Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece… but you guys know that I only own my OC's…
A Cat's Instinct
Chapter 17: A Hiatus from Piracy
It all started out like any other day.
Zoro was sleeping on the roof with Keiko beside him and James was with Nami, enjoying the beautiful sunlight.
However, it didn't become an average day… then again, average wasn't the right word to describe this rag-tag group of self-proclaimed pirates.
A loud, rhythmic thumping was heard coming up from below the deck of the Going Merry.
Almost everyone turned to see Luffy coming up the stairs with a heavy box clutched tightly in his arms.
Keiko rolled her eyes… she usually did when she knew that the rest of her crewmates were up to something.
"What the hell is he up to now?" she wondered silently as she delicately stroked Mocha's stomach.
Their Captain laid them down on the deck next to a cannon they had never used and brought up onto the deck as well.
Nami and James glanced over, the same expression of curiosity lining their features.
"These are cannon balls, aren't they?" Nami asked.
James only nodded in response as he watched Usopp and Luffy load one into the dusty cannon and launched it in the direction of a particularly pointy rock formation.
A rumble traveled through every board in the ship, even Zoro woke with a start.
"It's all right… Luffy and Usopp are just being idiots again…" Keiko pointed out casually.
"I missed…" Luffy mumbled, watching the geyser-like splash come from the place where the cannon ball had landed in the water.
"What are you doing, exactly?" James asked, almost afraid of what the answer was going to be.
He never knew what to think with them.
"Cannon practice…" Luffy responded in his usual, cheerful manner.
He moved aside, allowing Usopp to take his turn.
"What are you doing?!" James yelled, "Don't allow that MORON to touch the cannon! It'll end up backfiring and blowing us to smithereens or something!"
Usopp ignored him, loading the heavy sphere into the mouth of the cannon, and after he launched it, the rock perpendicular to the ship was impacted and fell apart instantly, dust and rock fragments flying into the water.
"AMAZING! You hit it with one shot!" Luffy exclaimed, his eyes twice their usual size.
Usopp, who only seconds before seemed as startled as Luffy, now stood, his chest puffed out with pride as he grinned arrogantly.
"Of course! When it comes to aiming, I know everything. Don't you think?" Usopp asked.
"Then you're the shooter from now on." Luffy said.
"It was just a lucky shot!" James protested irritably.
More crashing was his only response.
"Stop with the cannon!" James snarled.
"It wasn't me!" Usopp argued.
"Come on, you pirates!" An unfamiliar voice shouted.
Zoro sat up, a look of curiosity coming to his drowsy features.
"Is something wrong?" Keiko asked, glancing at him worriedly.
"That voice…" he responded, getting up.
Keiko followed him.
Luffy, at the same time, opened the door of his quarters, looking out.
"What! What?!" He asked, "Who the hell are you?"
The young Captain looked down, and there, hunched over was a man… darkly toned, with matching dark-hair and a tattoo on his left cheek… sunglass covering his eyes.
The man with the sunglasses looked up.
"How dare you! A no-name pirate, try to kill my partner!?" he snarled, unsheathing his sword and instantly going after Luffy.
"I don't know what's going on!" Luffy complained, as he dodged the blows, "But don't damage our ship!"
Luffy grabbed the man and threw him backwards with a powerful blow.
The man gasped as he lay on the deck, utterly defeated and disoriented.
Zoro walked out to see the stranger.
His eyes widened as he spotted a familiar face from his past.
"Hey, aren't you Johnny?" He inquired.
The man turned his gaze upward and got up.
"Zoro? You're on a pirate ship, brother?" the man named 'Johnny' asked in disbelief.
"B-brother?" Keiko thought, "H-he has…siblings…?"
She nearly swooned at the very thought.
"What's wrong? Isn't Yosaku with you?" Zoro asked, looking Johnny up and down, puzzled.
James walked forward, next to Keiko.
""They know each other?" he asked in a whisper.
Keiko only shrugged.
