And here we go folks! Going back into the One Piece side of the story with the Buggy Arc!
Now the main reason I wanted till now to do it is to give both Luffy and Zoro a few Avatar adventures before we go onto getting Nami on board for things, sorta giving a little space to when a certain person joins the crew.
Now before we start two things. One, as usual, thanks to Qazse, Petrus, and Yellowpikmin for reading this first before I posted it.
And second, the voices for the OC's with Zuko. Was gonna explain them in the last chapter...but I forgot XD my bad.
But anyway, Onyx is voiced by Laniraptor the voice of Vegeta from DBZ Abridged, Aaron is voiced by Ville Myllyrinne the voice of Riku, and Bonnie is voiced by Karen Strassman the current voice of Rouge the Bat.
So with all that said I hope you enjoy!
Upon one summer's morning, I carefully did stray
Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay
Conversing with a you lass, who seemed to be in pain
Saying, "William, when you go, I fear you will never return again"
The light of the moon shined brightly down below, making the sea shine like a black diamond. The waves were rather calm tonight and there was barley any clouds in the sky. Seemed like the perfect night to just relax, drift along the sea, and just enjoy the salty smell in the air and the sounds of the gentle waves.
My heart is pierced by Cupid
I disdain all glittering gold
There is nothing can console me
But my jolly sailor bold
And it seems like the members of Zuko's ship were doing just that as everyone, except for Zuko himself, were on the deck of the ship putting on music night. A night they held every once and while to destress and have some fun, the cook would whip up some good food and tea for everyone and they would all have some fun playing music and just enjoying some time off following Zuko's orders.
His hair it hangs in ringlets, his eyes as black as coal
My happiness attend him wherever he may go
From Tower Hill to Blackwall, I'll wander, weep and moan
All for my jolly sailor, until he sails home
And this night was rather special for everyone as this was the first time they had someone like Bonnie participating in music night. The Frost-Frost fruit user had the voice of a siren as nearly everyone watching was completely entranced by the young woman's singing, and those playing instruments to go along with her singing had to struggle to keep focus on playing and not getting lost in her voice.
My heart is pierced by Cupid
I disdain all glittering gold
There is nothing can console me
But my jolly sailor bold
"What a beautiful voice," Iroh commented as he held his cup of tea in one hand, and with the other he placed a tile on the game board in front of time. Currently he and Aaron were engaged in a game of Pai Shao, the two having played it all day as Aaron refused to stop until he beat Iroh with the old fire bender having showed the bounty hunter why he was one of the best players in the world. "It's as if the ocean itself is singing to us,"
"Hmmmm…" If Aaron heard Iroh's words, he didn't bother to respond to them as he kept his eyes on the pai shao board and the move Iroh made. "Tch, dammit…" Looks like it would be another lose for him.
Iroh saw this and couldn't help but tease the poor boy a bit. "You know, if you want I could give you a bit of a hint as to what my strategy for this game is," Iroh offered, knowing full well what the boy's response would be. While Iroh was normally a humble man…he couldn't help but show off his pai shao skills a little bit. Especially to a young man that appeared to be a fan of the game. He swears more parents need to show their kids the fun art that is pai shao. "It could help you figure out how to finally beat me,"
"I don't need help." Aaron growled out as he scratched his head rather roughly. He wasn't gonna let this old man get in his head. He. Would. Beat. Him! Even if it was the last thing he did. "I can figure this out…"
Bonnie:
My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair
And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year
Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be
Who love a jolly sailor that ploughs the raging sea
While up aloft in storm, from me his absence mourn
And firmly pray, arrive the day, he's never more to roam
"I'm sure you can, you are getting awfully close to beating me~" Iroh grinned while stroking his beard, causing a tick mark to appear on Aaron's head. The bounty hunter then moved one of is tiles…which is exactly the move Iroh predicted which allowed him to take out a bunch of Aaron's tiles in a single move. "But it looks like you weren't close enough. What do you say, best 33 out of 64?" Aaron buried his face in his hands in response.
"Just give it up brother you're not gonna beat him, it's like trying to beat an old man or a baby at a gumming contest." Onyx yelled from nearby the fire barrel that was lit up for the night. For the most part Onyx just kept to himself for the whole night and just relaxed by the fire, occasionally getting up for food and drink. And while he did like Bonnie's singing he wasn't going gaga over it like the others on the ship. "And as much fun as it is to see Aaron's ass getting handed to him at this game for once, how long are you two gonna keep playing? You've been at it all God damn day!"
"With a game as fun as this, we could play it for weeks straight and still enjoy ourselves," Iroh said with nothing but passion as he and Aaron started to set up a new game. "If I may ask, where were you all day? Me and Aaron haven't seen you at all."
"Probably because with your game," Onyx deadpanned at Aaron and Iroh before looking back up at the sky. "And if you must know since we're little in the middle of fucking nowhere, I decided to do something protective today unlike some people! I hosted fight club in the hull of the ship."
Bonnie:
My heart is pierced by Cupid
I disdain all glittering gold
There is nothing can console me
But my jolly sailor bold
"Fight club?" Iroh asked with a raised brow before his eyes widened a bit in realization. "So that explains why the infirmary was so packed when I passed by it to go and get more tea."
"Hehehe, yeah we enjoyed ourselves." Onyx chuckled fondly. "Even knocked out one of Lee's tooth, that'll teach ya to trash talk to me Lee!"
"Screw you bastard you got lucky!"
"Bitch you weren't even ready!" Onyx snapped back before putting on a relaxed smile and leaning back again. "But like I said it was a fun day filled with people fisting each other, hehehe."
"….Uuuuuuh…" Iroh let out as he awkwardly looked to Aaron.
