East Blue: Kohaku Village

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

"Oh, that was lovely!"

Brian and Vincent looked up from their business to see Kairi exit the bathroom, where clouds of steam was escaping into the cool air. She was fully dressed, but her hair was still a little wet from the shower she had just taken. She stretched, smiled and walked over to her new Captain.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think you could've waited to see if it didn't wash out...," Axe looked up at her, "Why'd you change your color, anyway?"

Kairi giggled as she tossed her newly black colored hair, "I wanted to change my look...besides, I needed to change after that mountain ride," she held her stomach, a look of disgust crossing her face, "Ugh,"

"Oh, get over it," Vincent rolled his eyes, "If you two are gonna go around the world, you gotta used to stuff like Reverse Mountain. You're lucky that has a way into the other Blue Seas and not just the Grand Line, otherwise you'd be screwed,"

"I guess he's right," Axe thought with a shrug, "If we're gonna go after One Piece, Kairi, we're gonna have to toughen up. Not to mention find a crew, but-,"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on,"

Kairi and Axe turned to Vincent, who was rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"How old are you guys?"

"Fourteen,"

"Thirteen,"

Vincent stared, "You're just kids!"

"Yep,"

"So?"

"You're just kids, but you're going after One Piece? Are you crazy or something?"

"No,"

"Not that I know of...,"

"What the hell can you two do?"

"I'm pretty good at fencing,"

"I ate the Kachi Kachi no Mi and I got the big axe,"

"You two must be high or something...,"

"Oi oi,"

The two young would-be pirates traveled with Vincent and the others on the ship for about a week after crossing the strange rock formation known as Reverse Mountain. Axe had read about it in books, but actually experiencing it was completely different. It was then that he realized that a lot things he had read about was most likely going to be very interesting to personally experience.

Some things though, he didn't understand when he had read about them. That's when he went to Vincent for some answers. One particular thing that he didn't quite understand was the strengths of the four Blue Seas. He knew that that each Blue Sea was famous for one thing or another.

For example, West Blue was famous for the destruction of Ohara, the East Blue had the birthplace of the late Pirate King Gold Roger, the South Blue had Karate Island and the North Blue...had something, but he couldn't remember what it was exactly.

"Vincent?"

"Yeah, Axe-baka?"

"Stop callin' me that!" Axe plopped down next to him, "I gotta question about something,"

"Well, what is it?"

"I know they say each Blue Sea has different strengths, but about this one we're in...,"

"Yeah...?"

"Why do they call the East Blue the weakest of the four oceans?"

"Don't you know anything?"

"Don't you know how not to be an ass?" Axe scowled, getting irritated, "Seriously, I wanna know!"

Vincent cleared his throat, "The reason they call the East Blue the weakest of the four oceans is the bounty average,"

"Bounty average?"

"Yeah. The average bounty of East Blue criminals is 3,000,000 Beli,"

"Oooh, so they define strength on bounties?"

"Sometimes, but they make bounties based on other things than just strength,"

"Like what?"

Vincent shook his head, "You're such a rookie,"

"Hey, you can't expect a guy to be a pro when they first start out!"

"Look, besides strength, they make bounties depending on their threat level to the World Government. If a guy has like 3,000,000 Beli, he ain't that strong, and he ain't a threat,"

"Ah,"

"Okay, I have it all finished! What do you think guys?"

Vincent and Axe turned to see Kairi standing in the doorway of the sleeping quarters. She still had her newly colored black hair, but she added a crimson tint to her bangs. Not only that, but she held a black, wide-brimmed hat with a red line near the brim, and draped over her shoulders was a black cape.

The two males facefaulted.

Kairi looked at them, "What's wrong?"

"Why are you dressed like that?"

She looked at herself, "Don't pirates usually wear big hats and capes like this?"

"I think only in stories,"

"You wear that, you'll get laughed at,"

"Oh shut up, you two don't know anything about fashion!"

"And you do Miss I've-Never-Stepped-Foot-Out-Into-the-Real-World?"

"...Axe?"

"Yeah?"

Kairi reached down, grabbed something from the floor and threw it at him, "Boot to the head!"

After a while of traveling with Vincent and the others, Axe and Kairi finally found themselves standing on dry land. Since it was her first time at sea and it was filled with some nauseating times, Kairi was very happy to be on dry land again. While she thanked God repeatedly, Axe was thanking Vincent for the ride.

"Just be sure to get your own ship soon, otherwise you're not gonna get anywhere, kid," was all the older man had to say to him before he and the others set sail again, leaving the island and the two rookies behind.

"Well, here we are!" Axe turned and looked at the small town a short walk away from the shore, "Our first stop on our journey to find One Piece, Kairi!"

"What's first?"

"Hmm...very good question,"

"Nakama or ship?"

"I say lunch,"

"But you just ate!"

"So?"

"Just get going...Captain,"

The two rookies made their way into the village and when they walked into it's limits, they were automatically greeted with strange looks from the villagers. They weren't dark looks, or 'get out of town' looks, but they were looks that made them wary of strangers, as if they didn't get many newcomers to the island.

