Wishfull-star: Thanks!
AngelFallenDemon: Thank you. Yeah, Luffy can be super scary throughout the story lol. Cinnamon bun most of the time, though.
Kae Membrana: Luffy's a crazy kid sometimes. It'll be a bigger problem throughout the story, hehehe.
Usopp came walking over, looking incredibly dejected. Luffy watched in confusion when the long-nosed teen told them all that pirates weren't going to attack. He was lying the whole time. Luffy was confused. He'd heard it all, too. Zoro looked at him, and Luffy gave an unsure shrug, not knowing why Usopp was doing this. What was the point? "Just like all the other times, it was just a lie!" he said with a laugh. "I was just having revenge on that butler! By making up stories about him being a pirate!" He laughed again.
Luffy was… disappointed. The three kids were, too, but for a different reason. They left, disagreeing with what Usopp lied about, it wasn't right to make up lies like that. The three stayed silent, expecting an explanation that they got almost the moment the kids were out of hearing range.
"Because I lied so much, none of the villagers believed me."
"Even so, the pirates are still going to attack, right?" Nami asked. Usopp nodded, completely sure. They were going to attack in the morning, he was positive.
He punched the ground, a guilty look on his face. "No one believes me! They all think tomorrow morning will be completely normal!" Then he declared he was going to save the village anyway, even if none of them believed him. Even if they got angry at him again, chased him with the aim to hurt him. This was his home and he'd protect it. "I love this village. I can't do nothing when everyone is going to be killed!"
The three pirates smiled, and vowed to help him. "But I get the treasure," Nami said suddenly. Luffy asked what the plan was, while Usopp was crying silently, looking in shock. Why would stranger pirates help him out with this? But didn't he know they were friends already? And friends helped friends, didn't they?
While the three pirates looked unbothered and not nervous at all, Usopp was shaking in fear, and tried to get himself to stop. "Stop looking at me, of course I'm scared! A pirate fleet is going to attack tomorrow!" he shouted, looking embarrassed about being so scared. "I don't need your sympathy, go away!"
Luffy frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in annoyance. But Zoro was the one to reply first. "We're not sympathizing with you! We're commending you for having courage." Luffy glared and asked why else they would risk their lives.
Usopp started to cry again, but wasn't angry. It had only lasted a few seconds. "You guys… I'm so touched!" he cried. Luffy grinned.
-x-
The next morning, they stood at the slope they poured oil on, which would stop the pirates from getting up the cliff from the beach. They would guard it, make sure nobody made it past them. The pirates were close, Luffy could smell them and the smell of alcohol. It was strong there. He told Zoro they were near, without Usopp hearing.
Zoro put his arm around Luffy's waist. Usopp was watching them, and asked if they were together. Luffy simply nodded. Usopp said nothing more, and they didn't see his expression after he found out.
But Luffy heard and smelled their ship coming from the other direction, and he bluntly said that. Zoro cursed, and Usopp shouted in horror. Luffy went running in that direction to stop them from getting to the village, running as fast as he could, which was pretty fast, to be honest. But he somehow found his way to the village.
"I'd been going to the north shore! What the heck?!" he said angrily, and then went in the direction he thought he'd been going to before. He managed to find it, but was now angry he'd missed the fight! When he got there, Zoro arrived, too, and stunk of the oil. He told Luffy to not ask before he did.
Nami called, "What took you so long?"
"How dare you kick me!" Zoro shouted.
"You didn't even tell me where north was, Usopp!" Luffy shouted just as angrily. They were there to kick some ass. Jango looked at Luffy with a slight amount of worry on his face. After all, Luffy had outright, violently attacked him out of nowhere. He was an enemy, so Luffy wasn't so against doing such a thing again.
Zoro and Nami got into an argument about Nami making Zoro slide down the slick path up onto the island, where he couldn't get back up. Luffy was losing his irritation at Usopp, and just wanted to kick some ass. But all of them seemed pretty beat up, so Luffy wondered if there'd be a fight at all.
