Ch. 2- Welcome to Phoenix Ash Island

One Piece © Oda

Blizzard, Monkey D. Aika, Kumi, and other OCs © Me

(Soundtrack: Resort Island- One Piece Movie 6 OST.)

The Thousand Sunny sailed along the ocean, the wind filling her sails as the Straw Hats prepared for the trip...except there was just this one slight problem.

"Sheesh," Franky muttered as he stood at the helm with his hair styled in cornrows, wearing a mahogany shirt with blue flowers on them and a pair of blue Speedos. "We left that beach a couple days ago, right? You'd think we'd be there, by now."

"Are we there yet, Nami?" Luffy asked as he sat on the figurehead, wearing a red shirt with pockets on the front and a pair of dark green shorts.

"Not yet, Luffy," Nami said as she looked at the map, wearing harvest gold cap, a blue-green shirt that was opened up to her reveal her midriff, a cerulean halter top, a pair of lavender pants, and a pair of black high-heel boots. "Dammit, this would be so much easier if we had an Eternal Pose."

"Will you just admit that we're lost?" Zoro asked, wearing a dark brown leather jacket and with black fingerless gloves and green camouflage pants with his swords attached to a black leather belt.

"Oh, that's rich, coming from you, Moss-head!" Sanji countered, wearing a pink shirt with dark red trousers and a pair of goggles around his neck. "As if you know anything about not getting lost!"

"You wanna say that to my face, Pervy Cook?!" Zoro questioned.

"You're damn right I do, you hack swordsman!" Sanji barked.

"Enough already!" Nami yelled. "Jeez! We'll get there when we get there, all right?!"

"You think maybe we should ask for directions?" suggested Usopp, who was wearing a pair of light green overalls, a yellow shirt, a pair of brown boots, and a brown cap with goggles on the rim.

"You really think people are gonna give pirates directions?" asked Chopper, who was wearing a golden gladiator helmet over his trademark pink hat, a turquoise shirt with the word "TONAKAI" and a picture of a reindeer on the front, and a pair of shorts.

"It's worth a shot I suppose," said Brook, who was wearing a buttoned-up terracotta-colored shirt, a pine green cowboy hat, and a pair of gray trousers.

"Yeah, but who are we gonna get directions from?" asked Blizzard, who was wearing a green scarf with white rings and a saddlebag on his back.

"Hmm..." hummed Aika, who was wearing a pale rose Doskoi Panda shirt, as she looked around and soon spotted a nearby passenger ship, where she saw a well-dressed man standing on the deck, drinking a glass of champagne with an elegantly dressed woman. "Uh...excuse me!"

"Huh?" the man muttered.

"Hey, we're on our way to Phoenix Ash Island!" Luffy said. "Do you know how to get there?"

"Uh...yeah!" answered the man as he pointed forward. "Just keep going forward until you come to these rocks that look like seagulls, then turn 40 degrees starboard and follow the way they're pointing! You should see it in about 3 more days!"

"Seagulls rocks, 40 degrees to port, three days...got it!" Luffy replied. "Thanks for the help!"

"Thank you!" Aika called.

"Much obliged!" Franky added as the Sunny kept sailing onwards.

"...They actually gave us directions," Nami said in disbelief.

"Well, that was nice of them," said Robin, wearing a dark purple jacket with a light blue shirt with a flower petal design on the front, navy blue low rise jeans, a knapsack slung over her shoulder, and a cowgirl hat on her head.

"Yeah...but normal people usually freak out, right?" Kumi asked, wearing nothing but a simple pair of goggles and her rhinestone collar.

"I'm not complaining," said Luffy, "as long as it gets where we need to go."

"...Weren't those guys pirates?" asked the woman on the passenger ship.

"They seemed nice enough," answered the man as he drank the last of his champagne.

And so, the Straw Hats sailed onward, following the man's directions until they hit the Seagull Rocks, then turned 40 degrees to port, being careful to avoid any reefs on the way. Of course, they also ran into some crazy weather on the way there, such as a violent thunderstorm with raging waves.

"Hoist up the sails!" Nami shouted as she held onto the railing. "Tie everything down! Franky, keep the ship steady!"

"Can't you see I'm tryin', over here?!" Franky questioned while lightning flashed in the sky, which caused Chopper to shriek as he grabbed onto Zoro's face.

"AGH!" Zoro cried as he tried to pull the little reindeer off. "CHOPPER, GET OFF!"

"SCARY~!" Chopper screamed.

"Whoa~!" Aika cried as she slid across the wet deck, and she would've fallen off had Robin not been there to catch her with her powers. "Thanks, Aunt Robin!"

"Of course, honey," Robin called back.

