English is not my first language, but the story is betaread by Checkmate-13! Because he's awesome like that :)

Chapter 4. The Pirate in the Barrel

Luffy yawned and slowly rubbed his eyes. Ah, that was such a good nap! He tried to stretch, but the cramped space he was sleeping in prevented him from doing that.

The pirate grinned. That's right. He'd left his home island and got sucked into a whirlpool not far from it. With no other means to escape imminent drowning, he had climbed into barrel with absolute faith that he would survive. And he did! Even better, Luffy was no longer in the sea. The fierce swaying and tossing that made him sleepy was absent.

The teen cautiously lifted the lid and looked around. The barrel had been left in a small, dark room, with several other various sized barrels, boxes, and jugs. This probably was storeroom.

Luffy fixed his hat more firmly on his head and silently climbed out. He could sense only one person nearby, but there were a bunch of others a bit further away. The teen felt a barely detectable swaying. Was he on a ship?

Luffy opened the door and scanned the area, a kitchen. There was a small, pink haired kid, sitting on a chair and peeling potatoes in the furthest corner. He was facing the other direction and didn't notice the intruder.

The straw-hatted boy strolled to a table in the middle of the room where he'd spotted a bowl with apples. As he grabbed one, the pinkette sighed heavily.

"Why did I decide to go fishing that day?" he muttered. "I would have never ended up here if I'd just stayed at home."

Luffy jumped on the cupboard and sat in a cross-legged position. He absent-mindedly began to toss the apple up and down while listening to the kid's rambling.

"Ah, it was a fateful day, I'm sure of it," the boy dropped the finished potato into a bucket and took another. "All I wanted to do was relax and fish for a bit. How could I have known that the boat was a pirate ship?"

Luffy caught the apple again and looked around. So it was a pirate ship, huh? How disappointing. There wasn't anyone worth fighting here.

The pink-haired boy sighed again. "It's been two years already… I'm so pathetic. If I had more guts, I could run away," one more potato went down into the bucket, "but whenever I think of Alvida-sama finding out, my legs turn all mushy."

Luffy frowned. The kid practically wallowed in self-loathing, but he couldn't miss the point that he didn't want to be here. Luffy bit into his apple and asked, "Do you have a dream?"

"Sure I do!" the pinkette happily replied. "I want to become a… become a… become…" he trailed off as he slowly realized that it was definitely not an imaginary voice who asked the question. The boy swiveled around, almost tripping over his own feet. His eyes bulged, jaw dropped, and he froze from the sight of the straw-hatted teenager, casually sitting in front of him and munching on an apple.

Luffy took notice of an ugly bruise on the kid's cheek and several smudges of dry blood on his shirt. He let a friendly smile slip onto his lips before waving a hand in greeting. "Hi! I'm Luffy. You?"

"C-Coby."

"So, Coby, what's your dream?" the teen inquired again, snatching a second apple and throwing it whole into his mouth.

"I want to become a marine." The pinkette answered without a second thought. At that moment, the entire situation hit him. This person was certainly not one of Alvida-sama's crewmembers. Who was he?!

Luffy eyed him with open disappointment. "A marine, huh?"

Coby's head drooped, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Of course, a person like me could never–"

"No, no," the hatted teen interrupted him, "I wasn't mocking your dream, I just don't like marines in general." He slid from the cupboard and turned around to check the fridge.

Coby let out a sigh of relief. This strange teen didn't seem to be dangerous, but his gaze felt like it pierced directly through his very soul. Being under such heavy scrutiny was not good for his heart at all.

Now that the stranger had turned his back to him and was busy shoveling everything from the fridge, Coby had a minute to take a good look at him. He was a scrawny, young teen, maybe not even older than 15, with short, raven colored, unruly hair. He wore a simple long-sleeved red shirt, blue shorts, and sandals. A black bandana was tied around his neck, and an old looking straw hat was placed on his head. He also had a small dagger in an ornamental sheath, and what looked like three metal sticks strapped to the lower part of his back.

"L-Luffy-san, right? Where did you come from?"

"Eh?" the pirate glanced at him, mouth full of food. "I came from the barrel," he pointed at the storeroom door.

