AUTHORS' NOTE: Hi guys! We're back with a new story that should be a lot of fun! This is basically a "One Piece characters inserted into the AtLA world" story, they'll have their own storyline/drama/action/etc. with a few cameos from Team Avatar and the others so there won't be any major changes to the actual plot of the show. Some of the Straw Hats will be benders and others won't, no devil fruit abilities here. We hope you enjoy the first chapter! :D
After the whole...situation...at the Northern Water Tribe, Team Avatar leaves to find Aang an earthbending teacher. Though he originally had his hopes set on Bumi, the elderly king sends him away with instructions to look for a bender who waits and listens before striking. A week into their journey, the team comes across a small earth kingdom village apparently recovering from an attack of some kind. The trio (plus Momo and Appa) rush to land, ready to provide what aid they can, only to find that the battle was already over.
"I guess they don't really need our help," Aang commented, watching as a small child poked at one of the captured Fire Nation soldiers with a long stick.
"Yeah...guess not," Katara agreed, "but it doesn't hurt to ask." With that said, she made her way over to a villager who appeared to be directing the cleanup efforts to do just that. The man-made no reply, merely pointed at some of the still smoldering buildings before turning away.
"I think he wants us to put out the fires. Come on, Katara!" The pair headed over to the buildings and made short work of the first few smoking patches using some of the new bending techniques they had been dying to try out.
"Ah man, I'm starving!" Sokka exclaimed as he walked by the pair of benders, "I'm gonna go see if they have some grub."
Katara frowned and turned to yell after him to try and be useful before asking for anything from the villagers but was cut off by an excited Aang demanding her attention.
"Check this out, Katara!" She turned to look and immediately rolled her eyes at the sight of Aang's strange octopus creation that was currently spitting water out over everything and everyone.
"That's...nice, Aang," she said after a moment, then added, "Try and aim for the fires, we are supposed to be helping these people, remember?"...not that any of the villagers seemed to mind the surprise shower but they really shouldn't waste water if they could help it.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO FOOD?!" a shrieking voice that sounded suspiciously like Sokka's exclaimed.
"I'm so sorry but we gave it all away right before you arrived!" the villager he'd managed to corner explained.
"YOU GAVE IT AWAY? TO WHO? There's nothing around for miles!"
"Sokka!" Katara chided, "I'm sure they had no choice in the matter, especially with the Fire Nation! We don't know their circumstances and you're being rude."
"Oh, well," the villager put in, "we actually gave it to our saviors as thanks for freeing us from the Fire Nation. It was all they requested...which we are thankful for because we didn't have much else to give."
"So you just gave them everything?!" Sokka asked in disbelief, "What are you going to live on?"
"We'll figure it out," the man replied, smiling, "Crops can be re-sown and the fish are plenty this season. They were so young, and as I'm sure you know, benders need their strength to properly control their elements." His attention, and a knowing wink, went to Aang with his last statement, though the smile he'd been wearing faltered as all three children leaned forward with a cry of "BENDERS?"
"What kind of benders?!" Aang asked, "Were they earth benders?"
"Actually, most of them were non-benders." At this, Sokka's eyes lit up and he turned to make what promised to be a smug remark until the villager continued, "there was an earth bender with a strangely long nose...it was hard to tell if any of the others were benders or not but all of them were very strong."
Team Avatar exchanged excited looks and huddled together for an impromptu meeting.
"An earth bender!"
"You think he's the one Bumi was talking about?"
"We should find him!"
"Katara, go ask where they went!" (this would have earned the speaker a glare normally but her spirits were currently too high to care) They straightened up and turned back to the man.
"Excuse me...could you tell us which direction they went?" Instead of the instant reply they'd been expecting, the older man's smile flickered briefly and Katara continued before he could open his mouth, "We don't want to fight them or anything, it's just, we'd like to talk to the earth bender."
"I...can tell you which way they went but-"
"You can? Great! This'll be awesome!" Aang interrupted.