"He said that they were brothers…" she replied.
They watched as Johnny went over to the edge of the ship, tears suddenly pouring down his face.
Zoro followed him, and there was his partner… his midsection wrapped and covered with blood.
"Y-Yosaku is…" Johnny stammered, as Zoro patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.
"He's ill?" Usopp asked, receiving a whack in the back of the head from Keiko.
"Well, of Course, he's ill!" She said as they loaded the bleeding, gasping man onto their ship.
"Yosaku is…He was perfectly fine until a while ago…" Johnny explained tearfully, "Then he grew pale and started to lose consciousness… I have no clue why… Lately, his teeth started falling out and his old wounds have started to bleed again… I just don't know what to do anymore!"
He put his hands to his face,
"So I took him to that rocky island, to let him rest, but…then your ship attacked us!"
James nearly burst out laughing.
"I told you not to allow Usopp near firearms…" he mumbled almost inaudibly.
"Forgive us!" Luffy and Usopp apologized instantly.
The bounty-hunter still shook with sobs.
"That's history… Forget it… What good are apologies anyway? Our reputation has grown… Pirates fear the names of Johnny and Yosaku… He's my trusted partner… we've hunted pirates together for years!!! My brother's gonna… is he gonna die?" he asked, in a child-like manner.
Everyone stood silently, until Nami broke the solemn moment.
"Don't be stupid!" She yelled her eyes wide with anger.
Zoro instantly shot her a glare.
"What the hell, Nami?!" He growled… his fists clenched at his sides.
"How dare you make light of my partner's death!!" Johnny barked as he reached for his sword.
James tensed visibly, but Nami nonchalantly held up a hand to stop him.
"Luffy! Usopp! There are limes in the galley! Squeeze some and bring me the juice!" she ordered as the pair nodded, scampering off to the galley as they were told.
James thought about what she'd need limes for, and he smirked as he realized it.
He glanced over at her.
"It's scurvy!" he said, remembering his father telling him about it.
Nami nodded,
"That's right…" she said, watching as Luffy and Usopp returned with a barrel of lime juice and lifted the man's head, forcing the juice down his throat, "With luck he should recover in a few days."
Johnny lit up.
"Really, sister?" He asked, jumping up energetically.
James eyed him, and went to pull Nami closer to him.
"Don't call me that…" she said with a sigh, "A generation ago, scurvy was the bane of sailors… but it's simply caused by poor nutrition. Fruits and vegetables rot on long voyages…"
Luffy gawked dumbly at her.
"Wow! You're like a doctor…" he gasped.
Usopp crossed his arms smugly, and nodded.
"I always knew you were a brilliant woman." He stated, as James shot him a jealous glare.
"These are basic things you should know if you expect to survive on the sea, morons…!" Nami hissed angrily at them.
However, her anger switched as Yosaku jumped up, cheering and dancing with his equally joyful partner.
"You're not well enough to dance!" She barked.
James chuckled, patting her shoulder gently.
"They're just idiots… but they'll bounce back, no matter what happens…. No need to get worked up over it." He said calmly… his eyes softening fondly at her.
The odd pair stopped dancing and without warning, became very serious.
"Introduction time…" Johnny said, his knuckles leaning against his chin, "I'm Johnny!!"
"The other stood, holding a cigarette in his mouth.
"And I'm Yosaku. We're Brother Zoro's old bounty-hunting partners! Pleased to meet you!"
Keiko glanced at Zoro.
"Wait… you know these weirdoes?" she asked.
Zoro didn't answer.
"I don't know how to thank all of you. I was sure I was a goner." Yosaku continued.
"I still can't believe it. Pirate Hunter Zoro… is a pirate…" Johnny said.
Yosaku then fell over, blood spurting from his mouth.
Johnny's eyes dilated.
"Life down and rest!" Zoro barked as Yosaku lay twitching on the deck of the Going Merry.
"You learned anything?" Nami asked.
