Hey everyone, and welcome back to my One Piece fanfiction.
I know some of you were expecting this chapter to follow the first episode of the canon, but the truth is it won't be. I've decided to do something different and start Light's journey differently before I get into that. It will be something I was planning on from the start to make the story a bit unique. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, and Fuji TV. Please support the official release.
"Pirate" Regular speech.
"Pirate" Thoughts.
Finger Pistol Attack names.
(Pirate) Words said previously.
"PIRATE!" Shouting speech.
[Pirate!] people talking at the same time.
"Pirate" people talking over communication.
Romance Dawn
Wealth, Fame, Power. There was once a man who obtained this and everything else the world had to offer—Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates. And his dying words on the execution platform sent a message to millions around the world.
(You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I had together in one place! Now you just have to find it!)
These words sent countless men who would dare to dream of setting sail for the Grand Line in search of adventure. This is a time known as The Great Pirate Era!
On a day like any other in the quiet seas of the East Blue, one such Pirate Ship was sailing by. The Ship was a very large one that carried a crew of Pirates whose numbers were in the dozens, it had two main masts with large sails, and the figurehead on the bow was a giant purple viper snake. The Jolly Roger was an image of a Skull beside a crescent moon.
On the Ship's Crowsnest, one of the Pirates who was acting as a lookout was looking around through his telescope in search of land until he soon spotted a large Island in the distance that had a small town by the shore. Seeing that quickly excited him as he looked down at his crewmates.
"I see a town! Time to go ashore, men!"
[YEAH!]
The whole crew raised their arms—Or weapons, in case of whoever was holding one—In cheer and excitement as they all raved at the idea of attacking the town. One of the Pirates went into the Captain's quarters to inform their Captain, Gally.
Gally was sitting on his chair with a cup of wine in one hand, a Wanted Poster of himself being worth 5,000,000 beli's on the other hand. Next to him was a small desk that had a bottle of wine and a pile of other Wanted Posters on it.
Gally is a middle-aged Pirate whose distinguishing aspect is his crescent moon-shaped mustache. He wears a typical pirate captain's attire, finished with a long blue coat and a blue sailor's hat with his Pirate mark on it. Though of average height, he is slightly stocky in physique. Gally has orange hair and, like the same of his crew, a black crescent-shaped mustache and also sports a crescent moon-shaped beard.
"Boss, we're almost ready to go ashore."
Gally put down the poster. "I see."
"I'm ready for some action!" The Pirate grunt cackled.
"We'll show those people just how terrifying we are. Every last one of them!" Gally manically declared as he got up from his seat.
As their Ship sailed closer to the Island, unbeknownst to them, a small fishing boat was also sailing by and nestled close to the Pirate Ship. On that small boat, a single young man rested on it as he sat up and looked over at the Pirate Ship with a new interest.
"Hmm, I wonder?"
Meanwhile, on the Island itself. The town was a rural and small town, but it was peaceful and prosperous as the townspeople went about their daily lives enjoying themselves. The adults were walking by, enjoying each other company and taking in the nice weather. The children were laughing and playing together. Everyone was happy, and the whole atmosphere was nice and welcoming.
In particular, there was a small establishment in the middle of town with a sign that said 'CAFE & BISTRO'. It was a two-story building that had a restaurant-like appearance on the whole bottom floor. Inside, in the kitchen, there was a girl who was in the middle of cooking.
She is a slim, fair-skinned young woman of an average height of 5ft 6 with blonde hair tied in a ponytail and brown eyes. Some people could consider her to be attractive. She wore a dark blue T-shirt with a white collar and green and white plaid shorts, and brown ankle-high leather shoes. Because she was cooking, she also currently wore an orange apron as she sturred vegetables in a pan.
As the townspeople went on their daily lives, a man walked up a bell tower in the Townsquare and looked out at the open sea. However, as he looked, he was surprised to see a ship sailing towards the Island.
"A Ship?" The man noticed, confused. "The ocean liner isn't supposed to arrive today, right?"
As he took a closer look, he was able to make out the flag on the ship, and to his horror, he realized that it was a Pirate Ship that was sailing toward them.
"That mark?"
He gasped as it slowly sunk in what was about to happen, and the look on his face grew more fearful by the second as he looked down and alerted the townspeople.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs from the bell tower, which made everyone in town freeze, and he looked up at the man who was shouting. He further elaborated.
"PIRATES ARE COMING!"
Hearing those words made everyone in town stop and freeze in pure terror as they processed what they had just heard and what fate had in store for their town.
"N-No way…"
The people's fear quickly evolved into panic as they all screamed and fled.
[AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!]
Everyone ran for dear life as they wanted to escape and avoid the incoming Pirates any way they could. As they ran, the man on the bell tower started ringing the bell to alert anyone who hadn't heard.
RING!
RING!
RING!
"TAKE REFUGE IN THE TOWN CENTER!"
All the townspeople fled towards the town center. Parents carried their children to get there as fast as they could. Some children who were separated from their parents during the panic were picked up by other adults who also led them to the town center.
The girl from before who was still cooking stopped when she heard the warning bell and looked in the direction of the door as she heard the people running by outside and yelling in terror.
"Hurry up and get to safety!"
"We're under attack by Pirates!"
"Pirates?" The girl became urgent when she heard that word.
She then hurried as she threw off her apron and leaped over the counter before she dashed upstairs.
"I won't let the Pirates have their way!" She swore and climbed up the stairs. "I'll protect my treasure even if it kills me!"
When she arrived upstairs, she went over to the wall where a word was placed on a self. It was a long Sword with a purple hilt and a yellow semicircle guard. It was considered to be a very light Sword. Though mostly purple, the sheath and the handle both had thin yet elaborate gold designs on them. It seemed like a valuable but capable Sword.
She grabbed her Sword and then ran out onto the balcony, and she looked out toward the shore where everyone was running away, and the Pirate Ship was getting closer. The girl glared and ran back inside, downstairs, and then out the door, where she dashed to the town pier to confront the Pirates.
"I won't let anyone take it!" She thought as she ran. "I'll chase those Pirates away!"
Meanwhile, at the town shore, a group of adults, including the Mayor, was standing together as one of them looked through some binoculars to figure out who the Pirate Ship belonged to.
"No doubt about it. That's the ship of Gally of the Crescent Moon—The Crescent Moon Pirates!"
As he said that, the townspeople murmured amongst themselves in worry about what they were going to do.
"I heard he recently got a bounty on his head."
"If he attacks this small town, they'll be nothing left of it!"
"Why don't we try to negotiate with him?"
"But… If we give him the money we saved up… Even if it is to protect this town…."
"But trying to fight him would be far too reckless!"
Feeling stumped and not knowing what they should do, many of them turned to their Mayor, a small tanned old man with glasses, balding with puffy black hair on the sides of his head and a tiny square mustache on the top of his front lip. He wore a brown shirt and gray pants.
"What should we do, Mayor?!"
The Mayor gritted his teeth as he wanted to answer them but had trouble figuring out what the right decision was in this situation as well. As they all stayed silent when no one had an answer, someone else arrived and gave them one.
"We just have to fight them!"
They all turned around to see the girl had arrived in front of them were her Sword in her hand and a look of confidence and readiness to fight that no one else had.
"Silk?" The Mayor breathed out.
The now-named Silk addressed the townspeople. "There's no need for concern. We can just drive those Pirates away!" She urged them.
Everyone immediately gave her the look a parent gives to their child, why the child is being bothersome, and they aren't in the mood as they all turned around and said together.
[You be quiet!]