"Maybe they'll share their food!" Sokka added.
In their excitement, the trio completely missed the fearful look that crossed the man's face at the mention of food.
"You...you really shouldn't…" he tried.
"So which way?"
"They...really...they might not like…"
"Please? They're getting further away! Besides, you don't need to worry about us, I'm the Avatar, I do this kinda thing all the time." Aang assured him. The villager didn't look convinced but sighed and pointed in the direction of the nearby forest nonetheless.
"Thanks!"
As the man watched Team Avatar rush away, he could only pray he hadn't just sent them to their deaths.
Hours later, Team Avatar plodded on through the forest. All five members were starving, exhausted, tired of Sokka's whining...and also completely lost...
"That's it!" Sokka exclaimed, "We've been walking for hours with no idea where we're going and no sign of these mysterious saviors. I say we jump on Appa, take one last look from the sky, then go on our way. There's more than one strong earth bender in the Earth Kingdom."
"Well…" Aang sighed, "you have a point. Appa needs to rest for a bit before we can go but I'm sure he'll be happy to be off of the ground again."
Appa, who had been lagging behind the rest, let out a low grumble and flopped down on the forest floor, apparently in agreement with Aang.
After giving the Sky-bison a suitable amount of rest, and finding a clear enough spot for him to take off, Team Avatar took to the sky, the human members keeping their eyes trained on the trees below to see if they could spot any signs of movement through the branches.
Thirty minutes of flying and straining their eyes later, Appa flew directly over a large clearing where a strange creature that appeared to be wearing a hat was grazing contentedly.
"Appa, down there!" Aang exclaimed, turning the bison around.
"Wait, Aang!" Katara insisted, "We don't know what that is!"
"Looks like food." Sokka put in, drool already forming in the corner of his mouth.
"It'll be fine," Aang laughed, "but you can't eat it, Sokka, it's got a hat!" Katara frowned,
"Why's it wearing a hat?" she wondered aloud, only to have Aang wave her off,
"Who cares? Let's go check it out!"
The airbender had Appa head for the end of the clearing farthest from the strange creature, excited at the thought of making a new friend (meanwhile Sokka kept drooling over the thought of dinner). The closer they got to the ground, however, the more they realized that the seemingly normal-sized creature was actually quite a bit larger than they were expecting.
"It's huge!" Katara gasped, staring wide-eyed at what could only be a full-grown Saber-Tooth Moose Lion...or something similar…
"Look at all that meat!" Sokka exclaimed, nearly falling off of Appa in his excitement...and managing to startle the...whatever it was...at the same time.
The creature's head shot up, ears flicking up in alarm before it took off, galloping away to a spot just outside of the clearing where it could hide behind the trees. Of course, it only managed to hide a bit of itself, staring back into the clearing with most of its body still sticking out.
"Wait! Don't run!" Aang called after it, jumping down off of Appa's back, "Let's be friends! Don't worry, I won't let Sokka eat you!"
The beast did not seem convinced by this, merely snorting and shifting its weight in preparation to run further.
"Aang…" Katara called warily, "I don't think this is a good idea...remember what happened with the Unagi?"
"Relax, Katara," Aang replied, turning to look up at her, "he's friendly, I can tell! Besides, I'm a lot stronger than I was back then!"
In the time it took for Aang to reassure Katara, Sokka had rushed past him, boomerang in hand. He figured Aang would eventually forgive him for not letting him collect another random animal friend.
"Come to Papa!" he yelled, charging forward with the intent to make the creature their dinner.
However, before he could get anywhere near the beast, something knocked his feet out from under him, sending him flying to the ground rather ungracefully.
While Sokka spat out a mouthful of dirt, Aang and Katara's attention was drawn to the woods where a beautiful young woman had emerged, twirling a staff around in her hands. She planted one end of her staff on the ground and tossed her long copper hair back over her shoulder, brown eyes glaring down at the fallen warrior.
