reupload because i'm a retard who forgot to add in line breaks oops
you know, to put it into perspective. i rewrote this author's note like 5 times now as the delays kept getting longer. so hi, it's been 6 months since this was updated. procrastination is an issue, yes, feel free to yell at me in the reviews. or don't, that's fine too. thanks for all the people that still favorited the story lately, you guys are the people that motivated me to step all over procrastination.
Anyways. Time for another chapter. I'll get into the reviews and we can start off.
RinneSage726: I actually had no idea about the paragraph thing, which is odd because sometimes I subconsciously did it. By the time this chapter is out, the other 4 will be amended to fix this error. As for descriptions, yeah, they're honestly my weakest point and I'm not quite sure how to fix it, I'll try to get better at it but bear with me here.
RedFistCannon: yes, i agree, this story needs more love and i am 100% not biased at all in saying that. Seriously though, thank you for your kind words. As for the pairing thing, I do love me the good old LuNa and it's one of my favorite pairings (because it's the most innocent and pure love of all time, but really any ship with Luffy is the most innocent and pure love of all time), but I also love the wild pairings that aren't done much. To me it was a toss up between this story, or a Luffy x Koala one where he's part of the Revolutionary Army, since that pairing is almost non-existent. I might do that one in the future or parallel with this, but I'll settle with this for now especially that I missed the deadline.
NeonPhoenix: I'm actually not completely caught up to the One Piece manga, since I've been watching the anime for a long while. And I just recently started it from the beginning, so I don't have the info to tie it in. I'll probably do a weird amalgamation of what I thought her story would be along with a crude version of her current backstory. Also, for the town and Zoro, he's one of the biggest names in the East Blue and very intimidating. Since the story is from the perspective of the Straw Hats, we don't see what normal everyday people think much. But I would imagine people with such a reputation would be feared, you could see in Shells Town where he was held in the marine base that once Luffy said his name everyone hid.
chapter time (take 5) now eyyyy
Chapter 5: Don Krieg's Pirate Armada!
"For your punishment, I'll have your friend work in the Baratie… For one month!"
Bonney thought he was justified, she wasn't gonna agree or anything, but he was justified. She'd try to lower the amount by negotiations if she could. Luffy was having none of it, though, and spoke up before she could think of a plan.
"Hell no, old man. If I keep working here for one month, when am I gonna get to the Grand Line?"
Zeff had been amused before at the young man's antics, he adjusted his legs under him and his face fell, settling into a fuming glare. "Now you listen here, brat. I'm doing you a favor here, if this young lady's all you got, then you won't last a day in the Grand Line!"
His words may have been important, but Bonney and Luffy stared at his legs, almost in a trance.
"Ahhh! Your leg! I'm sorry!" Luffy's eyes were bulging out of his head while apologizing, as he thought about the damage he did. The older man had apparently lost a leg, and in place of it was a prosthetic pegleg.
Bonney, who had been watching the entire exchange silently, decided to cut in and explain things to Luffy before he overthought everything. "Luffy, it is literally impossible for the old man to have lost a leg and had a prosthetic made and applied in the few seconds it took us to get here from the ship."
Luffy had blinked at her owlishly before his face broke out into a grin, "Ah, I see. You're so smart, Bonney!"
The girl in question had figuratively and literally turned back to the task at hand, she held up two fingers for Zeff to see. "Two weeks, old man."
Zeff had laughed heartily again, "You seriously can't expect me to cut it down in half, I already decided on a number."
Bonney had expected that reply, she just clicked her tongue and grinned. "You didn't let me finish, old man. In exchange to cutting down the amount to half, you'll get double the amount of people working. You can have Luffy do whatever you want, and I could just be a waitress or something!"
This was her winning strategy, if it failed, it'd be impossible for her to think of anything else. Bonney held her breath while the older man was silent, seemingly considering her offer. She crossed her fingers behind her back, that speech may have sounded confident but she was everything that wasn't confident right now.
"Alright, fine, since all the waiters left. You've gotten yourself a deal, you'll be a waitress while your friend over here is a chore boy." Bonney had to fight the urge to openly celebrate, as she let out a sigh of relief.
