A/N: Before we start, I wanna let you know this is a Monkey D. Luffy x OC. I didn't put it in the title for I think it wasn't necessary. Without further ado, let's go on a journey.
A little girl sits in a small cottage. It was small and in horrible living conditions. The little girl has pale skin, dark red eyes, ragged ginger hair tied in a braid, and a torn dress with striped long sleeves.
The little girl stood, adjusted the hood of her dress, and pulls it up over her head. As she leaves the warmth of her home, inhabitants of the village she lived in gave her dirty looks as she passes.
They despised her. All of them. Not one person in that village cared about her.
The little girl feels something round hit her bare feet and sees that it is a red ball. She slowly grabs it and smiles, seeing a girl her age smile and hold out her hands. However, before the little girl could throw the ball back to the owner, the parents of the other girl give the little girl dirty looks, and so she just drops the ball and keeps walking.
The little girl did not stop for a while. She reached a tavern. It was rundown with an old wood sign on the door that says (We're Open!). The little girl goes in and sees the bandits that have been taking over the entire island.
The bartender was not showing emotion. He barely uttered a welcome to the little girl. A bandit sees the little girl and nudges his barely drunk friend. "Hey, check that kid out."
"Something wrong with her skin?" The friend slurs.
The little girl glares at them. She goes to the counter and the bartender scowls at her. "Sorry, kid. We're closed. Beat it."
"But..." The little girl mumbles.
"Scram!" The bartender throws a bottle at her. The little girl runs out. She was very shaken. All she wanted was food.
But again, it looks like she's on her own. Her own mother was gone. The only person who cared. The little girl holds back tears. 3 months...it's been 3 months...
The little girl sees an old woman in a hut, mixing medicinal herbs. She sees the old woman frown at her and then beckon her to come in.
The little girl does so. What did she have to lose?
The little girl, now 17, lays on her side in the hut of the old woman she only calls Grandma Helena. Helena had named her Judy since Judy's mother never gave Judy one. Her mother had been in deep depression during the time she was alive.
Judy's appearance changed. Her dark ginger hair was cut and cropped. Her body is littered with old scars. She wears a tan shirt with stitching and short sleeves, a pair of dark baggy shorts, and leather heel boots.
She also has a belt with a pouch that holds a switchblade.
Judy sits up, both elbows resting on both knees. Helena was already up, sipping chai. "You are up early," Says Judy.
"You say that as if you're not awake," Helena turns. Her appearance has changed, as well. She has tan skin, dark calm eyes, glasses, and a white kimono with beautiful flower prints.
"You didn't have to keep taking care of me," Says Judy, narrowing her eyes.
"You're right. But I made a choice, and you always stick with the choices you made."
Someone knocks rapidly at the door. Helena closes her eyes. "An old woman can't have a sip of chai," She mumbles as she stands and grabs her wood cane to limp towards the door.
Judy glares into her own cup of chai as Helena opens the door calmly. "Can I help you?"
A male bandit in loose clothing and bandanas stands there, face set in a firm scowl. "That girl you have is supposed to meet up with our leader, Jonah, three days ago. I see her in your house."
"Maybe she doesn't want to be a bandit," Helena says firmly. "Now go do me a favor and see yourself away from my house."
The bandit tosses a paper at her. "You better have that girl read this. Very important."
Helena slams the door shut. Judy finishes putting on her hooded black cape. "You are going, aren't you?"
"They will kill me if I don't," Judy says, putting her hood up. "They'll never let up till I give Jonah some answer."
"You're right."
Judy leaves. When leaving, she sees her village. She missed the colorful and lively sceneries. But now? There were destroyed homes, some still intact. There were some children begging by their homes. Judy squints at a man who was glaring at her while holding his pregnant wife.
Judy keeps walking. The glares were not worth it. She stops at the tavern that had became the bandits' territory. Judy closes her eyes and walks in, shoving past two drunk bandits. Definitely on purpose.
Jonah sits at the bar, sipping whiskey. Judy stops.
Jonah has dark blue eyes, peach skin, long blue hair tied in a pony, two scars over the right side of his face, a long beard, and a sharp nose. Jonah wears a white button up, a leather belt with a holster for his long sword, dark green pants, and black boots with gold buckles.
Judy frowns. "Jonah."
"Ah, Judy," Jonah slurs, patting the stool next to his. "Sit. We have a lot to discuss about your silent answer to my request, which needs a real answer."
"I have a lot of reasons for my silence," Judy sits on the stool, seeing Jonah slide the bottle of whiskey to her. "I thought my answer was clear enough?"
"Funny. I don't seem to find your answer clear at all," Jonah snaps his fingers and two bandits attempt to jump her.
Hell no.
