Heart of a Pirate
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or Kingdom Hearts. They belong to Eiichiro Oda and Square Enix respectively.
Chapter 2: Darkness Approaches
The Going Merry fell through the air, the ocean below it approaching faster and faster towards it. Just a few minutes earlier, it had been slowly moving back down towards the sea under the support of a giant, air-filled octopus that acted as a hot air balloon to make sure the ship got back down to ground level at a safe speed. But now, the said octopus had progressively deflated as it got closer to the surface of the ocean, and had just instantly shrunk down to the size of a regular sea octopus, leaving nothing but Breath Dials to slow the ship's fall. On board the ship were the Straw Hat Pirates, who were clinging onto whatever was closest to them for dear life and bracing for impact, with Usopp and Chopper screaming in terror the entire time.
A few seconds later, the ship hit the water hard, sending up a huge splash that showered its occupants with several gallons of seawater. The ship itself creaked and groaned as it rocked back and forth on the water, but somehow managed to remain intact. After about a minute, everything settled back down.
0o0o0o0o0o0o- Going Merry, Deck
"Are you OK, Nami-san, Robin-chan?!" yelled Sanji once the ship settled down.
"That was scary!" said Nami frantically, still clutching the side of the ship. "Why did the octopus shrink all of a sudden?"
"I guess it ran out of air," commented Robin, standing up.
Zoro got up as well. "Geez, what happened?" he grumbled, dusting himself off.
Luffy, however, was still lying on his back on the deck, and just as he was about to get up…
SPLAT!
The said octopus, now several times smaller, landed on the Straw Hat captain's face after falling out of the sky. He simply laughed as he lifted it off his face. "Well, we made it! Without dying, too!" he said cheerfully. He then looked at the octopus and grinned. "Hey, thanks for the help!"
"But, man," Sanji began, lighting up a cigarette and taking a puff. "What a place that was."
Sanji, of course, was talking about Skypiea, the land in the sky that had been at war for over 400 years, over the "sacred" land of Upper Yard. Upper Yard had turned out to be a piece of an island on the Grand Line that had been blasted into the sky by the Knock-Up Stream, an ocean phenomenon in which gas pockets on the ocean floor would periodically erupt, blasting huge amounts of water into the sky, right below Skypiea. The Straw Hats had actually used it to get to Skypiea themselves, after having their boat modified by Montblanc Cricket and the Saruyama Alliance, an ocean salvage crew who wanted to know for sure whether Skypiea existed or not.
Upon arriving, Luffy and the rest had met Conis, a Sky Island dweller, her father, Pagaya, and her cloud fox, Suu. After lunch and a few quick lessons about Wavers and Dials, Conis and Pagaya told them about Upper Yard and how no one may set foot on it. Naturally, it made Luffy want to go. But before that could happen, the local law enforcement, the White Berets, attempted to arrest the Straw Hats for illegal entry, despite the fact that they were brought up regardless of whether they paid the entry fee or not. The situation escalated, and soon Nami, Zoro, Chopper and Robin were whisked into the middle of Upper Yard, along with the Going Merry, to await so-called "God" Enel's Judgment.
Seeing this, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji set out to rescue them. With the help of Conis, they got themselves a boat, but saw that Conis was acting strangely, along with everyone else in town. She then revealed that everyone was being forced by Enel to bring all Blue Sea dwellers into Upper Yard to be "judged"; in other words, sacrificed to Enel and his four High Priests. Right after saying this, Luffy and Conis were nearly incinerated by a giant bolt of lightning, but were saved at the last second by Gan Fall, a sky mercenary who had helped the Straw Hats earlier on when they had first arrived on the White Sea. After Gan Fall left to hide Conis from Enel, the three remaining Straw Hats set out into Upper Yard to save their crewmates, as well as their ship.
Long story short, the Straw Hats defeated Enel and his Priests and grabbed a big pile of gold from Upper Yard. They then ran away from the Skypieans with their treasure, whom they thought were trying to punish them with a giant cannon for stealing their gold (in truth, they were merely trying to give them a big golden support beam as thanks), and escaped from Skypiea with the help of Conis and Pagaya, which brings us to where we are now.
"After coming back down, it certainly seems rather far away," commented Robin, in response to Sanji's statement. Nami nodded. "It's almost like we were dreaming," she responded.
"It was a land of dreams!" Chopper said happily, in an entranced tone. "I wonder if we'll ever go back someday?"
Zoro smirked at him. "You'll go there when you die," he said. "Or at least somewhere close." "Zoro, are you sure you'll go to Heaven?" Usopp piped up, causing a vein to pop out on Zoro's head. "Why, you…!" he growled.
"Well, things have definitely calmed down for now," interrupted Sanji as he walked towards the kitchen door. "I'll go put on some coffee." "I want food, Sanji!" exclaimed Luffy. "I'll make some, so just drink the coffee and wait!" replied Sanji in an annoyed tone.
"OK!" Luffy said cheerfully as he got to his feet. "By the way, where are we?" he asked, looking around. He then spotted a small island about 50 meters from the ship. "Hey, an island!" Luffy exclaimed happily.
"Where?!" asked Chopper eagerly, as the rest of the crew looked in the direction Luffy was looking. "Hey, he's right!" confirmed Nami. "The Log Pose isn't pointing towards it, though…" "Perhaps the island it locked onto from the sky is a little further along," provided Robin. Nami nodded in agreement.
"Who cares! Let's go check it out!" Luffy shouted jubilantly as he reared his arm back. "Luffy, no, wait…!" cried Nami, reaching out a hand to stop him, but it was too late as Luffy swung his arm forward and stretched it out, his hand traveling all the way to the nearest palm tree on the island. He then grabbed it and let his arm retract, pulling the rest of his body towards the island. Nami then sighed exasperatedly. "He's always so reckless," she groaned.
"Dammit, Luffy! Get back here! We wanna go too!" shouted Usopp, shaking his fist. "Yeah! Wait for us!" Chopper yelled.
"Oi," came Zoro's voice, before they could shout anything else. They then turned around to see Zoro standing next to the handle of one of the ship's giant oars, with an annoyed expression on his face. "If you wanna follow him, grab an oar and start rowing."
"Zoro, no! We don't know who or what is on that island, and besides, what if it changes the Log Pose's orientation?" said Nami worriedly. The swordsman simply 'hmphed'. "Doesn't matter. Luffy's already there, and I doubt he'll want to leave, so we might as well follow him," he replied.
Realizing it was a lost cause, Nami simply sighed. "Alright, fine, we'll dock here for the night," she said. Seeing no further objections from anyone, Chopper shifted into Heavy Point and grabbed the handle of the second oar, Usopp following suit. Usopp, Chopper, and Zoro then began rowing the ship towards the beach of the island. Once there, they dropped anchor next to a small dock. They were about to hop out, but then Robin stopped them.
"Hold on, everyone. I'd like to have a look at this island myself, but it's nighttime and we won't be able to see much. We should at least get some rest and wait for morning before we go exploring anywhere," she said, with Nami nodding in agreement.
"But what about Luffy?" complained Usopp.
"I wouldn't worry too much about him," Zoro answered, jerking his thumb towards a certain spot on the island. The other four Straw Hats looked to where Zoro was pointing, and saw the captain underneath a palm tree… sprawled out on his back and snoring away. Usopp and Chopper face-vaulted at the sight, while Nami shook her head in an exasperated manner. Robin simply giggled softly.
Everyone on deck then left to turn in for the night, except Zoro, who went to keep watch from the crow's nest. Sanji came out moments later with the coffee he had just made, and when he saw the island they were docked next to, Robin filled him in as he poured her a cup of the hot drink. Sanji shook his head at Luffy's antics as he left to catch some rest himself. Robin stepped inside her and Nami's room, while Zoro took his place up in the crow's nest, and once again, everything was still and silent… save Luffy's occasional snores.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o- Going Merry, the next morning
All was quiet on the ship that morning. Sanji and Usopp were still sleeping, Zoro was napping in the crow's nest (again), and Luffy was still slumbering in the same spot underneath the palm tree on the island. The only ones awake were Nami, Robin, and Chopper; Nami and Robin, because they were normally early risers, and Chopper, who had woken up randomly at that time, and couldn't get back to sleep.
