Disclaimer:
One Piece belongs to Oda-sensei and his publishers. Idea's mine
Betaed by SuspiciousKiwi o/
√ -√v-√ -√v—
Throughout the entire journey back to Syros, there was one, very important thought at the back of Luffy's mind… And that was 'Praise the Seas for the second boat'. As much as she loved the Dreamer and all that he symbolized to her, it didn't change the fact that she was a small boat. For one, maybe three passengers… Not for the 6 of them.
So even with Sanji demanding the second boat, the Cook's Dream as she was introduced, to be his own kitchen, there was space for everyone to at least straighten their legs on… If not for the Cook's Dream? Cramped quarters wouldn't even begin to describe the situation. As it was, their journey to the Syros was spent mostly on meditations and mediations between various clashes among her chosen Crew.
No one should be surprised to find out that Zoro and his rigid morality clashed terribly with Sanji's womanizing ways...
Luffy certainly wasn't…
Exasperated, irritated at times, but definitely not surprised.
Neither was she surprised that Kuro started to egg them on and try to find 'weak points' in individual armors of their crewmembers (should she consider them Nakama by now? Or is it the first escape from marines/certain death that make people Nakama and not just crewmates? Why has Shanks never told her the difference?)
And so… she was not really surprised when she was rudely wrenched from her meditation by a loud crash.
Again.
What has surprised her on the other hand was that it wasn't one of the more… let's say excitable of the boys, but rather Usopp that has lost his cool this time.
"If you don't think I will do my part, then why the hell haven't you tried to convince Luffy to leave me behind earlier?"
When she cracked an eye open to make sure no one will throw another into the water (the currents they were using were rather unforgiving and she'd rather avoid needing to slow down or even turn around on them) it was to the sight of Usopp standing over folded into meditative position Kuro and screaming at him.
And the rest of their crew observing with more or less irritated expressions.
"Oh, here it is… some actual spirit" The ex-captain commented drolly, looking up at the angry Sniper unimpressed.
Angry Sniper who immediately started to sputter.
"Wh… what? You…? All of that?"
"Well…" Kuro drawled with a nasty little smirk "One cannot afford to be a wilting flower without a proper defender…" Then that smirk transformed into a dismissive sneer "And I just got rid of that naive little girl"
"Don't speak about Kaya that way!" The younger of the two puffed up, only to be cut off with a cruel laugh.
"Why? Are you going to lie and make some ridiculous threat?" Tall, Dark and No-Longer-So-Evil sneered again "Or maybe go and hide behind the captain?" Dark eyes glinted challengingly at the boy standing above him.
"You…"
There was a thunk of sake bottle being put down a bit more forcefully than needed.
"Leave your little pissing match to the nearest island, would you?" Zoro growled at both of them from his claimed little part of the deck (far away from any steering equipment. Luffy has learned her lesson before even landing in Orange Town, when the greenet decided that as long as they were following a cloud everything was alright… They had lost a few hours on their journey that way.)
"Hmm… Apologies" The absolute cat that claimed to be their Strategist smirked at the First Mate.
"Hmm…" The Swordsman observed him with narrowed eyes but quickly turned to their youngest and most sheltered member.
And wasn't that a trip? To find a son of a member of a Yonko's crew to be so completely unworried about their safety… As if there was not an entire group of Marines that would destroy his island just to hurt Shanks…
"Stop folding into yourself, you've joined a pirate crew, haven't you?"
"But Zoro…"
"Usopp…" The greenet growled with impatience "You're claiming to be an adult who can make their choices for themselves. Kuro is a dick about it, but at least he got you to assert yourself. At least a bit."
"Assert?"
"Argue for yourself. We all have dreams we've declared and are ready to fight, bleed and suffer for. Do you?" Zoro drawled out the entire thing in what Luffy would call picture-perfect Red-Haired Pirate drawl… And he didn't even meet Shanks… She was so proud. "Do you remember that talk about pirates? Our the violence and death?"
"The one where Kuro's band was typical?" The sniper puffed himself up, glaring at the indifferent pirates around him.
"Yes, that one… And how people will try to cheat, use and/or kill you at any time while sailing under black flag? Remember that part?"
"What about it? That doesn't mean we will be like that"
"And how exactly do you plan to make them not even try that on us? By hiding behind those of us actually willing to fight for our Dreams and right to live? Or by bending over to whoever will be the strongest on the island we'd currently be on? Maybe trying to bargain with Marines?" And ouch… Zoro was not pulling his strikes on this. And Luffy understood him, she knew very well that the only way for her to be safe is to be too hard for anyone else to hurt her…
Fuck it all… But she planned to have that talk in private
"Have you heard about a Purge in South Blue about twenty years ago?" Luffy cut into their conversation before Usopp could continue with his line of thought and manage to piss off everyone in the boats.
At the sound of her voice, both Gin and Sanji lost a bit of tension her Haki picked up on… Good.
"P-Purge? No."
"Hmm…" She started slowly, speaking barely loud enough for everyone to hear her above the waves. It was a monstrous subject after all "Around 20 years ago a rumor made its way to the Marines… That the Pirate King had a child before he died. And that he spent his last days with his lover in South Blue…" And wasn't that a very specific thing to know? Either the CP teams and Intelligence are much better than Mihawk made them out to be, or the Pirate King himself, Gol D. Roger had a traitor. None of those was a nice thought. "So the Marines, being the brave protectors of justice they always say they are, decried the child as a Blood of a Devil that should be destroyed before they could taint the rest of the World. You know, everything for the Justice and Good of the World." Especially Buster Calls are all about Justice, weren't they? "To achieve that, they have killed every child aged under 3 and every pregnant woman in the South Blue." There was a reason the Revolutionaries were so popular in the entire Blue. And killing off an entire generation was one of the best ways to achieve that. Granted Dragon didn't start the Revolutionaries until shortly before Luffy was born, which was almost 3 years after the Purges… Incidentally hitching his precious movement to the wave of outrage and bitterness in the South. Totally accidentally of course. "Some of the officers went so far as to kill every woman in child bearing age on an island under their purview. Hell, an island or two have lost its entire population then… All to kill one child of a Pirate." Here, Luffy finally moved her eyes from the horizon and landed them on an ashen faced Usopp. "You are a son of a Pirate from Yonko crew, Usopp. I have no idea why you'd think Marines and everyone who would want to hurt Shanks or even prove how strong they are, would not do their best to murder you just for that. Even if not for the fact that you've decided to join our very Pirate Crew… And that doesn't even touch the fate that will be given to any crewmate of mine."
