Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, One Piece or How to Train Your Dragon. All characters and their affiliations are owned by their respective creators. I am not making money off of this work of fiction. The characters Rock and Rain do belong to me.

A Family of Outlaws

Chapter Eleven: Origins of the Straw Hat

After the explanations, everyone went to do their own project or hobby. Things were crowded with a ship full of pirates and two full-grown dragons, one the size of a small house. Kagome took Luffy with her to begin his training. Once she was settled down and not able to react quickly, he was gone. Not even the threat of grounding him got Luffy to hold still. Dragon was the one to come up with a solution to that problem. He had noticed his son's growing interest in the young dragon rider. He put that knowledge to use.

Dragon took Luffy off to the side. "I want to do a little excercise with you," Dragon announced. "It's using your imagination." Dragon turned Luffy to where he was facing the rest of the Straw Hat crew. "You care for your friends," Dragon stated. "You would do anything for them, that much is obvious. So much, in fact, that your enemies also know how important they are to you. Now, imagine that all of you are facing Blackbeard. The Heart Pirates aren't around and your mother and I are gone. You have only each other to rely on.

"Over the years Blackbeard has built his strength. No one has any idea how strong he has become at this point. Even with you being able to use Haki the battle could prove to be harsh."

Dragon then adjusted Luffy's shoulders to where his focus could only zero in on Rain. "Now I want you to use your imagination. Blackbeard knows how much you care for Rain, more then the others. He captures her, maybe not easily, but he still has her. An army of Devil Fruit users stand between you and her now. Instead of staying, Blackbeard retreats with Rain. You still have an army to go through to get to her. Can you do it with Devil Fruit powers and Haki alone? What would happen to that situation if you had the use of reiki? Not only could you charge through the army, but beating Blackbeard and saving Rain would be a snap."

Luffy remained quiet for a time. He hadn't thought about it quite like that. Silently, Luffy started to walk away and Dragon let him. A few minutes later Luffy and Kagome were found meditating in the garden. This time none of Usopp, Chopper and Bortolomeo's antics caused him to break concentration.

"How did you do it?" Zoro walked up to Dragon. "I know Kagome has tried to get him to meditate for days now."

Dragon smirked and looked at the swordsman. "A man just needs the right incentive," he answered.

"What kind of incentive?" Zoro asks.

"You'll see."

~ Four days passed uneventfully. Luffy continued his training with Kagome. He managed to summon a small amount of his reiki now. The Straw Hats still went about their daily business without a care.

Zoro was in the watch tower, using his weights as usual, when something caught his eye. He stopped to get a better look. A ship was approaching the Sunny and they were flying the 'peace flag'. Whoever it was they were obviously not Marines and they were looking for them specifically.

"There's a ship approaching," Zoro announced on the speaker. "They're flying a 'peace flag'."

Both groups of pirates looked for the ship Zoro was talking about. They found it off their port side. Dragon had a set of binoculars he was using. "I can't make out who it is," he said. "The only thing I can tell for sure is that they have peaceful intentions. Though their flag is lowered the image on the main sail is a skull with two red lines over its left eye."

Luffy's face suddenly appeared in Dragon's view. "Let me see," he cried. Dragon leaned back and lowered the binoculars. Before he could protest, however, Luffy snatched the optical device away. "It's got to be Shanks," Luffy announced. "That's the image that he has on his Jolly Rodger."

"Your grandpa has a few choice words for him," Kagome stated.

Luffy lowered the binoculars and stuck out his lips in dissatisfaction. He looked back at his mom, who was smirking at him. "You're not going to yell at him, are you?" he asked.

Dragon let out a laugh as Kagome looked shocked. "Why would you think that I would yell at him?"

All the Straw Hats avoided looking at Kagome directly. "No reason," they chorused. This only made Dragon laugh harder. Kagome shook her head at all of them.

"I don't yell at everybody," Kagome defended. Shadow laughed at this. "Who asked you?"

"Should we send someone to make sure it's Shanks and not some imposter?" Rain asked. "Let's think about this for a moment. Luffy has a large bounty and his crew, all together, is a bounty that's hard to pass up. Not to mention the Leader of the Revolutionary Army is on board, though I doubt anyone knows that. To end a long list of reasons, the Heart Pirates are sailing with us. Who would pass up a chance to bring in all these big names with such huge bounties?"

"I'll go and check it out," Kagome announced. "I've seen Shanks' wanted poster so I know what he looks like. Shadow can approach close enough for me to get a good look without anyone noticing."

Dragon pulled Kagome to him and kissed her. "You be careful," he said. He then let Kagome go.

