It took a while to finally finish all the preparations for their voyage and to be able just sit down and talk.
By then Zoro looked especially disgruntled.
Luffy had left him to deal with almost all the menial work that needed to be done while she had been taking care of their course.
She smiled at his grumpy face soothingly.
"We'll be in Orange Town in a few days. We'll have to keep an eye on our course and to correct it once every few hours if needed. Other than that, we can focus on training and synchronising with each other. We need to know exactly what we're capable of while fighting together." Even with all the tales about a mystical bond between a captain and the first mate, Luffy didn't think it'd be that easy to achieve. But she was still determined to make it happen.
With time and hard work…
"Will we be training on the boat?" Zoro arched an eyebrow and she smiled at him.
"Not strength training, but we can safely do our katas and get the gist of the others skills that way. All proper training will need to wait until we get on land or when we have an actual ship."
"By your will Captain" She made a face at that, but admitted to herself that it's maybe better that he's keeping their relationship formal for now. But only for now! She clapped her hands and chirped:
"So! I recognise we didn't really have an opportunity to talk to one another except for in the execution plaza because of other people around us. I read that when building trust between people, they have to clearly define the expectations they have of the other person, and that the easiest way to start building a personal trust, would be to share our goals and treasured moments with each other. Not really sure how that works, so let's just start with expectations?"
"You're not really good at dealing with people, are you?" He snorted with a smirk on his face.
"The only people I had as friends were at least 16 years older than me. So no, not really." She admitted, shrugging. After all, it was his role now to teach her how to deal with other people.
"We'll do it at your pace then. Expectations first."
"Okay, so I'm not sure how much you know about how a pirate ship works in general, or how the relationship between a captain and their first mate works specifically. I've met people who use four different models, ways of working together, so I'll just tell you about them and then we'll work out which model would work for us. We might need to devise something completely different, but we'll start with those first, deal?" In the middle of her short 'speech', Luffy started to slightly hesitate…
She didn't want it to end up as only a working relationship.
"Deal." The swordsman hesitated as well, but then poked her foot with his own. She smiled at the fact that he initiated contact by himself, in relief. Already seeing that Zoro would become her rock, steady in the face of her hesitation.
"So, as I said earlier, I've met people that have used the four different models." She started, the image of Shanks and Benny sprouting in her mind. Their behaviour, their laughter… The way they functioned as one person made her smile wistfully. She has missed them for a long time, and now she was finally on her way to meet them again. "The first model is when the first mate and the captain are basically two sides of the same coin. Generally, they are the people who when together create one leading entity on the ship. They are equal when dealing with most problems, and have areas on the ship where they give the other full reign." She had seen that a lot of times. Benny taking charge of the ship when Shanks was drunk or still hangover. He took reign when it was time to decide and buy provisions, while Shanks sat down with the navigators and plotted their course.
"Go on"
"Then there is the other model, where the first mate's role is to make sure the world bows to their captain's will." This time it was Marco's silhouette that jumped to the front of her mind. Both him and Thatch told her about the fleet and Marco's role in caring for it. The way he dealt with almost all deals on the ship, took care of defences for their territories, and made all of Whitebeard's whims reality. Well, almost all of them. "The first mate in that situation makes sure that the crew is up and running, and that all problems that can be dealt with without the captain's input, are fixed." Luffy paused to take a breath and noticed with satisfaction that Zoro was listening intently to her. "I have my doubts that we'll be using this model. I've only seen this sort of model being used for a very large fleet and a pretty old captain. Usually the first mate's role here is to implement their captain's will, and to take on a lot of the captain's responsibilities. If we did decide on this one, we'd need to customise it a little, because I refuse to put all my responsibilities on someone else's shoulders." She understood that Whitebeard himself was quite old already, but in her mind, sailing and keeping a Yonko title at that age was just asking for problems. One does not take people they cannot protect.
"This is something I imagined pirate crews as, a bit more than the first one"
"Then you'd love the third one." Arlong's and Kuroobi's laughs came to her mind. Their friendship, trust and the total control Arlong kept on his crew. "In this one, the first mate just relays the captain's orders. The first mate here is usually considered a friend and helper of the captain and can generally only issue an order when the captain is not there and a decision has to be made quickly." This one was surprisingly effective and she would be happy for Zoro to take that slot. Even if that'd mean the full responsibility of the crew would be on her. "And then of course there is the fourth model, the stereotypical one. Where the title of first mate is just a sort of decoration, and means that the first mate can only relay the captain's orders. Nothing else. So... Thoughts?" She opened her eyes that she hadn't realized she had closed, and was met with a the surprised and anticipatory look of her first mate face. She smiled at him cheerfully. She was going to give him a lot of knowledge, as much as she could really. That way, she would be able to cart off at least part of the explaining to him for her future crew. Mostly at the start of their journey though, wouldn't want to spoil their adventure!
"How many pirate crews do you know?"
"Is that the most important thing from all of that? Really?" She asked with exasperation but flashed him another smile nonetheless. "Not many, really. Just a lot of… different crews."
"Well, it's nice to know we won't need to figure everything out for ourselves." he answered with a cheeky smirk, but then dropped it and leaned slightly forward. Seeing that, Luffy felt her own smile disappear, and she listened seriously to what he had to say. "I like the third model. You are my captain, and while I can see the need for someone to be able to make decision when you're not there… I can give you my opinion, but I will not take the reigns of your ship from you, nor will I ever go against your wishes." The way he was looking at her… She understood then that her joke about him having samurai values wasn't really a joke. Not to him. He did have samurai values, and he considered her his liege. That was… humbling. "When we get a big crew or a fleet we can think about starting to incorporating parts of the second model. Speaking about the crews size, how many people were you considering having on the crew? Is a fleet even possible?"
"With what we set out to achieve? I have no doubts that we will have a fleet, or at least allied or subservient crews that we'll need to coordinate with each other." She smiled at the thought of so many nakama, but then frowned at the possibility of allowing so many people close to her. After all, even if their captains were her nakama, the crews themselves would be practically strangers, and that's dangerous. "Not many on the ship though. I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity so… maybe 20-30 strong fighters? Without the division between fighters and sailors. For now at least."
"20-30 fighters in the East Blue?" His arched eyebrow said exactly what he thought of finding 20 strong people in East Blue and Luffy had to agree with him on that. She'll be happy if they'd have five strong people on board when going down Reverse Mountain. And she already is counting Arlong in that number.
"Umm… more like 20-30 fighters in the Grand Line. I'd like to go to the New World with at least 20 strong people, but… we'll have to see how it goes."
"New World?" Another quirk of eyebrows… Why bother? She's going to spring a lot more new information on him anyway.
"Second part of the Grand Line." She explained plainly and after a second added more details to make sure he understood exactly how dangerous that was. "Those that have successes in there, call the first part 'Paradise'. The weather is even more erratic and harder to predict there, and pirate crews are stronger. There are only a few marine bases that serve in there, but those that do, are the best of the best. A Yonko's territory is made up of islands lying only in there. I think I heard someone say that one of Kaido's islands is in the Calm Belt, but that's it. In the New World you either rule or are ruled by those stronger than you."
"What is the Calm Belt?" Luffy positively froze hearing that… he did have some kind of education, right?
"Between the Blues and the Grand Line there are Calm belts. Quiet seas where there is no wind and no current. The only way to move through is by paddling either with a mechanical system, by hand, or with to dials. It's also the breeding grounds for Sea Kings so some people use them as a means of transport. I'm sorry, but I have to ask, who taught you and what were you taught?"