"A long voyage on the high seas is fraught with hidden dangers…" Zoro agreed.
"These guys would be dead if we hadn't come along." Usopp said, leaning against the main mast.
"Yeah… no kidding…" James muttered, earning a slap in the arm from Keiko, "Hey, that doesn't that change the fact that we still need someone who can transform these ship's stores into something edible…"
"A ship's cook…" Usopp agreed, much to James's annoyance.
Luffy broke into a wide grin.
"Okay! We'll look for a sea cook!" he said, "What good is a ship without decent grub?"
Before anyone else had a chance to respond, Johnny raised his hand, brandishing it over his head like a prized sword.
"Brother, Brother!" he called desperately.
"Speak, Johnny…" Zoro said.
Johnny's face portrayed an expression of slight knowledgeable arrogance.
"If you need a cook, I know where to find one… But whether he'll join up with you is another matter. You'll find him on a ship that's actually a restaurant!" he stated matter-of-factly.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"An ocean-going restaurant?" The entire crew chorused.
Johnny nodded and beamed.
"It's two or three days' sailing from here. But be careful. It's near the Grand Line, so some rough customers visit that place." Johnny warned.
He mumbled something to Zoro that made him smirk with a kind of unseen satisfaction.
Keiko looked at him, concerned.
"Are you all right?" she asked, holding Mocha in her arms, as Johnny rallied the others.
"Don't worry about it." He said, "No need to worry…"
Keiko nodded, though she didn't fully believe him.
AS Johnny had said, they sailed for about two days until they came upon the oddest looking boat they had ever seen… but despite the fish head and tail, it was no doubt an ocean-going restaurant.
Yosaku had made quite a recovery over the past few days since James and Nami monitored his progress.
"Here we are!! The ocean-going restaurant! Brother Zoro! Brother Luffy! Brother Usopp! Brother Nami, James, and Keiko!" Johnny and Yosaku called excitedly.
Luffy leaned over the railing, his eyes bulging with enthusiasm.
"Hey!" he called.
The others roused, joining Luffy at the railing.
James stifled his laughter at Nami's reaction when Johnny referred to her as 'Brother'.
She gave him a disapproving look, but all emotions were replaced with euphoria as they gazed upon the monstrous ship, but when a naval ship pulled along side them, worry started to set in.
"A Navy ship?!" Usopp exclaimed, their attention turning to the vessel.
"Where'd it come from?!" Luffy exclaimed, his mouth wide open in his usual, awed expression.
A loud rumbling was heard from the neighboring ship and cannons were exposed to their sight.
James and Keiko watched as Johnny and Yosaku cowered behind their railing of the ship.
They were mumbling to each other as a man caught the cat-pirate's eye.
"Who's that?" he asked, glancing back at the rest of his crew.
"I'm Lieutenant Iron-fist Full body, Minister of the Navy." The man shouted, displaying his metallic knuckles, "Who's the Captain? Speak your name!"
Before anyone else could stop him, Luffy stepped forward.
"Luffy, Monkey D. We just made our pirate flag yesterday!" he called seriously.
The man's attention then turned to the pair of bounty-hunters.
"You two scalawags look familiar… You visit the government agencies a lot…"
He paused to ponder their identities, but his eyes widened with a calm realization.
"You're those two-bit bounty hunters… Yosaku and Johnny. Captured by pirates, eh?"
The two had stood up and glanced at each other.
Keiko looked at James, nudging him sharply.
"I bet you that they're gonna do something stupid…" she muttered.
James chuckled, watching the pair's emotions change to one of pure irritation.
"Yosaku… this bloke may have insulted us…" Johnny grunted.
"Two-bit? He can't call us that. It's a matter of honor… Let's make Mr. Navy Fancy-pants revise his view of us." Yosaku said, nodding to his partner.
"Brace yourself, you Navy Popinjay!!!" Johnny yelled, jumping over to the naval ship, their swords drawn and ready for battle.