"This storm doesn't look like it's going to let up, anytime soon!" Brook shouted as he and Luffy tied up the sails.

"Hey, Franky!" Luffy yelled.

"Got it!" Franky answered as he pulled on a lever. "Everybody, hang on tight!"

"Oh, no...!" Kumi bemoaned as she held onto the mast while the aft cannon began to glow brightly. "I hate this part!"

"I don't!" Aika exclaimed.

"Here we go!" Franky called out. "Coup de...BURST!"

KABLOOOOOOOW! The Sunny soon went flying through the air.

"YEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAW!" Luffy hollered as he hung onto the rope rigging. "I LOVE THIS PART!"

"ME, TOO~!" Aika cheered.

"I'M GONNA THROW UP!" Usopp yelled.

After three days of sailing through rough waters, it wasn't too much longer before something came into view.

"Attention!" Brook exclaimed from the Crow's Nest while holding up a Transponder Snail bullhorn. "Island, straight ahead! I repeat! Island, straight ahead!"

As the Straw Hats all looked toward the horizon, they could make out the shape of an island, slowly growing in size as they drew closer.

"Whoa!" Aika exclaimed as she sat in Luffy's lap. "Check it out!"

"Hey, Nami!" Luffy called. "Do you think that's it?!"

"Yep! No doubt about it!" Nami answered. "That's Phoenix Ash Island!"

"Which means we made it!" Usopp said.

"ALL RIGHT!" the Straw Hats cheered.

"I can't wait to see what the island will be like!" Chopper piped up.

"How thrilling it is, entering strange territory!" Brook exclaimed. "I must say, I'm getting goosebumps! ...Although I don't have skin. Yohohohoho!"

"You think there might be a village there?" asked Zoro.

"If there is," Robin began, "it would be a good chance to see what kind of culture they have."

"And what kind of food, too," Sanji added. "I could always use some new recipes."

"Ooh, I'm gettin' hungry!" Luffy said as he began to drool. "Come on, Franky! Hurry it up!"

"Cool it, will ya?" Franky asked. "I gotta reserve the ship's cola supply, you know!"

"Treasure, treasure, treasure...!" Nami whispered as she held the map in her hands with Berry signs in her eyes. "I can't wait...!"

"...She is seriously worrying me, right now," said Kumi.

"Me, too, Kumi," Blizzard agreed. "Me, too."

XXX

(Soundtrack: Lurelin Village- Daytime from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild OST.)

Meanwhile, near the beginning of a lush, green jungle filled with palm trees, tropical ferns, and flowers sits a village with huts made entirely of wooden logs with palm fronds for rooftops and fences made of clay bricks. People were walking about the dirt paths, carrying items such as water jugs, nets full of fish, crates of fruit, and clothing. The village children ran about, laughing merrily as they playfully chased each other while the elderly folk engaged in small talk of the olden days.

"Liza? Liza~!"

In one particular house, a young woman of at least 19 years of age was seen sitting in a room in front of an easel. Her right eye was blue and her left eye was yellow, and she had dark red hair that seemed to be shaved off on the left side of her head. Her attire consisted of a white sarong with a chartreuse orchid pattern, as well as a grass skirt with decorative feathers, and a pink shirt with one shoulder strap showing underneath the sarong. She had a deep look of contemplation on her face as she stared at her empty canvas, holding a paint palette and brush.

Surrounding her were all these oil paintings of some sort of bird with orange, red, and yellow feathers, all of them hanging from the walls. If one didn't know better...it almost seemed as if the bird was on fire.

"Liza!"

The woman sighed as she put down her tools, then turned to the doorway to face an elderly woman with long gray hair that drooped over her eyes. She had this sweet, endearing smile on her wrinkly face and she was a bit hunched over, using a cane to walk, and her entire consisted of a dark purple muumuu with a black flowery design on the sleeves.

"Yes, Granny Lulu?" asked Liza.

"Liza, please go get Ruka," said Lulu. "He was supposed to do his chores first thing this morning."

"Ugh..." Liza groaned as she put on a pair of sandals, then began to march out the doorway and head up a flight of stairs. "He's probably doing his little 'watch duty' game again. Little turd..."

"Liza!" Lulu scolded. "Don't you say that about your little brother!"

"I know, I know," said Liza as she walked up the stairs...well, more like stomped...REAL loudly until she reached a door on the ceiling, which she banged her fist against, very hard. "Hey, twerp! Get down here and do your chores like Granny asked you to!"

"Go away, Liza! I'm on watch duty!" a voice barked.

"No, you're not!" Liza shouted. "Stop trying to act like a man and get down here!"