"Don't say it in unison!" Silk snapped at them in annoyance before she continued. "I live in this town too, you know! Why should we let Pirates trample all over us?! We have to stand up and fight sooner or later!"
Silk attempted to convince the townspeople, but no matter what she said, their minds and opinions didn't seem to waver, as though this conversation was a regular thing that always had the same answer.
"Please, just stay out of this!"
One of the adults grabbed her by the arm.
"Whenever you get involved, even the most trivial situations turn into disasters!"
Another adult told her in a scolding manner as he grabbed her other arm, and they both held her in place.
The Mayor faced her and told her. "Go to the town center." He said it in a way where he told it it wasn't up for argument.
"Auuuh?!" Silk's response was both a whine and groan like a child being told to go to their room. "Huh?! Why?!"
Silk still protested as the two adults dragged her away while she was being taken away. The Mayor's focus went back to the problem at hand, the incoming Pirate Ship.
The Mayor started to sweat as he made his decision. "Anyway, I'll try talking to them. A few of you should stay here, but the rest of you head for the town center."
"Gugh!"
On a different part of the town, after being taken to a place near the town center, Silk had already kicked one of the men who dragged her away in his sensitive spot and knocked him to the ground in pain before doing the same to the other one.
When they were both down, Silk looked down at them with regret and clapped her hands together. "I'm sorry."
She then picked up her Sword and ran off.
Back at the pier, the ship had just docked at the pier, but to the bafflement of the townspeople, there was no noise coming from it. No sounds of Pirates cheering or shouting in preparation for their attack, no voices, no sound of movement, nothing. It was as though the ship itself was empty.
That, coupled with the fact that no one seemed to come down from the ship, is what also confused them. They had expected the Pirates to rain down from their ship immediately and start pillaging their town or starting firing their cannons or something along those lines. This just didn't make sense.
Just then, a person did appear from the ship looking down at the town, but that only added to the confusion as he wasn't what they were expecting.
They saw a man around seventeen who was 5ft 10 and had purplish-black hair that was scruffy but long enough that it reached his shoulders. He wore a black, long-sleeved, open jacket and no shirt, which showed off his well-trained muscular torso. On his hands were light-brown gloves that went up to his wrists but were tucked into his sleeves. He also wore long blue jeans and black soft-soled shoes that only had one strap on each of them. Not only that but hanging on the back of his neck was a Straw Hat. His appearance, while looking a bit wild, also looked controlled and capable. He could even be described as handsome, especially if you were asking a woman.
His most defining quality seemed to be his eyes. While they looked calm and focused, they also seemed intimidating, depending and how he looked at you. They looked like the eyes of a Noble Beast that was both strong and proud.
As the townspeople who were all hiding inside looked through windows and openings, they talked amongst themselves about the individual they saw.
"Is that Gally of the Crescent Moon?"
"I thought 'Crescent Moon' referred to the shape of his mustache."
Silk was also hiding behind a house and looked around the corner to see him. "I thought he'd look more heinous."
Another townsfolk came to a conclusion.
"It must be because of his hat! It looks like a Crescent Moon!"
[Ah!/I see!/You're right!] They all murmured.
The Mayor stood by the shore and looked directly up at the ship and till sweat as he wondered. "Why is there only one?"
While they were talking, the man on the ship smiled as he inspected the small town and the Island as a whole.
"Not too bad a place." He turned around and looked at the deck of the ship. "I guess I'd of been hoping for too much if I expected anyone strong in this part of the world, but I thought at least one of you would still be conscious; oh well."
The Mayor placed a hand on his chin. "Why isn't he making any demands?"
As he said that, the reason for the ship's silence became apparent. Everyone onboard was down, and their bodies were spread all over the deck. They weren't dead. In fact, not one of them was injured or had so much as a scratch, but everyone was out like a light. It was similar to the sight of seeing a crowd of alcoholics who were all passed out drunk on the floor.
With that, he shrugged as he turned back and gently leaped off of the Pirate Ships figurehead and sailed through the air before he landed on the solid ground of the town street, a few feet past the Mayor. He completely ignored the shocked old man and, with a carefree attitude, started walking into town.
"It's nice to be on solid land again."
[Eh?!] Silk and everyone else who was hiding gasped in confusion.
After the new arrival went into town, Silk went to follow him from a distance as she went past the town center where from a few feet away, she saw the two men she knocked at who was being tended to by some of the townspeople, including the Mayor. Seeing that made her stop and observe.
"Hang in there! Who did this to you?!"
"I-It was Silk again…." One of them breathed out.
Hearing that made Silk freeze up in distress as she realized she had been caught. Her response was to slowly sneak away and hope she hadn't been seen. The rest of the townspeople became agitated by this news.
"She ran off again?" The Mayor gasped before becoming worried. "And worst of all, at a time like this. We have to do something about that Pirate!"
As the new arrival leisurely strutted through the town street, he took in a breath of air as he looked around.
"You know, the more I look at this place, the more it reminds me of Foosha Village." He said to himself as he looked over to the greenery in the distance. "They've even got the same terrain as home."
Before long, he stopped in front of the 'CAFE & BISTRO'. Seeing it made him smile in nostalgia as he thought about the 'PARTYS' BAR'.
"Huh, looks almost like Makino's bar."
"There you are!" A voice screamed.
He stopped and looked in the direction of the road behind him as he saw Silk running towards him with a look of hate as she unsheathed her Sword and prepared to strike. "I've been looking for you!"
He saw her, but he didn't seem concerned and didn't move.
Silk then jumped in the air and held up her Sword above her head before bringing out down to attack him from above. "Prepare yourself, Gally, of the Crescent Moon!"
SLICE!
Silk landed behind him only three steps away and seemed pleased as she believed her attack had landed.
"Right! That must have scared him!"
"Not really. I don't scare easily."
"Huh?" Silk turned around to face the enemy before her, only to be shocked by the fact that he was no longer there. In fact, he wasn't anywhere in sight. "Ehh?! He disappeared?!" She said loudly as her jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Up here."
When she heard his voice again, she looked up and to her surprise, she found the man from before was now above her on the balcony of the cafe and sitting comfortably on the wooden railing.
"How'd you get up there?" Silk questioned, honestly surprised.
He smiled at her. "I'm really fast."
His answer sounded like a joke which angered Silk as she gripped the hilt of her weapon. "Get down here and fight me, Pirate!"
He took notice of her words and jumped down to face her once again. "She must have the wrong idea." He whispered to himself before he smirked. "But this might be interesting."
"Haaah!" Silk charged at him.
Silk began to swing her Sword wildly at him, to which he responded by effortlessly dodging each swing. As he dodged, he couldn't help but notice her skill was actually pretty decent, true, she was no match for him, but her moves were sharp, and despite her nature, she seemed pretty focused in the way she attacked him. That made him want to try something.
"Why can't I hit him?!" Silk angrily thought as she kept attacking. "Ha—!"
Silk suddenly came to a stop. As he dodged another of her attacks, this time, he stepped back, which made her decide to rush in and attack him with an overhead slash. However, before she could, her body suddenly came to a halt as he stopped her and looked shellshocked at him while he smirked at her.
"You've got good instincts." He praised.
The reason he said that, along with the reason for her stopping where she stood, was that as she was about to move in and attack, he pulled out and knife that he held out in front of her at a speed she couldn't even follow, and it was pointed right in front of her eye, only millimeters away from contact.
"If you had taken another step forward, you would have lost your eye back there." He continued. "Good thing your body knew when to stop even if your brain didn't."
