A Fruitless Start
One Piece belongs to Oda.
Chapter-5 Battle with a Bounty Hunter at the Wolf's Mouth.
Inside a tavern there was a man drinking to pass the time. He was looking for a certain man, all to keep a promise and prove that he was the greatest swordsman in the world. For that dream he launched himself at the sea...and got lost. After that he started bounty hunting to pay for his expenses and also to face strong enemies to get even stronger. He is the only user and master of the Three Swords Style, the Santoryu, with green hair and dressed on simple shirt, black thouser, boots and with a green haramaki, on his side at the bar were his three swords, two of them were just simple steel, well forged but not impressive.
The last one on the other hand, while a katana like the others, is a way more refined work of art and smithery for it was one of the 21 Great Grade Swords and it's quality and power can only lose against the Supreme Grade Swords and even then it wouldn't fall short by much in any extent of the imagination. The white hilt katana is Roronoa Zoro's most important possession and with it he shall become the greatest swordsman in the world.
At the moment he is taking a rest and getting ready to leave again to look for stronger opponents and the greatest in the world, there are no bounties around and he is just drinking a bit to relax.
"ANIKI" pity that the relaxation was over so soon. His two bounty hunters partners entered the tavern, most patrons didn't care, it's a pub after all and with no fights then there will be no problems. They are called Johnny and Yosaku, the first had black hair, a black t-shirt, sunglasses and brown pants, Yosaku was bald and had a headband of some kind(Zoro can't be bothered to remember the name) a green shirt, coat and long shorts. Both of them carried swords but when compared to Zoro it is not fair to call them swordsmen (they could train more, WAY MORE).
"Aniki, aniki, aniki" started Johnny, using the term endearment 'big brother/boss' in some places, "The 'Strongest on the East' is on the island", the excitement in his voice didn't phase the santoryo user.
"I'm looking for the strongest of the world, not of the east" finishing his drink he gets up to leave. "Now if you two don't mind, I will go back to my search". Yosaku tries to explain the excitement.
"But aniki, he has beaten a lot of strong pirates, including the fish-man Arlong, he pretty much has only Krieg and Buggy to take care of on the East Blue". Johnny then added.
"Yeh, he may have taken a lot of bounties down, but only the huge ones. Guy is really strong." At the last comment Zoro seemed to think about it.
"Strong, huh?"
…..
Luffy doesn't like being a hero and, it's not just for the sharing meat argument either, people just don't leave him alone. He just wants to have an adventure on the new island but they barely made it to the port and he was already surrounded by fans, Nami just laughs a bit and enjoys his suffering(must still be annoyed by his idea of training on the sea but fish didn't hurt that much and he only landed one). The advantage of this if Nami is asked about is the free stuff but Luffy can't care that much for it, especially when she drags him to shop stuff with her.
The town of Nortcada is a nice place with a kind chill climate, the people there are used to the climate, looking around Luffy can see many types of houses, each built with a special wood mostly found on the forests of this place, for what Nami explained this island is focused in sending wood for the other seas for the building of houses and smaller ships. Nami also commented that this place was used by most of the trade guilds for their wood which is then transported for any number of places to build the ships but the marines prefer a more resistant kind of wood.
"Remember Luffy: first a place to use as a base then we can explore" Nami always insist on repeating the schedule, especially once they separated and Luffy got in a fight against a marine captain, suffice to say if Luffy hadn't the reputation he did his piracy carrier would already had started.
"I know, don't fight with the marines, so gramps don't show up to beat me up, I remember" his hat was on his head and with just his jacket as protection he looked like usual, not even caring about the colder climate.
"I wouldn't need to repeat if you listened the first time" she was dressed in jeans and with a long sleeve orange shirt. Stopping and looking at him she continues "or the second or the third. But this place is important to the government so don't push your luck" she finishes her argument with a finger between his eyes.
Staring at her finger he just shrugged and she let out a sigh, Luffy then asked "When are we going to explore that giant thing?" he points at the shadow far away at the horizon.
"After I map this island and we get some intel we can" he was about to scream when she stopped him "But only if you don't fight against any marines". He nods excitedly, If there is a thing he loves more than fights is going to new places. "Good, now behave while we explore the town".
They spent a hour and a half just going from place to place, tasting foods and buying souvenirs, buying in a loose sense of the word for with Luffy's fame and Nami's haggling they rarely spent more than a few hundreds per town or village, that is including rooms for the night when needed.
