Kaizoku wa Kaizoku desu… A Pirate is a Pirate
Part 1 of a 4 part series
by Aoikami Sarah
Chapter Five – Luffy Gets Scarred
Bower put his hand on the stair rail he had clutched fifteen years ago in shock as the deal was made. His captain had fallen in love at first sight with the dashing Captain Shep. They would spend the next few years as a two ship-fleet. Bower trudged to Shanks' cabin door and knocked.
"Come in," Shanks called. When the person who entered didn't say anything, he looked up from the ship's log. "Bower…!" Shanks chimed, a glad smile spreading.
Bower frowned and handed him the letter. "I am only a messenger."
Shanks' smile fell. "I see." He took the letter and thanked him as Bower turned and left. The Captain leaned back in his chair and ripped the end of the envelope off. Unfolding the brief letter, Shanks let out a long sigh.
-'I cannot tell you what to do. I cannot and will not discourage my sons from whatever path in life they choose. But if I find that you have encouraged them to go to sea, I will do my utmost to have you thrown out of this town forever.'-
No 'Dear Shanks', no 'please', no 'thank you'; just a clear threat he knew with the town's Mayor as her former first mate she could make good on. Shanks pursed his lips. "Sorry, Marina." He crumpled the note. "I'm not ready to say good-bye just yet."
.X.
The East Wind made Fuchsia Village its port-of-call through the summer, coming and going on sorties in the area. Summer became fall then before they knew it, spring became summer again.
Still Shanks had not seen Marina. Her sons did all of her errands. Occasionally Ace would join Luffy at the tavern.
One such day, the crew had just returned from a month-long voyage. With Ace at his side, Luffy made an announcement.
"I'm gonna come out with you guys next time you go out to sea!"
The crew paused, shocked at his resolve, but quickly broke into laughter. Ace slapped his own forehead.
"What's so funny!" Luffy shouted. "I wanna be a pirate, too!"
"Kid," Yasopp said. "You're only eight!"
"So?"
"Luffy…" Ace groaned. "You can't be a pirate."
"Why not, Ace?" he said with a pout. His brother was the only one he would listen to.
"You're too little and you can't swim."
Yasopp and the others lost it. "Oh my God, you can't even swim!"
"I can be a pirate and not swim!" he whined.
When he recovered from laughing Yasopp called to the others. "Hey, why don't we take him aboard and show him what it's really like to be a pirate?"
Ace looked worried. "Excuse me, but I really don't think that would be…" His head went down on the table with a smack. "Zzzzzzzz…"
"Well, he's spoken!" Yasopp grabbed Luffy and hoisted him up onto his shoulders. "You might not be able to be a pirate, but we can give you a tour of a real pirate ship!" The others cheered and marched down to the docks.
Yasopp toured Luffy around on his shoulders through the sleeping quarters, galley, brig and decks of the East Wind.
"The Jolly Roger is perhaps the most important of all the things on a pirate ship," he instructed. "Unlike normal ships, only pirate ships bear the skull and cross bones." He pointed up to the Redhair Shanks flag. The skull on the design had three lines across its left eye, like Shanks' scar. "A flag is the typical way to display this symbol, but I think ships with it drawn huge on the sail are really cool."
Luffy stared from Yasopp's shoulders up at the flag. "Coooool! Hey, Yaso?" he asked, wrapping his arms around the top of his head. "How did Shanks get his scar?"
"I dunno. I've never known him without it. Heh. That's another thing that most pirates have: a cool scar, usually somewhere people can always see it. It says - 'I'm tough!'"
"Coool!" Luffy cheered. "Do you have a scar?"
"Well… No." Yasopp made a face.
"I got one on my knee!" the boy chimed.
"Hahahaha! You call this a scar!" Yasopp looked to the left at Luffy's knee. "That's just a scratch. Wha'd you do, fall off your bike? That's so cute. Reminds me of my cute son back home. He'd be about your age." Someone from across the ship called out for Yasopp to help with something. He put Luffy down and patted him on the head. "You stay put, kiddo. I'll be right back."
"Ok!" Luffy agreed and as soon as Yasopp was out of sight, wandered off.
The boy looked through the deck rails at the water below. "Fooey," he grumbled. "I can so be a pirate without knowin' how to swim. I'll show them!"
"Captain!" someone called as Shanks came out of his cabin. "That anchor kid's standing on the figurehead!"
Shanks' jaw dropped. "What!" His heart went into his throat as he raced to the bow. Luffy stood there, holding a knife and grimacing. Shanks imagined the fires burning in his mother's eyes when she would inevitably hear of this stunt and have him killed. "Ok," he muttered to himself. "No big thing. Play it cool, Shanks." He put his hands into his pockets and tried to look relaxed.
"I'm ready to be a pirate!" Luffy shouted. "I'll show you how tough I am!" The boy clutched the knife tightly in his little hand.
'He's bluffing,' Shanks assured himself. "Get on with it!" he cheered. "Whatever it is you're doing…" He felt certain that if Luffy were to fall, he could rush in and save him should the need arise. He didn't expect what came next.
The boy grasped the knife in both hands, turned it around and stabbed himself in the face. Everyone stared in disbelief for a moment till he cried out in pain then rushed to get him down off the figurehead.
Two stitches and a promise to feed him till he exploded later, Luffy had stopped crying. Shanks kept an eye on him, but let Yasopp handle the situation. Shanks urged Luffy to head home, but the boy demanded Shanks make good on his promise of food. The crew embraced any reason to go to Party's Bar and decided that they should go, feed him, and toast his so-called 'bravery'.
The Tavern was hopping with mirthful pirates. Shanks leaned against the bar and did his best to appear relatively unaffected.
"A toast!" someone cried. "To Luffy's courage!"
Makino handed three men their orders and asked their captain if she could get him anything. He hardly noticed she was standing there until she spoke. To her surprise, rather than alcohol, Shanks asked for something off the menu and a tall glass of milk. She wondered what could cause such a change in his diet, but only had to follow his eyes to the band-aid over Luffy's cheek. Makino smiled. "Coming right up!"
"…I wanna be a pirate too!" Luffy shouted.
Makino watched as Shanks' fists clenched. Worry flashed across his face quickly before being replaced by a wide grin. "You! A Pirate! Never!"
'So that's it…' Makino shook her head as she went into the kitchen to place Shanks' order. "Men are so dumb. If he's so concerned about Luffy's safety, why doesn't he just say so?" she muttered to herself.
"Because," a customer's voice startled her. "He is a man. If he came right out and said it, Luffy would think he was soft and wouldn't listen to anything he said at all." Beckman crushed out a cigarette.
Makino's brows pinched together. "Well, that's stupid. The poor boy will have a scar for life because of that attitude!"
Beckman flexed his bicep. "What's so wrong with scars?" he said with a wink.
She rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen. "Ugh… Men."
More to come...