The newly hired duo was currently waiting for someone to bring them aprons as part of their "uniform". Bonney was tapping away with her fingers at the railing on the top floor of the Baratie, while Luffy was rocking from side to side in his seated position next to her.
She had lost count of how many taps against the railing she made, if they were punishing her with boredom then they definitely succeeded. She stopped tapping in favor of supporting her head with her hand as she leaned against the railing.
"Hey, Bonney… What do you know about the Grand Line?" She hadn't expected that question, especially from Luffy. She was happy that her boredom was alleviated now, but she had apprehensions about answering that question.
"What brought this on, Luffy? And why are you asking me?" She decided to deflect for now, thinking of a way to answer his questions without seeming too knowledgeable. Monkey D. Luffy may be academically challenged… and lacking in common sense, but he knows how to read people and if she wasn't careful, he could start asking her about things she didn't want to remember.
"It's 'cause that old geezer said we wouldn't last in the Grand Line. And I'm asking you because you said all that smart stuff about Shanks and the New… something." Bonney felt herself stiffen… He wanted to know about the Grand Line and… the New World. The grip she had on her head tightened as her eyes stared out to the sea, almost in a daze.
A six-year-old girl with shoulder length pink hair, wearing a dark purple dress that was left in tatters, was currently rocking back and forth in a dark alleyway as she hid from her pursuer. She could hear the cracking of lightning as she kept rocking, which had only served to terrify the young girl more.
The girl felt vibrations as loud stomps had been getting closer, sweat had accumulated on her forehead and her breath had gotten shorter. She realized that the air had been getting unbearably hot, which only meant that she had to move now. She couldn't be caught at this point!
"Come out now, child. If you give yourself up, I'll let you live for a little. Come out, come out wherever you are, Bonney~" The terrifying voice of her pursuer had cut through the air in a jolly tune.
Flashes of memories went through Bonney's mind.
A nobleman. "Leave this place, peasant! You're not fit to even lick the scraps of our leftovers."
A man who towered over her, with an intimidating stature. Looking at her with eyes that bored through her like a hawk, yet they contained an odd warmth. "Escaping will not solve your problems. In fact, I see more hardship in your future."
A ship deck, surrounded by the crowding crew. The large, hulking captain, surrounded by medical equipment, was looking down towards her with an amused grin. "You've got guts, kid. It's a shame that I don't take daughters in my crew. We'll drop you off somewhere."
And finally, guards that were prepared to sacrifice everything. "We will serve you until the day we die, our Queen."
"Bonney? Bonneeeey? Are you okay?"
The pink haired girl was brought back to her senses by Luffy's calls for her. She let out a shaky breath and shook her head, as if to try and literally shake the thoughts out of her head, before she turned her face to Luffy, trying to put him at ease, she gave him a warm smile.
"I'm okay, I just got lost in thought." It wasn't exactly a lie, she was lost in thought, but she didn't want to explain what she was thinking about. Luffy seemed unconvinced for a moment, before he slowly nodded his head.
"So, you wanted to know why the old man thought we wouldn't survive in the Grand Line?" She only got a nod in return, so she continued on. "Well, people call that place The Pirates' Graveyard for a reason. It's full of really, really, really strong people-" She had put emphasis on the really strong part to discourage him from trying to fight anyone they didn't need to in there, but as Luffy's eyes lit up, she knew she had the opposite effect.
"Woo! Strong people!" He yelled enthusiastically, almost bouncing from his seated position, while grinning at her. Bonney felt herself relax, and she gave him a grin of her own.
"Thank you for interrupting me, after I graciously answered the things that you wanted to know." She teased him, only getting a small sorry in return. She made a dismissive hand gesture before continuing her explanation, "It's also 'cause the sea itself isn't normal, the magnetic fields or something are all out of control. So, you could just be sailing normally and all of a sudden a damn storm forms right then and there."
Luffy stared at her blankly for a few seconds before he suddenly pounded his fist into his other palm. "Ah, so it's a mystery sea!"
Bonney had doubled over in laughter after he finished his statement, he looked so serious while saying it that it was hard not to laugh. Luffy frowned at her back and whined, "Bonney~ Don't laugh at me."