"Don't correct him." Aaron told him as he thought about what his first move should be. "He needs to learn on his own what he says."
Bonnie:
My heart is pierced by Cupid
I disdain all glittering gold
There is nothing can console me
But my jolly sailor bold
And with that, Bonnie took a bow as she finished her song. With the exception of Onyx, everyone that was listening to Bonnie clapped with a few even whistling to her. The girl blushed a bit at the praise as she gave a small wave to everyone. "Thanks guys, I've been singing ever since I was a little girl," She gave a small giggle in response before looking around and noticing the lack of a Fire Nation prince, causing her to turn to Iroh. "Hey, where's Zuko? Why isn't he up here,"
"My nephew isn't the biggest fan of music night," Iroh informed the young woman as he placed a tile on the board after Aaron made his move. "He prefers to stay focused on tracking the Avatar. I try to get him to rest and have a bit of fun, but I'm sure you all can tell he's quite the stubborn one."
"Understatement of the century," Onyx mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. "Yeah given the last hundred years I doubt 'having fun' runs in the family that much. No offense old man."
"None taken," Iroh shrugged it off, heck the gravel fruit user was more than right on that.
"Hmmmm," Bonnie hummed a bit as she looked at the door leading into the ship. "Well I'm gonna go check on him, someone should at least make sure he's still alive." With her mind made up, Bonnie smiled as she made her way inside the ship.
"…So how much you wanna bet she's gonna ask him to fuck her?" In response to Onyx's question, everyone on the deck gave him strange looks. "What? Come on I can't be the only one thinking that can I?"
In Zuko's quarters, the banished prince was doing what he did best. Tracking the Avatar and where he and the other Straw Hat Pirates were gonna be next. And based on the object in his hand it looks like they were close.
Katara's necklace.
Last night, Zuko had heard word about an earthbender revolt on a Fire Nation shipyard. Granted Zuko only got there right after it ended, but he was still able to get the info he needed. The Avatar and his pirate friends were there and helped all the earthbenders escape, and that water tribe girl seemed to have left her little necklace behind. He knew for sure they were on the right trail now to catching up with the Avatar. "Just you wait Avatar," Zuko said as he held the necklace up to his face. "I'll be catching up with you soon,"
"So why did you take this again?" A voice suddenly spoke up behind Zuko as the necklace was swiped out of his hand. Zuko's fight or flight reflex quickly kicked in as he took around and took a fighting pose, only to give an annoyed frown as he saw Bonnie had made it into his room and was looking over the water tribe necklace. "It looks nice though, didn't take you for a fan of this stuff."
"I'm not, it was left behind by the water tribe girl the Avatar's with." Zuko informed Bonnie while giving her a glare and holding out his hands. "Now give it back."
"Planning on black mailing a girl with her own jewelry? That's low prince, hehe." Bonnie gave Zuko a playful smile before she placed the necklace in between her breasts, causing the banished prince to flinch and blush a bit. "Tell ya what, I'll give it back after you join us for music night."
"What?" Zuko blinked a few times at her. Was she serious?
"You heard me," Bonnie spoke with a bit of firmness to her voice as she put her hands on her hips. "You've been cramped up in here for too long, you need some fresh air. So come out and have fun with us."
"Grrr, I don't have time for 'fun', we're on a mission and we should be focusing on that!" Zuko rose his voice, but Bonnie didn't even seem to flinch. "Now I order you to give it back!"
"Alright…after you enjoy an hour of music night with us." Bonnie said firmly before turning around and leaving the room, the young woman speaking up again before Zuko could respond. "Also take a shower before you come up please, you're also started to smell a little. Another reason you need to leave this room."
As she left, Zuko was left rather stunned at her words. Raising his arm up, Zuko gave it a quick sniff before cringing a bit at what he smelled. Good thing he was alone so Bonnie couldn't see him blush a bit in embarrassment.
MORNING
"Aaaaah…what a nice day…" Katara sighed in contempt as she laid down on Appa's saddle, her eyes closed as she felt the sun hit her skin. Currently Appa was swimming through the waters of the ocean which were still as calm as they were on the night before. It wasn't too hot or too cold, and the occasional cloud provided the occasional bit of shade. "You know considering all we've been up to lately we kinda forgot how nice is it to take it easy like this, I could lay around like this for hours."
"You said it kid," Zoro nodded in agreement as he leaned back on a part of the saddle, his arms crossed behind his head and Momo sleeping on the swordsman lap. Considering the slow pace they were currently going at Zoro and Katara decided to just enjoy the leisurely cruise and relax. "Resting is just as important as pushing yourself, so consider this part of your training."
"Yes sir…" Katara put up no arguments and just kept doing what she was doing.
"Ok look I enjoy sailing around lazily just as much as the next guy," Sokka spoke up as he looked around and noticed a slight problem…they were moving slower then a tortoise-sloth! It was gonna take them ages to reach the north pole at this rate! "Why are we not flying?! Come on people we gotta get moving!"
"Appa's tired Sokka, he's just taking a little break is all," Aang explained to Sokka as he patted his bison's head, Appa giving a small grunt of appreciation. If he could talk, we would tell everyone that carrying around 5 people on his back was kinda hard, even for a mighty bison such as himself. "He did a lot of flying after the whole earthbender break out, and we weren't able to find a proper place to land last night. So he's a little tuckered out right now, just give him a bit more time and he'll be back in the air in no time."
"Hmmmm…we need a pirate ship." Luffy while laying down on Appa, his upper half daggling off of Appa's saddle with the straw hat starring at his reflection in the water. Appa was nice and all, and Luffy created the bison like he would his other crewmates and friends, but if they were gonna get more members then they were gonna need a real ship that can properly hold them all.
