Chapter 2: East Blue Arc 'Talks and Shells'

I realized that I made a mistake last chapter when Luffy said: "It's just the two of us." I meant to put "It's just the four of us." Because I forgot that I was introducing two characters this chapter. I fixed my mistake. I also added some more descriptions.

Published: 11/14/2016

Updated: 3/12/2017

"Hey, Luffy"

"Yeah?"

"You said there are four people in your cr-" Coby was interrupted by a strange sight; a large shadow was becoming more apparent like a large marine creature was surfacing. As the shadow grew larger and more serpentine, the water started to bulge up. Starting with a gray three-pronged armored dorsal fin, blue scales followed before the head finally surfaced. A three-pronged dark blue head crest with two glowing red eyes, from the sides of the head, were three fringe extensions, behind the fringes was a set of fins that flared for even more intimidation, a pair of whiskers extended from the back of the jaw. A yellowish mouth stuffed full of sharp teeth with four extra long fangs, a yellowish belly, and spots along sides, along the spine, were more of the armored dorsal fins. The body was a little wider that the boat and thrice as long; it was quite frightening.

"EEEYAAAA!" Eyes bulging out of his head, jaw open wide with his tongue waving out; his hands were on his head gripping his hair Coby went past scared and straight into terrified territory. Noticing splashes from behind him, he slowly turned his head with a horrified gaze; saw an even bigger creature of the same type. "…" fear so great that his scream was silent he turn his fear filled eyes to Luffy and Akitsu, "Hopefully they have a plan." Only to see Luffy laying down on Akitsu's lap his signature straw hat over his face while Akitsu was slowly stroking his hair, the perfect picture of relaxation and calm. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!?" Sharp teeth erupted from Coby's jaw, hands in front of his face curled into claws "There are two sea kings here and you're just laying there like there isn't something wrong!"

"You asked about my other two crewmates."

"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING!?"

"Meet Leviathan and Ashley, my other two crewmates."

"…"

"I also have them pull this boat with those iron bars and rope that are piled up on the bow."

"…"

"Ah…he broke."

Lifting his hat to look at Coby from under the brim Luffy grinned "Shishishi, I sure pick up an interesting one."

"…"

"I hope he recovers soon we need him to navigate."

"…"

*sigh* creak, tap, tap, slap, slap, slap; finally getting tired of the silence Luffy got up from his comfortable spot, missing the very slight pout on Akitsu's lips, to slap Coby a couple of times shocking him of his daze.

"I just had the weirdest thing happen to me, I just got news that you had two sea kings as pe-ouch."

Interrupting his sentence with a karate chop to the head Luffy said "They're not pets they are my precious nakama and valuable members of my crew. I will not let you insult them by saying that they are pets. Now, which way is it to Shells Town?"

"We are heading the correct direction now it should only take us 2 days to get there…what are you doing?" Seeing Luffy grab the iron rods tied to the rope he threw one to each of the sea kings, they caught the rods in their mouth then took off swimming jerking the boat and causing Coby to fall onto his butt.

"With them pulling we should get there earlier right?"

"Might as well as accept this insanity, it'll have less stress on my poor brain." "Yes, we should. So which one is which?"

"The one to port is Ashley, the starboard one is Leviathan."

So as to not incur their wrath by calling them the wrong name, Coby took a closer look at differences between the two. Leviathan had bigger head fins, head crest, and whiskers; while Ashley had a bigger body.

"Hey Coby, want to eat?"

"Oh, yes I do thanks."

They began to dig into the meal of apples, beef jerky, wheat bread, and some cheese. Coby watched Luffy eating quite vigorously, gobbling down large mouthfuls at a time a few bits of food escaping here and there sticking to wherever they landed whether it be his shirt, pants, or the ground around him. Akitsu, in great contrast, ate in a slower, more methodical, more graceful pace, tearing off little bite sized pieces before putting it into her mouth then chewing it completely before swallowing as to savor each bite to the fullest. Coby ate in his normal way quickly but quietly so as to not draw attention to himself, a habit he picked up on while on the Beautiful Swan.

A peaceful silence permeated the air as dinner was finished; they just sat there listening to the calming noise of the ocean. Coby noticed that Akitsu cuddled up into the Luffy's side, her shoulder under his armpit, his arm falling down to wrap around her waist, while her head rested against his clavicle, eyes closed. "How long have you two been together?"