"What do you think you're doing to our doctor?" she asked, voice deceptively calm.
"Y-your...what?" Katara managed, muttering to herself while Sokka continued to lay on the ground staring up at the stranger in awe.
"Well?" she prompted impatiently.
"I-I...well..I...um…" Sokka sputtered.
"Hi, I'm Aang! I'm the Avatar! Is that your moose lion?" Aang put in, trotting up to the newcomer.
"You mean Chopper?" she raised an eyebrow, "He's a reindeer." Said reindeer, hearing his name and seeing a familiar figure, walked over and gently nuzzled her shoulder.
While Aang marveled at the newly identified creature, Katara climbed down off of Appa's back and hurried over to haul Sokka to his feet.
"I apologize for my brother," Katara said, "he can be an idiot sometimes and only thinks with his stomach. I'm Katara and you've already sort of met my brother, Sokka." she paused here but continued when no reply was made, "and you are?"
"Nami." came the curt response.
"Nice to meet you!" Katara said as cheerfully as she could manage, "could I ask how your...reindeer...is a doctor?" Nami blinked at the question then suddenly gave them a surprisingly friendly smile.
"Oh, that? Chopper's great at finding medicinal herbs for us. Somehow he always knows what we need."
"Us?" Aang asked, "Do you live out here or something?"
"No, my friends and I are just passing through…" here Nami's smile became a bit less friendly and a bit more...something they couldn't place as she continued, "but what I would like to know is what a group of kids, even if one of you is the Avatar, is doing out here."
"I'm looking for someone to teach me earthbending!" Aang replied easily, "We were trying to find-"
"Nothing really!" Katara interrupted suddenly, her own smile becoming more forced, "We just got ourselves turned around and stopped to...find the road! Get our bearings and all…" Sokka and Aang gave her strange looks as she motioned with her eyes back towards Appa, "but we really should be going now!" She wasn't sure what was going on, but something about this girl just wasn't right.
"Oh, well that's too bad!" Nami exclaimed, "I was hoping you guys would...stick around…" She lifted her staff and tapped it against her shoulder a few times before letting it rest there, all traces of a smile disappearing from her face.
The ground began to shake ominously, nearly knocking Sokka over yet again.
"You're an earthbender?!" Aang gasped but Nami laughed,
"Me? No. If I was, I wouldn't have had to stall for so long so that someone could get their artistic thoughts together." she said pointedly.
The next second, in what Sokka would have nightmares about for weeks, hands erupted from the earth, grasping at the trio's feet and ankles. Aang just barely managed to dodge while Sokka and Katara hit the ground hard only for more hands to appear and hold them down. Katara tried to reach for her waterskin but found herself unable to move.
"Let them go!" Aang demanded, glaring at Nami. She sighed,
"I told you, I'm not a bender," she smiled, "I'm a thief!"
"But we're just kids," Aang protested, confused, "we don't have anything you would want, not even food!"
"You have to have something," Nami insisted, "you're the Avatar, aren't you? Are you out here looking for spirits or maybe...treasure?"
"Treasure?" Sokka exclaimed, "I just wanted meat!"
"Ah.." Nami sighed, "that sounds familiar."
"Wait!" Katara called out, "wait! I think we're looking for you! The earthbender!"
At that, someone made an odd squeaking noise and unceremoniously began to roll out of the forest after tripping over a root. Everyone watched as a strange man was dumped out in front of them, coming to a stop facedown at Nami's feet.
"Usopp," Nami said, exasperated, "that was...graceful. Apparently these kids are looking for you."
The strange man, Usopp, sprang to his feet and planted his fists on his hips, laughing.
"But of course they're looking for me!" he exclaimed, "I am the great Usopp!"
"An earthbender with a long nose!" Aang gasped, "Just like the villager said!"
"So it was you guys who saved that village from the Fire Nation!" Katara exclaimed, "We don't have to fight, we're on the same side!"