Grumbling softly to himself, Chopper hopped out of his hammock and climbed the ladder from the men's sleeping quarters to the main deck. Remembering that they had arrived at a new island the night before, he decided to head over to the rear of the ship to have a look, since the rear was higher than the front and would therefore offer a better vantage point.
However, once he had climbed the stairs, he stopped. Standing in front of him was a teenage boy, probably not much younger than Luffy. He wore a light beige sports vest, some baggy yellow pants with leather straps that formed the shape of an 'X' on the front of each leg, green sandals, and a blue headband. He also had red hair, put into a strange hairdo that had a 'wave' at the front which extended almost a foot from his head, while the rest of his hair was cut rather short.
"Wakka, what are you…?" Just then, another boy, who looked younger than the first, came walking over, abruptly stopping next to the first one. He wore a yellow short-sleeved jacket with white sleeves that opened down the front to expose his torso, a pair of gray shorts, which for some reason had one leg longer than the other, and a pair of brown sandals with gray and yellow straps. His hair was a light brown color, and only long enough to reach the neck. It was also a bit messy.
For the next few seconds, Chopper stared blankly at the two boys, who in turn stared in curiosity back at him. Suddenly, Chopper realized that these people were not on the ship when they came in. Who were they?! What did they want?! And what could he do about it?! Chopper then did the only thing he knew to do.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he scrambled back and attempted to hide behind the corner to the stairs. But, as usual, he failed miserably by leaving most of his body in plain sight.
"Wakka?" the younger boy slowly began. "Did that thing… just scream?"
0o0o0o0o0o0o- The beach, minutes later
After the two boys that Chopper ran into had run off, the rest of the crew, alerted (or in the case of Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp, awakened) by Chopper's scream, all began making their way onto the deck. After Chopper had told everyone what he saw, Zoro pointed out three other teenagers on the dock where the Going Merry was anchored. However, they were not the ones that Chopper had just seen.
Standing to the left of the other two was a young, brown-haired, blue-eyed teenage boy, probably no older than 14. He wore red shorts, a hooded black and white zip-up T-shirt, and a pair of rather large yellow and black sneakers. He also wore white, fingerless gloves that had round metal plates on the backs, and a neck chain with what looked like a small metal crown hanging from it. What stood out the most about this boy was his spiky brown hair, which seemed to defy the laws of physics with the way it spiked upward and outward. Right now, he looked rather nervous under the gaze of the Straw Hats.
Next to him, between the other two, was a young, red-haired, blue-eyed teenage girl, who looked about the same age as the boy on the left. She wore a white tank top, with another black one underneath, magenta shorts with a mini-skirt of the same color overtop of them, and white shoes with purple lining. She also wore a yellow bracelet on her left wrist, a purple one just under her left shoulder, a plain black choker on her neck, and a small gold necklace with a pendant on it. Currently, she sported the same look of nervousness at the collective gaze of the crew.
Finally, standing on the far right, was another teenage boy with silver hair and teal-coloured eyes, who looked to be a year older than the other two. He wore a sleeveless yellow and black shirt with black straps crossing over the chest, a pair of dark blue jeans underneath a pair of lighter blue pant legs held up by a pair of straps connected to his belt, which also had a pair of belts that tightened the legs around the ankles, and a pair of blue, black, white, and yellow sneakers. He also wore black bracelets on his wrists and black gloves on his hands. Currently, unlike the other two, he wore a small smirk of pride at the way the pirates regarded him.
Not too long after Zoro had pointed them out, Luffy woke up from his sleep on the island and zipped over to the ship with his rubber powers, startling everyone, most especially Usopp, by appearing so suddenly. However, while Usopp was making his displeasure known, Luffy had spotted one of the most amazing things (to him, at least) he had ever seen; the spiky hairstyle of one of the new group of teens. He immediately inquired as to how it did that; that is, if 'inquired' meant getting in Sora's face and trying the shake the answer out of him. Fortunately, Nami put a stop to it in the usual manner by bashing him over the head and yelling at him.
While that happened, Robin got down from the ship to ask the children where they were at the moment. As usual, Sanji ended up swooning over her, prompting a smart remark from Zoro, which then escalated into yet another fight between the two.
Once everything had calmed back down (with a little help from Nami, who ended up bashing both Zoro and Sanji over their heads to get them to stop fighting), the silver-haired one of the group, whom they would later know as Riku, suggested that they all get onto the beach so that they could properly introduce themselves. After introductions were made, Sora and Kairi gave the Straw Hats a grand welcome to the place they now knew as Destiny Islands.
"You know, Luffy," spoke up Usopp, gaining the Straw Hat captain's attention. "We never did get to take that vacation we wanted to take up in Skypiea, did we?"
Luffy stared at him for a few seconds, then grinned. "Hey, you're right! This is the perfect opportunity!" He then turned to the Destiny Islanders lined up in front of them. Raising a fist, he shouted "What are we waiting for?! Let's have some FUN!"
"YEAH!" they shouted back, raising their own fists.
A short time later, Tidus, Wakka, and Sora had gone with Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper to do who-knew-what, Selphie and Kairi had begun conversing with Nami (who had gone back inside the Going Merry and changed into her shorts and bikini top) over random topics, and Robin had gone off on her own to do some exploration of the island.
Riku had attempted to question Sanji about the Straw Hats' adventures up until getting to Destiny Islands, but was ignored when the cook noticed Nami's change in attire and began swooning over her in the usual manner, soon rushing off to find flowers for her. Giving up on getting Sanji to tell him anything, Riku turned to Zoro, only to find him napping against a palm tree and snoring loudly, causing the silver-haired boy to slump his shoulders in exasperation at the sight. He then turned to follow Sora, Tidus and Wakka to Luffy, Usopp and Chopper, hoping that at least one of them would be willing to recount their story.
Meanwhile, with Nami, Kairi, and Selphie…
"This is such a beautiful beach!" exclaimed Nami with a big smile on her face as she walked across the beach with Kairi and Selphie on either side of her. She stretched her arms and took a deep breath, then let out a contented sigh.
"Isn't it?" replied Selphie with a smile. "And it's like this year-round!"
"Really?" said Nami, looking slightly amazed. The two girls nodded. Nami smirked. "I could get used to this!" she laughed, causing the other two to laugh as well.
"So, how often do you get pirates staying at these islands?" asked Nami once they were finished laughing. Surely an island as beautiful as this one would be well known to other pirates further along the Grand Line.
"Actually, we almost never see outsiders," replied Selphie, causing Nami to raise an eyebrow.
"Really? You don't?" she asked in surprise. Both Selphie and Kairi nodded.
"Yeah. The last time anyone around here saw any outsiders was when some pirates came here over twenty years ago, according to our history records," said Kairi, causing Nami to raise her eyebrows. "And as for before that, there aren't any existing records of any outside visitors." She decided not to say anything about how she herself had come from a place outside of Destiny Islands that she couldn't remember, since it wasn't important. Meanwhile, Nami's eyes were wide with bewilderment.
"Outside visitors are that rare?" she asked in surprise, prompting Selphie and Kairi to nod again in confirmation.
That's so strange, thought Nami to herself. You would think that any one island on the Grand Line would get plenty of pirate visitors, but these girls are telling me that over two decades have passed since the people of the islands have seen any pirates from the outside, and that no one remembers any such thing happening anytime before that! How is that possible?!
She then looked down at her Log Pose. Has no one's Log Pose ever locked onto this island's magnetic field? If so, why? Even others' Log Poses were able to lock onto Skypiea's magnetic field, even if by some freak coincidence, but from what I can tell, there's no way for it to lock onto this island! How can that be?!
