Ben kneed down, carefully gripped the sack with both hands then dragging towards him slightly, he lifted it and threw it over his left shoulder and stood. Keeping his right out for balance he walked in breathing hard towards a wooden cart and dropped the heavy sack on the back.
Sighing loudly the teen made his way back to the large amount of sack piled up in a box. He was coming to the end, only nine more sacks to go.
As he kneed down, repeating the process once more, his thought ran over the month he and the other three had spent.
Falling into the One Piece world, the first thing he through was he would be going on an adventure, travelling around the world's seas. However, he was doing things he would have been in his own world. Namely working a job, earning money from it, paying bills for rent and food.
Ben had moved out the hut the first week, having found a well paying job on the docks; he worked into a rented cottage on the outskirts of docklands. The reasons he moved was because he wanted to be closer to his job, after work he went in and almost flopped into a hot bath and then bed.
At first he thought the other three would join him, instead of living for free off of the mayor, while the cottage was small it did have two small bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and living room.
But no, they chosen to stay in the hut, wanting to buy a ship instead of paying out rent. Also wanting to save their 'pirate fund'. Helen was working as a picker in a field, her pay was as good as Ben's. Clarence and Fred both gotten work in a the local tavern, they worked shorter hours with less pay.
Since Ben leaving them they sort of went cold towards him; Ben just his word and taught Fred and Helen the language, Clarence could understand well, but they found out that his pronunciation was bad. But putting their heads together they had gotten the hang of the basics.
The 'villagers' did not appear during that month, though Fred made a trip towards the forest to find out where they were. From what he found, he said they was on the move but going the other distance. Later they found out there was another town that way, so they could only guess the 'villagers' found that and went there.
Ben placed the last sack down, stepping back he let out a long breathe.
The tall young man was wearing a pair of black half calf boots, with loose black breeches with no shirt; his now tanned skin was covered in a light sweat making him shiny; the hot sun that shone down everyday had dried up his blotchy pours, along with the fact he cut out all of the greasy foods.
He had tied his black hair into a small tight ponytail high at the top of his head, this too looking much more healthy with all the natural fruits, vegetable and fresh fish he ate.
During the month of non-stop working he had lost his belly, muscles now had started to show. Another noticeable difference was, he no longer looked human; he had completely become the One Piece style anime.
His eyes had narrowed and pupils shrank, his nose's bridge more square, reminding him of how Nico Robin's nose was; his face longer, jaw bones also squarer but strong looking. It was strange to look at first, but now he was forgetting what real life was, this becoming his reality.
Ben glances upwards, pass the oil lamps, towards the night's sky; there was so many white dots in the heavens, that the blackness was the thing that was shattered. Never had he seen such a sky like this back home.
That was another thing that caused his pay to raise, working nights.
"Ben!" a voice shouts over the sound of the waving waters, "That's the last one! You can go now!"
"Yes!" Ben answers in his new language, having used it all more in the passed month than the whole time he learnt it; reaching for his shirt he pulls it over his head, because the moment he stops moving or working, the cold night air could be felt.
Ben waves a few other works as he passes, heading home for the night. He hums lightly under his breathe, happy to be where he was.
'Its shocking how happy I am.' Ben thinks as he walks through the docks, going down some streets, 'I am only doing things I would have done at home. Mum would be proud of me!'
Ben smiles drops, he missed his mother, he would even go as far as say he missed his brothers. But there was nothing he could do about that, he did not know how he came to be there to even think about popping back to say hello.
Opening his front door he ducks down to step inside the cottage, heading right for the bathroom for a hot bath he pauses. There was a note on his coffee table. Frowning he wanders over and picks it up to read.
It read: {Dear Ben, when you finished doing whatever, pack your bags leave your key with your landlady and come to the hut. Clarence.}
Ben's frown deepen, dropping the letter he gazes around his little cottage. He had loved the place, but knew that he could not stay forever. Turning to his bathroom he makes his way there, deep in thought.
{][}
"''Fire Fist Ace' is due to be executed-" Ben broke off, eyes widen as he lowers the newspaper, "So then... we are in the middle of the One Piece time line!?"
"Seems so!" Helen hisses out shaking badly, her anime form caused her to be thinner, her brown hair always parting to one side oddly, "that means we are going to see Ace get killed!?"
"Can we get there?" Fred asks looking ready to cry, "Is there anyway we can get there?!"
"No." Clarence mumbles simply, "We're in the East Blue, even if we left now, it would take months to take there."
Silence fell upon the room.
Ben glances around at there; Clarence had grown, hair he had cut short around the sides but left a long strip at the top running to the back of his head, he had slightly gotten muscles with the training he and Fred had given themselves. Fred's shoulders had widen greatly, his hands and feet that lengthen and he was towering all them more than before.
"I think it's time we leave." Clarence said suddenly, he grins to each of them, "But first, who is going to be the captain of the ship?"
"Ship?" Ben and Helen said together, making Fred and Clarence snicker.
"We have ourselves a ship." Clarence says carefully, almost choosing his words, "It's calls 'Prawn Cocktail'!"
"...Prawn..." Helen says blinking at him.
"...Cocktail..." Ben finished for her, they caught each other's eyes and clapped their hands over their mouths as they giggled.
