A Fruitless Start
One Piece belongs to Oda.
Chapter-2 Fishing Problems
Mountain bandits belong to the mountains, but today Curly Dadan is going to an area closer to the sea to collect a certain brat that supposedly she has to take care of. Ever since his brother left one year ago the kid has been running out early and coming back late close to the night and sometimes even when all were already on bed, always with a dumb grin on his face the same excuse everytime "Training?" she huffed "Maybe he is excited by the idea of leaving" she murmurs a bit sad that her last brat will soon leave but also happy that Ace's departure didn't beat his joyful mood.
The problem? He is disappearing everyday, and while he and Garp had a bit of a fight(with shouts about marines and pirates, as usual but no fists for once) a few months back that made Garp leave to his job earlier than he should with a strangely pensive face, he is also making Dadan worry, "What is the brat up to now?" So today she would find out what Luffy is doing all this time.
First step, talk with Makino, for the boy would go there almost everyday, either to eat there or hang out with her for a while, she said that he would be around here... in the middle of the mountains between the center of the kingdom and the Foosha village and even then she kept moving closer to the sea. If he wanted to swim he could have gone to a lake so why did Luffy came here?
Suddenly she hears a roar and runs towards it, worry starts to work on her face the closer she gets to the ocean and then she sees a red button shirt, sandals and a straw hat on the ground and starts to get more worried, looking around frantically trying to find her charge when,suddenly, a brown sea king emerged from the water roaring more and shaking his head almost like trying to shake a bug.
She gets ready to run when she notices that Luffy of all people was holding the sea king by the nose laughing like a mad man until the beast jumped in the water again and she could have swore ten years of life have been taken from her in less than a second and as she was about to jump on the water, Luffy simple swims to the shore with a smile on his face.
Her jaw dropped, he had not even a single scratch "Luffy did you just wrestled a sea king?" maybe a dumb question but she needed to be sure this was not an alucination.
"Hey Dadan what are you doing here? he asked while getting back on his clothes without drying himself first.
"Luffy, answer the question" for some reason a shadow covered her eyes while she stood rigid as the boy approached.
"What question?"
Taking a deep breath she repeats "Did you just wrestled A SEA KING?" the woman is really losing her patience at this point, with a vein popping on her head she knows that if she was weaker her heart would already have given out due to stress.
"We were just playing, not fighting." turning around he talks a bit louder "Isn't that right Spot?" She looks over his head and swears that the sea king was sweating cold before it took another dive, this time he didn't came back.
"Playing?" the bandit felt as if her soul was about to leave her body "And his name is Spot?"
"Well yeah we do this almost everyday, he lives in a cave below where we are standing right now and since he is the biggest thing around here I need his help to train." finishing buttoning his shirt, he puts his hat on his head still smiling like a loon looking as if he just didn't fought a monster but played with a dog.
" AND YOU NAME IT SPOT?" she is not going to live long if he treats this as normal "Luffy who under the heavens plays with a sea king and then names it SPOT?" yep, not normal at all, she is gonna to get an ulcer if this keeps going.
"Well I named him before we started playing, we fought first and I won, then after a few days he came back for a rematch but he wasn't any stronger so I beat him up again and when I noticed he lived around here I moved my training ground here permanently" looking around she could see lots of broken rocks and some tree logs that may be used as weights.
"Luffy are you telling me that you miss Ace so much that the only training you can do is with a GOD FORSAKEN SEA KING" for a moment both are quiet while Dadan takes some deep breaths and tries to relax before she passes out of rage or worry with this moron "Was that what you fought Garp about?" maybe even he had limits.
Luffy looks at her confused "What are you talking about? He loved the idea" because of course he would "We fought because he didn't want to teach me more about Haki".
That thing again that the boy talks about since he was little, before it was ambition, something to be respected in a certain measure, everyone thought he was talking about getting his wish of being the Pirate King, but then Garp said that name to him and supposedly is a technique but she never saw he doing anything special. Sure he can break some rooks and knock down some trees but she never saw much use if not to get some wood or construction materials.
Closing her eyes and trying to avoid a headache she tries to reason with the boy "Look I get that you are trying to get stronger but there are safer ways to do it." she starts to turn around "Now let's go home, we can hunt something on the-"
"There aren't"
"Huh" she paused looking back to see his eyes covering with his hat. He looked really serious at that point but there was also melancholy on his voice.
"I can use Haki now" he starts to walk closer to a mountain to the side "After I got it, I asked Gramps how to get better with it, how to grow stronger." he pauses looking up, either to the sky or the cliff above his head.
She notices him getting in a punching position, turning his back with the left arm while getting the right one on the front, then he shifts his footing a bit and changes the position of his left so that it looked like he would do some kind of uppercut. She turns around fully and is paying attention but didn't see anything special. Then he punched.
"RISING HAWK" the impact was loud and she could only watch as part of the mountain up until the cliff was destroyed with only some small stones surviving to fall like rain. Now the side of the mountain looked like lightning had hit it "Haki gets stronger the more I push myself, without a challenge I can't grow and I already have beaten all animals in the forests and now only Spot can compete with me."
Her jaw had dropped for a second and she couldn't help but think that he was not a brat anymore and maybe this island is too small for him "Then why not leave already to be a pirate?" she would miss him but if he already outgrow this place then it may be for the best, even if he is young, younger kids have made their way into this world "Ace has only a year of advantage, you could caught up, maybe even beat him this time" because that was not a normal punch, she don't get what that 'Haki' is about but if it can make you do that then she wished she had it when she was younger, maybe then Garp wouldn't blackmail her… or would arrest her for good so better not think about it.
"Can't" he smiles at her with his dumb smile "I need to wait two years still, we all promised to become pirates at seventeen" …right, that promise between three brothers, she had forgotten that was the reason why took too long for Ace to leave. Now, he loved his brother and the rest of their little family but he always felt like a caged bear, depressed and missing the woods where he came from.
Looking at Luffy right now she also see a caged beast, a caged Tiger born on a zoo but, for whatever reason, knowing that he didn't belong there and while never had she gone to a zoo before, she knows instinctively that a animal like that either will break out or die if kept in a cage like this. He doesn't want to hurt his family, she realises, he could have asked for a spar with someone here or even picked a fight at the towns but he decided on a sea king because, with that punch, he wouldn't have a challenge unless the opponent was way stronger or tried to kill him.
He wants to grow more, he hungers for it, how can she help? It's not like she can get a bunch of bad people for him to fight-.
"I may have an idea that can help" Luffy tilts his head while looking at her and while she is going to regret it she smiles for this is a way for Garp to get his wish. Luffy was going to beat some criminals anyway, just not as a marine.
…
"Look Mom! Is the ocean" exclaimed a excited Luffy while standing at the side of the ship together with a couple of other passengers some amused, by the kid's attitude while the crew of the transport ship can't help smile for the mood was contagious and every sailor started to sing 'A maid on the docks'.