All the while, lots of people always stopped to talk with Luffy and ask him something or another, he knows that they are being nice but he can't wait to be a pirate and not having to deal with this on every day he is in a new place. What he wouldn't give for some kind of distraction… while leaving a clothes store they heard a shout
"HEY, STRONGEST ON THE EAST! YOU THERE WITH THE STRAW HAT" it was a black haired guy with sunglasses "OUR ANIKI WANTS TO FIGHT YOU" behind him Luffy could see a bald guy facepalming while a green haired guy looked at it all with a exasperated face.
"I SAID IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO FIGHT, YOUR IDIOT" after complaining to his friend the guy with the three swords starts to walk towards Luffy and Nami he smiled a bit and asked. "Sorry about my friend here but I heard you are strong. Is that true?" Luffy nods. "Then what do you say about a spar?"
Nami interjects "Excuse me but why should he fight you? And who are you again?" she didn't notice that Luffy looked excited for a fight behind and was ready to accept.
"My name is Roronoa Zoro" after hearing the name, many on the street took a step back and started to murmur.
"The 'Pirate Hunter'? That Zoro?" "The strongest non-pirates on the East crashing, I would pay to see that fight" "THE HERO VS THE HUNTER! I WANT TO SEE THAT".
Listening in and knowing where this was going, Nami looked ready to turn it down but hesitated until Luffy asked first "You a marine?"
"No," Zoro said easily.
"Great, I'm in".
Luffy could have swore he heard a facepalm behind him but didn't care that much at the moment.
…..
After thirty years, she is growing tired of fighting, tired of struggling against the world, she is a woman with most of her hair white instead of the blonde of her youth and she is exhausted. Her time is almost up and she can't help but think of the better days. When she was younger and full of vigor she was sure that her mission would be over and done in a decade at most and now here she is, prepared to make a last play but knowing that if she goes alone she will fail.
Sitting alone in her small house she hears a commotion outside, letting go of her tea she moves out and sees a procession of people, she asks one of them "What is this about?" the stranger, one of the townsfolk but she never cared to meet any replies.
"There is going to be an awesome fight." he sounded so excited that it was almost deafening "The strongest warriors of the East Blue are going to collide here on our town, that is the stuff of legends I can't miss". After saying, the man was gone after the crowd.
For a moment she stopped to think, the strongest man of the East. Did that mean anything in this world? The East Blue is the weakest of the oceans afterall. After some internal debate, she decided to follow the crowd and watch the fight too. If she could see something worthwhile she may ask one of them for help, if not it is a good distraction. It's not like she has much choice. Getting a hood to cover her face she moves out the house.
Finding the place of the fight, an abandoned field where trees don't grow anymore, she sees a orange haired girl besides a black haired kid with a straw hat warming up and a green haired swordsman with two of his swords already ready and waiting for his opponent with two other guys talking something and he ignoring them, both of the fighters looked really young, not even adults for all intents and purposes. Getting ready for a simple fight she stood around within the crowd while all waited for the beginning of the match.
The two fighters go to the center and there appears to be a discussion, the orange haired girl also approaches them "Don't tell me they hadn't decided the rules until now" she whispers, watching the interactions among the three and the girl punching the straw hat on the head.
After some time, finally the girl takes a good distance and the green haired boy puts a bandana and positions his last sword on his teeth(how does that even work?) and gets ready. The black haired kid raised his arms in a punching posture.
An unarmed fighter...those are quite rare. Unless he has a devil fruit, but those are not found easily on the east. The other options were the government fighting style Rokushiki and Haki but a master of the last would still implement a weapon for range, unless they had a devil fruit or he had some knowledge she lacked.
After some unknown signal the two charged at each other. The swordsman(Zoro if the screaming around her can be believed) started swinging fast, his movements were precise but the other boy(the hero Luffy, again from the audience) is nimble and very good at dodging, so far no hits have landed.
A punch flies and tries to hit Zoro on the face who moves his head and intercept with the side of his sword, now she pays attention, she call tell he is using the sides and back of his swords. A spar and not a duel to the death then, she can approve of that.
With a smaller range Luffy has to take care and keep a good distance, while Zoro spend most of his time in the offense, both are fast and is impressive for fighters of the east but against the people of the world they are not even close.
"Pity, in some years they could be a truly formidable force, but I have no time" she prepares to leave, when suddenly something catches her eyes.