Nami decided to think about it later. If what Kairi and Selphie said was true, then she and the rest of the Straw Hats were in no danger of being discovered by the Marines while they were here. They could finally relax without worrying!
Then again, that's what we said up at Angel Beach, and look what happened then, thought Nami to herself. We should be at least a little cautious, should something happen again.
"Nami?" came Selphie's voice, jerking Nami out of her reverie. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned to Selphie with a smile. "Sorry, Selphie, I kind of zoned out there," she replied apologetically. Selphie just waved it off.
"Don't worry, it happens," she replied with a smile. Kairi then cleared her throat, bringing both Nami and Selphie's attention to her.
"So, what kinds of things have you guys done on your travels on the ocean?" she asked Nami, looking slightly eager. "You don't seem like bad people, but I imagine you must have had your fair share of adventures up until arriving here. I know Riku would do just about anything to hear about the things you've done on the sea, but he doesn't seem to be having much luck with your crewmates." The three of them laughed at that, having seen Riku's earlier attempts to get Sanji or Zoro to tell their story.
"So, will you tell us about your journey on the sea?" asked Kairi after they had finished laughing.
Nami considered for a moment, with Selphie and Kairi looking on with anticipation. She didn't see any harm in retelling their journey to these kids. It wasn't as if it was something everyone in the crew wanted to keep private. Plus, it would probably be the first and possibly only time in these kids' lives that they would get to hear anything new about the outside world.
Not to mention that out of the entire crew, she was most likely the best one for the job. Luffy would probably find it boring to recount everything that happened since he set out on the sea, Zoro and Sanji-kun weren't really the story-telling type, Usopp would likely twist the story to make it sound like he was the one to get the crew out of every single pinch they had been in along the way, Chopper would probably get nervous talking in front of groups of people, and Robin hadn't been in the crew for even half of their journey.
Coming to a decision, she looked at the two other girls and smiled. "Sure, why not?" she replied good-naturedly.
"Great!" said Kairi and Selphie together, grinning with anticipation.
Nami then led them over to a shaded area close to the island waterfall and sat down, prompting the two girls to do the same. Clearing her throat, Nami then began the story…
0o0o0o0o0o0o- Bridged Island, with Sora, Tidus, Wakka, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper
While Nami was talking to Kairi and Selphie, Sora, Tidus, Wakka, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had made their way over to a small island close to the shore of the beach, which was connected to the main island by a wooden bridge. Its elevation was about eight feet higher than the beach sand, and it had a number of palm trees growing from it, one of which grew sideways, extending over the edge to hang its leaves over the water.
Sora, Tidus, and Wakka had just finished explaining to the three pirates on how to play Blitzball, apparently a very popular sport on Destiny Islands. The true game was played underwater, but the version they were going to play was the land version. Apparently, since the underwater sport required heavy breathing training for the player to be able to hold their breath for extended periods of time, a land-based variation of the sport was developed for the younger hopefuls to hone their skills with the ball as they trained their lungs for a number of years before being able to participate in the real thing. It had proven to be quite an effective regimen.
The way the game worked was that the players were split into two teams, one team on each half of the field, and on each side of the field was a goal net. It started with two players standing at the center of the playing field on their respective sides. The ball would be thrown straight up into the air, and the two players would attempt to swat the ball out of the air towards their teammates behind them. The object of the game was to get the ball into the opposing team's net, past their goalie. The team with the higher number of goals won.
However, there were restrictions that made the game more challenging. For instance, once a team member caught the ball, they could not move from their spot; they could only attempt to pass the ball to one of their teammates. And when a pass was made, the other team could attempt to intercept it. Also, in order to score, the player holding the ball did not throw the ball into the opposing team's net, but instead kicked it in. Otherwise, the goal did not count. And finally, when a goal was scored, the team who got the point would punt the ball towards the other team from their side of the field, giving them first possession of it.
"And that's how you play. Any questions?" asked Wakka, tossing his ball up and down as he talked.
When no one had any, the six immediately split into teams. On one side of the playing area were Tidus, Sora, and Luffy, while on the other side were Usopp, Chopper, and Wakka. Sora, Luffy, Usopp, and Wakka were offense for their respective teams, while Tidus and Chopper were their respective teams' goalies, with a pair of palm trees on each side of the area being used as nets. Wakka had originally questioned whether Chopper, being as small as he was, would be a good choice for goalie, but Usopp quickly convinced him that Chopper could handle it. Currently, Wakka and Sora stood at the center of the playing area facing each other, with the ball on the ground between them.
"Wait a second," said Wakka, bringing everyone else's attention to him. "We need someone to toss the ball to start the game!"
"I can help with that," came Riku's voice, startling everyone. They then turned to see Riku walking across the wooden bridge towards them onto the island platform.
"Riku! When did you get here?" asked Sora in surprise.
"Just now," replied Riku with a half-smile. He had originally come over with the intention to grill the three pirates for details on their journey up until arriving at Destiny Islands, but seeing that they were getting ready for a game of Blitzball, he decided it could wait a little longer. After all, they had all day for it.
"So, you need a referee to do the game-starting toss, eh?" he continued. "Just leave it to me!" He then walked over to where Wakka and Sora were and picked up the ball.
"Ready?" said Riku, positioning the ball between Wakka and Sora's heads in an underhand throwing position, prompting them to crouch down to prepare to jump. "First team to ten points wins. Begin!" He then threw the ball straight up, signaling the start of the game.
Sora and Wakka immediately jumped up and reached up for the ball as it fell. Wakka managed to beat Sora to it and swatted the ball backwards to Usopp, who managed to grab it. Sora immediately ran into position in front of him to try and screen any passes he tried to make. Wakka quickly ran into an open spot for Usopp to pass to him, while Luffy followed to block him as well. However, Wakka quickly faked him out and managed to get open, allowing Usopp to throw an overhand pass to him. He jumped up and spin-kicked the ball into the net, just barely getting it past Tidus' attempted save.
"Goal!" called out Riku. "Point for Wakka's team!"
"YEAH!" cheered Usopp and Chopper as they did a victory dance together. Wakka merely grinned proudly. Sora swung his fist in front of himself in mild frustration, while Luffy just pouted slightly.
Once Tidus retrieved the ball, Wakka punted it towards them from his side of the field and the game was on again.
Sora quickly ran forward and caught the ball, prompting Luffy to run forward to allow Sora a clear passing path. Sora, who at the moment was being screened by Usopp, quickly maneuvered his arms around him and threw the ball towards Luffy. Luffy quickly caught the ball and dropped it in order to kick it towards the net, but before his foot could make contact, Wakka slid over and snatched the ball away out of mid-air, gaining possession. He then threw the ball to Usopp, who quickly caught and drop-kicked it towards Tidus' net before Sora could reach him. This time, however, Tidus managed to make a save by catching the ball.
Tidus then threw the ball to Sora, who quickly turned to pass the ball to Luffy. However, his hand slipped as he did so, causing his aim to go off slightly, and the ball went flying towards Wakka, who had just then been running to block Luffy again. "Oh no!" exclaimed Sora out loud.
Luffy was ready, however, as he quickly stretched his arms out and grabbed the ball out of the air right before Wakka could catch it, surprising him. He then let go of the ball and kicked it towards Chopper's net. Chopper, who had shifted into Heavy Point without anyone seeing, quickly attempted to block the ball from entering the net, but it just barely slipped through his hands, flying through the net and splashing into the water behind it.
"Yahoo!" cheered Luffy. "Point for us!"
"No fair! You cheated!" complained Usopp. Luffy just ignored it.
However, everyone else was dead silent, which confused Luffy a bit. He then turned around to see Tidus, Sora, and Wakka gawking at him and Chopper, while Riku looked at them with widened eyes. "What?" asked Luffy.
"Luffy…" began Sora slowly. "Did you just… stretch your arms?"
