Luffy arrives to Minion Island, and meets a figure from her past life...
Turns out, despite Luffy's hopes, it didn't take a day to reach the North Blue. It took two, and it took three more days to get to the island Law and Corazon were supposed to be on, Minion Island. How Thora knew exactly where Luffy needed to go, she didn't know, but she was grateful that the lightning bird found her way.
The giant bird landed on the edge of Minion Island, in a spot where nobody wandering the nearby town would immediately spot her and cause a scene. She lowered her head to the snowy shore, allowing Luffy to hop off.
The girl looked back up at the Sky Beast and said, "Thanks for helping me. You go on back to the East Blue. I'm going to be here a while."
Thora gave a curt nodded and flew back up into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. Well, at least Luffy knew she had a fast mode of transportation now for future travels.
It only took a second for her to notice the chill in the air, prompting her to pull out her coat and put it on. Alas, it wasn't thick enough to deal with the cold of the winter island, as Luffy was still shivering a lot. Well, that couldn't be helped. It's not like she had a need for anything heavier at home. Winters in Foosha were not this aggressive! She'd have to be better prepared for winter islands in the future.
After taking a minute to adjust to the cold, she stepped forward, trekking through the snow to get to the town. This proved to be a difficult task, as Luffy was wearing sandals instead of the necessary snow boots one would normally wear in the snow. If only she had thought to pack her pair of boots from home! Then again, rushing to pack up and get out does cause one to be forgetful. It didn't take too long for her feet to ache from stepping into the freezing ground, and she silently prayed that she wouldn't suffer some kind of severe frostbite.
"You wore sandals when you were on Drum Island," Umi commented.
Luffy groaned, "Yeah, but by then I had pretty much built up myself against the cold. Also, the winter here may be a bit harsher than Drum Island…but not as harsh as half of Punk Hazard."
Umi chuckled, "Perhaps if you keep that latter fact in mind, you'll feel better."
Luffy sighed, "Maybe."
So, Luffy spent most of her walk to town muttering "This is not as cold as Punk Hazard" over and over in her head, trying to convince her body to not shake this much. For a time, it seemed to work, but after a while, the chill began to bug her again.
She huffed, "Maybe I can steal a pair of snow boots off some kid. Or from a store. Then I'd probably be okay."
"I wouldn't count on that, Luffy," Umi stated.
Luffy frowned, "Why not?"
"There are no children on that island. Or local people even."
Luffy's brows rose, and she took a good look around. Sure enough, the sea goddess was right; the streets were empty, and the nearby buildings seemed old and abandoned. A ghost town, basically. This was where Corazon and Doflamingo had their stand-off? What was special about this place?
Before she could try to ponder and answer, a voice from somewhere shouted, "Dory! Where are you?! Get over here!"
Luffy tensed up and took cover behind a nearby building, not wanting to be spotted by whoever that was. There WERE people in the ghost town! But who? Wasn't anybody she could recognize by their voice, that was for sure.
Soon, she took notice of a large man flanked by two men holding guns. He had short orange hair, a big chin and a severe frown on his face.
"Dory!" he shouted again, looking around.
"Coming, sir," a voice replied, and soon, a young man ran up to him. He wore a hoodie with the hood up, so Luffy couldn't see his face.
The big man glared down at the young man and said, "Bring grog to the main base tonight! I feel like drinking!"
The young man nodded, "Yes, sir."
The big man and his associates walked away, leaving the young man alone to carry out his task. He sighed and turned around, and Luffy got a good look at his face.
From what she could tell, he had orange hair too, like the big man, a bandage on his cheek, likely from being struck in the face recently, and…an X scar on his chin.
She tensed up. She knew who he was, and in that instant, a memory played out in her mind:
It was back at the battle against the Holy Clan, and Luffy watched as one of his allies got pinned to the ground by a sea-prism laced net, forcing him to revert from his hybrid-Zoan form back to full human.
The trapped man looked at Luffy and called out, "Straw Hat! It was an honor to fight alongside you in Wano and in Mariejois! I wish we had known each other earlier in our lives! Then maybe my life could've gone a little differently…"
Not long after that, several clansmen brandished spears and impaled him in the back all at once, all while Luffy cried out his name.
"Drake…" Luffy whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes again.