The straw hat grabbed one of the swords with his full hand, his black metallic coated hand. That shouldn't be possible in the east, she thinks.
Even the green haired one is surprised, and changes his grip on the other sword aiming for a real cut. The black haired blocks with one of his feet, again black "That can only be one thing" she comes to her conclusion at the midst of the screams of the crowd, hyped up by the supposedly impossible feat of stopping swords bare handed and with a sandal of all things.
With a smile Luffy strikes back, pulling back his Haki and attacking with a fast sequence of punches "CATCHING LEAVES" hitting many of them after breaking the guard of the swordsman, now the shorter fighter is on the offensive, but the other has less hesitation on his attacks after coming to the conclusion his opponent can take them.
"TATSU MAKI" with great speed he spins generating enough force to make a small twister which repels his adversary.
Luffy recovers fast and lands on his feet, it was an impressive attack and while the santoryu user apparently doesn't have Haki he is strong enough to use the pressure of his attacks in dangerous techniques .
While the two charge at each other again and the audience rejoices in the fight, she wonders how many can see what she sees. Looking around she only notices the orange haired girl reacting at some of the stuff happening with attention and that could mean anything really, while all the others just cheer at the combat.
"ONI GIRI!"
"GORILLA SMASH!"
The shock of the attacks brings her eyes back to the fight, both sides struggling to push the opponent. The kid with Haki is obviously not a master, his movements are too sloppy and he is focusing too much energy in one arm, there is no fear but there is a lack of finesse.
There is also the fact that a real user of Haki would simply break those katanas with only the white one surviving.
The two sides trade blows and the straw hat shows some proficiency at control by changing the presence of his Haki from one hand to another and keeping a rhythm, the problem for him is the use of stamina, he is putting too much and doing too little.
Looking at the fight, she can see that the Haki user has, at least, versatility. He knows that his way of fighting is bad but he is used to it, the lack of a teacher is evident but he adapted and is trying to grow from the fight.
But it is evident that all this is a matter of time, with his smaller range and his Haki control being amateur at best, Luffy is going to lose.
After a few more minutes, both fighters are still at it, no Haki is being employed anymore and the straw hat can only dodge at this point, the swordsman is winning, the attacks are constant and his breathing is steady, the pace is also good. That man must have been training his whole life to keep going like this for so long.
Power wise both are equal with the speed departament going for the straw hat while the range and skill going for the swordsman. The black haired kid looks around then jumps high, that is a mistake there is no place to run in the sky for someone like him.
Zoro realises that and moves to position to finish the fight, and it will end she can see. She sees the Haki going to the kid's leg, she sees the certainty in his eye, the Haki expands and covers the whole leg.
The swordsman can't see Haki, the true might of the strike catches him by surprise hitting him on the chest with all power of the boy's will. When Haki is involved, the only way of winning is with overwhelming strength or skill, something to close the gap that the manifestation of ambition creates when one can use it and the other can't.
Like she thought, before Zoro had more reach and skill but the speed compensated and the power was too close to tell which one is actually stronger, when you account for that and mix Haki with the equation the result changes proportionally by the expertise of the user.
The taller one of the fights hits the ground and all stops to look if he will get up, he calmly sits down on the ground and gives a thumbs up. Applause is what follows the action, it was a spar, first to hit the ground would be the loser and the green haired youth took defeat in stride.
She watched as the friends of the respective fighters went to give congratulations, she kept quiet while the crowd tried to talk with both combatants, all the while waiting for her turn to make a move.
Both were stronger than anyone on the east and if they went to the Grand Line they could give run on many opponents there, but anyone sufficiently experienced or with a strong enough devil fruit could easily beat them both, the less said about a combination of both factors the better.
She can use that, if they want to grow stronger she can give them the ways to gain more power, but first she needs to make contact.
With so many around there is little chance of that happening, for that the crowd has to go. Now, how to do it? There is an easy solution which involves a simple thing: herd mentality.
"FIRE! THERE IS A FIRE ON THE TOWN" and just like that people started to panic and get to run with the idea of either stopping the fire or saving whatever they can….people are too easy sometimes.
While the townsfolk run to try and stop the 'fire' the fighters look at each other, nod and get ready to go as well…that won't do.
She catches both of them by their shirts, "There is no need" she stated fast to stop any attempt of a confrontation "I lied about the fire".