"Everyone will get stronger when I say 'one, two, Jango'!" Jango said. "One, two, Jango!" and all of the men got stronger. But Luffy was watching again, and went fuzzy. Zoro was there, holding him back. Luffy struggled against the restraint. This time, he wasn't calmed by the smell of Zoro's blood.
Usopp asked if he was okay, and Nami told Zoro to just release him. "If he's this angry, he'll go all out," she pointed out. Luffy was snarling and thrashing around in Zoro's strong grip, and the oldest let go, Luffy sprinting down and viciously beating all of them, punching them in the face, neck, groin, solar plexus. Scratched their faces and arms harshly, spitting rabidly again.
Usopp sounded worried and uneasy, and Luffy could hear Zoro and Nami's slightly worried breathing, a little quicker than usual. But Luffy beat all of them, and destroyed Jango's pendulum. He attacked him, slamming his head into the ground over and over until Zoro pulled him away. "That's enough, Luffy," he said, rubbing circles on his chest. "Come back, everything is okay."
Luffy's eyes cleared, and he swayed before righting himself. Nami came over, and asked if he was okay. "Ah… yeah. Oh no, did I go crazy again?" he asked.
"We would have beat them up regardless. Though I didn't get to fight at all," Zoro complained. "It's good that thing affecting you is broken now. It won't bother you anymore," he added on a more positive note. Usopp slowly walked down the path and a few yards away from Luffy. The long nosed teen asked if Luffy was okay. He nodded, but said nothing. The liar was probably very uncomfortable with what happened.
If Luffy were him, he would be, too. But Luffy hadn't even looked twice at his nakama when he went crazy. "Well, the crew is done, now all we have to do is fight the butler pirate," Nami said simply, holding her staff relaxed. Usopp looked confused with their ease. Though Zoro was much more worried about Luffy than the village's problems.
Luffy wasn't feeling good, like the last time. He didn't feel sick, but just tired and weak. He didn't want to do anything to Zoro before a fight. Maybe he could find somebody else? Well, there were a ton of bodies here. Live ones. Ripe for the picking.
Luffy asked, "You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up." Usopp asked why, but was cut off by affirmations from his two current crew members. They knew why he needed to stay behind. Zoro didn't look that happy about it, but Luffy never fed twice in one day anymore. Usopp was confused when he heard that they were okay, but he left, too.
Once they were all far enough away to not see or hear, Luffy picked up one of the men, and dragged him around the corner of a cliff on the coast, and bit down on his neck, and drank heavily, not caring if he got sick afterwards. He drank a lot, but the guy didn't wake up. Then Luffy wiped his mouth on his shirt, and licked his teeth, trying to get any blood off.
He then dragged the still unconscious and pale man to the pile, and threw him down. Luffy had a lot more energy now, and ran off to catch up with his friends and partner. Boyfriend. The word made him flush and giggle to himself. He followed their scents, and could hear Zoro grumbling irritation about not fighting any of them.
"There, there. I'm sure some will wake up again later," Nami said, sounding slightly mocking. "You could always fight Kuro. I'm sure Luffy would be fine with that." Usopp angrily said he would be the one fighting. "Really?" Nami asked, voice flat.
Usopp's voice trembled when he lied, "Of course! I'm a brave warrior of the sea!"
"You've never been out to sea."
"Don't ruin it, Zoro." Luffy giggled and appeared. He looked much better, but Usopp didn't ask, to his credit. Luffy asked what they were going to do next. If the villagers didn't believe Usopp, then what would they do? They sure wouldn't trust three teenage pirates. No way. But they didn't get to make any plans before Kuro was there, coming from behind.
Nami and Usopp were injured slightly and had some blood from before Luffy and Zoro arrived, but it wasn't as bad as the enemy pirates. Even before Luffy went berserk, a lot of them were already out. The other two had been successful in their own ways, and Luffy wasn't surprised about Nami. But he was slightly surprised about Usopp helping out. And impressed!