AS all of them watched, the battle didn't last more than a minute.
The pair of bounty hunters was dragged back onto the Going Merry, completely bruised, bloody and unable to stand.
"Are you guys weak or what?" Luffy asked, stepping over papers that had flown everywhere when the bounty hunters were tossed back onto the Going Merry.
As Keiko shook her head with approval over the pair's 'massacre', James walked over to Nami who seemed to be more intrigued with the scattered papers.
"What's this, Johnny?" she questioned, as she picked one of them up.
James looked through them, finding one of his father, as Johnny explained.
"Wanted posters… pirates and bounties, Sister Nami and Brother James… An ugly business… I get a bounty for every one I kill…" he said, as James discreetly stuffed Captain Kuro's poster into his jacket pocket.
What he doesn't have won't hurt him.
James only got a glance of the figure on Nami's poster, but he didn't recognize the face… but it sent chills down his spine from even that small gaze. He even noticed Nami trembling as she held it.
He was about to ask if she was feeling all right, but Usopp's piercing voice broke their thoughts.
"This is bad!! They're aiming a cannon at us!!!"
Nami and James looked up just as a loud blast was heard from the Navy ship.
"They fired on us!!" Usopp wailed.
Everyone looked around, but Luffy leapt up onto the railing.
"I'll handle it!" He said.
"Get down from there!" Keiko barked, even though she knew he wouldn't listen.
"Gum-Gum Balloon!!!" Luffy shouted as the cannon ball stretched nearly through his elastic stomach with a great force.
It launched itself back at the general direction of the Navy ship.
Johnny, Usopp, and Yosaku were all dumbfounded.
"Don't look so surprised, you guys…" Keiko muttered with a sarcastic roll of her eyes.
The entire crew watched with horrified expressions as they realized where the cannonball was actually headed.
"YOU RETURNED IT TO THE WRONG PLACE, IDIOT!" Zoro ranted as the cannonball blasted its way through the roof of the Ocean-Going Restaurant, Baratie.
Luffy fell backwards as he realized what had just happened.
"Now what are we gonna do?!" Keiko growled, "I doubt they'll come with us now!!"
"Perhaps if you just went over and apologized, they'd understand…" James suggested, "It was self-defense after all…"
Nami nodded uneasily in agreement… Luffy wasn't exactly one for wordy explanations.
"It's worth a shot…" she added.
"Well, let's give it that shot!" Luffy said as he headed over to the Baratie.
"I hope he doesn't screw this up too…" Keiko mumbled under her breath.
~O~O~O~O~O~
They waited for several hours for any sign of their Captain.
James sat next to Nami, trying feebly to keep his stomach from growling.
"I'm hungry…" Usopp whined miserably.
"Will you Shut Up!" James snapped, "We're all hungry! There's no need to rub it in!"
Keiko looked over at the fish-shaped restaurant.
"Well, if Luffy is over there…and he hasn't returned…perhaps we should go rescue him… I mean, he is our Captain after all…" she said.
Zoro looked at her chuckling.
"Perhaps this does call for a rescue mission." He said smirking.
"Well then…. What are we waiting for?!" Usopp said shooting up triumphantly, "Let's go rescue our Captain!"
They stood up as James glanced over at Johnny and Yosaku who hadn't moved.
"You guys comin'?" he inquired with a tilt of his head.
The pair shook their heads.
"Nah… It's okay, Brother James… we'll watch the ship." Johnny said as Yosaku nodded in agreement.
James just shrugged nonchalantly.
"Uh…okay…suit yourselves…" he said.
"Come on, you idiot! We're hungry and Luffy might need saving!" Keiko shouted.
James nodded,
"Okay… hold on, I'm coming!" He said, catching up to them.
((A/N: Hi everyone!! If you're still reading this story, I'm very glad! I have finished writing this story, and I'll FINALLY be updating every week!! So, Please feel free to read and review... and don't worry... you won't have to wait a month for each chapter... Lol. ))