Once Kagome was secure in Shadow's saddle, the Changeling blended in with her surroundings. It looked like Kagome was floating in the air. With a giant flap of her wings and a jump, the dragon was in the air. The two flew high enough so that Kagome couldn't be seen from either ship.

~ Rockstar blinked from his view in the nest. "Captain, you're not going to believe this," he called. "I just saw a person float away from the Straw Hat's ship and then disappear."

All those on deck looked up at him. "How much have you had to drink today?" Beckman asked.

"I swear it's the truth," Rockstar retaliated. "Even if I was drunk I couldn't just make something like this up."

"This should be interesting," Shanks smirked. "Keep an eye on the ship. If something similar happens then let us know."

"You actually believe him?" Yasopp asked.

"This is Luffy we're talking about," Shanks said. "He isn't one to be underestimated."

"Over estimating him is just as bad," Lucky pointed out.

The crew waited anxiously for five minutes. "It happened again Captain," Rockstar announced. "Only this time the figure appeared out of thin air and lowered to the ship."

"Can you see what's going on aboard the ship?" Shanks asked.

"The figure appeared and disappeared behind their sail," Rockstar reported. "I can see figures around the rail and near the figurehead, but behind the sails are a mystery."

"Then we just have to wait," Shanks said.

~ Luffy was waiting for Kagome anxiously when she and Shadow returned. "Well?" he asked.

Kagome smiled down at Luffy. "It's Shanks," she told him. "He looks a little older than his poster, but you can't mistake that red hair and scar."

"Whoo Hoo!" Luffy leapt into the air. He then ran back to the figurehead. He stood on top of the lion and started waving his hands back and forth.

"If we're having guests then we should keep Darkess and Shadow below," Rain suggested. She then turned to face Franky. "Is there enough room?"

"If they don't mind staying in the soldier docking system area," Franky started. "Then there's more than enough." He opened the docking system and both dragons flew in from the Starboard side.

~ Shanks now stood at the prow of his ship. Rockstar gave the report of someone waving to them. "That's got to be Luffy," Beckman stated. "I don't know anyone else that has that much energy."

"It would seem that whoever it was Rockstar saw was coming to check us out," Shanks smirked. "It looks like Luffy has someone on his crew with a unique spying ability."

"That would come in handy," Lucky took a bite out of the turkey leg he had.

"It seems our friend as learned a few tricks while out at sea," Shanks stated.

~ It took a half hour for the Red Force to come alongside the Thousand Sunny. When the ramp was secured Luffy waited at the end. He was shifting from one foot to the other.

"How come he wasn't this excited when we told him we were his parents?" Kagome asked.

"Because you're scary," Zoro answered.

"Watch it mister!"

Shanks walked down the ramp at an easy pace. He was followed by Beckman, Lucky and Yasopp. Once they were on board the Sunny Shanks started laughing. He and Luffy clasped arms together in greeting, Luffy joining in on the laughter. Shanks glanced around and spotted Kagome. "You must be Luffy's Mom," he cheered. The red-haired pirate approached Kagome and gave her a hug.

"Um," Kagome started. "Yes, I am." She pulled away from Shanks and stood next to Dragon. "My name is Kagome and this is my husband Dragon. We're Luffy's parents."

Shanks then clasped arms with Dragon. "You are a very lucky man," he said. "I would kill to have such a fine lady at my side."

"Some have tried and failed," Dragon smirked. He put his arm around Kagome's shoulders.

"Shanks," Luffy called out. The other captain turned to Luffy in question. Very carefully, Luffy took off his Straw Hat. He started to hand it out to Shanks. The members of his crew started freaking out. No one was allowed to touch his hat, yet here he was just giving it away.

Shanks looked at the hat and then back to Luffy. He took hold of it and when Luffy lowered his hand Shanks put the hat on Luffy's head. "You keep it," Shanks said. "It suits you better than it does me. Besides, I have a feeling that destiny brought it to you."

Luffy looked confused by Shanks statement. "We made a promise," Luffy argued. "Once I became a pirate and made a name for myself I would give this hat back to you when we met again."

"We did make that promise," Shanks agreed. "But I never said I would take the hat back to keep. I'm passing it on to someone more fitted for it. This hat belonged to my captain when I started as a pirate. He entrusted it to me, saying it was meant for great things. Right after he disbanded his crew. I had a feeling he knew it would eventually reach his true successor."

"What are you talking about Shanks?" Luffy asked.

"That hat first belonged to a pirate captain named Gol D. Rodger," Shanks announced. The ship was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. "That's right, that's the hat of The King of the Pirates. It's only fitting that his successor wears it as well."

