is calling?"
"This is Monkey D. Luffy. I wish to speak to my Grandfather, or Bogard in case he is unavailable."
Yosaku choked on his drink in surprise. He would never get used to his captain having access to one of the most powerful man in the world.
"Hum hum. A pleasure to hear from you Miss. Please wait for a moment."
They thankfully didn't put any music on while she waited. Luffy let out a sigh of relief for that, and took a bite of the snacks Sanji had left out for her.
Yum!
She felt better already!
"AH! Luffy! How is my favourite granddaughter?"
"Shishishishishi! I'm your only granddaughter!"
"Bwahahahahaha! Yes, you are! Bwahahahahah! Have you called because you missed me a lot Luffy?"
"No."
"So mean!"
"Anyway, Gramps, I called because there is this guy going around in a ship with a jolly roger, calling himself Wapol the captain of the Blinking Pirates. But someone told me that he is actually the King of Drum Island. I tried to see if he had a bounty, but the stupid guys at the hotline didn't pick up. I had to listen to that stupid song for 20 minutes Gramps! 20 minutes!"
Wasn't it fifteen? Yosaku though, feeling awkward at his captain's shamelessness.
"Really, I'll have to give them a good fist of love! Bogard let's go see those slackers and give them a good beating!"
A voice came from further away "Ah, Vice Admiral, I believe your granddaughter said something about the King of Drum Island."
"Yep. Saw him, he tried to eat my ship. I kicked his ass."
"Whaaaat? Luffy!" Garp whined. Or the snail whined, pretending to be Garp. "No kicking anyone that is a Noble. Much less a celestial dragon. But also, definitely not a noble. That means no Kings, no Queens, no Dukes, no Duchesses, no Earls, no Countesses, no Viscounts, no Viscountess, no Barons and no Baronesses. No one that you hear being called a Lord or a Lady either. They are all nothing but trouble, and you should stay away from trouble, you hear me Lu?"
Luffy pouted. But she was good with trouble. Gramps was no fun!
"But Gramps, he called himself the captain of the Blinking Pirates." She tried to reason. "I have a witness that says he captured several ships from merchants passing through the area, leaving them drifting in their dinghies. What am I supposed to do then? Just leave them be? That would be wrong right?"
The snail grumbled.
"Ah, Luffy… That is a hard question and you know it." A sigh. "But of you say he was pirating, I believe you. If there were merchants involved, them there will probably be reports. I will check it out and let you know. If you find him again, avoid fighting. If you can't avoid it. Don't kill him. Just arrest him and call me back. Alright?"
"Alright Grandpa!"
"Good, now I'm going to beat up whoever is supposed to be on shift at the grand line hotline!"
(X)(X)
"LAND-OH" Sanji shouted.
"Finally!" Usopp shouted in happiness. "We can finally find help for Vivi!"
Coming out from Nami's room, Luffy's face broke into a smile. Land!
Running up to her special seat to get a better view, Luffy couldn't help but break into excitement.
She loved snow!
(X)(X)
The hostile welcoming was not fun at all, but eventually the local population was willing to help them out.
It only took a slight disagreement that almost hurt Vivi, then Vivi and her kneeling to show their sincerity, and finally old man Ramon coming out of Nami's room.
Apparently, the old man was well known among the people, and they were happy to see him. After a few words of explanation that is.
(X)(X)
Climbing the mountain was terrible.
Almost made her hate snow.
But not really. Snow was still all white and fluffy.
It was awesome.
But next time she would get more clothes and some extra gloves. Just in case.
That climb also almost made her hate bunnies…
Until the cute small one and his mom helped them with Wapol.
They weren't so bad after all.
(X)(X)
Stupid Wapol didn't even let them rest for a whole day.
He came with his two idiot friends to try to take the castle back, and Luffy would have just taken him out fast if he hadn't tried to blow up Chopper's flag.