Silk's legs became unsteady as she dropped her Sword onto the ground before she fell over and sat on the ground as she felt overwhelmed by the man in front of her. "W-Who are you…?"
He looked at her before giving her a wide and joyful grin. "I'm Light."
Silk's eyes widened when she heard that. "Light?"
"That's right. Monkey D Light."
As Light introduced himself, Silk regained her footing and stood back up. "You mean you aren't Gally of the Crescent Moon?"
"Is that what you?" Light looked amused as he put away his knife. "Well, hate to disappoint you, but I'm clearly not."
"I got the wrong man?" Silk realized, now even more confused. "But you were on that ship?"
Light looked back at the Pirate Ship that was still docked. "Well, funny story about that."
"Who exactly are you?" Silk asked again, still shaken.
"Like I said, I'm Monkey D Light." He repeated. "And at the moment, I'm just a sailor who was looking for a rest stop."
"You're not a part of Gally's crew?"
"Right now, I'm by myself."
Silk picked her Sword up from the ground. "So, you aren't here to plunder us and attack this town?"
Light rolled his head back. "Nah, plunder and all that stuff isn't my thing. Besides, I doubt this town as anything worth plundering in the first place."
Silk narrowed his eyes at him. "Take that back! I won't forgive you for belittling my treasure."
Light tilted his head slightly. "Your treasure?"
The two of them moved their conversation inside, and now, Light was sitting by the counter while Silk, who was on the other side, left her Sword on one of the tables as she pleasantly placed a bottle of Sake in front of him as he happily opened it and drank of the alcohol.
"I'm sorry about what happened earlier." Silk apologized for attacking him.
Light stopped drinking for a second. "No worries. Besides that, do you live here?"
Silk came over and sat beside him. "Mmmhmm, I live here by myself, but I also run the business. But practically the whole town are regulars of mine."
"That's also like Makino's bar." Light thought, noticing another similarity this place had to his hometown. "Anyway, you said before about your treasure."
"That's right. This town is my treasure." Silk told him with a bright smile on her face.
"Hmm, the whole town?" Light became curious.
Silk stood up and smiled proudly. "I'm the daughter of a Pirate." She confessed before closing her eyes. "A Pirate's abandoned child."
Light merely sat there and listened to her story. He noticed that despite the words she said, she didn't seem the least bit sad or upset. Instead, she actually had a look of acceptance and content with herself.
Silk opened her eyes as she elaborated. "Pirates often target this place. It's been this way for a long time. 15 years ago, a Pirate crew attacked this town and abandoned a child here. That child was me."
Silk stared off into the side as she thought back on her life and how this town was attacked. Of course, she was far too young to remember any of it, considering she was only a few months old at the time, but somehow she could picture the whole thing clearly in her mind.
Flashback
It was a dark night as the town was burning down, the cannon fire from the Pirate Ship had finally ceased, and the ship was sailing away. The aftermath of their attack left the town ruined, as all the buildings were burning down and leveled to nothing more than rubble. As the ship left, the townspeople all gathered at the port as they watched the ship go and despaired at the destruction of their home.
The Mayor fell to his knees in dismay. "…We can't… Survive like this…." He breathed out, scratching against the ground. "What should we do?!"
DRIP!
Suddenly it started to rain. Droplets fell as the rain quickly became a downpour. But then, the people could hear something else, something that was coming from the ocean, so they looked up from their despair to see.
"Aaauu! Aaaahhh!"
On the tides of the ocean nearby the shore, they saw a small wooden boat that was drifting away from the departing Pirate Ship and back toward the Island. From that small boat, they could hear the crying of a newborn baby that was wrapped in a cloth and aboard the boat. It wasn't long before the boat reached the shore, and the townspeople brought it up so the Mayor could lift up the child.
As the Mayor held her in his hands, she stopped crying and looked innocently at all of them like any ordinary infant would. It was clear to tell that this child was abandoned, and logic also followed that she belonged to the Pirates that just attacked them.
"Really…?" The Mayor started to tear up himself as he looked at her. "She has no idea how we feel…."
By that point, the sun started to shine through the clouds, and the rain started to clear away. Seeing the sunlight made the baby smile, and she started to laugh as she reached out toward the sun. Seeing her smile made the Mayor smile and laughed as well, despite the tears that fell from his eyes.
"Yeah…" He wiped his eyes and stood up as he addressed the rest of them. "We can't just stay depressed forever! We have to protect this child." He decided.
The baby continued to laugh happily as the clouds parted, and in the sky, in between the sunlight and rain clouds, a beautiful rainbow formed, which only brightened their previously depressing sky.
"All of us!" The Mayor announced, and the whole town agreed.
Flashback End
"I am the child of a Pirate who destroyed this town." Silk admitted to him, placing a hand over her heart. "You'd think they'd bear a grudge against me, or they'd feel no duty to look after me, but the townsfolk didn't care about that and raised me to become who I am today. That's why… This town is my treasure!"
Through hearing her story, Light had a small smile as well. "It's a shame more people in the world aren't like these townspeople. Reminds me of Dadan and the others." Light thought as he spoke. "More to the point, you mean the people in town rather than the town itself."
"That's right." Silk agreed as she got in his face. "I don't want to see the kind-hearted people of this town suffer. They're all so important to me that I'll fight for them even if I'm alone."
Light drank more of his drink and gulped before he leaned back and reached for his hat, placing it on his head. "He then smiled at her. "This is my treasure."
"Huh?" Silk stopped and now found herself listening to him.
"Like you, I also wasn't raised by my parents." Light confessed this time. "I spent the early parts of my life in a village that was a lot like this town, one that was also filled with good, kind-hearted people."
"Really?" Silk looked surprised.
Light looked around. "Actually, I spent most of my time in a bar that was like this cafe." He went on. "That was when I met the person who changed my life."
"What happened?" Silk asked curiously, like someone reading a story who was interested in what was on the next page.
"If you can believe it, one day, a Pirate Ship docked onto the harbor."
"Ah? Were you attacked?" Silk asked, now concerned.
Light looked amused. "Well, that's the unbelievable part. They didn't attack, pillage, or anything, really. They just came in the bar and started drinking, like that was all they cared about."
As he thought, Silk did look confused, as though she had trouble picturing it. "They're actually Pirates like that?"
"I wondered the same thing at first." Light gently shook his bottle. "But I guess their all kinds of people out there, including Pirates. They immediately fit in, and everyone in town took a shine to them. Before long, we started to feel like they were a regular part of the village."
"Did they stay?" She asked, resting her hands on her cheeks.
"For a few months, they'd sail away and then come back after a while." Light remembered fondly. "They'd always throw a drinking party on the nights where they'd return. It was like their favorite part of their adventures." He took another sip. "But one day, they decided it was time to head out for good, so they sailed away and never came back. That was the last time I saw them."
Silk smiled at that story. "What crew were those Pirates? Were they strong or infamous?"
"I doubt infamous is the word they would use." Light waved his hand around. "They were slobs, party animals, and degenerates." He then grinned. "But yeah, they were definitely strong, and the Captain was one of the Strongest I'd ever met." Light points to his hat. "And this was his hat."
Silk looked up at it. "Is that why it's your treasure?"
"Actually, it's his treasure." Light clarified. "He told me that this Straw Hat was really important to him, he had it ever since he was just an apprentice, and it's always been with him. It's something he cherishes more than anything in the world." His voice had a fondness to it. "He let me hold on to it, and we promised, one day, when I become stronger than him, I return it to him. So it's a treasure I received from a friend, making it my treasure too."
Silk stared at the hat for a second before wearing a look of understanding. She knew that his simple Straw Hat meant as much to him as this town meant to her. "I see."