"Why yours specifically Captain?" Gin asked suspiciously which was… understandable, any captured crewmember of Krieg would hang in the East Blue, but without confirmation they would still be able to hide themselves even in here. Her own crewmates would not have that luxury.
Luffy unfortunately didn't have that luxury.
…But there was no need to be stupid about that. She quickly checked if Krieg behind them was conscious and was gratified when she sensed that he was very much not.
"My name is Monkey D. Luffy." She said measuredly, carefully meeting the eyes of every single of her crew. Unsurprisingly, Kuro seemed to be the only one to make a guess that there was something more hiding in her family than 'just' Monkey D. Garp. He gave her a sharp look and then nodded with a smirk. "I am a grand-daughter of Monkey D. Garp, better known as Hero of the Marines or Garp the Fist, depending on who you ask. I am also a daughter of Monkey D. Dragon…" Here she took a deep breath to stall a bit. Steady now… After all… in the worst case scenario… She started to like this little crew around them… Having to kill one of them… Without Arlong to cry on later was… Well. One way or the other now. At least Zoro already knew and put his hand on a sword handle, so… She was not alone. "...Better known as Dragon the Revolutionary or the Highest Bounty in the World." There… She said it. Now she could only react.
Silence…
There was utter silence on both boats as they digested the bomb she just threw at them.
Luffy really wanted to tell them in private chats, not… Not like that. But… Needs must.
Finally Kuro interrupted the silence… And she was starting to see a theme there.
"Have you ever had contact with him? Or is it another case of the so-called 'devil blood'?"
"The second" She smiled bitterly. Where's Justice in that? Justice… What a joke Marines made of that word.
"We'll need to make sure the people when hearing 'Monkey D.' will be thinking about Monkey D. Luffy then. It's perfectly doable Captain." Kuro smirked at her and… It was like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. He understood… He still decided to stay..
"We've already had this conversation Captain" Zoro rumbled from where he was watching challengingly Sanji and Gin… And they rose to the challenge.
"My name is Vinsmoke Sanji" The blond lit a cigarette and this time met Luffy's eyes with the same challenge that rose to for Zoro's. "From the Royal Family of Germa Kingdom in North Blue. Vinsmoke Family is currently leading a mercenary army, so I'm afraid that you're not the only one who's family will cause us problems, Your Grace." There he smirked and his eyes softened a bit. "Let's run from the law as ourselves and not just children of outlaws."
"Yes, let's" Luffy smiled, hopelessly charmed by Sanji's quick acceptance and willingness to pay back trust with trust.
"And here I only bring the title of a Krieg's Demon and a few million beri bounty…" Gin smirked as well and captured Luffy's gaze, before continuing "You've said it yourself… We're all Children of the Sea. Other sets of parents don't count". At that Luffy burst with relieved laughter, happy to be accepted for who she was. Luffy. Not the daughter of Dragon.
Usopp…
Usopp wobbled on the deck to come and sit next to Luffy.
"Would Marines really…?"
"I had to take Zoro out of the execution grounds after he killed a pet wolf of a Marine's Captain's son. Very much not tamed and absolutely not trained wolf. There is no monstrosity I would believe Marines to be too good for." Luffy huffed and then bit back a scowl when it was Zoro's near execution that seemed to cinch it for the Sniper. Maybe… Was it because it actually happened to someone he knew? She just didn't understand him at all.
"I'm a son of Pirate. No, I am a Pirate" He said… and actually sounded like he believed it. So… Maybe she didn't need to understand people? It was just enough for them to stay for her.
"Good." She smiled brightly and clapped her hands, immediately bringing suspicious glances at herself. "Now that that is dealt with, we're going back to meditation. Soon we'll be in Syros so we won't be so badly sandwiched together. And in the meantime… Just remember than even Yonko get challenged by other people. Gin was sailing under so called 'King of East Blue', but there were still people who tried to fuck with them, so we will need to be both strong and willing to deal with various challengers. But before that we will be the one to challenge the world. If you know your speciality then that should be something you'd focus on, just as long as it is something that can be matched with a skillset of another one from the crew. If we'll get others like Usopp who don't like direct confrontation and melee fighting. then that's fine. But for the love of Calypso, there is no need to be slinking around on our own ship. Nor should we give the reason for that slinking. Kuro…"
"I will stop baiting crew, Captain"
"Mhmmm…"
Other than the occasional spats amongs them the sailing was smooth and mostly silent as Krieg was towed behind the Dreamer in the very same type of harness she had Alvida in once upon a time and so could not even swear effectively. And with the crew learning meditation and taking their first steps in Observation of the Sea… It was nice, quiet and mostly educational.
Which was why Luffy was rather surprised when around half-way to Syros there was knock on her door (Zoro insisted on her sleeping in the cabin alone now that there were more of them, with the boys sleeping in the rolls on deck, her swordsman was starting to be more confident in expressing and enforcing his opinions) and it was Gin rather than Sanji waiting for permission to enter.
(Sanji for all that he insisted on acting as love-struck fool still, was making good progress on the meditation and was very carefully observing the way they were all acting around one another and mostly stuck to antagonizing Zoro when not meditating or cooking. She was giving him a few days more and she'll drag him out by the ear if needed. Yes, they went to Baratie to recruit a cook, but Sanji was crew, not just a cook.)
"Come in Gin, how's the adjustment?"
Gin came in, gave a quick, curious look around and then stood in a good appropriation of a parade rest Garp has tried to force her to learn once..
"It's different"
"The boat or the crew?"
"Yes"
"Fair enough, sit with me?"
"Captain" Gin murmured in acknowledgment and sat on the foot of her bed, while she waited…
And waited…
"Why?" His question was quiet, quiet enough she could pretend to not hear it, but… what would that achieve?