"Probably a good idea," Zoro agreed as he opened an eye up to look at Luffy. "If we're gonna get more members, then we need some actual transportation. Appa can only carry so much, and a ship doesn't get tired either."
"Don't listen to them buddy," Aang reassured his oldest friends. Though Aang would be lying if he said getting a pirate ship hasn't crossed his mind. "You'll always be better then any ship to me."
"Well I'd love to get a ship." Sokka began speaking in his usual sarcastic tone as he rose a brow at the straw hat. "So tell me oh wise captain of mine, how are we gonna get a pirate ship?"
"I dunno," Luffy shrugged as he gave his answer.
"…Yep…" Sokka sighed as he slumped down where he was sitting. "That was about the answer I was expecting. Well guess Katara was right about it being a nice day at least, could be worse days to drift at sea."
Grooooooowl!
"Uuuugh….I'm getting hungry again…" Luffy groaned as he held a hand to his growling stomach. As soon as the rest of the crew heard their captains stomach, they turned to their captain as Luffy licked his lips and went for the bag of food. "Time to eat up!"
"NO!" But before Luffy could pull out even a single scrap of food everyone, with the exception of Aang, all tackled Luffy and pinned him down and took the food bag away from him.
"H-Hey!" Luffy yelled as he tried to grab the food bag again only for Zoro to hold it away from him. "Give it back! I'm hungry!"
"You're always hungry!" Katara yelled as she held onto Luffy's legs. If he struggled any more she was gonna have to submerge him in water again to keep him under control. "That's the problem!"
"We keep running out of food because of you!" Zoro yelled as he made sure Luffy wouldn't be able to get his hands on the food bag. "We just ate Breakfast so no eating until lunch time! Otherwise, Mr. Rock-Shaped-Nuts for brains is gonna end up foraging for us every night!"
"…You're never gonna let that go are you?" Sokka deadpanned at Zoro. It wasn't funny anymore! They were just beating a dead horse-cow! "I did my best ok! Just let it go!"
Kaw! Kaw!
"Huh?" Luffy finally stopped struggling as he looked up and saw a bird flying up in the sky above them. Grinning, Luffy got an idea as he managed to free himself from the others hold with a strong shove, standing up and looking up at the bird. "Fine then! If you guys won't let me eat the food we have I'll just eat the bird instead!"
"Wait what do you mean?" Aang asked as he looked up at the sky and saw the bird looming over them. It looked small…but it seemed to cast quite a bit of shade as it flew over the sun. "That bird…wait…"
"Gum-Gum…" Not listening to the airbender, Luffy jumped off Appa and grabbed the edge of the saddle, stretching his arms out as much as he could without falling into the water. "Rocket!" And just like that, Luffy rocketed himself towards the bird.
"Think he'll actually catch it?" Sokka asked as everyone watched Luffy shoot his way up into the sky after the bird.
"I'll fish him out if he misses." Katara deadpanned as she and the others watched…as the bird caught Luffy's head in its beak. "Wait a minute…"
"AAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy's screamed as the bird dragged him around through the air. Turns out the bird was only small in perspective. In actuality it was actually almost as big as Appa. "HELP ME!"
"You moron!" Zoro yelled as he stood up, everyone's eyes widened as they looked at the predicament their captain has gotten himself into. So much for a pleasant drift through the ocean, now they gotta rescue their captain from some mega bird! "What the hell did you get yourself into now?!"
"We gotta go save him! Come on Appa, we need you to fly! Yip-yip!" Aang gently whipped the reins in an attempt to get the bison air born. But Appa didn't seem quite ready to fly just yet as he let out a grunt and only started swimming a little faster. "Oh no, he's still too tired to fly." Quickly thinking of another plan, Aang stood up and took out his staff, opening up the glider. "I'll have to go up and help him myself, Sokka, take the reins and try and keep up with us."
"On it!" Sokka immediately got up and took over Aang's place on Appa's head, keeping an eye on Luffy so he didn't lose him.
"Good luck Aang!" Katara yelled to the young Avatar as Aang took up into the sky, following after the bird who captured his captain.
"Hey! You there!" Suddenly a new voice called out to the three of them, followed by the sound of splashing. Looking forward they saw three people in the water without a boat, the Straw Hats approaching them fast. "Men overboard! Stop! Man overboard!"
"Tch, hell of a time to run into ship wreckers." Zoro clicked his tongue as he and Katara went up to the edge of the saddle. "Sokka, keep Appa going me and Katara will grab them!"
"Roger!" Sokka yelled back as he whipped Appa's reins.
"Grab on!" Katara yelled to the ship wreckers as she and Zoro held their arms out to them. "We'll catch you!" The three ship wreckers quickly raised their arms out of the water with one of them grabbing Katara's hands and the other two grabbing one of Zoro's arm and with a strong pull, they managed to get the shipwreckers onto Appa's saddle. "Are you three alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine. Thanks for that, you guys are lifesavers!" With a black hat on his head said with a grateful smile…a smile that soon turned into a malicious smirk. "Now then…" Zoro and Katara's eyes widened as he took out a sword, his fellow ship wreckers now sharing his smirk. "Stop this boat or…whatever the hell this thing is now. We're taking control of it!"
"Huh?" Zoro's have a hard glare at the three as-
THRASH!
BAM!
WHACK!
"Hehehe…." The three ship wreckers were now on their hands and knees, bruises and bumps over their faces as Katara and Zoro glared down at them. The second the three tried to take over the Bison Zoro made sure to teach them a lesson. "Sorry about that! We had no idea you were the famous pirate hunter Zoro! Please forgive us!"