"We've known each other for about eight and a half years; it wasn't until 2 months ago that we became a couple."

"How did you meet?"

The peaceful atmosphere suddenly became awkward and tense. Akitsu's eyes opened up and stared at Coby with her usual half lidded eyes but they had a glint of an unreadable emotion in them. Luffy's face was tipped down shadows covering his face, ever present grin fading from his face. The sudden change stunned Coby making him feel awkward for asking. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Silence permeated the air, not the peaceful one from before, but a crushing silence. After a while of watching the sun set. To break the awkward atmosphere Coby broke the silence "I'll take first watch you two can go to bed if you want."

Like a switch was flipped Luffy turned back to his usual joyful self with a giant grin he replied: "Thanks, Coby that would be awesome, wake one of us up after a few hours or if something happens; don't let the sea monsters get ya." Separating from each other and standing up and walking into the cabin and closed the door. "I wonder what that was about."

After a few hours, enough time passed that the sun had set, the stars came out to decorate the sky in their splendor, and the crescent moon made half of its arduous journey through the night sky, it was then that Coby decided that it was time to change watches. Opening the door he peeked in and saw that on the bottom of one of the 2 bunk beds both Luffy and Akitsu lay. Under the blankets, Akitsu was cuddled into Luffy's side so closely that it looked as though she was trying to fuse into his body. Calling his name Luffy woke up and looked at Coby. "Time to change?"

"Yep."

"Ok."

As if she wasn't asleep Akitsu without any prodding untangled herself from Luffy and the blanket. Both of them put on their shoes and walked past Coby out into the night. "Have a good night sleep Coby."

"Luffy do you know how to use a compass?"

"Yes."

"Ok then, keep going northwest."

"Gotcha."

The mid-morning light shined through the window coming down at just the right angle to hit Coby in the face. Scrunching up his face in displeasure, he tried to sleep some more, before realizing it was morning. Adrenaline surged through his veins, fear invaded his mind, horror at the future punishment to be dealt to him popped into his head. "Oh no! I'm late getting up Lady Alvida is going to kill me!" Jumping out of bed Coby quickly put on his shoes and rushed out to beg for forgiveness from Lady Alvida only to stop after opening the door to stare out at the unfamiliar sight before him. Instead of a horrendously decorated ship, he saw a plain small fishing boat, instead of a large crew of men and a large, ugly, and angry Lady Alvida he saw a young beautiful woman and an older teen, sitting on the ship. Then suddenly his mind booted up and accessed his memory banks and yesterday's event played through his mind. Relief of the highest order flooded his body his knees gave out and he fell against the side of the cabin.

"Good morning Coby. You seemed tired so I let you sleep in." Turning to look at Coby Luffy noticed the state he was in. Frowning he asked "What's the matter? It looks like you've seen something frightening."

"For a moment I thought I was back on the Beautiful swan-"

"The what?"

"Lady Alvida's ship-"

"That's a horrible name for a pirate ship, I am truly sorry that you had to experience that traveling monstrosity, no man should ever have to."

"Thank you, the whole crew thought so too. Anyways I thought I was back on the Beautiful swan-"

"Blagh"

"Will you stop interrupting me!?" Shark teeth sprouted from his mouth to show just how angry he was.

"Shishishi, you've recovered."

"I thought I was back on the Beautiful Swan," Sending a glare at Luffy daring him to interrupt again "I was the chore boy there and I had to be up right before dawn to start my chores, and anyone who didn't do what they were expected to do got punished. So when the sunlight came through the window I thought I was late to start.

A look of understanding came across Luffy's face, sending a kind grin at Coby he said "I understand two years of conditioning and habits are hard to break. At least now you're not under the thing anymore you're free to make your own choices, sleep in if you want, get up as early as you like."

"Yeah, thanks to you Luffy. Though I think I am still going to keep my habit of getting up early, it'll be useful when I join the marines." A pause "What's 'the thing'?"

"Alvida, calling her a whale is an insult to whales."

"Pfft hahahahahaha. Yes, I can understand that."

"That's right there's a marine base at Shells Town, if I remember correctly, we can drop you off there."