Light got up from his seat. "It's funny, really. Before, I never knew what I wanted to do. As long as I was strong, I was satisfied, but now I want something more than that. That's why I set sail on my own."
"Wait, does that mean you're a Pirate too?" Silk asked, standing up as well.
Light saw that his bottle was empty, so he left it on the counter. "That is the plan, but I can't call myself a Pirate yet." He headed for the door. "I first need a ship, a Pirate Mark, a bounty, and clearly a crew."
"Hey, wait up!" Silk followed after him.
Light stopped at the door as he remembered something. "Oh, speaking of which, you said something about a guy named Gally?"
"That's right!" Silk exclaimed, having just remembered the initial problem. "Gally of the Crescent Moon. It was his ship that docked, but why were you on it if you aren't part of his crew, and for that matter, where even is he?"
"So his name was Gally, huh?" Light mused before he stepped outside. "Well, he should be waking up anytime now?"
"Eh?" Silk blinked in confusion. "What are you—"
"You damn bastard!" A voice shouted. "I won't forgive you for that!"
Both Light and Silk to see that Gally, along with two of his crewmates—A skinny one and a fat one—Had appeared before them on the town street. Gally looked particularly angry at Light.
"I don't know what weird trick you used back there on us, but now you're gonna pay for it!" Gally barked at him. "You've got some nerve picking a fight with me, the great Gally-sama!"
"Ah! That's Gally of the Crescent Moon?!" Silk realized and became alert.
"So you're awake?" Light noted, not concerned. "That was faster than I expected."
Gally gritted his teeth angrily at how relaxed Light was. "Grr! Quit treating this like it's a joke! Who the Hell do you think you're talking to?!"
Silk leaned towards Light and whispered. "Hey, what did you do to make him so angry?"
Gally then closed his eyes and smiled smugly. "I am the great Gally of the Cresent Moon!" His face then became sinister. "Too bad you picked the wrong opponent. You've angered the last man in the world you'd want as your enemy. Me, the great Gally-sama—"
One of his grunts informed him. "Boss, they aren't listening."
Just as he said, neither Light nor Silk was paying attention to his monologue.
Light shrugged. "I saw his ship while sailing and boarded it. Then I knocked out the whole crew."
"The whole crew!?" Silk repeated, astonished. "All by yourself?"
"Yeah, only took a few seconds." Light answered her.
Gally's face froze as the anger bubbled up. He then snapped. "I only dropped my guard for a second! That's why I lost—No, wait! Like Hell I would ever lose, dumbass!" He drew his Sword. "After I kill this guy, I'm gonna take every last bit of this town's money!" He started angrily stomping his feet. "Damn! He really pisses me off! I swear I'm gonna kill 'im! Get out of my sight!"
"He seems really angry at you." Silk noticed, stepping back a bit.
Light scratched his face. "Yeah, he's madder than I expected he'd be." He then noticed something. "Still, though, I don't see your crew anywhere."
"Oh, they're back on the ship—I mean, I don't need them!" Gally snapped, holding his weapon. "I can kill you with my own hands."
Light smirked and drew his pocket knife. "I've got time to kill."
"Raaahhh!"
Gally held up his Sword and ran toward Light madly as Light easily sailed toward Gally with seldom care. When they met, Gally brought down his blade, which clashed with Light's knife, but to his shock, his blade was stopped completely. It felt like he was trying to pierce a wall of steel. When they were right next to each other, you could clearly see the difference in their height as the top of Gally's head only reached Light's chest.
"What The Hell!" Gally yelled exasperatedly. "How are you stopping me, Sword?!"
"I'm not doing anything." Light playfully informed him. "You're just too weak."
"Weak?! Who're you calling weak!?" Gally practically exploded at him. "I'll kill you!"
"I don't see that happening."
Light then pushed his blade forward with a mighty push of strength, and the result—Gally was knocked off his feet away sent flying backward.
"Aaaaahhhh!"
Gally was sent back all the way down the town street until they couldn't see him anymore, and all they heard was a thudding sound which was the sound of him crashing into his own Pirate Ship.
[Ehhhhh!] The other two Pirates' jaws dropped.
"Ehhhhh!" So did Silk.
"Boss!" One of them screamed as they ran after him and, more importantly, away from Light.
Light put his knife away again and looked back at Silk. "Whelp, I should probably go take care of that."
"H-How strong are you?" Silk breathed out.
"Hmm, not sure how to answer that?" Light came up with a response before walking away. "I'll think of one later."
"Hey, wait!" Silk followed him again.
The two of them quickly arrived at the pier where the ship was still docked, but the place was deserted. There was no one Pirate of townsfolk insight. Light looked around to see if Gally was nearby, but he didn't see him.
"I'm guessing he's back on the ship." Light deduced. "Not only that, the rest of his crew is probably awake."
"But why aren't they attacking?" Silk wondered.
"Silk?!"
Both of them looked to see the Mayor, who was still at the harbor, and went over to them, sounding relieved that Silk appeared to be alright."Mayor?" Silk noticed.
"That's the Mayor?" Light thought, looking over him. "Huh, I just met him, and I'm already reminded of Mayor Woodslap."
"Thank goodness you're alright!" The Mayor stopped in front of Silk before he looked at Light with a frown. "But why are you with this person?"
Before Light could speak, Silk spoke for him. "It's okay, Mayor; he's not Gally."
The Mayor looked surprised. "Eh, he's not?"
"No, trust me." Silk confirmed before looking around. "Anyway, where's everyone else."
As she said that, all of the townspeople appeared from numerous hiding places all around the harbor and surrounding buildings. Other revealing themselves, they all gathered around, and it became clear that everyone in town, even the ones that previously evacuated, were here—With the exception of the children.
Silk looked around as her eyes widened. "Huh? Why's everyone here?"
"When only one person appeared on the ship, we assumed he was Gally of the Crescent Moon and that he was alone." One of the adults explained. "So we thought we'd wait here and ambush him when he came back."
Silk groaned. "I see. Everyone misunderstood."
"So did you." Light reminded her, which made her look away sheepishly.
"But if you aren't Gally, then who are you?" The Mayor asked Light.
"Oh, well, I'm—"
BOOOOOOOM!
Before Light could answer him, the sound of a cannon firing echoed through the air and was heard by everyone. What followed was the sound of an explosion going off as one of the buildings in town went up in flames after being hit by cannon fire. All of the townsfolk looked in surprise and horror, not at the town but at the ship which had started unloading its cannons at the town. None were more horrified than Silk.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
"Keep firing!" Gally gleefully demanded aboard his ship.
The Pirates kept firing the cannons and kept hitting the town: The Cafe where she lived, the town center, the bell tower, and residential houses. Sik watched in soul-crushing horror as so many parts of her town were burning down, along with all the fond memories that each of them represented, memories she kept close to her heart. The color drained from her eyes as she was forced to watch.
"M-My… Treasure…" She whispered. Tears began to fall from her eyes and streamed down her face, but she didn't care or didn't notice. Silk fell to her knees in despair as she cried softly. "I couldn't protect anything…"
"But you haven't lost anything."
Silk stopped by the sudden sound of his voice and looked up. Light stood over her. His voice was calm but aware. He knew exactly what he wanted to say and told her it clearly. His eyes were shadowed by his hat, so she couldn't make out his expression.
"Buildings can be repaired, fires can be put out, but was your real treasure the town or the people in it?" Light asked her, which got her attention. "Everyone's still alive, and so are you, so all you need to do is rebuild the damage. That's assuming you still plan on protecting your treasure, or are you just going to let Gally take it?" He then looked at her. "Is that all your treasure is worth?"
