sulongmirko: Thanks! Luffy respects his crew for sure.
Wishfull-star: Thank you!
IIRoxaII: I changed up Amazon Lily quite a bit as well, so the whole Marineford saga is different.
After a short time, Brook pulled a sheet of paper from his inner coat. A bounty poster! 33 million berries, "Humming Brook" of the Rumbar Pirates.
"Hey, that means everyone on the crew has a bounty!" Luffy cheered.
"Luffy-san, from this day forth I pledge to you my life and offer you my service! I hope not to be a burden to you all!" Luffy cheered that they finally had a musician! Usopp chuckled that the first spot he wanted filled since the beginning was the one to join last. Luffy told them he wanted ten members. One more would be joining!
"Ten is an awfully small crew," Brook said.
"Well, it's more cozy this way! I don't want a lot of people under me, cause then I won't get to spend time with them all! And a small crew is easier and cheaper. Shishishi!"
Chopper hugged his legs, saying he loved him. Luffy patted his head with a smile, and the others around smiling at his words, too. "Also, it would be harder to fulfill everyones' dreams if there were a lot of us, right?"
"True," Nami said. "Some of us are already on our way, though. Usopp and Zoro are getting stronger. Usopp even beat Perona, the ghost girl." Luffy scowled. He hadn't liked being possessed.
"You did look pretty stupid. But not as bad as Franky and moss head!" Franky yelled at him to shut his mouth.
Luffy started dancing. "Negative, negative!" Usopp asked if he had actually been possessed. Luffy nodded, and said he had done that.
"You're body sure is unique, is it not?" Brook said.
"You have no idea," Chopper laughed. "Though, being part of the crew, you'll be in the 'loop'." Brook looked forward to that. Luffy knew he'd accept him just fine. After all, he was a living skeleton. Luffy's condition will not be so scary. He had been in severe pain against Moria, and the fight didn't last long, but he didn't lose control once even through that pain. He fought with his own strength for once, even if it wasn't the best fight.
He felt his control was getting better, as long as he didn't have to deal with seastone.
He at least showed that his gears were helpful in a fight, even if they damaged his body. He felt it was mostly because he'd used both at the same time. Bad idea, it seemed.
Luffy slept on a mattress in the infirmary that night since Zoro was in there. He woke up early in the morning, and asked Luffy's name, his voice rough. Like he'd been screaming or shouting. He might have, with all of his wounds. "Zoro!" Luffy got him some water and hurried next to him.
Zoro smiled at him in a tired smile. "You look really good," he said in a happy voice. Luffy said all his injuries and pain had gone away. "That's good…" Zoro said, Luffy helped him sit up enough so he could drink the water. Luffy wasn't going to bring up whatever secret he was keeping from him. He must have a reason. Luffy wished he knew, but would never push.
"You got really beat up."
"Yeah," was all Zoro said. Then he started to fall asleep again, and Luffy let him down, pulling the blanket over him and setting a half full glass of water next to the infirmary bed. He woke up, that was great! Chopper said he wouldn't fully recover for at least a month and had to take it easier.
Zoro wasn't going to be happy with that news at all.
The next day, he was irritated with the recovery period, but didn't seem surprised. "Should we take a break before going to Fishman Island?" Nami asked. Zoro vehemently said he would not cause the crew to take a recovery break. No way in hell. Luffy frowned, but understood how he felt.
Sanji said he wouldn't let moss head stop him from seeing the mermaids. Franky and Usopp left later to help Brook make a grave for all of his crew. They had many coffins with their bodies, and it was so sad. But at least the ship hadn't smelled like dead people. Brook wasn't sad to say goodbye to the ghost ship, no matter the good memories he had of it.
The majority of his time there had been miserable. So, after making a grave for their new member's old crew, Franky fixed the rudder and sails for the Rolling Pirates to be on their way. They sure helped them a lot, even if they were strangers.
Luffy spent the day with Zoro, who slept a lot from the pain medicine he hated having. It was clear he was hurting, though. But he was tough, and by the next day, the day they were leaving, he was able to walk around, if not slowly and carefully. Without crutches, though. Luffy wasn't to drink from him for at least a week, which wasn't that bad. He had more blood packs.