"I can read and write if that's what you're worried about. Though my math is spotty at best and my geography studies were almost non existent. I was brought up in a dojo so most of my education was focused on how to swing a blade properly. What are dials and how can someone use Sea Kings as transport?"
"Dials are… I think you'll need to see them to believe me. Dials are seashells of some special shellfish that exists only in the White White Sea. There are different types of dials and depending on which type they have different uses. For example, breath dials allow you to send out wind, fire dials allows you to send out fire at will, music dials record and play music and many other different types. They are common knowledge in the New World. And about the Sea Kings, certain people can tame them thanks to their will. I will not tell you how as it's part of a wider knowledge and will be explained for the whole crew later."
"You mean it's part of why I had to avoid getting bloody? And what is the White White Sea?"
"Partially." Laughter bubbled in her at his disgruntled expression. "Blood is also hard to wash of clothes, so avoiding it while not on land is generally a good idea."
"Fine." her swordsman grouched, agreeing grudgingly with her on that. "The White White Sea?"
"There are four levels of the seas. There is the Under Sea, where Fishman Island and other underwater structures are, it's around 10 kilometres below us. The Blue Sea which is where we're currently. The White Sea, which is around 5 kilometres above us, and the White White Sea, 10 kilometres above us. There are islands on all levels, to get to the White Sea one has to use the Knock-up stream. The White White Sea is only available from the White Sea and can be entered by following special currents. To get down from there the ship has to either use the things called Slides, or just decide on free falling to the lower levels. Do not do that without a parachute and really sturdy ship. To get to the Under Sea one has to use either one of the currents around Fishman Island or a thing called a Well. Wells reach the very bottom of the sea, so the only problem then is to steer the ship."
"H-How?" Luffy happily laughed at his astonished choking. She couldn't wait to see all of that!
"Grand Line, that's how"
"You don't know?"
"No one really knows how it's possible."
"Then how do you exactly know what you do?" He asked suspiciously… he didn't really think she was leading him on, did he? Oh well, time to uncover some of her cards.
"I'm friends with New World pirates."
"How?"
"Incredible luck and childish cutesy?" She guessed and shrugged before admitting "I have no idea"
"My head..."
"Hmmm? Getting too warm?" Her sni… concern! That was concern, honest! Her concern only earned her a glare. "Shishishi… so? Wanna talk about something else before continuing to get to know each other?"
"Yes, what are the plans for now?"
"We need a ship and a crew. In Avra, I helped these two nice bounty hunters in dealing with some weakling called Rippers or something like that, then on my way to Shell's Town I caught Mace Alvida. Absolutely by accident of course, but it made me think." She admitted and peered at him sharply. "Thanks to those two bounties we now have around 7 million beri. I'd say we need around thirty million for a proper ship, maybe forty to be safe. Other than straight up pirating, which would call marines on us before we're ready for them to come, bounties are in fact our only choice." She sighed at that and then perked up and with fake cheerfulness and declared. "So right now we're on course with Orange Town to Yaruma Island where rumours say Buggy the Clown has commandeered the town for himself. He's worth 15 million beli so after turning him in alive we'll have 22 million. Other than him, the only proper bounty we have in East Blue is just Don Krieg with 17 million, but he has an entire armada and I don't want to go against him only with a few people and no ship"
(She needed to meet with Buggy anyway. What with him being part of the Roger's crew and being responsible for East Blue. She'll need to be acknowledged.)
"What about Saw-Tooth Arlong?" Zoro asked and Luffy smiled mischievously. Someone's in for a shock~ "He's worth 20 million."
"He'll join the crew when we swing by his base."
"He'll what?"
"He promised to join my crew a few years ago." Her smile turned soft. "Around five years I think."
"How? Seriously, just, how?"
"How did I get the Pirate Hunter to join my crew?" Oh, she was so grateful to Makino for teaching her how to stifle laughter properly and hide it behind her absolutely innocent smile.
"If you have a seasoned pirate on the crew, why put me as your First Mate?" Here she cursed silently and grimaced at his change of topic. She knew she should've broken it to him differently. Please, oh please, don't tell her that he was having doubts now.
"I love Arlong dearly, but he's a fishman. Worse he's a Saw Tooth Shark Fishman. His very instincts demand for him to be the one in control. We're working on his instincts acknowledging me as the one in charge, but right now I'm still his 'young' to coddle. Without any spare time to break him out of the habit of being the one to issue orders, things could go badly. Very badly." She admitted quietly remembering what Arlong had told her about his time in Sun Pirates, and later about his clashes with Jinbe after Fisher Tiger's death. From the moment he agreed to go with her, well announced he's coming with her, they worked at putting Luffy at at least equal standing to that of his own. When he joins they'll work on making her his chosen captain, not just the person he agreed to follow. "What kind of Pirate King gets coddled by her crew?" Here she pouted wholeheartedly to break the serious atmosphere that had enveloped them. Zoro snorted at that and finally relaxed enough to lean back and rest his head on the railing.
"Got it, no coddling you, captain"
"As a former bounty hunter, who do you think we should get later? Any ideas?"
"I'm not a bounty hunter." He grouched and closed his eyes… Oh?
"Oh?"
"I set sail to meet a man." he explained and… Was that a blush? "Now I just can't find my way back."
"Shishishishi!" She burst in laughter, barely managing to wheeze out her next words. "Wow… getting lost that badly in the East Blue… That takes some skill!"
"I'm not lost!" Swordsman protested sitting upright and glaring at her still laughing form.
"Shishishishi… Of course you're not." She agreed finally calming down and after wiping her tears asked. "And a man? Did you find him?"
"No."
"Why look for him anyway?"
"I'm going to defeat him."
"Do you have his name?" She asked curiously… with no small amount of bubbling amusement… After all who else could budding swordsman look for?
"Dracule Mihawk."
"Royal Shichibukai, The Greatest Swordsman in the World… That's some target you found for yourself." In her own mind she mildly thought that Zoro was gutsy to seek out her Shishou with that amount of skill… She'll need to beat some humility into him.
"Shichibukai?" Luckily she caught herself before she could gape at him. Seriously? To look for someone and not find out about their every title and their significance? And that was her Shishou! She felt seriously offended. "Pirate sanctioned by the Government. They help marines in fights sometimes, pay part of their treasures to the Government and kill off other pirates."
"I see… Wait, how do you know that?" What to say to that? 'Oh you know, my Shishou's one of them'? Or maybe 'I've read both legal and illegal pamphlets since I was little girl'? Or maybe 'My father's the boss of the revolutionaries and they're kind of against the system so I learned everything I could about the system itself'? Or maybe… yeah, that'll do.
"I did introduce myself properly, didn't I? I'm Monkey D. Luffy, granddaughter of Vice-admiral Monkey D. Garp. I know a lot of things."
"And you're going to become Pirate King." His snort with laughter made her giggle as well.
"With the future Greatest Swordsman at my side as the First Mate." Delicious irony, isn't it?
"What's so funny about that?"
"You'll see for yourself." Luffy promised finally stifling her giggles. "Speaking about titles, do you wish for me to help you in training? I can't really help you with your style, since I'm a user of ittoryuu or nittoryuu, depending on the length of the blades, but refining the skills you'll need to use is definitely in scope of my own skills."
"I…" He hesitated and then somewhat grudgingly admitted "Yes, you're really good with a sword."
"Indeed I am" She purred, her eyes twinkling suggestively, making him blush. Then she burst with laughter "Oh, don't blush so badly… It was nothing, really."
