A/N: I combined ch.4 + 5 on 11/29 so things may seem different if you already read the story.
One day, while Mihawk was out, Shanks arrived on the island. As Shanks had never visited and Mihawk did not talk about his personal life, when Red-Hair landed, the alarm was raised. Mihawk did not suffer fools. As such, not only was Luffy trained, so was Perona. She did not practice swordsmanship but instead expanded on her knowledge of her devil fruit and trained in martial arts, occasionally using a bō as a weapon. The umbrella she carried not only served as a cute accessory, it also served as a modified bō, so she would always have a weapon on hand. She also now used her hollows as a surveillance network as well, aptly named the Ghost Network, which alerted her to the intrusion.
"Horo-horo-horo-horo-horo! Who dares cross over into the darkness?" a hollow whispered-shouted into Rockstar's ear. Rockstar jumped up and ran back on the ship and shouted, "This island is clearly haunted Shanks, let's go back, I swear I just heard a ghost shout in my ear."
"Come now Rockstar, I sent you to scout, not come back and tell tall tales. I know the island looks a little creepy, it is very dark, and I swear it was sunny a few minutes ago but I doubt there's anything too dangerous here." Shanks finished saying as the war cry of the humandrills was heard at the end of his sentence. Rockstar jumped again and the crewmates all turned to look at each other.
"Well, that's obviously some wild animal, maybe we can hunt it down and have a feast! Let's have a party!" shouted Shanks. Benn Beckman, the ever exasperated first mate, pushed his glasses back up his nose and sighed, "Shanks we should really check out this island before we have a party. Maybe Rockstar didn't see a ghost but he probably did hear someone."
"Ugh, you're no fun Benn. Fine, Men, Onwards, let's hunt down these ghosts!"Shanks charged down the plank onto land. "Noooo," exclaimed several crew members,Rockstar being the loudest, Lucky Roo asked how big they thought dinner was gonna be and Yassop asked if they thought he could shoot a ghost down.
Inside the Castle
"Luffy, a group of pirates landed on the west coast and they seem very strong, their captain especially. We have to protect our home but also keep each other safe. Hmm, what should we do?" asked Perona. Even though Luffy was young, he was a fierce fighter and smart, stronger than Perona even though she was years older. "Let's just cut them down, it's been a while since I've had a challenge and Hawky rarely lets me fight" answered Lu. Then again, thought Perona, Luffy could be very reckless.
"No. No way. That's not the plan. I'll lead them with my hollows and blow them up. It should be easy to separate them using the humandrills. They should beat up a few too. Perhaps if we can catch one or two crewmembers alone you can use them as your training. I'll back you up. But first, take care of my body, while I warn the humandrills and direct them. They've been listening a bit more to me recently so hopefully they listen now. I'll astral project now." As Perona slumped forward, Luffy caught her, "why ask my opinion if she doesn't even listen. Ugh, I was in the middle of lunch, those jerks interrupting my meal time, I'll cut them all down for this. It was my favorite sea king meat too,aarghh, i'm getting hungry." Luffy grumbled as he waited for Perona to return. Perona instructed the humandrills to separate the pirates in small groups to take them out easier. If they saw any weak ones, they were to send them to the eastern entrance of the castle. "Ok, I'm back, thanks Lu, the humandrills should keep the pirates entertained for a while. That red-hair captain looks familiar, I can't put my finger on it. " said Perona.
"I'll be meditating, I'll get up once I sense some enemies nearby." replied Lu "Oh so you're gonna leave me alone, ugh, so uncute, who am I gonna talk to in the meantime, the hollows don't even talk," Perona sullenly pouted. Luffy always got serious when Meal Time was interrupted, there was no stopping him.
Outside the Castle
As the pirates walked further in, Shanks could be heard loudly singing Bink's Sake, swinging a bottle of rum to his lips every so often. What he didn't notice or at least pretended not to, was his large crew slowly disappearing behind him. One of them would hear a noise and a group would follow and this kept happening until Shanks and Benn remained. "So, it seems like whoever inhabits this island is making their move. We should continue to the castle on that hill. The guys here can handle whatever is out there" Shanks told Benn.