"Hmph, got some nerve doing that after we just saved you!" Katara spoke in her signature scolding voice. It always got Sokka and most of the other villagers back home to stand down whenever they did something wrong, and it seemed to work on these guys as well as they flinched and looked down. "You should feel ashamed of yourselves! But luckily I consider myself better then to just throw you all back, so unless you want that to happen you'll sit still and not cause any more trouble!"
"We'll be good…" All three ship wreckers said in unison with lowered heads and shattered pride.
"Are you sure we can't just throw them back in the ocean?" Sokka asked as he turned towards his sister with a raised brow.
"Sokka!" Katara yelled at her brother. Sure she was mad that the people they saved tried to attack them, but she couldn't just leave them to drown. How would that make her any better?
"What? They tried to attack us and take over Appa." Sokka gave a perfectly valid reason why they should just ditch the three ship wreckers. "Besides this is probably what they do, they pretend to be ship wrecked and then take over some saps boat and steal their stuff, they probably have their own ship nearby."
"Actually we don't…" One of the ship wreckers said with shame in his voice. "Some girl stole it from us, as well as all our treasure…"
"Captain Buggy's gonna kill us when he finds out…" Another one of the shipwrecks said with a hint of fear in his voice.
"Buggy?" Zoro asked with a raised brow. Buggy…why does that sound so familiar? "Whose that?"
The three ship wreckers looked back up at the three straw hats in disbelief. Was Zoro serious? He was bounty hunter, and he didn't know who Buggy was?! "What?!" One of the ship wreckers yelled. "You mean you don't know Buggy the Clown!?"
"Nope." Zoro answered bluntly.
"What is he some circus performer or something?" Sokka gave his best guess after hearing he was a clown. Which made him wonder why these guys seemed afraid of him. Don't get Sokka wrong clowns are creepy and all but they weren't dangerous.
"No he's not a circus performer! And count your lucky stars he can't hear ya right now!" The lead ship wrecker snapped at Sokka before looking back towards Zoro and Katara. "Buggy is the ruthless captain of our pirate ship. And he's eaten one of the Devil Fruits. Above everything else, he is a one truly terrifying man."
"A devil fruit…" Katara muttered as the Straw Hats eyes widened. A devil fruit…so far Luffy was the only Devil Fruit user they all knew. And from what they heard…the possibility of Devil Fruit powers was practically limitless. "Where is this Buggy guy you're with?"
"Well we're actually heading in the direction of where he's docked right now." One of the ship wreckers said as he pointed forward. "We were heading back to our crew earlier but, well, like we said our boat got stolen. We shouldn't be too far away now."
"Oh no…" Katara muttered as a sense of urgency took over her. That was also the direction the bird that grabbed Luffy was heading in, as well as Aang after the airbender took off after their captain. "Sokka! Can you still see Aang, Luffy, and the bird?!"
"Uuuum…yeah but they're disappearing quick." Sokka held his hand above his eyes to try and get a better view of what was forward and could just barley see the large bird in the distance. But it would only be a matter of time before it escaped his sight. "I doubt we're gonna catch them at this rate. Come on Appa! Yip-Yip get in the air already!" Appa only let out a growl in response. "Don't you growl at me mister!"
Katara could only sigh and lower her head, a sense of worry filling her. "Aang, Luffy, please be safe." She muttered as she looked forward at the distance, trying to keep her eye on them as much as they could.
"Come…on…open…up already!" With Aang, the young Avatar had managed to catch up with Luffy and the bird with the former's head still trapped within the latter's beak. Despite Luffy's struggling he couldn't seem to escape the birds hold and when Aang catch up he landed on top of the bird's head and tried to pry the beak open to little success. "Pretty please! I can get you plenty of bird seed if you want!"
"Come on Aang get me out of here already!" Luffy yelled impatiently as he flailed his limbs around and struggled. But no matter what either pirates did the bird seemed adamant on carrying Luffy around. "Grrrr, stupid bird! I'm supposed to eat you not the other way around!"
"I don't think that's gonna help Luffy…" Aang deadpanned but a light bulb went off in his head. A mischievous smirk came to the airbenders face as he looked at one of the birds' eyes. "Ok if you won't let go, then let's see if your ticklish instead." Aang jumped off the head of the bird and onto it's body, he then proceeded to reach a hand under one of its large wings. "Tickle, tickle!"
"Brrrraaaawk!" The birds' eyes widened as Aang started to tickle under its wings. It flapped its wings wildly while kicking around its legs. In the process of all this, it finally opened its beak and released Luffy with gravity making the Straw Hat fall down below.
"Aaaaaaahhh!" Luffy yelled as he fell towards the ground. Luckily the two had reached an island of some sort so Luffy wouldn't be flying towards the ocean.
"Luffy!" Aang yelled as he quickly took out his glider again and jumped off the bird. "Don't worry! I got you!"
"Huff…Huff…Huff…"
"Hey! Get back here lady!"
On the island where Luffy was falling towards was an empty town. There were plenty of houses around but not a single person in any of them. But there was still a few people there, for instance there was a red haired girl with a rolled up piece of paper in her hand being chased by a group of three pirates.
"Aaaaaaaahhhh!"
"Huh?" Suddenly the red-haired girl and the pirates stopped as they heard the sound of screaming coming from…above them? "What's that?"
CRASH!
Kicking up a large cloud of dust was Luffy as he landed right in between the girl and the pirates. "What…the hell?!" The girl yelled as she covered her eyes to keep dust from getting into them.
"What the heck was that?" One of the pirates asked in a confused tone.
"A guy fell from the sky." Another one of the pirates said as he blinked a few times in confusion.