"You know we shouldn't be attracting attention" said the huge woman with a scarf on her head, sunglasses and a dress covering her pants and weapons, while Luffy needed a black jacket to cover the muscle on his arms for even if the straw hat made him look like a simple boy the moment people paid attention they would notice a body made to fight.
She also needed to be careful to make sure no one recognizes since this ship was leaving the Goa kingdom, getting on it at the capital was already risky enough and there was a good chance that anyone could have seen her wanted poster and would try to catch her for the reward. But then, who would guess that a mountain bandit was on a civilian ship going on a trip away from the mountains that she 'ruled'?
"Remember the plan brat don't attract attention, then we are going to wait for the night in a few days, steal a boat and go for one of the smaller islands in the area. Then what are you going to do on one of these islands?" She asks to make sure he remembers the rest of the plan.
Still smiling, happy to be on the sea the he answers "Find the guy with the biggest reward, kick his butt, call the marines and have then arrest the guy and give us a ton of money to start my treasure shishishi" he really is too happy for a kid about to fight against someone that will try to kill him. Try, because if she notices any danger she is jumping in to help even if costs her life, also the fact she has a reward of 7,800,000 berry, a high number on the East Blue, helps keep her calm for there are not many pirates on this parts with a bigger bounties and most of then sticks to the seas or islands away from the main routes so they can avoid marine patrols.
Not that this is always the case, she almost hoped that some hotshot tried to attack this boat so they could get this over with and go back home. The sea really is no place for a mountain bandit "Then we get a ride back to Foosha with the marines and hope to god that they don't have a poster with my face" hard, since she is small time and Garp kept quiet about her activities over the years, but the disguise is for a reason "Also don't forget in a fight against these bandits or pirates that you will go against, there will be no fair play and if you are in danger-"
"I know you will help, don't worry I won't lose, not if I'm going to be-" she put her hands on his mouth but fortunately no one was finding strange a mother punishing her son, anticipating that he would say something dumb.
"You're a not a pirate, you're a innocent kid on you first trip and for the duration of this trip don't say that out loud" she whisper looking at him straight on his eyes because while a big woman punishing the unruly son doesn't attract attention the word pirate would always ALWAYS do it and with that there will be a bigger chance of them, more realistically her, getting caught "Remember we are just on a vacation trip nothing else" then she takes her hands from his mouth.
"Don't worry Mom everything will be fine" he smiled, confident that all would work it out, she really should have taught him more about planning but even she is not that good at it.
"And what did I tell you about calling me mother?" He should be showing respect.
"For sure Mom, shishishishi" she would let him have this one. She likes being called Mom.
...
Arlong is having a good time this week, everything is going perfectly, he heard that his little human came back from another of her expeditions, soon she will have to get ready to make another map of this islands to for a new associate so he he access to the best routes possible, today is tribute day, where his fish-men are going to collect the tribute for his 'protection' and yesterday he had such a great time dealing with the new marine captain of the district and his new friend. A gentleman named Nezumi, who knows a good deal when he sees it.
Yes, everything is going great for Arlong the Saw(20,000,000 dead or Alive), the former Saw-Tooth of the Sun Pirates and the terror of the East Blue. The last one never fails to give Arlong a laugh for, even if his entrance on this sea had made waves, the marines barely remember him. Six years on this island and every time that a navy vessel show's up they are given a choice, sink or swim. So far most marines took his bribes and left with only two exceptions. The first, he took his whole crew to deal with them but thanks to his maps they barely needed to make an effort and on the second he stood on the beach and watched as Hatchan and Chew sank the thing by themselves
He was huge by human standards but average to a healthy and active fisher-man, with a nose like saw, long black hair and hat, very muscular, with really sharp teeth and a black coat, open with his sleeves rolled up to expose his tattoos, the symbols of his pride. On his arm, his jolly roger, the emblem of the fish-man pirates and on his chest a big sun. Looking at it he remembers better times, sadder times and a hero long gone.
Then he looks over to a newcomer into his magnificent park. She is a young girl on the cusp of adulthood with short orange hair, brown eyes and a developing chest wearing long shorts and a blue t-shirt with no sleeves showing his jolly roger on her shoulder and with a split staff on her leg. To humans she would already be considered beautiful and growing to become even more, to Arlong she is cute and the only other human that he can say he respects besides his new acquaintance .
"Look alive my friends, our sister returns again." Arlong talks to his closer comrades present at the moment, a pink octopus fish-man known as Hatchan and a karate user called Kuroobi. "I wish you had arrived at a better time. Our men are busy today collecting tribute, so the party will have to be at a later time at night". That comment makes her pause for a split second but then she continues in the direction of the fish-man on the throne.
"There is nothing to celebrate about" she starts saying with hard eyes and a half smile, she has a goal here and Arlong knows it, but both also understand she is not even close "The profits were not good and one guy keept hitting on me. Ditching those horny idiots was a blessing."
"It can't be that bad Nami, you are a beauty" said Hachan of the six swords(8,000,000 dead or alive), the pink octopus with a flower like hair could be considered the most kind of then, but not weak or soft by any means "I still remember how small you were when you got here."
"It is a problem when the guy is three times my age!" Well, even Arlong will concede that point and considering the anger showing on her face he will refrain from comment more on that. Hatchi looked properly scolded and even Kuroobi(9,000,000 dead or alive), who doesn't like Nami very much, looked sympathetic to her problem. "Anyway it doesn't matter much at this point, I came to report I arrived and now I'm going to stay with my sister, if that is alright with you."
"Come now don't be mad at Hachi, he didn't know about the pirate's age. Sit down, I will get some drinks and you will tell us the kind of pirates you meet on your trips this time" it is a good idea to keep an eye on the competition for this sea, even if it is the weakest one, he needs to be ready to start expanding his territory. Even if his race was the superior one, it would be mad to go against a man with an armada of fifty like Don Krieg's.
Now, there is no rush for that, his power base is solid right now and he can still milk the trade routes of this island and anyone that tries to escape on his approved commercial ships gets sent back to their deaths. Took a few heads before the message got clear, but the people of this place eventually learned.
His recent success in finding a marine captain that was ready to permanently cover for his exploits and with Nami's maps means that he will conquer this sea, then he will go beyond, but for now "Wait here a bit guys I will get refreshments. Nami, what do you want? You are not on age to drink yet."
"I already have drunk booze Arlong" she replies with a stare "Better to learn how to not get drunk than to be caught off guard" maybe not when she was younger and looked more childish, there was less risk, but now the concern is getting more real for her so he can't complain.
"Maybe one of the boys should go for protection next time?" Because there will be a next time, she is trying to raise that money for years and she isn't stopping now "Kuroobi here could intimidate or deal with any weakling of the east" the ray fish-man may not like Nami but he knows her value and his big figure and karate clothes are not for shown. He always liked to use dark clothes ever since they were kids and, even with his size and the fact he is a fish-man, he could hide easily underwater and keep an eye on Nami with no problems.
