Steam Powered Pirate AU: 2
Synopsis – A continuation of the last chapter.
When we last left our heroes, they had decided to go searching for Pirate Queen Honoka's legendary treasure in the Grand Line.
Of course, they need a starting point, so they eventually make port at Otonoki, a neutral freeport along the Numazu Rim. Well, while they do need a starting point, what they actually need more urgently is to stock the ship. The SS Aqours had almost nothing in its holds when it washed ashore, so the crew need provisions. It is here that they meet Riko.
(This is more detailed in my other story, Phantom Thief on the High Seas, but here's a summary.)
Riko is a desk clerk / record keeper / accountant / bean counter for a merchant house, staying late with nothing more than some dying candles for her company as she finishes up some work. As she leaves, she sees some shifty figures enter the warehouse. She prepares her tri-barreled repeating flintlock pistol and investigates, only to find Chika and You as they inspect some of the goods.
She raises her gun and threatens them, but blanches when You raises her harpoon gun. Things seem bad for everyone, but then Kanan emerges from behind and knocks Riko out with her wrench. The trio drag and drop Riko in a warehouse crate Hitman style, and proceed to loot the warehouse for their supplies.
The next day, Riko wakes up inside the crate and finds out that she's in the Aqours' cargo hold. The crew accidentally brought her crate aboard. Chika is distraught, as this means they accidentally left the mikans.
They take Riko back the same day, but the local authorities already have Wanted! posters out with Riko's face on them, mistakenly believing her disappearance is connected with the disappearance of the freight. Riko is resigned to not go to jail and permanently joins the SS Aqours. They beat feet before anyone can recognize them. Chika is still distraught that they have to leave the mikans.
The crew tease Riko for her Wanted! poster, as it makes it seem like the great Phantom Thief Riko can steal entire warehouses of stuff without lifting a finger. Riko is not amused.
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With their supplies filled to the brim, now it's time for the crew to actually find a starting point for the fabled clues of the SS Muse. They begin at a large and well known temple village that is said to have hosted a wedding for some of the Muse crew members. It is here they meet and recruit Hanamaru and Ruby.
Hanamaru is a temple girl who works at the village library and knowledge repository. She's a well-read girl with a damn good memory, and has retained much knowledge of history, geography, and other scholarly tidbits that could prove useful in solving the mystery of the Grand Line. She also knows about temple tradition, and on a more practical note, how to wield a staff.
Ruby is a traveling doctor, an herbalist on a quest to heal as many of the injured as she can. She's stayed in the temple village for a year or two, primarily to handle a rampant outbreak of disease that finally seems to be dying down, and also because she and Hanamaru have grown quite close. She does not fight, but when push comes to shove, she has remarkable skill at throwing things.
Temple Recruitment Arc:
The crew arrive at Kanda Myojin to 'pay respects' but really are there to investigate. They somehow begin poking around the temple after hours to find the historical registry of marriage certificates licensed at this temple. Of course they're caught by RubyMaru. Ruby is scared of these strangers but Hanamaru takes it all in stride, politely telling them that such records are not for public perusal and asking them to leave.
They try again to sneak in the night after. Hanamaru asks them to leave again.
The third time this happens, Riko gets super annoyed and tells the crew off. They're supposedly pirates but they can't even rob one temple? They have guns too!
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"The next time you break in, could you not do it so late? It's past Ruby-chan's bedtime," requested Hanamaru.
"It's 9:30!" exclaimed Chika incredulously.
"Yes, and it's past Ruby-chan's bedtime," reiterated Hanamaru firmly.
"It's okay, Hanamaru-chan," said Ruby through a yawn, "I can stay awake..." She promptly fell against Hanamaru, the brunette catching her with ease as the redhead rested her eyes.
"Ah, we're sorry for keeping you up," apologized Chika, "We'll break in earlier next time."
"Thank you, zura."
Chika and her crew turned to leave, but were stopped by a single objection.
"Hold on a minute!" cried Riko as she glared at her crewmates. "I thought you were supposed to be hardened pirates! Why are you just giving in to a pair of temple priestesses?! We have guns!"
"I'd feel bad pointing my harpoon at such innocent looking girls," said You sheepishly.