"Luffy! Are you ok?!" Just they thought things couldn't get weirder, a young bald boy with an arrow tattoo on his head came flying down from the sky. As soon as Aang landed he thrusted his hands to the side and used his airbending to blow all the dust away with the girl and pirates being blown back a bit and landing on their buts as well. The ground Luffy landed on was smashed up a bit, but it looked like his captain didn't have a scratch on him. "You're not hurt are you?"
"I'm fine, I've fallen from higher when I was a kid." Luffy reassured Aang as he put a hand to his hat and stood up. Aang wasn't sure if he should be impressed with what Luffy said…or be a bit worried. Then again, if he landed on his head…well that would sure explain quite a few things. "Well at least I'm safe now, and what just happened to me…was awesome!"
"Hehehe, I'll say. Maybe I should try it sometime!" Aang grinned as he imagined what it might be like. He's rode plenty of creatures, but he's never done what Luffy's just been through. Honestly Aang was kinda jealous he didn't get to do it first, but that just means another exciting thing to add to his list of fun stuff to do while on their travels. "But we should probably meet up with the others, they're probably worried about us."
"Alright, sounds good!" Luffy grinned and was completely on board with the plan…until his stomach growled yet again. "Ugh…but I'm still so hungry. Maybe we can get something to eat here before we meet back up with them?" And just like that, Aang proceeded to fall down on the ground comedically. If he didn't know any better he would saw Luffy's stomach also acted as his brain.
"Oh, hey boss!" Suddenly stepping right next to the two of them was the red headed girl. As soon as she saw the two of the land in between her and the pirates, she got a rather devious idea on how to get these pirates to stop chasing her. "Thanks for coming to save me! Oh and I see you found my little brother too! The little rascal I was getting worried about him!"
"…Who're you?" Luffy asked bluntly as he looked right into the girls brown hairs. He blinked a few times before looking down at Aang. "Wait she's your sister?"
"Um…no I don't think so." Aang told Luffy with a confused look. He was frozen for a hundred years, even if he did had a sister she'd probably be gone along with the rest of the airbenders. "I think I'd remember having a-WOAH!"
"Good luck boss!" Cutting Aang off and grabbing his wrist, the girl ran from the scene with Aang in tow. "They're all yours!"
"Hey! That girls getting away!" One of the pirates yelled as Nami and Aang took a turn around the corner.
"That's okay," Another pirate said with a grin. "We got her boss now, and we can always go after her brother later and use him as leverage."
"Heh, you're all in trouble kid," The third pirate told Luffy. "You shoulda let your crony fend for herself.
"I wonder where she's taking Aang?" Luffy asked, completely ignoring the pirates in front of him as he looked in the direction the girl took Aang in. "Ah well, he can handle himself." Luffy then acknowledged the pirates and asked them a single important question. "So hey do you guys know where I can get something to eat around here?"
"Food should be the least of your worries pal!" The biggest of the pirates yelled as he walked up to Luffy and punched him in the face, causing his hat to go flying off his head.
Luffy, who was pretty much unharmed from the punch, gasped as he saw his hat drift through the air. Before it could go flying away, Luffy slugged the pirate in the face hard enough to send him flying a bit. With the pirate knocked out Luffy quickly grabbed his hat and put back on top of his head. "You guys better keep your hands off my hat!" Luffy growled out through gritted teeth. Luffy was usually pretty carefree, but he had one important rule. No one. Touches. His hat!
"You bastard!" The two remaining pirates yelled as they pulled out their swords and charged at Luffy.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!" But neither would get the chance to attack him as Luffy launched both of his fist right at their faces, and they soon joined their fellow pirate on the ground and also falling unconscious.
"So hey…" Meanwhile up on one of the roofs of the nearby houses was the girl and Aang. After leaving Luffy alone with the pirates the girl had made Aang follow her up to the roofs where they would hopefully be well hidden. "Why did you drag me up here again? And call me your brother?"
"Well I was trying to get us out of there kid." The girl answered Aang like it was obvious. Sure she's willing to leave the likes of the Straw Hatted guy alone to deal with vicious pirates but she's not so heartless as to just leave a kid behind in that situation. "You should be thanking me ya know I just saved our lives."
"Well…thanks I guess?" Aang tried to be polite, but he just sounded more confused. Granted he did appreciate the girls attempts at helping him out, but it wasn't necessary, the pirates didn't look all that tough. He and Luffy probably could have easily handled things on their own. "But you didn't need to do that, we would have been ok. Look, Luffy just took care of them!"
"Wait what?" The girl rose a brow as she saw Aang look over the edge of the room they were on. There's no way that one guy took out those three pirates by himself. But upon looking herself, she gasped as she saw the three pirates that were chasing her on the ground knocked out and Luffy still standing without a single scratch on him. "Wow! You weren't kidding!"
"Luffy's pretty cool like that," Aang told her with a smile before standing up and jumping down next to Luffy. "Way to go Luffy, guess they weren't so tough huh?'
"Nah, they were pretty weak," Luffy told the young Avatar before raising a brow at him. "Hey where'd you and that girl go?"
"I'm right here!" Before Aang could speak up, the girl jumped down from the rood and onto the balcony of the house she was on. "Hey you're pretty strong you know! Even though both of them had sabers, you beat them barehanded!"
"So who are you anyway?" Luffy asked the question that was also on Aang's mind as well. "And why'd you kidnap Aang?"
"Oh yeah, sorry about that. Just didn't want the pirates getting to him." The girl apologized, looks like she didn't need to do that after all if that straw hatted guy was looking after him. "Anyway, I'm a talented thief who steals strictly from pirates, the names Nami! Hey, you two wanna team up with me!"