"I don't need help. I can do it by myself just fine" Arlong wanted to protest more but it was fine. She was committed but it wouldn't last, sooner or later she shall learn that her place was at his side helping to build his empire. "There are still plenty of easy marks for me to steal from. I only fight when absolutely necessary."
To each their own, Arlong can only shrug at her declaration "I can't help but worry, when our navigator goes out alone, risking her neck." he smiled trying to be reassuring, but once she stepped back he knew he looked threatening, sharp teeth have that kind of effect even on fish-man "Don't blame me for trying."
…
She blames him for a lot: the death of her mother, Genzo's scars, the threats to her village and the danger to every human being on this island. Hell, even though she works for him, her sister has to pay that damned tribute and because the traders and merchants were always verified by the fish-man her business is always the same and the money was always short. Nojiko, her only family in the world, would have died more than once if Nami didn't add a bit every other month. Maybe that is how Arlong planned to keep her from paying the price for her village.
Well if so then that is fine, she can get way more on every new trip. She wasn't lying when saying her profits were low this time, she only could steal from two pirate crews and they hadn't much in the first place, but she will get there, to the 100,000,000 belly to free her village. It has been six years since this hell started, six years since her mother death, she couldn't mourn her properly, not while this monster was here, she worked like mad every day, be it on her trips, tracking targets(only pirates, always just pirates), watching then and either robbing then out of the gate or mingling a bit before pulling a fast one right under their noses, or here were she needs to make sure that the maps are properly within the parameters to guarantee a quick victory for the fish-men or to have a safe port for his trade partners.
Nami is almost screamed remembering how Arlong perverted her dream "This time there was not a single name of worth, the Navid pirates, only got a few ports and by the time I was leaving they were going right into a storm" not that they knew that, she could see the patterns on the weather and their navigator didn't notice the change of the air currents. So she infiltrated their ship, got the loot and left with them none the wiser "The other group had a bounty on their captain, small one of 1,000,000 berry, not worth the risk, and I pretended to need safe passage, the captain was the pervert by the way, wanted something that I didn't want to give, so I kicked him on my way out after I got them on the direction of the 16th Marine branch around here" the new captain on that branch will want to prove himself, is a guarantee he either will sink the ship or force a prison as fast as possible leaving the pirates with little chance of escape. Especially with the sabotaged rudder, courtesy of the girl telling the story.
Arlong smiled hearing the tale while passing around the booze to the three of them, the expensive kind. He really didn't hesitate to burn the money of her people did he? "Ha! Yes good maneuver, I'm certain the captain of the 16th will do right by you." he sounded confident, maybe he heard about the guy. Or just to sound reassuring because no one could touch him anyway.
"Nami, we have a new sponsor" stated Kuroobi before drinking a bit, then he proceeded "He is going to need some maps of the region, you know the basics at this point but you should do it before leaving to stay with your sister. We know how much you want to go on another expedition, so you can leave immediately after" at this point it's no secret that he doesn't trust her, six years of this and he always looks at her with contempt.
"Now, now, Kuroobi no need to be snide, let her do it at her own pace" Arlong knows she will do it, she has no choice.
"Yes, let her go and see her sister, she has been out for weeks now, so must they miss each other" Hatchan adds showing his worry, which pissed her off more than it should.
"It's fine, I will get some maps ready for the new sponsor as soon as possible" she feels tired but will make due. Drinking a bit she starts to plan. First make the maps, then go back to the tangerine grove again and spend time with Nojiko. Her sister looked fine earlier when Nami dropped the loot, but the orange head girl wanted to talk with her for a bit. It's the highlight of her return to her home village. Since most people don't talk with her much, reasonable since, to them, she is a traitor, talking with Nojiko about her troubles is the only reprieve she has most of the time.
Make maps, rest, go steal from some pirates, come back and repeat. That is her life, since she convinced Arlong to let her get on a boat to try and gather more money faster. She fears what will happen if she fails to come back. Would he grow angry enough to kill everyone? Be patient and wait? Forget and use what he already has for his plans? "I will go to my room now, the maps will be ready by tomorrow." Placing the empty cup on a small desk, she turns to go to her 'room'.
"Fine, we will call you later for the party, when the rest of our camarades return" Arlong words have no meaning for her, they were no camarades. "Make sure to rest somewhat, since you drink now we can have a competition."
"Want me to call them back earlier Arlong?" Hatchan's words gave her hope that the people of the Conomi Islands could have some more time to gather more money, or if she can have her sister share money, maybe they would accept it if they don't know it was from her.
Arlong next words killed that hope "Tribute day is tribute day, they have to pay either way so better to do it now" the smile on his lips was cruel, so she stopped looking at him and kept walking inside the building, already going on her head the fastest way to make the maps. "We can't allow bad habits of losing our dates, so they will always know the day we collect. It is more fair like this after all."
If that is fair, then she can't wait to see hell. At least there you deserve your punishment.
…
Fun fact about mountain bandits, she starts to think, they don't have a clue how to navigate. Now to be fair, the plan started well and they stole a boat successfully without getting caught by surprise, considering how big a boat of a transport ship is like, people should have noticed it, there were islands close to where they jumped ship and they were inhabited,all that was needed was to get there. The problem is they did it at night and they had little vision and couldn't get to one of the closer islands to start searching for a bounty for Luffy to fight.
Worst yet is that neither knew how to navigate and, by the time the sun was up, the ship was gone and there were no islands around. So for the next three days they used the oars to try to find a place to port, all the while fighting against the currents, and trying to save the supplies they had( a lunch Makino packed for Luffy and some stuff Dadan stole from the ship out of habit).
They had enough for one more day by her accounts and she knew Luffy was eating less than his usual for her. "We need to find land and fast" both of them were trying to force their eyes while looking to the horizon in different directions. Any sight of land and they will gun for it. "Come on, come on, there has to be something".
"Ah, mom?"
"Still on that brat, you don't need to pretend anymore" she keeps searching, there has to be some sign of land close, there has to be.
"Mom, you really should look over here" Luffy says again while something starts to rise from the ocean. "It's kinda important" The shadow begins to cover the small boat.
"Brat, focus on finding land, and for the last time" she turns around "Stop call-" she looks up and sees a cow? Some kind of sea cow, way bigger than her and looking at then funny, tilting its head in a human like fashion.
Luffy's start to smile "FOOD" and rushes to grab the horns of the beast. He holds on then, one hand on each and the sea cow starts to shake. Dadan can't help but think that this scene looks a little familiar.
"Ah! That is a sea king" she hits the palm of her hand with the other in a moment of realization... "LUFFY, GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT" apparently the boy couldn't hear her while mounting the cow and laughing like a mad man.
