Chapter 3: Preparation
The smell of the salty breeze tickles my nostrils, my eyes flutter open letting the bright sunlight invade my vision. Huh? Morning already? When did I fall asleep?
What time is it? That was my thought process before I turn my head to check my phone only to pause when I saw the wooden walls and floors, as well as the visible feeling of bouncing up and down of being on a boat.
Oh right. This isn't my room, or my world.
I'm in the One Piece universe now.
If I recall correctly, once I am rescued from nearly drowning a second time, Sen decided that it is enough excitement for one night and pushed me into the cabin. Already tired an exhausted from all that crazy shit I have endured all this while and the additional experience of falling into the sea as a Devil Fruit user, I fell asleep almost instantly once my face touches the lone bed in the room.
Getting up, I got off the bed and stretches out my tense body, sounds of a few joints cracking a little filled my ears before I let out a sigh of relief and dejection. The first day here, I have already nearly drowned, twice, got attacked by a freaking SEA KING, and ate a Devil Fruit which in all things considered isn't that bad except for the taste.
I think I can still taste it in my mouth… Wow that is nasty. And Luffy ate an entire fruit without blanching?
Speaking of which… what kind of a Devil Fruit did I ate? I was in a panic when I eat it and I haven't really used it with the exception of last night.
I know it is a Zoan at least, considering my hands morphing in front of my eyes, but of what animal? It has to be a reptile, with the scales on my hands, but what kind of reptile have the ability to breathe fire?
Wait… reptile with the ability to breathe fire… only one came to mind.
But that… can I be that lucky? Or unlucky? I mean, it is proven to be real in the Punk Hazard arc, but that is a completely different one than mine!
I let my musing drag off into the corner of my mind and decides to focus on the most important thing. Like the fact that I have absolutely no idea where I am in the timeline. I have nothing to go on either, no news about the world currently and I am in the open ocean, far from any forms of human civilization.
Speaking of which, didn't Sen say something about between a few islands…? Conomi, Riza and Yotsuba, was it? I think that Conomi is the island in East Blue where Arlong is situated, but I have never heard of Riza or Yotsuba.
My musing is cut short by the heavy knocking on the wooden door, "You awake, yet?" Sen called out from outside.
"Y-Yeah! I'm up!"
"Good, I need some help with the sails! Mind giving me a hand?"
With that, I decide to think about it all later and head out to the deck to help out.
And with that, I am proud to say that I have zero knowledge on how sail boats work. Well, I do know HOW they work, it's not rocket science, but the fact of how they are USED that is problem. The very moment I exited the door, Sen immediately got me into a hectic with various orders on ropes and all that. Orders with no context for someone who has never sailed a boat in her-
HIS! HIS entire life! Nearly got me there… almost referred to myself as a woman proper. That is something I cannot let myself do. No matter what, I am a man till the end! Even without my penis!
Putting that aside, Sen just starts barking orders left and right which results me to just panic and run up and down the deck in complete confusion. That must have clued him in and he spent most of the morning teaching me on all the tricks and procedures for manning a sail boat.
I never thought that there are so many ways a rope is used in sailing, not to mention the required movements needed to move the damn sail in the first place.
And the knots… oh dear god the knots…
After the hectic and somewhat educational morning, we are set on a proper course without any additional adjustments. At least not from me with Sen perfectly fine with manning the entire rigging solo. Which has left me a lot of time in my hands to figure out my Devil Fruit powers.
Okay, first thing first, how do I even activate them? This isn't a passive Paramecia like Luffy's rubber, it's a Zoan like Chopper's Human-Human Fruit. And with what I remember reading in the manga, the transformations are often triggered consciously, or subconsciously with me.
There are three forms: the normal state, the half-transformed state, and the fully transformed state.
The normal state is the standard human form, no abilities what's so ever. The half-transformed is humanoid with animal features, the most used state of any Zoan type. And the fully transformed is where I take the form of the animal the fruit is based on.
I must have triggered my half-transformed state yesterday, since I still have most of my human features. But how do I go into it? Last time was completely by accident, add with nearly drowning didn't give me much to remember by.
If only I can recall that feeling… what was it? Oh, what I would have give for some kind of guide to this…
Then it hit me. I DO have a guide! That book the goddess gave me! I rush back into the cabin where Sen has stowed the sack and starts rummaging through it, taking out the large book. I let loose a few chuckles from looking at the title, before opening the book up.
