First meeting and impressions are important, who is this interesting stranger?!

Hi peepol~ It's been a long time huh.

Honestly, I haven't been writing at all recently, also cause I moved on to other anime fandoms which totally affects my zone for writing One Piece stories, but I just couldn't find anymore good OP fics recently and I'm running out of inspiration.

Before this I avoided reading other anime's fanfics cause I was worried I would loose my interest to continue writing my fics T^T. But then I did and now I just can't really enjoy writing these as much, but I don't want to abandon it either soooo I'll keep trying XD. Hopefully I'll find more inspiration to continue writing.

Also after reading many other fics I realise my writings not that good T^T. It feels like something's missing but since this is just a side hobby I ain't gonna think too hard about it.

Excuse my rant, and enjoy~

Chapter 8 ~ The Late Rescue

On the other hand, certain pirates were heading towards the same island.

"Why are we heading to North Blue again?" Thatch asked for the 5th time on this trip .

"Seriously Thatch, do you ever listen, yoi?!" Marco groaned.

"We're going to Fua island," Nakamura repeated, exasperated.

Currently their tiny Moby were occupied with only the three of them.

"Why again?" The chef asked, scratching his neck with a sheepish smile.

Marco sighed lightly, used to this, "It's Nakamura's home island yoi, it was a very prosperous island famous for their fresh and sweet fruits-"

"Owh yeah, that was one of the reasons I wanted to go!" Thatch interrupted. The blond inhaled and held back an eye roll.

"Yes, but a group of Grandline pirates settled there after they were attacked by the marines and had been asking for crazy amounts of protection money and crap yoi," Marco continued in his usual uncaring outer demeanour.

"My little brother stays there with my uncle, he says in their letter that they've been killing the guys and raping women that couldn't pay the fee," Nakamura frowned, clenching his hands.

"But then they also destroyed their farms, and shops, scaring customers. So they can't even earn the money to pay," He continued.

"Oh…" Thatch muttered, "sorry man, don't worry we'll get them!"

"But commander Marco, you didn't need to come," Nakamura said with an apologetic smile.

"Nonsense, you're in my division, besides I can fly back if they need me yoi," Marco smiled, patting his back. Easing the tension on the other man's shoulders slightly.

It took another few hours for them to arrive. Oddly, there was no one around the dock which caused them to worry. They rushed into town.

However, whatever greeted their eyes wasn't something they expected. There was a huge party involving almost the whole island. The pirates were alive, but beaten and bloody tied up in a bunch near a tree by the road.

Occasionally there would be someone who would walk past them, and give them a kick or two. They stared and gaped for a while. Unsure of what to think.

In the middle of the party was a boy? Teen? Surrounded by kids. He was singing in the most beautiful voice they've ever heard. Marco recognised the song originating from the South blue.

"What… happened?" Thatch muttered.

Nakamura saw his brother, Namura among the kids. They approached as the man finished his song and said goodbye to the protesting kids.

The man was kind of weird, he was wearing a white shirt underneath his black cloak, with raven locks tied into a short ponytail. But the weirdest thing was his bandaged face, covering his eyes down to his nose bridge.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go home okay?" The teen said, with a very small smile. Don't blame him, they're just not his Ace.

Luffy noticed the strong presences when they arrived, two stronger than the other. But they didn't seem to have any bad intentions so Luffy gave them a short nod and left without waiting for a response.

However, Marco being the curious man he is, followed the raven. Thatch tagging along quietly, thinking they would not be noticed.

"Thank you for helping us!" A lady said, bowing with a kid beside her. They both had bruises on their faces.

"Oh, it's no problem," the ambushed raven replied blankly.

Marco thought his voice was scarily emotionless. But his observation haki felt the unique and almost cooling aura of the man, and that made him more curious. Moreover, Marco felt like he had met him before but couldn't pinpoint when and how.

"May I know what your name is and what brings you here?" She asked further.

"My name is Luffy," he said, "and I came for strawberries."

"Strawberries?" The lady repeated, slightly dumbfounded. Marco and Thatch felt the same way about that.

"Yes, my baby brother's third birthday is coming, and he can start eating sweeter food."

The lady was quiet with wide eyes, so Luffy continued. "I thought a strawberry cake would be nice, since he's never had any," he explained.

"Owh!" She exclaimed delightedly, "did you get what you came for then?"

"Well, not really, there weren't any fresh ones left," the man said.

The women seemed to brighten up at that, oddly, and rushed into a bar. It looked beaten up, they assumed from the fight.

She came out a little later with a crate of strawberries, "here! I have a lot this month! Take it!"

"Thank you, how much?" The raven asked.

"Free of charge of course!" She exclaimed excitedly, pushing the crate onto his arms.

