Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
"One Piece." – Speaking
'One Piece.' – Thinking
One Piece. – Flashbacks
One Piece. – Devil Fruits and Techniques
Deadly Drinking Pirate
A Little Relaxing Time Before The Start Of A Grand Adventure
Previously on Deadly Drunken Pirate,
"…I saw the gold in the skull's right eye."
That got everyone's attention and they stopped to hear what it supposedly meant. "That was the last my ancestor ever wrote until his planned execution! As for the meaning, not even I was able to figure it out! Does it mean the eye of a human skull? Or does it mean there is an island shaped like a skull and the gold is there? We may never know as Noland took the answer to his grave!"
Cricket finished his drink and let out a satisfied sigh, "Now that we have been rested over, I would like to share some things with you as your captain agreed." Cricket turned to the two ape-looking men and they hurried over to fetch something.
And when they returned, the Straw Hats were amazed to see a bell made of gold that was the size to fit in the palm of a human hand. But while that was impressive, the real star of the show was the large, gold model of what seems to be some kind of a toucan. "As for what this statute, made of real gold, is supposed to be of; a South Bird!"
Silence filled the air, like a foreign word was shot out. But Luffy looked the wiser like before, "I have heard of those somewhere while training. South Birds are tropical birds that are called so because they have the best sense of direction for any living creature, better than any compass. Sailors who acquire a South Bird have a good way of navigating because those birds face south no matter what, even during storms."
"ARRGH!" The whole house suddenly shook and nearly knocked everything over. "That reminds me! If you are going to get to the Sky Island then you will have to take a very dangerous current that shots upward to the clouds! And the only way to make it is with a South Bird!"
"WHAAT!?"
"What do you mean that you aren't coming!?" Usopp shouted off his disbelief and annoyance, despite being equipped with hunting and catching gear from the King's Gourd. "You will be able to find the South Bird easily!"
"Exactly. That's why I am not coming and neither is Robin." Luffy responded firmly. Then he turned to Nami, his girlfriend. "Don't worry honey. I will be a good boy and I trust you to keep Sanji's hands off, right?" Nami tried to get jealous or at least suspicious but her heart swooned by Luffy's devilish grin; and somehow, everyone missed that Robin had a very small blush that she was hiding with one of her hands.
"I get it. With Robin's ability, it will be too easy." Zoro then spoke up. "All she will have to do is see the stupid bird and toss it down from whatever it is roosting down to the damn ground." That was gruff, expected of Luffy's male first mate, but still made sense. "And personally, taking it easy will hurt worse than a salted fresh wound. Come on."
Soon enough, there was just Luffy and Robin out in the open. "Aren't you a bad boy, inviting me out here alone with you?" The mysterious woman tried to tease Luffy but he won't have it.
"Hands off, I just want to give my crew a handicap for them to overcome on their own." Luffy grumbled. "Besides, you seem to be the type to love to learn. So, is there anything you will like to know? I am willing to share."
Robin giggled. "Are you sure that you want to open to a stranger such as myself?" Luffy didn't even face her. Her only response was the air getting thick, to the point of being hard to breathe for Robin.
"Is that a no?" Luffy spoke of thin patience for those who give complicated answers to simple questions, or else don't answer at all. Robin felt a shiver down her spine, somehow scaring and amusing her.
"Pardon me, I didn't mean to offend." Luffy at least had half a smile in his frown, "I do want to ask about you."
"Me too." Both pirates looked up to see the old man himself from the 'half-house'. "I will like to know just what the hell happened in that crap town before you and your gang blew it up." Cricket continued and got comfy on the grass.
"I want to know too. You did send a messenger telling people like me to not get involved." Robin added her own two cents. "Just what is this 'Blackbeard' that fells your every fiber with hate?"
"He committed a true sin." Luffy actually answered, baffling his audience. "When you are a pirate, you sail free of the rules set forth by the government and are hunted by the marines. When you are all alone on the vast ocean, you can only turn to your comrades and your fellow pirates." (1) Cricket rubbed his goatee while Robin looked indifferent. "And Blackbeard used to sail under another captain, my superior, Edward Newgate."