"Uh, Axe?" Kairi kept close to him, "These people are kind of creeping me out,"

"Don't worry about them, Kairi. We're just here to look around and see what they have. If we can't find what we need, then we're out of there. Remember, we're Peace Maine pirates, not Morgania,"

"Okay, one, I thought we were treasure hunters, and two, I have no clue what those are!"

"Peace Maine are pirates who go around looking for adventure and fun, while Morgania's go around, hurting and robbing people," Axe explained as they neared what looked like a small eatery, "Just keep your eyes peeled, your ears open, and your rapier stashed. We don't wanna cause any unnecessary trouble here,"

Kairi looked around, "Where is here, anyway?"

"Kohaku Village,"

She turned to him, "How do you know?"

Axe pointed at a sign that said "Welcome to Kohaku Village" and below the greeting was a small map of the town, "Lucky guess?"

Axe belched loudly and leaned back in his chair, his belly stretched outward after eating so much food. Kairi stared in stunned silence as she was still on her meal.

"How..in the world...can you eat that much?"

He grinned and patted his stomach, "I think you asked me that back on Sanctus Island,"

"I think I did...,"

"Well, then," he shrugged, "I don't really know, I just eat like this,"

"I haven't seen anything like that in...well, ever,"

The two of them turned to see the owner of the small restaurant standing nearby, shaking her head.

"I think you broke the town record, kid," she looked at the plates, "That doesn't happen often,"

"Well, what can I say, I'm talented?" Axe grinned, "How much?"

"Forget it. You break the record, you can have your food on the house," she started to pick up the plates, "What brings you kids to the island? Is it the local legend?"

Local legend? Kairi raised an eyebrow, "No, we're...uhm...looking for some friends of ours and we thought they'd be here,"

"Well, sorry, but I think that was a waste, you two are the first newcomers to come by except for the weekly Marine vessel that comes by. In fact, they'll be coming back in a few days,"

Kairi and Axe glanced at each other.

Axe cleared his throat, "About this local legend you mentioned...?"

"Ah, well you see apparently there's a legend around this town about their being a giant wolf that stays in the woods all day, but at night, it comes out and kills anything that moves in cold blood,"

Kairi choked on her food.

"Man, that's brutal," Axe folded his arms, "Is it real?"

The woman shrugged and shook her head, "I dunno kid. I'm relatively new here, I just moved to this place a few years ago. I haven't seen anything around my place to support it, but I do hear some strange stuff on certain nights," she clicked her tongue, "Maybe there is something to the legend, or maybe it's just some jackasses goofing around trying to scare people,"

The legend of a wolf monster was something that seemed very popular to the villagers of Kohaku. Some people said it was a demon, some other said that it was an animal spirit out for blood, and others said it was a child who became possessed by a demon and slaughtered his whole family and they banished it to the woods. The only thing that was common about it was...

"There's a monster on this island, never go out at night, especially at the full moon!"

"The full moon is the harbinger of death here,"

"When the moon is full and the air is still, beware the hellhound!"

As they settled at an inn for the night, Kairi and Axe prepared themselves for a night's sleep. They had a single room, but had two beds ot make it easier for them to sleep. Kairi was a bit iffy on being in the same room, as she was on the ship before, but they didn't have much money and a single room was all they could afford.

"Hey, Axe?"

The treasure hunter removed his boots and sat down on his bed while Kairi changed in the bathroom, "Yeah?"

"You really don't believe their stories of a monster...do you, Axe?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know, Kairi. Legends are usually based around a single fact, but I don't know if I believe in the legend here. I mean, I can see people turning into animals thanks to Zoan Devil Fruits, but a wolf that comes out at the full moon and hunts for blood? What about you?"

"There are many stories in the Bible about animals and demons who hurt man for one reason or another, but at the moment, nothing comes to mind about a wolf,"

The bathroom door opened and Kairi came out wearing her pajamas and brushing her hair. She picked up Heaven's Savior and placed it near her bed, "Just in case. What about you?"

"Eh, I can handle anything with or without my weapon," Axe fell back onto his back and stretched, "G'nite, Kairi,"

"G'nite, Captain," Kairi yawned, slipped underneath her covers and soon went to sleep while Axe simply passed out on his bed, snoring his head off.

If they had stayed awake a little bit longer, they would've seen a large shadow walk past their room.

Kilnorc: Woot, that chapter's done. Regarding Reverse Mountain and the four seas...uhm..yeah, I just kinda winged that on the info I knew so -clicks tongue- Yeah...anyhoo, you all can bet what that thing was at the end, mwaha. Preview!

On the next chapter of Origin...

Farmer: The monster! It came last night and it killed the animals!

Kairi: Oh...my...God...

Village Chief: We've had enough! We have mercenaries on their way to help us rid us of this monster once and for all!

Axe: So, this is where it started?

Before the Hunt

Kairi: Someone there?