"You sure. My haki isn't quite as good as yours yet but these beasts seem stronger than usual" Benn replied. "Nah. They need the training..We've been cooped up on the ship for too long and no marine or enemy pirate ships in weeks. They need this workout" Shanks countered back.
"Oh well. You're the Captain, Captain" Benn gestured his hands in a mock bow.
Shanks continued singing
"Yo-ho-ho-hoo, yo-ho-ho-hoo!
Yo-ho-ho-hoo, yo-ho-ho-hoo!
Making a delivery, bringing it across the sea
Binks sake in the hold as we sail through the breeze
Far across the eye can see, the sun is shining merrily
As the birds fly in the sky as they sing out with glee.."
As Shanks ended the line, several vultures were circling hissing out. And there was no sunshine, as Kuraigana was drenched in perpetual darkness save for the brightest light on the Island named Lucky D. Hawk but Shanks and his crew didn't know about Luffy yet and would spend a horrifying night outside the castle walls before meeting him.
"Hmm, this all looks very promising Captain," Benn said as he looked around at the dead trees and odd looking hills as well as some of the fog that lingered. "Dhahdhahadha, oh relax Benn, don't you smell the adventure," as Shanks stretched his arms out, spilling some of the rum with the motion. " No, I'm pretty sure I smell rotting flesh," deadpanned Benn Beckman, First Mate of the Red-Hair Pirate Crew.
"Dahahahahaha! Oh,stop being so dramatic! Shanks chuckled out. Shanks and Benn suddenly stiffened at the presence approaching them at a rapid speed. It was the Leader of the Humandrills in all his battle regalia. Both Shanks and Benn dropped their jaws at the sight.
Elsewhere on Kuraigana
The groups all encountered 3-4 humandrills battle-ready. Lucky Roo's group encountered the first of the humandrills. As each side prepared for battle, the humandrills were oddly taken with the drumstick Lucky Roo was eating as he held a bat in the other.
Lucky Roo and the others were baffled by the sight of these monkeys wearing battle gear and holding various kinds of weapons.
Yassop and the group with him all took to shooting down their group of humandrills only to be left dumbstruck as they expertly dodged or redirected bullets with their swords. Clearly these were no ordinary beasts.
Rockstar's group not only encountered the humandrills but Perona's hollows as well. Most of them were all hit with hollows.
"Ahh I'm a flea. I'm not worthy," exclaimed a few with their heads down, kneeling on the ground, others were seen groveling, lamenting their existence. As the others not affected by their powers laughed at such strong men acting so uncharacteristically, they were soon engaged in battle by the humandrills.
Amusingly, the hollow's negative powers did not work on Rockstar since he already had a negative opinion about himself which maybe he should talk to someone about. (Mental health plug lol, take care of yourselves!)
But he was still scared shitless at the sight of the ghosts and was seen running wildly around the others exclaiming about a haunted island.
The Red-Hair Pirates were seen as some of the most fearsome pirates sailing the seas. Yes, they were also known for their fun loving, alcohol fueled escapades but their attitude could change at the drop of a hat if one of their own was threatened. The captain, Red-Hair Shanks was well on the path to becoming an Emperor of the Sea. Yet, it seemed the gloomiest island on the Grandline would be their undoing.
Author's Note: A few more chapters will be dedicated to Shanks then we will see the ASL crew together again with Perona as an older sis lol tho the focus will be mostly ASL. I think I might introduce Law earlier too just because I love Luffy + Torao's dynamic , what do you think?
Author's Note: Thank you so much for the favorites and follows, it means a lot to me! They really motivate me and keep me writing. Perona will be stronger than in canon at least pre-time skip, I'm not sure what her levels are after. I will also take some liberties with her powers so it might not all be canon. Let me know what you think about her addition, i wasn't planning it but it just started flowing naturally. As you can see this mini arc will introduce Luffy and Shanks and set the stage for the passing of the straw hat. I'll explain more in the story but Luffy and Perona are training in Haki as well so Lu will be slightly op, not too much but he's def strong since he's been training with Mihawk and living on the Grandline with occasional visits to the New World. So when he starts out in the East Blue, fights will go slightly quicker but he won't be using armament or conqueror's haki much if at all when starting in the Blues. The characters are slightly ooc bc of plot differences but I will do my best to stick mostly to canon personalities since I do like them.