Judy grabs an empty bottle on the left of the counter and smashes it across one bandit's skull. Jonah casually grins as the other bandit is kicked and elbowed aggressively.
Judy turns back to Jonah. "You want anymore of your goons to get whooped?"
Jonah only cackles, clapping his hands as the other bandits in the dim tavern follow suit. Jonah finally relaxes to say. "This is why I want you on my team...Such potential, and yet you choose some village over power?"
Judy pulls her hood down. "Power doesn't last long." She heads out.
Judy walks through the forest. She basked in the warm sun. Judy rubs at her face, climbing up a tree and sitting on a branch. She closes her eyes until she hears faint voices.
They were unfamiliar. Outsiders?
Judy takes the switchblade from her pouch and flicks the blade out. Her eyes narrow as she crouches, staring down as four people walk through.
The one leading is a man her age. He has shaggy black hair, round black eyes, tan skin, and a scar under the left eye with two stitches. He wears a yellow straw hat with a red band atop his head. He wears a red vest with gold buttons, light blue denim shorts cuffed at the knees, and tan sandals with leather toe straps.
Following is a young woman. She has peach skin, light ginger hair with a curled strand framing the left side of her face, and brown eyes. There is a strap around her left thigh that has three slots with each wood pole in it. She wears a pink shirt with short sleeves and white lining and two lines along the sleeves as well as the letters W and b in a circle of white in the center, an orange miniskirt with two white rings on each side filled in with brown, and brown high-heeled boots.
There is another man Judy's age, looking as if he was pissing himself. He has dark tan skin, medium-length curly black hair, and a long lose. He sports an olive green bandana, a blue armband with white stripes on the right arm, and a pair of clear rectangular goggles. Slung over his shoulder is a yellow satchel. He wears brown overalls only, a white sash around the waist, and olive shoes.
The fourth is a man who has three katanas with scabbards tucked into three holsters stitched to his green belly band. The man has tan skin, cropped green hair, and sharp eyes. He wears a white shirt with short sleeves and two undone buttons, dark pants and dark boots. The sun glinted against the three earrings on his left ear.
Judy watches them and swiftly jumps down with her hood up. The man with the goggles shrieks like a little girl and hides behind the man with the swords. This almost made Judy smile. What kind of man screams like that?
The man with the hat tilts his head curiously and Judy stands slowly. "Nice jump!" The man says finally with a bright smile and that made Judy comically fall over. How cheery was this guy?!
"You better not be some killer," Says the woman with the brown eyes. "Because we don't trust in people like that."
Judy composes herself and stands again. "You judge me based on appearance. You people are no different than my village." Her eyes narrow as she pulls her hood down. "And you're all lucky I find you amusing." She then looks at the man with the goggles. "And I never heard of a man scream like a little girl before."
"Hey!" The man with the goggles scowls, offended.
"Sure you're not a threat to us?" Asks the man with the swords.
"If I was, you'd all be dead," Says Judy, putting her switchblade back in her pouch. "Name's Judy, by the way."
"I'm Nami," Says the woman with a relieved grin. "The one with the belly band is Zoro. The one cowering is Usopp..."
"Hey!" Usopp snaps as Zoro shoves him away.
"The one with the hat is Luffy."
"Yo!" Luffy grins, raising a hand.
"Cool," Judy nods. "What are you people doing here?"
"We were running low on supplies," Usopp says as he stands from the ground, brushing himself off.
"We're pirates!" Luffy beams as if he just got a treat. Judy squints as Nami quickly covers his mouth, hissing the word "idiot".
Judy says finally. "Funny. Pirates don't come around often."
"Huh?" Nami lets go of Luffy. "Why?"
"Judy!" Helena is heard from afar. "Judy!"
Judy rolls her eyes. Great...
Helena sees Judy and limps over to the five. "Judy, when you didn't come back...Did you not know how worried I was?"
"No, definitely didn't," Says Judy in a sarcastic tone.
Helena sees the pirates and focus a brow. "And who were you talking to?"
"Pirates," Says Judy. "That's Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Usopp."
"Huh. Rare for pirates to come around here," Says Helena, eyes squinting as she comes closer. "Who's the captain?"
"I am!" Luffy says the same time Usopp does.
"Luffy is, Ma'am," Nami says politely, shoving Usopp aside.
"So we won't have any problems, then?" Helena says in a warning tone.
"I hope not..." Usopp grumbles.
"We're just here for supplies, lady. If you don't have any, we'd be kind enough to go," Says Zoro, crossing his arms.
"I wanna see the village!" Luffy whines.
"Good luck trying to get the village to welcome you guys," Judy scoffs. "Grandma Helena, the bandits are gonna kill them..."