They all turned to face Kuro, who looked furious at them. "Was that your doing?" he asked, demanding. Zoro scoffed. "Who else would it be?" he asked with an arrogant look and tone. Kuro sighed. "I didn't think they would be defeated by kids. How far they've fallen. Now there's two types of monsters on this island. The son of a pirate, and some freak who dri-" Nami slammed her staff into his head, furious like Zoro was.
"I dare you to finish that sentence," Zoro said, his sword to Kuro's throat. They both acted so fast he hadn't been able to react. Luffy assumed his three years of retirement dulled his senses. Usopp wondered what was happening, completely out of the loop.
But Kuro jumped away, and immediately pulled out weapons from a bag he'd seemed to set down by a tree. Luffy asked if Zoro wanted to take him on. Usopp didn't protest. "Definitely."
Luffy then added, "I always thought it was only rich women that got long, fake fingernails," in a dumb voice. Nami chuckled, and Kuro narrowed his eyes. Zoro just grinned in amusement. He ran to slash Kuro, but he deflected with the sword fingernails.
"I may have been a butler for three years. And seeming to pamper myself, but I was still once a pirate captain. Though those on that crew were pathetic and weak!" he shouted, and attacked Zoro harder before suddenly being behind him and aiming for his back. Luffy bit his lip, but Zoro twisted out of the way and slashed at him, Kuro dodging. "I'll be killing all of you, and that damn crew!"
Luffy scowled. He'd kill his own crew? That was just wrong, even if he didn't like those members. He could just disband! Not kill them all! That was a waste and a betrayal of the deepest decree. It was the ultimate pirate sin. Shanks had told him that long ago. He disliked the butler even more now.
Usopp was behind Luffy a bit, hiding. "I'll kill him too, much more of a monster than someone with a pirate as a father," Kuro snapped, slicing at Zoro again, only he ducked and slashed upwards. But then they were interrupted by the princess.
"Clahador, stop this!" she shouted. Though through her anger, she didn't look threatening at all. There was no way Kuro would stop because she said so. He was out to kill her after all. But why was she here? She was sick, she wasn't strong enough. Did she honestly think Kuro would stop because she told him to?
The liar wasn't happy with her being there at all. Which was understandable. He totally seemed to have a crush on the princess. It was kind of obvious. Then Jango was there, stumbling out of the woods. He was very injured, both from Luffy and from whatever Usopp and Nami pulled off. "Oh, that's the lady from the mansi- ah!" he shouted when he saw Luffy.
He was sure he'd gone far from them, and that the man had been knocked out, so how did they know?! He was being careful! Luffy stopped him from talking and punched him in the face with a gum gum pistol. He was knocked out, and silent. The half human was glad that he didn't have that ring anymore to make him freak and attack the enemy again. He knew he'd never hurt his friends, even if he was in that state. Even being held immobile by Zoro hadn't made him hostile towards his partner at all.
Kuro acted like that didn't happen. "You surprised me by being here, my lady. What are you doing here?"
"Merry told me everything." Kuro was surprised he wasn't dead. He'd heavily wounded him, after all. Luffy scowled. He'd just talked about killing someone he'd supposedly been close to for years like it was nothing. Disgusting.
"I didn't show any mercy to him," he added simply, but sounding completely arrogant and conceited. He had control over this situation completely. The princess seemed shocked. Though she came knowing what Kuro was, right? Was she just shocked because she didn't want to believe it? She hadn't believed Usopp in the first place when he went around warning everybody. Making him cry.
"I'm so sorry for not believing you, Usopp-san! I know you might not forgive me so easily… but I just couldn't believe Clahador was a pirate!" Usopp didn't find that a good enough reason for her to come to them, and openly scolded her for it, yelling that it wasn't safe for her, she was the target, so what was she doing here?! "You're fighting, too, aren't you!
"We treated you so badly… and you're covered in wounds, fighting for this village."
Usopp wasn't swayed by this, still very angry and worried for her safety. Luffy moved to be next to her, guard the princess if she needed it. "We're different! I - I'm a brave warrior of the sea!" he shouted, though he didn't sound too confident. Luffy could understand people sometimes, and others had no idea what they were feeling.
