Betaread and final touches done by Checkmate-13!
Chapter 11. Pirates' Games
"There's no way we can get to the Grand Line in our current condition," Nami suddenly stated.
The two boats had been sailing through the calm waters of the East Blue for a while now.
Luffy looked at her from his spot on the bowsprit, then to the small piece of apple in his hand. "You're right. We need to restock on food," he said, throwing the fruit into his mouth. "It would be bad if you guys had to starve."
Zoro peeked at his captain with a sideways glance. That was some strange wording, like he hadn't included himself into the possibility of starvation. He bit at his own apple and mumbled, "Some booze would be nice, too."
"Do you two think about anything but food and booze?!" the navigator huffed. "The Grand Line is the most dangerous place in the world! There will be lots of pirates with powerful ships and crews. We don't even have a normal ship, not to mention that we lack manpower."
"Yep, we definitely need some more people," the straw hatted pirate agreed, gazing again at the distant horizon. "A cook, a musician, and a fluffy one, they are the most important!"
Nami blinked. "Fluffy one?"
Luffy just showed her a goofy grin before bursting into laughter.
The thief gawked at him in absolute bafflement, then shifted her eyes onto Zoro who apparently wasn't surprised by the odd declaration of his captain. She stared at him intensely, trying to drill a hole in the side of his head. The swordsman scowled, but said nothing.
"Well?" Nami broke the silence between them, impatient for an answer. "Are you going to explain?"
"Why are you even asking me?" Zoro send an annoyed glare towards her, but the orange-haired girl placed her hands on her hips and brushed it off like it was nothing.
"You've been sailing with Luffy longer than me. You should know what he's talking about."
"I have no idea," deadpanned the swordsman.
A blissful giggle reached their ears, and both pirates looked at their child captain who observed them curiously. "You two are so funny!" he declared with the biggest, sunniest grin, splitting his face in half.
Nami groaned in exasperation. "You don't make any sense! Fluffy one? Musician? What do you think a pirate crew is?"
"Nakama!" Luffy shouted in glee. "Like a family!"
The navigator sighed. She couldn't understand this kid at all. Sometimes he acted like a true pirate in a ruthless and brutal way, but sometimes… The night when she cried into his chest flashed in her mind, and Nami frowned. "Do you even know what pirates usually do?" she asked.
"I do," Luffy replied in such a serious tone that the thief got startled from the sudden change. "Different pirates want different things." The boy placed a hand on top of his straw hat and grinned with confidence under it. "I sail the seas to become the Pirate King! Zoro wants to become the world's greatest swordsman!"
Zoro simply smirked at Luffy's statement.
Nami gaped at them. Pirate King? World's greatest swordsman? Those were rather presumptuous ambitions! But in a way her childhood dream was quite similar. Sadly she'd had to abandon it so that it wouldn't get in the way of her current goal.
The thief almost flinched when she heard a question from Luffy, "What's your dream, Nami?"
Nami suddenly found herself under heavy scrutiny of those piercing obsidian eyes. She hated that. When Luffy peered right into her eyes like that, she felt like he could see all the ugliness she tried so hard to hide and she had to fight an urge to spill everything to him.
"I want to draw the map of the world," the navigator conceded finally.
"Ohhh, that's an amazing dream!" praised Luffy, grinning widely. "Shishishishi, to reach One Piece we'll have to visit a lot of places. So, how about joining my crew instead of an alliance, Nami?"
Nami scowled. "I already told you no."
The teen still wanted to say something, but suddenly something in the distant sea caught his attention and he looked in that direction, trying to figure out exactly what it was.
Nami followed his line of sight, squinting at the small fleck on the horizon. "That's a pirate ship," she announced after looking at it through the binoculars. "We should go around it if we want to sneak past them unnoticed."
"Why?" Luffy asked, confused.
"They are pirates!"
"Well, we are too. Oi, Zoro!" the rubber boy called, getting the attention of his swordsman. "Are you up for some exercise?"
"What do you have in mind?"
A mischievous smile curled on Luffy's lips. "I say we go visit them," he pointed at the pirate ship.
"Are you insane?!" exclaimed the thief. "We don't even know what kind of pirates they are! Or how strong they are!"
"If they are good guys, we can just make friends," suggested the captain. "If they are bad guys, they could have some treasure for you to steal."
Nami's face instantly lit up at his words, and both pirates could swear that they saw beli signs in her eyes. "Alright, captain, let's go!" she cheered, promptly changing the course of her boat towards the enemy ship.
