Chapter 4: Enter Shanks, The Red-Haired Pirate
The cry of a passing seagull woke the slumbering teenager who was lounging on the deck of his small cedar Caravel.
"Captain! We see the shores of Gecko Islands!" One of his crew alerted Harry happily. They have been sailing for many days and everyone was looking forward to setting foot on dry land.
In a distance, not that far away, the Gecko Islands lay quietly, with two slope hills, a good sized forest and a hilly landmark. It seems to be quite a large island, with a major town and a small hamlet.
"Head for the dock nearest to the town. We will need to replenish our supplies at the port."
"Yes Captain!"
The salutation brought a smile to the teenager's face. It was nice being addressed as 'Captain', Harry mused.
The weather was bright and sunny, a perfect day to explore the new island. Upon landing at Eccles, the main and only town on Gecko Islands, Harry's crew went off to gather supplies and get a drink at one of the local bars. The young Captain, however, headed straight to the small marine outpost near the port. Checking out the noticeboard, he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Robin's Wanted Poster was still tagged on it. That means that nobody has found her and collected their bounty, and she isn't in the Marine's custody as well.
He wandered around the bustling town; admiring the clean stone buildings and a quaint little fountain in the town square. There was an impressive looking white four-storey building that housed the one of the best medical schools in East Blue. Giggling girls gathered around the entrance, and one of them were casting him coy smiles and fluttering her eyelashes rapidly. Harry shuddered at the unwanted attention and hurried away to the nearby building that happened to hosting a Weapon Shop. The bell on the wooden door tinkled as he opened it. A cheerful young voice greeted him.
"Welcome to Cherry's Weapon Shop!" Harry stifled a snort. First, the town was named after a cake (Eccles cakes originated from the small town of Eccles, just outside of Manchester in England), then a shop named after a fruit. What next, a village called 'maple syrup pancakes'?
He checked out the shop, noting the gleaming swords on display. Again, he wished that he had some mad sword fighting skills, that would be so cool, but unfortunately he haven't met any swordsman whom he could learn from. Looking into the glass display case that held all kinds of daggers, a particularly sharp one caught his eye.
"How much is that dagger?" Harry asked in a disinterested tone.
"Oh sir, that is one of our best daggers in the shop! It's forge welded from layers of valuable steel and durable nickel, providing both durability and resiliency. And this awesome dagger costs only 28,000 Beli, a good deal indeed!" The eager shopkeeper, a teenage girl with bouncy curly hair chirped out.
"Huh, that's too expensive. Guess I'll check out another shop…" The shrewd brunette slowly walked to the exit, faking his nonchalance.
"Wait! All right, 25,000 Beli, and that's the best offer I can make." The girl pouted and crossed her arms over a rather impressive chest. Too bad her feminine wiles were wasted on a boy who wasn't the least bit interested.
"I'm pretty sure I saw a similar one at a much cheaper price in the shop a few streets away. Hmm…"
"…Ok you win! I don't want the boss to get mad at me for losing a customer to his competitor, so fine, final offer – 20,000 Beli and not one Beli less Mister!"
Harry smirked and slapped the amount onto the counter. He collected his shiny new dagger and slipped it into his black boots. No harm having a back up weapon in case his steel staff goes missing during a fight. Satisfied with the bargain he made, he headed to the bar in the center of the town to get a nice tall glass of wine.
Sitting at the bar counter, he kept an ear out for any news of Robin. After nearly an hour, he drained the last bit of red wine left in the glass and left. There wasn't even a whisper of his friend. He was disappointed, but didn't expect to find his friend that easily. The afternoon sun shone high up in the clear blue sky, and Harry's stomach rumbled. Seems like it was time for lunch.
Instead of having a proper meal at the restaurant, he decided to try out the many local delicacies from the food stalls conveniently concentrated in the same area, where all sorts of food products were sold. After stuffing himself with Takoyaki, pineapple pies, spicy fishcakes and deep fried riceballs wrapped in breadcrumbs, Harry patted his stomach happily. The forest looked interesting… an idea popped into his mind suddenly; maybe he could get some intel about Robin from the snakes there.