His eyes were different. They weren't the same mild-mannered and carefree eyes he had when they spoke together in the Cafe just a little while ago. They were sharp and piercing, like they could stare right into a man's soul and make even an animal back down.
Silk felt a new emotion wash over her, one that completely wiped away her grief and despair, and in its place, something she wasn't familiar with filled her being. When she heard his words and looked into his eyes, it was like she could feel the power coming from them. It made her feel like his power came from more than just brute strength but something else, and more than that, it made her feel like she wanted to stand up again, that she wanted to fight, and she wanted to protect her treasure.
It wouldn't be till much later that she realized it was the will to fight that she was feeling, a strong will that she always had inside of her.
With that, life returned to her eyes as she wiped away her tears, stood back up, and held on to her Sword tightly as her expression changed to a determined one that looked prepared for a fight.
"You don't have to tell me…" Silk proclaimed as she looked back once at the townspeople behind her to remember what she was fighting for before turning her gaze back to what was in front of her. "I'll protect it with my life."
Light didn't meet her gaze, but a proud smile made its way to his face.
It was at this time that Gally and his crew decided to climb off of their ship and step onto the land. They dropped a rope down from the figurehead, and soon all of them climbed down, Gally leading them.
After that, a self-satisfied Gally, a horde of his smug-faced crew, stood on the harbor and faced the townspeople, acting as though they had already won.
"You're Gally…?" The Mayor asked with hate and frustration at the Pirate.
"Yes, I am Gally!" He happily introduced himself, stroking his mustache. "Can't you see my crescent-shaped mustache? Gahaha!" He and his crew laughed. "The greatest Pirate on the seas stands before you! Your heads are too high! On your knees!"
KATCHIN!
Before Gally could continue with his gloating and rambling, Silk charged at him with righteous fury burning in her eyes as she swung her blade at his head. Gally was able to intercept her attack by drawing his own Sword and blocking her blade with his own.
"Why you?" Gally growled.
"You'll pay, Gally!" Silk promised.
CLASH! SWISH! CLANG! KATCHIN! CLAKK!
The two of them kept cutting and hacking away at each other's blades, wanting nothing more than to cut down their opponent. Silk was angrily slashing at Gally with her moves being wide and without rhythm, but they were still strong and able to push the Pirate Captain, while Gally started off defensive but soon went on the offense himself to kill the girl that had challenged him.
"Silk…?" The Mayor whispered with fear.
Like Silk, everyone was discouraged by the damage done to their town, but they were all ready to surrender. After all, what else could they do to survive against all these Pirates? But now they were seeing the girl they all cherished fighting instead, and all they could do was watch, fearing for her life. Light, on the other hand, focused on nothing but the fight. He was staring daggers making sure he didn't miss a thing, not just to see the result, but almost like he was trying to evaluate something.
CLASH!
The two stopped in place as their blades were locked in a struggle. Gally smirked arrogantly at her while Silk glared hatefully at him. They both pushed back and went back to their fight. The sad fact was, despite his looks, Gally was still a Pirate and a wanted man. He was used to fighting to the death against his opponents, and as good as Silk was, she lacked the same experience or capabilities.
That became apparent when she was soon knocked back, her Sword was swatted from her hands, and she was knocked to the ground, injured and defeated.
"Silk!" The Mayor shouted with concern.
Silk struggled to get back up, but before she could, Gally stood over her and stepped her boot down on her head, keeping her on the ground.
"You still wanna fight?" He taunted her.
Both the Mayor and the rest of them looked down and had the fight the urge to step in themselves. "Please stop. Don't hurt her anymore."
Gally removed his boot and kicked her. "She started it!" He reminded them.
"We don't want to fight with you. Please take our money and provisions, then leave this town!" The Mayo demanded, accepting defeat. "I'm begging you!"
The whole time this was happening, Light stayed on the sidelines and watched—He had a quiet stare like he wouldn't move from where he stood until something happened. What that was, who could say?
Gally merely grinned at his offer. "Why should I listen to what an insect asks me to do?!" He then held out his Sword and placed it over Silk's neck, like he was about to cut it, which made the townsfolk gasp in horror. Some stepped forward, wanting to protest, while others covered their eyes, unable to look.
Silk looked up at him, still wanting to resist and never losing her determination as she spoke.
"…My treasure…"
"Huh? Did you say something?" Gally became confused as she went on.
"This town is my treasure!" Silk declared at the top of her lungs. She then looked right at him. "I will protect it!"
Light's eyes went wide for a moment as he heard Silk. Even when death was only moments away, her will and resolve didn't waver for a second. In fact, they're stronger than they ever were. Seeing her show so much strong willpower made him grin widely.
Gally, however, didn't feel the same way, as her words only seemed to amuse him. "Eh? What kind of nonsense is that?!
Silk didn't stop her words. "That's why… I won't let you have anything!"
Gally responded by stabbing his Sword downwards into the ground, only inches away from her neck, as he reached down and grabbed her by the hair before lifting her head up painfully.
"What are you, stupid?" Gally kept her at eye level. "This town is your 'treasure?'" He asked angrily. "Don't be ridiculous! Treasure is shiny stuff like Gold and jewels and the power to survive in this Great Pirate Era!" He insisted. "Things like the great Pirate Ship I'm sailing on! Gahaha! This town is a treasure?! That's just laughable!" He ridiculed. "Hey, you guys laugh too!"
After Gally gave the order, the rest of his began laughing as well, though not as loud as him. They all agreed with their Captain's theory. But Silk didn't seem to care as she was only focusing on escaping Gally's hold on her. The others, however, couldn't stand it as the Mayor had reached his breaking point and angrily yelled.
"Don't laugh at Silk!"
"Haha….…" Everyone stopped and went silent as Gally's face twisted from amused to infuriated, as if he could stand the fact that anyone had dared to speak up against him. "Huh?!"
"…Gally?" Silk breathed out, also surprised.
"What do you know about her?!" The Mayor reprimanded them, speaking on everyone's behalf. "Back when we were consumed by despair after having lost everything… If we hadn't met her… If it hadn't been for her smile… We would have all died with this town!" He declared as the rest of them agreed. "The fact that this town still stands, and the fact that we're all still alive… We owe it all to her, who gave us hope!"
Light looked at the people of this town, then at Silk. "I get it, they were her treasure, and she was their's." He figured it out before he nodded. "Well, I've decided."
The Mayor wasn't done as he stared hatefully at the Pirates. "Someone like you, who can't do anything but plunder… Laughing at our precious family… At Silk's feelings… We will never allow that!" He proclaimed. His words made Silk's eyes widen and agasped, never knowing they all felt this way about her. "Get out of here, you scum!"
Gally just stayed there with his head down. As he remained quiet, his eyes were shadowed out, and his glare became flat.
One of the other Pirates went over to the Mayor and held a Sword up to his throat. "You don't know when to shut up, do you?!" He angrily moved in as the Sword started to break the skin, as the Mayor's throat started to bleed.
"Keep your hands out of this!"
Before he could go any further, Gally shouted that order to his crewmate, which made him stop before he could fully cut the Mayor as he and the others looked at Gally.
"B-Boss?" He sounded confused.
Gally started by releasing his hold on Silk by hashing and throwing her back onto the ground. He then slowly walked toward the Mayor, picking up his Sword along the way. When he reached him, Gally had a murderous look in his eyes.
"Is that all you want to say?!" Gally asked without expecting an answer as he raised his Sword. "Die!"
CLANG!