But, even though Usopp bragged about himself, he was insecure, wasn't he? Luffy had been him before Shanks. But once he was accepted by him, and had somebody believe in him when nobody had before, he got his confidence. And then his brothers made him more so. Even when Ace was trying to kill him, suriving every murder attempt made him confident in his stregnth, even if it was nothing compared to years later.
He was hoping Usopp would join, and Luffy would make him more confident! And have him be a true brave warrior of the sea. But he wouldn't point that out to him or he'd no doubt be upset everyone could see it. Besides his little friends and the princess.
"Clahador, if you want the money, I'll give it all to you! If you leave this village!" Kuro pushed up his glasses.
"That's not what I want. I don't want just the money. I want 'peace of mind'. I quite like living here and spent three years getting everyone to trust me. Only when I've obtained 'peace of mind' will my plans be fulfilled. That's why I was having my crew do the dirty work, and killing you. Killing you was always essential. You would leave a will to me, and then die." The princess's face went completely white.
Usopp shouted, "Run, Kaya! You can't negotiate with him, he isn't the person you knew before!" He sounded really scared for her. But then she pulled out a gun from somewhere, and pointed it at Kuro, who only raised his brows slightly.
"Leave this village!" she shouted, voice strong as she held the gun ready. Kuro was surprised by this. Though she wouldn't shoot, he said she grew stronger. But she was still sick, wasn't she? Would this make her even more sick? Then Kuro reminded her of all the fun times they had together, only to end his words with an insult. "I suffered so long taking care of you. Too long."
The princess's face crumbled, the insult hitting her hard. Someone she trusted for a long time betrayed her, and was now working to dismantle her confidence. She started to cry softly before they turned into sobs. She dropped the gun, and Kuro continued to insult her. Luffy wanted to punch him, but he would let Usopp make the first move. He was going to defend someone he cared for strongly.
When he made a punch, though, he missed, and Kuro made a move to slice him with his knife fingers before Luffy shot a gum gum pulled into his abdomen, shocking him and those not on his crew with how sudden the attack was. Luffy wasn't happy with him. "Zoro, can I take it from here?"
Zoro sheathed his swords. "You're the captain." Luffy grinned and nodded. Everyone was shocked that Kuro had fallen from it. Luffy simply asked if the fight was already over.
"That's boring," he said casually, though with a tinge of disappointment. But then the three kids came running up, and Luffy grabbed them before they made contact with the pirate enemy. Usopp and the princess both ordered them to leave.
"Why are you here?!"
"It's dangerous, you shouldn't be here!" The princess had composed herself a bit and wasn't crying anymore. It was weird to hear since he'd never been around people who cried a lot.
"You lied to us! You shouldn't lie like that, it's dishonest! You're fighting on your own, we want to help, too!"
Usopp refused, and Luffy stayed silent. So did his crew, though both looked disapproving of their presence right now. Luffy shoved them back and snapped his arm back into place, looking back down at Kuro, wondering how long he was going to stay down, and if he really had been put out by a single punch. If so, it was pathetic.
But the man got up, bruised a bit already, but looking stoic. Even though he showed some discomfort with walking normally. Luffy had thought he'd broken bones, or at least should have. Crap. "That was an interesting attack. I assume you have the power of a devil fruit. You really are a monster."
"And you're really annoying," Luffy said back, sounding calm. "You should come up with more insults. Like how short I am, or how skinny. Your insult is kind of getting old. Shishishi!" Zoro snorted. Kuro narrowed his eyes, irritated with Luffy's completely carefree attitude, and not showing an ounce of fear. "I ate the gum gum fruit, and because a rubber man!"
Everyone could sense or see the other pirates peeking through the forest, behind trees and bushes. They didn't move, just watched. Luffy heard their breathing easily, and sent a look at them, a cold stare. Some fell back on their butts. They were terrified of Luffy. It was kind of lucky, they weren't interfering with the fight or arguments that had turned petty.