"Then we'll make sure they aren't seen. We'll go through a shortcut to the back of my home," Helena clears her throat. "Judy. Lead them. I will follow."
"But--"
"That's an order, girl." Judy squints at Helena before pulling her hood up and saying to the pirates. "Come on, let's go."
"Guys, I don't wanna go!" Usopp hisses.
"Don't be such a baby," Zoro says calmly as he follows Judy.
"You can stay out here without no one to protect you either," Says Nami, smirking. "That's always an option."
Usopp sweated and he decided to unwillingly follow.
As the sun set, the pirates as well as Judy sat in a circle on the dirty floor. Helena worked to make soup from a pot settling on a fire. Judy refused the soup when served and left out the back door to go somewhere private.
As Luffy drank his in one gulp, he stuck out his tongue. "Bland..."
"Don't be rude, man!" Usopp hisses.
"Let him speak his mind," Says Helena as she finishes hers. "It is true. But our village is running out of food. Since Jonah and his bandits took over, everything's fallen apart."
"Are they the reasons why we can't walk through the village like normal people?" Asked Zoro, sitting against the wall.
"Precisely. If they were to find out I kept you all in my house, they would kill me."
"Judy, too?" Asks Nami. "Doesn't she live with you?"
"No. Not Judy. They keep getting her to join them, but she says no. Every time. It shows that she has a heart, but the village doesn't see her that way," Helena stands and heads over to the window to close the shutters.
"Why does the village hate her?" Usopp asks. He had a raised brow as he sets his bowl down. "She doesn't kill people, right? So why?"
"Youngsters asking so many questions..." Helena closes her eyes. "Let's just say it involved her mother." She looks at the drawings obviously made by Judy when younger. "Long ago, before the bandits even arrived, demons and humans lived in this village peacefully. A demon had fell in love with a human, with caused her to get pregnant. When Judy was born, the bandits came; took over everything." She sadly closes her eyes. "Judy's father died in battle of trying to protect the village. All the bandits killed off all the demons. Judy's mother was unable to be a parent. She was unstable after the death of her husband. When Judy was 4, she came home to find her mother had... She had died. It was of a broken heart."
"That's awful..." Nami says.
"A villager, a good friend of her mom, walked in and saw Judy with the body and made a wrong accusation. She thought Judy had killed her own mother and told the whole village. 13 years pass and they still don't believe her innocence."
"How could they accuse a child of something like that? It's not fair!" Says Usopp with anger.
"It may be unfair, but it's what happened. I took Judy in ever since."
"So you two aren't related?" Asked Luffy.
"No."
"So these bandits...What kind of things do they do--?"
The church bell of the village's cathedral is rung and the pirates stand quickly. There was no way they had been discovered. Helena grimly frowned. "What is this?" Zoro says as he cautiously grabs hold of one of his katanas.
"No need to panic. They still don't know about you guys. Must be an execution..." Helena opens the shutters slowly.
In the village square, a rugged old man with ribs showing is tied to a post. The villagers stand around the post, being pushed back by the bandits as Jonah steps up from the tavern with a torch. "Ladies and Gentleman," He begins, raising the torch. "We have a traitor tied to this post, and I believe you all know what we do with traitors?"
"You can't do this!" A frantic woman shrieks, trying to get to her husband. "Please! We have children!"
"No, Caroline!" The man yells. "Stay where you are!"
"No!" Caroline sobs.
"Bastards..." Luffy growls, stepping forward.
"Don't!" Nami grabbed him. "You idiot, we can't get in the middle of this!"
"I don't care what happens to me! This is gonna stop now!" Luffy ripped his arm away and runs quickly.
Jonah didn't have time to bask in his own glory before a rubber fist socked him across the face and he skidded backward on the dirt ground. Everything stopped. Caroline paused in her frantic movement and the man tied to the post was in shock.
"An outsider!" A bandit cries.
"Where did he come from?!" Another bandit questions.
"Hey! What's your deal!" Another bandit yells.
"Shut up!" Luffy snaps.
Judy silently watches from the trees, eyes wide. Was he crazy...?
Jonah made no movement. He was so still some would think he was dead. But then his teeth shone as he chuckled lowly. It was kinda scary. Luffy narrowed his eyes and asks. "You want more, bastard?"
"No...I think I'm good..." Jonah slowly stands, wiping blood from his bottom lip. "Impressive strength. But I don't believe I've seen you around here before. You have any other friends with ya?"
"Yep," Luffy nods firmly, stupidly pointing out his crew. "There."
His crew comically fell over along with Judy herself. THAT FUCKING IDIOT!!
"Moron..." Usopp whines, tears of terror streaming from his eyes.
"Huh, and I see you Helena," Jonah points out Helena, who scowls. "I believe I had a rule about hiding outsiders."