"Because you deserve to be around people who will consider you theirs, when you'd consider them yours." And wasn't that the root of what she's seen on Baratie? Granted, Luffy lacked a lot of context, especially about the 'last time' they were talking about but… what she saw was a Pirate Officer bringing their Captain to be saved, leveraging their honor and loyalty only asking for their saviors to be treated with respect… And have said Captain spit in their face.
That's something she just couldn't understand… To have someone willing to bow, beg and scrape for one's good and to not answer that kind of loyalty with even barest of respect.
No matter. Gin was with her now. Was hers.
"And what do you do with those you consider yours?" Gin sounded understandably suspicious asking his question. Luffy had to wonder for a bit whether it was about the answer… or her reaction to the question.
"Those few I've had before meeting Zoro?" She smiled bitterly… "I cherish them and return the care they show for me.."
"So you don't…" He didn't even finish, just waved a hand in the rough direction of their prisoner.
"No, never" Luffy was actively killing those bandits endangering Makino and the village since she was 14. Before that, Shishou insisted on dealing with problems himself. But… she knew what she was asking about then, and she would do much more than just kill for those that so loudly declared to be on her side. Especially when she was really starting to believe they'd stay with her.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
The rest of their trip to Syros luckily happened without problems. Though Luffy felt Sanji's eyes on her like a physical weight at times, he still stayed away, but would sit closer and closer to her in their joint meditation. He would also go with her whenever it was time to feed their prisoner, so that she would not be with Krieg alone. Which was sweet, but not especially successful if the goal was to limit the amount of filthy nonsense the older pirate was spewing.
This time they used the fact that there were more of them for someone to stay in port with the boats, so that Luffy didn't need to split her attention between the after all, well known in East Blue pirate and their boats. Since they were going to bounty exchange they decided it would be better for Gin to stay with both boats, just in case, as the only one with active bounty in their midst, though soon it would change.
Dragging Krieg to the bounty office wasn't physically hard, Luffy was fully capable of simply dragging a trussed up pirate over the cobblestone streets straight to people willing and able to pay for the pleasure of separating his head from the body themselves. Their baggage was also immediately recognised, Krieg spent years pillaging, killing and raping in the East Blue, so people were familiar with his bounty poster and more than willing to clear the road for them to move as well as to point them towards the bounty office. Just to make sure they wouldn't get lost of course.
Exchange of the pirate for money went smoothly as well, especially after confirmation that Krieg's fleet was destroyed and his crew was no longer capable of terrorizing the Blue.
Luckily paying the rest of the ship price went just as smoothly, even better, the ship was by then almost ready for them and they had to spend only a few days dealing with all the chores they had to take care of and gathering supplies before christening their new ship.
They bought and dyed the sails crimson, so they would fit with those of Dreamer's.
They bought enough ropes to have complete rigging sets for their soon-to-be-ready carrack.
They bought blankets with various sizes and mattresses to sleep on.
They arranged for meat, fruit and vegetable rations to be able to pay for and load on board on the day they'd be leaving, both those frozen to be put in an icebox and those already processed and put in jars, sweet and savory. They also bought a lot of already potted fruit and vegetables for them to grow on board. One could never say how long a trip between two islands in the Grand Line would take after all.
They bought reinforced glass and wood to build a greenhouse for their greens.
They arranged for the cannons, cannonballs, fuses and gunpowder to be ready for the pickup once the ship was ready.
And they arranged to be able to exchange most of their berri into gold, silver and jewels for them to exchange back into berri on the islands they'll land on. Paper money is good, but not really practical when sailing the Ocean. Especially one as capricious as the Grand Line, what with every island having its own independent climate, crazy magnetic fields and everything those two causes. Opposing currents, freak storms and journeys in different Sea levels with different atmospheric climates. Paper, easily wettable money are… a bad idea there.
But shopping and last minute preparations weren't the only thing they did.
This time they also had time to relax and work together on their cohesion.
Zoro and Luffy were often found in varied swordsmanship competitions, both as a pair and as solo competitors, they also dragged Kuro with them in search for blades of better quality for both men. And while none of the shops or smiths were able to provide Kuro with better quality steel than what he already had in his gloves, one of the smiths suggested working with his old Smith Master in the Logue Town. Then they made all measurements so that their Master could have the weapon ready for the crew to pay and pick-up.
Sanji was spending his time between choosing kitchen appliances and relaxing in bars, flirting with any willing girl in those bars and needling Zoro and Gin into spars with him.
Usopp and Gin were mostly buying their necessities - clothes for both, weapons for Gin and additional ammunition material for Usopp, since he said he had a new idea for his ammunition but lacked specific materials. They were also the ones tasked with making sure they all had enough detergents to clean both the ship and themselves.
So yes, they shopped, relaxed and practiced meditation, their katas and accessing Armament as well as wind blades. Both Zoro and Kuro spent a lot of time pestering Luffy about wind blades then, but she held strong - she will explain Haki and different techniques, once Arlong will be with them. Both to help her explain and find out what she learned since their last in depth conversation.
…
Finally the time had come and their ship was ready for them to take the ownership of. Even better it was Monday when they got their pretty carrack so they could take the next two days to prepare everything. It was a bad look to introduce the ship to the Seas on Thursday and Friday, after all… And they couldn't allow their new family member to have bad luck… Not their pretty carrack with three decks under the main, with three masts and beautiful leaping panther as a figurehead.
With the hold with separate stalls for various boxes and barrels they'll need to rig ropes to secure the luggage, the lower deck contained their water filtration system and the pipes delivering water to and from bathrooms and kitchen, with the crew quarters and two bathrooms for their use, one with just showerheads and the other with toilet stalls and sinks. On the Main deck there were cannon stations, spaces for infirmary, kitchen, mess, navigation office and an empty part Luffy couldn't wait to make into a kind of recreation space where they could relax together. On the Upper Deck there were captain quarters under the Quarterdeck and the cannon station, very much secured anchor station and a small manufacture for Usopp under the Forecastle. Quarterdeck had a steering wheel, space for the greenhouse and a stairs to the empty Poopdeck, while Forecastle had just empty space for them to develop into something. And most importantly - crows nest with both a roof and a small gazebo to defend whoever the poor watchman was at a time, from the cold winds.