She rubbed the back of her hands over her eyes, trying to wipe away her tears but ended up feeling the flakes of ice getting rubbed into her eyelids, resulting in a slight sting, which only made her cry more.
She rubbed and sobbed, trying to will herself to snap out of her sadness so she could continue with her personal mission, until…
"Are you alright?" a voice asked.
Luffy lowered her hands. Drake was kneeling in front of her, a concerned and stunned look on his face.
She sniffed, "Sort of…my feet are cold, and they hurt."
Drake looked at her feet and winced, "My god, you're only wearing sandals! I guess your family couldn't afford snow boots for you."
Luffy shrugged, "Yeah, something like that…"
Drake furrowed his brow for a moment, before giving her a kind smile, "Don't worry, I may have a solution."
The young man led Luffy to an old building that seemed to have been changed into a storehouse, based on all the crates and barrels being kept inside. He dug into one crate until he pulled out a roll of bandages and some safety pins, where he looked at her and said, "Sit down and remove your sandals. I have an idea."
Luffy pulled herself up onto a nearby crate and removed her sandals, where Drake stepped over and began wrapping the bandages around her foot, toes and ankle.
"Your feet won't be completely warm from the cold, but this should prevent you from suffering frostbite," he stated.
Luffy nodded and managed a smile, "Thank you."
He smiled back at her and once the wrappings were tight enough around her foot, he pinned them in place. Then, he did the other foot, and once he was done, Luffy slid both of her sandals back on. They fit pretty tight now, but at least her feet didn't hurt from the cold anymore.
She hopped off the crate and walked around a bit, making sure her steps were steady, before looking up Drake and saying, "Thanks, mister…what's your name?"
Drake smiled, "My name is Diez Drake. And you are…"
"Luffy," Luffy answered.
The young man nodded and asked, "Well, Luffy, what are you doing all the way out in this ghost town? My father's crew had said nobody was supposed to live here. Were you living here before we arrived? Or are you from one of the nearby islands?"
Luffy shook her head, "Neither. I just got her a few hours ago from somewhere very far away. I came to help save a friend."
Drake's brows rose, "To save a friend? How far are you from?"
Luffy bit her lip before answering, "The Goa Kingdom in the East Blue."
Drake's jaw dropped, "The East Blue!? You sure travelled a long way! How'd you even come to these islands?!"
"I flew on the back of a giant bird," Luffy stated. "She landed on a part of the island where you couldn't have seen her. I just sent her home 'cause I'd be here awhile, and I didn't want her getting cold."
Drake frowned, "A giant bird?" He glanced away at Luffy for a second, as if contemplating what she had said, before looking back at her, "Well, regardless of how you really got here, it must've been a really dangerous journey. I'm honestly surprised that you're even alive!"
Luffy grinned, "I can handle danger. I'm very tenacious!"
Drake's brows rose, but he smiled, "Well, I guess I can see that."
Luffy then asked, "So, who was that man who was yelling at you to bring grog?"
Drake tensed up and Luffy heard him mutter, "Oh crap! I nearly forgot…" He turned away from Luffy and grabbed a case of bottles, which he proceeded to carry out of the storehouse, where Luffy began to follow him.
"That man was my father, Diez Barrels. He was an officer in the Marines," he explained.
Luffy tilted her head, "A Marine? He was dressed more like a pirate to me."
Drake sighed, "Well, that's because he turned to the life of piracy years ago. I don't know why but…I'm sure he'll get himself back on the right track one day. Maybe soon, once he exchanges the Op-Op fruit with the Marines."
Luffy's jaw dropped. Drake's dad had the Op-Op fruit!? So, that's why Corazon and the Donquixote family were here!
"Where does he keep the fruit? Could I see it?" she asked. Maybe she could find a way to swipe it without Barrels noticing…
"It's currently in the possession of my father," Drake answered. "I doubt he'll give a wandering child a chance to see it. He hadn't been too fond of children lately…"
Luffy winced, thinking about the bandages and scars on Drake's face. "Does your dad hit you?" she asked.
Drake paused in his steps, and was silent for a moment, his eyes getting shadowed over by his hood, before saying, "He does…" Then, he looked at Luffy with a weak smile, "but I know the good man he used to be is still within him somewhere. Like I said, he just has to get himself back on the right track in life. He'll go back to his normal self once he's back in the Marines."