The cow fights to try and take him down, then it dives back on the sea "THAT IDIOT" she takes her disguise off and now stands on her normal pants and shirt, drawing her axe she is about to jump when from nowhere the sea cow rises from the water again, Luffy still holding on her horns "YOU LUNATIC BRAT" she will skin him alive for worrying her like that.
The cow keeps fighting but Luffy must have done something because it refuses to sink again. Shaking its head again and again it starts to slow down. Why is she surprised that Luffy apparently can beat sea kings? The cow is bigger than Spot but the result is pretty much the same, it tires itself into submission because the kids grip on her must hurt like a bitch.
"Did I acknowledge the name of that other sea king?" Luffy must never know, speaking of the devil there he is sitting on the head of a sea king….. she can feel the white starting to get on her hair at this point.
"Hey mom, I caught a fish and a cow" technically he is right and said cow looks extremely miserable at the moment "Should we cook it?" okay time to put her foot down before the situation gets any more weirder.
"Luffy we can't cook anything on this boat, it's too small" the implications of cooking and eating a sea king gone completely away from her at this point, there is only way to keep going on this mess: roll with it.
"Huuuh? No breakfast then?" his face was pitiful for how sad he looked but she can't muster any sympathy because he IS SITTING ON A GIANT COW SEA KING "What are we going to do then?"
Finally, a priority "We need to find land, from preference one with people on it, then we can get in a ship and go home" she was right, she regrets that dumb idea, her place is on the mountains and Luffy needs someone to teach him navigation.
"But I was going to fight the bad guys" the boy whined, she raised him to be more thoughtful than that.
"We are lost on THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN" she finally runs out of patience, time to say some facts "WE NEED TO FIND SOMEONE AND GET HOME, THEN I WILL GET YOU A NAVIGATIONAL TEACHER. WHO EVER HEARD A PIRATE WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO NAVIGATE?" He's pouting now? Really? Good god this trip was a disaster.
"Say Milky, do you know a place with people?"...does he think the cow will… the cow is nodding "Great can you take us there? If you do we won't eat you" the cow nods even faster… its oficial, sanity is a distant memory in her life.
"I…. think we have some rope here" roll with it, she thinks while getting a rope that was used to tie the boat, the problem is that it turns out the rope is not big enough to tie it on the horns or the neck if it is also to be used on the boat.
"Just give to me Mom, I will hold it on Milky while you ride on the boat" …. remembering to just roll with it, she gives into the suggestion because he looks too much comfortable on the head of a sea king, tying the boat and throwing the rest to Luffy he goes a bit down to the back of the cow "LET'S GO MILKY" the sea cow let out a 'moo' and then they were moving in a direction random direction.
All the while Dadan can only ask herself if they were really going to a island or if the cow plans to hit then on some rocks and call it a day, that lasted until she noticed the coast of a island and, better yet, there was a village at sight, THEY WERE SAFE. Finally the day is starting to improve. But entering a village by sea king is NOT a good idea, besides the attention, people may panic and someone may get hurt. Not that she cares but Luffy would so she said out loud.
"Luffy, we should land on a more deserted place, people from the East Blue are not used to sea kings appearing on their shores" she doesn't know if that was accurate but it is a safe bet since the beasts usually stay at a certain distance from the shore. "If we can't, we should ditch the cow now and just row the boat for the last stretch" there now it's his decision, they can risk going with the beast or not, either way she just want to get to land, go home and never get on another ship for the rest of her life.
"Okay! Milky, stop right here" it stops slowly, either he is really good with animals or the cow is really smart, possibly jumps back on the boat, turns around and looks back at the sea king with a face of sadness. "Milky, we have to go our separate ways now, so please go to a better place, a place far from here with plenty of food and friends for you to play with" he covers his eyes with his hat and turns around but, before he can position himself to start rowing, the cow hits him slight with its nose.
Luffy turns around, and puts a hand on the nose, they were crying and he starts to pet the big nose that she can't help but notice it is as big as her. Then all of a sudden he stops, turns again and screams.
"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE? GO, THIS OCEAN IS NO PLACE FOR YOU" now the cow looks even sadder and starts to swim away slowly, turning a bit with its head before it got back to go away again when suddenly "MILKY I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU! GO AND BE FREE!" he shouts while holding his arms to the sky.
The cow turns around, let's out a loud 'moo' and then accelerates towards the horizon, she can't help but think that the scene would look really good on a sunset, there was just a small little, tiny problem on all this….THEY MEET THIS COW BARELY A HOUR AGO.
Taking a deep breath, she tries to just roll with it and row to the port and salvation, all that while Luffy sits down smiling, having said goodbye to an old friend knowing they will meet again…. IT WAS JUST A HOUR. HOW THEY GOT ALL CHUMMY SO FAST AFTER FIGHTING FOR A FEW MINUTES? She IS grateful for the timely appearance of the sea cow but if there is a thing she misses more than any other on this trip was her sanity, she is never getting that back.
Finally, after a few minutes going at full strength, they reached the port of the village and she couldn't help but getting on her knees and kissing the land, then she just lays there for a little bit with Luffy tying the boat to a post(gods help him if he doesn't do a proper knot, he is never leaving their home until he learns). The silence helped her to calm down from all the events that happened in the last few days, she just wanted to lay there, close her eyes for a bit and…. Why is everything quiet?
Getting up she looks around, the village was not in disrepair and she can hear sounds of people running inside the houses. Why were they hiding like this? Did they recognize her and ran? That is impossible, this is an island away from the Goa Kingdom, she can't recognize the land or see any mountains around, there's absolutely no chance of her poster ending on this random patch of land, she never made big news or was a pirate attacking lots of places, she had her side of the mountains, stealing from trade caravans and travelers. She did many crimes but always in the same area and leaving with as little damage possible, it is the reason Garp had no problems ignoring her activities or pushing his brats on her.
Luffy stops at her side, also looking around he asks "What now?" he must have felt her worry, because she can see he is on guard. Good, his instincts are sharp.
"We need to find someone with a den den mushi" those snails are the best way of communication on all the seas and most, if not all islands, have at least one with a short distance burst to closer communities and navy contacts or even longer range to talk with other countries with seas of distance. The problem of the second kind is that is only found on the bigger cities or with the government "The other option is to pay for passage on a trading ship, but we have no money right now" the first passage out of Goa costed a good penny, if all had gone according to plan they would have at least 1,000,000 to work with and that is if the marines had no problem offering a ride straight to their home, after all, depending on the trade routes of this island they can take months before finding a ship or a route of ships to get back.
From one of the houses exits a man, and both of them can't help but stare at him. His body is covered in stitches from his face to his arms and legs "Is that a pinwheel on his head?"... roll with it, just roll with it. Besides the strange add on his hat and the scars, he is dressed as an officer in a darker red color and had a decent mustache, so he must be either part of a police force or the sheriff of the village, this is not the time to be careless "Say old man, do you know where I can find someone strong to fight?"