"Um, Katara?!" Sokka protested, "They obviously just wanted the food! They're thieves, lowlifes just like Jet!" Katara glared at her brother for a moment but was quickly distracted by the tightening of the hands that held her captive. Sokka, for his part, was regretting his words as the earthen appendages made it difficult for him to breathe.
"What did you just -" Usopp began, glaring threateningly down at the captives only to be interrupted by someone else dropping from one of the trees to land in between them and Nami, anger coming off of him in waves.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL NAMI-SWAN?" he roared, flames licking around his feet and fists threateningly.
Aang immediately brought his staff up to a ready position, scanning the trees around them for any signs of movement even as he glared at the trio.
"You're a firebender! This was a trap!"
"My bending isn't important right now. You apologize to Nami-swan!" the blonde man demanded, not even looking at the airbender.
"Sokka...apologize!" Katara hissed, hoping self-preservation would win out over her brother's pride.
"No!" Sokka said mulishly and the blonde man took a threatening step towards him only to be blocked by a wall of fur.
Chopper snorted and nudged the man with his muzzle, forcing the bender to calm himself a bit lest he hurt the reindeer with his flames.
"Chopper's right, Sanji," Nami said, though she was still glaring at the downed non-bender, "we shouldn't attack children, no matter how rude they are, and frankly this much bending might garner unwanted attention."
"Well then, what should we do?" Usopp asked, still holding Katara and Sokka tightly with his earthen hands. Sanji sighed and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and taking a drag before he spoke,
"There's only one thing to do. We take them back to camp and let Luffy decide." he took a step forward so he was looming over Sokka and Katara, "You'd better get over here, flyboy, we don't want anyone to get hurt."
Aang, seeing no other option, made his way over to them, reluctantly holding out his staff for Nami to take when he got close enough. Appa growled threateningly but Aang glanced over his shoulder and shook his head,
"We'll be fine, boy, you'll see." he called back to his bison, "you take care of Momo and I'll whistle for you when we're ready to go, okay?" Appa snorted but seemed to understand, merely watching as the firebender took charge.
"Usopp, do you have anything to tie them up with in that bag of yours?"
"I'm sure I've got something, just give me a moment!"
A few minutes later, Aang and Sokka found themselves tied up; Sokka being led by a less than gentle Sanji while Aang was thrown over Usopp's shoulder, bound hand and foot. Katara, for her part, was allowed to ride on Chopper with Nami, hands bound in front of her, her waterskin stowed safely away from both benders.
"Alright, let's go, we've got a bit of a trek ahead of us," Sanji said, pulling his prisoner forward.
"All we wanted to do was find the earthbender and get the meat but nooooo," Sokka mumbled as they walked, "turns out they're thieves and their earthbender is a weirdo with a long nose!"
"Hey!" Usopp protested even as Sanji snorted,
"You wanted our food? You should be glad we found you first."
"What do you mean by that?" Katara asked, "Who are you people?"
"We're the Straw Hats," Nami replied easily.
"Which means...what, exactly?"
"We're...rogues?" the older girl explained, "that's the best description I can come up with. Our captain doesn't like to put a label on it. We just do what we want for the most part."
"We'd be pirates if we could," Usopp put in, readjusting Aang's placement on his shoulder, "but it just didn't work out that way."
"So...you are thieves," Sokka said and Nami shrugged,
"I am, the others...don't usually use that label. But sure?"
"Rogues, pirates, thieves...what's the difference?" Sanji snorted, "What matters is that we're free. That's how Luffy lives and how we work. We don't need a label for that."
Silence prevailed for a while as they walked, no one was really sure how to keep a conversation going after that. Of course, the silence couldn't last forever as Aang, seeing that their captors seemed to be in a more friendly mood than they had been earlier, spoke once again.
"Sooo...you're an earthbender, that's cool!"
"Well of course it's cool!" Usopp replied with a grin, "It's the best thing ever! Gives me an outlet for my creative talents."
