Time for the next Chapter! 14

Hello everyone! I do not own The Legendary One Piece

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One Piece? 'You say' What one piece are you talking of? You know I've always wondered why the legendary treasure was called The One Piece. Has it been made as one piece, or can it only ever be one piece, or is it just all in one place? The title itself is very confusing, and intriguing.

Well!...

I own the book that contains info on the One Ring.

I own the Movie that focuses on the One Last Cursed Golden Coin of Pirates of the Caribbean .

I own the One and only awesome Star Wars the Return of the Jedi Poster.

I own the One Old Brick-like Laptop that can use internet anywhere.

I own my One and Only biggest collection of 87 Star wars Books, Expanded Universe, every to be seen in one place.

But weirdly enough, I do not own any One Piece items so far. Once I get a good enough Job I will be able to buy some Manga and Anime, but for now the Library is my best friend. :D

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Tashigi's Heart: Wreckage at Whiskey Peak

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My life have been very unusual lately. I have done things that I would never have expected myself to do, seen things that I thought were purely fictional, eaten things that looked revolting, (but turned out to be quite tasty), and met people who were just plain weird. Yes, my life would never be the same. This is a good start to any adventures that I might soon have. Life was preparing me for the unexpected.

It had taken us longer to get to this 'Whiskey Peak' place, than Hachi had originally thought it would. The weather had been quite reasonable for the Grand Line. I had heard that it was dangerous, and unpredictable, but so far it had seemed to me to feel more like a holiday cruise with an unusual acquaintance, be it in only a very small boat. Of course this boat, if it was merely relying on size and wind alone would probably not have gotten very far at all. Especially when you take into consideration the amount of pure days of sun and no wind, but this boat has a secret, something that guided its path and chose the best routes by pure instinct.

Hachi apparently had a pet. Not just any pet, but a sea - Cow like pet! And Hachi had somehow managed to tie him down, and get him to love his owner. I'm not sure how He did it, but it's incredible. To be towed into the Grand Line at top speed by one of the seas most monstrously massive creatures was an honour that I had not expected to befall me.

The weather became darker and more ominous the closer we got to 'Whiskey Peak'. The waves were fiercer and white tipped, crashing over each other as if fighting for space on the sea, and the deep black clouds threatened to bring a heavy downpour on us.

Once we were within a good distance of the shore, Hachi released the sea monster, dove into the water and pulled us the rest of the way in. The island loomed up before me in the darkness, I could just make out the hills in the distance. Hummm, it doesn't look like any of the hills back home. What is this place? The hills looked as if they had been frozen while leaping out of the earth in a bubbling frenzy, and were now covered from top to bottom in spikes of some sort.They should have called this Cactus Island.

I was relieved to be able to land on the island. I stepped out of the boat cautiously, testing my well rested legs on firm ground again. I was glad my body had healed up so well, but I would definitely need some new clothes. My diving gear was really uncomfortable, but it wasn't as if I had anything else to wear. What I was most thankful for was the hooks that had been stuck in my body had crumbled away and fallen off. I'm glad the fishman had been the one to find me, if it had been anyone else I might have been put in danger by being offered bad advice.

"Where will your friend be?" I asked Hachi.

"Waiting around the other side. Perhaps? He might be swimming in the Opani Cove. I will go over there and check." He tied down our boat, (float able, large wooden cup more like) and turned back to me. "Bye! Have a good Journey back to your Smoky boat!"

"It's not called SMOKY BOAT!... It's called Smoker Marine..." Oh my Gosh! That was a terrible name for a ship. I can't believe it, but when you say it out loud like this it really does sound bad. Captain Smoker you need to change that Ship's name.

"Hehe! Well it is very good to meet you, and you're a fun human!" He stretched out his arms in a gesture of open friendship. I couldn't help but smile at his kindness, and his honesty. "You're the first human who hasn't tried to kill me!" He giggled after that comment as if he had said something that was quite funny. Had he never met a human who actually showed him kindness? It almost brought tears to my eyes.

"Well, Goodbye Hachi. I hope I get to meet you again someday." I reached out my hand for a goodbye hand shake only to be crushed into his hug by all six arms. "Ooff!" That knocked out the wind from me.

"Oh?!" I asked, once he had let me go. "Where would be the best place to go for making contacts overseas? Or does this island have a post system?"