She took a moment to compose herself before looking at Luffy's frowning face, "Hey, I'm not laughing at you. It was just so accurate that I laughed… okay, I lied, maybe I did laugh a tiny bit because you looked so serious." Seeing his frown deepen, the pink haired girl huffed before kneeling down in front of him and flicking him in the forehead, she knew he couldn't feel the pain but it was going to emphasize her point.
"You know I'd never disrespect you, you idiot." She left the 'not after what you did for me' unsaid, she knew he'd get it. Luffy rubbed at the spot she flicked by instinct while he looked at Bonney.
"Wait… Didn't you just disrespect me by calling me an idiot?" Bonney could work with this; the situation was back in her control now. She eased her face back into a grin, as she replied, not missing a beat.
"To me, idiot is a term of endearment." She wasn't lying, she'd said the word without any malicious intent behind it.
He pounded his fist into his palm again. "Ah, I see."
Silence had settled over them for a short while, each of them taking in the view of the sea as it extended as far as their eyes could see. To devil fruit users, the sea was the most intimidating thing in the world. It could easily strip your life like it's nothing if you weren't careful, which isn't helped by the fact that the majority of the world was made from the damned thing. Yes, the sea was daunting, terrifying even. But not to the two devil fruit eaters looking from across the railing at the vast azure.
To the two young pirates, the sea symbolized liberation. It was the biggest symbol of freedom in the world, and that's what made it all the more tempting to just forget everything in your life to escape into its embrace. And escape into its embrace they did, with hundreds of people letting go of their past lives and becoming pirates.
The peaceful atmosphere created by the gentle crashing of waves against the Baratie was cut short by the creaking of a door behind them. Bonney had turned just in time to notice a white article being thrown in her direction, managing to instinctively bring her hands up to catch it before the object made contact with her face. She moved the offending article out of her view to see who had thrown it.
"Put these aprons on and get to work." Zeff's amused tone hadn't gone unnoticed by Bonney, if she wasn't stuck here repaying him she would've probably turned him into an old man by now. Well… An old-er man. Bonney sucked in her teeth and tied the article around her waist before looking to her companion to see if he had done the same.
The pink haired girl could only stare as her raven-haired captain was rolling around and trying to take the apron off, only to wrap it more around his head. Bonney could only shake her head as she walked over and unwrapped the mess that her companion had gotten into.
"Well, time to head to work, Captain." For once, Bonney was looking forward to their arrangement. At least there wouldn't be any sudden danger, seeing as her Captain was a problem magnet when he roams free. And how hard could helping out in a restaurant be?
Bonney cursed her lack of foresight as she laid on her back, staring up at the sky. She should've known that the old man Zeff would've put them through the hardest work in return for messing up his restaurant. Coupled with the fact that Luffy messed up things more than he did right and that meant Bonney was stuck with extra work. Speaking of the straw-hatted boy, she looked to her right and saw him fishing. Well, he looked like he was fishing, but he was bouncing around impatiently waiting for something else to do.
"Aren't you tired, Luffy?" Bonney whined, wondering where the bundle of energy named Luffy got all of that energy from. She'd gotten used to it over the short time she's been with him, even managing to match him with her own energy sometimes. But this was getting too much, it was like a bottomless ravine!
"Shishi! Nope. But I'm bored here, I wanna go on an adventure!" Luffy laughed, while still keeping up the pretense of fishing. Bonney found herself agreeing with him, this place was starting to feel like a nightmare she couldn't escape from. A nightmare of her most hated feeling in life, boredom.
"Would you be interested in lunch, fair mademoiselle?" The pirate duo looked over at the voice coming from direction of the doorway, as a man had spun through it, holding a tray in his hands. Taking a closer look at him, he has blonde hair, styled in a way that covers his right eye. His visible eye, appears to be of a grey-blue color, topped off with an odd eyebrow that forms a spiral at the outer end. As for his clothes, he's wearing a double-breasted suit with a blue shirt and a black tie under it.
He reaches up a hand, removing it from his pocket and places a cigarette on his lips before lighting it and continuing his speech. "Fair lady, my body has been created to serve you with love. Now please do me the honor of accepting this offer of lunch."