"The barrel…?" Coby blinked in confusion. The only new barrel they got was the one he found in the cruise ship that they raided earlier today. He was the one to show it to Alvida-sama to appease her. They all thought it was full of sake or wine, but if Luffy-san was in there… Coby blanched.

"Ahhhh!" exclaimed Luffy, patting his finally satisfied stomach. "That was a good food! Oh!" he remembered something, turned around to face the pink haired kid and grinned. "Thank you for the snack!"

Coby glanced at the fridge, which was now totally empty. "You ate everything?!"

"Shishishishi." The stranger chuckled. "Sorry, sorry."

"No, it's not important!" he suddenly shouted hysterically and gave a deep bow. "I-I'm very sorry!"

Luffy tilted his head to one side. "For what?"

"It was me who brought your barrel onto this ship," still bowing, Coby explained. "You need to get out of here, Luffy-san, before Alvida-sama finds you!"

"Nah, don't worry about that," the hatted teen brushed it off like it was nothing. "But you're right, I can't stay here. I need to find my crew. Do you have a boat I could use?"

The pinkette looked at him, confused. "A crew?"

Luffy grinned confidently under his straw hat. "A crew worthy to sail with the future Pirate King!"

"EHHHHHHH? P-pirate King?" Coby blinked. "That means Luffy-san is a pirate?"

"That's right."

"B-but the Pirate King is someone who has everything in this world! Wealth, fame, and power, all united within one person! The owner of the world's greatest treasure, One Piece!"

"You can also add sheer freedom to that list," suggested the pirate youngster, smirking teasingly.

"Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! Absolutely impossible! To stand on top in this great pirate era is impossible!" The pinkette ranted for couple more minutes about how impossible this feat was until he ran out of breath and had to stop. Luffy just observed him with small, knowing smile.

"It's not about if it's possible or not," the teen put a hand on top of his straw hat. "It's all about the conviction to chase after your dream. I don't care if I die doing it. After all, there are scarier things than death in this world."

Coby just stared at the smiling pirate. His words were steeled with such an amazing resolution. His whole being vibrated from barely held excitement to do just that: simply chase after an impossible dream without any restraints and thoughts of consequences. Coby felt like he was suddenly struck by lightning.

"Could I… Could I do that too?" he whispered.

"What? Become the Pirate King?"

"No! Become a marine!" the boy increased his voice. "Joining the marines and catching bad guys has always been my dream! I will do it! I will run from here and stop working as a slave for Alvida-sama! No, I will catch Alvida-sama!"

"That's awesome, Coby!" Luffy slapped him on the back to encourage him even more. "Now, let's go and catch her!"

"EHHHH? Right now?! Impossible, I'm not ready..!"

"Well," the future King sighed, "that's a short lived conviction if I ever saw one."

The kid had started to rant about impossibilities all over again. Luffy scowled in irritation.

"Coby!" he yelled.

The boy yelped, but answered with a meek, "Aye?"

"Pull your head out of your pants and let's go!" Luffy grabbed him and dragged him out of the kitchen. He smiled at the petrified boy over his shoulder. "Don't worry, I have your back."

"You have my arm, not my back!" Coby shrieked.

The pirate just laughed merrily, rounded a corner and stopped. Before him stood a huge, fat woman with a spiky iron mace propped on her shoulder. She sneered down at them both. Alvida eyed Luffy suspiciously first, then her gaze flickered to Coby. Three men behind her snickered mockingly.

The pinkette cowered, vainly trying to sink into the floor. The raven-haired teen just stared. Suddenly he pointed a finger at her, looked at Coby and asked innocently, "Who's this baby whale?"

Alvida and her lackeys growled furiously. Coby gasped and tried to grab Luffy by his shoulders to shake some sense into him, but the straw hatted pirate avoided his grip.

"Ah, I must say sorry," he stated suddenly, and the pink-haired kid sighted with relief. "Makino once said that baby whales are cute. I shouldn't insult them like that." He ignored the terrified Coby and turned to face Alvida again.

The woman's face turned red from anger and several veins popped on her forehead.

"COBY!" she roared, forcing the poor boy to almost faint from fear. "Who's the most beautiful woman in all the seas?!"