Helena looks away and Jonah snaps his fingers. Luffy's left ear twitches as two bandits attempt to jump him. Did not end so well. He kicked one in the groin and threw the other against a cottage.
More bandits come.
Judy shakes her head, eyes narrowed. She should help. But...
Luffy tries to fight them all, but he was getting overwhelmed. Judy squeezed herself and closes her eyes. She had to help. Flicking the blade from her switchblade, her feet move on their own.
"Judy!" Nami cries.
"What?!" Jonah grit.
Judy kicked a bandit,who pinned Luffy, away.
"Screw it. I'm going!" Zoro took out two of his black-handled katanas.
"Why...?" Helena whispers.
The villagers didn't know what to do. They were scared. Shocked.
Jonah sighs, seeing how his bandits were getting whooped by three outsiders. So with a glowing hand, he flicked his wrist and Luffy, Zoro and Judy were lifted high in the air, their muscles unmoving. It was like he made them his own puppets. "Surprise...I have Devil Fruit powers..." He says sadistically.
"Devil Fruit powers?" Zoro grit.
"Let us go!" Judy groans, her right eye twitching.
"Judy, this could all have been prevented if you joined me. Me and my men would have considered leaving this boring village, but you refused." Jonah motions a finger that brings Judy closer. "I told you, anyone who tries to defy me, ends up in pieces."
Judy grits her teeth. Luffy yells. "Don't hurt my friend, bastard!"
"Friend? So she is associated with you," Jonah sneers. "Don't worry. She will be joining you in the afterlife very soon..."
Jonah moves his hand up and down, repeatedly slamming Judy into the ground until she went limp.
"JUDY!" Usopp and Nami shriek.
"BASTARD!" Luffy screams, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Can't move...!" Zoro groans.
Suddenly, a warm glow emits their bodies and Jonah struggles to regain control as Helena's right eye glows pink. Helena calmly flicks her hand that tosses Luffy, Zoro, and Judy away. "This fight has been a long time coming. It's my turn." Helena looks at all the villagers. "If you all wish to live, then respect my granddaughter and listen to her."
The villagers were so confused, especially when Usopp helps untie the man on the post. "You okay, sir?"
"Yes..."
"Charles!" Caroline hugs her husband.
"What about his men?" Asks Nami, looking at the unconcious bandits.
"They all deserve what we're giving them," Charles kicks at one bandit and looks at the other villagers. "Everyone! Gather your things! We set for the bunkers!"
"What about Judy?" Asks a little girl.
"She's fine," Says Charles as Caroline follows him quickly.
Helena takes off her kimono, revealing a white shirt with long sleeves underneath as well as a dress skirt. "Jonah Cawthorn. Only one of us will die in battle. I have let you walk all over this village long enough."
"Grandma Helena..." Judy whimpers, the side of her head bleeding as Nami holds her in her arms. "Don't do this..."
"I need to."
"You're talking crazy, me and Luffy can beat him," Says Zoro, having put his two katanas back in his scabbards.
"No. You can't," Helena whispers. "Judy. I want you to leave this island. I don't care if you have to build a boat, just leave while you still have a chance."
"No..." Judy sobs. "You're the only family I have..."
Luffy narrows his eyes and stands slowly.
"Luffy?" Usopp whispers as Luffy ignores him and grabs Helena by the shoulder to say. "Sorry, old lady..." He thrusts his fist into her stomach. "But this is my fight. I won't give up till he's beaten."
Helena lays unconscious on the ground, her face scrunched up. Judy closes her tear-filled eyes. "Luffy...Thank you so much..."
"I will never understand him..." Usopp says with squinted eyes.
"Zoro, take the old lady and the others away. I'll join up with you guys after I'm done here," Luffy says, turning his head to smile.
"Aye-Aye, Captain," Zoro smirks, standing and hoisting Helena over his left shoulder. "She's really light."
"Didn't need to know that..." Nami scowls as Usopp picks up Judy.
"Those people said there were bunkers. We can find one and hide out," Usopp grunts, struggling to keep Judy upright.
"You sure you don't need help?" Asked Nami.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"What if he doesn't win?" Judy whispers in doubt. Her red eyes are dim.
"He will. Trust in Luffy," Zoro says, his back turned to the three. "He never lost a fight. Especially not against some big shot."
Luffy glares at Jonah, who calmly stares. "I don't see how this was your business, boy. I was actually looking forward to a fight with that hag."
"I don't care what reasons you have for destroying these people's lives, but anyone who makes my crew member cry will pay."
"You call that half-demon a crew member? You are a pirate then?"
"Yeah. I'll be King of the Pirates, someday!" Luffy grins, taking a stance.
"Very well, King. Then show me a good fight!" Jonah charges. Luffy does the same.