Gally had brought down the blade of his Sword to cut through the Mayor's head and end his life—Or at least that was the plan. But before Gally could swing his Sword, the blade was cut and broke off, leaving only the scabbard. As the blade hit the ground, everyone stopped again, this time dumbfounded at what just happened, but the answer soon presented itself.
"I'd prefer you didn't do that."
Light confidently appeared behind Gally with his knife in his hand, which he used to destroy his weapon.
"Light?" Silk thought, both surprised, amazed, and relieved.
"Eh?" Gally looked confused at his broken blade, then turned around and shrieked at seeing Light. "Ehhh?! You were here?!"
"You didn't notice?" Light asked with a small laugh. "Your head must be so far up your ass that you can't even think straight."
"What was that?!" Gally angrily pointed at him. "You're just one guy. I have my whole crew and my mighty ship. You're as good as dead!"
"Little man, don't you get it by now? A hundred cowards are now different than one." Light belittled him.
"Cowards?!" One of the Pirates sneered.
"We'll show you?!"
Enraged at being insulted like that, the whole crew bared their fangs at Light, and half a dozen of them charged at him with Swords in hand, though the one in front was carrying an ax. However, with the effort of taking a single step, Light moved from where he was and now stood dead center in their formation. Before they could do anything, though, Light spun in a quick and single 360-degree rotation as he slashed outward.
[Gah!]
All six Pirates were blown back as they fell victim to Light's attack and hit the ground with shallow cut marks. Light spun his blade around his hand with a relaxed expression as everyone jaw-dropped as they watched him.
"I didn't even see him move…" Silk thought, astonished.
"Who is this man?" The Mayor thought, speechless.
"Ga…Ra…Ah…" Gally just flapped his gums, unable to speak properly.
Light wasn't done as he faced forward toward Gally, and right where he was standing, he slashed his knife at him. Gally didn't feel any pain, but he noticed something was wrong as Light's attack cut his mustache, and the right side of his Crescent Moon mustache was severed from his lip and fell to the ground.
.
.
.
When Gally saw that, he froze for a second before reacting.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!" He screeched in horror and kneeled down to pick it up. "My mustache!"
"Thought you could use a shave." Light commented with a smile. "No need to thank me."
Gally was practically burning with hatred and rage at Light. "How dare you! That mustache was worth everything to me! It took me 10 years to grow it just right! Not to mention the countless amount of time it took to groom, trim, and design it to make it look just like a crescent! That's how I was able to get people to call me Gally of the Crescent Moon!" He barked endlessly. "What you've done is completely unforgivable!"
Everyone around him sweat-dropped at the way he was acting, like his mustache was more important than a limb or something.
"Quit complaining!" Light snapped at him. "A light shave is a slap on the wrist compared to what you've done to this town."
"What?" Gally narrowed his eyes. "Why does a drifter like you care about what happens to these people?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business." Light shot back.
"It doesn't matter. I already know how to beat you, know!" Gally proclaimed.
Light raised a brow. "You what?"
"Don't try to deny it because I've figured it out! It's your knife!" Gally declared, sure that this was the case. "Blocking my Sword, breaking it, beating all my crewmates like you did a second ago, vanishing from sight. You've only been able to do those things because you have that knife!" He then pulled out a gun. "So if I stay away and stop you from using it, you'll just be an ordinary insect. You can't win against this Great Gally!"
Light stayed quiet as he processed everything Gally just said before he responded by saying. "You're an idiot."
"Huh?" Gally tripped.
Light held up his knife. "This knife is something I found in a garbage dump when I was a kid. Despite some sentimental value, there's absolutely nothing special about it." He set the record straight before pocketing the knife. "If anything, I'm weaker when I use it."
Light then walked over to the ship and he picked up a Sword from one of the fallen Pirates.
"When I fight, I sometimes have trouble controlling my strength and forget a normal weapon. If I always used my fists, I'd probably end up creating everyone's skulls and breaking their spines "If I didn't watch it. So I use my knife as a way to restrain myself." Light then held the Sword out. "Don't believe me?"
SLICE!
With a wave of his hand, the blade of the disposable Sword flashed and was back in place as though it was an empty strike, but then, a rickety sound was heard from the ship, and a large gash appeared behind the figurehead which followed by the whole front section of the ship's bow being sliced off of and separated from the ship as it fell over and loudly collapsed into the sea which shook the pier and the water around it.
SPLAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHH!
[EEEEEEHHHHHHHH!?]
As the section of the huge boat sank into the ocean, everyone watching shrieked as their eyes popped out of their sockets, dumbfounded by the absolutely unbelievable feat of strength they just bore witness to. Both the Pirates and the townspeople were completely blown away. If it had been a monster or a giant, that would have made it easier to swallow, but this was done by the hands of a man who was completely ordinary in terms of appearance.
Silk was sitting on the ground and found herself trembling at Light's demonstration of strength as her body wouldn't stop shaking.
"How can someone wield so much strength?" Silk thought, trying to calm herself. "He looks so casual. Does that mean he's capable of doing more?"
"M-My mighty ship~!" Gally whined in defeat and mourned.
Light then dropped the Sword and faced both Gally and his crew.
"I'm sure I've made my point. That said, if anyone still wants to fight, then step forward."
Light's challenging gaze was met with no resistance as, with the exception of Gally, every Pirate there got on their knees and bowed their heads in penitence.
[We surrender!] They all chorused.
"You weasels!" Gally barked angrily at them.
"That makes things easier." Light now stood right in front of Gally, which made him shriek again. "That means this will all end after I get rid of you."
Light grabbed Gally by the collar and lifted him off of his feet. Gally could only glare vengefully at Light. "You better remember me! I swear I will kill you someday!"
"Then I guess I'm lucky that this'll be the last time we see each other." Light clenched his fist and coated it with Haki, hardening it, and he reached back. "You're gonna wish I stayed with the knife. It hurts less than them—These Knuckles O' Mine!"
"Uwa!"
BANG!
With a fierce punch to the face, Gally was released from Light's hold just before the point of contact, and after, the resulting blow sent him flying into the sky and far away from the Island itself. Far, far away, Gally went until he could no longer be seen and was just gone.
"Boss…" One of the Pirates uttered.
"Listen up!" Light addressed them.
[Yes!] They immediately responded with fear.
"My boat is tied to the back of your ship, one of you cut the rope tying them, and the rest of you board your ship, empty all the treasure and most of the provisions you have, and when you're done, sail away." Light instructed them with orders.
[Yes, Sir!]
They all obeyed, rightfully afraid of incurring his wrath, as they all rushed back on their ship and followed his instruction to the best of their abilities. Light's fishing boat, which had all of his things, was moved to the front of the shore, and sacks of treasure, valuables, and provisions were emptied onto the harbor as well. When they were done, they all stood in front of Light, and one of them smiled nervously as he asked.
"Uh, is that it? I…I mean, are we free to go now?"
"Yeah, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." Light assured them, not looking their way. "You can go now."
"T-Thank you!"
With that done, with haste, all the Pirates rushed back onto their ship, wanting nothing more than to get as far away from Light as they could—Ignoring the fact that they seemed to have forgotten about their Captain—They spread their sails as the ship sailed away and left, taking with them any threat or danger that could have been brought to the town.
With them gone, Light walked over to Silk and reached out his hand to help her up. "You okay?"
Silk looked up and him with surprise. His eyes and aura were different from what they were moments ago, there was no hostility to him at all, and he reverted back to the mild-mannered man she had sat down with earlier. It was as though his change had just been a lie or that the change in presence was like flipping a switch, and he had just turned it off.
