Here's the next chap..enjoy
Day 3
It's been a month or more since my last entry.
We spent the whole time sailing towards Loguetown, our last stop before heading for the Grand Line. Other than the usual rat-pranks on Roy, which is getting old, nothing interesting happened on the journey.
Until we got to Loguetown.
Captain docked the ship on an isolated part of the island, mainly because the marines probably won't be too thrilled to see a pirate ship enter the port. Anyway, Captain and Roy have been to Loguetown many times before (Captain was actually born here), and allowed the crew some free time around town while he and Roy looked after the Free Willy.
Of course, I ended up with the ship cook to get some supplies before I'm allowed to go and have some fun.
Cook's real name is Loco, but we all just call him Cook. He only cooks meat but knows how to use all sorts of spices and stuff that make it taste different and just as good as before. If you don't like his cooking, he'll beat you into liking it. Trust me, I know. Oh yea, no matter what he cooks, he always adds one 'secret ingredient' which the whole crew knows: Rum.
Cook's also a great fighter. He's actually pretty even with Roy and apparently even beat Roy once. But that was when he was drunk. The scary thing about Cook is that he's a small man, no taller than my waist but he fights like some rabid wolf. He gets even stronger and savage when drunk, like during the battle with marines I mentioned in the last entry, he just smacked twenty marines around before falling asleep on deck.
Anyway, Cook bought a lot of dried meat and spices and made me carry them all. Why else would he want me to come along? He was trying to beat down some tough butcher for some ribs when I lost interest and looked around.
I saw a girl. A very pretty one at that. She saw me staring at her and ran off. Sigh, what a shame. I would've liked to get to know her better. Who am I kidding? I just wanted to get in her pants, or panties.
Anyway, while I was staring, some punk ran into me and made me drop all the meat I was carrying. Instead of apologising, he told me to watch where I was going. I wasn't going to take any of that so I ended up shouting at him and the bastard had the nerve to shout back at me!
It went something like this:
Me: "You bumped into me first, asshole!"
Him: "No, you bumped into me first, ape!"
"Who're you calling an ape, midget!?"
"Who're you calling a midget, gorilla!?"
"Who're you calling a gorilla, freaky moustache!?"
"Hah! That's rich, coming from the guy with the white moustache of an old man! How old are you? A hundred?"
"I'm eighteen, you blind bastard!"
"More like eighty! What should I call you? Gramps? Grandpa? How about Pops?"
"THAT IS IT!"
I swung out and caught the bastard in the face. I sent him flying through a wall. Satisfied, I was about to turn and pick up the meat when a piano flew out the hole in the wall and struck me, sending me flying down the street, bowling people over as I went.
I got up and saw that the bastard was standing and didn't seem to be too affected by the punch I threw at him earlier, which somewhat odd since I struck him at full strength. He was also grinning at me fiercely. The sight of his grin just made me snap.
"I'll wipe that stupid grin off your face!" I shouted, charging at him.
"I'll rip that stupid white moustache off yours!" he shouted back, also charging.
We had a brutal fight which wrecked the market district. But though we went all-out, we were evenly matched. Though still pissed, I was actually enjoying the fight and the grin on the bastard's face told me that he was enjoying it too.
Both of us were pretty beat up, but we both went for one final, deciding blow.
Until Cook stopped us both by clubbing us both over the head with a huge piece of meat.
"You two idiots trying to bring the marines down on us here!?" he shouted at the both of us.
Then to me, he continued: "I turn my back on you for a minute and you wind up wrecking up the market and ruining my meat!"
"We've been fighting for nearly twenty minutes!" I retorted defensively. "It's not my fault you didn't notice!"
"Are you talking back to me?" Cook snarled, cuffing me on the head. "Don't forget that we're pirates and while we can whoop the marines' asses, we should avoid trouble when we can!"
"You're a pirate?" the bastard I just fought suddenly spoke up.
"Yeah, I am," I said.
"Heh, I'm a pirate too," the bastard said, grinning proudly. "Or I will be, when I can get a boat."
"Bah, an idiot like you doesn't have what it takes to be a pirate," I said. "But you're pretty tough anyway, what's your name?"
The bastard's grin just widened.
"I'm Gol D. Roger," he said. "Remember the name, 'cause I'm the guy who'll conquer the Grand Line!"
Most people would've laughed if they heard that and I would've been one of them. But for some reason, when that punk said it, something inside me felt that he just might be able to do that. But something else inside me also burned with the desire to beat that guy.
Before I knew it, I was speaking.
"I'm Edward Newgate," I said. "If there's anyone who'll conquer the Grand Line, it's going to be me!"
The bastard's grin got even wider.
"It's a challenge then," he said.
I don't know why, but I felt an odd mix of rivalry and kinship with that guy. But I'll be damned if I told him that.
The two of us just glared at each other until Cook cuffed me on the head again and shoved the meat into my arms and started herding me off to the ship before the marines got to the market.
Captain Jones laughed his ass off when Cook told him about the fight. Roy wasn't too happy and barred me from going back into town. But I couldn't care less by then.
Anyway, it was later in the night (I was on watch duty again) that I was just watching the sky, trying to count the stars when Captain joined me on deck.
"Do you really believed what you said?" he asked me.
I'm no fool; I knew he was talking about my claim that I'll conquer the Grand Line.
"Yes," was all I said. If that bastard with the stupid grin thinks he can do it, then I sure as hell can.
Captain just laughed and walked off but stopped halfway.
"If you really believe it, then you'll be able to do it," he said before going back to his quarters.
Captain didn't laugh, didn't scoff or didn't tell me I couldn't do it. What he said really moved me.
I'll remember his words.
I'll also remember that bastard. My body's still aching from the fight with him.
Gol D. Roger.
I've got a feeling that I'll run into him again, and I'll beat the crap out of him when I do.
next chap coming soon