"And Chopper…?" said Wakka just as slowly. "Am I seein' things, or did you just grow a whole lot bigger and muscular?"
Luffy just grinned in response. "Yup! I did stretch!" he replied cheerfully. "I ate the Gomu Gomu fruit! I'm a rubberman!" To demonstrate, he hooked a finger into his mouth and stretched his cheek out two feet from his face, shocking and amazing the islanders even further.
"And I ate the Hito Hito fruit! I'm a Reindeer Human!" piped up Chopper, demonstrating by shifting into Walking Point, his 'original' reindeer form on all fours, then to Brain Point, his smallest form. By now, the islanders' eyes were practically popping out of their sockets at the sight (except Riku, who simply maintained an amazed expression on his face at the sights).
"How did you do that?!" they all chorused.
"Uh, guys?" whispered Usopp as he leaned over to Luffy and Chopper. "I don't think these guys know about Devil Fruits."
"Devil Fruits?" questioned Tidus, having heard Usopp. "What's a Devil Fruit?"
From there, the three pirates began an explanation of Devil Fruits. They discussed their own abilities, the various other unique abilities granted to users they had met on their voyage up to arriving at Destiny Islands, how no two Devil Fruits were the same, and how fruit users were unable to swim, becoming too weak to move once submerged in water.
"Wow…" said Riku at the end of the explanation, voicing the rest of the Islanders' thoughts. "So your Devil Fruit…" here he pointed to Luffy. "…turns your whole body into rubber, but still functions normally all the same." Luffy nodded in confirmation, grinning. And you…" he now pointed at Chopper. "You were originally a reindeer, but your fruit lets you turn into a semi-human form, as well as a mix of your original form and your human form, and you can communicate with both humans and animals, right?" Chopper nodded in confirmation as well. That explains how he's able to talk, thought Riku to himself.
"That's so cool!" exclaimed Sora, with Tidus and Wakka nodding in agreement. "I never knew there were things like that in the outside world! What other things are there like that out there?"
Usopp opened his mouth to say something, but Wakka cut him off. "We can talk about that stuff later! We've got a game to play here!" said the wavy-haired young man. For a brief moment, Riku looked slightly disappointed at that, but the look quickly disappeared as he took his spot at the edge of the playing area.
It was then declared that Devil Fruit powers were fair game, since each team had one fruit user each.
Meanwhile, Tidus had gone to fetch the blitzball from the water. Once he climbed back onto the island with the ladder, Sora punted the ball back towards the other three. Wakka caught it, and the game was back on.
From there on, things got more and more intense as Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper progressively picked up the on the game as they played. The two sides continued to attempt to score on each other, but were oftentimes thwarted by the other team, and when that team attempted to score, they were thwarted themselves.
Wakka and Usopp often had to find ways to maneuver the ball away from Luffy and his stretching limbs, made all the more difficult by Sora and Tidus, being the more experienced players between themselves and Luffy. But with Usopp's exceptional aiming skills and Wakka's overall game experience, they managed.
However, Luffy and Sora were no slouches in the playing department either, since Luffy's abilities allowed for great offensive strategies, and made passing easier. Chopper was easily their biggest challenge in the way of goal scoring, since his bulk in Heavy Point made it harder to get the ball past him into the net. But they pushed on nonetheless.
After about an hour of playing, the score was tied at 9-9, and Luffy, Sora, and Tidus had possession. Before getting the game started again, the three of them got into a huddle, discussing a possible strategy. Once finished, they broke off and got into their respective positions.
Once Wakka punted the ball towards them, Sora caught it… but then quickly threw it towards Tidus. Once he caught the ball, Tidus quickly threw it as hard as he could at Luffy.
"Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!" Luffy shouted as he took a huge breath and inflated his torso into a balloon as the ball approached him. Usopp, knowing what Luffy was about to do, immediately ran forward to stop the ball, but was too late, as the ball had made contact with Luffy's torso. Luffy then directed the ball towards Sora, who had sprinted across the playing area to get into position to score. The ball came soaring fast towards Sora, who quickly jumped up and kicked the ball towards the goal. Chopper quickly braced his hands in front of himself for impact, but the ball was coming so fast that once it hit his hands, it went straight up and over his head in an arc… and through the goal.
"Goal!" called out Riku. "Luffy, Sora, and Tidus win!"
"YEAH!" cheered the said team as they danced together in celebration (on Luffy's prompt, of course).
"Aw, man! We were so close!" complained Usopp, with Chopper nodding in agreement
Wakka chuckled as he clapped the two pirates on the shoulders. "'ey now, bruddas, don't worry about it! You two did a great job for your first time playin', ya?" he encouraged.
"You think so?" said Chopper, turning to Wakka.
"Yeah!" he replied jovially. He then turned to Usopp. "You had great aim out there! Though, not as great as mine…" he said softly with a smirk.
"Oh really?" Usopp slyly replied with a smirk on his face. "Wanna prove it?"
"How?"
"A target practice contest."
Wakka smirked back. "You got it. Just lemme go retrieve the ball first, ya?" he said before walking away and jumping into the water. He then tossed the ball back up onto the island and climbed the ladder back onto it.
While Usopp and Wakka began getting ready for their competition, Luffy, Sora, and Tidus had stopped celebrating their victory and were wondering what to do next. Luffy then spotted Zoro a distance away under a tree, napping. A mischievous grin broke out on his face at the sight. "Hey guys," he whispered, gaining their attention. "Wanna have some fun with Zoro?"
"How?" they asked, now looking curious. Luffy's grin simply widened in response.
A few minutes later, Luffy, Sora, and Tidus stood off to the side admiring their handiwork on Zoro, with their hands over their mouths in an attempt to muffle their laughter, although it was failing miserably. And Zoro still hadn't woken up.
"Let's get out of here before he wakes up!" whispered Sora through his hands between laughs. The other two nodded, and the three of them raced off to where Usopp, Wakka, Chopper, and Riku were.
Usopp and Wakka now stood on the large wooden platform at the end of the beach, looking over their current target range. They had gathered up a number of pineapples and coconuts to use as targets. With some help from Chopper, they had set them up in strategic locations all over the beach: The tops of trees, the roof of the shack, the railings of the wooden walkways, and so on. Usopp would be using his slingshot to hit the pineapples, while Wakka would be using his blitzball to hit the coconuts. They each had 10 targets to hit, and 10 shots. Whichever one of them hit more targets with their allotted amount of shots won. Chopper would be the one to retrieve Wakka's blitzball after each attempt, while Riku once again took the position as referee. The silver-haired teen had originally intended to question the three pirates about their voyage right after the blitzball game, but given the current circumstances, he'd have to wait a little longer.
"You ready?" asked Wakka, smirking as he spun his ball on his finger.
"Ready when you are," replied Usopp, smirking back while gripping his slingshot.
With that, the two immediately commenced their competition, Wakka starting out first. He threw his blitzball towards a coconut, hitting it dead-on. Chopper immediately ran to grab the ball and threw it back to Wakka. "One point for Wakka!" said Riku.
Once that was done, Usopp took aim with his slingshot at a pineapple on top of a palm tree, which stood near the ladder to the wooden walkway that led to the platform he and Wakka currently stood on. "Hissatsu: Namari Boshi!" yelled Usopp as he fired a small metal ball bearing towards his target. The projectile hit the pineapple dead-on, tearing a hole clear through to the other side of the fruit. "One point for Usopp!" said Riku.
And so the contest continued on in much the same way, with each of them hitting their targets with amazing accuracy. Luffy, Sora, and Tidus watched amazedly as the two of them continue to get their targets and score points against each other. For a short while, the two of them continued to tie their scores, but then, at one point, when Wakka attempted to hit a coconut that had been placed on the wooden walkway, he made a slight miscalculation in his throw, and the ball ended up bouncing off the cliff face and heading towards the waterfall, where Nami, Kairi, and Selphie currently sat.