Inside the attic of the house, filled with old boxes and whatnot, there sits a boy of at least 10 years old, wearing a red and blue pareo and a lime green shirt with a puka shell necklace with brown hair, green eyes, tanned skin, and a stitched-up scar on his forehead sits on his knees as he stared out a window, looking out to the sea with a spyglass. He had this determined expression as he focused the lens of the scope while ignoring Liza as she continued to bang on the door.

"Dammit, Ruka, I'm not kidding around! Get out here!" she shouted.

"Tsk..." the boy, Ruka, sucked his teeth as he kept looking through the spyglass. "She just doesn't understand..." At that moment, he seemed to spot something in the distance: a ship that looked like a lion...and on that was a Jolly Roger that was wearing a straw hat.

The boy gasped, dropping his spyglass in the process before he put on a bitter, hateful glare.

"Pirates...!" he hissed before he picked up a crudely made spear using bamboo for the shaft, a sharpened rock for the head, and red and green feathers tied to it. Then, he ran to the door, quickly threw it open, and headed down the stairs, pushing his way passed Liza as he did.

"What the-?!" Liza questioned as she saw Ruka rush outside. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?! You have chores!"

"No time for that!" Ruka shouted as he opened the door to the front yard. "Pirates are coming!"

Liza and Lulu both gasped before they glanced at each other, but then the former groaned as she began to follow the boy outside.

"Ruka, get your scrawny ass back here!" Liza yelled.

Ruka panted as he ran through the village, carrying his spear tightly in his hand.

"RUN!" he shouted. "EVERYONE, GET IN YOUR HOUSES! PIRATES ARE COMING TO THE ISLAND!"

"Huh?" a woman muttered as she looked up from her vegetable garden.

"Now what's Ruka up to?" asked a middle-aged man.

"RUN EVERYBODY! GET INSIDE!" Ruka shouted. "I'LL CHASE THEM OFF, DON'T WORRY!"

"Ugh...there he goes, talking about pirates invading the village," muttered an old man as he smoked his pipe. "I wish that whipper-snapper would find something else to do!"

"Oh, leave him be, Pop," said another woman that looked to be in her 30s. "Kids these days have to have something to do, am I right?"

"Hi, Ruka!" called a little girl. "Are you off playing warrior again?"

"W-what?!" Ruka questioned before he growled. "Shut up, Hanna! Can't you see I'm busy trying to protect the village?! Go play with your stupid dolls or something!" With that, he continued to run while Liza tried to keep up with him.

"RUKA, GET BACK HERE, DAMMIT!" Liza yelled.

XXX

THOMP! Luffy jumped off the figurehead and landed on the sandy shore of the island before he heaved his arms up in the air and let out a raucous laugh.

"Here we are!" he shouted. "Phoenix Ash Island!"

"Yay, we made it!" Aika cheered while the others simply disembarked via the gangplank.

"Does he always have to announce himself like that?" Usopp asked in annoyance.

"You know Luffy," said Zoro. "Always has to make a big entrance."

"Hmm-hmm..." Robin chuckled. "How fun."

"Okay, we made it," said Nami as she looked at the map. "This map looks pretty old, so there's no telling if things here have changed in the past few years."

"Oh, look!" Brook exclaimed as he pointed toward the western shoreline. "I spy a village!"

"Huh," Sanji muttered. "So there is civilization here."

"Where there's village, there's food, right?!" Luffy asked, drooling again. "Let's go and get some eats! Can't look for treasure on an empty stomach, right?!"

"Yeah, let's go eat!" Aika chirped.

"Now wait a minute!" Nami exclaimed. "Let's not be too hasty! We might startle the locals if we head straight in there!"

"What?!" Luffy questioned. "Aww, come on, Nami, I'm hungry!"

"You just ate like 15 minutes ago!" Sanji countered.

As the group argued, Blizzard seemed to spot something buried in the sand nearby. He glanced back at the others before he went to take a look at it and found that it was something black. The wolf-dog tilted his head, bemused before he began to dig away at the sand...but when he did, he stopped and gaped a bit...for what he found was a tattered black flag...bearing the mark of the former Whitebeard Pirates.

'The Whitebeard Pirates' Jolly Roger?!' he thought.

"Hold it, right there!"

The Straw Hats looked up to see Ruka, who panted as he glared up at them while tightly gripping his spear.

"Who's the kid?" asked Franky.

"And how come he's panting?" asked Chopper. "Did he run all the way here?"

"I am Ruka, the protector of this village!" Ruka declared before he pointed his spear at the Straw Hats. "Get back on your ship, you pirate scumbags, and turn around! You're not welcome here!"

"Hey, kid," said Zoro as he lightly pushed the spear away. "Didn't your parents teach you not to point sharp objects at strangers?"

Ruka's eyes went wide...but then he growled as he pointed the spear back at Zoro, this time at his face.