"Well, take this to fix your bar anyway," Luffy said, passing her a pouch of coins.

She stared, "b-but, this is too much," she stuttered in astonishment.

"It's okay, take it. You two reminded me of someone back home," he said softly, giving her a rare smile. The woman stood, stunned, with a blush on her face as he walked away.

They watched as the villagers each dropped a random fruit into his crate, getting simple thank you from him.

"Byeee Sir! Thank you for helping us!" The villagers shouted.

Luffy only responded with a small nod before continuing his walk into the forest, carrying a crate and dragging the bunch of beaten pirates. A testament to his strength.

They followed him further into the forest. Of course Luffy knew two strong men, probably pirates, were following him. But they didn't seem to have any hostile intent so he ignored them and went on with his business.

They watched him walk until he reached a small patch of beach. He kept his crate in a small dinghy that he probably travelled in.

Then out of nowhere, a huge white sea king rose up from the sea, and the guy just stood there. Marco and Thatch tensed, it was so uncommon for such a huge sea king to be here in the blues. That kind of huge sea king probably came from the calm belt.

However, before they could interfere the man pointed at the pirates in chains. They got closer, close enough to hear the conversation.

"NO! NO! Please have MERCY!" They cried and begged pitifully.

"Where's your mercy when you killed and raped," the raven responded impassively, "besides, I am quite literally heartless, goodbye."

Just like that, a bunch of pirates disappeared into the creature's stomach. Thatch flinched in disgust at the sound of bones crunched between the sea king's teeths. Then as if it was normal, the man petted the sea king's head, and climbed on his dinghy.

"Let's go, Weiss," was the last thing they heard before the man was pulled away with the sea king. Their eyes gradually widened as they watched the interaction between the man and the seaking, who should not be able to listen to orders.

"That was…interesting," Thatch muttered, "what did he mean when he said he's literally heartless though."

"I don't know," Marco mumbled under his breath, mind whirring, "let's go back yoi."

"Where were you guys?" Nakamura asked, when they got back to the party. "I want to introduce you to my little brother," he said with a grin.

"H-hi," a little boy said shyly from behind Nakamura's legs. He's about 11 years old with light brown hair just like his brother's and almond shaped eyes with a button nose.

"Hi there!" Thatch said happily with a short wave.

The boy hid again behind his brother's legs before running towards a group of kids his age, chatting happily.

"Ahaha," Nakamura rubbed his head, "sorry about that, he's kind of shy."

"Don't worry about it yoi," Marco said with a smirk which melted into a contemplative look, "we were following that guy."

"Oh, did you guys see anything?"

"Yeah, he's interesting!" Thatch exclaimed with an amazed grin.

"And strong yoi," Marco added thoughtfully.

"I found out something interesting too," Nakamura informed, and continued when urged by curious looks from his commanders.

"My brother was like, super excited saying that guy was really cool and all," he pouted a little, "he apparently used a glass staff to beat them all single handedly and looked like he was dancing. Owh and he also said that he was blindfolded the whole time but didn't get hit even once."

"Haki? Here in the blues?" Thatch mused, surprised.

"Namura also said, and I quote, 'His glass staff was so pretty! Like water was inside it and then it disappeared when he was done!'" He recited, mimicking his brother's voice and excited tone, and rolling his eyes.

Marco raised an amused brow, "what was that yoi?"

The brunette turned red, "nothing, I mean… his brother's a Whitebeard pirate but this stranger is the coolest thing since Roger or something," he complained, sulking with a dark cloud hanging on top.

"Hahahaha, he does sound cool," Thatch laughed, patting the man's back, and Nakamura grudgingly nodded with more dark clouds.

"But it sounds a little like a kids imagination yoi," Marco added with a frown, being the cool headed person he is.

"Me too, but every adult who watched him fight said the same thing," Nakamura said, "the barlady even said that his weapon appeared out of nowhere from under his cloak."

Their eyes widened a little, this mysterious person was definitely interesting. Marco would have an interesting story to tell oyaji.

"Do you think it's a devil fruit?" Thatch asked, "maybe something to do with ice?"

Marco hummed, "but I heard a vice admiral has that fruit. Kuzan was his name, I think," he said, thoughtfully.

"Do you think oyaji would like him?" Nakamura asked.

"Oh, definitely!" Thatch laughed.

So I know this chapter feels kind of insignificant, and I am sorry. I wanted to try and incorporate the Whitebeards, and what better way to incite the old man's interest better than this XD.

Another name I had to come up with, FYI, Weiss is Luxembourgish for white.

Anyway, for those who have stuck around and left me comments, thank you so much. It's good to know people actually read and like my fics.

(1619 words)