When they were leaving, they found out that the Rolling Pirates had been to Fishman Island, so they were telling Brook and Sanji all about it. They both had severe nosebleeds. "Why do their noses bleed?"
"They're horny," Nami said flatly with a sigh.
"Huh. Zoro shows it in a different way." Nami's face turned bright red, and she smacked Luffy. Robin laughed openly. None of the other guys said anything, but Chopper cluelessly explained the usual way a man usually showed arousal.
"Stop it!" Nami screeched and hurried inside. Zoro came out from a nap, and asked what they were shouting about. Robin said it was nothing, and Luffy had a surprise for Brook. "Hey, Brook! I got something for you!" Luffy said. Nami went to talk to Lola and say a goodbye while Luffy showed Brook what was in the corner of the galley.
"I brought the piano! It was hard to get through the door, though." Brook was touched, and thanked Luffy with a bow. "We're nakama, now! You don't gotta bow, just say thanks." Brook was very happy and nodded. Now he had a violin and a piano. Luffy was so happy to finally have a musician!
Sanji said it was no surprise, Luffy had wanted a musician from way back in the East Blue. "I'm touched, Luffy-san!" The captain beamed and nodded.
Nami came back with a vivre card, which was what Ace gave him no doubt. A paper that would lead them together no matter where they were. It was for Lola's mom in the New World, in case they ever needed help. Nami would keep it close. They were finally on their way out, then. Leaving the creepy island where they had another adventure, much different than the last. And Luffy had a new and inconvenient power. And knew what his limits were with his gears.
"Bye, everybody!" the Straw Hats called, waving goodbye and giving their thanks and telling them to be careful. They had no real destination set, just out of the Florian Triangle, finally. Once the Thousand Sunny was sailing off and following the log pose to Fishman Island, finally, they all sat on deck, and explained to Brook about what Luffy was and his symptoms. Brook's expression was hard to read, of course.
He was impossible to interpret for Luffy, as he had no heart to speed up when lying, though he didn't seem like the kind of guy to just lie. "Wow! And these stones were in the ocean, too?! That's so strange! Does blood actually taste good? It sounds disgusting, yohoho~"
Luffy nodded, but they didn't know what the stones were exactly, or if they really caused people around them to turn into what Luffy was. They didn't know if there were any on land, since Luffy had not been born around one at all, as far as he knew. And he said blood did taste good, but he drank it mostly out of necessity.
"And Zoro-san is okay with that?"
"Moss head likes how it feels, like a pervert." Nami told him he wasn't one to call anyone a pervert. He was an absolute pervert. Not Zoro, even if he did grab Luffy's butt in passing. Luffy giggled, and Zoro looked unbothered. In private he did much more than grab his butt. All the hickeys and bite marks all over Luffy's body faded when they left the private area they were in, Zoro not wanting people to see them.
Brook said he wasn't bothered by the blood drinking. "Though the reaction to seastone is quite odd. Any other devil fruit user should be weakened, not strengthened." They all agreed. But Nami proudly said Luffy hadn't lost control on Thriller Bark at all. Luffy nodded and smiled, proud of himself, too.
"I fought with my own strength. Though the fight was kind of lame and Moria just stood there for most of it," Luffy commented. He looked down at his arm and sighed. He didn't like this power. Franky said he should try training himself with it. "Where? I would be uncomfortable doing it on the ship." He could do it on the roof of the bathhouse and shoot it outwards behind them. "Well, I would have to or I'd blow my arm up, right?"
"Very true. We don't want that to ever happen again," Chopper said. "I am glad the injury faded, but I would have liked to check it out and see what the problem actually was. If it was broken bone or nerve damage. It's more likely it was nerve damage and not broken bones since you could still move it."
"If it was nerve damage, would he be able to use it?"
"Well, there's a very rare disorder called CRPS. An injury causes nerve damage that can inflame pain terribly. But you have to be predisposed to it, and I don't think Luffy is, or he'd have gotten it long ago with all the injuries he's sustained," the doctor explained. "There's no real cure or treatment for it, so it's good that it likely won't happen to any of us. It really is rare."
Nami said it sounded terrible. "It is. There are worse injuries, but CRPS usually spreads to other parts of the body and stays with you for life."
