Tai: "You know? It's hard to write when you don't know if anyone's really reading. I'm aware and thankful for the fact you guys are reading, but I want to know your opinions on the chapters guys!"

?: "Oh, quit your bellyaching!"

Tai: "Your right, I can't be mean to the readers. It's just that this is the first story I've written on this site an…"

?2: "And your sad that no ones posted any reviews for it."

Tai: "Ya… Hey! Your supposed to be in this chapter!"

?2: " I came to do the disclaimer."

Tai: "Ok. Go for it man."

Disclaimer: Taiski does not own One Piece or its characters. They belong to Eiichiro Oda. Taiski does own the OCs he created.

One Piece: The Forest Man Arc.

Chapter 2: Meet Mr. and Mrs. Birch

The village was amazing! It was essentially a large wooden pier-like platform with a town on top. All of the buildings were made wooden planks. There were multiple holes in the "pier' to allow trees and other plants to grow throughout the village. There was only one thing within the village that wasn't made of wood. It was a ten foot stone statue of a man taking a fighting pose, his knees slightly bent, left arm folded at the elbow and hung beside his body, right arm straight out infant of him, standing at the . The details were no longer visible due to the elements he indubitably had to of dealt with. "Wow~! This place is awesome!" Luffy exclaimed. His enthusiasm was soon shared with Chopper and Usopp.

"How did they make this!?"

"I don't know?"

"Who cares? Its awesome!"

The 'merry bunch' was silenced by three swift kicks to the head, courtesy of Sanji. "Shut up you idiots! We came to get supplies, not site-see!" He scolded. "What the hell Sanji!?" Luffy screeched. "You Just go around kicking people in the head!" "I didn't kick you for no reason!" Sanji retorted. "All of you shut up!" Nami shouted. "We don't have time for this!" The boys, not being completely rock stupid, follow Nami and Robin through the village.

The villagers seemed weary of the visiting Straw hats, visibly looking like they would have to defend themselves at any moment. This became clear when, no matter where they went, none of the village shops would sell the crew anything. "What's with this place?" Chopper thought out loud. "Maybe they don't like pirates." Sanji said. "Perhaps a band of dangerous pirates live on this island." Robin suggested nonchalantly. This led to Nami and Usopp to shake in terror. "Why did you ha…" "Oi, mina, look over here." Luffy called as he pointed to a small single story house near the edge of the forest. "Do you think someone lives there?" He then proceeded to walk toward the house. "Luffy! You don't just… Oh never mind." Usopp said before following his captain with everyone else.

When Luffy stepped up to the front door, he loudly began to shout. "Oi~! Anyone home!? We wanna come in!?" Bonk! " What the hell is wrong with you, baka!?" Nami shouted. Luffy was about to receive more of a beating to his person, however, the door opened revealing an elderly man. He appeared to in his late forties, his short grey hair messily covered his head. He had a short and neatly trimmed beard, straight stature, and wise green eyes. He dressed simply, wearing a red vest over a white long-sleeved collared shirt and long khaki pants. He stared at the odd group standing at his front door, seemingly studying to see if they were of any threat. After a long and awkward silence, he spoke. "You young people denied the villages' hospitality?" "Um… Yes sir." Sanji replied politely. "Well, I can see why. But, I won't leave you out in the cold. Come in and make yourselves at home." His invitation caught the crew off guard, to say the least. Luffy, oblivious to the awkwardness, took the old man's offer, the others hesitantly following suite. Usopp asked, "Excuse me sir, but why…" "I'm not one to deny a group of travelers help when they need it." He answered before Usopp could finish. The house was a simple inside as out. The walls painted a light green that had already started to fade, the furniture was average, and the total number of rooms was eight. There was the kitchen, dining room, living room, two bathrooms a guest room, and two rooms that had their doors closed. "My wife is sleeping, so do keep that in mind." The old man told the Straw hats. Chopper walked up to the man and said, "Thank you, sir…" "Please, young man, call me Howard." Howard Interrupted. "Howard, dear, do we have guests?" A new voice asked. "Honey, please, you need your rest." "Howard!", Howard's wife exclaimed as she walked into the room, " I may be old, but I'm not helpless." "Of course Ella." He answered. The straw hats then introduced themselves to the nice married couple, excluding the fact about them being pirates, learning that Howard's wife, Ella, was blind. "Y'all are here 'cause the village wouldn't help ya, right?" She asked. "Yes ma'am." Nami replied. "We came to get supplies and let are log pose reset to the next island, but no one would help us." "Could you tell us why?" Sanji asked. Howard had a strange look of sadness flash in eyes before sighing and saying, "They are all afraid of the Forest Man."

Tai: "Well, that's the second chapter. I am, as of this post, writing chapter three in more detail, for I have the basic idea for all the chapters up to chapter twenty."

Howard: "You should probably get back to that."

?: "Yea."

Tai: "Way ahead of you."

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