-Chapter 4-
Axew's POV
Luffy grins back at me. Wait, hold everything a second. He wants me to join his crew?
Usopp and Sanji gape at him in disbelief. "You can't just invite everyone who you meet onto our crew!"
"I'm the captain!" Luffy reminds.
The leader of this group of misfits is the kid in the straw hat, Luffy? I feel kind of bad for them, even the chef.
"Ugh." groans the guy with the green hair. "I wasn't fast enough, you let him invite another one on, huh?"
"The hell do you mean, another one?" yells Sanji.
Geez, Sanji hates the guy with the green hair more than he hates me!
"I mean…" Luffy cuts Green Hair off. "Hey, Zolo, come meet our new crew member!"
Zolo wanders over and inspects me. I shiver. "He doesn't look too strong." he points out.
"He beat Sanji." answers Luffy. "That's not really an achievement." Zolo dismisses.
"He took me by surprise!" Sanji insists.
"You better be strong." Zolo warns me pointedly. "Our captain's an idiot who gets into lots of fights and drags us into most of them."
Yeah, I can get that. But do I want to join, though. I don't have anywhere else to go, and looking around me, I can't even see any islands. If I follow them until the next island and then… No, where would I go? I have no idea where my village is. I guess…
I slowly nod my head in agreement. I'll join their crew and hopefully, I'll find some clues to where my village is.
"Great!" exclaims Luffy. "We have a new crew member!" he yells out to the sky.
"What?!" yells the orange-haired girl, overhearing the yells of her captain.
I sit on the deck with my new crewmates standing around me.
"I'm Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, our crew!" Luffy grins.
"Zolo. A swordsman." Zolo states simply.
"I'm Nami, the navigator." sighs the orange-haired girl.
"I'm Usopp, the crew's sniper! I once lead an army of one thousand soldiers!" Usopp smiles. Yeah, I somehow doubt that.
"And I'm Sanji, the crew's chef. If you're hungry, come to me. I'll forgive you for earlier, but if you value your life, don't steal food." Sanji glares.
"What's your name?" Luffy asks. "You don't even know that?" the rest of the crew yell at him.
"Ax-ew!" I beam earnestly. "Axew, huh?" Luffy smiles back. "Nice to meet you!"
"There's a light!" Luffy points towards a small light on the horizon.
It's been a few hours since I joined the Straw Hats and already we're at the entrance of the Grand Line. It's pouring with rain, though.
"Yes Luffy, that's the lighthouse," explains Nami. "Now we can see it, it's only a matter of time until we get to the Grand Line."
Sanji pulls a barrel onto the deck. "Shall we?"
He slams his foot down on the barrel. "I'm going to find the All Blue."
Luffy places his foot down on the barrel, as well. "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"
Zolo copies. "I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman!"
"I'm going to draw a map of the world!" exclaims Nami.
Shaking, Usopp joins in. "I'm going to become a brave warrior of the sea!"
They all stare at me expectantly. I tilt my head in confusion.
"What's your dream, Axew?" Luffy ponders.
Dream? Do I have a dream? I'd like to go home, but… How did I get here? Where is home, anyway? When I think back, I can remember everyone, Mom, Dad, Spikes and Golem.
Everything up until the day before I fell out the sky. Then, nothing.
Suddenly, I feel a flash of pain. I grip my head in agony.
"Yew-yew!"
I see the village in flames. Mom and Dad gone. Spikes and Golem gone. No one's there except me and…
Just as suddenly as it started, the vision ends.
"Axew!" Luffy shouts again. I shake my head, the pain is gone.
"What was that?" asks Nami, concerned.
I shake my head again.
"Just a headache." sighs Usopp, relieved.
But a dream, huh? I don't want to go home. Not yet, anyway. I need to know who destroyed my village. And…
"How weird, the storm's gone." Usopp points out, interrupting my thoughts. "Yeah, it's calm." agrees Sanji.
"Oh no!" cries Nami. "We're in the Calm Belt."
Calm Belt? Sounds nice! Nothing like the storm we were in before!
"You don't understand!" yells Nami.
I try to understand her explanation of how entry to the Grand Line works.
"That's all very well Nami, but if what you're saying is true, how do we get into the Grand Line via a mountain?" enquires Usopp.
"I'll explain later, but that's not our biggest concern at the moment." says Nami, gritting her teeth.
All of a sudden, there's a bump on the ship and then a feeling, like we were being pulled into the sky.
We all rush to the deck. Holy Arceus! There's a writhing nest of sea monsters about the size of islands.
"The Calm Belt is a nest of Sea Kings!" weeps Nami. Oh, so that's what she was trying to tell us!
Hang on, Seakings? They look nothing like…
Then, we're flipped into the air. There's a strange silence.
"Usopp fell off!" yells Luffy, stretching his rubber arm out to sea, reaching out for our long-nosed sniper, who is currently falling towards the gaping mouth of an incorrectly named "Seaking"!
-end of chapter 4-
- I have a couple of things to say. First, thanks so much for the support so far. It's been great, guys. Second, as you may have noticed, the chapters will be getting bigger. Someone requested a size change, and I noticed how small they are! Sorry! Third, he will evolve at some point. It probably won't be until around the Enies Lobby arc, though. Fourth, if I get enough requests for a single Pokemon, I may include it in the story line! -