"I'll get it!" called out Chopper as he went to chase the ball, switching into Brain Point as he ran.
0o0o0o0o0o0o—Children's Island, Near the waterfall
"… and then we ended up here. That's about all of it up to now," concluded Nami. Near the beginning, she had altered the story of the battle with Arlong to sound like he and his gang had stolen their big haul of treasure and they had fought to get it back, rather than what had actually taken place. She didn't feel like dredging up her most painful of memories with people she had only just met that day, even if they were just young girls.
Kairi and Selphie, meanwhile, looked on with stars in their eyes. "Wow!" they both exclaimed together. "So you really fought against a clown pirate who could split himself apart?!" said Selphie amazedly.
"And visited a restaurant that floated on the sea?!" said Kairi just as amazedly.
"And fought and won against a gang of fishmen?!"
"And fought off an entire town of bounty hunters?!"
"And went to an island that had dinosaurs AND giants?!"
"And saved a whole desert island country from a criminal organization?!"
"And visited a city in the sky?!"
Nami nodded, smiling good-naturedly. "Yup, that's about it!" she replied cheerfully.
"That's amazing!" said Selphie, Kairi nodding in agreement. She and Kairi had been enthralled by the tale all throughout Nami's retelling. The things the pirates had done were above and beyond anything they could have imagined happening on the sea. The two of them made a mental note to tell Riku what they had just heard later on.
Just then, Wakka's blitzball came bouncing over, with Chopper running after it. As the ball rolled to a stop next to the girls, Chopper immediately grabbed it.
"Heh heh, sorry," apologized Chopper as he looked up at the three girls. "Usopp and Wakka were just having a little competition, and…" He stopped short as he saw Kairi and Selphie staring intently at him. "Uh, what's the matter?" he asked nervously.
"SO CUUUUUUUUUUUTE!" squealed the two girls as they pounced and glomped the small bipedal reindeer, almost crushing him between themselves in the process. They began fighting over who got to hold him, but rather than playing tug-of-war with his arms, they tried as hard as possible to hug him against themselves, sandwiching him between themselves in the process.
"NAMI, HELP!" screamed Chopper as he attempted to get out of the grip of the two crazed girls. Nami sighed, then stood up.
"Uh, Kairi, Selphie?" spoke up Nami, drawing the said girls' gazes towards her. "You might want to loosen your grip on Chopper. You're going to crush him if you're not careful."
Kairi and Selphie's eyes widened, then looked down at Chopper. They quickly let go of him and backed away a couple of steps, apologizing profusely for going crazy the way they did.
"Sorry, Chopper," said Selphie apologetically. "But we just couldn't help it! You just look so adorable!"
"Complimenting me doesn't make me happy at all! Shut up! Get away from me, moron!" said Chopper back to her. But contrary to what he was saying, he had an expression of pure delight on his face and was even doing a little 'happy dance'. Needless to say, Kairi and Selphie had to visibly restrain themselves from glomping him again.
Chopper then began walking back towards the other guys with the ball, only to find them laughing their heads off at him, having seen the entire thing. "IT'S NOT FUNNY! I COULD HAVE SUFFOCATED!" shouted Chopper, although it did little to stop their laughter.
Once they had gotten their laughs out, Usopp and Wakka immediately got back to their competition. So far, the score was still one point in Usopp's favour, but Wakka wasn't going to back down so easily. After a few minutes, it was Wakka's turn again. He threw his ball towards the next target; it hit, but the ball ended up bouncing away again, this time into the cave hidden by the bushes
"I'll get it!" said Sora as he ran into the cave to retrieve the ball. Sora chased the ball as it continued rolling through the tunnel, finally managing to grab it at the part where the tunnel opened into the cave. However, upon looking up, he saw someone inside.
0o0o0o0o0o0o- Children's Island, Secret cave, a few minutes earlier
Robin walked through a long, dimly lit tunnel with a low ceiling before coming out into a small cavern. Looking up, she noticed a small hole in the roof of the cave that let a small amount of sunlight in, just enough to see the entire cavern. She also noted that as the wind gusted by on the outside, it made an eerie noise as it passed across the hole, almost like the howl of a ghost. However, Robin wasn't bothered by it.
She stepped further in to look around the cave. She noted that the walls were decorated with children's drawings, meaning that the children of the islands already knew about this place. She also noticed that some large tree roots had grown in through the walls of the cave.
However, what really caught her eye was the strange wooden door at the other end of the cavern. It had a simple golden border around it, which split and curled into an ornate design near the top of the door's arch. It also had no knob, or any visible way of opening it.
She began walking towards it to get a closer look, but stopped when she heard a sound, seemingly coming from the other side of the door. It was a low, faint rushing sound, like a storm wind at low volume. Curiosity growing, Robin slowly and cautiously stepped forward towards the door. The closer she got, the louder the sound grew, causing Robin to grow slightly apprehensive. Just what was behind this door?
However, once Robin came within a foot of the door, the sound stopped, fading out as quickly as it came. What could that sound have been? wondered Robin silently, lightly running her right hand over the door. And why does this door have no way of opening it?
Robin then heard footsteps. Turning around, she saw Sora standing at the spot where the tunnel opened into the cave, holding Wakka's blitzball. "Robin!" he exclaimed, looking slightly surprised at seeing her there. "Ah, hello, Sora," greeted Robin, smiling lightly.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" asked Sora, looking slightly nervous, which didn't go unnoticed by Robin. However, she decided to leave it alone for now. "Oh, I was just having a look around the island, and happened upon this cave," she replied. "Is there something wrong? Would you like me to leave?"
"Oh! No, no, it's fine… I just didn't expect to find you in here, that's all," replied Sora nervously, his eyes looking everywhere around the cave. Best if she doesn't know that this is my, Riku, and Kairi's secret place, thought Sora to himself. She doesn't look like the kind of person to blab about things anyway. I shouldn't worry too much.
Silence fell between the two. Robin merely looked at Sora, while Sora stared at the ground, scratching the back of his head. Deciding that she should probably leave, Robin began to walk towards the exit of the cave.
"You know, it's weird…" Sora suddenly spoke up, causing Robin to halt in mid-step. "I was actually in here just yesterday, just minding my own business…" As he said this, his eyes momentarily flitted towards a certain corner of the cave, then back to Robin. "And suddenly this guy in a cloak just appears out of nowhere!"
"Appeared out of nowhere?" repeated Robin, lightly tilting her head in curiosity. Sora nodded.
"Yeah, I didn't hear him walk in or anything, he just suddenly appeared, and then disappeared!" he continued. "He said something about coming to see the 'door to this world', and that 'this world has been connected', that it was 'tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed'. Whatever that means."
Here, he looked slightly thoughtful. "I figured he might be from another world if he was saying stuff like that, but I'm not sure exactly why he was here, or what he wanted," said Sora. Robin, meanwhile, looked to be deep in thought.
Door to this world… Tied to the darkness… What could that mean? thought Robin to herself. She then took another look back at the wooden door. Could that be the 'door' to this world? And if this world is tied to darkness like the man said, what does that mean for this world?
Are we… in danger?
0o0o0o0o0o0o- Outside the cave, Wooden platform
"What's taking Sora so long?" wondered Luffy aloud, voicing the other boys' thoughts. He and the other five remaining members of their current group were all waiting outside at the impromptu target range for Sora to come back with the blitzball. He had been gone for a few minutes now, and the boys were wondering what he was doing. Riku knew it was a small cave, so it shouldn't have taken Sora this long to retrieve it.
Just then, they heard Sanji yelling "OI! LUNCH!" from the ship.
Some ten minutes after introductions, during everyone's respective activities, Sanji had realized that, due to all the excitement with the children they had just met, none of the Straw Hats, including himself, had eaten breakfast that morning. Knowing that, as well as how big Luffy's appetite was and that there were six more people to cook for, he immediately got to work making an extra large lunch (or brunch, depending on how you look at it) for everyone; that is, after he had gathered what he thought to be the right arrangements of flowers for Nami and Robin, which he placed at their respective places at the table.