Even the stranger looked confused on that one "You are not from around here" definitely an officer of the law, and a competent one at that "I suggest you leave as fast as you can. This place is not kind to strangers"
Dadan raised an eyebrow "Is this a threat? Because I don't take kindly to those" if needed she is getting her axe and dealing with this guy. Capturing him is the better idea, he probably knows where is this island den den mushi, but that is also a risk. Time to go for a tactic that she doesn't use often, diplomacy "All we need is access to a den den mushi or a charter of the ships that pass by this island, we are a bit lost and I want to go home."
The man nods, believing on the notion easily considering they came by a boat and looked like they passed days on the sea(which they did and that was unpleasant) "Unfortunately this is the worst island possible for you two to end in" he stated while looking around "Especially today of all days, I can see you passed by a bad situation but if you stay you will die".
Dadan knew threats and that wasn't one, it was a fact for him, just by being here they are in danger "What do you mean by that?" Whatever is happening, is a routine for this village, certainly explains the emptiness of the place and this man's hard stare.
"Sir" Luffy starts, being polite for once, "What are you afraid of?" Now that the boy said it, she can see it, he is right, the man before them is afraid of something.
"It's not for me I fear, you two need to go now." he is getting agitated, "Listen to me, get on your boat and leave, no one here would want you sharing our misery."
She doesn't know what is happening here but the man before her is not her enemy, the problem is "We have nowhere to go, we don't know how to navigate. If we leave we may die" it's better to be honest on this, even as a bandit lies are dangerous.
"Do you have any money at least?" he's panicking, and when Luffy and Dadan shake their heads, he continues "Then you need to run and hide, I can take you two for to a safe place but we need to go fast."
"What is going on here officer?" she asks, starting to get worried. Luffy still looks oblivious but, looking at the scars of the man and the lack of people outside can only mean that someone is coming and they are dangerous. Especially to control that many people, this behavior is trained on them, by repetition and punishment. "Luffy get on the boat" only a strong enough force can do things like this, not bandits so either a huge pirate crew or worse.
The man nods, his job is done, he can't help them to get home but he can send them away from the danger here "I wish you luck on your trip"
"Do you have any food or something, I'm starving" said Luffy, going to the boat. He has a point with the few supplies they have, starvation is a real concern here.
"Unfortunately we don't have much time, you need to leave now" he is terrified, Dadan nods whatever is here she wants no business with it.
A voice from nowhere starts to shout "TIME TO PAY HUMANS, PREPARE THE TRIBUTE OR FOR THE CONSEQUENCES" at that moment the man started to sweat and grew paled, the voice is probably the reason why he's terrified.
Coming from a corner of the street, a group of strange men walked forward, many stopping in front of various houses and collecting money "A extortion ring?" she wonders, if that is the problem she may be able to deal with them. Either as a bandit and parley or as a fighter, "What is wrong with their skins?" asks out loud without thought making the officer flinch.
He answers quietly "They are fish-men and you have to hide"
Dadan is shocked and starts to panic… Fish-men on the East Blue can only mean one thing or better one person "Arlong the Saw? He's here?" The man nods and gets rigid when the fish-men notice them, at that point Dadan knows, it's fight or die now.
Fish-man, native of the Grand Line, the ultimate ocean, only totally conquered by one man and his crew, the Pirate King, and as a species they are superior to humans in the most frightening ways. In a world like this, with too much water and too little land, they can come and go as they please for they can breath on water, their strength is legendary for they are at least ten times stronger compared to a human being for they need to be able to swim on the ocean by their own power since little, it's said that only mermaids are faster.
"Luffy get on the boat and paddle away from here as fast as you can." She said resolute.
"Mom? What are you talking about?" he is confused but they have no time, he needs to escape. If she stays and buys him time, he can escape if they both do then they will pursue and kill them easily on the sea.
"Genzo what you have here, two new humans for our esteemed island, chu?" So his name is Genzo huh.. she will remember the guy that tried to help her in hell.
"Chew there is no need for anything, they are stranded and ended here by accident." now, the man known as Genzo tried to reason with the taller fish-man, he has light blue skin with blond hair(that is hair right?), dressed in a blue vest and short pants but what catch her attention more are the lips, thick and not like a human at all, he also had a tattoo on his arm but she should focus on the conversation instead of the appearance of a enemy "...not citizens of this island they don't need to pay the tax" you have to respect the man's efforts to avoid a fight. But she can see in this 'Chew' eyes, this will get ugly and fast.
"By the rules all humans have to pay the tribute, if she has the money excellent, she can pay and leave with her kid if not usual punishment apply" she is afraid to ask what the punishment is.
"What punishment?" Luffy on the other hand lacks tact as usual.
The smile on those lips is weird but recognizable "Death" now she notices the other fish-men getting close, some with tattoos and hair styles but irrelevant, it's now or never.
She draws her axe from her back and strikes Chew who blocks and holds it on his two hands but left himself open to a strong kick on the ribs, the other fish-men looked surprise but that is expected, Arlong have been on the East Blue for six years if she remembers the papers at the time, if he was hiding here against only civilians then they had not fought someone in a good while.
She then spins her axe hitting three enemies surrounding her, Luffy acts fast and gets Genzo out of the way. Good, if she can beat then they can get supplies and run, get to a den den mushi and call Garp to deal with this mess. Two fish-man on the front charge at her after her swing, and she punches one and swings again for the other, the first blocks the strike but the second is not as skilled as 'Chew' and gets cut on the shoulder, pulling her axe back she tries to get hold of it while the first punches her on her belly. They are strong but she can take a few hits, when another comes from behind and punches on her back.
Falling to the ground she rolls dodging a fourth one that tried to stomp her, she keeps rolling until getting space to get up, still on the docks she has no place to run and trying to hide on water is suicide.
"MOM" Luffy screams and after getting some distance with Genzo, he prepares to double back to help.
"LUFFY THEY ARE NOT ENEMIES FOR YOU TO FACE! RUN!" she barely finished her sentence when they jump at her again, she fights trying to maintain the distance, using her axe to keep the fish-man at bay. She gets two or three hits but they keep getting up, the wounds superficial for their species and finally one gets another good hit on her head, she tries to reach for her other weapon when, suddenly, something hits her right shoulder.
The fish-men stop pushing and get back a bit while 'Chew' gets back on the fold, she managed to take only two down with the other two still standing alongside their lider.
"Nice try but a human can't beat us, chu" and their numbers keep rising, the ones who were collecting the tribute before now stand behind their official. "Be grateful for Chew of the Arlong pirates is about to send you to hell, chu" introduced himself, Chew(5,500,000 dead or alive), and Dadan has no idea how he hit her from that distance, now there are at least twenty of the monsters and she can only hope Luffy had escaped.