"Um, thanks anyway, lady, but I think we'll pass," Luffy told the red headed girl, now known as Nami, bluntly before looking to Aang. "Come on, let's go meet up with the others."
"Good idea," Aang nodded before turning to Nami. "Thanks anyway but we're kinda busy right now, maybe some other time."
Nami was a bit taken aback by their immediate denial as they started to walk away. They didn't even think about it! "H-Hold on!" But Nami wasn't gonna no for an answer so easily and jumped down from the balcony and quickly went after them. "At least think about it first!"
Grooooowl…
But the two straw hat pirates stopped as the untamable beast that was Luffy's stomach once again let out a loud growl. "I just remembered…" Luffy groaned as he clutched his stomach and fell to his knees. "I'm still so hungry!"
Aang let out a sigh and shook his head. "You being hungry is what got us into this situation," Aang told Luffy in a slight scolding tone. Honestly it's a miracle they all haven't starved to death with how much Luffy likes to eat. "Can't you think about anything other than food for one second?"
"….Sorry what was that?" Luffy asked Aang after spacing out for a second. "I was thinking about food."
As Aang face palmed, Nami saw this as an opportunity. "Well come with me and I'll get you something to eat." Maybe if she provided the two would food they would reconsider her offer. Food was often the second-best way to get a man to do what you wanted. As for the best way…Nami wasn't doing that, especially with Aang there.
And just like Luffy was back on his feet looking at Nami with an eager grin. "No way! Ya mean it?!" Luffy asked excitedly, taking Nami aback a bit.
Munch! Munch! Munch!
Just as Nami promised them, she took them to one of the many empty houses on the island and treated the two straw hats to a bowl of bread and a pitcher of water. "Mmmm, thanks a bunch Nami!" Luffy said with his mouth full, and the rubber man only stuffing it further. One of the best parts of being made of rubber is that your mouth can stretch to fit more food! "This is great!"
"That Luffy said, thanks Nami!" Aang grinned and, though not nearly as hungry as Luffy, decided to help himself to a piece of bread and butter. "So do you live here by yourself? Seems kinda big for one person to live in."
"No not really, I'm kinda just staying here for the time being," Nami explained as she stood next to Aang, leaning against the table. "All the citizens left this town because of Captain Buggy."
"Wait, so this is someone else's house…" Aang slowly asked as he looked at the piece of bread in his hands he was about to eat…stolen bread. "I…don't think I'm that hungry anymore…"
"Alright more for me!" Luffy said as he swiped Aang's piece of bread away for himself before looking to Nami. "So does that mean you're just a petty thief or something?" Luffy asked, completely ignoring the fact that he was kinda of eating stolen food at the moment.
"How rude!" Nami gave the straw hat a bit of a glare at that. She wasn't just some petty shop lifter or purse snatcher or something like that. "I only steal from people that deserve it. Pirates, and Fire Nation from time to time. So don't compare me to some scumbag, petty thief."
"A thief's a thief, as far as I'm concerned," Luffy stated after swallowing his food. If you steal something, no matter who it's from or what it is, then you're a thief. Simple as that.
"Well…I'll admit me and Monk Gyatso weren't strangers to snagging a few extra fruit pies for ourselves now and then." Aang decided to come to Nami's defense about the subject. While he surely didn't condone stealing, he would admit to doing it now and then back at the temple. Especially if it was to pull pranks with or too Gyatso. "And as long as she isn't stealing from innocent people."
"Thank you Aang, at least one of your is polite," Nami gave Aang a pat on the head while giving Luffy a glare. Whoever Aang learned manners from, it certainly wasn't straw hat right there. A serious look then appeared on the thief's face as she looked away from the two of them. "My goal is to earn a hundred million berries, no matter how hard it is, or how long it takes."
"A hundred million?!" Aang's eyes shot open in shock. She wanted to get how much money again?! The only people Aang could think of that were that rich were royalty! "But…why on earth do you need that much? I mean money is good and all but it can't buy happiness."
"It's a secret ok." Nami turned her back to them after Aang asked that before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a piece of paper of some sort. "But with this chart of the Fire Nation, the hundred million is now a definite possibility. They should have bases all over filled with the money they took from other villages in the Earth Kingdom and their own."
"A chart?" Luffy blinked a few times as he looked at the chart in Nami's hand. If Nami had a chart then maybe she could be one vital crewmember he was looking for. "So you must be a navigator right?"
Nami turned back to the boys and held up her fist, she couldn't help but put on a prideful grin. "I'm the most skilled navigator you're ever likely to meet." Nami's been working on her navigator skills since she was a young girl, as far as she was concerned she's bound to be one of the best navigators in the entire world.
After hearing this, Aang and Luffy smiled at each other before standing up and giving Nami eager looks. "That's perfect!" Luffy said as Nami blinked a few times in confusion. What's got the two of them so worked up for now. "Then how about you join my crew? I've been looking for a navigator."
"W-Wait…what?" Nami gasped a little and took a few steps back. Join…their crew? But…then that would mean that these two were, "Are you guys…pirates?"
"We sure are!" Aang said with a grin and nod. "Sailing the seas and having fun while we do it!"
"And we've been looking for a navigator for a while!" Luffy explained as he took a step closer to Nami, causing Nami to take yet another step back from these pirates. Pirates that she just took into her base…and fed them…crap. "Aang and Sokka are pretty good at reading maps and stuff but we need a real experienced navigator for our crew! So what do you say?"
"No way!" But Nami didn't even think about it for a second before shutting that idea down, hard. There was no way over her dead body she'd ever join a group of pirates. "There's nothing in this world more I despise more than pirates! I only like money and tangerines!"