"N-Nothing?" Her new vict… First Mate spluttered.
"Yup. Get used to it"
"Do you…?" It was visible that he hesitated before finishing, she thought a little before blinking. Oh...
"Wha? Nah, it's my devil fruit's nature." She explained "Even the best of us cannot control everything about the fruits so most of us learn to live with it. Like logias taking on their elements characteristics, or zoans adopting their animal's diet and behaviour. People with a paramecia devil fruit either have no side-effects or their side-effects are absolutely unexpected, depending on the type of fruit."
"You ate one?"
"Yup. Just to make sure you know, I can't swim. In fact, I sink the moment I'm in water. Please practice your swimming to fish me out, should you need to do so."
"Gotcha."
"Where was I? Oh yes, fruit explanation. I ate a mythical zoan and it's pain in the ass. It's the Youko Youko no Mi: model Kitsune. In case you don't know the myths about them, kitsune are creatures looking like humans with each a different number of fox tails. In myths the most popular are the ones with one or nine tails. I have nine. Kitsune all have different colouring, but what is consistent is the fact that their fur is always in the colour of their hair. I have black fur with reddish tints. I can take on a full animal form, a partial form with fur covering me, a partial form with just tails and ears and I can transform individual parts of my body. Claws are almost as good as daggers when fighting. Kitsune are pranksters, they love to tease and play. Sometimes they're wise beyond their years and other times they're vicious and possessive. You'll quickly find out what kind of person I am so don't worry about it." She smirked toothily at him. "If I get injured, don't worry about it, just get the weapon out of me. Kitsune have great regenerative properties. Granted, not phoenix levels of regeneration, but still greater than normal zoans. Then there is also the slight control of flames I have, earlier mentioned illusions and… something called sensual aura. It makes everyone, who is in it's sphere of influence, produce hormones that convince them that they're in lust with the kitsune and make them pliant towards the kitsune's suggestion"
"Did you use that on me?"
"No. I will use it on you though. I'll need you to build immunity to them. Or at least learn to completely ignore it when fighting."
"Now?"
"Do you want to feel it now?"
"Yes. The sooner we start, the sooner we get it over with."
"Fine." She sighed and carefully started releasing some of her aura. She carefully monitored both the level of her aura and Zoro's reactions. At one point his eyes got all misty and he reached out to her slowly. She smiled proudly, her first mate fought her influence rather long on it.
"Zoro!" He was startled by her sharp admonishment, blinking a few times until his eyes cleared and he purposely leaned back away from her.
"Won't be easy." He murmured looking at her thoughtfully.
"No. It won't. Stay away from me for five minutes and we'll call it a success for today. It'll be at least a week to Orange Town, so on our way there we'll practice. In time I'll be increasing the strength of that aura."
"You can make it stronger." Somehow he managed to make the question sound absolutely flat.
"Yes."
"And you didn't hit me with the strongest because?" His leaned in, eyes flashing and Luffy felt her lips quirk, amused.
Awww… Did she hurt the poor baby's pride?
"Because while I can appreciate your looks, I will not be jumped by my First Mate." She declared, leaning in herself, eyes full of challenge "In fact, I won't be jumped by any crewmate of mine." She stared in his eyes full of resolve and whatever Zoro saw in her eyes had to be something good, because he relaxed, leaned back, and agreed with her.
"Understood, Captain. Let's talk about something else to keep my focus." He hummed thoughtfully and looked at her hat and questioned her. "What's with the hat? I don't really know a lot about fashion, but I don't think people would normally wear a straw hat with so much black."
"I'm used to hiding my devil fruit powers, and my control while fighting can slip quite easily, that's the reason for the black, to hide eventual fur. As for the Hat, it's a special Hat. It belonged to Gol D. Roger once, then he gave it to Shanks, who later gave it to me as a sign of nomination to the Throne."
"Okay… I don't really know where to start here. Who's Gol D. Roger? Who's Shanks? What nomination?"
"Gol D. Roger, currently known as Gold Roger, you know, previous Pirate King?" She explained with a smirk. She seriously forgot people don't know that Roger was a D. "Shanks Le Roux was an apprentice on his ship, currently known as Red Hair Shanks." Her smirk widened at the impossibly wide eyes of the swordsman. "To become the Pirate King one cannot just find Raftel. There are steps to make sure pirates around the world will acknowledge my right to the title. First of, I need a nomination by someone from the previous King's crew. That I have already, but if I'm not wrong there will be others that will have it too." Shanks warned her that there were 30 people on Roger's ship and while there was almost no chance for Buggy to nominate someone… Both Crocus and Rayleigh were living in Paradise so there was a possibility. Though only Shanks got a fruit and a journal for his own nominee, so she had a head start. Or she would have one if other contenders weren't older and more experienced already. "Next step is of course, finding Raftel. Not achieved by anyone else but yourself. Then the last step is the support or acknowledgement of at least 3 Yonko. I have the support of Red Hair Shanks, then there are two other Yonko I have to convince to support me or to replace them with my own allies. It is a possibility that Whitebeard will support me as well…" She mused aloud and then snapped back to reality "When we we get to the New World it'll also be my responsibility to protect Shanks from other candidates and the Yonko that fight against him." That was met with stunned silence. Luffy quirked an eyebrow at him again… "Are you okay?"
"You want us to protect a Yonko?" He choked out, looking at her incredulously.
"I want us to reach the very top." She nodded reminding him exactly what his own dream means on the big scale "To be able to defeat anyone that'll come our way. I do recognise it'll take a lot of work and time to get there, but we will get there."
"So the hat's important?"
"It's my treasure." Short answer, just a few words… but with so much meaning "Along with the others."
"Others?"
"A lot of small things kept below the deck or on my person." Luffy explained and quickly added a warning "I will be hurt and pissed if anything happened to them. Want a list?"
"If only to give it to those you'll recruit. Shoot" He smiled toothily at her, in his eyes understanding. Luffy smiled back at him, wondering what treasure he had for him to understand.
"You'll do it for me?"
"Aye, captain."
"Okay." She clapped her hands happily, feeling safe with the knowledge that her first mate would take care of her treasure with her, or will at least take care of them when they trust each other.
"When you go below deck you'll find them inside. A tiger lord's skin, which was my very first kill of one of Lord of the Mountains. I did it with bokken from my Shishou. Rest of the furs aren't that important but that first… You get the feeling. Then there is the cape, it also belonged to Shanks, and let me tell you that it's an excellent blanket. All the to big for me shirts belonged to Benn Beckman once, he's Shanks' first mate. Then there is the yellow sash that belonged to Yasopp, their sniper. From weapons there are those from the Red Hair Pirates: my first bo staff, a rifle with their jolly roger, flintlocks, two sets of daggers… There are den-den mushi, not really a treasure but something incredibly expensive that I got from my grandfather and Shishou. A lock picking pamphlet gifted to me by Thatch, gloves from Marco, and pillow made by my caretaker as a goodbye gift. From the collection of books there is the journal about my devil fruit written by Roger himself, my very own copy of marine rules and protocols we'll be able to use, a copy of 'International Laws' from the mayor of my village and a photo album. Anything else is expendable."
"That's a lot of treasures." He whistled at the list and she glared sharply. She knew it was a lot of things, but it would still hurt her to lose them. Still, most of her treasures are really useful. They'll just need to be careful with the safety and privacy on the ship.
"I have a lot of people I treasure. What about you? Something especially important to take care of? Other than 'I'm a swordsman, I care for my swords' of course."