There are only five people on the field now, the fighters and their friends, and the orange girl demands "What is the big idea here?" She is upset but that is fair.
The woman takes off her hood and let them look at her, she looks like she is over fifty with her skin rugged and damaged by the life she lived, her hair was entirely white and her blue eyes looked tired, she was skinny and dressed in blacks and grays. "Tell me, do you two want to get stronger?" they look at her confused, rolling her eyes she picks up a dagger.
Everyone either steps back or gets ready to fight but she just shows her ability making the dagger get a familiar black metallic coat just to show what she means.
"You can use Haki?" Good, the kid knew what he was using.
"Anyone else see what I'm doing? Raise your hand, don't be shy" the girl is the only one who does while the others look confused. "I figured as much, to put it in simple terms I'm doing to this dagger the same thing he did to block those swords." Now Zoro looked interested.
The straw hat was more curious even "Say old lady can you teach me more about Haki?" he must have had a really lousy teacher because with the enthusiasm he was showing he couldn't be a bad student.
"I can teach you many things but not here" she turns around, "Follow me to my house and depending on how this conversation goes I may tell you how to grow stronger". Now is up to them. Those that follow she can bargain and use for her plan. If all goes well then she will complete her mission.
…..
Following an old lady to her home sounds like the beginning of a horror story, Nami can't help but wonder if that is a bad idea. But it should be safe, they were five people and she was alone…..better not think about it like that, she had seen Luffy beat dozens of faceless goons before and this time she may be among said goons and be easily taken down too.
"By the way, name's Luffy, what is yours?" She is already used to his disregard of any safety. Luffy trying to start a conversation is nothing new.
"Zoro, Roronoa Zoro. Nice to meet you" they shake hands, Luffy looks at her and starts introducing her.
"This is Nami. She is my partner and navigator."
"Nice to meet you Zoro".
"Likewise" then he looks at his friends. "These are Johnny and Yosaku, they are bounty hunters."
"That was an AMAZING FIGHT!" said Johnny.
"Yes IT WAS SO CO-" the woman interrupts them.
"Stop making noise, I want discretion here and if you want to get stronger then you will listen" All was quiet from there on. Luffy made as little noise as possible, both him and Zoro truly want to grow stronger.
After a little bit they were back in the town, the panic still going a bit. It will take some time until everyone notices that there is no fire.
They followed the woman until a small house in the middle of the town, it had just one floor and like most it was enterally made out of wood. She opens the door "Get inside. It may not look great but I built this one myself a long time ago." Everyone gets in. There was a small table with just three seats and the woman goes to one of them, Nami gets on another and Luffy takes the last one, the rest stays on their feet.
For a while there is just silence…. the tension is palpable.
"I'm gonna make some tea" the woman gets up and just goes to do it.
The four more sensible members of the group scream "WHY THE TENSION THEN" and Luffy just laughs at the woman's attitude.
While she was making the tea, the woman also took off her hood, showing some kind of military uniform, gray and simple. She also had her dagger on the side and pouch on her back.
After pouring tea and distributing a cup to everyone, she made a point to drinking first and then asking "What do you know about Haki?" Luffy then proceeds to tell his story of Shanks and his gramps. Nami, having heard all that already, looks around the house and finds it weird, she can see a bed and a bathroom but that was it. There were no pictures or portraits, nothing personal in all the house. "Basically you know nothing". The woman says at the end of Luffy's tale.
Now Luffy looked offended. "Are you saying that Shanks and gramps told me nothing?"
"Not quite like that kid" the woman, pouring some more tea to herself and any who wanted, began to explain "For starters Haki is a dangerous knowledge to have in this sea".
Yosaku asks "When you say on this sea you mean…."
"Yes. The East Blue is the weakest of all seas, while the Grand Line is the strongest. To make sure that they could control the others, the World Government restricts certain information and pieces of wisdom that are common in other parts of the world." She sips her tea. "The difficulty to find certain kinds of information is by design, an easy way to control the people that are part of this government". She drinks a bit more.
"And why" Zoro starts "do you know all that? Are you from the government?"
The scorn on her face was visible to all, "I would suggest you never mix me with those bastards" she settles her cup on the table and looks at Zoro straight on the eyes "I and many others are victims of this corrupt system. There is too much power in a single place and because of that everyone else either plays ball or dies." She hits the table clearly enraged.
