One Piece: Truly Precious
Ok, since people have repeatedly told me that time is of the essence, the next crewmember to be reunited with, will be the captain of the Straw Hat Crew, the Mighty Warrior of the Sea, the World's Deadliest…wait, what?
*looks at notes*
Who changed my script! Anyway, the next crewmember will be Ussop! Now, before I begin this chapter (and hunt down whoever changed my notes), I want to first say that Kaya will not be joining the crew. Ussop would never allow it. He knows the dangers and perils they will face and doesn't want to put her through that.
Now *grabs a rifle* I'm off to begin the hunt!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Nojiko was feeling a bit confused. She had only recently joined the Straw Hat Pirates because she wanted to see the world and become stronger like her sister had, but she was quickly finding that the group wasn't like any pirate crew she had ever heard about. She had woken up when the sun shone through her window and walked out to see her sister practically throttling her new captain while yelling at him for eating so much of their food. Not only that, but the swordsman that was his first mate was simply standing to the side lifting some rather large weights.
Walking over to Zoro, she pointed at Nami and Luffy's squabble, "Is it usually like this?"
"Pretty much," grunted Zoro as he hefted his weights, "you're new, but this is pretty much the normal routine."
"Isn't he the captain, though?" said Nojiko.
"Luffy may be the captain, but he's an idiot," said Zoro as he practiced sword swings with the weights, "it's usually up to the rest of us to keep the ship afloat.
Nojiko had to lean on the railing as she wondered just what kind of crew she had decided to join. She knew they were incredibly strong, but the hierarchy in the crew was rather messed up.
"Ah, Nojiko," said Nami as she walked up with a smile, "good to see you're up."
"Hey sis," said Nojiko, "so, where are we headed next?"
"We have a few more crewmembers to pick up," said Nami as she pulled out a map of the East Blue, "we're either going to the Baratie or Syrup Town."
"I say we get Ussop," said Luffy, "that way we can get the Merry as well."
"That does sound like a good idea," said Zoro as he continued his workout, "our crew is going to be getting big, so we'll need the room."
"Um," said Nojiko, "what's this Merry you're talking about?"
"Oh," said Luffy with a smile, "it's our pirate ship."
"Wait," said Nojiko, "you mean you have a ship besides this little dinghy?"
"Yup," said Luffy, "the Going Merry is a great ship that carried us where we needed to go, through thick and thin."
"Then why are we sailing on this little thing and not the Merry?" asked Nojiko, causing Zoro and Nami to exchange a nervous look.
"That's kind of complicated," said Nami evasively, "to put it simply we're going to go and get it back at our next stop."
Before Nojiko could inquire further, a seagull carrying a newspaper and a money pouch flew down to the ship, landing on the railing near Nami. The seagull squawked, causing Nami to sigh and drop a few coins into the pouch before taking a newspaper.
"Seriously," she groaned, "your prices are getting unreasonable. It's just a newspaper. Keep raising them and I'll stop paying."
The seagull simply squawked again before flying off to continue on its delivery route. Nami opened up the paper and began to read the headlines, causing two three papers to fall out of the paper and float to the deck facedown at Nojiko's feet. Nojiko picked up the papers and turned them over, gasping in shock at what was written on them.
"What is it?" asked Nami as the others rushed over.
Nojiko simply turned over the papers to reveal three wanted posters, one for each of the original Straw Hats.
Wanted
"Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy
Bounty: 70,000,000 Dead or Alive
Wanted
"Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro
Bounty: 50,000,000 Dead or Alive
Wanted
"Cat Burglar" Nami
Bounty: 14,000,000
Zoro and Luffy were impressed at their 'new' initial bounties, with Luffy's being higher that it was before and Zoro's being higher than Luffy's 'first' bounty. Nami however was rather depressed that she had gotten her bounty so early in their adventure, even if it was less than it originally was.
"Heh," said Zoro, "I got my bounty rather early this time. Though I don't care much for the initial amount."
"Ha ha!" cheered Luffy, "We're wanted! And my bounty is even higher this time!"
"Why?" moaned Nami, "I haven't really done anything that significant this time!"
"Seriously!" exclaimed Nojiko in frustration, "You all talk like you've done all of this before, but at the same time, act like this is all new! What's up with that?"
"Well," said Nami nervously, but before she could think up an excuse, a cannonball smashed into the water next to their little boat, causing a wave that nearly capsized them.
"What was that?" said Nojiko in surprise.
"We're under attack," said Luffy.
"And what a coincidence," said Zoro with a smirk, "look who's the one attacking us."
The ship that had fired at the Straw Hats was a large black pirate ship with red highlights and a black cat figurehead. The original members of the Straw Hat crew recognized this ship as the vessel of the Black Cat Pirates. Coincidentally, the same pirates who's captain they were going to beat at their next stop.
"Looks like we have some travelers," laughed one of the pirates on the ship, "hand over your goods or we blow you out of the water!"
"They're confident, aren't they," chuckled Zoro.
"We'll still kick their asses," said Luffy.
"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Nojiko, "They have a huge ship and cannons!"
"Watch over the ship, Nami," said Luffy before he leaped at the enemy ship, stretching his arm to swing aboard.
Zoro drew Wado and channeled Haki to the blade before using it to slice through several cannonballs that had been shot at their ship. He watched as Luffy swung aboard and began to beat his way through the pirates on the ship. The rubber captain used his control over the two common forms of Haki to smash down the pirates while also avoiding their attacks. Several pirates tried to slice through him with their swords, but a quick burst of Armament Haki easily shattered the steel blades like glass, allowing Luffy to knock them out with a powerful punch.
"Oi oi," said a slim pirate with green hair clawed gloves, "looks like we got a rat messing around on our ship."
"Looks like we're going hunting, Sham," said a large pirate wearing only a cape and pants and black paint covering part of his face.
"But of course, Buchi," said Sham.
Luffy glanced at the two pirates as they charged at him with their claws, dodging their slashes by letting his body sway like a leaf in the wind, his Observation Haki telling him their attacks before they make them. Deciding not to fool around with them, Luffy caught the arms of the two pirates in an iron grip before swinging his arms to slam the two of them together with enough force to knock them unconscious.
"Clear out, Luffy!" called our Zoro, "I'm taking that ship down."
When Luffy had swung back to their boat with his rubber arms, Zoro stepped up to the bow of their boat and closed his eyes with his hand gripping his sheathed blade in a reverse grip as he focused his Haki.
"Ittoryru Iai: Shishi Sonson!"
Zoro unsheathed his sword in a flash of motion, delivering a powerful slash before sheathing his sword again twice as fast. The attack released a powerful blade of wind that tore through the water before striking the Black Cat Pirates' ship, easily cleaving the vessel in half as if it was just a piece of fruit. Turning his back on the sinking wreckage, he smirked.
"So, shall we be on our way?" he asked.
"Right," said Nami, "next stop, Syrup Town."
'What kind of crew is this?' thought Nojiko weakly.
Ok, before you all ask, there will still be battles with Kuro later on. He and Jango don't know that their crew has been eliminated before reaching the island, so they will continue with their plans, though they won't have the crew at their backs. Also, as you can see, Nojiko is becoming suspicious about the crew. That will lead to more later.
Ciao.