"Wado Ichimonji, the sword with the white sheath, it belonged to my dead friend. Whatever happens, that is the one thing I can't ever lose." She took note of the sword and took note to make sure it was in sight after every fight. "Other than that I have those" He touched his earrings "These symbolize my promises"
"I see… we'll make sure you don't break those promises then."
"I won't." He agreed before he turned to look at to her sharply. "Wait! Thatch and Marco… those are not the names of any of the Red Hair Pirates."
"Of course not," Luffy readily agreed, enjoying the stupefied expression on his face. "I didn't mean the Red Hair Pirates for those two at all"
"You didn't mean…"
"Whitebeard Commanders? Of course I did."
"But you don't have the support of Whitebeard?"
"I've never met Whitebeard himself. We've never talked. It's safer to assume that he will be opposed to me taking the title than to assume that he will support me." She explained and smiled at the grunt of understanding he made.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
She felt happy laughter bubble inside of her as she and her first mate continued to spar.
Duck. Harden. Block. Swipe…
Her hair flew with the wind behind as she laughed. This was more fun than that marine base mess! On the opposite side of the little deck they were using to spar she caught the savage grin on her swordsman's face and laughed some more. Good… swords masters could learn about their opponents by fighting. She wanted to know her First Mate.
And she wanted her First Mate to know her.
Duck. Roll. Slash. Harden…
A sudden wave crashed against the ship. Luffy corrected her posture easily, making her centre balance more comfortable and then laughed out loud seeing the green haired swordsman flail around a bit.
"Doing acrobatics does wonders for one's balance, darling~"
"Screw you, Captain." His growl at her teasing just made her smile widen… Too easy!
"Not interested!"
Slash. Duck. Block. Lunge. Clang.
Luffy smiled toothily and stepped back. Zoro growled, sheathing back Wado and one of the other swords and massaging his wrist, which had a bright red bruise.
"How the hell are you winning with a bokken?!"
"What's wrong?" She smiled innocently at him. Poor Zoro still hadn't learnt to back out from a fight when she got an 'innocent' expression yet. "Can't cut it?"
"You did something to it" He accused peering at her suspiciously. Luffy just knew that her grin turned into one full of mischief.
"I did."
"And I'll learn what it is later." He finished her thought for her with resignation in his tone, then looked at her suspiciously again. "Right?"
"Of course you'll learn." She defended herself "I'll educate all of my minions." Another kitsune smile made him twitch. Good… "Preferably after we land on some island where you'll be able to learn to cut a stick and not my treasure." She quickly declared seeing him looking at her precious bokken hatefully.
"How did you get that good?"
"I've spent almost my entire life practising to get that good." She sent him a smile again and put her training blade in the sheath.
"And you're still not anywhere near finished yet."
"Like you're one to talk." She snorted at that. The guy that wanted to be The Greatest Swordsman would complain about her training? Really? That's almost to good. "Remind me to teach you how to use wind blades before we reach the Grand Line." She ordered offhandedly while checking their course, corrected the positions of the rudder and sails, and stood relatively relaxed but looked at him seriously. "You may be considered the strongest swordsman in here, but in there, you don't even rank top 100." She raised her hand to cut off his immediate protests and explained flatly. "You need more strength, speed and stamina. A better technique and the ability to observe and understand the techniques used by others. Wind blades and a will strong enough to cut diamonds." With every thing she listed she saw Zoro's indignant snarl slide off a little. Good. He really wasn't ready to deal with what was happening in that sea.
"To become The Greatest." She snarled at his arrogant nod. Stupid, arrogant, ignorant swordsmen! Scratch that… stupid, arrogant, ignorant men. Never testing or finding out exactly what kind of difference there is between the levels of strength…
"To be relevant as a swordsman there." She cut of his fantasy mercilessly. Then took a deep breath and went for the kill. "Right now? You're noone." Add salt to the injury. He needs to learn. "You're a swordsman from the Blues. Even worse! You're just an East Blue swordsman." her face turned into a sneer and her last words dripped with venom. No one on her crew will be called East Blue quality. No one! Deep breaths. Now, to soothe his injured ego. "You need to grow into the title you want to achieve, or those that believe in your arrogance will die. I need to trust you to win the fights that we'll get into. But to actually do that, I need to trust you to get to know your limits, and work to surpass them. Take your time and think about that, Zoro." She wrapped up her speech gently and sat down to meditate.
Meditation as she discovered early was excellent for Haki exercises, and to learning about oneself. She needed to give her First Mate time to think. Only a moment went by in silence before Zoro spoke up.
"Why would I need to cut diamonds?" Zoro's voice made her focus on the 'real world' before she had managed to properly close her eyes and start to get into the trance… such inconsideration…
"Diamonds are the strongest stone available naturally." She explained amiably even though she knew her lips were making a pout unconsciously. She didn't care though. Interrupting meditation is rude even when done by civilian and worse when done by a swords user. "Sea stone is the strongest metal out there. Cutting through diamonds and sea stone is a requirement to be considered New World level strong, so a long way from now. If even one of us can achieve that before reaching the New World, then it'd be great though. Safer for rest of the crew."
"But you don't believe I'll be able to do it" Was that an accusation? Really? Now, was he just overconfident in his learning capability? His current skill level? Or was he just expecting her to put blind faith into him?
"No. I don't." She agreed, levelling him with a look that was just short of being classified as a glare. "Learning to cut steel is hard enough, and learning to do so consciously is even harder."
"Can you do it?"
"Can I do what?"
"Cut steel?" He asked impatiently, leaning forward a little.
"Somewhat." She made a 'so-so' gesture and elaborated "I have problems with cutting through steel of better quality. I'll be trying to deal with it while we're still in the East Blue. Can't have that kind of handicap in the Grand Line."
"That's a handicap?!" His expression was filled with disbelief at her words.
"Zoro, I don't think you really understand the difference in the strength levels between the seas." She sighed exasperated. Men… "The Blues are a place where the weakest prepare to go into the Grand Line. East Blue is considered the weakest of them all, with West Blue currently being the strongest. Paradise is the place where the people to weak to go to the New World reside, but even Paradise is deadly to those that disrespect the sea and their rivals." Ugh, if he doesn't realise the seriousness of the situation before they reach Reverse Mountain, she'll probably need to do something drastic and arrange a beat down. He would need to have a taste of the power difference between them and a Paradise pirate before entering the Grand Line. She'd really rather not.
"If that's a handicap for you, then why take me?"
"To put it bluntly?" She asked sharply, bringing him back from whatever thoughts being called weak he had landed in "You have potential. You could be someone great if given proper guidance. And I want you. So I will make you great. Greater than I could ever be. And I'll do it even if I have to drag you the entire way kicking and screaming." She threatened with a cheshire smile.
"You'll make me stronger than you?" Zoro frowned at her.
"I said greater, Zoro." She corrected, not letting her smile slip. "I have a devil fruit my dear swordsman. I will be using the fruit while fighting, and to do so, I will be training with it. I can't train my swordsmanship with that single minded determination that characterizes the Greatest. You can. And you will."
"I… I see."
"That's great," She chirped getting up. There was no way she could meditate now without some winding down. What to do, what to do? Oh! "I'm going to do my stretches, feel free to join me or start meditating."
"Any real purpose in meditation?" She frowned thoughtfully… She really, really hoped that doesn't mean he's one of those that don't see a purpose in it.
"Meaning?" She asked sharply and felt herself settle at the sight of his own eyes widening with understanding.
