The Old Meets the New
As it turned out, the commotion coming from the bar sounded something like a brawl. However, when the four teens got in, they were greeted not necessarily by a brawl, but rather the aftermath of one. There were a number of men, all older than them, as well as dirty, and unkempt. It was easy to guess that they were all bandits. But the actual source of the commotion seemed to be two women who looked to be the same age as all the others. They were standing on the counter, looking down at was apparently their handiwork
"Gods, are all the punks in the East Blue this weak?" one woman asked. On her shoulder was a long mace, with some rather imposing spikes on it.
"Maybe the Pirate Kings were exceptions," the other woman said. This woman had long, straight, magenta hair with bangs that covered her right eye, and the rest of the hair pinned back by a blue colored hair pin shaped like a butterfly. The exposed eye revealed a distinctly curled eyebrow.
"Gotta say though, if the rest of the East Blue is this weak, at least we won't have to stay long," she then said.
[Vinsmoke Nanju of Germa Kingdom]
[Age: 17]
The teen she was with sighed, as she spun the mace in her hand, causing to collapse down in size to a baton, which she stowed on her belt behind her. She had long hair as well, but her's was black, and curly, and tied back. She was wearing a pink vest with a swan on it, that revealed a bit more cleavage then average.
"Good, I wanna get whatever's going on here over with sooner rather than later," she said.
[Dana of the Grand Line]
[Age: 17]
"Is... everything okay here?" Dris asked, as he stepped forward. At that, the women both looked down at him.
"What's it to you, kid?" Dana asked, as she dropped down to Dris' level, Nanju not far behind her. Dris didn't like how she said that, seeming as they all looked to be the same age, but he banished those thoughts for the time.
"Just asking," Dris said, "Want to make sure there aren't any problems."
"Well, I think it's pretty obvious there aren't," Nanju said, "We've got everything handled here."
"Yeah, I can see that," Dris said, looking around. As he was talking, Dana looked past him, at the people behind him.
"So then, who're they?" Dana asked, "Your girlfriends?" Lily wasn't even paying attention, Triton looked confused, while Adonis seemed to be shaking in anger.
"Alright, why don't we have so more proper introductions?" Dris quickly said, holding up his hands before this escalated any further.
"So you're a boy?" Dana asked.
"Yes," Adonis groaned, leaning into his hand. Dana and Nanju just looked him over once again.
"You're absolutely sure?" Nanju asked.
"Yes, he is," Lily said, "Take it from me." The six teens (now three boys and three girls) were seated around a table, introducing themselves more properly. Dris and Adonis had taken it upon themselves to carry the bandits out, where they could be dealt with by others. It was generally understood that they likely wouldn't be bothering the establishment again.
"I thought there weren't any men on Amazon Lily," Nanju said, "I thought the Kuja tribe was all female."
"It was, until I was born," Adonis answered, "According to Granny Nyon, I'm the first male Kuja in history."
"Well if that's true, maybe that's why you look the way you do," Dana said, "You're the first guy in a community of all girls. Maybe the universe is just trying to balance itself out." Dris couldn't help but snort at that, as he heard Triton giggle slightly from the seat beside his own.
"It probably has something to do with his mother," Lily said, "Everyone on the island says she's the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world." Triton privately mused how people said that about his own mother, but figured it wouldn't help to bring it up.
"Well, you could've fooled me," Dana said, as she kicked back on her seat, putting her feet on the table, "You're prettier than a lot of the women I've met." Adonis let out another groan at that, as he put his head on the table.
"Why do you look so displeased?" Triton asked, leaning forward, "You really are very pretty."
"But I don't want to be pretty," Adonis grumbled in response, not looking up.
"But being beautiful is amazing!" Triton insisted, as he bounced on his tail, "How could anyone not want to be beautiful?" As he was talking, Nanju and Dana were both looking over him.
"I take it back," Dana said, "This guy's the prettiest boy I've ever seen."
"No argument there," Nanju said. The sound of that made Triton almost literally glow, as his cheeks turned a brilliant red color, and he adopted a cute, bashful position. At that, Adonis just hissed slightly, as he sat up, and folded his arms.
"To be honest, better question is why would a guy want to dress like a girl all the time," he said, rolling his eyes. He apparently said that louder than he meant to, as Triton reacted as if he had just been physically struck, as his chin started to quiver, and his eyes began to get wet.
"Now you've done it," Dris said with a sigh. As if on cue, Triton burst into tears, to the point he started to produce puddles on the floor.
"Adonis!" Lily scolded, smacking her brother on her arm.
"What?" Adonis said, "I was just thinking out loud."