"Yes, also now that I think of it I think that I overheard Alvida celebrating that Zoro was imprisoned there. I will continue to say that you shouldn't recruit Zoro, not only is he a pirate hunter he's been imprisoned by the marines so he isn't a good man."

"Well I'll be the judge of that; he mustn't be that strong if he got caught by the marines."

"No he's strong, Alvida was scared of hi. Evil just can't stand up to the power of Justice, and so Zoro must've done something bad to get targeted by the marines."

"Oh, you're an idealist. Just remember this Coby the world isn't just black and white, good and evil, light and dark, it is shades of gray with actions that range between the spectrum of good or bad."

"What are you talking about the marines are the peacekeepers of the world, they wouldn't just imprison anyone, there must be a reason."

"Marines and pirates fight correct?"

"Yes."

"Marines are the good guys."

Wondering where Luffy was going with this Coby replied: "Yes, and since marines are fighting pirates they are the bad guys."

"So am I a bad guy, even though I'm a pirate."

"No! You're not a bad guy; you're the exception rather than the rule."

"I see, you're going to need to shed your black and white views of the world if you're gonna become a marine. Just take what I just said into consideration. Anyways you must be hungry grab some grub."

"Ok" "Luffy has to be crazy, the marines can't be evil, but I did always think pirates are evil and Luffy isn't."Shaking his head he thought "No no no, he must be wrong, the people I've always looked up to can't be bad otherwise why does everyone go to the marines for their problems." He just decided that Luffy was wrong and dug into his breakfast.

As the sun started on its downward trip Luffy spied an island in the distance to the north. "LAND HO!" he shouted with raised hands.

Yelling in her soft monotone voice (it sounded more like someone was talking normally) Akitsu copied. "Ah…Land ho"

"Damn it Luffy did you have to yell at the top of your lungs?"

"Yes I did, I always wanted to say that. Shishishi."

"Of course do you see any towns along the coast?"

"Nope. I see nothing."

"Well, could you tell Levi and Ash to start head that way?"

"Sure. Ash, Levi start heading towards the land!"

When the sun was low in the sky Luffy and company sailed into Shells Town's harbor. Docking up against the pier they tied their boat and stepped ashore, as soon as Luffy's foot touched the wood planks of the pier two people stepped up to Luffy. The first was a silver-haired man wearing an off-white coat, brown pants and shirt, and a tricorn hat, holding up a book full of names; the second was a small dark-skinned boy with a black scarf around his neck, a black hat with a white rim sat upon his head, off white loose coat and trouser, black shoes, and a white shirt. "Excuse me, sir, the docking fee here is 1,000 beri and I am going to need your name."

Reaching into his pocket Luffy grabbed three paper notes and set it on the pages of the book. "How about 3,000 beri and we forget about the name, also point me to a reliable and honest treasure dealer."

The silver haired man raised both his eyebrows in surprise, while the dark-skinned boy looked up at the man. "Welcome to Shells Town Mr. Smith, and for a good treasure dealer I would head down the main street for three crosses, turn left, go five more crosses turn right, and then it'll be the third shop on the left."

"Thank you."

Watching the harbor keep and his assistant walk away Luffy went back onto the boat and went and grabbed the large sack and the chest of treasure from Alvida's ship and started heading to the direction of the treasure dealer. Luffy in the lead Akitsu walking 3 steps behind and one step to the side, and Coby walking next to Luffy. "So what's a treasure dealer?"

"A treasure dealer is a general term for someone who buys valuables from people; they'll buy anything from anyone no questions asked. They're the favorite place for pirates and bounty hunters to sell their goods that they plundered."

Arriving at the front of the shop they saw the walls were painted yellow while the trim around the doors and windows was painted gray, two jewels were painted on either side of the door one being blue the other was red. The sign hanging from over the large bay window depicted a treasure chest and a stylized B that had a line with curled ends going through it. Coby being the nice boy he was pushed the door open ringing the bell that was in the way of the opening door. Walking through they saw that the store was sparsely stocked, a good quality set of table and chairs in the middle of the room, some books were on the shelves to the left, and some jewelry was being displayed in a glass case at the counter.

Coming out of the back room was a man he was tall, brown hair done up into a weird hairstyle, the shape of a beri sign, he wore a white shirt and black pants. "Hello valued customers; my name is Namikaze Ichigo, what we shall be doing today." Glancing at the chest under my arm, and the sack over my shoulder he smiled. "Ah, I see that you are going to be selling today if you bring your wares over to this counter I'll start appraising them."