"You didn't hesitate when it was me!" retorted Riko indignantly.
"Yeah but you surprised us!"
"Also, you're not innocent," added Chika.
Riko's eye twitched.
"Come on, we'll come back again tomorrow when we've had a little more time to plan this out," offered Kanan.
The redhead's mouth formed an indignant frown. "This is absolutely ridiculous," she said. Unholstering her pistol, she pointed it at the two temple girls threateningly. "Please take us to where you keep the marriage licenses," she demanded calmly.
"Zura!" "Pigii!" exclaimed Hanamaru and Ruby.
"Whoa, hold on Riko-chan! You're going to threaten two temple priestesses with violence?!" yelped Chika.
"No," replied Riko, "I'm threatening one temple priestess and her friend with violence. Besides, the sooner we find this treasure so you can become 'queen of the pirates' or whatever, the sooner I can create a new identity and live out the rest of my life away from you crazy people."
"You're the only one crazy enough to threaten a priestess," retorted You.
Riko's eye twitched again. "I suppose so," she conceded. She turned back to Hanamaru. "The marriage records, if you please."
Hanamaru spared a glance to Ruby, the pig-tailed redhead clutching the shorter woman's arm tightly. "If you insist," said the brunette. "Please follow me, and try not to disturb the temple." She turned and guided Ruby down the hallway, the pirates following.
But as they marched off single file into the depths of the temple, a certain navigator bringing up the rear snapped her head toward an entirely different direction. She crinkled her nose as if utilizing a sixth sense. "...seifuku," she declared. And with that, she melted away into the temple, away from her friends and their reluctant guides on a quest of her own.
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Riko gets so fed up she holds RubyMaru at gunpoint and demands to be taken to the marriage licenses. They do so, while You pops off on her own for a bit, but rejoins them just as Hanamaru unlocks the records. Riko keeps watch while the other three search them. Eventually finding nothing, Chika throws her stack into the air in frustration before shouting about how the stories about Honoka's marriage lied.
Hanamaru has a lightbulb moment and she says the temple keeps criminal marriage licenses in a hidden compartment below the temple and that she can show them. Ruby is understandably confused with why Maru is helping them, to which she can only reply that it's intellectual curiosity.
They find what they're looking for, maybe some clue about how NozoEli getting married and obscure references to a honeymoon spot or "returning to where they first met" or something cheesy like that.
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"See anything that will help?" asked Kanan as she inspected some of the other odds and ends in the room.
"Let's see... 'My dearest Nozomi,' blah blah blah, 'you are my other half, you complete me', blah blah blah, 'gave me a purpose'..." rattled off the ginger dismissively. "It mostly just seems like boring marriage vow stuff."
"Oh wait, I found something! '...I think back to when I first confessed my feelings for you with the captain's blessing. It was a moonlit night in the Garden of Glass, and we had just emerged from the fires of the Sakkaku Crossroads...' That's it! The Garden of Glass has to be the next step to finding the treasure!"
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Someone sees them of course, and sounds the alarm after Maru casually says, "Oh these strangers are holding me and Ruby-chan at gunpoint, zura."
Hilariously, someone recognizes the Phantom Thief and Riko gets another tag added to her Bounty. They also officially get the name of Sunshine Pirates after Chika says it. "Sunshine Pirates! Away!"
They run back to the Aqours and take off, Hanamaru and Ruby in tow. When the crew asks why they're still there, Hanamaru says she wants to know where this is going. Ruby just says Riko never put down the gun.
Also, they later find out that while she was gone, You sniffed out and stole the traditional wedding garments because she likes uniforms.
Phantom Thief Riko acquires the additional crimes of: Desecration of a Holy Temple, Theft of Religious Artifacts, Kidnapping
The Sunshine Pirates collectively acquire: Kidnapping
Something happens such that RubyMaru get Wanted! posters too. Maybe they steal a temple relic or something, IDK
And with their recruitment, the One Piece intro gets updated:
Her name is You, a sailor certified
And with a big ol' wrench, that Kanan's not shy
Hanamaru's doin' her zura thing,
Ruby's healing, Riko's suffering!