At that moment, when Luffy heard Sanji's voice, he immediately realized just how hungry he was, having missed breakfast that morning, which was something he had NEVER done before when he wasn't comatose. "Woohoo! Food!" cheered Luffy as he quickly reared back his fist. However, before he could stretch out his arm and pull himself to the ship…
"LUFFYYYYYY!" came the shout of a very angry Zoro.
0o0o0o0o0o0o- Back inside the secret cave
Just then, both Sora and Robin heard Sanji yelling "OI! LUNCH!" through the hole in the ceiling of the cavern.
"Ah, that's right," said Robin, getting Sora's attention. "We never did have breakfast this morning, did we?" She then turned to Sora. "Would you and your friends like to join us for lunch?"
Sora was just about to answer, when suddenly…
"LUFFYYYYYY!"
The two of them heard Zoro shouting angrily at the top of his lungs, prompting Sora to rush outside and see what was going on, with Robin following behind at a leisurely pace. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" came another shout from Zoro.
Once outside, both Sora and Robin were treated to the rather comical sight of an irate-looking, sand-covered Zoro chasing after Luffy.
Zoro had just woken up from his nap to discover that he had been buried up to his neck in the sand while he slept. How he hadn't woken up while it happened was beyond him. Furious, he burst out of the sand with his great strength and immediately went after the most likely culprit of such a prank: Luffy.
Zoro now pursued the said Straw Hat captain, brandishing one of his katanas in the air, while Luffy just skipped out of his reach while laughing, making the swordsman all the more angry.
Everyone else out there all began laughing uproariously at the sight, with Usopp holding his stomach with one arm and slapping his knee with the other as he attempted to control his breathing from all the laughter. Sora also broke out laughing at the sight, being one of the culprits of the prank himself, while Robin simply smiled in amusement.
0o0o0o0o0o0o- Going Merry, Kitchen, a few minutes later
After Zoro had finally cooled off (although he still bopped Luffy over the head when he got close enough), the Straw Hats invited the islanders to eat with them. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to see the inside of a real live pirate ship, as well as an opportunity to eat food made by a cook from the outside world, they quickly and eagerly agreed. With that, the six of them found themselves sitting with the pirates at a large table heavily laden with lunch. Seeing the pirates piling food onto their plates - or in Luffy's case, just grabbing it at random and stuffing it into his face – the six children quickly dug in.
It was the best cooking any of them had ever tasted in their lives (the six of them mentally apologized to their parents as they thought that).
As they ate, Kairi and Selphie began recounting Nami's story of the pirates' voyage across the sea to the four boys, who listened with great interest. Especially Riku, who was now finally getting his wish of hearing about the outside world. Every so often, Nami would correct them on certain details, while Usopp would often add some grandiose lie about something he did to save the entire crew, causing Chopper to become mystified, while also prompting Nami to smack him over the head and refute his claims, much to Chopper's disappointment.
Once the story was finished, Riku, Sora, Tidus, and Wakka stared in amazement at the seven pirates sitting at the table. At the moment, Usopp and Luffy were playing tug-of-war with a piece of steak that both of them had tried to grab at the same time, with Chopper looking on with great interest to see who would win, Sanji was currently flirting with Nami and Robin, who mostly ignored it as they ate, and Zoro was currently chugging down a tankard of ale. The four islanders could hardly believe that such a misfit crew could have done all the things that Kairi and Selphie had just described, but given what they had seen earlier of Luffy and Chopper's Devil Fruit abilities, they knew not to dismiss everything they had heard about them as nonsense.
"So, our island is just one of many on this 'Grand Line'?" spoke up Riku. Nami nodded in confirmation. "And the only way to navigate it is with one of those Log Poses you have?" he continued, pointing to the Log Pose on Nami's wrist. Nami nodded again.
"I guess that explains why no one who left the islands ever came back," mused Sora. "They never had a Log Pose." The rest of the islanders nodded.
"But then, why have we never gotten any visitors from the outside?" asked Riku. "If Log Poses lock onto the magnetic fields of individual islands, then why wouldn't anyone ever be able to find their way here?" Riku knew from the Straw Hats' tale that the only reason they had found their way to Destiny Islands was by a freak coincidence, which was why he didn't mention it.
"I've been wondering that myself," said Nami thoughtfully, staring at her Log Pose. "I would assume that others' Log Poses were unable to lock onto this particular island chain, although I can't imagine why. The only way that could happen is if this island didn't have a magnetic field, or at least one strong enough to lock onto. But given the nature of the Grand Line, that doesn't make a lot of sense. There's got to be something we're missing here…"
Once lunch was over, the pirates and islanders went back to their respective activities. Nami had begun showing Kairi and Selphie around the ship, while Luffy had started having some fun with Sora, Tidus, and Wakka by using his Gomu Gomu no Rocket maneuver to launch himself high into the air, with each of them taking turns hanging onto his back as he did so. They would go flying over the water, and once they let go of him, he would quickly whip his arm out and grab the overhanging palm tree on the island platform where they played their blitzball game, saving himself from falling into the water. Needless to say, the boys were having the time of their lives.
Riku, however, noticed Zoro walking over to the wooden wall that separated the two sides of the Children's Island, opening the door and stepping through. Knowing where Zoro's path would lead him, Riku quietly followed him.
0o0o0o0o0o0o- Children's Island, Rear beach
Zoro walked along the beach, taking in the sights of a broken wooden bridge across some rock platforms, a wooden tower with a zipline leading to the other end of the beach, a large number of strange palm trees with purple and yellow leaves along with the green leaves, and a large yellow wooden star on a rock platform in the corner of the big rock walls.
Finally, he saw a wooden raft on the shore, complete with a sail and supplies. It seemed somewhat well-made, but it certainly wasn't fit for travel on the Grand Line, no matter how well-made it was. There was no substitute for an actual ship on this ocean.
"So, how do you like our raft?" came Riku's voice from behind Zoro, surprising him slightly, though he didn't show it on the outside. The swordsman turned around to see the silver-haired boy standing behind him with his arms crossed and a proud expression on his face. "It may not be a ship like yours, but she's pretty solid."
"This is your raft?" asked Zoro.
"Yup. Mine, Sora's, and Kairi's," replied Riku proudly. "It took us a few days, but she's finished. We're all planning to go on a big journey across the ocean with it. We were going to leave today, but when we saw your ship, we decided to wait on it a little longer."
"The three of you are really planning on sailing the Grand Line with this?" continued Zoro, gesturing to the raft.
"Yeah!" replied Riku with a hint of excitement in his voice, seemingly ignoring the warning tone in Zoro's voice. "We can't just stay cooped up in these islands our whole lives! There's a whole number of places and things out there just waiting to be discovered by us! We're gonna sail the Grand Line, find new islands and places, and go on all sorts of adventures!" He wore a proud smile at the end of his speech, but it slipped slightly when he saw the serious expression on the green-haired swordsman's face.
"Kid, you and your friends wouldn't last two minutes in the Grand Line. I don't know what you think is out there, but you're definitely not ready for it."
Riku was taken aback slightly by the bluntness of Zoro's words, but refused to back down. "What's that supposed to mean?!" he shot back. "You can't know that about us! I'm not afraid of what's out there!"
"I'm serious," Zoro continued, unperturbed. "I don't know how strong you think you are, but trust me on this. You don't have what it takes to survive out there, especially if you think that pile of firewood is going to be enough." He nodded his head towards the raft as he said the last part.
"Then how about I prove it to you?" challenged Riku as he tossed a wooden sword at Zoro's feet, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "One duel. Whoever gets hit first or loses their sword loses the fight. If you win, I'll concede we're not ready. But if I win…" he mulled it over in his head for a moment before looking back up. "… you have to take us along on your ship!"