Setting the chest and sack onto the counter and opening them, they showed their contents of jeweled necklaces, rings, other jewelry, a few good grade swords, some fine clothes, and a small statue made of bronze.

While Coby went to look at the books on the shelves and Akitsu and Luffy watched taking each piece of jewelry out of the chest he examined each one closely with a jeweler's eye before setting them out on a tray to his left. He then examined the weapons setting them on the counter in order, the clothes he folded up and stacked off to the side, and then he finally examined the statue before setting it down. After he examined each item he wrote notes onto a pad that he had in front of him; then after the statue was examined he wrote down more notes before calculating the price. "Sir, ma'am if you are going to be staying here for a while I can give you a percent of e per-"

Stopping Ichigo with a raised hand Luffy spoke: "We are not going to be in town long, so please tell us what you want for them."

"Alright sir, all the products are in excellent condition so I am willing to part with 2,000,000 beri for all of them."

Ignoring the shocked look and the strangled 'what' that came out of Coby's mouth Luffy countered with "2,750,000 beri"

"2,100,000"

"2,600,000"

"2,250,000"

"2,500,000"

"2,450,000"

"Deal." Shaking hands over the compromise Ichigo went to the back to grab the money.

Rushing over to Luffy Coby asked in a surprised voice. "You just made 245,000 beri that's about a year's salary."

"Oh really?"

"Are you not surprised?"

"Not really."

"…"

Coming out from the back holding a stack of bills Ichigo started to count the money back to Luffy. Ending with a "Thank you for coming."

"You're welcome."

After leaving the store they walked back to the ship Luffy carrying the treasure chest and empty sack under his right arm, Coby to his right and Akitsu in her usual spot of three steps behind and one step to the side. After they turned the corner Akitsu disappeared, unnoticed by Coby.

Nami was mad, which was an improvement from her previous livid emotion that she first was feeling when she discovered that her treasure just disappeared. She would've gone back but she heard cannon fire in the distance so she assumed that the Marines arrived which meant that any treasure on the ship was in the possession of the marines which is too much trouble. As she went back to the docks to see if there was someone to sell her navigational skills to when she saw something. She saw a familiar chest and sack being carried by a teen that was walking next to a boy with a woman trailing behind. "That's my treasure. I need that back."

She trailed them through the city and watched them through the window of the treasure shop as they exchanged the treasure. "That saves me some trouble, bills are easier to steal than gold." As they started away from the treasure shop and headed the way they came, when they turn the corner she thought she saw a blur rush back but put it off as her imagination. Then she felt something that sent chills up her spine. An ice cold blade was placed at her throat and another at her spleen, and a chill in the air. A cold monotone voice spoke up behind her "Why are you trailing us?"

Turning her head slightly so as to get a look at the face while not ticking her off, for the voice was definitely female thank goodness, she saw the woman that was following the treasure thief. Racking her brain for an excuse she decided to go with her original plan. "Well you looked like you were travelers and I was wondering if you needed my services. You see I'm a navigator in need of a job."

The chill suddenly disappeared, the blades retracted from their spots on her body. "Ah…yes"

The woman walked past Nami and then turned around cocking her head to the side "Ah…follow?"

"Oh, yes I'm coming." "Damn that woman is scary…what have I gotten myself into?"

"So what are we doing now Luffy?"

"We are going to go to go back to my ship for a meal and then we shall go to bed for the night."

"Why won't we stay in town?"

"Hotels are an unnecessary cost, why pay for a bed when we have four perfectly good ones?"

"Hotels are nicer and usually come with a free meal, and also we can also bathe"

"Really? I didn't know that. We are still not getting one, it's cheaper to just sleep on the ship and buy food, and also we can go to a public bath which is cheaper."

"But you have a good amount of money why not splurge some?"

"Because I need a bigger ship, you think I'm going to the Grand Line with this thing? No, I would sink as soon as I entered. Plus I am going to need a bigger crew."

"Oh…Where is Akitsu?"

"She went to handle a problem she'll be back soon."