"It has both," he said and pointed back behind him, "if you ask the Bounty Hunters' Leader he will be able to help you make a call to your smoky Captain, on one of his transponder snails."

Bounty Hunters!? So this wasn't a Marine base Island then? How uncivilized! "What do these bounty hunters specialize in? Catching wayward pirates?"

"Yep!" He turned and pointed at the odd shaped hills, "You see them hills?"

"Yes, I see them." Sometimes my long range vision was better than my short.

"The hills are spiky with the graves of all the dead pirates that come though here, and been killed by the Hunters." He grinned at me. "You like that? Hu?"

I couldn't say that I liked it. Had there really been that many people to have wasted their lives away in becoming pirates? It was simply horrible to think about. What an absolute waste. There are so many!

"Well, Goodbye and good sailing on the Smoky Ship!" Hachi waved goodbye and dove into the dark waves and started swimming around to the other side.

With Shigure attached firmly around my waist and balance against my hip, I started to make my way to the town. I felt extremely heavy, and my steps were laboured as I walked on my well rested sea legs trying very hard to be remotely useful again. If I was able to find a way off this graveyard and get this done within the next couple of days it wouldn't be soon enough for me.

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A feeling of foreboding came upon me as I wondered through the town. It was too quiet, no sound of a living creature or person anywhere. Maybe they're on the other side of the cactus ridges. I turned down a couple more streets into what looked like a pub. There were glasses about everywhere as if the occupants had been having a smashing good party, but there was no sign of any person asleep or awake. I left that pub and took another route, hoping beyond hope that I would be able to find someone. It was just too creepy walking around a ghost town by yourself.

"Hello!" I called out. "Is anybody in this town!" Damn it! I wonder if they are hiding from me deliberately. Some of the buildings in this area had fallen to pieces, and rubble was littering the pathway. Scorch marks and cuts could be seen everywhere. What on earth happened here?

I heard a clang and a bash, and a child walked out from underneath what looked like a collapsed door.

"Oi?" he questioned, "Why are you here?" Why are you here more likely?

"I'm came into town to try and contact the marines, but I couldn't find anyone." What was a child like him doing on a bounty hunter Island like this one? "Do you know where I could find one?" The dirty child pulled off his rucksack and yanked up a very beaten down Snail transponder.

"Here." he held out a very withered and shriveled up looking snail. "I got it from the top office. No one is there now though."

"W … Why is that?"

"Because they're all dead." He said it so matter-of-factly. I found it hard to believe. How could he behave so coldly. He dropped the snail into my hands and picked up what looked like a pastry of some kind and started to nibble away at it. "I got knocked out so I wasn't noticed."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." what a horrible thing to happen. This poor child...

"What you wish I had remained conscious and died with the rest of them?"

"NO! That wasn't what I meant." I quickly added, "I meant to be concerned for your entire family. I'm so sorry if I offended you."

He huffed, and turned his attention back to his food.

"Was it a large pirate group? That did this to you?"

His face clouded over and a look of hatred brooded in his eyes. "No, just one guy. I only saw one guy who everyone was fighting with."

What that was impossible! Wasn't this a bounty hunter infested island? How could one man kill so many? "I find that hard to believe." I started, That seems... impossible for one man to do alone,,,, unless he was immortal or one of the living dead. Was this kid crazy? One man come on?

"I know what I saw!" He glared at me. His eyes were filled with fear and absolute certainty. "I have no idea how he did it, but I've decided to practice as hard as I can every day with a real sword, so that one day I'll be as good as he was." His eyes glazed over as he relived his memories. "I have never seen anyone move so fast in a fight before." He stared up into the sky. "It was amazing."

"Who was this man?"

"He was worth a good bounty and we were trying to capture him, like we had the other crew members, but he was too fast." Okay then... maybe this kid isn't very innocent... "He was really interesting he used three swords instead of one or two." He stuffed his mouth again and stopped talking.

Three sword style... did that mean Zoro was responsible for this? He was the only man I knew who was mad enough to use three swords at once. "How many of your people died?"

"There are ... were ... about 100ish ... of us I think?" He turned his food around in his hands, "I took most of them up to the peaks to stop the crows from pecking out their eyes here in town. It isn't good to have rotting flesh so close to where you eat." He seemed so unbothered about this? How could that be? Death was a terrible thing.

Did Zoro really kill over one hundred men? What sort of demon are you!?