They put the rigging and the sails and tested everything including the steering wheel sensitivity, the number and dimensions of different cabins before confirming that everything worked correctly and officially confirming their new ship's pick-up.
After that Luffy took possession of the steering wheel and cheerfully started yelling out commands, to move the ship from the shipyards to the port they kept their boats in. Once there, there was an explosion of movement to make sure everything would be done. Both Dreamer and Cook's Dream were attached to the carrack as lifeboats, Usopp and Gin went on to build both a greenhouse for greens and a shed for Usopp to prepare his ammunition in, kitchen got stocked with appliances, seasonings and produce and all the dishes and detergents needed. The hold got stocked with sails, linens, produce and a pitiful amount of treasure that they still had after buying the ship. Different cabins which were supposed to act as offices got stocked with their journals and got shelves with stoppers attached to the walls.
Luffy was quickly pushed into the captain cabin - the one under the Quarterdeck and told to arrange it for herself while the boys decided who would sleep where in their prepared crew quarters, so she busied herself moving things from the Dreamer, from her bed, through other furniture up to Den-Den Mushi and all the books and clothes. She even discovered that somehow someone (Zoro, she put her money on Zoro) managed to get a separate bathroom for the Captain's Cabin smuggled into the plans, so by the time her cabin was settled, the entire ship was ready for its first trip between islands in East Blue.
"Ready to go Captain" Zoro smirked at her from where her First Mate stood at the door frame, Luffy smiled at him helplessly, skipping down from where she was securing journals, laws and regulation books on the shelves.
"I would be content to be helping prepare the ship, Zoro"
"We know."
"Then?"
"Isn't it my duty as your First Mate to keep everything running smoothly?"
"Would my presence really keep things from running smoothly?"
"We need to learn to work together without you to smooth all the rough edges." Green eyebrow went up at her continued surprise "Isn't it what you wanted of us?"
"Oh… You heard my talk with Buggy"
"Dreamer is not that big, yes." At that Luffy could do only one thing.
"Thank you." She murmured, stepped up on her toes and planted a kiss on her First Mate's cheek. "Let's get going then." She chirped happily and almost ran out of the room… Only to be caught by the waist by said First Mate and dragged to the cluster of their crew on the Upper deck and not the Wheel on the Quarterdeck.
"We still need to christen our beauty, Captain" Kuro chuckled at Luffy's face and she groaned, hiding her face in her hands… Some kind of captain she was…
"Right, what else am I forgetting?" She laughed, inviting the boys to join her in her laughter. "Rigging is done, sails are ready, we have food, bedding, weapons, drinkable water is being gathered… Cannons?"
"Zoro and Gin hauled and set the cannons in their stations" The ex-captain reported.
"The kitchen and mess is functional, oh pretty Captain" Sanji reported with a flirtatious smile, getting a laugh from the only woman on board and snorts from the rest of the crew.
"Everyone has a bunk, filtration system works, greenhouses are already set up and Usopp is set-up under the Forecastle. We just need a name." Zoro reported calmly, putting a hand on Luffy's shoulder. Only then did she notice the bottle of champagne (she had no idea when and how Sanji got it for them) and a set of clay cups waiting for them.
"Okay… So… Names? Ideas?" She smiled at them helplessly, she was honestly rather terrible with creative naming and if they leave that to her, they end up sailing a 'Dream Chaser' or something in that tone…
"King's Will"
"Ostentatious, what about Seas Queen?"
"Not really better, is that? Silent Death? We are pirates after all"
"Do we want to tell people we'll just kill them? Silent Hunter?"
"Swift Hunter?"
"Huh… I like it" With a number of nods, it was decided…
"And the title of our crew, Captain?" Kuro asked, reminding them what else is part of the Naming Ceremony. This one though… This one she already decided.
"Strawhat Pirates." It was the Hat that was the most 'pitate' part of her after all. "For the Hat that first belonged to Gol D. Roger and through the hands of his crewmember, Yonko Redhair Shanks, came into my possession." She looked around at their understanding eyes and laughed merrily… Yes, they understood…
"There are worse names" Gin murmured with a grimace… and yeah, there definitely were.
"Okay, let's do it" She smiled brightly at the people who agreed to become her family. Not now, not yet… But in time… She waved them to follow after her and climbed to the Forecastle and towards the bow of their ship, then once they were gathered, she took the bottle from Sanji, poured enough of the champagne into the cups to leave the portion for the Seas and gathered herself to match the gravity of the situation. If nothing else, then Gol D. Roger's journals taught her that in the life of a pirate the only truly solemn moments are those where they call on Calypso, Davy Jones, Susanoo and Salacia. Naming of the ship was the most important of those, even those who abandoned the Seas still follow that ritual. Luffy wiped out a smile that wanted to bloom and looked at her crew solemnly. It was time to introduce Swift Hunter to the Seas. "For thousands of years, we have gone to sea. We have crafted vessels to carry us, and we have called them by name. These ships will nurture and care for us through perilous seas, and so we affectionately call them 'she.' To them, we toast and ask to celebrate Swift Hunter. To the sailors of old! To Swift Hunter!" All raised the cups and took a sip of the drink. Only after that did Luffy continue "The moods of the Seas are many, from tranquil to violent. We ask that this ship be given the strength to carry on. The keels are strong, and she keeps out the pressures of the Sea. To the sea! To the sailors of old! To the sea!" They took another sip. "Today, we come to name this lady Swift Hunter and send her to Seas to be cared for and to care for Strawhat Pirates. We ask the sailors of old and the mood of Gods that is the Sea to accept Swift Hunter as her name, to help her through her passages, and allow her to return with her crew safely. To the sea! To the sailors before us! To Swift Hunter" This time in the same moment Strawhat Pirates raised the cups to take the last sip of their Sacrifice, Luffy moved to spill the rest of alcohol on the bow and figurehead of the newly named Swift Hunter for it to trickle down to water.
"To Swift Hunter" they all toasted and finished the drink. Then at once, they moved back to the Upper deck and waited for Zoro to put down an oak branch full of green leaves and only then turned to look at Luffy.
"Where are we sailing Captain?"
