AN: This story just showed up practically finished in my mind when I woke up at 6:00 am after 4 hours of sleep. It just wouldn't leave me alone, so I wrote it down. The story is set about 5-or-so years into the future, and Ruffy is still searching for One Piece.
I have only read up to volume 23 of the One Piece manga, so I don't know anything about things that happens after the Alabasta Arc. I think Ruffy is a little bit out of character, but I did my best.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece (I'd be Queen of Pirates, ne?) or the Characters (the ones I have added to the crew in the end is a small exception, but they are not described in any way except for their presence so I don't think they count…). One Piece and the characters are © 1998 Eiichiro Oda
As he climbed the stone stairs, he grew more and more certain that this was the place. This was the island where the treasure was hidden. He climbed the stairs himself; the crew was waiting by the docks down by the shore. They had known that this was something he had to do by himself.
A strong wind was blowing from the top of the stairs and tore at his soot-stained clothes and threatened to steal the tattered straw-hat from his head. But he firmly pressed the hat back down over his black, tousled hair with one hand and kept up his stride.
The stairs led into a tunnel where torches once had lit up the walls with their flickering flames. Now they hanged on the walls, skeletons of iron and charcoal, only mementos of the past and the activity that had vanished once the King of Pirates was executed.
But now, there was a new King claiming the throne. Somewhere deep in the cave, it was waiting for him - the treasure known as One Piece.
As the man continued to climb the seemingly endless stairs, he suddenly felt his left sandal-clad foot sink into the floor. Looking down, he noticed that the stone he had stepped on had sunk into the floor, probably setting off some kind of trap. There was a rumbling noise coming from the top of the stairs, almost like the sound in his ears when he had been thrown into the water in Arlong's Park so many years ago. But the ground hadn't been shaking that time, and there hadn't been the sound of rocks grinding against rocks either. Something was coming down the stairs right at him.
Bracing himself, the man pulled the straw-hat even further down over his head to make sure it wouldn't get blown away by the strong wind. Then, he stretched his arms back, keeping his eyes on the darkness further up in the tunnel and waited.
"Gomu…"
There was a movement in the shadows and the rumbling sound was growing stronger for every second.
"Gomu…"
Now, the rolling rock was fully visible in the dim light. It was large enough to fill up the whole tunnel, knocking loose rocks from the walls as it crashed into the sides on its way down.
Feeling the tension in his outstretched arms, he finally let them snap back, his hands shooting out in front of him with unbelievable force.
"…Bazooka!"
As his hands hit the boulder with full force, the boulder exploded in a million tiny pieces and scattered around the tunnel. Rubbing his palms together, the man smiled and continued up the stairs.
He didn't encounter any more traps that hadn't already been activated by some poor unsuspecting pirate who probably had been so excited to have come so far on his search. Their remains were lying here and there against the wall in the same position in which they had died.
At the end of the stairs, a large round room spread out in front of him. There were three doors at the end of the room, all of them illuminated by strange crystals that glowed with a turquoise light in the dark room.
Which door should he pick? There were no signs on the doors, and no one there to tell him which could be the right one. That only one door was the one that lead to the treasure wasn't something he had to figure out; his instincts had told him that as soon as he laid eyes on the doors. Someone who tries to protect his treasure would go any distance to keep it from the hands of others.
Looking from one side of the room to the other, his eyes resting on each of the doors in order from left to right, he tried to feel which door felt like the right one.
After a few minutes, he smiled and took a step forward, moving towards the left door. As he put his hand on the smooth metal door, his stomach twisted. This was it. He pushed the door open and stepped into the room behind it.
The room was long and thin and there was a light at the far end of it. The man could almost feel his body vibrate with excitement. Even if he no longer was a teenager, his lust for adventure was as lively as ever. And now he was so close… He started walking through the room, his eyes wide and a big grin on his face.
A swishing sound was heard and he leaned back just in time for the arrow to miss his head as it shot out from a hold in the wall to his right. The man started running, more arrows shooting out from the walls behind him. When he reached the end of the room, he slammed into another metal door with full speed. The door crashed open and the man rolled over the floor until he came to a stop. He lay one the floor for a moment to catch his breath, before he jumped to his feet and looked around.