"What happened to you?" Luffy just asks what all are thinking about.
"Before I tell my tale, tell me why do you want power?" she looks to Luffy and Nami could tell, if she doesn't like the reason she will kick them out and forget that this ever happened.
"I WANT TO BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES" does he have to shout? The woman looks surprised but then she starts to laugh. Some others didn't.
"THE 'STRONGEST OF THE EAST' 'ARLONG'S BANE' WANTS TO BE A PIRATE?" Johnny screamed stepping to the way with his bald partner.
"THE HERO WHO HELPS PEOPLE, A PIRATE? THAT IS MADNESS" and now Yosaku.
Zoro was surprisingly chill about the whole thing. Luffy just pouted "I don't wanna be a hero, people just call me that" Nami knew that was true but it was too funny.
"Well you do save people and that means you have to share your meat" she smiles a bit because the comment only made Luffy pout more.
After the woman had stopped laughing she looked at Zoro "Well, it's your turn".
The swordsman just smiles "I want to be the greatest swordsman in the world".
"So you are after Dracule Mihawk huh?" she can only smile, liking the answers given "And about your friends" said looking around the table, "Are they trustworthy? Because once I give some of the knowledge I have, if the government ever finds out how you came across it, they will hunt you and throw you in a place with no exits" that comment made Nami nervous but…
"Nami is not going to say anything, don't worry old lady." Luffy smile and his certainty looks to reassure the woman. She looks at Zoro and he looks at his friends.
"Aniki are you sure we should be here I mean, this guy wants to be a pirate but you-"
"I want to be the greatest and if that means being a criminal I have no problems with it" Zoro was resolute, he looked at the woman basically saying that he was determined.
"Careful boy, selling your soul shouldn't be that easy." she warns him.
"I'm not selling anything" he replies, not backing down "It doesn't matter what you tell us, I will have my dream realized."
"You don't care about the government, do you?" she tilts her head, smiling a bit.
"If I can reach my dream I could care less".
"Haha I like that, join my future crew." Luffy just asks out of the blue and Nami is not surprised.
"Luffy, just because we are not pirates yet doesn't mean we haven't a crew" Nami tried to explain, Luffy nods and then ratifies.
"Then join our actual crew and future pirate crew."...she can live with that.
"Ha, I gain nothing by becoming a pirate." Zoro said but the woman then interjects.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that" the woman looks at him again "Haki can only grow with conflict, anyone can learn but to it really be developed you need to face challenges and death". She then turns to the bounty hunter duo "Decided gentleman?"
"We will stay," Johnny announces. The woman nods and gets ready to begin….
"I will make more tea."
"STOP INTERRUPTING YOURSELF" all the others shout in unison.
Sitting down back on the table the woman starts "You may call me Ana and in my country knew about Haki for it was used as a tool for our studies in devil fruits".
…..
Ana(not the cleverest name but it will do) waits for the reactions of her audience, she was betting on her head which reaction would be the first out of this lot: "Devil fruits are real?" and the winner was the bald one, followed by "Studies in devil fruits?" from the girl of the lot.
"In order, yes devil fruits are real and you think that such a thing would exist and people wouldn't try and study them?" people are curious like that, and dumb enough to leap without looking too. "To put it simply, over the centuries many of the inhabitants had eaten devil fruits and their abilities have been studied and registered." She waits a bit for questions and to sip no one asked anything she proceeded "I was born almost sixty years now and I was happy with the life I had but all that ended when the World Government decided to seize our research and conquer our nation".
"'Conquer'?" the girl, Nami asked and the attention of all was on the tale.
"The Kingdom of Sibessia didn't belong to the World Government," all locked shocked by the statement. "It's strange for you all isn't? All you ever knew was this government and the basics of it, you all use belly and you all have seen or even fought the marines. Well I didn't, until a sad day forty years ago, that day I saw my first marine, that day I saw my home be teared apart, that day the royal family was killed, and our country stopped existing or for this government it never did." All stare at her, it must be difficult to comprehend, or maybe not, for the eyes of the girl said that she understood, while the others are either in disbelief or just have no visible reaction.
"And" Zoro starts "what all this has to do with Haki?"
"You could be a little more sensitive" interjected Nami.
"She is right, Aniki," said Yosaku with a nod from his best friend.