Luffy took off the hat and stared at it. He had no idea it had such a long history. The way Rayleigh looked at the hat when he said Shanks gave it to him now made sense. Rayleigh had remembered a time when he worked with a man who also wore this hat.

"Now that the business end of this trip is taken care of," Shanks looked around. "It's time to have a party!" The members on board the Red Force all cheered and started bringing out barrels.

"I guess I should get started on cooking," Sanji let out a puff of smoke. "We can't have a party without food."

"Yohohohoho," Brook started to walk away. "I'll see about a suitable place for musicians. Any that know how to play an instrument are welcome to join me."

~ During the party Shanks had Luffy sit next to him so that they could catch up. Everything was going great, in Shanks opinion, until Luffy suddenly went silent. Shanks waved a hand in Luffy's face and got no response. He followed Luffy's line of sight.

Off on the other side of the Sunny, Rockstar was avidly talking to a blonde woman. She was smiling politely, but shaking her head. Behind Rockstar, the green haired man of Luffy's crew was being held back by Yasopp's son. "What in the world?" he muttered. Shanks glanced around and found Zoro and Sanji having a drinking contest.

"Do you two know what the deal with Luffy is?" Shanks asked.

Sanji and Zoro stopped long enough to assess the situation. "What's the name of the man Bortolomeo looks ready to kill?" Sanji asked.

"That would be one of my newer recruits. His name is Rockstar."

"Well, he's flirting with the wrong girl," Sanji shook his head. "He would be safer if he kept his nose in his drink."

"How so?"

"Luffy is protective of Rain," Zoro pointed out. So now Shanks had a name to go along with a face. "Because of this, Bortolomeo is also protective of her. Not for the same reasons though. Bortolomeo basically worships the ground Luffy walks. He also sees it as his duty to defend anything that might be Luffy's. In this case, it would be Luffy's girl. Though neither have come to admit it."

"Is that right?" Shanks' smirk turned evil as an idea formed in his head. "Well now, we just have to see about that." Shanks stood up and headed over to Rockstar and Rain. Sanji and Zoro continued to watch to see what events would unfold.

~ "I'm afraid that I'm not a very good dancer," Rain said. She was trying everything to get this guy to leave her alone. He just wasn't taking a hint. Short of having Darkess take a bite out of his shorts, she didn't think he would give up.

"You can't expect me to believe that."

Rockstar startled at the entrance of the newcomer. "Captain," he called out. "I was just asking Miss Rain to a dance."

"I gathered that," Shanks smiled. He held out his hand to Rain. "Even if you don't know how to dance it's still fun to try."

Rain bit the inside of her lip. She knew how to dance, she just didn't want to with strangers. She glanced around, looking for an escape. Another member of the crew off to the side would have been good. She could lie and say they were gesturing her over. She started looking closely around for Robin or Nami. Even Chopper would do at this point. She would put those ridiculous chopsticks up her nose to get away from dancing.

As if sensing her shift, Shanks didn't wait for Rain to accept his offered hand. He took hold of one of Rain's and headed for the makeshift dance floor. Rain blushed to the sound of the Red Hair Pirates giving her and their captain catcalls.

Brook and the other musicians were playing a fast song, to Rain's relief. "I've never seen an outfit like yours before," Shanks commented. "Where did you have it made?"

"My father actually designed it," Rain said. "It holds a good number of secrets. As for who actually made it, I did."

"The leather feels softer then any other I've felt before."

"We harvested the molted skin of creatures native to our island," Rain explained. "I don't suppose you would believe me if I told you this was dragon leather?"

"I don't think anything any of Luffy's crew members did would surprise me nowadays," Shanks said. "I've been following Luffy in the papers since he received his first bounty." Shanks started to spin Rain around the floor, in time with the beat. This whole time he managed to keep a careful eye on Luffy. The other man had stood from his spot and was walking towards them.

Shanks smirked down at Rain. "By the way," he started. "I do apologize for this in advance."

"Apologize for what?" Rain asked.

As an answer, Shanks swung her around particularly fast. He let go of her hand at a convenient time. The momentum and spinning kept Rain from stopping herself. She felt herself crash head first into someone muscular. 'Oh please let it be someone from our crew,' she silently pleaded.

Rain slowly opened her eyes, which she hadn't realized she closed very tightly. She found herself nose to nose with Luffy. His arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. Once again there were catcalls, but this time there was also cheering.

"That, ladies and pirates," Shanks called out. "Is what I like to call 'The Dance and Crash'. By the way, you two are welcome."