Both of them lost color on their faces. "Blackbeard sailed under the Yonko (Four Emperors)!?"
"Shirohige (Whitebeard)!?" Luffy nodded, inwardly amused by their expressions. "You have connections with the Strongest Man in The World!?" Robin somehow looked like a ghoul and Luffy continued to smirk at it.
"You missed a few epic phone-calls I made before leaving Alabastra. I even talked with my childhood idol, Shanks." Luffy added and held in the urge to laughter when a couple of faces got in his own.
"EVEN AKAGAMI (RED-HAIRED) SHANKS!?" Luffy nodded and then got grimly serious.
"The point I am making is that Blackbeard sailed under the flag for twenty years and showed his true colors when he stole the Yami-Yami no Mi (Dark-Dark Fruit) from one of his fellow sailors, right before stabbing him in the back!" Cricket and Robin had settled down since Luffy looked like he needed someone's head to pop off given how his hands itched. "I can't stand such bastards who breach the trust pirates have for each other, and just jump ship afterwards."
"And how do you know all about this?" Cricket finally spoke calmly, "I mean you talk like you were there when it all happened…"
"All living beings are the same, old man." Luffy cut him off. "We don't speak, eat, drink or even move to scratch an itch on your nose, unless we tell ourselves do so. Those thoughts usually go unheard but I have cracked the code years ago. It is not a complete process just yet…"
Cricket suddenly felt like he was sitting on a stool with a soft top, with his arms on a counter and facing a bartender with Luffy's face. "…but I have gone a long way in perfecting it." The bartender even had Luffy's voice and offered a glass with a large ice cube and fresh beer sizzling inside. Cricket then took it without even thinking and drank the beer, much to the delight of his taste buds.
"Here, in my bar, all you have to do is to enjoy a drink and share your troubles. Everyone has come here for the pleasure of it." Luffy, as the bartender, then directed Cricket's attention to how the counter stretches both to the left and right, endlessly. And the old man saw not only Robin but other people and even animals sitting on their own stools talking to identical bartenders.
"You are…one hell of a pirate, kid." Cricket could only say before asking for another whisky and told Luffy about his story. After he was done, all three of them were suddenly back in the clearing. "Thanks kid, I feel much better now."
"Not a problem, old man." Luffy answered. "I promise you, we will help you settle things with Noland. No one deserves to live out here, all alone." Cricket looked away, mumbling about something in his eye, instead to hide the tears going down his cheeks.
"We're back!" The ice was broken by an amusing sight; a gang of pirates running out of the woods, covered in dirt and bruises, carrying a restless bird along. "And we finally caught the South Bird!" Luffy smiled and walked up to the bizarre looking bird, grabbing it by the legs.
"Hello you. You are grouchy and I can understand that. But we need someone like you for a very important matter." Luffy talked to the South Bird with a tone that was both creepy and friendly, scaring even the bird itself. "Once you help us, you can fly back to the jungle and feast any more fools that trespass in your home. Until then, you are stuck with us. Better get used to it or else we will feed a cracker~." The South Bird completely quieted down and was too scared to protest anymore.
XXXXX
The following morning finally came,
"Everything ready?" Luffy asked Nami and Alvida, both are going over the checklists. "Everything fastened down, supplies secure…" Luffy checked things off with his own fingers. "And the Going Merry…" Luffy said, making the atmosphere tense slightly. "It is secure for the hell we are sailing towards?"
"It better be." All three turned to their resident sniper with a fierce look on his face. "Because I am not emphasizing this just for me." Usopp then took off, and Luffy turned to Kaya; she had a distant look on her face. It was like she couldn't decide to be flattered, relieved or worried for her boyfriend.
Meanwhile, "Captain! The clouds are starting to form and a little ahead of schedule!" Masira's crew informed the monkey-looking man. They offered to aid the Straw Hats to get to Sky Island after helping their 'boss'. The objective to help the King's Gourd hitch a ride on the Nokku Appu Sutorīmu (Knock-Up Stream).