"While I appreciate the gesture the swordsman is right" she stared firmly at her guests. "Haki is the manifestation of the ambition of a person, the more a person wants something and if this individual learns how to focus that want they can do impossible things." she looks at Luffy "That is all you have and if you were properly taught then you would also understand the different types of Haki, how to focus them and also wouldn't waste as much energy as you do."
"Then, how can I be better?" Luffy asks. "And what are the other types of Haki?"
"I couldn't explain the basics of the other types. I can only teach one." showing her dagger again she shows it around "As you see this is a normal dagger, swordsman, check its edge" she passes it to Zoro.
"It's not very sharp, not even polished and I doubt that it can cut much more than meat with it" she nods at his analysis.
"Give it here" after getting it back she pulls from her pouch a smaller knife "Now what can you tell about this one" after another analysis which gives the same status than the previous dagger in general the woman requests something "Try to cut one blade with the other, using the least brute force possible".
Zoro, not understanding where this was going, tried to cut one of the knives with just some pressure. After a few attempts and even changing knives, he gives them back "I would have to force it to break one of them, there is no cutting it like this."
With a smile the woman raises the smaller knife and, using her Haki, cuts the dagger in half with no problems, at this point those that can't see it know that there is something and those that can know she isn't lying.
"So Roronoa Zoro do you believe this is worth becoming a criminal? The ability to cut steel is something beyond you right now." she sees his smile, he is definitely interested.
"Huh" started the straw hat "How did you do that?"
"Again if you had a proper teacher you would be able to do it, for this is one of the forms of use of Haki: Armament."
"Armament?" the girl voiced the thoughts of all present.
"Yes. To study devil fruits we need to discover how to counter them as much as how to use them. After one of our scholars explored some of the world he discovered the power of Haki. Then, like any good scholar he figured out all the ins and outs of it. The sad thing is, unfortunately, not all can learn Haki, it is about the mentality you see, for Haki is ambition and learning it for the sake of having it makes Haki weaker, you need to have a goal or something else you desire and your spirit will manifest it, either by training or talent." She sips her drink "From the three types my nation only focused on armament because of how it interacted with the world and devil fruits. The other two were too intangible or rare for study or we just didn't know how to use it right. By the end of our existence we had lots of theories and studies of the interaction of armament or devil fruits."
For a while no one said nothing, and Ana just sat there drinking her tea. Her guests were pondering the implication of her words, the existence of Haki, because it exists, none here can deny it even if they can deny devil fruits.
"Then how did you use it on your knives?" asked Luffy. "I tried to use it on a pipe back home, what did I do wrong?"
"Must I repeat myself? You lacked proper guidance, think about it like cooking, you can cook anything with just fire but it will lack flavor or come out burned, unless you know what you are doing before starting. I have no doubt if you keep trying in time you would be able to do it like this, but I understand(more than you think) how frustrating it is to try a thing again and again and see no improvement." then she stops to ponder a bit before continuing "It can be a pipe or a sword, if you can touch it and also have enough will and practice anything can be a weapon. Of course if two users fight, with equal will, then the quality of the weapon comes into play but there are more details than just that in a fight."
After she finished Nami raises her hand "Can you talk more about devil fruits?"
"Why? Do you want one?"
"Maybe, I mean the legends make them to be really powerful" understandment of the century.
"Depends on the fruit, using the swords of Zoro here in comparison, his unnamed katanas are good steel but useless when against a named one" Zoro looked offended but let her continue "Don't look at me like that, I know nothing of swords. But generally the quality of the blade can influence a fight between equals correct?"
"There is more in a fight than just that."
"I said that early, remember? Besides it is just a metaphor, like any weapon the power of a devil fruit must be honed and trained, since there were never two people with the same power together and we had to use only notes. The scholars discovered a funny fact, that there is also the own way of a person to develop that power. There are exceptions of course, powers so great that can bend and break the laws of the world. In those cases the only training that one needs is control, as far as we could research, of course." she looks at Luffy "If you wish to be the Pirate King I recommend getting one of those."
"I don't need a dumb fruit to be strong".
"Good, you have pride, you will die with it."
"You said that Haki can do lots of stuff, can't it beat devil fruits?"
"Yes it can, in more ways than you can imagine, but the other guys with fruit powers, users of great abilities will have both Haki and the fruit."
"Then I just need to be stronger than them" the smile on his face showed his absolute confidence however…
"I won't deny it is possible but there is just a small problem." she is sure of her conclusion.
"What is it?"