Silk took his hand and stood on steady legs as she asked. "Um, what kind of man are you?"
Light blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Cutting the ship like that wasn't normal. What exactly…" Silk trailed off.
She didn't sound agitated or emotional but simply curious.
Light simply smiled at her. "I'm just a sailor who knows how to fight."
She couldn't tear her eyes away from Light's face. What seemed to be a congenial smile also looked like a savage grin from one who possessed absolute power, one who far surpassed anything she had seen.
"Anyways, you still haven't told me who you are."
"…Huh?" Now Silk seemed lost.
"I've introduced myself to you twice now." Light reminded her. "But you haven't even told me your name yet."
"Wha, but you've heard people call me by my name plenty of times already!" Silk pointed out, still not sure why they were even arguing about this.
Light shook his head. "It's not the same."
Somehow, all this made Silk's nerves ease entirely without her even noticing, and her only response was to sigh, look up at him and smile resolutely. "My name is Silk."
Light looked at her with acceptance. "In that case, let's get to work." He went over to the treasure and provisions. "Now that we have all this stuff, we can put it to use in fixing the town."
"You're going to help?" Silk asked.
"Of course, it's against my policy to leave a mess behind." Light told her before turning to the townsfolk who had stayed for a while and pointed to the Mayor. "You, go get anyone who's not here and get them to help out. Anyone who's good at lifting things and knows how to use a hammer came with me. The rest of you put all the money and provisions to use." Light instructed them before clapping his hands. "And no slacking off. Everyone carries their own weight."
No one knew what to make of this, and so the Mayor was the first one to speak. "Um, but… Who exactly are you?"
"I'm Light. Now get to work."
He brushed his question aside as he walked past them. Silk followed and gave them a look that just said, "go with it," before she left. Seeing as the Pirates were gone, the town needed repairing, and this new arrival was apparently aiding them—For whatever reason, they decided not to question it for now and followed his instructions.
Things moved on pretty quickly and became stable after. After informing everyone in the town center that the Pirates were gone and everything was safe, they all became relieved. A lot of the townspeople didn't know what to make of Light at first, considering he seemingly came from out of nowhere, but they quickly stopped worrying about it.
For one thing, Silk vouched for him, which was enough for them to be convinced that he wasn't a bad person, and Light was simply the kinda guy that just fit in and was easy to get along with, which made the townspeople warm up to him almost overnight.
They all got to work on fighting the town—Repairing the buildings and streets that were damaged by the cannon fire—Everyone pitched in to help, from women and children to the elderly. Every person helped in big or small ways. However, Light seemed the most adept at doing the handiwork. Silk helped as well, but her ability to fix things seemed to be the same as the children, which she refused to admit, much to the amusement of the rest of them.
Days and weeks passed by, and the town was looking better and better as they went on. At the start, it was only small patchwork and boarding up what was broken, but later they went on to full repairs, and because most of the Island was greenery with an endless amount of trees, there was no shortage of wooden, they were even able to build buildings from that ground up to replace what was completely leveled to nothing from the flames.
After a month but what felt like longer, they had finished rebuilding the bell tower along 'CAFE & BISTRO'. All of them cheered, signaling the town was now fully repaired and back to the complete town it was before Gally and his crew attacked. They decided to celebrate, and that night, practically the whole town was at the bar eating and drinking as Silk was behind the counter, and Light was there too, telling them a story.
"And then there I was with my back against a tree in the middle of the woods. He was right in front of me, ready to go in for the kill, I knew I might die, but I didn't care! I wasn't going to run!"
"What did you do!" A child asked, absorbed in the tale along with most of the others listening.
"The only thing I could do—If I couldn't run, I had to face him!" Light proclaimed. "I looked in the face and told him I wasn't scared of him. I told him, 'Come on, you big ugly bear! I ain't scared of ya!' And went for it."
"And that's how you fought a bear?" An adult asked.
Light shook his head. "No, that's how I fought my Grandfather."
That made most of them laugh with him as everyone enjoyed hearing Light's tales, they sounded outrageous and hard to believe, but because it was Light and they knew what he was capable of, they could easily picture it happening.
Silk chuckled a bit as well as Light sat down by the counter and took out a book which he opened and started writing in, which Silk took notice of.
"What are you writing?"
Light stopped momentarily. "It's my logbook. Every sailor needs to log their journey, which reminds me—What is the name of this Island anyway?"
"The name?" Silk asked as though the concept never occurred to her. "This Island just is what it is. It's never had a name."
"No name?" Light asked before he grinned and kept writing. "That's pretty good. Then I'll write it down as 'The unnamed Island' It'll be a great front page for the future Pirate King's adventure."
"I honestly can't believe you're really a Pirate." Silk admitted in a good-natured way.
"You and everyone else in town." Light added, closing the book. "Even when I told them, they all thought I was joking at first."
"Well, you don't match the image of Pirates we've gained from all the ones we've seen until now." Silk pointed out with an eye-closed smile. "Forget Pirate. We've never met any kind of person like you."
"Trust me. There are a lot of people out there stranger than me." Light informed her with a grin before he looked up. "I wonder how many I'll find when I set out."
Silk stopped for a moment but kept her composer. "Oh yeah, you're leaving tomorrow morning, aren't you?"
Light let out a breath as he rested his chin on his hand. "Now that everything's taken care of, there's nothing for me to do here. What else is there but to set sail."
Silk turned around and grabbed a bottle of alcohol. "Yeah, I suppose so." She then placed it in front of him. "One the house."
"Don't mind if I do." Light took it.
"Hey, Light-san."
Light turned around and saw a group of resident children facing him—There were six of them in total, four boys and two girls.
"Is it true? Are you going to leave tomorrow?" One of the boys after, sounding upset.
"Don't go. Things'll be better if you stay here." Another boy tried to convince him.
Light smiled at them. "Can't do it, kids. This place honestly ain't bad, but I belong out at sea."
"What's out at sea like?" One of the girls asked curiously.
Light looked like he was hoping someone would ask that. "It's a life of freedom. Unlike land, where there are places you have to stop and can't go any further, the sea is endless, it's boundless, there are no walls or ceilings, just freedom, and adventure!" He declared proudly. "A life at sea is the life only a true man is able to live."
All of the boys had stars in their eyes from his words and couldn't hide their adoration, while neither of the girls had the same reaction. They were clearly brought in by the words of adventure, as any child would.
"Then someday, I'll go out to sea too!" One of the boys decided.
"How are you going to do that?" One of the girls skeptically asked. "You're just a kid."
"Shut up!" He barked at her. "I'll grow up big and strong like Light-san!"
"Ahhh?" She tilted her head with half-lidded eyes. "I don't see that happening."
"What do you know?!" He snapped at her.
The other four laughed at their antics as looked simply opened his bottle and chugged down the Sake. The celebration went on. Unbeknownst to him, Silk's mood didn't seem as lively as before.
Daylight shined as the next day morning came. The town was good as new, there was a nice fresh breeze in the air, and there was a warm and welcoming atmosphere all over the Island.
Light was at the harbor, tying up the end of a bag that had a few provisions for while he was at sea and stood up, now ready to depart. The whole town was there as well to see him off with a smile and farewell. In the front of the pack were Silk and the Mayor.
"Whelp, I'm heading out." Light addressed them.
The Mayor nodded and gave him a look of gratitude. "We will never forget the debt we owe you. Thank you for everything."
Light grinned. "Don't get all sentimental, Mayor. I just did what I felt like doing at the time."
"Light…" Silk seemed hesitant to speak, and before she could say something, she paused before saying. "…Good luck on your journey."