"Oh, laugh all you want!" Clarence says waving them off, "The ship is caravel class ship."
That stopped them laughing, both looking up seemingly pleased now by this news.
"Like Going Merry Gou!" Helen cries out happily.
"Yes!" Fred replies grinning boldly, "It has a prawn figurehead!"
"Haha!" Ben laughs again, but he was looking excited by the news.
"So, like I said!" Clarence says grinning, "Who us going to be the captain?"
"Not me." Ben answers quickly, looking around to the others. "I'm more of a follower than a leader."
"Not me." Helen said next smiling at Ben, then turning to the others, "I don't think I would be any good."
"I think Clarence should be the captain!" Fred says loudly, looking towards the glasses wearing teen.
"So it's decided!" Clarence declares, "I am the captain. But you lot need roles as well..."
"Can I be second in command?" Fred asks looking hopefully at Clarence.
"Sure," Clarence says with a nod, "Fred is First Mate."
"Well what things do we need now...?" Ben says as he leans back on his hands, his knees bumping against the low table they sat around, "Doctor, chef, navigator, marksman and musicians are at the top of the list."
"What are you good at?" Clarence asks, "Or what would you feel comforable learning?"
"...don't know." Ben answers truthfully with a sigh, staring up at the ceiling the wooden hut's roof had seen better days, "I did okay in school...but I was never the best."
"I want to be a chef!" Helen suddenly spoke up, "I can cook... the basics."
"That's great!" Fred says giving her the thumbs up, "You can study and learn as we go along, we all can!"
"Does anyone know how to sail a ship?" Ben asks frowning slightly, leaning forward again he placed his arms on the table and stared at his new captain, "I've been on sailing boats before, but I never was the one to work it."
"We been learning from the one we brought the ship from." Clarence said nodding his head to Fred, "We'll show you."
"Fine." Ben said with a nod, he knew that he had to have fate in Clarence now, being his captain and all, however a ball of doubt was forming in his stomach, "So what's happening now?"
"First, we wait until Ace dies." Clarence explains, paying no mind to the glares that was spent his way, "Then we set sail a few days after!"
"Supplies?" Ben asks blinking at the 'captain', "And where are we setting sail too? We need a goal in mind to know how much stuff to take on board right?"
"...Right..." Clarence answers a little unsure, then smiling he points to Ben, "You can work that out."
Ben said nothing. He knew how to take stock in a sweet shop, when he was fourteen he worked after school for a year at one, so he could only hope to work something out.
"A map?" Ben spoke up again breaking into Clarence and Fred chatter about an adventure at last, "How do we plot our course? Also is it going to alright for you just to show me? I mean, should we take some test runs around the island before setting off?"
"That...is a good idea." Clarence said aloud, "I mean the old man only told us how to do things, but we have not sailed it yet..."
"Huh?" Ben says frowning now, "So you was just going to set sail for the first time without knowing practice?"
"Luffy set off without practice!" Fred quickly points out, grinning he turns to Clarence who was glaring at Ben, "Right!"
"Are you questioning me?" Clarence asks darkly to Ben, "Because everything I said does not seem to be good enough for you!"
"What? I am not questioning you? I am asking questions about the situation, I need to know what's happening fully or I won't understand later." Ben said simply, not bothered by the younger teen's reaction, he seen it many times when was at school. Whenever he had a project to do with others, he also asked questions about their ideas, no one seemed to like it much.
"Okay," Clarence says slowly, frowning still but turning to Fred, "We better go round the island, or better yet that island that we can see from the docks! Any questions to that Ben Ali?"
"Nope, Captain." Ben answers, then turning to Helen he smiles, "If I going to take stock, I going to need your input with the food Chef."
"Oh!" Helen cries out in delight at her new title, "Of course!"
{][}
Tears poured freely down his cheeks, he did not bother wiping them away; the time had come. Ace had died and Luffy was left stunned in the battle field. Ben did not want to see it, knowing the outcome. However he could not turn away, he was sitting with his 'crew' in the tavern watching the screen; the whole world was watching the screen.
"Let's go." Clarence broke the silence, "We're leaving now."
Helen rose first, sodding hard as she turns around from the scene; the town's folk thought they were crying tears of joy because the evil son of the former pirate king was died.
Fred had left before it began, not wanting to see it in the flesh. He was waiting on their ship. Clarence had surprisingly been okay as it played out.
"-ONE PIECE! IS REAL!" Whitebeard's voice declares to the word, it was at that point Ben stood and followed his crew out of the tavern.
'It will be two years until the Straw Hats Pirates made their move,' Ben thinks as he continues to walk, 'Two years for us to reach the New World and met them...'
Ben glanced towards the ship, the wood was darken there the Going Merry Gou but the style was the same. He was not sure if it was the same size, he did not have a good sense of scale; it was too big for four people this much he knew.
During the week they sailed back and fore to the smaller island, until they was comfortable sailing. Ben gotten a hold of a map of the East Blue, there was some uncharted parts but other than that it was up to date; he asked a local sailor for help and advice in plotting courses and map reading.
"Come on Ben Ali!" Clarence calls from the plank leading to their ship, "You're moving to slow!"
"Coming Captain." Ben answered, for some reason Clarence was now calling him that since that day in the hut and he in turn called Clarence captain.