Zoro considered for a moment. Did this kid really have what it takes? He certainly looked confident in himself, and rather strong for his age group. But Zoro had faced far more powerful enemies in the past, and compared to them, Riku wouldn't offer much of a challenge.
Then again, this kid seemed to think he could handle anything he encountered. On the Grand Line, that kind of confidence could get one killed if they didn't have the strength and skill to back it up, and this kid might not have either. Not yet, anyway. Images of his days as a dojo student began superimposing themselves over the current situation as he thought about it.
This kid seems to have potential to be a great fighter, Zoro thought to himself. But he wouldn't know until I see for myself. If he fought him, he'd be able to see if he had it, and at the same time, he could convince him to hold off on sailing the Grand Line until he lived up to that potential. With that, Zoro made his decision.
"Very well," said the swordsman, bending down and picking up the wooden sword at his feet. "I accept your challenge."
0o0o0o0o0o0o- The beach, Five minutes later
Riku and Zoro stood facing each other, a ten-foot distance separating the two. Kairi stood slightly to the side, acting as the fight-starter. She had done this many times in the past with the swordfights that Riku and Sora would often challenge each other with, so she knew exactly what to do.
The rest of the Straw Hats and Destiny Islanders were gathered a fair distance away, sitting and watching. Many of them watched in eager anticipation, while Sanji and Nami simply looked on with bored looks, knowing that Zoro wouldn't lose. Robin simply looked on with slight interest.
"Woohoo! Go Riku!" cheered Luffy.
"YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO CHEER FOR ZORO!" shouted Usopp.
Zoro just acted like he hadn't heard anything.
I'd rather not use this dinky little thing to fight, thought Zoro to himself as he stared at the wooden sword in his hand, before raising his eyes to look at Riku. But I have to show this kid how far behind he really is, lest he end up dead at the hands of another pirate. It's too soon for him to die.
"Combatants ready?" said Kairi as she raised her hand in the air. Riku got into an attack position, while Zoro simply shifted his feet so as not to get caught flat-footed. Kairi then swung her hand downward as she shouted "Begin!"
Riku rushed forward, his sword held behind him with both hands in a horizontal slashing position. He then swung his sword forward, aiming for Zoro's head, but Zoro merely blocked it with his own sword. Riku then jumped back and attempted an overhand slash towards his head, but was once again blocked. He then began rapidly slashing every which way around Zoro, trying hard to get a hit on him, but Zoro simply blocked every strike without even batting an eye. To make matters worse, he had only been holding his sword with one hand the entire time.
Then, after a particularly strong strike, while Riku's sword was still in contact with his own, Zoro placed his left palm on the 'blade' of his own sword and shoved back hard with both hands, causing Riku to lose his balance and fall on his back. However, Riku quickly propped his hands onto the sand on either side of his head and pulled his legs into a crouch, readying himself for a handspring maneuver. Riku then launched himself off the ground towards him, aiming a double-footed kick for his head, but Zoro quickly raised an arm to block the attack. Riku then made contact.
He might as well have kicked a solid brick wall.
Zoro then flicked his arm outward, sending Riku flying away from him. Riku's body hit the sand hard and went rolling a few feet away before coming to a stop.
Riku slowly eased himself off the sand into a sitting position, breathing heavily. Dammit, thought Riku in frustration. He's too fast! How am I supposed to beat him?! I can't even get a single hit in! He then got to his feet. But I can't back down now! I might still be able to win! And even if I can't, it's still better than just giving up!
Riku suddenly caught movement from Zoro, who instantly appeared directly in front of him. "My turn," said the green-haired swordsman as he readied a backhand strike. He then slashed across, with Riku barely managing to dodge by quickly leaning back. The tip of the sword missed his face by mere millimeters, and he could feel the wind from the attack across his face.
Zoro then raised his sword above his head and slashed downward, forcing Riku to block with his own sword using both hands. His eyes widened slightly at how much strength was behind the attack; too many of those would break his sword!
Zoro then began rapidly slashing every which way at Riku, much like how Riku had done near the beginning of the fight, forcing him onto the defensive. Only here, Riku dodged every strike rather than blocking them, mainly to keep his sword intact. He would duck, roll, sidestep, lean back, and even occasionally deflect blows to the side with his own sword. But the longer it went on, the more difficult it was for Riku to dodge, as Zoro's attacks kept coming faster and faster, and Riku grew increasingly tired from the effort of dodging. I need to end this quickly, thought Riku as he sidestepped an overhand slash. Suddenly, he got an idea.
As Zoro closed in to deliver a horizontal strike, Riku leapt into the air as high as he could, the attack just barely passing underneath his feet. Zoro quickly looked up to see Riku in mid-air, his weapon poised to deliver a devastating overhead blow. However, Zoro simply sidestepped the attack, his expression never changing. Riku's sword crashed into the sand where Zoro was standing just a second ago, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Damn, I missed! thought Riku in frustration as he attempted to catch his breath. Suddenly, looking up from his kneeling position, he saw Zoro standing over him, his sword arm raised to deliver another blow. Reacting quickly, Riku leapt back from his position, just barely avoiding the strike that came down a split second later.
Riku got up and stood slightly hunched over, panting heavily as he wiped some sweat from his brow, while Zoro stood a few feet away with a neutral expression on his face, tapping his sword on his shoulder in a bored manner. He's not even breathing hard, Riku silently observed as he watched the Santoryu master.
"Are you going to give up yet?" said Zoro plainly. "Or do you still want to fight?"
"I'm… not done… yet…" panted Riku as he attempted to get his breathing under control. After a few deep breaths, Riku straightened up and reaffirmed his grip on his sword, prompting Zoro to get into a defensive stance. I need to end this with one attack, thought Riku to himself, before sprinting forward. The instant he closed the distance between himself and Zoro, Riku swung his sword at him with all his might.
However, Zoro simply jumped back a short distance from the attack, the sword just barely brushing his haramaki as it passed across his torso. Riku, having not anticipated this, and being as tired out as he was, was thrown off balance, his sword arm extended away from his body. Zoro acted immediately by bringing his sword down hard on Riku's, knocking it out of his hand.
As soon as Riku regained his balance, Zoro leveled the tip of his sword at his face, causing him to freeze. "I win," stated Zoro, still keeping his neutral expression.
Sora, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie looked on with shocked expressions. Did Zoro… just beat Riku? The best sword user out of all of them? The one who took on all three of Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka, and beat them all down? He had been beaten? And so easily?
"Did Riku… just get beaten by Zoro?" Tidus slowly spoke up, his shocked and amazed expression still in place. Wakka and Selphie slowly nodded, while Sora just continued to stare in shocked silence.
How did that happen? wondered Sora to himself in amazement. How could Riku lose? He may be my rival, but he lost so easily to Zoro! Is he really that strong? Are ALL the pirates on the Grand Line this strong?
Riku immediately dropped to his hands and knees, more from his crushing defeat than from his current exhaustion. Dammit! thought Riku angrily as he pounded his fist into the sand. Am I really that far behind?! Are other people on the Grand Line really this strong?!
As if sensing his thoughts, Zoro squatted down to eye level with Riku, causing the silver-haired teen to look up into his face. Zoro then began to speak.
"You are skilled, I'll admit that." At that, a glimmer of hope entered Riku's eyes, but then disappeared with Zoro's next words. "But as you are right now, you won't survive. You'll need at least a few years' more training and experience before you decide to set off onto the ocean. Otherwise, you'll end up dead at someone else's hands, and it's way too soon for someone like yourself to die." He then stood up and turned around, his back to Riku.
"One more thing," continued the Santoryu master as he turned his head to look at the teen, once again gaining his attention. "If I had been truly serious, I would have killed you, even with the sword you gave me. That's the kind of strength you're up against on this ocean. Remember that." He then turned around and walked away, leaving Riku with his thoughts.