"Conomi Island. Two days of sailing, anchor up, raise the sails! We're sailing out of the port!" Luffy yelled out, climbing on the Quarter Deck to reach the Wheel. There was a possibility she didn't think it through… Two days' journey with just her able to steer the ship was going to be… tedious. At least soon they will have Arlong with them.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
The Maiden Voyage of the Swift Hunter was going swiftly, the winds were calm and the Seas seemed on their side as from time to time they saw schools of fish move around their ship. The sun was shining at them on both days of their journey and while on the first day it was simply an excellent omen, that the second day Luffy had to be at least semi-awake to make sure that they are still on their course… Well, the sunrays were significantly less welcome. Luckily the Hat was doing its job and protecting Luffy's eyes from the direct glare, even if it couldn't help against the rays reflecting from the waves.
So knowing her luck and the visible trend in the crew, she was absolutely not surprised when Sanji came up to give her coffee and leaned back against the railing to look at her expectantly.
"I'm glad you decided to come up to the sun, rather than stay the entire way down in the kitchen." Luffy started neutrally, Sanji will tell her why he came up to her or not… The only thing she could do is offer herself up for that conversation and in the meantime could observe Zoro and Kuro doing katas on the deck, both with the additional weights on their ankles and wrists. On another part of the deck Gin was teaching Usopp another knot in his crusade to make Usopp into a proper sailor if not a pirate as soon as it was possible.
Her being focused on their fighters didn't stop her from noticing narrowing of the blonde's eyes.
"You didn't call me for a meeting" There was only a faint trace of accusation in his otherwise neutral tone, at which Luffy withheld a sigh. So that's how it's going to be?
"Did you choose the topic you'd like to discuss then?"
"That's it?"
"What did you expect? That I'd make you swear in some kind of blood ritual?"
"Well, the christening was ritualistic enough… And you calling us 'Children of the Sea' didn't help the impression" The chef smirked at her look of incredulity and she sighed at that.
"There are precious few things all of those beholden to the Seas keep to. One of them is acknowledging Davy Jones, Calypso, Susanoo and Salacia, for all that only Davy Jones, the one that ferries those lost on the Seas to their eternal rest gets proper Invocations. The other is introducing our ships to Those Four. And the last one is acknowledging that in the eyes of the Seas we're all children. Their children." Luffy explained tiredly. She'd always wondered why the rituals and the worship stopped… Maybe she'd find out one day. "If you want to learn more about rituals I can lend you a book about abandoned practices. But somehow I don't believe that is the topic you wished to speak to me about."
"No I… You're daughter of Revolutionary Dragon, you're the granddaughter of Hero of the Marines… Why did you choose piracy?"
"I already told you why" Luffy raised one sharp eyebrow and looked at her cook dubiously… She did give an entire speech about the dangers of sailing with her after all.
"Not that… Why did you, at the age of however old you were then, decide to become a pirate. How did someone who by all rights should be raised with the idea of Marine Justice being shoved down their throat, decided on that specific opposing path."
"Ah… That…"
"Yea… That."
She took a deep breath and focused her eyesight on the compass. It was still difficult subject after all/
"I was raised on a peaceful island, here in the East Blue in a village which survived five generations of Monkey Ds, by a barmaid. And all the other adults in a village who pitched in to help me grow up. Our Major was teaching us how to read early and then set us loose in a library of the only city on the island. As you probably imagine, there is a lot of subversive reading hidden on the home island of Revolutionary Dragon. I just had the misfortune of grabbing the ones about Baterilla and other mass killings first. Those made an impression." To say the least… Luffy was terrified after reading those. Sometimes she still is.
"That's… How old were you?" The blonde's gray-blue eyes were hard while boring into her, at which she could only smile weakly and take a sip of her, by then drinkable coffee.
"Five? Six? Something around that. And you Sanji? Why did a prince of Germa Kingdom decide to leave?" She asked and looked back on the still training duo under them. Because after all that was the crux of the matter, wasn't it? Not why did someone become a pirate, but why did they leave home?
"I was not what my father wanted" The blonde shrugged negligently "He took steps to correct that mistake"
What a delightfully evasive answer.
"Men can be really stupid" She answered, looking straight at Sanji. "I want you"
He blushed.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
Sailing back to the port on Conomi Island was as familiar as anything could be. Especially after Moomoo showed herself and demanded pets from her, as was normal, soon after the sea cow both Terokk and Jormy came to swim along the Swift Hunter, as they always did to the boats Luffy was swimming in. Her happiness and the familiarity of sailing into that very specific port didn't stop even the brief panic among the boys of the crew and the need for quick diffusal of the immediate aggression.
Apparently the rest of East Blue is not as used to Sea Kings as she is…
…
Well, better to be introduced to them via Terokk, Moomoo and Jormy than Lord of the Coast, as the one living near Fusha was called.
…
"Luffy!" The gray, serious looking fishman waiting for them at the dock, called out as soon as the ship was properly turned and docked.
"Kuroobi!" She squealed in answer and not even waiting for the gangplank to be prepared, threw herself at one of her favorite adults. "How's everyone?"
"We're doing great, Kakuzu even has a sweetheart among humans. Poor girl apparently fell in love with his design first."
Which… What?!
"Someone whacked her over her head?" Manual reset is probably the only thing Luffy could say could cause one to fall in love with Hawaiian style shirts. Especially those in colors that Kakuzu favors… Fishmen generally see colors 'a bit' differently than humans, after all. "Or does it mean he stopped with his… colorful shirts?"
"For most of us." Kuroobi agreed and swung her along so that she was leaning on his chest with her front towards her incoming crew. "Now, little human, introduce me"
Evil fishman, always mocking her height…
It's not her fault she's surrounded by over-grown beings…
Evil…
…
Oh well, time to watch fishmen torment her poor crewmates… It'll build their characters.
"Everyone, this is Kuroobi, current First Mate of Arlong Pirates and Arlong's successor." She introduced cheerfully, smiling mockingly at the passable poker face on Zoro, Sanji and Kuro… And complete fail of everybody else. "Kuroobi darling, meet Strawhat Pirates: Zoro - my First Mate, Kuro - Strategist and Treasurer, Usopp - the Sniper, Sanji - our Chef and Gin, who will probably choose to be the Boatswain." Those she introduced waving her hand in the direction of the mentioned person.