"If you want to kill me then try but I will make sure to take some of you with me" she can't move her right arm properly and can only use her axe at this point but she will buy her boy time. She feels awful, afraid and regrets because it seems that she will not see him starting his own adventure. "Sorry Luffy." whispered her, ready to die. Some pirates started to draw swords and get closer, but she will fight to the end.
She won't have to, from the corner of her eye Luffy comes running and smashes his fist against one fish-man and the guy flies hiting and knocking out three more.
"HOW YOU DARE HUMAN" screams one of the pirates while Luffy stands in front of her.
"Luffy, I told you to run" he started to crack his fingers and glared at the fisher-men, his eyes covered by shadows.
"Sorry mom, can't obey that order" and he charges at them.
...
He is mad at the moment, completely pissed, Dadan, the woman that raised him and his brothers, teached them stuff and cared for them on her own way, saved their life and she was hurt and he is absolutely pissed off at this point.
After putting the pinwheel guy that tried to warn them(Genzo, he has to remember the name of someone who tried to help) into a safe distance, he came back only to see his family getting hurt. When she screamed for him to run he did for a second to get Genzo to safety but now he is back and the moment that she started bleeding he only saw red. His punch had no Haki, because he needs to mind his stamina and he is hungry, besides there is another that he wants to punch more than the others with it, the lip bastard.
Said lip bastard doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut "You just signed your own death warrant" he looks angry but Luffy knows his rage is bigger. "Get back, I will deal with him, chu".
"Come all at once" Luffy demands.
"What?"
"I said 'come all at once'" he repeats "After I beat all of them I will break your lips".
"Huh! Is he an idiot?" said one of the other pirates.
"Lips don't break dumbass, also you can't beat all of us, we are the Arlon-"
"I don't care" he says calmly until "YOU HURT MY MOM NOW I WILL HURT YOU" Luffy charges and pulling his hands back he starts to punch while he advances attacking and running at all fish-men. "CATCHING LEAVES" screams Luffy while punching at a fast speed.
One, two, four, six, he keeps punching as fast as he can hitting every opponent he can reach, those that notice the onslaught retreat, but he is relentless not stopping until the lip bastard is the last one standing, every single pirate knocked on the ground most unconscious, some awake but moaning in pain and every single one of the with broken bones and bleeding.
Chew takes a step back, he looks afraid, good "Wait a minute, we can negotiate."
"No we can't" in less than a second Luffy is on front of him and with back of his left hand hits Chew chest making him bend forward, when Luffy screams "GORILLA SMASH" his hand turning black before reaching his face and when he does the sound of the impact is high but not higher than the sound of Chew flying through a house breaking in and out of it and ending on his back, knocked out, his face damaged to the point that you could say he did broke his lips and the rest of it too.
Luffy has no time to think, he runs to Dadan "Mom, come on I will help you, don't worry we will find a doctor" he keeps checking on her trying to help her sit down and stop the bleeding.
"Idiot kid, I should ground you. Didn't I told you to run?" she smiles, and he smiles back. They have to find a doctor for her but she will be fine.
…
Genzo can't believe on what he is seing, for six years the Arlong pirates have been invencible and dominated the Conomi Islands without competition, ever since they killed Bell-mère, who was a marine officer of high rank was killed, and he, who almost shared her fate, was cut so much his body is full of scars, no one challenged the fisher-men. Arlong ruled the island and it's citizens were forced to pay a ridiculous tribute to survive.
But the worst thing Arlong did was capture and enslave one of their own, Nami who made a deal with the pirate captain, 100,000,000 belly for the freedom of her village, a ridiculous price and her people can't help because every month he collects 100,000 for the adults and 50,000 for the children and if you don't pay the tribute death was certain. The people of the island live by scraps and fear but Nami has it worse.
But now the situation has changed, most of the Arlong pirates are on the ground, vulnerable and beaten. The person who overcame them, a young man no older than Nami, sits helping his mother who also managed to hold her own for a time but it was this 'Luffy' that demolished the fish-men. It's hard to believe such a strong person is soo young. Now what should he do? Once Arlong hears about this, he is going to be livid, there will be hell to pay.
There were two choices here: turn them to Arlong or help them escape, they need supplies and- Wait, if they help, Arlong is going to kill the people from the village... or he wouldn't, they didn't fought, they were paying the tribute as usual and they just show up if they help the pirates after the two left they can't be hold accountable but then…
From nowhere Nako, a man with grey hair, eyebrows and a goatee with a mustache combo, passes by to the side of the pair. Not a surprise for, as the symbols on his clothes show he is a doctor by trade, getting on his knees with his kit he takes off his sunglasses and starts to bandage the shoulder of the woman, Luffy smiles as he looks to be reassuring his mother that all will be fine even if the woman don't looks like she needs reassuring.
"Genzo" called Ferine, a middle aged woman of blond hair, dressed in farmer clothes, her family was behind her and they were the first to exit their house after the fight, fair because it was their house that Chew flew by and their vegetables he was on. "What do we do? Arlong is not going to like this" he is thinking about it.
Across the street, coming from all the village because of the noise, lots of people started to show up, the few children, none younger than six for no parent wanted to bring to the world a child where there is such risk of death, the many adults and just a couple of teens, many died trying to challenge the pirates or trying to escape, all stare in disbelief and he is there with them not knowing what to do.
"We should give them to Arlong" he almost punched Tasio, a fishman of the village, dressed in a t-shirt and pants, with brown hair and tanned by the sun. "If we don't give up then we are the ones who are going to die".
The murmurs don't take long to begin and even Genzo is confused. Can this kid beat Arlong? Fish-men are strong and he defeated twenty alone, Arlong lost almost all his crew except Hatchan, Kuroobi….. and Nami, the problems are the captain himself and the sea king which patrols the area. Arlong is strong enough to beat the others for while their rewards are lower than the 10,000,000 belly mark Arlong is double that threshold.
Making a decision Genzo steps forward to talk with the family of two "While I appreciate you beating these pirates, you better get going. Their captain is much stronger." Better to have them leave, blame the mess on the two and hope that the pirates get back up fast enough to inform Arlong but not enough to catch up to the mother and son. "We can give supplies and I have a map that can take you to the next island but if you stay you will die."
He knows he is repeating himself but he doesn't want anyone to die and these two got here in an accident(maybe their ship sunk?), better if they don't get anymore involved in this problem. The mother nodded and looked like she was going to say something "Hey can we eat first?" but the young man interrupted, her speaking first and looking around him Genzo saw no one object. And nodded with some people offering to get some food.