I have to get stronger, thought Riku as he gazed at the palm of his hand, studying it as if it held the answers he sought. But how? I need to be stronger NOW! I've been waiting YEARS to sail out into the ocean! He then clenched his hand into a fist. There has to be a way to get stronger faster. There HAS to! I WILL find other worlds!
Be careful what you wish for, Riku…
0o0o0o0o0o0o- Children's Island, Going Merry, nightfall
Nami sat at her desk in her and Robin's room under the soft orange glow of the oil lamp next to her, drawing up a map of the Children's Island of Destiny Islands. She had spent some time after Riku's fight against Zoro taking some measurements and observations of the island to create a map of it, soon to be followed by a map of the main island the next day, both of which would be added to her map of the Grand Line.
She knew she was extremely lucky that the Going Merry had landed here from the sky. It was highly unlikely that they would have gotten to Destiny Islands otherwise, and thus she would never have gotten the chance to mark such an obscure location on her map, and thus the map would have remained incomplete. True, no one but any still-living members of the Gold Roger Pirates would have known about this island chain to be able to point out the fact that it would be missing on the map (earlier on that afternoon, she had asked Kairi and Selphie about the pirates who had apparently come to the islands over 20 years ago and found out that they were the Gold Roger Pirates), but she still considered herself lucky to be able to map its location. She made a mental note to write a journal entry about their time on the islands later.
At the end of the day, when the sun had begun to set, the six children said that it was time for them to head back home for the night. They promised to meet up with them again the next day as they climbed into their canoes and began paddling back to the main island, waving goodbye as they did so. Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Nami waved back to them as they did so, while Zoro, Sanji, and Robin simply watched after them, Robin smiling lightly.
After that, Sanji went back inside the ship to begin preparing dinner, with Luffy eagerly following to try and grab some food beforehand, prompting Sanji to quite literally kick him out of the kitchen and slam the door in his face while he got ready to cook, leaving Luffy outside pouting. Zoro went off to his usual spot on the ship to train, Usopp went off to his self-designated laboratory to work on who-knew-what, Chopper went to the guys' sleeping area to create Rumble Balls to replenish his almost spent supply, and Robin went to her and Nami's room to read. Nami, on the other hand, stayed behind on the dock to watch the sunset. After the sun had fully gone behind the horizon, Sanji announced dinner, much to Luffy's delight. Once everyone had eaten, they went off to do their own thing, leading to the current situation with Nami.
She was just about to put the finishing touches on the map when…
CRAAAACK-BOOM!
A loud thunderclap exploded outside, scaring Nami out of her wits. Thankfully, though, it didn't cause her to ruin the map. Putting her pen down, she quickly stood up and hurried to the door, pushing it open and dashing outside.
What greeted her eyes was the sight of horribly black clouds rapidly gathering in the sky above the islands, quickly billowing outward to envelop the entire sky all the way to the horizon. Lightning flashed at random intervals all around the sky, accompanied by loud cracks of thunder. Strong winds blew all around, shaking the island's foliage and stirring up rough waves on the water, which rocked the Going Merry slightly. Strangely enough, though, no rain fell.
Seeing no one else on deck, Nami quickly moved to warn the others about this storm, but stopped when she saw something strange on the ground in front of her. It was a puddle of some black substance that she couldn't identify; so black, in fact, that it appeared to absorb the light around it; almost as if it were pure blackness. With the way it moved around, it appeared to be alive. In fact, it looked as if it were growing and spreading outward, prompting her to move back a few steps to avoid being touched by it. A few seconds later, it stopped.
A small black head then emerged from the puddle, followed by a body, legs, feet, and claws. The puddle was gone; what now stood in front of Nami was a small, strange black creature with glowing yellow eyes that appeared to be looking intently at her. Nami might have thought it was cute, had it not been for the REALLY bad feeling she was getting from it.
Not wanting to tempt fate, she quickly ran back to her room in the cabin and opened the door, only to find three more of that same creature in there, looking back at her with those glowing yellow eyes while wiggling their antennae and giving off a sinister aura.
Abandoning that idea, she turned on her heel and ran onto the main deck, only to find at least a dozen more yellow-eyed black creatures appearing on it. Once finished forming, they all turned towards her, gazing almost hungrily at her.
Finding herself cornered, Nami slowly pulled out her Clima-Tact and put it together, getting into a defensive position. What the hell are these things?! she thought to herself, her apprehension growing.
The creatures then attacked.
Author's Note: Whew! Finally done! Damn, that was a long one. This was a tough chapter to write, not just because there's more content here, but because of the amount of exposition. I'm not a very fast writer when it comes to writing effective exposition scenes between sequences involving a lot of excitement, so I try to incorporate plot exposition into the more exciting parts of stories I write. Here, though, it was unavoidable. My real-life responsibilities also had a factor in it, what with my new job and getting my full driver's license (FINALLY!). In any case, I apologize for the long wait. But don't worry! The next few chapters will come out much faster, since, as evidenced by the cliffhanger, that is when all the excitement truly begins.
To all you Final Fantasy X fans out there, yes, I know, my version of Blitzball was different from the original, but I needed it to be that way in order to accommodate Luffy and Chopper's Devil Fruits. Sorry to you purists out there, but it was the best I could come up with, all things considered.
And to those wondering what I was referring to with the 'island' that they were playing Beach Blitzball on, it's that island platform where you spar against Riku at the beginning of the first game, when you're still at Destiny Islands. Though, since this story is AU, it is slightly bigger in this story.
Also, I'm sorry if the actual game in this chapter seemed a little lacking, but I'm not all that great at writing sports game scenes. Fight scenes are my true forte. Plus, the game won't be a part of the plot. I merely used it as an exposition device for this chapter.
And if any of you are still wondering when in the respective canon timelines this takes place, for One Piece, it takes place directly after the Skypiea arc (hence the reason the Going Merry fell out of the sky), and for Kingdom Hearts, it takes place at the beginning of the first game, one day after the completion of the raft. In this story, I had it where the Heartless did not attack on that night, but instead came one night after.
That's all I've got to say for now. Again, very sorry for the delay, and I promise that the next chapter will not take as long. And please review; the more reviews I get, the easier it is to get in the mood to write and therefore, the faster the next chapter comes out. Constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms.
Many thanks to Fictionreader98 and Zoneshifter D for their help with this chapter!
Techniques used in this chapter:
Gomu Gomu no Fuusen: Translation: Gum Gum Balloon. Luffy takes a huge breath and inflates his torso to a large size, resembling a balloon, hence the name. Like this, Luffy is able to deflect large, blunt projectiles, usually back towards the one launching them. Canon technique.
Gomu Gomu no Rocket: No translation needed. Luffy stretches out his arms (or one arm, depending on the situation), and retracts them to launch himself at high speed into the air, or towards a distant target. This move can also be used to ram an enemy with his body. Canon technique.
Hissatsu: Namari Boshi: Translation: Sure Kill: Lead Star. Usopp uses his slingshot to fire a small metal ball bearing towards his target, achieving a similar effect to firing a gun. Canon technique.
Chapter 3 Preview:
When Sora regained his bearings, he found himself and Luffy standing on a large platform of land that looked like a piece of the Children's Island, surrounded by nothing but a dark vortex swirling around it, with the wind whipping their hair around as they regarded their current location. It was almost as if they were in the eye of a violent storm going on all around them.
Suddenly, the two of them felt a huge sinister aura washing over them from behind. They quickly turned around… and felt their jaws hit the ground.
There, right in front of them, stood a behemoth of darkness. It stood over thirty feet tall and had the same glowing yellow eyes as the creatures they had fought just seconds earlier. Its face and head were obscured by a mass of tentacles of darkness, which looked like it could pass as its hair. To top it off, it had a large hole in its torso shaped like a heart.
Uh oh, thought Sora as he stared at the beast, recognizing it as the same creature he had fought in that strange dream he had the other day.
Stay tuned for Luffy and Sora vs Darkside next chapter!