"I see no Roger on your sails" If not for extensive experience with Kuroobi's various moods and opinions, Luffy would probably take his mild commentary as an opinion rather than critique. As it was… she knew better.
"Had to call Garp and be his precious, innocent, little princess…" The fishmen crew knew exactly what she and other Fuusha residents thought about Garp and his view on the word, so that succinct summary was enough for them to extrapolate what probably happened. "Need one more crooked marine to throw in his face." It wasn't a secret how Garp wanted her to become one of the Marines. It also wasn't a secret exactly how bitter she was about the menfolk in her blood family. But she never pretended to not be a little ball of spite. Usually she just put a veneer of manners over that.
"Hmpf… The one pretending to be in charge of Conomi, 'Captain' Nezu likes money, power and there are rumors about little girls, feel free to murder him terribly." He informed her drooly and wisely took a step back when she swung around and smiled.
"I will! Thank you." Baring of teeth counts as a smile, right?
"Don't thank me little human." The fishman rumbled, petting her head and turned to the rest of the Strawhats. "Welcome to Conomi Island Strawhats. The town if you need it, is 10 minutes that way" He waved in proper direction "Our little village is this way" Another wave "and if you want to hike in the forest or swim in the reefs, let someone know so that we can monitor you with Haki"
"Haki?" Kuro asked, mild as butter, undoubtedly connecting the unknown world with exercises she had them doing.
"Didn't explain Haki to them yet?"
"Nope! Wanted Arlong to be there for the explanation as well."
"To wheedle out another lesson in fishman karate?"
"Guilty!" She admitted shamelessly. Arlong stopped teaching her right after the basics of the style and refused to teach her how to attack with water when she wasn't in it… And she obviously couldn't be in it when fighting. Or at all.
"You can try" He grinned at her mockingly, at which she pouted.
"One day, I will find out all of your secrets!" She looked quickly at Zoro and gestured for the entire group to follow them.
"Dream on, little human, dream on."
"Mean" She whined around the laughter caught in her throat and grabbed his hand and started dragging him behind her to the Fishman Village. She missed them, she missed them very much. And she'll miss them even more once the Strawhats set sail.
…
"Little Lu!" Blueish arms twined around her and her feet lost connection with the ground when her favorite fishman lifted her up and turned her around so that she could actually see him.
"Arlong!" Luffy called out happily and quickly jabbed a finger into the needed nerve so that he had to bend his hand and bring her closer. Once that happened she quickly threw her arms around his neck and nuzzled. "My Arlong, mine…"
"Shahaha…" The shark fishman laughed freely and hugged her tightly "So the first days of adulthood went well I see?" And at that… at that she could only raise herself a bit and beam sunnily. Those 'first days of adulthood' could go sooo much worse…
"We have a crew! And a ship! And the log pose!" She counted out excitedly. After all… without any of those they would be screwed on The Grand Line. Objectively they could still get screwed there. For the Sea is a capricious Mistress.
"And a sword?" Arlong rumbled deep in his chest.
"Met Shishou at Baratie, got my sword… have it back at the ship" She chirped at that, still happy with having a weapon finally.
"Why is it there and not with you?"
"I'm on your island Arlong" She never needed a weapon on her, on Conomi.
"You should still get in the habit of having it on you." He grumbled again.
"I'm a pirate captain on an island controlled by probably the only ally I can trust to never harm me. I really should not have a weapon here." She said seriously. After all, while she really did enjoy his protectiveness, she was supposed to become his captain. Some he could trust to lead, not someone he had to babysit. And it seemed he realized it as well, since he smiled sheepishly at her.
"Right, I promised" He murmured and brought her back for a quick hug and set her down. "Introduce me to the rest of the crew?"
"Happily." She smiled at him again with unrestrained fondness "Our ship is called Swift Hunter and our crew was named Strawhat Pirates" Here she gave him a moment to finish laughing and petting the Hat, before continuing "We will paint a Roger after dealing with our 'second corrupt marine in East Blue', "she continued mockingly and quickly explained at his frown" Garp. As for the crew "she turned him towards said crew and raised an eyebrow at the sight of Zoro keeping Usopp in place via a hand on the back of his neck. "This is Zoro - our First Mate and Swordsman, Kuro - Strategist and Treasurer, Usopp - the Sniper, with a slingshot, Sanji - our Chef and student of Red Leg Zeff and Gin, who will probably choose to be the Boatswain." She introduced waving her hand towards the one mentioned "I trust I don't need to mention Kuro's and Gin specialities?"
"Don't tease bratling. We are listening to the news of the Seas" This time the rumble was just as fond, even if much less careless. Arlong also did briefly bow his head towards Zoro, so that was good.
They would probably need to duke it out, but at least they didn't jump at each other's throats from the start.
"That's great!" She clapped her hands and eeled out of his arms "I'll let you and Zoro get to know each other. I'm going to Kakuzu for painkillers and stuff." Here she waved her hand around, she did promise to come for a med exam before they set sail. "And then I promised that we'll explain Haki"
"Noted"
√ -√v-√ -√v—
"So! Haki!" Luffy clapped her hands and took a good look at her boys sitting on different logs in something that was almost a circle, everyone was prepared for longer discussions with bottles of water and tangerines (or pufferfishes in Arlong case) ready. "I promised to explain once we'd be with Arlong, so here we are."
"Whoo" Kuro deadpanned at that and she stuck her tongue at him, before getting serious.
"Have you ever heard that someone is too stubborn to not achieve what they wanted? That a person's own will is able to influence others?" At the cautious nods from her boys, she nodded decisively. "That's because it is what happens. Trained individuals can learn how to impose their will onto the world around them. We call that process as unlocking someone's Haki. Depending on one's personality, training and needs at the moment of unlocking a person can unlock one of three widely acknowledged and basic types of Haki. Armament Haki - used to 'harden' part of the body, your blade or the wind wave" At that part of explanation Kuro made a face of realization, as if he finally managed to connect pieces of a particularly frustrating puzzle. "Observation Haki - used to predict the oncoming blow, find people across the distance or monitor someone's feelings." This time it was Zoro's time to frown in realization and eyeball her suspiciously. "And the last basic type: Conqueror Haki - it imposes one's will over the nervous system of other beings, causing for example someone to kneel or to lose consciousness altogether."