"Aaand how do you feel about waiting and listening? I noticed you waited before attacking earlier!" Aang asked, earning an exasperated look from Katara.
"Don't get your hopes up too high, Kid," Sanji called to where Usopp and Aang were leading their little group, "the only reason it took so long for him to attack was that the idiot had to check and recheck every single hand before he sent it."
"It's called being a perfectionist, Sanji!" Usopp shot back, "You can't rush art!"
Aang listened as the two benders continued what seemed to be an old argument and kept his thoughts to himself. He wasn't so sure that this was the right person to teach him earthbending but he was definitely interested in both Usopp and this group of rogues. The idea of just living free reminded him of his life at the air temple and the monks' ideology.
It took the group around ten minutes to get back to the Straw Hats' camp, though it felt like much longer to the decidedly anxious prisoners. The rogues' base truly wasn't all that impressive and seemed to be in the process of being torn down if the collapsed tents and piles of belongings were anything to go by.
The group ignored most of the chaos in the camp, heading straight for a green-haired man propped up against a tree, looking rather menacing until they were close enough to see that he was asleep.
"Zoro, what the heck are you doing?! Why are you asleep?" Nami exclaimed, sliding off of Chopper to whack the man on the head with her staff.
"I was just resting my eye," came the grumbled response, "Robin says she's got it handled."
"So you sleep while the ladies work, Marimo?" Sanji shouted, flames licking around his feet making Sokka try and pull away to avoid them, "Robin-chan has enough to do without you being completely useless and ruining Nami-swan's perfectly thought out plan!" The other man's single eye scanned the three newcomers and then he looked back at the blonde,
"Says the guy who brought three kids back to camp on moving day," he snorted, "who are they supposed to be? Prisoners? I thought you were supposed to be chivalrous, Swirlybrow."
"They tried to eat Chopper," came the annoyed response, "where's Luffy?"
"Eat Chopper?" this had the man on his feet, moving closer to their prisoners to get a better look at them, one hand resting on the hilt of a sword, "You three must be pretty stupid."
"N..no, we didn't want to eat him!" Katara protested, "We were just curious!"
"What did you just say?!" Sokka interrupted, having gotten stuck on being called "stupid" by a stranger, "Give me my boomerang back and we'll see who's stupid then!"
"Why's your hair green?" Aang asked suddenly and Katara groaned. There was no way they were getting out of this one unscathed.
"It's because he's got moss for brains," Sanji put in before Zoro could reply, "we don't have time for this. Where is Luffy?"
"The captain went to get water." a new voice said and everyone's attention shifted to the black-haired woman who had approached while the two men were arguing.
"BY HIMSELF?!" Usopp and Nami asked, horrified.
"Not to worry, Jimbei went with him." came the calm response.
"Oh thank goodness," Nami sighed, "the last time we let him do whatever he wanted we had to liberate that village, which means we can't stay here as long as we originally planned."
While the group continued to talk...or argue...with one another, Katara took the chance to examine the camp from where she was still bound, sitting on Chopper's back. She had noticed right away that they were travelers based on their supplies and assumed that they moved from place to place using the odd sled-like contraption that seemed to be partially loaded with their belongings in preparation to move.
This, to her, meant that it was likely that they weren't in league with the fire nation, considering that they tended to use heavy metals in their machines. But on the other hand...Katara watched as a very large man bent over the campfire and inhaled, sucking the flames in until the logs were left cold and blackened. At least two firebenders in the group and they weren't working with the Fire Nation? It seemed...unlikely.
"Ah, you've returned!" an ancient old man exclaimed as he hobbled over, "and you've brought guests!" He looked up at Katara, who was now even more confused about this group, "Hello there! May I see your-"
"No, Brook, she's literally a child!" Nami reprimanded, swatting the man on the back of the head.
Katara decided she really didn't want to know what he was about to ask.
"Alright, let's find Luffy before anyone else decides to be weird," Usopp said, shifting Aang on his shoulder. The kid hadn't been that much of a burden so far but he was definitely getting heavy.