The room was empty, except for a small writing desk in one of the inner corners. Feeling his excitement transform into a feeling he wasn't used to feel – disappointment. Could his instincts have been wrong? That couldn't be true. The man ran over to the writing desk and opened the drawers one by one, not even sure what he was looking for. He just wanted to find something, –anything that would show him that his instincts hadn't been wrong.
"No…" he muttered as he threw some papers in the air. "I know that it's here. It can't be another false treasure…"
The crew had come across other islands along the way where he had been almost sure that the treasure was hidden there. But the feeling had never been so strong before he came to this island.
Then, as he had almost emptied the writing desk, he happened to grab a thick quill that was standing in a bottle of ink on the desk. As he tried to throw it over his shoulder, he realized that it was stuck and felt it move to the side under the weight of his hand.
Another rumbling sound of grinding rocks was heard and the man looked around, prepared for another rock coming towards him. But the only thing that moved in the room was the back wall that suddenly swung back, revealing a larger room where he could see a faint sparkle in the dim light.
The man could feel the rush of excitement flow back through his body again as he walked into the larger room, his eyes slowly getting used to the light in there.
There were small windows in the rough walls that let the grey daylight slip into the room. In the rays of light that crossed the room, the huge mountains of gold glimmered magically and cast faint reflections all over the room.
He couldn't help but feel like he was trespassing. Therefore, he stood straight, bowed and said with a clear voice:
"My name is Monkey D. Ruffy! I am the man who will be the King of Pirates. I am not here to steal your treasure; I just want to prove that I have been here. I promise to return the item I take with me before I die."
As he finished talking, he felt the feeling of trespassing ease and fade away. Now, he could explore the treasure to find the perfect trophy to take with him.
Beside the mounds of gold and jewels, Ruffy found three large bookcases filled with rare books about the Grand Line, and information about islands and depths of the sea in different parts of the ocean. He also found hundreds of maps marking out lots of treasures and forgotten islands Ruffy didn't understand much of what was in the books or the maps, but when he came over a map with the title 'All Blue', it immediately caught his eyes. This was exactly what Sanji could use to achieve his goal, and Nami could probably use the dusty old books for her world map. He put the map and some of the books that looked important on a small golden table and went into another corner of the room.
In the inner right corner of the room was a smaller room, and as he walked into it, Ruffy gasped out of surprise and awe.
In the room was a large polished writing desk, a wooden armchair and a large black coat hanger. On the wall behind the writing desk hanged a large black flag with the pure white skull and crossed bones on it. It was customized so that there was no way anyone could doubt that it was Gold Roger's old pirate flag.
In the nearest corner, on the coat hanger, hung a long red overcoat with golden embroideries and a high collar. It was very dusty and the gold had lost its shine a long time ago.
But the thing that caught Ruffy's eyes the most was the tiny thing that was hanging from the corner of the armchair's back. A dusty old straw hat with a band that looked like it had once been golden, a size that could only fit a child. The material looked old and dried, but it was still looking quite well; not a single straw was sticking out in the wrong direction.
"These are the most valuable treasures in the whole cave," Ruffy said, his clear and strong voice piercing through the silence in the room. "If you don't mind, I'd like to borrow them…"
A sudden gust of wind blew into the room from behind the pirate flag. The straw hat was lifted from the back of the chair and fell to the floor. The flag fluttered silently in the breeze before it settled against the wall again.
Ruffy smiled brightly and walked over to the fallen hat on the floor. He picked it up and hanged it back on the chair's back.
"I won't take it. I know how much an old treasure can mean to a man…" he patted his own straw hat as he said 'treasure'. "But I'll borrow your flag if you don't mind. Not to claim it as my own; we have our own proud flag. I just want to show the world one day that I've reached my goal."
There was no sound or gust of wind this time. The only sound that was heard was the faint howling of the wind blowing through the tunnel far back in the cave. Ruffy walked to the flag hanging on the wall and carefully picked it down. The wall was smooth without any windows or holes behind it.
Folding the flag neatly, he started walking out from the room. Just before he reached the larger treasure room, he turned around and bowed to the empty room.
When he walked into the treasure room, he remembered the map and the books. They were still lying on the golden table, but Ruffy put them back in their places, or at least where he thought they had been.
Then, he walked out from the room, doing his best to remember how he had managed to open the secret door to the treasure. After setting the papers back on the desk, he left for the tunnel that led out from the cave, closing all doors behind him.