"You said that someone's training would influence which Haki would be awakened first. Would you elaborate?" Kuro's question and more specifically his word choices caused Luffy to grimace a bit, but still she gamely answered.
"I meant the general type of training a person does, not training that would suggest specific Haki type. If someone trains mostly their speed there is a bigger chance of them unlocking Observation first. To unlock Haki one still has to start with meditation and go from there."
"How did you unlock it then?"
"I was a really, really small child and the tigers on the island were really, really big. I really didn't want to meet one with only a stick to defend myself." To say the least. Sometimes she looked back at her childhood and was amazed that she survived her trips to the forest on Dawn Island… Which did explain why Making was so insistent on her following Benny's training plan, didn't it?
"And how do you think we will unlock it?"
And wasn't that a question? The entire reason she insisted on the entire crew training as often as they did was for them to not unlock their Haki in the heat of the battle. Yes, it was a way most people managed to take that first step, since a battle was when all those survival instincts came to the forefront of one's mind, but… It was still a gamble with all of their lives and no matter the odds, she was not going to take it without severely cheating.
Preparation and training that is.
"I'm sure that you'll manage to unlock it when you'll be trained and determined enough. Now that we have a proper deck… well let's just say that I have some ideas for training" she smiled winningly. With a bit of luck she won't even need to reach for Garp's idea of training. After all, she had an entire book from the previous King.
"What is our deadline for learning that?" Sanji asked suspiciously and… well there is only one deadline for learning all of the skills needed at the Seas.
"The first occasion when not knowing that results in death." Luffy bared her teeth in something resembling a grin. "The Sea works on 'you know or you die' principle"
"Wasn't it 'you win or you die'?"
"Then it's a good thing this Throne is not from iron, huh?" She laughed at them and grabbed one of waiting for her tangerines and started peeling. There was no doubt that there would be some questions.
She didn't need to wait long.
"You said that Observation lets you monitor someone at a distance. What does it mean?" It did not surprise Luffy in the least that Zoro would be the one to ask, he was the one who was with her theoretically the longest and had the most occasions to notice her 'oddities'.
"You've noticed that I know where people are at all times," she started and waited at her First Mate's nod of confirmation before continuing. "Everyone interprets what their Observation tells them in a bit of a different way. For example Gol D. Roger was known to hear things, to the point where his ability was named as hearing 'The Voice of All Things', according to His journals and the stories from His cabin boys, He would indeed hear things like upcoming storm or one's sincerity or it's lack. He could hear All. Other Pirates" let's not name Yonko and their crews there "described it to me as just knowing when to duck or when there is trouble brewing on their ship" Marco… of course Marco would just know where there is even a prank being prepared, he's too perfect to not be able to. "Another admitted to using Observation when finding perfect ingredients when cooking, I will introduce you Sanji when we'll be near them again" Thatch was an absolutely excellent cook and she would fight anyone who'd say otherwise. "I heard about one who could smell people and their intention, "surprisingly Arlong named Tiger Fisher as the only one who could do it, frankly Luffy would be absolutely sure, that most Minks, Fishmen and Zoans with more sensitive senses would translate their Observation into those, if not for Arlong's information.
"And you, Captain?"
Yes… There are many ways to interpret the information found by Observation, though most do that by feeling things… And then there is myself. I'm not sure I can describe it correctly but Observation Haki translates for me into sight. I can see silhouettes of people around us, I can see their emotions in the colors of their silhouette as well as I can smell their pheromones thanks to my Fruit and in the fight I can translate their muscles tensing into seeing their moves. It's like… I see a person in full color and around them there is an additional silhouette, like an aura which takes in colors of their emotions and that can move a bit faster than the person which helps me in the fight. Well now it helps. Before I learned to do it properly there were occasions I would jump into incoming attack, which… wasn't fun." It absolutely wasn't fun. Even less fun was Mihawk's training regime from Hell, to help her differentiate between now and in a bit.
"How useful is Haki in the Grand Line?"
"It is acceptable to rely mostly on the Fruits in Paradise, but even civilians can use Haki in the New World."
"And Fruits? In the East Blue it's considered a guaranteed victory" Gin's question just made Luffy wince…
Yes, it was considered a sure victory if one had a Devil Fruit, but East Blue was called the weakest of the Blues for a reason. And while, from what Shanks said, Fruits were an easy victory in all of the Blues, they were much more popular in the rest of them.
"Many Pirates who already got to the New World refuse to eat a Devil Fruit." Arlong spoke slowly, carefully pronouncing each word. "Yes, they are a power boost for those just starting or those not having already settled into their own fighting style, it is not as easy for those already settled into their skin." He hesitated and Luffy stopped her nodding to continue.
"Most of the established crews have a copy of Devil Fruit encyclopedia, but regardless of its name, the book is not complete, so in the end you never know what kind of Fruit you're about to eat and if you'll be able to make the most of it."
"Even just a newly added weakness to salt water is deadly in the New World, but most of the Fruits change their Cursed in more ways than just adding that weakness and a new power." Arlong took up the lecture again "by eating a Fruit you agree to that change and not a lot of those who know themself are eager to make that step."
"It can be a seemingly small change" this time Luffy took up the narrative since she lived that part. "Let's say you ate a Paramecia - Onkyou Onkyou no Mi, suddenly you can control sounds and… it can start with you starting to like singing where before you absolutely hated your voice? Maybe you'd decide to change your voice into something else? After all, you can control what others hear. Maybe you even started to hear again thanks to the Fruit? Or maybe with time you decide that talking is too much of an effort if you can make others hear what you want anyway? Who can say how eating a Fruit would change you? The only thing sure is that it would."
"That's still not as terrible a change as it could be, let's say that you're a frontline fighter. Big, strong and inclined to getting into the face of your opponent." Oh, Luffy knew where it was going… Arlong used the same argument to ream her out when he learned about a Fruit she ate. Even if Kitsune Kitsune no Mi was not the worst Fruit she could eat as a small child, that honor went to most Logia Fruits where lack of control could easily cause a tragedy. "And then you eat Zoan Fruit, let's say a Hebi Hebi no Mi or a Nezu Nezu no Mi and you immediately get instincts of a snake or mouse. How do you live and fight when all your new instincts are the complete opposite of how you did things up to then?"