"Piece of advice, buddy," Dana said, leaning forward, "Try to keep your thoughts in your head, for all our sakes." Meanwhile, Triton continued to sob, as Dris did his ever best to calm him.
"It's okay," he eventually said, putting a hand on the sobbing merman's shoulder, "He's just... jealous!"
"Jealous?" Nanju asked, surprised by those choice of words.
"Actually-" Adonis couldn't finish as he yelped in pain as Lily stomped on his foot under the table.
"Really?" Triton asked through his tears, as his crying steadied somewhat.
"To be sure!" Dris said, nodding, "And to be honest, I think you're the prettiest person in the whole room. Who wouldn't want to be as pretty as you?" He shot some apologetic looks to the girls in the room. Nanju hadn't even been paying attention all this time, as she filed her nails, while Lily was pulling on her brother's ear. When Dris' gaze fell to Dana, she just held up her hands.
"Please leave me out of this," she said, shaking her head. Triton blinked slightly, before wiping his tears, and straightening up.
"Anyway, you said you're all from the Grand Line?" Dris asked, once Triton had fully composed himself, "I know Triton's from Fishman Island, but what about the rest of you?"
"Well, Amazon Lily sits in the Calm Belt, but you know what we mean," Lily answered.
"I'm from Germa Kingdom, which is always moving," Nanju answered, "We do generally keep to the Grand Line, though."
"My mom used to be a pirate in the Grand Line before she retired," Dana answered, "No one messes with her there."
"Where're you from?" Lily asked.
"The Conomi Islands, not that far from here," Dris answered, "So then, what brings you all this far from home?"
"Mom made me," Dana answered, "Told me I had to 'get my ass to the East Blue'. Something to do with finding out who my dad was."
"My mom said something kinda similar," Nanju said, "Something about how I needed to learn about my dad. I didn't really want to, but my uncle backed her up on it, and he often makes more sense than she does."
"What're the odds that all of us are here for the same reason then?" Lily said. As they were talking, Dris looked around at them, wondering just how much they knew. It didn't seem register for them, but to be honest, no would probably think that. Dris knew what Luffy looked like, and so far, none of them had any of him in them. No one would look at the group, and assume they were all brothers and sisters.
"How about I each get us something to drink?" Dris asked, just trying to keep things in order, "What would you guys like?"
"Water," Lily said, "And water for Adonis too, I'm sure." The other guy, still rubbing his sore ear, just nodded in affirmation.
"I'll take a cola," Dana said.
"I'm good," Nanju said, holding up her free hand, before she resumed filing her nails.
"I'd like a melon spritzer with a piece of kiwi, please," Triton said, smiling, "And maybe a water lily in it too?" That request earned him a set of odd looks from everyone at the table.
"I... don't think they have that," Dris answered slowly. Triton cocked his head in confusion.
"Oh?" he said, "Well, I'll have whatever you're having, then." Dris nodded at that, before going over the counter to order.
"What the hell's wrong with you?!" As he came up to the counter, Dris looked over to the side to see a young woman, maybe a couple years older than him with fair skin, and dark green hair, tied back into a braid, grabbing onto the color of an older man. The man in question had a scraggly appearance about him, with unkempt, red hair, a short beard of the same color, and a buzzed look on his scarred face.
"Sorry, I was just a bit off," he said, though his smile suggested he wasn't as sorry as he let on.
"My mom lets you drink here for free because you keep thugs like that out of here," the girl said, "If you can't even do that, why are we keeping you around?"
"C'mon Ariel, it was a one time thing," the man said with a laugh, "I promise, the next time they come around..."
"You know, if it were up to me, there wouldn't be a 'next time'!" the girl (Ariel) snapped.
"Uh, excuse me?" Dris said, thinking this was good a time as any. Ariel snapped her eyes over to Dris, and after a moment, the irritation faded, and she let out a breath.
"I've got my eye on you, old man," she said to the man, before dropping him to the floor. The man just laughed again, as Ariel came around the counter.
"What can I get you?"
"Two waters, a cola, and do you have any orange juice?" Dris asked.
"That I do," Ariel answered, as she left to go get the drinks. As she did so, Dris looked back at the man, who had moved off the floor, and had managed to hoist himself onto a chair, where he looked only a few degrees away from passing out. As he looked closer, Dris noticed something about him; something about his arm...
"Here you are," Ariel said, as she came forward, with the drinks.
"How much do I owe you?" Dris asked, as he reached for his wallet.
"Don't worry about it," Ariel said, shaking her head, "Those two girls you're talking to helped deal with those punks from earlier. Consider that the payment."
"Well, thanks," Dris said, as the drinks were put together on a tray, and he moved to carry them back to the table. As he did so, though, he saw the door open, and in walked four other people who looked his eyes: two girls and two guys. They ended up walking up to the same table Dris was heading.