Luffy winced. For some reason, she doubted that.
"Drake always made excuses for his father's behavior for most of his life," Umi's voice stated suddenly. "He doesn't want to think of him as evil. He just thinks he's, broken or in a bad way."
Luffy huffed, "He's an abusive jerk, that's what he is."
"Pardon?" Drake replied, frowning.
Oh, Luffy had responded to Umi out loud. She had to be more mindful of that. Still, it was probably best to bring that up to Drake.
She looked up at him and said, "Your dad's an abusive jerk. You shouldn't make excuses for him treating you so badly. No good parent out in the world would abuse their kid. It's not right! I mean, you'd have a problem with it if you found out my parents were mean to me, right?"
Drake furrowed his brow, "Well, it would make me rage internally…but I wouldn't be able to help you. Father would say it's none of my business to get involved in that sort of conflict."
Luffy frowned, "Well, if you ask me, if I saw a kid getting beat up or treated badly by a cruel adult, I'd put a stop to it in a heartbeat!" Her mind instantly thought of Nami when she was owned by Arlong; Chiffon being beaten by her mother, Big Mom; Sanji being locked away by his blood father, Judge. Those stories had made her so angry in her past life. They made her angry now. And she was even angrier that Drake was a victim of abuse as well!
Drake's brows rose, "You'd really do that?"
Luffy nodded, "Bet on it."
Drake smiled a little, "Well, then I suppose you've got a good sense of justice in you. I admire that…" Then, his smile faded away. "But I can't disobey my father. He'd beat me to hell if I try to do the right thing."
"Then beat him back!" Luffy shouted, causing Drake to jump and nearly drop the case of alcohol. "Fight! Aren't you an adult? You need to take control of your life!"
Drake looked at Luffy wide-eyed and began to open his mouth to say something when-"Dory!"
He tensed up and looked forward, and Luffy turned her head to see none other than the Marine-turned-pirate standing before them, with a severe frown on his face.
"What's taking so long with the grog?! And who the hell is this brat?!" he snapped.
Drake gulped, "I got a little sidetracked, sir! I found this poor girl crying in the snow, without proper footwear on. I decided to help her before bringing in the grog. I have it right here, see?"
Luffy noted how Drake trembled as he spoke to his father, and she couldn't help but grit her teeth and glare at the older man.
Barrels looked down at Luffy and sneered, "Is that so? And where did she come from? There aren't supposed to be any kids in this town! And what's with the look, brat?! Don't you know who I am?!"
Luffy looked Barrels in the eyes and sneered, "Yeah, you're Drake's poor excuse of a father, Diez Barrels. A former Marine who sunk to piracy."
Barrels' brows furrowed tightly, and his face began to glow red, "What did you say?! Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me that way?!"
Drake winced and looked down at Luffy, "Luffy, no! It's not worth it!"
Luffy didn't break her gaze with Barrels and went on, "My name is Monkey D Luffy, and one day, I'm going to sail out to sea and become King of the Pirates!"
Barrels' brows rose high, and Drake gave a short gasp, "A pirate?! But you're so good-natured!"
Luffy looked at Drake and grinned, "Pirates aren't necessarily evil, Drake. They're just pirates. They do whatever they want. A life of freedom is what I want more than anything."
She looked back at Barrels, reverting back to her serious stare, and asked, "So, do you think I'm just a brat, still?"
Barrels furrowed his brow, "Monkey D…are you by any chance related to Garp the Hero?"
Luffy nodded, "Yeah. He's my grandpa."
Barrels' brows rose, his jaw dropping slightly, but then his mouth shifted into a grin, and he began to step towards Luffy, "Heh, you know what, you coming to this island may have been the best thing ever."
Luffy frowned and looked up at him as he got closer, "Why?"
He smiled down at her, "You're going to help me become a much richer man, Monkey D Luffy."
Luffy tensed up and pulled her fist back to strike first, but Barrels slammed his fist down on top of her head and the world went black.
Uh-oh, looks like Luffy's got herself into some trouble! But she'll find a way out of it! You just gotta believe in her!
Drake had always been my favorite out of the Supernovas (aside from Luffy and Zoro), and I knew Luffy would have to help him if she ran into him on Minion Island.
Next chapter will be Garp's POV. You can probably guess how that's going to go...
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