But Kuro started it!
He heard the whispering of shock about a devil fruit. Shanks had told him they were very rare in this sea, so people might ostracize him for it. They did, he had no friends before he was put with the bandits.
Jango woke again, which was getting annoying. "I'll take care of this brat. Jango, you go take out the lady. Kill her. And those kids. They annoy me, too." Usopp was injured on the ground, bleeding from multiple places. Luffy wasn't. His shirt was ripped a bit, and he had some others' blood on him, but he was okay.
Zoro had some blood, but none of his wounds were worrisome in any way. The oldest stepped in front of Jango. "I won't let you pass here." He was standing in front of Jango's targets, holding his sword out. Luffy watched as he fought off a strong enemy, being pinned to the wall with his sword, unable to move until he slammed his foot into his chest, throwing him off.
Luffy smiled lightly. Zoro turned to him with a sneaky look. He put his sword back in the sheath, purposely flexing his arm. He was so muscular. So awesome. "Now is not the time for goo goo eyes!" Nami shouted irritably. Luffy was brought back to attention, and Zoro smirked, running back up to the group to get Jango again as Usopp continued to lay on the ground.
"Usopp pirates!" he shouted.
"We're not leaving you! You can't make us!" one of the boys called defiantly, but Usopp entrusted them with protecting Kaya. Everyone was surprised, and Nami made a look of disbelief, using children like that. Luffy agreed it was reckless, and felt Nami could do it, even with her wounds. On her leg and arm, she had heavy bruises already forming. They'd be nasty bruises later. Not that Luffy had had bad bruises in years.
Oh! No, Usopp was just making them run away. It wasn't stupid, Luffy felt bad for thinking that. "Captain's orders! You must follow it!" Usopp shouted, voice scratchy with some blood in it, and the screaming must have made it sore. The three did as he said, hurrying away with the princess. They ran into the forest.
Jango left. He was super durable! Usopp tried to get up to chase them as Zoro took out the same guy he'd kicked before. Luffy kept facing Kuro, the main enemy. He was fast, Luffy wouldn't let him pull any sneak attacks. But Usopp couldn't move, and fell down. Wow, he was really injured. Maybe Luffy was underestimating his wounds. Or maybe he was just really weak. Probably a bit of both.
And Kuro laughed at him. Luffy clenched his teeth angrily. He was getting really mad about his attitude. He was garbage, making both the princess and now Usopp cry. But Usopp was determined to save them, even if he couldn't move. "Well said!" Luffy exclaimed. He had to do something about this.
"Even if I can't move, I'll protect the villagers! I'm a brave warrior of the sea!"
"Ahahah! So pathetic!"
"Listen to him spout those lies! Wow! Hahaha!" Luffy felt fury and turned around.
"If you laugh at him one more time, I'll kill all of you. In the same way I did the other," he added to scare them extra. Luffy turned towards them and made a step towards them, causing them all to flee. After all, Luffy had attacked all of them like a rabid animal, and then they somehow found out about his blood drinking. He wouldn't have killed them. He didn't think so, not willingly.
He thought he could start calling the blood drinking "medication" for his condition. Yeah, that wasn't as creepy as just stating he drank blood and then explaining why! But then he smelled Kuro behind him, pulling a sneak attack that Luffy stopped, lifting his leg and slamming it into his face. Zoro was fighting the annoyingly tough opponent distracting him.
Luffy heard the slash and smelled the blood as Zoro cut him down, finally it seemed. "Luffy, I'm gonna take Usopp and chase after them! Got a problem?" he asked as he picked Usopp up. Luffy said he didn't. Then he turned back to Kuro, whose nose was bleeding. He was fast, though, with his new attacks.
He managed to slash Luffy a few times, cutting his shirt into tatters. He was bleeding now, but was able to get in some bad hits to Kuro's face, chest and knees. But he was tough, even if he was grunting at the pain. Luffy was keeping his own sounds of weakness in, even if he hated the feeling and smell of his own blood dripping down and staining his shorts' waistband. Zoro would be upset.