"How many people are you ready to lose?"
"None."
He can't see it yet "Fine, I will let that go" for now "Anyway if you all want to learn from me the basics of Armament, then you shall have to do a task for me."
No one looked surprised, it was obvious knowledge wasn't for free.
"So?" Zoro asks "What do you need?"
"I need your help in freeing some people from the World Government." More than just some but not important
"And where are they?" asked Nami, looking like she had no problems with it.
With a smile Ana replies "Tequila Wolf."
…..
Luffy can't help but think that the basement of the old lady's house was huge, bigger than the whole house. Ana was showing them where they would sleep and plan the raid to free her people, Luffy had no problems with it and upon learning that the government was treating them like slaves to build a bridge that has been on construction for 700 years no one complained. To Luffy it was a no problem with one condition "And this idea of yours will not make us pirates?"
"If you follow my instructions to the letter, no one will see and be able to report you and even if they do, the disguises will help." They stop in front of a wall full of papers, notes and maps.
"You have been doing this for a while haven't you" Nami looks at the woman with respect, there is no denying her dedication.
"Thirty years girl, thirty long years." She turns and looks at Luffy, "Unfortunately sooner or later the human body hits a limit. If I had a good devil fruit I could do this by myself, but I don't have it and for that I need help." she hits a wall with her palm "In one week there will be a resupply run of the bridge, since it's too big to just deliver by land they have to do it by ships. Our goal is simple, get in, take the boats, get all the slaves on them and get out. Questions?"
"Are these maps precise? I can see more than one type."
"It's what I have, girl."
Nami put a hand on her chin "Since I will not train with them, the both of us could go and map the place ourselves?"
"Are you a cartographer girl?"
"Nami is the best navigator of the east"
Nami smiles "Luffy I think you mean the best in the world. We may not be able to get anything else from the inside but we can sure have an escape route ready."
"More like anything from the outside, most of it is a type of town where the guards can live well and the prisoners can't. There is some subterrain but not much."
"And how do you know all that?" asked Zoro.
"I checked the old towns in earlier parts of the bridge, it is a mobile community with no intent of a permanent structure and for that the design was very much the same on the places I checked. This uniform helped to blend in, it is not like the guard's but is an excellent camouflage."
"And how is that going to protect our identities again?" asked Johnny, Yosaku looked really nervous.
"If all goes well your identities will be safe, trust on this old lady, my plan will cover it. So, what do you say? Are you in?"
Fixing his hat Luffy doesn't hesitate "I'm in".
Nami just shrugs her shoulders and nods "Me too."
Zoro steps forward "Ha, maybe I will be a pirate after all, I'm in".
The bounty hunter duo look at each other "If we aren't caught then, we in." spoke Johnny for the both of them.
"Them you brats get ready, in one week all of you will know the basics of armament and if we survive I will teach you more." the woman smiled, lying just a bit. Ana seems to have found new strength and is ready for the fight.
"Let's begin then," said Luffy enthusiastically. Finally he would learn more about Haki.
…..
AN: for those who guessed the location they would go by the title kudos(some did), for the rest, better luck next time. This is my attempt at an original story and also an expansion of a thing that Oda setted up on One Piece. Tequila Wolf was the place where Robin was sent by Kuma and met with the Revolutionaries. The way I setted up you could say Ana existed and failed on her attack but on this timeline she has back up.
About the Luffy/Zoro fight, was it good? I tried to do it in a way to show none of them had a clear advantage. I had also more plans for Ana but since she is a OC I also didn't want to make her have too much stuff because then it would break the story for nothing. Most of her knowledge is about devil fruits and no one has one at this point but she knows something useful that I'm setting up for her to tell someone.
About the last chapter, someone(Monxu Aki,thanks for the support) commented about the fight vs Gin(yes it was him), that Luffy was holding back, technically he was. It's not that he would or should hold back, is that Haki cost stamina and if you need an example of how using too much can screw someone over, see Dressrosa, you all think he didn't knock himself out more than once trying to learn this thing? It's also another point to this arc, to have someone to teach the basics, going to be using this OC for that but that is because there is no one in all East Blue to teach Haki to pirates(not pirates yet but you get it right?). AND even then it's not much, she is not a fighter in the traditional sense. Because of that we also have no training chapter, if we did it would be too much dialog and the main points can just be properly inserted on the story.
Next Chapter: The Bridge Tequila Wolf