Again, he didn't gain any information from the friendly serpents; the snakes shook their heads at the Wanted Poster with Robin's picture on it. None of them has seen a little girl like her in their habitat. He did, however, get a lot of advice on what kind of forest critters tasted the best. He was tempted to try out a few of their recommendations, but was simply too full from all the local foods he consumed barely an hour before. Well he did gather a few herbs he knew that would be most useful in making a healing balm for external wounds, so it wasn't a total waste of time making a trip especially to the forest on the outskirts of the town.
Just as Harry was about to return to the town, he noticed a quiet, peaceful looking village tucked at the southern most corner of the island. Curious, he stretched his tightly muscled legs and speed off to explore the small hamlet. The teen snorted when he saw the signboard - "Syrup Village". What is with this island obsession with names related to edible things? He was about to enter the village when he heard someone crying out for help in the nearby sea.
"Help! Help! There's a monster trying to eat me!"
The young wizard immediately dived into the waters and swam quickly to the Sea King that was chasing after the escaping man. There was no time to negotiate with the snake-like Sea King; Harry would have to use that power.
"STOP!" Harry commanded. The twenty feet long Sea King paused, sweating furiously. A short, tense moment later, it slithered away into the sea, leaving the now unconscious man sinking. With a curse on his lips, Harry swam after him and rescued the round-shaped male who nearly drowned.
He was a young chubby teenager in green shirt with white stripes, a matching bandanna on his head and a pair of yellow goggles over his eyes. The young wizard grumbled how the guy he saved was lucky that he had enough strength in his arms to drag him onto the sandy shores. What? That fellow's heavy! He must have at least the weight of a full-grown brown bear!
Harry huffed a little as he caught his breath once they were both safely on land. Glancing at the large teenager he rescued, he quickly administered first aid to get the water out of his lungs. After spewing out lots of seawater, the trembling male turned to his savior and expressed his thanks profusely.
"Thank you thank you thank you! I thought I was sure to be a goner this time! How lucky I must be to escape the clutches of the evil Sea King, who was trying to eat an innocent young man like me who simply wanted a swim!"
Harry gave the gushing man a quick lookover. He didn't exactly look all that innocent…
"My name is Roo but everyone calls me Lucky Roo! Oh man, after that harrowing swim I'm so hungry, come on, join me for a meal and drinks, my treat!" The friendly teenager threw his arm over Harry's shoulder and led him into the village, smiling and joking all the way. After a moment of hesitation, Harry accepted the invitation. It was nice to socialize with someone his age again. Harry's crewmates were mostly older sailors, some even retired, and they weren't all that chatty with their young captain.
If the young wizard had known the 'trouble' he would get into from joining Lucky Roo for dinner, he may have reconsidered his decision.
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The small restaurant, Meshi (which means 'food' or 'meals' in Japanese), was packed with rowdy pirates either stuffing their faces or clinging mugs of beer together. The sound of loud laughter, singing and chatter filled the air. Lucky Roo and Harry were welcomed by a chorus of 'Hey Lucky Roo!' and 'You're back!" by the pirate's crewmates. A flustered looking middle-aged waitress was weaving around the tables, re-filling drinks and bringing food to the customers. She probably wasn't used to such a big and noisy crowd.
"Yo Lucky Roo, who's your new friend?" A striking red haired young man, wearing a straw hat and white-buttoned vest with a large red sash around his waist, asked curiously.
"Captain! This is Harry Potter. He saved my life! Man, I thought I was gonna be Sea King chow when he came out of nowhere, swimming as fast as a fishman, and with a single word, chased away the gigantic sea monster!" Lucky Roo completed his explanation with exaggerated gestures and a wide grin.
"Dahahahahahaha! You are the luckiest pirate I have ever seen! Here, have a drumstick, I can hear your stomach growling from here!"
"Thanks Captain! Chomp chomp chomp…" The large drumstick disappeared like magic into Harry's new friend's mouth. Even the bone was gone. If there were ever an eating contest, Lucky Roo would win over everyone else, hands down.
"Hey, come here and take a seat, have a drink. Any friend of my crew is a friend of mine! My name is Shanks, and we are the Red-haired Pirates!"
After a few drinks and the two captains gotten to know each other better, Shanks approached Harry with his offer to join his crew. The younger teenager refused resolutely, and bid them farewell. He has spent enough time on the island; it was time to check out other places. Unfortunately, the troublesome red-haired pirate, who was usually laid back and friendly, continued his attempts in persuading Harry to join the Red-haired Pirates. Shanks wanted Harry, the courageous youth who faced a Sea King to save a stranger by using what seemed to be the mysterious power, Haki.