"Like you aren't?" Sanji retorted even as he tugged Sokka forward, cutting off the child's diatribe, "Come on, let's go meet the captain."
"Hold on!" the large man Katara had been watching yelled across the camp, "Could you leave Chopper here? I need to get him harnessed and hooked up to the sled."
"Sure thing, Franky," Sanji replied, "Marimo, hold this." he shoved the struggling Sokka at Zoro and went to help get Katara down from the reindeer's back. Meanwhile, Zoro sighed and held the angry teen at arms-length, one hand on his head to keep from being grabbed or bitten.
"Alright, let's get going," Nami said, seeing that Katara was ready to go, "Usopp, stay behind Zoro so he doesn't get lost."
"Oi, who said I was going?" Zoro protested,
"Nami-swan did, so shut up and let's go, Moss-head!" Sanji growled. Zoro groaned but didn't argue any further, merely hoisted the still-angry teen under one arm and followed along.
The group didn't have to go very far before they began to hear the familiar sound of running water. Katara could see why Nami was upset about them having to move on, their current campsite was ideal.
When they emerged from the treeline, they were met with what was, to the newcomers, a shocking sight. The massive, heavily tattooed, older man sitting on the bank drinking tea was not nearly as surprising as the multiple large bubbles of compact water suspended over the river. Katara and Aang immediately searched for the waterbender responsible for such an impressive feat only to see a young man in the middle of the river, on a rock...upside down, balancing on one hand.
"Look, Jimbei!" a cheerful voice called out.
"Very impressive, Luffy," the man on the bank replied, "but please don't forget to fill the buckets when you get a chance."
Katara and Aang exchanged a glance, both of them shocked. If they'd had to choose between the two people in front of them, neither of them would have guessed that the younger of the two was the leader of the formidable group. He was nowhere near the picture they'd built up in their minds. They came to a stop near Jimbei and Zoro dropped Sokka unceremoniously onto the ground, letting him sort himself out while they watched the waterbender work.
Luffy pouted but launched himself up from his upside-down state with a spin, sending portions of each suspended bubble flying off to hover briefly over the aforementioned buckets before gently lowering.
"There! All filled!"
The two waterbenders gaped. His movements were just so...graceful and minimal! They had recognized some familiar stances but even those were far smaller and performed effortlessly. The young man was obviously extremely talented, but his method was very different from what they'd been taught at the North Pole.
"Hey, Luffy!" Nami called from the bank, "We've got a problem!"
"Oh! Nami!" Luffy exclaimed, "Did you see?" he started walking towards them from his position in the middle of the river. Each step he took, the water underneath him froze solid to support his weight, thawing again the instant his foot left it, "I got the water!"
"Yes, yes, I saw. Good job but we've got bigger issues now."
As the leader of the rogues got closer, the trio's eyes got wider and wider. He wasn't terribly bulky but still obviously strong, lean muscles plain to see without a shirt in the way, a black armband with some sort of clear jewel set in it, wrapped around his left bicep. A large, x-shaped scar marred the center of his chest, the mark still shiny and red, indicative of a burn. Even so, he was smiling brightly and seemed utterly joyful...unlike a certain Fire Nation prince who wore a similar mark on his face. Sokka, for his part, struggled to hide his obvious jealousy at the well-developed physique.
"Problem? What kind of problem?" Luffy asked as he made it to dry land and moved to where Jimbei sat, taking the offered sleeveless maroon shirt and red sash. As he pulled on the black, fingerless gloves, Aang frowned.
"He dresses like a citizen of the Fire Nation," he whispered to Sokka and Katara, "but he's a waterbender? Who is this guy?" The young man completed his look with a straw hat and sandals before walking over to the group, looking down at the trio in confusion.
"Who are you?"
"Who are we?" Sokka replied, "Who are you?!"
"Me?" the young man replied with a smile, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meetcha!"