Nami was still watching from far behind, cheering Luffy on, no pirates were attacking her, hiding from Luffy and watching from even further away now. "Kick his ass!" she cheered. "The treasure will be mine!" she called enthusiastically, believing in Luffy's strength. Luffy shot a gun gum pistol at him from a distance, but he stepped on it and ran at him. Luffy guarded his face and snapped his arm back, but it was too late.
The claws bypassed his guarded face, and plunged through his neck, making blood pour out of it and his mouth. Nami screamed his name in horror, and Luffy didn't know how to fix this, but all he knew was that he would need blood to fix it. He couldn't do it from Nami, even though she was hurrying over, shouting offers.
The closest was Kuro, who looked satisfied with Luffy trying to pinch the holes closed. He was getting light headed, but he launched at Kuro at high speed, furious and now in a fight or flight state that made his head fuzzy. He grabbed the claws with his bare hands, cutting himself badly as he broke them in half, and grabbed onto his back, plunging his teeth into his neck.
He wrapped his limbs around his tightly as his crew ran screaming, back to their damaged ship. Luffy was breathing through his nose as he drank enough to heal his wounds, though, plug the holes in his neck that had dripped blood all over his front. It was soaked into his shirt and stained his shorts.
He dropped Kuro, who was unconscious and pale. Luffy stumbled back and landed on his butt, laying down. He felt like shit. Nami slammed her staff into their enemy's head for good measure, and hurried to Luffy, frantically asking if he was okay. Luffy nodded, but said his throat hurt really bad. "Well, I bet! You were stabbed through it!" she said.
"I… I've never drunk that much," Luffy said, teeth clenched. "What - what if I killed him?" he asked, wiping his mouth frantically. Nami looked sad.
"He was a monster that wanted to kill Kaya. He deserved that, and he's not dead, is he? He's unconscious. I'm not scared, so you don't have to worry about that." Luffy said he was scared. Her face fell even more. "You don't have to be. I know you'd never do that to one of us or anything. But we should buy a lot of blood bags here. Or just steal it."
Luffy nodded, and smiled, thanking her. She didn't cringe at his teeth, which were no doubt stained with blood. "C'mon, let's go catch up with them. I'm sure Zoro's taken care of that guy. Hopefully for good." Luffy nodded, and stood up, his knees shaking a bit before he was okay. Are you okay to walk?"
The younger nodded. "I think I'm feeling really bad because I drank too much. But, it's better than being dead. Are you still hurt? Are you okay to walk?" Luffy asked. Nami smiled and nodded. All she had were a lot of bruises. She got off easy. "It's good your wounds are healed. But it'll look really suspicious to have all of this blood and no injuries."
"Do you think Usopp connected the dots?" Luffy asked.
Nami frowned. "I would assume so. Or at least know something is off. You want him to join, don't you?" Luffy nodded. "I do, too. And hopefully we'll get a ship!" Luffy grinned, thinking it was a real possibility for them helping to save the princess. "She's not a princess- oh, whatever," she sighed.
They headed into the forest, following the trail Luffy could smell easily. When they found them, the kids were hurt and crying silent tears, and Jango was finally cut down. Zoro grinned and looked behind at Luffy before his face turned into one of horror. Nami quickly said he was okay. Usopp demanded to know how he was "okay" with so much blood!?
Luffy didn't know what to say. So he settled with, "It's not mine. It got in my mouth, too." Usopp made a noise of disgust, and bought the line. Then he smiled, Kaya at the tree and breathing heavily in fear of everything that just happened to her.
"Thank you guys. It's all thanks to you. If it weren't for you, our village would have been destroyed." He had tears in his eyes. Zoro smiled and replied.
"What are you talking about? I wouldn't have done jack shit if you hadn't." Luffy didn't agree with that.
"We're friends. I would help any of my friends," he said with a grin, sitting down against a tree. He was sore everywhere, and so tired. He just wanted to wash off and take a nap. Nami's response was about treasure. Usopp grinned widely, no more tears.