There are no restaurants in Cocoyashi, not since Arlong killed the last owners of the trade. Because when everyone was scrapping for money, eating out stopped being a priority extremely fast, the only reason why he, technically someone who can't work on anything other then guard the "law"(no other criminals besides Arlong but he can't fight him) is alive is because every month he could sign to get a check from the government, brought to the island by more bribed people, and has a decent revenue every month, Arlong would have it confiscated, every month, on the exact value of the tribute. The rest of his money he gives to the ones that sometimes can't pay, not much use to anything else these days.
Since everyone shared the suffering and also shared the resources, they had. Soon potatoes, fish, rice and other types of food were brought to them, there was some conversation but no hesitation on feeding the guy who brought the pirates down a peg. Luffy then starts to eat and looks to focus especially on the meat while his mother(he should ask her name) also picks some vegetables and fruits leaving most of the meat to her son.
Soon fast steps are heard and almost everyone looks to the side and sees a blue haired woman approaching, she just turned eighteen and just like her sister he loves her like a daughter, she grows more beautiful everyday and he dearly wished he could give her and her sister a better life then the one they have on this hell. The only thing he is never certain of are her tattoos, she made them in sympathy for her sister, marked by Arlong, then in a demonstration of love Nojiko had Nako make tattoos above her boson and on her right shoulder. Beyond all that she is the only one in direct contact with Nami. "Nojiko what are you doing here?"
"I noticed that the collectors were late and since Nami came home today may...be...they won't-" she looks to the side and see the damage done, the pirates beaten and with wide eyes she looks back at Genzo who can't help but smile a bit at her face "Genzo, what in god's name happened here?"
Telling her a short version, a mother and son pair drifted on the island and the son beaten most of the pirates on the island for harming his mother and throwing a punch so strong that broke two walls(and a fish-man's lips, smiling at the thought) and now Nojiko can't help but just stare at the kid who is already on his sixth plate(must have been days since he ate) his mother already full by the looks of it and resting while Nako check her for wounds and some of the village asked her how she raised her son. For some reason she looks embarrassed at the question and keeps looking around almost as if planning to escape something.
After a while(and Luffy's tenth serving), Nojiko approaches, bends on her knees with her head on the floor. "PLEASE SAVE MY SISTER". Everyone looks shocked at her actions e Luffy stops eating completely.
"Nojiko what are you doing? Do you want to kill us all?" someone demanded, he wasn't sure who as he kept his eyes on the blue head.
"Yes, Arlong will kill us all" "We don't need their help we can hold a little bit longer"
More and more comments leave the crowd but the woman didn't raise her head, Luffy is just looking at her too while everyone is just commenting how much of a bad idea that is. Finally Genzo sits by Nojiko's side and asks "Did something happen with Nami?" the second he asks the question everyone stops talking.
Nojiko finally raises her head and looks Luffy on the eyes, she then begins talking, she tells about Belle-mère and her adoption with her sister, she tells about the happy days with their mother and Nami's mischievous nature, she tells about Arlong's arrival and her mother's death, she tells him about the deal with Arlong and Nami's determination, by the end she in tears and she wasn't alone, many are also but they had no choice, Arlong is too powerful.
"Every time she comes back she is more tired, more angry and more reckless. For the last few years since she started stealing from pirates she started to get in more dangerous situations and is desperate enough to risk herself on them." How did he let the situation get that bad? The question repeats itself constantly on his mind while Luffy just sits there in silence. "There are 58,000,000 belly in my house" Everyone stands in silence at the value. "It's all yours, please save my sister." She lowers her head again.
"Ei, Nojiko we don't need to risk it, right? Nami is almost there" someone said in the crowd again, not caring who said it he started to get angry. "I mean it will take her just a little while to-"
"How long?" This time Genzo is talking and all will listen "I'm picking my sword and going to fight now" many stare at him in shock. " I don't know how long Nami is going to take to get all the money but she is risking herself for us. We are cowards, for six years we did the necessary only to survive when we should have fought instead we let a child fight."
Luffy's mother then says "It doesn't matter to us we are leaving" She gets up and everyone stare at the huge woman, taller than any of them by a good margin, "I won't let Luffy fight against a 20,000,000 belly pirate, much less a fish-man and former comrade of a Warlord."
"Yes, that is why we shouldn't fight him" Ferine said this time, she was holding her young daughter while her husband was by her older son's side. If they fought little Ari could become an orphan with no family to take care of her.
"Nami will do it, and if she can't she can escape." Remembering Sam the drunk of the village, he raised his two daughters by himself and they left just before Arlong showed up.
"Bunch of cowards, that is what you are." the huge woman said, "I may be a bandit but I never gave a task to my men or my brats that they couldn't accomplish and when they need me I'm there for them" Either her words or the fact that she revealed herself as a bandit silenced the villagers then she turns around "We ate let's get some supplies and leave" and starts walking to a random house.
"You are going to steal from us?" demanded Tasio, staring at the woman in anger.
"Why shouldn't I? You let the fish-men do it, or are you going to stop me?" She looks at Tasio and every single one of them on the eyes, most refuse to meet her stare and those that do meet it, look down in shame. "You are the ones risking a child's life throwing her at the sharks and the wolves without doing anything."
"Then what should we do?" asked one of the teenagers, he can't remember this one name. "Arlong controls the trade, he is stronger and once that those pirates you beat wake up-"
"Didn't you say that those were most of his forces?" Asked the bandit. "I may not be good at planning but even I can see that with that many men out of the picture you won't have another shot after this one. Also if you think he will let you all go when he has the money you are all idiots" she finishes trying to cross her arms but unable to due to her injury.
"What do you mean he won't let us go? A promise made with money is sacred for that bastard" Genzo says almost shouting in fear that it was all for nothing.
"The same way you hold hope on that girl to free you he holds her on a chain by keeping you here, and yes he may value his world but if she can't deliver for any reason he won't give up this village." she stops for a bit trying to find the right words but shrugs and goes straight to the point "When you have such useful blackmail on someone you don't give it up, ever, I know because I'm in one" she continues "I'm not the brat biological mother but I was blackmailed to take care of him and the guy used the same material twice. Why would a pirate don't just find and steal her treasure or just leave for a day, come back, conquer it again and this time keep her just for her maps since she can actually do the impossible?"
Silence, no one can say a thing, Genzo fell on his knees. All was in vain every little thing, all Nami's sacrifices, useless and they let her suffer all this time, never showing support, never making a different plan other than trusting her and if she falls go for it, die and free her like this. He starts to cry and he is not the only one, shame and rage are bubbling now and they won't wait for Nami now, it's time to do or die. He got up to clean his face and looked at the woman "What is your name?"
"Curly Dadan, mountain bandit. If you want to know my bounty don't bother it won't be enough."
"Don't need to know, you are right we are cowards" his stare at his home at a distance "But I won't be anymore" turning around he shouts "WE MADE A MISTAKE AND GAVE A MONSTER ONE OF OUR OWN IT'S TIME TO GET HER BACK. WHO IS WITH ME?"