"She doesn't make any sense herself," Zoro commented sourly, eliciting a laugh from Luffy.
As they approached the red and black pirate ship with a black cat as a figurehead, they perceived that the ship was actually at anchor. Nami informed them that there was an island maybe half a day from here, so the pirate ship staying so close to it was quite suspicious.
This pirate crew was also very inattentive. Two boats sailed right next to the ship and came to a stop by bumping into its hull, but nobody rang an alarm or even yelled a warning.
"How are we going to climb up?" Nami asked, while looking up, trying to spy anyone staring down at them. It was an enemy vessel, after all, and judging by its size, the crew had to be quite big.
Luffy just grinned. "Pass me the rope," he requested. As soon as he grabbed one end of the rope, the teen stretched his other hand upwards, gripping the railings and pulling himself up.
He landed on the railings, and immediately scanned the deck. There were only a couple of pirates, lazily observing the ocean on the other side of the ship. Luffy could sense the others inside. He tied the rope and gave a signal to his nakama.
"Oi, guys!" the straw hatted captain shouted at the two pirates. They turned around and blinked at the strange kid, sitting on the railings. A bright smile spread across Luffy's face. "Hi! How are you?"
The men just stared at his goofy grin, unable to comprehend the situation. When Zoro's head popped up from over the hull, they finally snapped out of their daze. "WHO ARE YOU?!" they both roared in unison.
"I'm Luffy, this is Zoro," the rubber boy introduced them both. The swordsman hopped over the railings and leaned on them right next to his captain.
"Well, boys, you really found the wrong ship to sneak onto," one of the pirates grinned evilly while unsheathing his saber. "This is a pirate ship, you know."
The second man ran inside to call out the rest of the crew.
Luffy's grin grew even wider. "We're pirates too!"
"Oh?" answered the man, amused, before laughing mockingly. "What kind of pirates are you? Baby pirates?" He sprinted across the deck, swinging his saber at the hatted boy.
Zoro drew his blade in a flash, deflecting the attack and slashing the assailant. "We're stronger pirates than you," he remarked coolly as the guy dropped down bleeding.
"I guess it means that they are bad guys," Luffy decided, disappointed. He nonchalantly watched the rest of the crew bursting out onto the deck and starting to fuss about the intruders and their crewmate lying out cold. An idea suddenly popped in the teen's mind, and he grinned again. "Zoro, wanna make a bet?"
The swordsman raised an eyebrow at that. "A bet?" he echoed.
"Shishishishi! Let's make a bet who can take more of them," the captain pointed at the pirates, ignoring a bunch of angry growls and glares. "The winner will get to ask one favor from the loser."
Zoro showed a savage grin. "Okay, I'm in," he agreed, already pulling out the other two swords.
Luffy gave him his own cocky smile. "You have a head start," he jumped from the railings and cracked his knuckles, "but it doesn't mean that I'll let you win."
"I'm Sham," introduced the slim weirdo.
"I'm Buchi," said the fat weirdo.
"Together, we're the Nyaban Brothers!" they both chorused, striking a pose.
Luffy and Zoro shared a baffled glance. When the last pirate had dropped on the deck, these two weirdoes in cat costumes had shown up from seemingly nowhere.
Ignoring them, the rubber teen looked over the railings. "Oi, Nami, the enemy is down, you can… hm?" Two empty boats were lazily swaying on the sea next to the ship's hull. Luffy eyed the vessel he was on, smiling after a moment. The thief was already doing her job.
"H-how dare you attack our ship!" asked the slim weirdo, stuttering a bit.
"We're this ship's guardians, our duty is to protect it," mumbled the fat weirdo.
"So, why won't you do it?" Zoro teased, re-sheathing two of his swords. These pirates weren't even worth their time, they seemed already scared out of their wits.
"What? How can we… Buchi, we can't beat them!" Sham declared, frantically waving his hands in front of him and sweating profusely.
"Yeah!" agreed his brother, nodding violently. "You, guys, look so strong!"
"But we need to do it!" cried the slim weirdo, almost in tears.
"We need to protect the ship while the captain is out!" the fat weirdo seconded.
Luffy stared at them. These two were the strongest he'd met in this crew so far, so why were they acting like weaklings? They weren't even really scared.
As both enemies suddenly launched themselves, at the same time crying and wailing, Luffy shouted a warning to his swordsman, "Zoro, stay alert!"