"Yikes," Franky said. "I'm super with metal bones!" Luffy was unworried.
"Still, you should practice it," Robin added. Luffy said he would. They then changed the subject. Nami asked if Luffy was sure about the vivre card. Luffy looked up at the sky. He trusted Ace. He didn't like it right now, but he was sure Ace would overcome any enemy he was facing. Brook said he didn't mind altering the course, with everyone agreeing.
"Thanks, guys. But I think he'll be okay. The card still has a lot to go, right? So he has more than enough time to turn whatever happened around! There's no way he'd be beaten by that fat jerk Blackbeard," he said firmly, believing this fully. Zoro did say Blackbeard had been a member of the Whitebeards. "He was Ace's underling, though, remember?"
"That's true, I forgot about that!" Nami said. "Well, Ace was chosen to be a commander by Whitebeard. You're right. He should be okay." The others came around and believed the same.
"Besides, when he gets better you'll know it and then we can meet him in the New World once his mission is over. If that's even why he seems to be in trouble. He could just have been eaten by a sea king or something like that," Sanji said, bringing out drinks for them all.
"Now, onto Fishman Island!" Luffy cheered. "And a toast to celebrate Brook's joining us!" he added, thrusting his fists up in the air. They toasted to his presence, nobody wanting him gone anymore. See, they got used to him quickly! Zoro looked at his boyfriend fondly. Luffy couldn't hug him roughly with his wounds still so sensitive, but they could hold hands and kiss. Zoro was also sleeping on a separate mattress for now so there wasn't extra pressure on him at night. But the mattress was next to their usual bunk, and Luffy easily had his hand stretched to his all night long.
They would be in the fog for at least three more days by Nami's prediction, and Luffy's senses were still dulled outside due to the stupid fog. So he stayed inside most of it. He liked listening to Brook's music a lot, which he could hear anywhere he was on the ship. It was really nice to finally hear music there. It felt like the ship had become… more colorful.
When he said that, the others agreed with that analogy, even if it didn't make sense much. However, they did get annoyed when Brook woke them early with the music. Well, Sanji didn't care, as he was already awake and cooking breakfast way before everyone else woke up. Now with seven boys, there were four more empty bunks. Just in case. Maybe they'd have guests or something.
The girls room only had one more bed, though. So if the final person to join was a girl, she'd have a bed. They had room for more, and Luffy wondered who the tenth member would be.
Luffy approached Brook and sat on the railing next to him on his second day there. "I'm sorry about your old crew. That pretty song must be hard to listen to."
"Why do you say that, Luffy-san?" Brook wondered curiously.
"The others couldn't hear it cause it was so faint, but I could hear bodies falling." Brook looked back out to sea, and said that was indeed how many died. In the middle of the song. But he made sure to finish it, even if he was the only one left in the end. "How long did it take for you to not be so sad about them anymore? You speak of them with fondness now and not pain."
"It took years. Sometimes when I slept, I'd wake up and see them only for them to fade when I woke up fully. But I am not there anymore, and they're resting peacefully. I no longer need to carry their remains around in the same place as I am. Knowing their bodies, bones only or not, were always there was a humbling feeling. It made me appreciate I was alive, even if I was all alone. But I'm no longer alone."
Luffy grinned. "I won't let anything happen to my nakama. I don't know what happened to Zoro, though. Or what happened after I passed out. But everyone is alive, and Zoro's gonna heal, even if it takes a while."
"I like your optimism. I will try to be optimistic, as well!" Brook vowed. "May I ask a question?" Luffy nodded. "Does it bother you? Being how you are? With unpredictability and the ever present knowledge of knowing going without blood will be a miserable end?"
Looking at the foggy sky, Luffy said, "I have people who will help me, and who accept me even with it. With the danger of being around me when I'm with seastone, the worry now about anything new coming up, I know my friends have my back, just like my brother did and still does. As long as I'm not all alone, I'll be okay," Luffy said brightly. "I know they'll take care of me like I protect them."
Brook said this was a very happy ship, and he enjoyed being there already. "Good! We like you being here, too. I think they finally realize how pirates should have music, too." Brook agreed with that statement brightly.