"What should I focus on achieving while meditating?" Luffy smiled at the rephrasing and decided to give him a full answer. Looking at how he got to it should prove entertaining at the very least.
"Feel both yourself and your surroundings. Sense me, not hear, find the fishes under us, when closer to land, sense the birds, try finding humans"
"How?"
"That my dear, you'll have to find out yourself." She laughed at the face he made at the vague answer. He really should be happy that she didn't pull something shishou would say like, "a proper swordsman is always aware of their surrounding" or some other spiel.
"That doesn't make sense."
"Of course it does. You just can't see it yet."
√ -√v-√ -√v—
It was beautiful day. The sun was up and lighting the waves, the fishes were jumping around the Dreamer, seagulls were croaking above them and their next stop was only a few hours of sailing away. Which was fortunate since both Luffy and Zoro were feeling restless from staying on a ship for so long, especially on such a small ship. Luffy really couldn't wait for when they had a proper ship where she could properly exercise on deck. Currently she was just making due with stretches, meditation, stance practice and swing practices together with her swordsman and she was starting to get seriously irritated. The time they were stuck with the tiny space to practice their crafts was frustrating. The only thing she could really practice were her fruit abilities. Specifically, illusions and her fire. She also helped Zoro train in spotting illusions by randomly changing his perception of the deck, and it took only 3 baths in the ocean to notice the deck was changing! She couldn't wait for more crew mates to join them and be in need of education…
She loved educating people!
On their way to the island they quickly made stock of what was on board and what they needed to buy to safely get to at least the next habitable island… Thanks to tales of the unpredictability of the Grand Line Luffy was a big fan of stocking at least two islands ahead. Just in case they ever had a problem with staying on an island, or they get caught in unpredictable weather and have their travel time elongated. She was measuring their water stores and writing down how much they'd need to buy for the two of them, and possibly a new recruit, when she was interrupted by a knock.
"Zoro?"
"How did you…" He started sticking his head inside just to see her looking at him like he was an idiot and backtracking "Nevermind. There are stragglers in the water, around 15 degrees from starboard, are we fishing them out?"
"Civilians?" Luffy massaged bridge of her nose just imagining all the problems they would bring to them.
"Don't really look like civilians to me." The swordsman shrugged and added snidely. "They float really well."
"And we're how far away from the island, now? An hour?"
"Two max." He agreed which made Luffy smile beatifically.
"Then they can swim their way to the island."
"Aye, aye ma'am" Zoro smiled at her, all teeth and she shook her head with resignation, there really had to be something wrong if he was fine with leaving 'innocents' without help. She shooed him off and focused on plotting the course for their next stop… with less distance between islands this time. Especially if they decide to pick up someone new, they'd really need to be able to train their new crew mates properly. To have sparring matches and the possibility to grow together…
Her musings were interrupted by loud crash from above the deck. She grumbled to herself but got up and peered up with a hand on her dagger. Getting caught with surprise on her own ship would be something Thatch would never let her forget should he find out… She was not letting that happen. And should it happen anyway, he wasn't finding out. A survey of the deck made Luffy's posture relax and she moved over to where Zoro stood over a heap of bodies. Three stereotypically clothed pirates laid there with different sets of bruises, done by a sheath maybe? It didn't look like Zoro had used anything else to deal with their… invaders.
"Who's that Zoro?" She smiled, observing the bloodthirsty and offended face of her swordsman.
"Buggy pirates, thought they could take Dreamer from us."
"Is that so?" Her smile widened and she came closer to those poor, unfortunate souls that had irritated her crew mate "I see you corrected their behaviour."
"I did." He agreed and stepped back, letting her deal with the problem.
"So boys? You can start with why you were stranded out at sea." They looked at her rebelliously, but only long for her boot to connect with their bodies.
"It was a girl, okay?" One of them snapped, detangling himself from his comrades.
"Pretty nice girl."
"Oh yeah… definitely." When it was clear that they were ready to go off on a tangent about the looks of the girl that was somehow connected with their situation Luffy cleared her throat. Loudly.
"Oh yes… We were just minding our own business I swear!"
"Yeah! We were just coming back to Big Top!"
"Big Top?"
"Buggy-sama's ship."
"Buggy-sama is the ruler of the sea with his devil fruit power!"
"He'll find One Piece and be King of Pirates one day!"
"Buggy-sama's great!"
"What's Buggy's devil fruit?" Luffy asked mildly, making them snap their heads in her direction
"We won't say that!"
"Well not without some… incentive"
"Oh yes, you know… We could tell you if you'd just..." he didn't get to finish, and as he blinked, Luffy moved and he was left staring at the business end of a gun.
"If I'd just not pull the trigger?" She offered and smiled again. All teeth and none of the previous gentleness or humour.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good deal, right?"
"Yes, yes… good deal."
"Buggy-sama ate the Bara Bara no Mi."
"Bara Bara?" Zoro questioned and Luffy grimaced at the thought of a minor paramecia like that being called the ruler of the Sea. Even in jest.
"Splitting man. Blades as you use them will be useless. Don't fight him." She warned her swordsman seriously. And here she wanted to let Zoro impress her… It looked like she'll need to deal with the 'big bad pirate' by herself then.
"Aye, aye Captain" He agreed through his gritted teeth. Good, he didn't want to be considered weak, he'll learn and do it soon…
"Back to the girl. You met her, what happened?" She questioned and got ready to hear a sob story about how without a doubt they were too stupid to actually sense a trap of some kind.
"She tricked us!"
"Cheated!"
"The witch!"
"We met her boat on our way to the ship!"
"She was laying there dehydrated."
"Offered us some treasure for taking her with us."
"We're pirates though!"
"We decided to take the treasure."
"She told us that the treasure was under the deck."
"We went to check."
"Then she jumped to our boat and sailed away!"
"Said there was going to be a storm."
"There was no treasure!"
"A few hours later a storm came and destroyed the boat!"
"We can't go back to Buggy-sama like that."
"We wanted to take this ship as an offering."
"Please?" They finished the story and she snorted at the pleading expressions on their faces.
"Well, if you don't want to show yourselves as failures to your boss, you can always try to swim away. Not on my ship though." She gestured to the ocean around them with her gun.
"What?!"
"How could you?!"
"You have no heart!"
"I don't" She agreed mildly and made an illusion of ropes reaching out to them, causing them to panic and jump out with a splash. "Unfurl the sail, the faster we get there, the better. I'll take out some Seastone cuffs"
"Why would you have them? Isn't that weapon against you?" Zoro questioned, obediently moving towards their sail. The winds were picking up.
"Fruit users can with proper training build up resistance to Seastone effects. Doubt Buggy did though. He was too young when he last was with someone that would teach him that."
(Didn't Roger die when he was like 14 or something?)
"You know him?"
"I know about him. He was a co-cabin boy with Shanks." She explained and added viciously "He was a greedy little boy, content to hide when the fight started and rely on his devil fruit to escape. A devil fruit he didn't really put much effort into mastering."
(Maybe she was a bit unfair to him. Shanks did say that Buggy killed his first man to protect the redhead. And they were kids while still on Oro Jackson…
But, the very thought of hiding rather than destroying their enemies. It was alien to her.)
"So, not really a challenge?" He summed up and allowed himself to smirk victoriously.
"There's no need to become overconfident Zoro. He could change." She warned half heartedly. From Shanks' description, she didn't really think he'd change either, but a good captain and that spiel… "Take every fight seriously, always have another trick up your sleeve, and never show your full capabilities. I know that that kind of hiding is against a swordsman's code, but you are not strong enough to do that and defend itself" This she said with complete seriousness, only those really strong could be as completely unashamed of showing their abilities as Zoro tried to be.