"Pardon us, but may we join you?" the girl at the front, with black hair, asked.
"And who are you, sister?" Dana responded with a frown.
"Who are these people?" one the guys behind the girl said, leaning over her shoulder, "What's this all about?"
"My name is Nico Sarah," the girl said with a smile, "And I suspect you six are here for the same reason the rest of us are." Dris' heart skipped a beat at that, as he straightened up, looking at Sarah, and the people behind them. It included two young men, one with blue hair, the other with dark green hair, and a young woman with magenta hair. His gaze then drifted over those sitting at the table already. Were all these people his siblings? Was his family really this big?
"How do you know what we're here for?" Adonis asked, standing up.
"Sarah, are you sure...," Ramses started to ask, only for the black haired girl to beat him to the punch.
"Because of this," Sarah answered, as she reached into her pocket, and pulled out a Vivre card. Were the situation different, Dris would've found the reactions on the rest of the group amusing, as they all balked at Sarah.
"Where... Where did you get that?" Lily asked, her eyes as wide as the plates around them.
"My mother gave it to me," Sarah answered, "The same as the rest of you." Slowly, all of them pulled out their own slips of paper, all Vivre cards in their own right.
"My mother and uncles told me that if I followed this, I would find out the truth about my father," Ieyasu said, "I didn't think much of it then, because I didn't really care, but..."
"That's what my mother said too!" Triton interjected, standing up on his tail, "She said that I'd find my father if I followed it to this island!"
"Our father is dead, but our mothers said that we'd at least find some answers too if we followed these," Adonis said, his already furrowed brow getting deeper.
"Alright, what the flipping hell is going on here?!" Nanju said, standing up, "I came here because my mom told me I had to! And now I find out that everyone came here following the same cards! Just what the f-"
"Good, that makes all of you." The voice made all the teens stop talking, as they all looked in the same direction. Approaching them was the same, disheveled guy who the bar tender had been yelling at earlier. He was carrying a mug in his hand, with a still rather buzzed look on his face, and a slightly unbalanced gait.
"Who are you?" Dana asked.
"Glad to see most of you came near each other," the man said, ignoring Dana, before looking at Sarah, "Though I appreciate you for being the most prompt." Sarah just smiled with satisfaction at that. The man laughed as he took another swig, his gaze shifting to Dris.
"I know that hat to be sure," the man said, gesturing to the hat hanging around the orange haired teen's neck, "It has a long history behind it."
"This hat belonged to my father," Dris said, frowning, as his hand instinctively traveled up to it.
"Well obviously," the man said, arching an eyebrow, "Who do you think gave it to him?" At first, Dris was confused, as his brow furrowed some more, but then, as he looked closer at the man, who was taking another drink, something clicked. Something about his bright red hair, three scars over one side of his face, and the one arm missing.
"You're Red Hair Shanks," Dris said slowly, his eyes widening. At that, all the other teens gazes snapped at him.
"Red Hair Shanks?" Maria asked, "You mean the great pirate of the New World? The guy who killed Fleet Admiral Sakazuki?"
"I thought Red Hair was dead," Nanju said, "I heard he died a decade ago in a battle against the legitimists." The grin of the man they now knew to be Red Hair Shanks just broadened, as he downed the rest of his booze, before slamming the mug on the table.
"Trust me, it ain't for lack of trying," he said with a laugh, "I'm glad I'm not though. There's still a lot to see in this world, especially with you guys in it now. To be honest, I was starting to think your moms would never take the plunge and send you out."
"What does that mean?" Dana asked. For a time, Shanks just laughed, as the others just stared at him, unsure as to what to do, but eventually the laughter died down. He then pushed his hair back, and while his expression wasn't "serious" per se, the smile he now had showed he had actual stuff to say.
"I've been waiting a long time for you all to show up," Shanks said, "There's a lot you all have to know."
Note: Okay then, so all the heirs seem to be here. I'll do a more concise description of the kids further in, but let's just list them all here: Monkey D. Dris (Nami), Triton (Shirahoshi), Boa Adonis (Hancock), Lily (Margaret), Nico Sarah (Robin), Nefertari Ramses (Vivi), Riku Maria (Rebecca), Kozuki Ieyasu (Hiyori; I know some people are irritated by that, but bare with me), Dana (Alvida), and Vinsmoke Nanju (Reiju). I'll go through why I chose these ten women in particular later on.
At any rate, they're all there at Dawn Island, and it seems Shanks was the guy they were all gathered to meet with. He's certainly seen better days, but in the end, Shanks is Shanks. Let's see just what he wants with all of them.
Be sure to leave a comment.