A sly smirk suddenly slipped on Sham's lips as he swung his gloved arm with the sharp claws on it, but the three-sword user reacted to his captain's order without any hesitation. The moment the claws clashed to his defensively lifted katana, he pulled out the second one and slashed, forcing the cat-pirate to retreat. Zoro bit the third katana, "Tora Gari!" Sham screamed in pain, falling down as deep cuts appeared across his chest.
The fat body of the second weirdo flew back past Zoro and crashed through the railings, landing in the water several metres away. A carefree chuckle came from Luffy after his arm snapped back into place.
"Luffy, be more careful where you throw your opponents!" Zoro chided.
"Shishishishi! Sorry, sorry!" the rubber boy replied in a not very apologetic tone. "So, how many do you have?"
The swordsman smirked proudly. "Seventeen."
Luffy gave him a smug grin. "And I have eighteen!" he exclaimed, fist-pumping the air.
Zoro frowned. "Tch…"
The straw hatted teen burst into victorious laughter.
Nami peeked at the deck from behind the door, making sure it was safe. At the sight of her companion laughing so merrily, she exited the ship's interior, and looked at him, puzzled. "What's so funny?" she inquired.
"Oh, Nami!" Luffy beamed at her. "Working hard, I see. Did you find anything interesting?"
The thief shook her head and sighed in great disappointment. "This is one of the poorest pirate crews I have ever seen. I only managed to find a few thousand beli." She glanced over the deck, littered with defeated pirates. "Who won your bet?"
"I did!" Luffy shouted with glee, causing the swordsman's frown to deepen.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Nami put forward the next question, "What are you going to ask from Zoro?"
The green haired man perked up at that, also looking at the hatted teen with curiosity while the latter hummed thoughtfully. "Don't know yet," he answered.
The navigator sighed. She glanced at the sun. "We should get moving if we want to reach the next island before night."
"Right! Let's go!" the captain cheered.
Usopp was a coward. He would be the first one to confess that, even if someone else would state otherwise. He always tried to appear brave, adventurous, and heroic, full of false bravado, however it didn't change the fact that Usopp the Liar was an actual coward.
But deep down there was another side to the young sharpshooter, he was also a protector. He couldn't stay on the sidelines while seeing injustice before his eyes. He also couldn't bare the sight of someone suffering. Maybe that's why he approached Kaya for the first time. Usopp was unable to ignore the girl's misery.
The boy wanted to see everyone smile around him. He ran through the village every morning to make people happy. Usopp wasn't stupid, he knew that most of the villagers actually enjoyed chasing him daily. He always had a warm feeling well up inside his chest because of all their smiles and laughter.
Usopp was a protector. He couldn't just run or hide from the moment he had eavesdropped the conversation between Kaya's butler Klahadore and that weirdo Jango.
And that's why now he stood up alone on the peak of the slope and watched a pirate ship nearing the shore. His legs were shaking, sweat poured off of him. He gripped his slingshot so hard that it left bruises on his palm. But the liar refused to step back. Even when the gunshot wound in his arm throbbed painfully, even if his whole body ached from the beating he got yesterday, he refused to let scum harm his village.
Usopp clenched his teeth, gulping down the urge to bolt from his spot, as the pirate ship finally reached the shore and the group of pirates appeared from it. He readied his slingshot. He'll protect this island! He'll protect Kaya!
"You just stepped on the land of the great captain Usopp!" he yelled to the pirates, getting their attention. "I'm in charge of the security of this village! So, turn around if you don't want to see me getting serious!"
The men snapped their heads at him, much more startled than Usopp actually thought they should be. Seeing only the lone, weak-looking teenager with a funny long nose, they heaved a heavy sigh of relief in unison.
"I thought it was that kid with the straw hat again," muttered one of them.
"Or that green-haired demon," seconded the other. Several of his friends responded with wild nodding.
Usopp noticed the pirates talking with each other, but he was too far away to hear any of it. He wasn't discouraged by the lack of their response though. He would do anything to defend the village and its people. This pirate crew didn't even look so intimidating. Only about fifteen men and all of them seemed wounded. The sharpshooter nodded to himself. These pirates were a joke!
Wait, what?
Usopp paused in his musing, and blinked at the pirate crew below. He rubbed his eyes, thinking that maybe he was dreaming or something got into them.
Every pirate seemed bandaged heavily. Some were limping; others used crutches to help them walk, or leaned on each other for aid. There was a groan heard in the crowd from time to time. The only one who seemed alright was the hypnotist weirdo Usopp saw yesterday. The man kept jumping around his beaten looking crew and barking orders.