"I see…" He murmured and eyed her with sudden suspicion… "You're hiding your abilities as well, aren't you?"
"I am." Her candid answer made him grind his teeth, which offset her laughter. "One day we'll be walking around without hiding just exactly how strong we are Zoro."
"When no one will be able to cause us problems you mean."
"I really don't want to have high ranking marine on our ass even before we'll get to Paradise." She smiled at his acceptance. It was nice to be trusted to make a decision they both can live with.
"And a girl? She predicted the weather, didn't she?"
"She should be a pretty good navigator, we'll see how it goes, won't we?"
"You're sceptical." Zoro obviously noticed her smile turning strained.
"That kind of talent in East Blue of all places?" She turned to look at the island they were closing in "Finding just you in here was like winning the lottery. People with that kind of talent aren't unaffiliated for long."
"She's a fake?"
"Or already a member" She agreed with him and closed her eyes slowly, wondering what that could girl be. Would she be a fake? Why fake that kind of abilities? How would you fake that kind of ability? And what if she was be real? Who would she be affiliated with? The only real danger on this sea is Don Krieg and Buggy himself. She wouldn't steal from her crew mates so probably Don Krieg. Is she under his service? Or were those three better actors than she seriously thought to be possible? No… There was no real purpose to act like that to her, she was a nobody here and Buggy knew he could make quick job out of Zoro with his fruit. So it was either Don Krieg, one of the newbies like her, the government, one of the guilds in the underworld or unaffiliated. Why would someone with that talent be unaffiliated though?
√ -√v-√ -√v—
The moment they docked at town they knew something was not right. The obvious big pirate vessel with the Buggy Pirates jolly roger docked close by made that very clear. The town was abandoned and would be completely silent if not for the shouts of the partying pirates. Luffy and Zoro exchanged glances and smiled with bloodlust, it was time to plaaay~
Zoro took few steps towards the town and stopped, realising she was not following him. He turned around and looked at her curiously. He quickly noticed the haughtily raised eyebrow and after a second or two realised what she was irritated about.
He stood down and waited for her to weave an illusion over the Dreamer and prepare mentally. Luffy took a deep, fortifying breath and prowled close to her swordsman, the other falling in step behind her the moment she got ahead of him. They stalked through the city together, taking in the damage Buggy Pirates had already done to the city. Silent streets, empty homes and a screaming mob…
Wait...
After a pause they moved towards the street the distinct noise of an angry mob was coming from, just in time to see a bunch of pirates chasing an orange headed girl. The girl looked at them and visibly perked up.
"Boss there you are! I've got a map, I'll leave you to it now" She fired off her sentence and moved to run away. Zoro sneered at the realisation of what exactly would have happened if they had been civilians.
"Who is she?" He growled, reaching for his swords and tensing, barely stopping himself from stepping up to deal with the attackers.
"A little cretin who either doesn't know or care about exactly what kind of things pirates would do to a girl." Luffy growled right back at him, nodding in appreciation at him stopping and waiting for her decision. Then she stepped up to the crowd that was closing up on them, she reached down to get her daggers, and then both of them moved.
They made a quick job of cutting down the pirates, weakening down the crew whose captain they were going to exchange for a bounty. Soon there were just bloody bodies laying around them.
"Whoa… You're really strong!" Both Luffy and Zoro snapped their heads up towards the roof where the girl hid and glowered at her. She jumped down to them and came closer looking at them with wide, innocent eyes… yeah right "Would you like to work with me?"
"Who are you witch?" Zoro growled in place of an answer, looking down at the stupid, definitely not civilian girl that had painted the target on their backs for a bunch of pirates.
"Witch?!" She screeched and reached down towards her leg where she probably had her weapon "How dare you!"
"You said you have a map?" Luffy intervened before this could escalate to blows.
"Yes, a Grand Line map" She brought a map out of her cleavage and Luffy smiled happily before snatching it for herself. She opened the map and her smile widened. It was a pretty good map, still useless without a log pose of course, but it had the most popular routes along with the times of log pose settings and standard times of travels. It was great! They didn't need to actually guess their way and the amount of supplies they needed to buy at each port.
"Yes," she mused smirking at the speechless girl and rolling up the map again. "I think I'll take it as a reimbursement for endangering me to rape, death or life of a captive in the hands of a pirate crew." She counted down potential endings of the poor civilian that could have been in her place, then sniffed imperiously putting the map away under illusion. It'd be a shame if it'd got stolen again after all. "You may leave now girl."
"My name is Nami!" She screeched again taking step towards them, as if trying to intimidate them "And I'm a person protected by Arlong Saw-Tooth, how dare you steal from me?!"
"Says the thief." Zoro snorted at that, relaxing his stance a bit, remembering that Arlong is… well, will be part of the crew.
"Of course, you're free to go to Arlong and tell him that you set someone you thought to be a civilian to be captured by Buggy the Clown's crew." Luffy snorted, and saw the girl's stance falter. She smirked triumphantly and challenged."Go ahead. I'll enjoy his reaction."
"Pff…" Nami drew herself up and bared her teeth in parody of smile "Arlong doesn't allow anyone to steal from us!" She snarled "There's no way he'll believe some outsider over one of us!"
"You seem very sure about that." The brunette said mildly before smirking again "Are you keen to try your theory?"
"I-it's not a theory!" The thief spluttered and straightened herself out. Then she started screeching again. "Arlong will protect me! He always protects us!"
"I wonder." Luffy smiled winningly, she really hoped the annoying little girl would be at Conomi the day she came to drag Arlong along on their adventure.
"How will they survive without him there?" Zoro looked at the girl pityingly.
"They'll finally get up and grow some backbone rather than use him to threaten others?" Luffy shuffled enough to look at him and still have the thief in her sight, Zoro smirked down at her at that.
"Wh...what?" The thief stuttered and after few seconds, processed exactly what had been said, and started shrieking again. "You think you can beat Arlong? You?" She yelled out mockingly and smirked hauntingly before bursting in laughter "Hahaha!"
"Oh baby girl…" Luffy cooed at her with equal mocking. "I don't need to beat Arlong for him to leave you." Then she smirked evilly "For the record though, I can."
"You can?" Zoro looked down surprised, trying to extrapolate her strength from that little admission.
"Of course I can." The young Monkey shrugged and amended her sentence to keep Zoro from overestimating her strength. "With a fuckton of trickery and illusions but I can do it. Wouldn't be a captain otherwise."
"No, I guess you wouldn't be." He admitted and looked at the once again, speechless girl. "You that weather witch that stole the boat from Buggy's pirates?"
"Pfft, I'm the best navigator you'll ever meet." She announced, sure in her own talent, making Luffy just laugh mockingly again. Marco was a fucking good navigator. Even without bird his zoan instincts helping him with that, there was no way some arrogant chick in the East Blue would be better than a New World veteran.
"Well now I can believe she's unaffiliated Zoro" She said lightly and looked towards the center of the town. "Ready for a fight?" She asked taking the first step towards the tavern with a big circus tent on top. Completely ignoring the thief's shrieks behind them.
"Let's go." Her swordsman agreed with a bloodthirsty grin, even if was it was slightly dimmed by the fact he couldn't fight the captain. They prowled on to their hunt.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
They were so close to the tavern already, just a few more streets when Luffy caught sight of something that made her freeze…
Then she squealed with delight.
