Author's Note: Before we begin, I would like to thank Hotspot0626 for letting me use Drake, an OC appearing in his fic, One Piece: Rise of the Pirate Queen. We're doing a crossover of some sort between these two fics, so, expect characters from OPRotPQ appearing in OPPW and vice-versa. Anyway, let's do this!

Disclaimer: One Piece is the property to Eichiiro Oda. I don't own Drake, either.

Ch. 12: "Soren."

I awoke to warm sunshine on my face, and my head on Soren's lap. For a long moment, I thought I was dreaming a wonderful dream where Soren took me away from the boarding school and I would wake up at the school at any second, but, I then realized it wasn't a dream, it was real life. I was free.

"Soren," I mumbled, still groggy from sleep.

"Yes, bro?" He asked me.

"I'm free," I said with a smile.

"Yep. You sure are. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Today, we become pirates. Never forget this day," Soren urged. I got off of Soren's lap and sat up. It was a beautiful day without a single cloud in the sky. It was perfect weather for what seemed like the best day of my life.

"Hey, Soren, what is the first thing we're going to do after we become pirates?" I asked my brother.

"Besides asking them about Heathcliffe, we'll party like it's no tomorrow," Soren answered.

"I like that. A lot," I answered.

Later that day, we boarded the ship headed toward Lougetown. It was a ship that carried World Nobles, families, people going on vacation, and the Sarutobi siblings. Despite the fact all of these people on there were going to Lougetown, none of them – except for me and Soren – were pirates.

"Alright, I'm going to go take a shower. You're free to get room service." Soren told me before he went into the bathroom. I then realized that I was still wearing my clothes from last night, and I decided to change into a black T-shirt with "Soul King" Brook on it, dark blue skinny jeans, and black combat boots. I then decided to sit on the balcony and watch the sea go by. Since Soren had more than enough money saved up, he was able to buy a boat ticket to get him to the Celestial Dragon Boarding School, food for us, the buggy ride from last night, and two boat tickets for our boat ride to Lougetown. I sighed. Did Soren save up all this money he got over the years or did he get it from some shady guy?

"Looking for the pirate crew that Heathcliffe joined?"

I turned around, and I saw Soren. He was now wearing a black-and-gray striped, long-sleeved hoodie with black skinny jeans and black sneakers. Man, how long was I looking at the sea?

"I bought you a present yesterday before I went to come get you," Soren said as he gave me a rectangular box. I looked at it, wondering what was inside. Was it something I once cherished, something that will help me in the Grand Line, or a vital clue that will help us find Heathcliffe?

"Come on, bro, open the box!" Soren encouraged me, which I did. Inside, there were two guns, just like the ones all the bad ass pirates use!

"Soren, you are the best brother ever!" I said as I hugged him. Then, I began to feel sad. "I wish Heathcliffe was here to see this."

"I know, so do I." Soren said as he ruffled my hair.

"Soren, do you think that Heathcliffe could be on this ship?" I asked my brother as I holstered the two guns to my belt.

"He could be. Let's try to find him and get something to eat," Soren said.

We had just finished paying for our food, when something unexpected happened.

"Holden and Soren?"

We turned around, and we happened to see a Tenryuubito with a Fu Manchu-styled moustache. I gulped. We were caught, and we were screwed. I decided to turn to the one last resort I'd never thought I'd use – Pleading like a little baby.

"Please, don't hurt us! We're trying to look for my brother! I just want to see my baby brother again!" I sobbed as I got on my knees and begged for mercy.

"Holden, calm down! It's me, Saint Kai-Fei!" The Noble said. Saint Kai-Fei is a friend of my dad's who always collects weird stuff from around the world and puts it in his manor. He also treats me like his own son, which is pretty creepy, since his own son was murdered by pirates years ago.

"What brings you two here? I haven't seen you kids in years!" Saint Kai-Fei asked us as I got up from the ground. Despite the fact that Saint Kai-Fei was nicer than all of the Tenryuubito, was he going to enslave us right here and now? I then decided to think of a lie.

"We're… Going to visit… Heathcliffe," I half-lied. Yes, we were going to get to Heathcliffe, but, no, we wouldn't be returning home anytime soon.

"I thought he died," Saint Kai-Fei commented. I had nothing to say. But, just when I was about to reveal the truth, Soren stepped in and helped me out.

"He didn't. We got a letter from him saying that a nice couple in the Sabaody Archipelago took him in. He works as a lifeguard by day and an informant by night," Soren lied. I was impressed at how fast Soren came up with a fake story that seemed to be the truth. A long moment of silence followed.

"Ah, I see. I hope your brother is fine and doing well, and I hope you have fun with your brother," Saint Kai-Fei said before he walked away. Despite being a Tenryuubito, Saint Kai-Fei is kind of an idiot who sucks at geography. He doesn't know that the Sabaody Archipelago is thousands of miles from here.

"He doesn't even know we're going to become pirates! Good work, Holden!" Soren whispered to me.

"Yeah!" We both shouted as we high-fived. We then decided to eat, since I was getting pretty hungry.

"So, do you think Heathcliffe is looking for us?" I asked Soren in between bites of my sandwich.

"To be honest, I dunno. " Soren said.

"I just hope he didn't forget about us," I said.

"Yo! Don't worry, the stars are in your favor."

We turned back, and we saw a man. He was about 6'2 tall, and he had short, brown hair with a blonde patch on the right side of his head, sky blue eyes, and a tan. He wore a white non-zipper type T-shirt hoodie with a blue dragon symbol wearing tan cargo shorts and sandals.

"Or at least that's what may happen if you play your cards right."

"Who are you?" Soren asked the new arrival. I didn't know who he was, or what business he had, but, for some strange reason, I felt that he was going to get us to Heathcliffe. However, there was still a small chance that this guy wasn't somebody I trusted, and I felt my hands hover to the gun holsters on my hips. Was it out of instinct? Paranoia? Or impulse?

"I'm Drake. At your service." bowed the man to me and my brother.

"Should we trust you?" I asked him before I realized that the words came out of my mouth before I even thought of doing anything else. The man chuckled.

"Hey! Don't be shy, I'm a nice guy, really. I am actually heading to Loguetown myself to met up with some friends of mine." The man explained.

"Your friends? Anyone we know?" I asked the man, feeling somewhat curious.

"Maybe? You guys don't happen to be from the Goa –" Our new companion was about explain something to us before somebody entered the buffet area, looking panicked.

"Somebody, come quick, it's an emergency! Saint Kai-Fei has been murdered!"

We gasped. We were just talking to Saint Kai-Fei not too long ago, and nothing seemed suspicious.

Ending Note: So, anybody got any thoughts about this crossover so far?

Be sure to review this fic and "One Piece: Rise of the Pirate Queen"!