"W-why of course i-it's…" Coby was choking on his own words when a hand landed on his shaking shoulder. Luffy peered right into his eyes, encouraging smile on his face. "It's all about the conviction to chase after your dream. I don't care if I die doing it." The boy remembered the words of the young pirate and they made him think that maybe, just maybe, he somehow could overcome his fears and fight for his own dream like that.

Coby clenched his fists, took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs: "YOU'RE THE UGLIEST OLD HAG IN ALL THE SEAS!"

Luffy burst into laughter. This kid may have wanted to become a marine, but he was alright in his book. And that meant that Luffy had to save his hide.

He pushed Coby, who was white as a paper, out of the iron mace's way and easily avoided it himself. Without any delay, he shot forward and threw a punch into the woman's stomach. Her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets from the force of the attack, causing her large body to fly backwards. She cleaned up the three goons still standing behind her as she skidded along the hallway and through a wall.

With a huge grin plastered on his face, Luffy made his way through the hole and stepped out onto the deck. Coby quietly scurried after him.

A bunch of bewildered pirates tore their eyes from the beaten frame of their captain and fearfully looked at the small hatted figure.

"Shishishishi. Now, you three," Luffy pointed at a trio standing nearby, "prepare a boat for me and Coby." He pointed at another duo of pirates. "You two, stock some food and drink onto the boat for our journey. The rest of you," he waved his hand in the general direction of the crew, "bring all your treasure and money."

The pirates gritted their teeth and their expressions darkened. "Who do you think you are, punk?!" screamed one and jumped to attack, but was instantly flung across the deck with a kick. Two swordsmen growled and slashed their sabers at Luffy, but he casually ducked under the blades, grabbed their heads, and smashed them against each other. He cautiously scanned through the rest of the crew. No one else moved.

A smile slid on the future Pirate King's lips again, but this time it was not a happy grin, nor it was a cocky smirk. Alvida's goons shivered from his evil smile, a smile promising them a great amount of pain.

"So?" asked Luffy, amusement clearly in his voice. He didn't need to tell them more, pirates scrambled to fulfill his orders like their life depended on it.

Luffy raised an eyebrow at the Alvida's goon who gulped nervously. "That's all you have?" asked the boy. The man in front of him heartily nodded. Luffy looked back at the measly bag of treasure and beli. "That's really all you have?" he inquired again.

"Sorry, Sir," the pirate gulped nervously again, "we were robbed blind before our last raid, so we only have loot from one attack."

"Robbed? Pfft," Luffy tried to hold in laughter, but failed miserably. It echoed through the silent ship, much to the displeasure of the residents. "You're rather crappy pirates, aren't you?"

The straw hatted teen grabbed the treasure bag and tossed it over the railings, completely unfazed by all the angry glares and growls. When he heard a raucous sound from below, followed by a scared yelp, Luffy looked over his shoulder to the dinghy and called to the boy already inside, "Are we ready to leave, Coby?"

"Y-yeah, Luffy-san!"

"Alright then," he sighed, glancing over all the men on deck and smirked. "I have a parting gift for you before I leave. It's for taking care of Coby."

Before anyone could react, he stretched his leg upwards and brought down heavenly wrath. The ship swayed violently, wood creaked as cracks ran across the deck. Luffy repeated the attack, ultimately shattering the ship into several pieces, before jumping to the dinghy.

"Have fun, losers!" he bid his farewell while waving both hands towards the totally defeated, weeping pirates.

Luffy settled comfortably in their little boat and laughed at Alvida's sinking ship. Coby stared at it for a while, then glanced at the young pirate and laughed nervously.

"That was fun!" stated Luffy finally, when they'd drifted far away from the unfortunate pirate crew.

"Um, Luffy-san, where are we sailing?"

Luffy hummed. "Beats me. My crewmembers could be anywhere. Where do you want to go?"

"M-me?" the pinkette stuttered, but composed himself and said, "Shells Town is about a day from here. There is a marine base and I-I could probably join them."

"Marine base, huh?" the pirate frowned, but then lifted his head to watch the clouds and sighed tiredly. "Well, I guess we can go there."

Coby grinned happily, shifted the sail slightly in accordance with their new destination. After a moment, he spoke again, "Now that I think about it, there are rumors that the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro is held in that base."

That piqued Luffy's interest. "Pirate hunter?"