"Aww… Doggy!" She took a few quick steps and crouched right before the small, white dog guarding a pet shop, reaching out a hand for it to sniff at.
"Weren't we meant to go and beat up Buggy?" Her Swordsman grouched behind her but still stepped closer to the furry animal.
"But Zoro! It's a doggy~" She whined playfully at him and gestured to the, now allowing her to pet it, dog "Look at how cute he is!"
"Cute? Where?" He grumbled looking at the animal and reaching out to it as well, a few hesitant sniffs later and the green haired pirate was petting it with a soft smile of his own. Luffy blinked at that and smiled mischievously… she wondered how long she would be able to use his softness towards small, cute things before he built an immunity towards it.
"What's your name, little one?" She smiled softly and called forth some foxy features. Foxes are canines after all, so she should be able to somehow guess dog's intention, right? She bit into her lower lip gently and cursed at the elongated fangs and suddenly sharper teeth, then she heard a sharp intake of breath and looked at Zoro questioningly. Zoro was looking at her in shock for a second or two before blinking with understanding and nodding slowly. Good… It's nice to know that that part of her transformation didn't freak him out either. "Why are you here alone?"
"Woof!" The dog's bark was so ferocious and defensive it would probably set off her every instincts… If not for the fact that dog barely reached her knee while sitting. As it was she just hummed with gentle understanding. Conveying feelings of disinterest towards his claimed territory and the fact that she's on the hunt right now.
"The shop?" Zoro questioned also having read defensiveness of the dog and smiled toothily, causing Luffy to look up at him in surprise. Well, maybe she shouldn't be surprised at that, he is a predator as well. Before she could say something though they were interrupted by an aggressive yell.
"What are you brats doing to Shushu?!" They looked up to see elder man walking towards them, shaking his fist. They looked at each other with befuddlement and Luffy almost snorted with laughter at the ridiculous puddle-like hairdo the man sprouted.
"His name is Shushu?" She said instead of that, morphing her face back to fully human shapes and tilting it innocently. Now to get some information… village elders are filled with knowledge! "Why is he here alone?"
"This shop belonged to his owner" He explained looking at them suspiciously.
"He ran?" Zoro growled angrily shuffling closer to them.
"Wrrrr…" Shushu growled at that and Luffy suddenly understood. Poor little one…
"When did he die?" Luffy asked sadly, continuing to pet the dog and shutting up Zoro's indignation.
"A few weeks ago." Village elder answered promptly "Shushu hasn't moved from the shop since then."
"He's still waiting" Zoro murmured and pet the dog one last time before getting up.
"Don't be naive Zoro, he knows very well he's alone now." Luffy disagreed sharply and stood up as well "He just doesn't care. He'll protect the shop in the same way we'll train."
"His treasure." Swordsman said in understanding
"Who are you anyway, sir?" Luffy changed the topic before the elder could start going on about the history around the shop and dog.
"I'm Boodle, mayor of this town."
"I'm sure it's pretty when there are no pirates here." Brunette smiled warmly at him. It was obvious he loved this place very much.
"It is." He beamed at them and asked "Why are you here anyway kids?"
"For the bounty." Luffy answered promptly. Zoro didn't strike her as a type to lie or even admit things easily, and she had already experienced his honesty.
"You're awfully young for bounty hunters." She sighed at that… she's young, not weak!
"My partner here is Roronoa Zoro, sir." She said firmly, daring him to try and tell her to step down. "Don't worry about us."
"Roronoa you say… the swordsman?" Mayor smartly ignored the sensitive topic and moved onto the named man's identity.
"Yes." Zoro confirmed with narrowed eyes. He was well aware of how women were treated when it came to fighting.
"Then I guess you know what you are up against." The elder conceded with a nod.
"We do." Luffy answered with finality "Though if you have some additional information you'd like to share with us, then please do."
"They're strong." Mayor nodded with a grimace "Greedy. And happy to spill our blood." Then he took deep breath and then let out a bitter, "Monsters!"
"I see…" Luffy muttered at that civilian assessment. She didn't really expect for him to tell them how strong the pirates exactly were, but at least a number would've been nice. Well, moving on from that. she at least needed to make sure civilians stayed away from the danger zone when they fought. "How many were hurt before you escaped?"
"Quite a few. Luckily, no one died"
"You're lucky. Really, really lucky. Please make sure that no one will try to sneak into the town while we deal with them." She stated, and seeing his frown immediately added on, "There's no need for more villagers to get hurt." There, the old man deflated and she smiled happily. One civilian liability out.
"I… Fine. I can do it for you."
"Thank you, sir. We'll leave it to you!"
"Yeah, let's…" Zoro started moving and took few steps towards were he assumed the battle would be, but stopped when he noticed Luffy hadn't moved other than tilt her head "Luffy?"
"Someone's coming." She muttered thoughtfully, just loud enough for both the swordsman and mayor to hear her. "A human and an animal. A very big animal." Then she concentrated a little more at the feel of the incoming presences and hummed lowly. "A predator without claws."
"That's animal tamer Mohji. He's the second mate of Buggy." The mayor explained, taking an involuntary step back. Luffy and Zoro looked at each other for a second to decide who was going to be taking care of the enemy. There seemed to be an unspoken conversation between them before the swordsman nodded slowly and started dragging the mayor out of harm's way while still staying in hearing distance.
"Go closer to the shop Shushu. Let me deal with this." She murmured and smiled softly patting the dog's head. Then she heard a growl behind her. "I was told that you're the clown's second mate." Luffy got up and looked up at him with a mild expression.
To be honest, she barely held it together when she looked at the man that had something wool-like on his head and ears… his bear-like ears that were on the top of his head. She quickly turned her attention towards his companion as to not break her mask and burst into a fit of giggles.
The lion was… almost as big as one of the Lords of the Mountain, just thin… broken, with his fur in an awful state. Poor dear.
Yeah, that soured her mood immediately. It also gave her some incentive to give the fucker good ass-kicking.
"That's right!" The male on top of the lion boasted loudly. "For I am the great beast tamer Mohji! No animal can refuse me!"
"That's… disturbing" Luffy grimaced at the thought his words painted, which caused both Zoro and the mayor to snort with laughter.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Beast tamer yelled out with an angry flush.
"Of course you didn't." She snorted out condescendingly making him even angrier. Good...
"Youu…" He sputtered and jumped out of the lion "Richie! Get her!" He screamed imperiously with an arm outstretched towards her.
"Really?" Luffy murmured with resignation but dodged the lion's swipe and allowed herself to fall back on her experience with fighting Lords of the Mountains. She dodged and jumped around him, after a while managing to jump onto him and knock him out without letting him destroy their environment. Then she sneered at lions 'tamer' "Do you even feed him? That fur is not good enough to even use as a carpet."
"Wha!" He squawked with outrage and she sighed at the member of Buggy Pirates.
"Anything you'd like me to tell Buggy for you?" Luffy asked taking her daggers out.
"Y-you wouldn't dare!" He stuttered out while she got her blades into a proper position.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Y-you wouldn't!"
"Watch me." She growled and pounced in his direction. Mohji was barely ducking around her swipes but when he finally decided to move to offense and took out his whip, she narrowed her eyes and with a burst of speed finally closed in and cut him deep enough for him to scream in pain and crumble to her feet.