As one they all shout, resolute, many may die but this is their only opening and they will take it, either they will be free or they would be dead, the smaller children and the no combatants will need to be taken to the other village but there is no coming back, from the side Nako comments "We have few weapons, most is just fishing equipment, if needed better get knives and anything that can cut the bastards" oaths to heal can go to hell in this kind of situations "Also we should tie or kill the ones down there."
Everyone looks at the pirates and Dadan talks "I can do it if you can't, consider it paying for the supplies" she didn't need to bother, there is enough rage that no one would hesitate to kill.
"I hate to ask but are you sure you can't help?" Ask Genzo, bandits or not they can fight and that is what they need right now.
"I have a responsibility to take care of my own" they now want to fight but that is their fight not hers, not while Luffy is on her watch "All I can do is wish you all good luck" she extends her hand.
Genzo didn't hesitate to shake it "It was a pleasure to meet you, Dadan".
Nodding her head she says "Likewise", these people will fight now, she can only hope they can win with numbers and free themselves from their tyrant. She smiles and turns to call "Luffy let's go….. WHERE IS THAT MORON?" Everyone starts to look around too, confused with what was happening.
"NOJIKO IS ALSO MISSING" now Genzo is the one screaming and looking around everywhere. She was not getting weapons or talking with anyone, suddenly he turned to Dadan and as one both came to a scary realization.
"THOSE IDIOTS" is the start of a beautiful friendship.
….
Nojiko felt weird being carried on the arm of a guy she just met, frankly speaking he didn't say a word before scooping her up and starting to run in a random direction. After getting some distance from the village he looks at her and asks "So where is the Arlong guy?" After looking around a bit she determined where they were and the direction of the 'Arlong Park' and off they went again as the guy runs faster then she is used to. "By the way what is your name again?"
…. didn't he heard Genzo call her back there? "It's Nojiko and you can let me go now."
"Nah, it will be faster like this" technically correct but he could, at least, hold her with both arms to make it more comfortable, she feels like a sack of tangerines(never going to hold them like this again). "Is that the place?" He stopped in front of Arlong's gates.
"Yes this is it. Are you sure what you are about to do?" Nothing against him helping but Arlong is dangerous and the guy doesn't look like he thinks very much.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he lifts his right feet and prepares to kick the door to call for attention "HORSE STOMP" or to kick open the door leaving half of it bent while the other falls on the ground "Huf, need to train more."
"What are you?" She asked, being put on her feet.
"I'm Luffy, a kid on vacation" for some reason that doesn't sound right. "HEY!" He screams at the tree fish-men that were looking at them surprised(?) by the entrance "WHICH ONE OF YOU IS ARLONG?"
Arlong got up, and walked to stand on the front of his subordinates "I'm Arlong! Who are you? What do you want?"
"I'm Luffy" replies with a smile on his face "and I'm here to kick your ass."
…
AN: I planned to take my time writing this but there were some problems at work, I had free time so here we are…. don't expect this to happen that much I plan for at least a chapter per month if all goes well and that is it.
Now I'm going to answer a review(that makes me really happy) and elaborate some stuff on my story.
From Awareness Bringer my first reviewer: Yes there is going to be romance and I planned for, so far, more 3 crew members with 1 OC and the other 2 from the story itself(Guess who) I have all planned until the end of Skypie so far and yes that is a spoiler they are still going there. About relationships… They are complicated and I don't want to say who is going to stay with whom for people change and the story may demand that a pair in the beginning becomes awful if they become too different to be together. That is true in real life and it will be true here.
Now why go straight for Arlong park on the get go? If we go by the same dots of the original story Luffy won't change and it makes no sense for him to be the same here not just by the lack of a 'power' but also for the consequences of it. Luffy without his devil fruit trains differently and with Haki that changes even more, consequences, Dadan realizes that he is getting restless and takes him to a trip, they both suck at planning so the events here happen…. that is it, well there is more that I'm not saying but I won't give every little detail.
Since Nami is on the middle of collecting her treasure her attitude is also different, there is little relief or reprieve from the situation, she is mad and desperate Nojiko sees this and when Luffy comes beating fish-man left and right she takes Nami's place from the original story and calls for help. Since this is a fanfic and not a manga, we writers of this midia have more time to explore stuff the author can't and while the atitude of the villagers on the original is….respectable is also dumb but is also a consequence, not of my making but, of their world.
Think about it, this is a world where the government does whatever they want(Celestial Dragons anyone?) and the people bend over and take it. There is no education, no grand countries(Think Russia, US and China), the only economie we see is from the WG(bellys on all countries except on the sky, Amazon Lily and Wano so far) and the only job security is working for said sistem with you being stuck on working for them directly or indirectly anyway, the exception being pirates which are the criminals, technically revolutionaries also but Oda didn't explore that yet so and I can only give theories. Point being, don't judge people for the same standards of our universe, One Piece has a long story that Oda worked for years and if you pay attention there are lots of details there he doesn't explicitly state but are there from the get go. Examples of this: there are no schools for one, parents are responsible for the education of their children or they are raised by other people, think Zoro backstory, a kid just shows up and becomes disciple on a dojo out of nowhere. Or Luffy himself, grandson of a Legendary marine and lives on the mountains with bandits, Robin is the worse on that event and while she proves she is smart enough to be an archaeologist at 8 she was a flipping Cinderella before that with no school to teach her and she getting that smart having more help of anyone else but her own family but all not officially on any part except a exam to give her a degree.
That follows on this next segment: it's rated T I will not write lemons or things like that, I don't know how and not going to even try. The rating is there because of the slavery and violence(again Celestial Dragons, the stuff they do is messed up). There maybe the implication that 2 people had sex but I will not write the scene, DON'T ASK…. But if we get to the point someone wants to I will read and say if I approve or not.
Why Nami 1st? Because she is the only one I can fit on the story that will want to leave her home (SPOILER HER DREAM) and also gives me a chance to put Luffy with a girl that will teach him stuff his family won't teach, the OG Luffy had no one his age to grow up with after Ace left and by the point that he meets other people out the island he is 17 with a strong personality already formed. To make sure that Luffy is different, a strong personality is needed so Usopp is out, Zoro kinda accepts the insanity, Sanji can't leave the Baratie yet because his debt to Zeff and the story is 2 years earlier, using a OC for this doesn't feel right and the rest of the crew is on the Grand Line.
Another important note, Oda based Luffy in Son Goku from Dragon Ball, my version will be more inspired from the OG Sun Wukong, there are already clues there on the story and even the tecnics have meaning even if the names are more simple. His personality will be the same but there will be differences. For the record he is not OP yet Arlong will be more than a challenge to a 15 year old Luffy.
So did you guys like it? Give me an opinion, say what you think I need to improve etc…What about my 1st attempt of a fight scene?
Next Chapter: Arlong's Bane.