Yeah, that gathered an appropriate amount of wincing from everyone.
"Zoan? Paramecia?" Sanji questioned with a grimace.
"Devil Fruits are segregated into three broad groups. Logia Fruits where you become an embodiment of the Fruit's element. Up to and including losing your physical form until you're able to train it back up. Paramecia Fruits where you stay human but get an additional power from the Fruit or your body gets new properties, for example become capable of transforming into a diamond like happened to Diamond Jozu of Whitebeard Pirates. And then there are Zoan Fruits where you become a cross between your species and the species of a fruit. Examples of those are Marco the Phoenix of Whitebeard Pirates and our own Kitsube of a Captain." Thank the Seas for Arlong and his shark grin keeping everyone from interrupting. As a reward for their patience Luffy smirked and transformed into the Kitsune form - normal human body with fox ears and nine, fluffy tails.
Then there was chaos…
√ -√v-√ -√v—
They spent a delightful week on Conomi Island playing and training with Fishmen, supporting change of captain in the no-longer-Arlong-Pirates and gathering information on that one crooked marine Kuroobi told her about. They also took their time to paint the Roger they could all agree upon. And while they confirmed that for all of her awesomeness Luffy just could not paint, Usopp was more than capable of doing just that.
And there were a lot of… discussions on whether their Roger ought to be on crossed bones or swords and if so then what kind of swords?
Should their Roger have a straw hat on? Or should they go with Luffy's fruit and paint fox ears there? (Luffy nixed that idea right away, she was going to hide as much information about her Fruit as long as she physically could. Knowledge was Power after all.)
In the end their new Roger was a grinning skull in the style of Redhair Pirates, with the Straw Hat on and on crossed swords. It wasn't easy even for Usopp to paint Luffy's claimore crossed with one of Zoro's katanas, but he managed to achieve the effect they all were happy with.
…
Once she, Zoro and Arlong went on a walk into the island's town she noticed a familiar orange haired girl gaping at them. In a moment of what could be only named spite, she grabbed Arlong's arm and cuddled up to it. There was a not-so-small part of her that wanted to make a scene and set her friend on a girl who tried to set her up for at least a beating and murder, she liked to think that Buggy's crew was not one for raping, but one could never be sure of that… And that kind of unthinking carelessness or worse a cynical discarding of other's safety was… not something she wanted to be near.
At the end she kept her mouth shut, though she did tell Kuroobi about people trying to use their crew name as a way to evade rightful vengeance and warned him to keep closer eye on behavior of those often leaving their island. Something in his eyes told her that the fishman understood more than she wanted him to.
Then, before leaving they also filled their tank with drinkable water and gathered little tangerine trees and pots of vegetable rows for their greenhouse and… were officially ready to leave.
They took off to the corrupt marine branch knowing that they could get all of the supplies they forgot about there, and that of course what's better than destroying a marine base to get their very first bounties? They couldn't go to the Grand Line as no bounties pirates. Having bounties would help them when dealing with weaker pirates who insist that bounties equal strength. And if they'd get bounties Garp couldn't drag her off to marine base and enlist her by force. And of course she had to have something to rub into Garp's nose as a reason why she would never become a marine, that was not 'my sire's head is even more wanted than that of Roger'. After all she still did not know who her sire was as far as Garp and other marines knew.
She explained those reasons to everyone on the ship and with Kuro's help devised the best plan to not really show anything but get high enough bounties. Especially since marines probably got already news about her showdown with Mihawk. So they decided to show just their strength. No Devil Fruit for Luffy or Haki for both her and Arlong.
Just they, their weapons and the bloodlust.
…
It was also important to them all to check which of them would be able to… well there was no need to sugarcoat it - murder the opposing parties, and who would rather stay in defense of their group.
…
So when they came close enough to the base they jumped down and in full view of monitoring den-den mushi loudly announced all of his known crimes, including 'taking bribes from slave traders, extorting bribes from pirates in the area, demanding money for so called protection from villages under his jurisdiction and helping Captain Morgan from Shell's Town enslave people living on his island'.
Then she made a nice speech about how her grandfather always told her about honorable marines protecting people and how she hopes the captain of this base will live through their visit to meet the man and if anyone is actually interested in evidence and not just keeping marines' name clean, all of evidence will land in their hands soon. (Not that she really believed they would be interested, but that should pique the interest of at least one high ranking but still righteous marine… there had to be at least one up there, right?)
Then Usopp cocked his gun and shot the snail, they took off their weapons and jumped onto the base.
After a few long moments of insistent cutting and kicking they managed to clear off the entire thing. Only once the entire base was empty of life, they went through it again and destroyed all monitoring den dens.
Then they got to cleaning themselves and getting supplies and valuables ready. Thanks to that they would just need a shortstop in Loguetown to get proper weapons for Kuro and Zoro since they didn't manage to get anything on Syros and the… fight just highlighted how terrible quality they were.
Once everything was ready they set sail to Loguetown. Luffy behind the wheel, Arlong documenting the money, documents, gold, various jewelry and gunpowder, knives and other nice… souvenirs from their first destroyed Marine Base.
…
They had plans for the journey as well. Arlong would start teaching the rest of the crew Haki, from which Luffy bowed out stating that she's not cruel enough to deploy methods she'd been taught with, though if there would be no progress she would step in. She also explained more about the powers of Kitsune Kitsune no Mi and announced that they'll be training together so her aura would not affect them in the fight.
It… went.
At the first try Zoro who got his taste already fell back on all his training to keep himself centered and stopped himself after taking just a step.
Kuro and Arlong similarly managed to stop themselves before reaching out to her.
Usopp and Gin reached out but stopped themselves just before touching her with a reminder that this is their captain, not a girl from a village…
Sanji… Sanji unfortunately reminded them all that he is a womanizer through and through… He landed at her feet with promises of doing whatever she'd want.
Let's just say that they knew what would take up the time 'till their arrival in Logue Town.