"H-how…"
"Easy." She noted with satisfaction that her breath wasn't ragged even though she had just spent some time dealing with a giant lion and it's tamer. "I'm just that much better." She smiled winningly and waved Zoro over. Together they started making their way towards their next fight.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
The future Strawhat Pirates' captain and first mate stood before a tall tavern with a circus tent on top, where the loud noises of a party could be heard, and looked at the building with excitement. There was 15 millions beris for their ship fund waiting for them.
"Well… are we making him furious right off the bat, or do we want to keep that for later?" Luffy asked playfully, nudging her companion with a shoulder.
"Angry fighting means sloppy fighting" Zoro murmured thoughtfully and looked at her curiously. Should they?
"Unless one's gone into cold rage" She cautioned, trying to stop herself from just screaming out the trigger to Buggy's rage. She knew almost every one of his triggers thanks to all the stories from Shanks
(thank you Papa, nothing says that you care as much as making sure a girl knows exactly how to piss off a pirate captain.)
"Not Buggy."
"True…" She felt grin slowly forming on her lips when her excitement finally won over her common sense. "Oh well. Steady, ready…"
"Go."
"OI!" She yelled out with the full force of Monkey-issued lungs "You big nose! I've come to get your treasure!" She could just feel the incredulous stare of her Swordsman beside her when she stopped screaming but before she managed to do anything more than just flash a quick grin at him, they heard the sounds of the party on top of the building die out.
"My treasure!"A voice that just had to be Buggy's shrieked before pausing for a second, and then shrieking once more "Who are you calling BIG NOSE?!" A blue haired pirate captain moved over to the edge of the roof he was standing on and looked down at them with fury.
"Why of course we're talking about the owner of the big, red nose over there!" She yelled up the him cheerfully, doing her very best to imitate Shanks' tone and pattern of speech. She really wanted to make him freak out. It worked because Buggy became red and puffed up his chest to start screaming.
"Y… Yooou!" But he didn't manage to yell out anything else before another, calm voice interrupted him.
"Let me captain, there is no need for you to deal with the thrash."
"Go, Cabaji! Kill them flashily!"A blonde man in a suit jumped down to them and unsheathed his sword. Luffy smiled happily, Zoro's new playmate had come down to them willingly!
"Zoro." She uttered his name calmly and he grinned with anticipation. She knows that feeling.
"Roronoa Zoro, huh?" Cabaji drawled out arrogantly and raised his sword "As a swordsman... It'll be an honor to kill you."
"Who are you?" Zoro asked blankly, reaching down to unsheathe his own katana.
"H-how shameful." He sputtered offended "To not know the best swordsman in the East Blue on sight… I'm Cabaji, the first mate of the Buggy Pirates!" Blondie announced with so much pride it was as if he'd just introduced himself as a Yonko's first mate. Luffy smiled at the thought of having that much pride from being in someone's crew. Even if realistically speaking the crew wasn't anything much, still being in the weakest of the Blues and such. "And I'll be the one to kill you!" Aaand her smile died at the thought of having so little skill as to not notice the sheer difference in their levels.
"Tch… another clown." Zoro bit out unsheathing his blades.
"Know the power of my acrobatic style!" Cabaji yelled out and jumped onto a unicycle one of his crew mates had thrown to him.
"Are you fighting or entertaining a bunch of kiddies?" The santoryu user jeered out and bit down on Wado's hilt.
"Acrobatic Style: … " before Cabaji had managed to finish calling out his attack Zoro moved.
"ONI GIRI!" He screamed out the attack's name and slashed, seriously injuring his opponent.
"That was kind of pathetic for the title of 'the best swordsman in the East Blue'" Luffy noted, bored, and patted her Swordsman on the shoulder.
"It was."
"By the way, Zoro." She started with an evil tint to her voice "I need you to get out of habit of calling out your attack's names while fighting."
"Why?"
"No need to give so much information away."
"It's an honorable thing to do" Zoro argued, she had to wonder if he really thought it as honorable or if that was something that was drilled into his head by the person that had taught him.
"Sea kings eat more than their fair share of idiots who do that every year." In her voice there was a clear warning and slight desperation. "Please"
"... Aye Captain."
"Thank you."
"Oh how flashily cute~ Little brats playing pretend." Buggy jeered jumping down to the street and sneering at them.
"Do you have a weak memory, Buggy the Clown?" Luffy tilted her head and reached out to the strawhat firmly stuck to her head.
"My memory is flashily good strawhat brat!" The red nosed pirate growled out and took out his knifes, the girl on the other hand forcibly relaxed her muscles.
"Is it really?" She asked putting as much of innocent concern as she could while inwardly giggling evilly "You should recognize this for what it is, then." Her hand softly touched the red ribbon that had been bleached by the sun and seawater after many years of use and her eyes glinted in challenge. Will he recognise his captain's hat? Or had he forgotten Roger's treasure?
"Your hat? Why is it…" Then his eyes bulged and he screamed out with a pointed finger and everything. "It looks like that stupid Red Hair's hat!"
"We both know that it didn't belong to Shanks. Not really" This time she allowed herself to let out an evil smile.
"That's…" He started to talk and froze. Then with understanding shining in his eyes he exploded "No! Flashily no!"
"Oh? Finally caught up on it's meaning?"
"I'll flashily kill you! One Piece is mine!"
"Please… We both know if you really wanted One Piece you'd be there by now. And you can't become King anyway" That froze him again.
"... You know the rules" He said slowly looking at her for the first time with utter seriousness. Like that understanding changed the rules they were meant to play by. It was no longer rookie against seasoned pirate captain. It was a nominee with previous King's nakama. No longer about just getting the bounty or the prestige of beating him, but testing herself. Making sure the nominee was strong enough to go into deeper waters. To wage a war against the entire world.
"I do."
"I don't recognize your nomination" He ground out.
"Then I'll beat that recognition out of you." Luffy declared cheerfully and unsheathed her daggers.
"Blades? Mwahahaha… I'll flashily kill you!" He lunged at her
"I'm sure you'll do." Luffy answered with a smile and coated her daggers black with Haki. That made Buggy widen his eyes impossibly wide and split his boy parts to dodge any swipe she could make at him.
"So you can do that too."
"Hurt you? Sure I can."
"Now that's getting flashy." Then Buggy apparently decided to stop talking because he sent his hands holding knives at Luffy again and tried to attack her from every side. Luffy noticed the knives coming at her, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She ignored the enraged shriek of her opponent and started dodging. Just like in practice with Shishou.
Left, right, left, left, duck!
Jump, right, left, duck, jump…
Here!
She caught hand flying towards her and squeezed, ignored Buggy's scream of pain and jumped to close the distance between them to slash a coated dagger at his chest, making sure that blood was drawn but Buggy himself wouldn't need to get treatment from actual medical professional. He closed his eyes in defeat and reintegrated his body parts again.
"Just shallow wounds?" Zoro asked curiously.
"I will not kill a member of the previous King's crew." Luffy said sternly. "Cuff?"
"Here." Zoro pulled out the Seastone cuff and opened it for her to put Buggy's hand inside. She did so with a smile.
"It's safe to come out now mayor."
"You knew I was here." Boodle said coming from behind the corner and looking fearfully at the cuffed pirate captain.
"Do you need us to deal with the low level pirates?" Zoro asked carefully. Guessing that his Captain would ask that anyway.
"No, you did enough for us, thank you."
"Think nothing of it mayor." The Strawhatted girl smiled cheerfully and then scrunched her nose in thought "Ugh… I know that it was rough with Buggy Pirates in town, but do you think we could buy supplies somewhere around? Just water and some food."
"You don't need anything else to keep Buggy contained?"
"The cuff is enough" She smiled at him calmingly.