The red-haired captain has only seen a rare few people using Haki (other than himself). One of them was his previous captain, Gol. D Roger and another was Roger's former first mate, Silvers Rayleigh, commonly known to be the 'Right Hand of the Pirate King'.
Haki is a power that lies dormant in all the world's creatures, in simple terms, it is an ability to sense spiritual energy and overpower enemies. Broadly, there are two types of Haki common to everyone, given the proper training. However, there is a third type that cannot be attained through training and only one in a million people carry it. This type of Haki grants the user the ability to dominate the wills of others, and the most common usage is knocking those with weak wills unconscious.
Shanks could use it, and so can Silvers Rayleigh, but he has never met anyone so young who has the same ability. Harry Potter was proving to be quite the little mystery.
The object of the red haired pirate grumbled unhappily. "Stop following me around, old man! I won't join you as another stupid 'Red Hair Pirates'!"
"Aw, come on, it will be fun I promise you! And I'm not all that much older than you!"
"Listen here, I'm not looking for fun, I have a goal and I have no time to be standing around here explaining things to you that's NOB!"
"NOB? What's that, huh? Hey! Where are you going?"
"Away from you! And NOB means 'None of Your Business', now leave me alone!"
Harry was ready to tear his hair out. The emerald-eyed wizard had no wish to become a pirate, and come under the scrutiny of the World Government. That would make his search for Robin all the more difficult. However, the bastard just wouldn't give up!
After discovering that Harry wished to learn sword-fighting skills, Shanks was quick to sweeten his offer by promising to teach the green-eyed youth 'awesome swordsmanship'. Truthfully, if he didn't have the goal of finding Robin and ensuring her safety, the inquisitive youth might seriously consider joining the fun-loving and friendly pirate.
When Harry finally managed to shake off Shanks and arrived at the place where his ship was docked, he was shocked to find it missing. A few enquiries here and there revealed that his crew had betrayed him and stolen his Caravel. The scream of rage that came out of the slim wizard's body was so loud that Shanks heard it over at Syrup village.
"Fucking traitorous old shits, if I ever see them they are dead!"
The red-haired pirate approached the ranting teenager and sat down quietly beside him on the hard floorboards of the port.
After an hour of cursing and swearing, Harry calmed down enough to explain his predicament to Shanks. The betrayed young wizard confided that he needed to find a friend and now he doesn't have a ship to do so as his ex-crewmates stole his ship. Sure, he could buy a new one once he earned enough funds, but that would delay his journey and he wasn't sure how safe his friend is now.
As the sky slowly darkened and the stars came out, with Shanks still listening patiently, Harry finally revealed the truth – that he was looking for the only survivor of the Ohara incident, Nico Robin. It was strange that even though his crew who had sailed with him for a week had just betrayed Harry, this red-haired captain managed to gain his trust in just a day. Harry could feel deep in his gut that Shanks was a trustworthy person, and perhaps he may even have some clues as to where Robin is.
At this, the older man shook his head and rubbed his scruffy chin thoughtfully.
"I've heard that she has an unusually large bounty for someone her age, but no, I haven't had any news about her recently. Sorry, Harry. I promise to keep a look out for your friend."
Again, Shanks made his offer to Harry to join his crew, and he tiredly agreed to do so temporarily, at least until he saved up enough to get a new boat.
But before they leave the Gecko Islands, Harry has one more stop to make.
"Welcome to Cherry's Weapon Sh…it's you again! What do you want this time!"
"How about a nice, Damascus steel sword? I'm sure you can offer me a great bargain…" And a great bargain Harry got, despite the female shopkeeper's protests and attempts to avoid giving him a discount. The young swordsman-to-be were seen rubbing his hands gleefully as he exited Cherry's Weapon Shop.
"Dahahahaha, you seem to be in a good mood, Harry!"
"Yes Shanks! I got myself a great sword at rock bottom price. And I'm looking forward to learning some crazy awesome swords skills...wahahahahaha!"
On that happy note, the Red-haired Pirates departed for the next Island on East Blue.
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A/N: Hope you have enjoyed the new chapter, I'm planning the next one tonight. There will be a timeskip, and whatever happened in the gap will be described later in Interludes or filler chapters. Expect a few major One Piece characters appearing in the next update. Have a good weekend, my dear readers.