"I said leave!" the boy shouted. "Don't come back to this island, again!"

"...Okay," Zoro said, "you really need to get that stick outta my face, runt."

"Why don't you make me?" Ruka asked.

"Wait a minute," Aika said as she stepped forward. "Can we just talk about this- EEP!"

"Don't you come any closer!" Ruka spat as he pointed his spear at her.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled. "Don't you point that thing at my little sister! Who do you think you are?!"

"This is my last warning!" Ruka snapped. "Get off our island, NOW!"

"You know, kid," Zoro began as he stepped forward while drawing his swords, "if there's one thing I can't stand, it's pushiness...now put the spear down, or I'll be forced to put you in your place."

"Zoro, are you serious?!" Nami questioned.

"Come on, man, he's a kid!" Usopp cried. "Go easy on him!"

"You wanna fight, right, kid?" Zoro asked as he pointed Shuusui at him. "Well...I'm right here. Show me what you got."

A pause. Ruka tightly gripped his spear until his knuckles turned white while Zoro just calmly stood in front of him in quiet anticipation. Luffy, Sanji, Robin, Franky, and Blizzard remained stoic while Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Aika, and Kumi watched with worry. Then, Ruka growled as he prepared to charge at Zoro...only to grabbed by the back of his shirt.

"Hold it, stupid!" yelled Liza as she pulled him back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Hey! Let go of me, Liza!" Ruka shouted as he pointed at the Straw Hats. "I was just about to teach those pirates a lesson! They challenged me!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Sanji asked. "You came at us with a spear, first!"

"I was trying to get these pirates to leave!" Ruka shouted.

"Quiet!" Liza yelled as she bopped him on the head. "The fact of the matter is that you're way too young to be taking on pirates! You're lucky I stopped you or you'd be skewered by that guy's swords!" She then looked up at Zoro, who still had his swords drawn out. "Umm...you mind putting those away."

"Oh, right," Zoro said as he sheathed his blades. "Sorry."

"It's no problem," said Liza. "I'm Liza, by the way, and this is my younger brother, Ruka...also known as the big pain in my ass."

"Same to you..." Ruka muttered, which caused Liza to smack him again. "Ow!"

"And you guys are...wait..." Liza muttered before she got a closer look at the Straw Hats, particularly at Luffy, who backed up a bit out of awkwardness. "Hey...I've seen your face, before! You're Straw Hat Luffy, right?"

"Yep, that's me!" Luffy grinned. "Shishishi!"

"So that means you guys are the Straw Hat Pirates!" Liza exclaimed.

"I'm guessing you've seen us from the newspapers?" asked Nami.

"I guess we're gonna get ratted out, aren't we?" Usopp bemoaned.

"What are you kidding?" asked Liza. "Why would I do that?"

"Uh...because we're infamous pirates, wanted throughout the world?" Franky asked, confused.

"Maybe," Liza began, "but as far as I'm concerned, you guys haven't done anything outrageous like murder or pillaging or something, right?"

"No, miss," Aika said, which caused Liza to giggle as she kneeled to hers and Kumi's height level.

"And who are these two cuties?" she asked.

"This is Aika, my little sister," Luffy answered, "and the puppy is her dog, Kumi."

"Well, I'm sure you two definitely aren't dangerous," said Liza.

"Are you kidding me...?!" Ruka whispered in disbelief.

"So...since it's been established that we're welcomed here," Luffy said, "does that mean we can go to your village and eat?"

"Sure can," Liza answered.

"Score!" Luffy exclaimed. "Come on, you guys! Let's go!"

"But...but Liza-" Ruka stammered.

"Get going!" Liza ordered. "You got chores, mister!"

"But...but...urgh...!" Ruka groaned before he turned and headed back to the village, dragging his stick behind him, but then he turned and glared back at Liza. "You know something? Not every pirate is gonna be like your stupid hero! They're all the same! They don't come to help unless they want something in return!"

With that, he stormed off while Liza sighed in exasperation.

"What's his problem?" asked Usopp.

"Don't mind him," Liza said. "I'll explain later."

With that, the group headed toward the village, but Luffy stopped when he noticed that Blizzard wasn't following, causing him to glance back and see him staring at the sand.

"Blizzard!" Luffy called. "Come on, buddy! You'll get left behind!"

"I'm coming!" Blizzard answered before he glanced back down at the tattered Whitebeard Pirates flag, then after taking a moment, he picked it up and put it in his saddlebag before he began to trot after the others. As they left, though...they failed to notice a pair of red eyes glaring at them from behind the ferns...before they disappeared with a deep growl.

TO BE CONTINUED...

So, I think I'm doin' pretty good so far!

Review, please!