He declared, "After everything that's happened, I've made a decision! I'll be back to see you all off!" Then he ran off. Oddly healed considering how bad he'd been only half an hour ago. Maybe the good ending to the fight made him feel better. Luffy heard him talk to his little crew members. He decided to become a pirate!
Luffy was so happy he'd join them! But he'd say nothing about overhearing a conversation that left all four in tears, including the resigned "captain". They headed to the village, and found a hose that they used to wash Luffy off. Get all the horrible blood off. Though his shorts were stained badly. "I can't believe you were stabbed in the throat… it must have been so scary," Zoro said sadly. The youngest of the three nodded.
"I reacted immediately and attacked Kuro. I don't like that crazy side of me. It's popped up three times in the last two days. It freaks me out, really. I like, lose control completely. I become dangerous and violent. What if I attacked you guys on the ship?"
Both were completely unafraid. Neither thought he was capable of that. "Did you ever attack your brothers? You three were usually alone, right?" Luffy thought that was a good point, but he had only remembered losing control once. After he found out about Sabo. But, trapped inside the bandit's house, he hadn't hurt any of them.
He honestly felt better after that was pointed out. "Thanks, Nami. That made me feel a lot better. Even when I learned my brother was murdered, I didn't attack anyone else around me." He smiled truly, thanking her.
"No problem. I'm glad I thought of it," she replied. Both didn't comment on Luffy bluntly mentioning his murdered brother.
Luffy told them, "I was thinking!" - Nami made an "uh oh" sound. Luffy ignored it - "About if I explain the whole condition to anyone, I can just start out by saying it's medication, right? It kind of is, it treats my issue." The other two nodded in agreement. "I mean, it will still freak people out, no doubt. But I will have to explain it all. The reason why. I just don't want to scare anyone off," he explained.
Zoro took his haramaki off and dried Luffy off with it like a towel. Luffy smiled about it, and wringed his shirt out next, pouring out pink water. Nami hadn't seen the marks on his chest. The black ones that looked like tattoos. "Do those have to do with the thing?"
Looking down, Luffy nodded. "I've always had them since I was born. Same with my hair. But those are the only things different. And the eyes, too, of course. But I can hide all of them, so that's nice! Shishishi."
They went to the same restaurant they had before, and Luffy ate a lot of meat, even if it still hurt a bit. He was hungry for something other than blood. They scarfed their food. Well, Nami ate politely while Luffy and Zoro ate obnoxiously, though Luffy was worse than his boyfriend. "Hey, Zoro. You should wear your bandana more. It's really hot," Luffy said through a bread stick.
Nami giggled quietly and Zoro grinned and took the bandana off his arm and put it on his head. Luffy beamed, and Zoro kissed his cheek. "No more near death experiences, okay?" he said, slightly scolding. Luffy promised he'd try. That was as good as Zoro was going to get. He promised to do his best, as well.
"Well, we had our meal," Zoro said, looking at all the empty plates. "We should get going. I know I wanted to stay a week, but I'm bored of the island already. Too small and nothing to do." Luffy grew up in a small village and then an isolated hut, but he knew what he meant by it being too small and boring.
After living in the forest, the vast forest with tons of room to explore, the visits to Foosha were boring. Except going to see Makino. That was a nice thing, worth the long trek down the mountain. The three made to get up, put some money on the table, and started to leave before the princess came in, looking much better than she had before.
"Oh, princess," Luffy said. Nobody tried to correct him, having given up on that long ago. Nami asked if she should be out and about.
"So this is where you guys were. I feel better. I've been sick like this a year, after my parents died. Ever since that day, Usopp has been encouraging me. That's why I can't be so weak now." She said it with a light smile, but a very strong voice. She was determined. Luffy was glad she was doing okay after everything that had happened. Her smile was genuine.
"Anyway, I heard you guys were looking for a ship."