When Luffy's arm glowed again on the second day, he hurried out onto deck and onto the roof of the bath house, Franky was behind him in case he was thrown back from the force like he'd been before. He aimed his hands out and made a motion to quickly widen his fingers, like he was about to catch something with both hands.
It shot a shock wave out of his hands that did indeed throw him back into Franky, who caught him but ended up falling on his back. "Holy shit that's powerful," Franky said, Luffy standing up. "Does it hurt?"
"Only before. It feels fine afterwards. Though it's annoying how it throws me back. It would be useless and dangerous if I was thrown into the ocean or something," Luffy said in slight annoyance. "That blood stone still irritates me. It stabbed me and left this problem."
Franky mused that it could be quite useful later. Luffy had an idea not related to it much. "Hey, do you think you could make me a backpack or something with a tube of blood to drink from on the go?"
The cyborg said he would super do it and make it impossible to break. "Yay, thank you!" Luffy hurried inside to the log book that Robin suggested he leave the times that it came to try and find a pattern. Maybe a recurring time, or a recurring situation that caused it. He found Zoro in the hall on his way, and Luffy was pinned to the wall with both hands.
Zoro leaned forward and ravished his mouth, thrusting his tongue into Luffy's mouth, who kissed back. Zoro pulled back, and touched Luffy's swollen lips in satisfaction. Then he walked away, leaving Luffy with raised eyebrows. That was kind of odd. Not that he didn't enjoy it. He made a happy shrug and went to record the incident.
It came up again five hours later during dinner. He huffed a bit, and had to leave the table. Franky went to be his stabilization again without word or complaint. It went the same as the last time, throwing him into Franky's spread arms. "Thanks, Franky."
"Yow! You could damage the ship if I didn't catch you," he said casually. That was true. Franky sure was dedicated to his position on the crew. They went back to eating, nobody asking about it and resuming their conversation about leaving the Florian Triangle the next day. Nothing scary had happened after Thriller Bark, they ran only into strange weather.
Thriller Bark might be the sole reason for ships to come out of the Florian Triangle empty and damaged. Nami said they should also be nearing the Red Line. The other side of the world. It took six months to get this far from the beginning of the Grand Line. Nine members after Luffy set out for an accepting crew to join him on the quest to find the ultimate treasure, and become the Pirate King. He was so excited to face that wall again. Face it and get to the halfway point, the entrance to the most dangerous sea in the world. Even more than the first half.
It was nice that nobody was terrified. They didn't take Moria's words too seriously, but they knew they should expect difficulty that would force them to be stronger. The monster trio, as Nami referred to them (despite there actually being three monsters on the crew), were the most excited to face new dangers.
Thinking about this, the day they were to leave the purple and annoying fog, Luffy was outside on the roof of the bathhouse, doing what Robin suggested, and meditating. He didn't meditate, he just thought about what he wanted out of this training. He'd never trained like this. Zoro was there, since he couldn't train with his huge weights yet. He was quickly becoming furious with his body.
But, despite his anger and irritation, he was healing faster than expected. Everyone was happy about that, even if it wasn't enough for the stronger swordsman. Everyone, including Brook, knew Zoro was a more powerful swordsman than Brook. After all, he was going to be the strongest swordsman in the world.
Luffy thought about the wish for the arms to glow, and give him that annoying but promising ability. He started to sweat as he forced it out, and felt the pain in his arms. He stood up and blasted it, only it was much weaker, and made him absolutely exhausted, falling onto his back and breathing heavily, as if he'd just sprinted a whole day.
Zoro hurried over and asked if he was okay. "So tired. Forcing it seems like a bad idea," Luffy said sluggishly. Then he fell asleep and started snoring. Zoro carried him to the bed and he slept for over an hour. When he woke up, he needed some blood, and drank a blood bag. He still had over 20 left. He needed to ration better.
When he was young he only drank blood when he needed to. It kind of seemed Luffy started craving or wanting it more since he began his journey. Well, after he started drinking from Zoro. it had become a regular thing in the beginning, both doing it cause it felt good to them in different ways. But now they didn't do that much, so maybe he craved it more because of that. And he noticed something alarming with this: he needed full blood bags to heal over mostly minor damages. When had that changed?
Who knows?