All in all, these men seemed like they'd just returned from a deadly battle. Usopp couldn't believe his eyes. What's up with this sorry looking pirate crew?
"Who are you?!" Jango yelled in his direction. "What do you want?!"
Usopp showed them a smile, full of confidence which he really didn't have, and shouted at them again, striking a dramatic pose for extra effect. "I'm warning you! RETREAT NOW! Before I call my 80 million crewmen to kill you all!"
"Oi, oi… only an idiot would fall for that…" muttered one of the pirates.
The hypnotist's jaw dropped. "WHAT?! 80 million crewmen?!" he shouted in awe. "So… So many!"
The man next to him facepalmed. "Captain!" he screamed. "He's only lying! Don't believe him!"
Jango blinked at his crewmate before glaring at the long-nosed teen. "You, bastard, how dare you lie to me?!"
Usopp gritted his teeth, trying to hold in a violent shudder. He grabbed several projectiles from his bag and put it into his slingshot.
"I already said I'm sorry!" suddenly rang a jolly voice from further along the beach. "Stop trying to hit me!"
Everyone present whipped their heads to look at the speaker. Three people were coming towards them, completely ignoring or not noticing what was happening in front of them. The orange haired girl was waving her fists, trying to land a hit on the black haired boy. Holding his straw hat with one hand and grinning sheepishly, the kid easily dodged every strike. The third person, a green haired man with three swords, was observing the exchange indifferently.
"Let me! Hit you! At least! Once!" Nami squeezed through clenched teeth, simultaneously attacking the rubber idiot who weaved out of her every blow seemingly without any effort.
"No way!" Luffy protested. "I hate violence!"
Zoro snickered at his words, and Nami palmed her face. "Just whose mouth did that came from…" Then she propped her hands on her hips and glared at the straw hatted pirate. "If you hadn't rowed your boat after that stupid bird, we would have landed on this island yesterday!"
"It looked yummy," Luffy pouted.
"It's not like we're actually in a hurry," the swordsman chimed in.
A stern scowl found its way on the navigator's features. "Well, I am!" she exclaimed. "Why are you on his side?!"
Zoro shrugged. "Luffy is the captain."
Luffy nodded in agreement. "And it's the captain's job to decide the course of his boat!" he declared proudly.
"Yeah! But the captain needs to listen to his navigator while on the open sea!" Nami swung at the hatted teen again, but he ducked under it, laughing lightly.
"You'll never be able to hit him," Zoro noted with a teasing smirk. "Just give up."
"Shishishishi!"
Nami narrowed her eyes. "Really?" She clenched her fist, stomped to the swordsman and smacked him over the head.
"What the hell, woman?!" he yelled at her, rubbing the back of his head where he was hit.
The thief sighed. "It's not the same thing as hitting Luffy," she said, still irritated, "but I feel a bit better now."
"Good for you, Nami!" cheered the captain.
"Oi!" Zoro objected. He suddenly noticed the group of people in front, and stopped in his tracks, glancing over the ship. "Aren't they the same pirates we met yesterday?" he asked his companions.
Luffy and Nami also looked at the men, then at their ship.
"Indeed, they are," the thief agreed. "What are those penniless idiots doing here?"
Luffy grinned at the already paling pirates. "Oh, we meet again!" He lowered his head so that the rim of the straw hat would shadow his eyes, and his happy grin slowly changed into the wicked one. "Ready for round two?"
Next Chapter: The Tale of the Gutsy Liar
A/N:
I may not be able to keep updating the story every Monday from now on as my work gets more intense at warmer seasons. Also, there are lots of ideas spinning around in my head for my other two stories, and my mind is limited on how many ideas I can track at once, so I need to write them down before I can focus on the next one. I'm a slow writer, adding to it the fact that I read/watch the arcs I'm working on over and over again to get the desired final result or decide how the character would react placed in the different situation, means it takes time to write a full chapter. But I love my readers! That's why I'm not afraid to put so much effort in trying to give you the best I can :) So, I hope you don't mind waiting a bit!
Also, if you have anything to suggest for future arcs, I'm all ears. It doesn't mean that I'm out of ideas and that I put your suggestion into the story, but sometimes readers gave a brilliant ideas, or after rolling around in my head for a while, it become one. Or maybe you would like to read about something specific?
Hope to see you on the next chapter! Please, write a review before leaving :P