Luffy asked, "You're gonna give us one?!" excitedly. "See! I knew asking politely would get us a ship," he bragged. Nami shook her head, and the princess chuckled, but nodded. They were getting a real ship! Goodbye tiny boats! Though he would always have a sentimental value to the one he'd shared with Zoro.
They all rushed to the coast where Kaya said the ship was. When it came into view, Luffy was in awe. It was perfect! Perfect for their journey! "Ah, a carvel!" Nami said enthusiastically. The new butler, or whoever he was, stood in front of it proudly, and explained the kind of ship it was. Luffy paid little attention. All of that was for Nami to know.
They were told, unsurprisingly, "Since you defeated Kuro and saved the Lady, this is the least I can do. She's called the Going Merry." Luffy liked that name, too. Now they only had to name their crew and make a flag! Luffy still knew what he wanted his to look like. Merry explained further to Nami, and Luffy just wanted to inspect it.
Zoro reminded him of something they still needed to do. "Blood bags," he said quietly. Luffy couldn't believe he forgot. He nodded. After Merry was done explaining to Nami, Luffy asked where the hospital was there."
"Oh, are you hurt?"
Nami said, "He just needs his medication." Merry didn't ask for what, and the princess led them to the hospital, which was very near. She stayed outside as Luffy paid for many blood bags without any question from the grateful doctor, knowing they helped save the island. They were paying for it with the treasure they'd stolen from the pirates, Luffy had sling shotted himself over and stolen all of it.
So, they had plenty of money. Not as much as Nami wanted, but they couldn't complain too much about it. They had all of the bags in a sack on Luffy's back, very large and heavy for a normal person. Then they bought an ice chest on their way back to the ship. Nami was already on, so Luffy handed her the things.
He turned to the princess and bowed. "Thank you for causing all this trouble for us," he said sincerely. Zoro corrected him about "causing" being "going through". Luffy didn't pay much attention. He was glad he had new clothes now, throwing away the blood soaked mess. His thoughts were interrupted when they heard a screaming coming from the direction they'd walked from.
"Help! Stop meeee!" Usopp screamed as he rolled quickly down the hill with a huge backpack on. Stuffed completely. To keep him from hitting the ship, both Zoro and Luffy stopped him with their feet. "Thank you…" he said, even though both had their soles on his face.
"You're welcome," Luffy replied simply. The princess asked if he was really going out to sea, looking and sounding sad. The long nosed teen nodded proudly. He looked happy and determined, no fear. Luffy wondered why he was acting like he was going on his own. It was weird, he was coming with them, right? Right?
He looked to Zoro, who was frowning, but shrugged. The three stood at the railing of their new ship, and watched in confusion as Usopp went to a little boat that wouldn't even fit his backpack. "Well, I hope to see you out on the sea some day! We'll see each other again! I'm sure."
"Why?"
Usopp said, "You sure are antisocial, aren't you? We're both pirates, so we'll have to meet each other on the sea someday." Luffy kept himself from saying the sea was really big. And the obvious thought that he wasn't going on his own, he was going with them. Luffy wouldn't let him say no.
"What are you doing? Get on the ship already," Zoro said in slight annoyance.
"Why?" Usopp asked in confusion.
Luffy put his head on his arms, bent over the railing. "We're already companions, aren't we?" he asked simply. Nami and Zoro nodded in agreement. They all watched Usopp's reaction as he processed their invitation. No, their order. He was coming with them! But he was shocked and confused.
But then a grin went across his face. "I'm the captain, right?!"
"No! I am!" Luffy shouted back. Usopp grinned, and they helped him get his things on board. He had a ton of stuff, but it could fit in the storage room even with all the food Merry was considerate enough to stock for them. They were all set to head to the next island, and follow that path until they reached the Grand Line, their target!
The wild adventure would start there, he knew it. Shanks said the Grand Linewas a crazy place, but really fun. Luffy had been looking forward to that for a long time. Ten years. Well, the wait was nearly over, wasn't it? Maybe a few weeks or a couple months until they made it to that place.
He couldn't wait.