"Rumors say he is a bloodthirsty killer, wandering the seas and slaughtering everyone who stands in his way. He's a demon in the form of a man." The boy shivered just from talking about such a dangerous and evil man. "He's also called the Demon of the East Blue."

That sounded interesting. Luffy smiled. "Is he a swordsman, by any chance?"

"I think he is. Why?"

The pirate's smile grew to an impossible size. "Swordsmen are so cool! I want to see him!"

"Don't be stupid, Luffy-san! He's a demon!" shrieked Coby. "He's gonna kill you the moment he lays eyes on you!"

"Let him try, shishishishi. I bet a demonic swordsman is even cooler! I need the best for my crew." He leapt onto the dinghy's bowsprit, fist-pumped the air and exclaimed "Set course to Clam Town to meet the demon!" He burst into laughter, completely ignoring the terrified shouts from his companion about demons, bounty hunters, and being killed because of carelessness.

"We're finally here! Clam Town!" Luffy yelled excited, the moment he jumped from the dinghy to the ground.

"Shells Town, Luffy-san, I told you several times already. It's called Shells Town." Coby heaved a heavy sigh. Dealing with this extremely exuberant teen was much harder than he could ever have imagined. Once he got a crazy idea stuck in his mind, nobody could talk him out of it. Not even when his own life was in danger.

"Let's go meet the demon!" stated Luffy and promptly started walking up the hill towards the navy buildings. It was still in the early morning, so people just began to fill the streets. Nobody paid any attention to two young boys.

Coby stalked after Luffy, lacking any motivation to meet the infamous pirate hunter or join the marines. "Luffy-san, you should reconsider. Roronoa Zoro is a dangerous man. He was caught by marines because he probably did something really bad." The pinkette shivered. "Maybe he slaughtered the town or something."

The hatted pirate just snorted. "Just because marines caught him, doesn't mean that he's a bad man."

"He's a demon! Marines are justice! They would never arrest an innocent man!"

Luffy stopped and unconsciously touched the left side of his neck. Some dark memories resurfaced, but he shoved them off immediately. He needed to think about something else. Anything. He looked at the ugly building on top of the hill. He'll soon see the cool swordsman and maybe find his first nakama. That's it! He just had to focus on that.

His stupid companion still rambled about how perfect and just the navy was, oblivious of the annoyed, cold glare Luffy sent his way.

"Coby, shut up." He uttered in a low, dangerous voice, and the pinkette almost melted away under his fierce glare. "You're too naïve if you think that marines would never touch an innocent person. They'd do that easily, and sometimes go even further." He touched his scar again, and pinned Coby with his soul piercing eyes. "You'll never be truly just, if you continue to believe that all marines are saints or that all pirates are evil."

Coby gulped. He remembered Luffy saying that he didn't like marines, but his eyes now showed enormous hate towards them. Just now it clicked that it was a bad idea to glorify the navy in front of him. He made this extremely powerful pirate furious!

Inwardly, Coby had already started saying goodbye to his miserable life, but Luffy finally shifted his gaze back to the base. Coby almost fainted from relief. Now he wasn't sure who the true demon was, and swore never to make this teen angry ever again.

They reached their destination in silence. Coby was mulling over Luffy's words, and only snapped out of it when his companion happily exclaimed "We're here!"

Luffy strolled along the wall, trying to reach the presence he could sense a bit further away. It was stronger and much fiercer than any other presence he'd felt until now. It wasn't cold or hostile in any way, which he'd expected from a 'demon', only bitter and lonely.

Luffy leapt onto the wall, barely able to contain his excitement. He pulled himself up and sat cross-legged on top, laying his eyes on the so called pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro, for the first time.

The man was tied to a wooden cross in the middle of an empty execution yard, like some poor excuse for a crucifix, with his eyes hidden under the shadow of black bandana. Luffy noticed trails of dry blood on his face, it was smeared on his shirt as well, mixed with sweat. He seemed tired, starved, thirsty, beaten, and definitely nothing like the bloodthirsty Demon of the East Blue.

But if this Zoro guy had such a vigorous presence while weakened, and radiated pride even when bound and beaten, he was certainly a man worthy to become a nakama of the Pirate King.

Luffy couldn't restrain his lips from splitting into a huge grin. So that's what his swordsman looked like.

Next Chapter: The Pirate King and his Swordsman