So Luffy let Chopper take care of the double headed weird guy and she made sure the not-King was very much beaten, and out of commission.
Doctor Kureha might have helped a bit with that. She had some good medicine that made even Wapol sleep.
Then she called Gramps and gave him a headache.
"Well, what do I do now?" She asked her grandfather. "Do the Marines come here? Or do I take him somewhere? We're kind of in a hurry to get to Arabasta."
The old man sighed from the other side of the snail-line. "Then take him to Arabasta if you have seastone to keep him contained. There should be a Marine vessel close enough in the area, and they can meet you there. I will see internally and someone will get back to you about it. Don't use the hotline, this should be kept as confidential as possible."
Luffy frowned. "Alright. I'll wait for it. They better do it soon, or they can't complain about how Wapol ends up!"
(X)(X)
Afterwards things were a bit strange.
She had a new friend to convince to come with them.
Doctor Kureha and the Dalton guy were busy trying to make sense of the soldiers and doctors that had sided with Wapol, trying to figure out who had wanted to do it, and who hadn't.
Some soldiers had tried to run off, but had been promptly brought back by Laboon, who had been guarding the Merry from the sea. Poor Laboon didn't really like the snow too much, though she could handle it for a couple days. When she saw the boats trying to make a break for it, she had taken them into her mouth, and then spit them out back on shore.
It had been super fun to see a weirded-out villager retell the story to Dalton. Apparently Yosaku, who had stayed on the ship to guard it – even after Zoro had gotten into his head to try to swim on the half-frozen river – had been able to assure them that the Wale was their nakama, and so they hadn't been too scared.
And that was all in one day!
After that, it was packing up their stuff that had somehow gotten all over the place, and give a final push to the fluffy reindeer, and it was on!
(X)(X)
"Yiiihaaaaa! Here we gooooo!" Luffy cried happily with her nakama, as her new doctor took them down the mountain in the sled.
She had a new, awesome, nakama, and they were going on awesome adventures together!
She was super excited!
Wapol made a muffled sound through the gag Nami and Johnny had tied around his mouth, and Luffy bopped him behind the head, making sure he passed out again.
No time for stupid assholes now!
It was time to celebrate!
(X)(X)
Doctor Kureha thought so too, cause there was an awesome sakura bloom around Drum Island as they left, giving her an awesome view from her favourite seat as they sailed away.
(X)(X)
"Hey, Makino? Do you think it's okay to hate gramps a little bit for leaving me here and not visiting more?"
The young barmaid lifted her head from where she was washing the bar bear glasses and looked over at the tiny girl, sulking over her schoolwork.
"I guess it's normal to resent him a little. But I don't think you hate Garp Luffy. Hate is a very strong word."
The small girl sighed, turning her head to look over the window. "I guess. But I miss him. Even though I hate the fist of love."
Makino laughed, reaching over to ruffle the girl's hair, much to her annoyance. "That's normal. He is your grandfather."
"I just don't get why I can't live with him in a marine base. I read in the library that other marine families do that all the time."
Makino smiled sadly. "I guess Garp just doesn't want you to be alone in a big place. And he is posted in the grand line most of the time, and that's a very dangerous place."
"I guess. But Shanks doesn't want me to go with him, and gramps also won't take me. I just want to see different places! Why do all those men go out to see and we girls need to stay safe and never get to leave? It's not fair!"
"Hahahahaha! That's quite the good question Luffy! I'm sure when you grow up you will prove them all wrong and make your own adventure all over the world!"
"But growing up takes soooo loooong Makino!" the girl whined in protest.
"Hahahahahah! You'll see that it will be done in the blink of an eye!"
"Makino! Not the hair again! Why does everyone go for the hair!"
"Hahahahaha!"
(X)(X)
Next chapter things will start to heat up. Arabasta means lots of things will be changing. There is no way that things would stay the same when Luffy is not a pirate. But at the same time, some things won't change no matter what.