Light shrugged. "Let's hope so. My luck is never consistent."
"Where do you plan on going?" Silk asked, still keeping the conversation going.
Light turned to look out and said wistfully. "Wherever the waves take me."
After answering her question, Light walked over to the edge of the harbor and jumped onto his boat that was docked. As he began to prepare it to sail, everyone was saying their goodbyes. It was like a Hero's send-off. But one of them stayed quiet.
Silk didn't know why she was feeling this way, but she couldn't snap out of her slump. Her town—Her treasure was safe, and everything was back to normal. She should be happy, so why was she feeling so unsatisfied, as though there was something else she wanted?
In the middle of the send-off, the Mayor looked at two other adults beside him, and they all nodded before the two of them went over to Silk. To her surprise, while she wasn't paying attention, they grabbed her by her arms like before and pushed her forward, making her fall onto Light's boat. This action surprised her and confused Light.
"Hmm? What's going on?" Light asked.
"That's what I want to know!" Silk looked up at them and snapped. "Are you guys trying to pull a prank on me or something?!"
All the townsfolk were quiet, and instead of addressing Silk, the Mayor addressed Light.
"Light-san, I know this is a selfish request, but please take Silk with you." The Mayor implored him with a serious expression.
[…Eh?] Now they both looked confused.
"You thought we wouldn't notice?" This time the Mayor addressed Silk. "It's never hard to know what you're thinking. You were feeling down and dissatisfied, and while you didn't know why, we could tell. You wanted to go out to sea, didn't you?"
Her eyes widened as Light looked over at her. "Is that true?"
"W-Well…" Silk didn't have an answer.
"It isn't like you need to hide it." One of the adults told her. "You want to go and see what's out there, what lies beyond this small Island. That's natural, so you should."
"But we could tell you trying to convince yourself not to." Another one added, looking almost amused. "You probably felt some kind of guilt, like it was wrong for wanting to leave this place despite always trying to protect it."
Silk had a look of realization as if she was just given the answer to a question she didn't know she was asking. And it now occurred to her that she couldn't deny that there was some truth to what they were saying.
The Mayor nodded. "You've always felt like the safety and happiness of the town was what was important—Bare none. For once, do what makes you happy. You have every right to."
"But, this town is my treasure!" Silk stood up and exclaimed. "I can't just abandon my treasure."
"It's not abandoning if we want you to go!" The Mayor argued, which silenced her. He then told her. "Silk, smile."
Someone then stepped forward and held up Silk's Sword, which was in its sheath, and threw it over to her. She caught it and then looked up at all of them as they all smiled down at her with love in their eyes.
"You say that we're your treasure, but our treasure is your smile." The Mayor reminded her. "If leaving here is what will truly make you happy, then go with our blessing. As long as you keep smiling and we know that you're happy, we'll be fine."
Silk honestly didn't know what to say. She was aware that part of her did want to go with Light, but at the same time, she still loved her town and didn't know if she truly wanted to just leave it s suddenly. But hearing all their words and gestures and how much they cared about her happiness. This was something she never expected.
So looked to Light as if looking for answers but didn't say anything, so Light did the talking.
"If you truly want to stay, I won't make you come with me. I'd never force someone to join my crew." He set the record straight before smiling. "That said, I honestly wouldn't mind having someone like you join me on this journey. Truth is part of me wanted to ask you in the first place."
This news surprised Silk. "Then why didn't you?"
"I figured it would've been better to hear what you had to say first." Light rubbed the back of his head. "And considering this town was everything to you, I was almost sure you'd say no." He then looked straight at her. "So, what's it going to be?"
Silk thought back to everything that happened these past few weeks, from the moment she first met Light to everything to happened between them that led to right now. It all replayed in her mind like a movie projector. When it was over, she took a deep breath, and her expression changed into a more collected one, showing she made up her mind.
"Light, may I join your crew?" Silk requested.
Light closed his eyes and had a wide grin. "Sure thing."
Silk then looked up at the townspeople, who were like family to her, and gave them one last look as she was resolved in her decision. She bowed slightly and closed her eyes to stop any tears from leaking out. "Everyone, thank you for taking care of me for so long, and goodbye!"
They all said their goodbyes as well. "Be sure to take care of yourself!"
"You were always causing trouble most of the time, so we worry!"
"Actually, you're still trouble, honestly!"
"Just try not to be too much of a handful to Light-san!"
"Light-san, she can be really difficult, so take care of her!"
By now, a tick mark appeared on Silk's head as she lost her temper and snapped at them. "Can't anyone of you think of a better goodbye than that!"
As the sails were unfurled and the boat set sail, they began their departure. Despite the words they were saying, Light could easily pick up the fondness in their voices and how much they worried for her, and he had a feeling Silk could always tell. Both sides would miss each other greatly but never had any reserve in this decision, so all they could do was see each other off with a smile.
They sailed and sailed until the Island was so far away it like tiny and fleeting. But Silk never stopped staring in its direction.
"It's so far away now." She commented.
"Pretty soon, we won't even be able to see it." Light informed her.
"Hey, Light—"
"Don't call me that." Light interrupted her and smirked. "From now on, call me Captain."
Silk blinked but quickly understood. "Fine then—Captain, how far away are we from another Island?"
"I don't have a map, but there should be a few nearby." Light answered, looking out at the horizon. "For now, let's just take it easy."
"Take it easy?" She repeated.
"There's no need to be in a rush. We're in no hurry, so let's just take our time and enjoy our adventure. And if we run into anyone else who's interesting, we'll have them join us too." Light decided. "Besides, right now, we need to deal with something."
"You mean getting a bigger ship? Or getting some maps?"
"Perhaps later, the biggest issue right now… Is you."
Silk paused, feeling a bit perplexed. "…Me?"
"You might be a little tough, but you're still wet behind the ears when it comes to fighting. If we're gonna move forward, my first job is getting you stronger!" Light declared, pointing at her.
"Ah—Even if you say that, how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Silk asked, not touching on the fact that she felt like she had just been insulted.
"I told you we're in no hurry." Light repeated, not concerned. "We'll figure it out along the way."
The story of a man who has yet to realize his destiny has already begun. On this day, he added the first of what would be many who would follow him on his journey. As they sailed off into the far blew sea, many interesting adventures would soon be awaiting them.
And that's the chapter.
Surprise! I'm sure most of you weren't expecting this. As I said before, Light is a year older than Luffy, so he set sail sooner. Thus the timing wouldn't work if he went to all the places Luffy did at the start of his journey, considering it would e a year too soon, so I decided to have him begin his journey like Zoro did with him traveling around the East Blue and building himself up.
For those of you who don't know who Silk is. In the original first draft of One Piece Manga, before chapter one, there was a chapter of Romance Dawn where she appeared, and Luffy helped save her town. It also has an animated OVA called Romance Dawn, which has the same plot, only it takes place after Thriller Bark. When I saw it, I felt Silk could have made an interesting member of the crew and was disappointed she didn't join Luffy, so I made her join in this story as Light's first crewmate. I wanted him to have at least one before we start the canon, and in case you can't tell, I plan on making the crew a bit bigger than the canon.
I also plan on making her a lot stronger by the time the canon begins next chapter. She and Light will be traveling together for around a year, so by the time we get to episode one, she'll be around the same level as Zoro or Sanji. The reason is Light saw inner strength and potential in her, and given enough time and experience, she'll be able to draw it out. Kind of like the inner strength Hawk-Eye saw in Zoro that was different than physical strength.
Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. If you want more, leave a review. If you like the story, click the follow/favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.