"That's…oddly specific," Aang couldn't help but comment on that. Money he could get why a lot of people liked that, but tangerines? But before Aang could say anything else about Nami suddenly walked up to him, grabbed him by the shoulders, and knelt down to be at eye level with the young Avatar. "Uh, what are you-"
"Why is a kid like you hanging out with a pirate like him anyway?" Nami asked with a hint of worry in her voice. Young impressionable kids like Aang shouldn't be hanging out with vicious pirates like Luffy! He had his whole life ahead of him! She then leaned close to his ear and whispered. "Is he holding you hostage or something? Blink twice for yes and I'll get you away from him!"
But Aang only blinked at Nami once and gave her an even more confused look. "He's…not holding me hostage." Aang slowly said, causing Nami to let out a silent gasp. "He asked me to join his crew, and I said yes. So now I'm a pirate like him."
"And you can be one too!" Luffy proved to be a bit stubborn about this as he asked Nami again to join. He needed a navigator and with that declaration she made earlier he was sure that Nami was just what he was looking for.
"I said no!" Nami snapped at Luffy again before walking away from the two of them. She couldn't believe it, she had just invited a couple of pirates into her temporary living space and they had the nerve to ask her to be a part of their crew even after telling them how much she hates pirates!
"Well…you're loss." And so with Nami being adamant on her refusal, Luffy sat back down and began eating again.
"Don't worry Luffy, I'm sure we'll find someone else to be our navigator." Aang tried to reassure his captain, only for Luffy to let out a small hum in response.
Meanwhile as Nami looked out the window, she flinched and quickly stepped to the side and peaked her head to continuing looking out the window and saw some of Captain Buggy's pirates that were still on the hunt for her. And it was only gonna be a matter of time before they find which house she was hiding in. 'I gotta do something about those guys,' All she needed was a good enough distraction so she can steal a boat and sail away. And she just so happened to have two people with her that might help her with a distraction. "You know…on second thought I guess I might consider joining you two, but only if you'll agree to certain conditions."
Aang and Luffy quickly perked up as they looked to Nami, who approached them with a light smirk on her face. "Really?" Luffy asked as he put down his food and gave an eager grin. "We'll do anything!"
"Uh-huh! Just name it!" Aang nodded his head at Nami.
Hook, line, and sinker. "Well then I just need you to come with me and pay a little visit to Buggy the Pirate." Nami explained to the two pirates…before pulling out a thing of rope. "But first…"
And so, catching both Aang and Luffy off guard, Nami proceeded to tie Luffy up. First tying up his arms and waist and then tied his wrist together. "Why did you have to tie me up?" Luffy asked in a bit of a confused tone. Didn't make sense to tie him up to go see this Buggy guy.
"The ropes just for appearances," Nami explained to Luffy, but making sure to keep it vague. She already had it all planned in her head and it should all work out flawlessly.
"Uh…what about me?" Aang asked in a bit of a nervous tone as he pointed to himself. "You're not gonna tie me up…right?"
"Of course not. All I need you to do is play along with what I say," Nami told Aang while putting a hand on the young airbender's shoulder. "Got it, little brother?"
Currently stationed up on the highest point of the island was the crew of the fearsome Buggy Pirates. This pirate crew was best known for two things, their love of treasure and anything sparkly and the fact they all looked like total clowns. That wasn't an insult, it was a fact. Many of them looked like they were a part of a circus from widely colored hair done up in a goofy style, clown hats, face paint, polka dot cloths, and other stuff like that. Despite their appearance they racked up quite the reputation as pirates that took anything of value they could get their hands on.
And of course, a crew such as this can only be led by an even more fearsome captain. Captain Buggy the Pirate.
And right now…Buggy wasn't happy.
"WHAAAAAAAAT!"
Captain Buggy's crew froze in fear. Three in particular on their knees and fearing for their lives. Their captains shout practically ran throughout the whole island. Sitting on a makeshift thrown under a tent, keeping him out of the sun, was an incredibly angry captain Buggy. Buggy appeared to be a slim blue-haired man that resembled a clown, he even seemed to have a big red rubber nose on his face. His face had make up on it resembled a crossbones that formed an X along with two blue lines near both of his eyes, lipstick, and a jolly roger of skull and crossbones with a clown nose on his orange hat. He wore a striped white and red shirt with short sleeves, white gloves reminiscent of the ones worn by clowns, a sash around his waist like many other pirates, and a pair of loose pants reaching to his calves, just above a pair of striped socks and pointy shoes. He also has a scarf around his neck. Hanging from his shoulders there is an orange, fur-lined captain's coat. He also had light-brown pants and the epaulets of his coat are simply gold.
"ARE YOU TELLING ME THE THIEF GOT AWAY!" Captain Buggy was angry, no, livid for one reason and one reason only. A thief had managed to sneak into his current base and operations and stole his chart of the Fire Nation waters. "DO YOU REALIZE HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND ACCURATE CHARTS AND MAPS OF THE FIRE NATION THESE DAYS!?"
"P-P-Please forgive us Captain Buggy!" The three pirates that were chasing Nami and got their asses kicked easily by Luffy begged their captain for mercy.
"I'VE NEVER SEEN A MORE PATHETIC GROUP THAN YOU THREE!" But Buggy didn't have mercy to spare for these three failures. And there was only one thing he did to failures. "TIME TO DIE!"
The three pirates clenched their eyes shut, expecting their captain to use his Devil Fruit power to brutally end their lives. "Captain Buggy! I have news!" But suddenly their savior appeared as another one of Buggy's crewmates ran up to the scene.
"Ugh, what is it?" Buggy asked with an irritated tone. He just wanted to kill these three failures and then get back to finding the thief who took their chart.