It was a Grand Line phenomenon that occurs at least five times a month and at different locations. It was also the only way for the Straw Hats to ever reach Sky Island. The power behind the stream was enough to send a water high into the air, almost the heights of skyscrapers. If this couldn't reach the Sky Island, nothing will.
Right now, the plan has been going smoothly until the calculations turned to be a little off. "Guys! We need to move now; your ride is about here!" Masira called over to the Straw Hats. "Brother, lets go!" The other monkey man's crew was on the other side of the King's Gourd, to help it move to where the skyward current was to occur.
Soon, the sky turned dark in the middle of the day. The clouds were black and thick, as if a hurricane was coming through. And the ocean started to stir and pull in the large vessels. "Okay Mugiwara (Straw Hat), this is as far as we can take you and your crew! Good luck!" Masira shouted out as both his and his brother's ships managed to back out of the currents.
"Thank you! For everything!" Luffy called out, as good as he could since his girlfriend was clinging to him like a lifeline. Not to mention his reindeer, little brother was doing the same with one of his legs; meanwhile Usopp looked like a shoulder to attention, trying to hide his own fear from Kaya.
"Hold it Mugiwara!" The tense mood suddenly gained a sour taste. Turning towards the voice in the wind, they saw what could only be a wooden raft trying to be a pirate ship. The large black sail had the Jolly Roger as three skulls together, similar to that of the Cerberus. But Luffy knew whose was sailing this contraption,
"Blackbeard." That was deep and ominous, that of a man out for blood. "I thought that a piece of shit like you won't be so stupid to try and attack us out here! You will just get the marines back on your puny tail!"
"Those pathetic Marines have their hands full with that arrogant brat, Bellamy!" That was 'almost' ironic if you consider overconfidence to be the same as arrogance. "So, if you have the guts to take me on like a man then you won't run away from your destined defeat! Ze-ha-ha-ha!"
Everyone still had their looks on Luffy, wondering what he wants to do. Instead, Luffy doesn't say a word and continues to stare down the large raft with a pirate flag. "…don't bother with them. Are we in the center of the whirlpool?" They all nodded.
While Luffy was focusing on the raft with Blackbeard on, he didn't notice that the spiraling whirlpool had suddenly stopped and the water turned calm and motionless. While everyone was silent and confused, Luffy smirked. "Good. Then they are the ones about to lose…"
Then it happened. In the blink of an eye, in a split second. The water underneath the King's Gourd erupted worse than a centuries-dormant volcano. All that water shot up and formed truly a marvel of a geyser. At the base, the raft carrying the Blackbeard Pirates had collapsed under the impact and pressure. Meanwhile, the King's Gourd was riding along!
"Open the sails! Make sure everything is secure!" Luffy shouted out, rushing to the sails along with the others. "And get ready…for the adventure of a lifetime!"
"YEAH!" The crew cheered with all their strength and finally, they all vanished above the clouds. From there, no one on the sea surface can help them now. They truly are on their own, with hopes they made it to Sky Island.
As all this was happening, Cricket had already gone through ten boxes of his cancer sticks, still watching the Straw Hats ride the current far above the clouds to reach the sky. He didn't even see the Blackbeard Pirates try in vain to interfere with them. "Go for it, kid. For the both of us." He knew that he may never see Luffy again but Cricket still put all his hopes on that young pirate.
End of Chapter 35.
*Hello everyone! I finally got this chapter done and just in time to inform you that I have got a week filled with exams to do; a couple of Midterms including a Police entrance exam that I sighed up for without knowing. Whatever I pass or not, I will still be able to focus entirely on my school work. Then again, the week after is Spring Break, and I hope that it will at least be relaxing.
Another thing is that my Birthday is this weekend, right before my exams start! But I bet plenty of people had exams right on their birthdays. So i apologize for making this chapter a little short. Wish me luck and see you next week or the week after!*
1. I am borrowing this from 'Once Again', by TheVictor, just in different wording. I still give credit where it is due.