Bonney thought he was pretty weird to say all of those things, but she wasn't turning down free lunch. The pink haired girl slowly nodded as he set the tray down in front of her, acting as the epitome of refinement as he slowly removed the cover from the tray. As soon as the food came into view, she pounced on the plate to devour it.
"Sho, who are ya?" Bonney asked while shoveling food into her mouth. The blonde-haired man seemed to stare at her in shock for a moment before his face settled into a grin.
"I'm the sous chef here, name's Sanji. I've been watching you guys screw up in there." Sanji took another drag of his cigarette, as he stared at the two in question. Bonney flushed in embarrassment as she kept shoveling food into her mouth, meanwhile Luffy only took a break from fishing to stretch his hand closer to Bonney's food to steal some of it.
His heist was about to succeed until a giant shadow looming over them had stopped him in tracks. The trio looked to their right at the source of that shadow, which was a giant galleon, almost triple the size of the Baratie. It would seem very threatening, if not for the fact that it looked like it was about to fall apart any second. The hull was destroyed beyond any possible repairs and the sails were tattered to the point that they jolly roger drawn on them was barely recognizable.
Their attention was diverted to a man jumping from the side of the ship onto the deck they were currently on. Landing on the deck, he fell down to his knees while clutching his stomach. "Help, please. I'm starving… I need food." His voice was coarse and raspy, unable to raise his voice to speak louder.
Sanji took a drag of his cigarette and stood up, slowly disappearing back into the doorway. After a few seconds had passed, he walked back onto the deck, carrying another plate of food and set it on the floor in front of the starving man. "I made seconds just in case you needed to eat more, fair lady. But looks like he needs it more."
The starving man made a grab for the plate and started to eat, trying to stave off his starvation. "Thanksh sho much for this!"
The starving man had put his plate aside after finishing the food. "Guess I should introduce myself after eating all this food, huh? It's Gin." Gin adjusted the headband on his head as he bowed his head forward to Sanji.
Sanji made a dismissal motion with his hand as he took another drag from his cigarette. "Don't mention it, you were starving, after all."
Luffy was watching the scene in uncharacteristic silence as his eyes lit up at the chef, when Bonney looked over at him, she recognized the look in his eyes. It was the same look he'd given her before making her – forcefully dragging her – part of his crew. Though he seemed content to just steal her food again now before bringing that up, considering he was almost going to succeed before he was interrupted, Bonney settled on pretending not to see his snaking hand.
As soon as his hand had finally touched Bonney's food, they heard a crashing sound coming from their left, on the deck. The source of the crashing noise was the impact of a bulky man, covered with an extravagant coat. Beneath his feet, the wood of the deck was splintering from the impact of his weight. The figure slowly stood up and start swaying as he walked towards the door to the Baratie.
Bonney and Sanji looked to Gin in confusion, while Luffy was scowling from being interrupted again while trying to steal Bonney's food. Gin was already ready to answer their confusion, "That's Don Krieg… My captain."
Don Krieg. Bonney vaguely remembered hearing about him, he was given the epithet of Pirate Fleet Captain. She hadn't kept track of how many ships he had under his command, but given the fact that they only returned with one ship in that condition. His epithet wasn't that fitting anymore, she laughed inwardly.
Any replies were cut off as the aforementioned pirate was knocked through the doors onto the deck, a voice inside yelling out at him to never come back. Seeing his captain be knocked onto the deck, Gin stood up and ran towards him. "Don, are you alright?!"
Don Krieg could only croak out simple words. "Starving… Food… Help…"
Sanji had slowly started to get up, to the confusion of the two rookie pirates. As he passed by Don Krieg and Gin on his way to the Baratie, rolling up the sleeves of his suit slowly. "You wanted food, right? Guess I'll get to it myself."
TO BE CONTINUED.
this is probably not as long as you expected the grand return to be but i was running out of ideas to make this longer without feeling too dragged out. so i thought this was a good stopping point for now. hopefully i manage to get the next chapter out before a month passes, or 6. anyways, a slower chapter this time since i started to build up bonney's backstory xd which like i said is a weird amalgamation since i need to move her from the south blue where she grew up all the way over to the east blue where she is now