But little did Buggy know that's exactly what was going to happen. "The girl who stole our chart is back." The crewmate revealed, taking his captain aback. "And she's got a prisoner and, uh, a little boy."
"What?!" Buggy let out in surprise.
The entire crew went quiet as the sounds of footsteps approaching hit their ears. Walking to the scene and passing by all the pirates were Nami, Aang, and the still tied up Luffy. Aang looked at all the pirates around him and gulped a bit in worry, something told him these guys weren't as nice as Luffy. Meanwhile Nami kept a smile on her face, not seeming to be bothered much by this with Luffy having a blank expression on his face.
"That's her!" One of the Buggy pirates yelled.
"That's the thief that stole the chart!" Another one yelled as he pointed as Nami.
Right as the walked up in front of the Captain Buggy, Nami smirked as she kicked Luffy down, so he was on her knees and stuck her tongue out a little. Aang's eyes widened at the sight, and he was about to try and do something, but Nami quickly put a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place. "Remember, just play along. It's all gonna be ok," She whispered to the kid to reassure him before looking right at Captain Buggy himself. "I've captured the thief, Captain Buggy the Clown! And here's your chart back!"
Buggy couldn't help but smirk as Nami approached him. Something was up here but he was willing to at least humor the girl a bit and see what her reasoning for this was. "Not that I don't appreciate it. But…why the sudden change of heart little girl?" Buggy asked as he took his chart back from Nami.
"Me and my little brother had another fight with our boss over here and we just can't take anymore." Nami explained as she gestured to Aang and Luffy. "So we were hoping we might be able to join your crew. Right Aang?"
"O-Oh, uh, y-yeah that's right." Aang did his best to lie and play along as Nami said. Didn't help that if he ended up blowing it they would have an entire crew of angry pirates after them. "We were…um…hoping to join some really…cool and tough pirates! And we heard your crew was the best of the best!"
Nami put a hand behind her back and gave Aang a thumbs up as Captain Buggy narrowed his eyes at him and Nami, seemingly in anger. All of the crew quickly grew afraid, thinking that Buggy was about to use his power and kill the two where they stood…but instead. "Gyahahahaha!" Buggy let out a loud laugh as he looked between Aang and Nami, an amused smile on his face. "Best of the best huh? Well that sounds about right! I like you two! Of course you both join my crew! Gyahahahaha!"
Aang let out a sigh of relief, looks like Nami's plan worked. 'Looks like we've successfully infiltrated them!' Nami smirked as Buggy continued to laugh. 'Pirates are so dumb!'
And so the next course of action was, of course, to toss Aang and Nami's old 'boss' in a cage. "It's a good day to be a pirate!" Buggy smirked before walking up to Aang and Nami. "So girl, what do you call yourself?"
"I'm Nami." Nami properly introduced herself to the clown pirate.
"And I believe she referred to you as Aang, her little brother right?" Buggy asked as he turned to Aang, who gave him a nervous nod. "Tell me Aang, why does a little boy such as yourself want to be a pirate?"
"W-W-Well truthfully I always admired Pirates ever since I was a kid." Aang explained to the captain, and this technically wasn't a lie. When he was living at the air temple he heard plenty of stories of pirates, the seas, and devil fruit and always thought they were cool. "And I wanna be part of the best crew I can so I can be the best pirate I can be! S-So of course I wanna join your crew!"
Buggy narrowed his eyes at Aang, causing the airbender to flinch. Crap, did he say something wrong? "GYAHAHAHAHA!" But Buggy let out another loud laugh as he patted Aang on the head. "I like that spunk kid! You almost remind me of when I was your age! Well just stick by me and I'll teach you everything you need to know about being a pirate!" Captain Buggy then rose his hands in the air as he turned to the rest of his crew. "Everyone! Let's have a welcome party for our new friends Aang and Nami! Let's celebrate!"
All of Buggy's crew proceeded to cheer as they proceeded to get the food and drink out for the event. Completely none the wiser about Nami's plan.
ZUKO'S SHIP
"God this is so boring…" Onyx grumbled with crossed arms. Of all the task he was assigned to do…he had to get look out. Just sitting on the top part of the ship with a telescope and seeing if anything was around. "Hey! Why the hell am I up here again!?"
"Because you lost the coin toss!" Aaron yelled from the deck as he was working on his weapon, making sure nothing was wrong with it. "Just deal with it! You lost fair and square!"
"How's this for fair and square you bastard!" Onyx rose the middle finger up high.
"Just tell us if you see anything!" Zuko yelled back in an irritated voice.
"I'm looking! I'm looking!" Onyx rolled his eyes as he put the telescope over his eye and looked around the observable area. "Let's see…ocean…ocean…ocean…ocean with a rock…and look at that, big surprise more ocean. Oh, wait, wait! I see an island! But it's pretty far away, might take us a few hours to get there!"
"You're holding it backwards!" Iroh yelled from down below.
"What?" Onyx removed the telescope from his eye…and saw he was holding the bigger end against his eye. "I-I knew that! Was just…testing it!" After correcting the direction, he looked through it again and was able to actually see the island properly. "Oh! It's actually super close, we can probably be there in twenty minutes! Think I can even see some people on the island! Let's see there's pirates, some red-headed chick and…."
And amongst the crowd of people Onyx was able to see through the telescope, among them…was a bald boy with an arrow on his head.
"Fire boy!" Onyx called out to Zuko with an eager grin. "Think you're gonna wanna see this!"
And boom! The Buggy Arc is off to a nice start!
And it looks like the island might be getting even more surprised visters~
Things are surely gonna heat up soon
So make sure to follow, favorite, leave a review, and stay tuned for the next chapter...
"The Chop-Chop Man"