As he came out from the cave, he blinked in the grey daylight and continued down the slope thought the thin forest towards the shore and the waiting ship.
From his high position, he could see the blonde cook run between the ship and the large table they had set up on the beach, carrying large trays with food and drinks to the table. It seemed like it was time for lunch, to maybe even dinner. Ruffy could feel that he was hungry, but he had to wait a little longer to fill his empty stomach.
The other twelve crew members had settled around the table, waiting for the cook to bring all the food to the table.
Ruffy continued walking down the slope towards the beach, raising his hand as he reached the end of the forest and came out on the sand. The crew noticed him and raised their hands in greeting before finishing their meal. After finishing, four of them including the green-haired swords master got up from the table and wandered off in different directions.
Sanji was busy serving drinks to the four female crewmembers when Ruffy came up to the table. He was holding the folded flag in his right hand and made no effort either to show it off or hide it from his crew.
"Well?" the orange-haired navigator said as she took a sip of her drink.
"Well what?" Ruffy said casually.
"Did you find it?" the little blue-nosed reindeer who was sitting at the nearest corner of the table said. "Was it there?"
Ruffy shrugged.
"No, not really." He looked at the blonde cook. "Sanji, is there more meat than this?"
"Of course there is, why do you ask that?" Sanji asked while loading the tray he was balancing on one hand with empty bowls and glasses.
"I'm hungry."
"Well, then sit down and eat, there's plenty of food."
"I'll do that, I just have to do something first."
And with that, Ruffy walked towards the ship and boarded it. As he got down the stairs and entered the male's quarters, he was mildly surprised to find the green-haired swords master lying in his hammock. As he shut the door behind him, he noticed that the swords master had opened one eye and was watching him.
"Took you long enough," the green-haired said without moving from his hammock. "Did you find anything?"
"Not much, some rocks, some papers…"
Ruffy could feel the swords master's eyes fall on the piece of cloth in his hand. But he didn't say anything about it and neither did Ruffy. The raven-haired man walked over to a large chest in the corner near his own hammock spot and opened it. He placed the folded flag on top of the other things in the chest and closed it, feeling the eyes of the swords master against his back of his head.
"Zoro?" he asked without turning around.
"Yeah?"
"What's your goal?"
"What? My goal?"
"Yeah, what's your goal now that you beat that Mihawk guy?"
There was a moment of silence. Ruffy tried his best not to turn around to look at his friend.
"Oh, that… To stay the best, I guess…" The answer was made in a carefree tone, but the undertone was serious. Ruffy turned around and smiled at his friend.
"Sounds good to me. Well, I'm going to get some meat now, I'm starving."
Zoro didn't answer. He had closed his eyes and was breathing slowly, even though he wasn't sleeping just yet. Ruffy didn't say anything else, but walked up to the main deck and down to the beach where the marksman were entertaining anyone who would listen with a new story. Sitting down by the table, it didn't take long before Ruffy had joined in the noise around the table.
When the sun set below the horizon and darkness slowly fell over them, the Straw Hat clan moved the last of their belongings back to the ship. The crew then sat down around the deck talking, drinking or sleeping. But Ruffy sat on the stairs to the upper deck and watched his crew enjoy themselves.
He wasn't the King of Pirates yet. Well, he would be in the eyes of anyone who would find out that he had found the One Piece. But it had occurred to him in the cave that he wasn't the King of Pirates; the title didn't belong to him just yet. He knew how to earn the title now, even though he didn't know why or how he had figured it out.
He would help his friends reach their goals, whether it was to draw a map or find a legendary ocean or a medicine that would cure any illness. Just like they had all helped him reach this island, he would give them his strength, his laughter and his life to aid them in their quests. He felt that he had known this ever since Zoro had fought the greatest swordsman in the world and won. He wouldn't be the King of Pirates before his crew had reached their goals in life.
"Ruffy! Come on!" The marksman called out from the crowd that had gathered on the deck. "The others want to see the dance Josack taught us back in Kokoyashi village!"
Ruffy laughed and bounced down to the others. He didn't need any treasure of gold or knowledge, he already had his own One Piece right there on the ship, and the adventure to earn it and make it grow in value was always just around the corner.
END