Reaching Luffy's boat they both went on and grabbed some food. After waiting a moment Akitsu returns with a nervous teenage girl trailing behind her. The girl had orange hair and was in an orange skirt with two golden rings on the sides, a white shirt with a large blue stripe across the chest with a few thinner blue stripes around different parts of the shirt, and brown gladiator heeled sandals. As they reached the end of the dock Luffy had to ask "Who's this?"

"Ah…navigator."

"Really what a lucky break, we needed a good navigator. My name is Monkey D. Luffy and that is my companion Akitsu. So who are you, how good of a navigator are you, and how much is your hiring price?"

Puffing out her chest out in pride "My name is Nami, I can say without a doubt I am the best navigator in the East Blue, and my hiring price is 1,000,000 beri up front and a 60% share of the treasure."

"What, that's an outrageous price."

"Shut it little boy, your captain and I are discussing a deal."

"Why yo-ouch. Akitsu, why did you hit me?"

"Ah…Don't interrupt."

"Hmm, how about 300,000 beri up front and a 30% share."

"750,000 up front and 60% share."

Raising an eyebrow Luffy countered "500,000 up front and a 40% share, after we get a haul of 1,500,000 beri you'll get a 30% share."

"I'll accept the 500,000 up front but won't go any lower than a 50% share, sir captain." That last part was said in a voice oozing with sensuality, as she leaned forward she clasped her hand in front of her waist squishing her bust together and up, showing hints of what was hidden through the V of the shirt. Her eyes had a seductive gleam, she licked her lips slowly causing them the glisten in the evening light, and she batted her eyelashes at Luffy "I think that's a fair price isn't it?" To finish him she slowly walked towards Luffy with a sway in her hips, putting her right index finger demurely onto her pouting lower lip.

Needless to say that Coby had long since fallen unconscious from a nose bleed. "Nope, it is not a fair price, Akitsu remove her."

Suddenly the seductive act vanished like it was never there; shock was present in its entirety across her face and in her body language. "He didn't fall for that?" Feeling the cold hand on her right arm she racked her mind for a way out of this. "I don't know what she would do to me." "Wait! I was a little greedy. I'll take your last offer."

"Akitsu, stop. Ok deal."

Letting go of Nami's arm Akitsu walked over to Luffy and sat next wrapping her arms around his left arm pushing it into the valley of her breasts. Seeing no reaction Nami thought "That explains the lack of reaction."

"Ah…Thief."

A shiver of fear traveled down her spine at the proclamation.

"What do you mean Akitsu?"

"Ah…sailing away from the boat with treasure."

"You stole the treasure from her?" Getting a nod from the woman next to him he turned to Nami. "Sorry about that, she shouldn't have stolen your treasure but she likes to follow my orders to the letter; I'll add another 70,000 beri as compensation."

Relaxing with a sign she gave a small smile "That sounds good." "He's certainly nice; I definitely wouldn't have done that. I might get a good haul this time around." "Just out of curiosity how much did you get

"2,450,000 beri."

""What? All that treasure was worth at least 4,000,000 beri. Damn it you got ripped off, where did you go?"

"I went to a guy named Namikaze Ichigo."

"Really? Well that's odd Namikaze dealers are usually pretty honest, especially when you are dealing with the family members, they're my favorite place to go."

"Well sorry I didn't know how about I leave the dealing to you."

"Add another 5% and I'll do it."

"I'll just do it then and accept a lower price."

"I hate you so much, I'll do it."

"Shishishi. Do you have a place to stay or do you want to stay here."

"I'd rather sleep here than pay for a hotel or sleep on that pink monstrosity of a dinghy."

"I understand Alvida had horrible taste. Why don't you sell it?"

"Now that I have a real boat, I am."

"Well, we got some food here take what you want while I wake up Coby."

After the meal, everyone settled down into the beds. Luffy and Akitsu settled in their usual arrangement of Akitsu smooshing her body into Luffy's as much as she could on one of the bottom bunks, Coby taking the other bottom bunk, and Nami taking the bunk above Coby.

Well, that's the second chapter, I hope you all like it. I am looking for a beta reader, could someone contact me and instruct how to set that up. While listening to my Google translate read my story to me works on a grammatical side it doesn't really give me any ideas to improve my story.

Not much happened in this chapter action wise, we got some character development and some hints at the past. I also left a cameo and congrats on who recognizes what Leviathan and Ashley are.