Wow, this book has almost everything. There is content about the four seas, like how the East Blue has the calmest pirate climate in the era, and even about the classifications of every known Devil Fruits! There has to be a hint in here! I just need to look, I'm sure I'll find it!
A few minutes of page flipping, I ended up on the Devil Fruit pages; specifically, the Zoan part of the Devil Fruit chapter.
Now what do we have here… [Zoan are animal-based Devil Fruits that ranges from the largest mammals to the smallest insects, although the latter is extremely rare to get. Once eaten, the user is able to use the abilities of the animal-] Blah, blah, blah, I know that already! Are there any hints on how to use it?
…And, here we are! Let's see now… [Zoan transformations are often triggered through imaging the picture of your form on the back of the mind. Clearer the image, the faster the transformation.]
Imaging, huh?
Never thought of it like that before.
But it would make sense. It's basically telling my body that this is my form now.
It's worth testing out.
Taking the book out on to the deck with me, I close my eyes and start on imaging that form from last night. Let's see, I have scaly arms… breathe fire… a… tail, maybe? Oh! Wings, too! The feeling on my back can't be anything else.
The picture in my mind is hazy for a moment, but a few moments of concentration and imagination is enough to visualise a possible form. With that in mind, I try my hardest to focus on that image, of my new form.
My concentration is almost broken when I start to feel same numbing sensation on my hands as before. I ignore it and keep focusing on the image. Soon enough, the same feeling spread to my legs and the back, before the same sharp sting is felt on three places at once, I sucking a sharp breath of air in the result. Then there is an additional pain on my forehead that forces me to let out a hiss of pain.
Soon the numbing sensation completely ceased, I collapsing on the deck with a sigh of relief. I open my eyes and gingerly brought my hands up to my eye-level.
Sure enough, they are the same reptilian design as last night. Now that I have a closer look, the scales are of a whitish colour with them completely covering my forearm and maybe a bit of my biceps. I slowly tries to get up, my sense of balance completely off as I wobble for a moment before dropping on my knees and holding on the edge of the deck for dear life.
Okay, this is new… my feet felt like they are in constant bend and there is a feeling of what I can only describe as a third leg on back of my hips, not to mention the additional feeling of a new pair of arms on my back.
"Experimenting already?"
I turn to face Sen who bend down offering me a hand. My face heats up in embarrassment before I push down the blush and accepts his help, he pulling me up onto my feet in one smooth motion.
I nearly fell over again, the boat's owner's firm grip on my hand becoming the only thing that is stopping my ass from plopping back on the deck.
"Take it easy now." He tells me raising his other hand for me to grab, which I did with haste as I leaned forward slightly with my legs trembling slightly.
"This is harder than it looks…" I noted with a frown.
"You ARE basically re-learning how to walk." He points out, "Although, I would suggest bending your knees slightly. Trust me, it would easier."
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I follow his suggestion and bend my knees. Sure enough, my balance seems to right itself as I am now standing upright and proper. Huh, guess being humanoid in nature doesn't always mean human-like joints.
I slowly took one step forward but I ended up straightening my knees on instinct and falling backwards from overbalancing. I spun my arms in attempts to get my balance back, and that ended up creating a gust of wind from my back that somehow sent me flying up into the air.
Spinning all about in the air before I fell straight down towards the ocean below. Just before I splashes back down into the salty waters, I saw my reflection for a split second and a single thought run through my mind.
Oh, I have horns now.
Fishing me out of the waters for the third time must have been the straw that broke his back as the moment I am back on the boat, Sen have me sitting on my knees while he starts to lecture me on the dangers of the seas as a Devil Fruit user which lasts till late in the evening, which means we missed lunch all together. That later rectified by a short snack break before continuing on.
With that, the next of the few days were spent sailing across the open waters of the East Blue with breaks in between for meals and we never sail at night, minus a few occasions where we have to due to ending up in dangerous currents from what he told me.
During that time, Sen helped me with adapting to being a Zoan user. I have used the time we had in our breaks to experiment with my new powers, as well as trying to even move in my new form.
I have managed to walk a few steps without assistance around the boat if a bit wobbly in fashion, but it has given me some idea of what kind of Devil Fruit I have consumed. A Zoan, a Dragon-like Zoan. The fire breath was kind of a dead give-away, but then I realised what the strange feeling on my back was. It was Wings. I have dragon wings!
And boy, did I try to use them as much as I can.
Kept falling and nearly drowning in the process too…
Sen was really pissed about it, pretty much lectured me and confined me to the cabin for the rest of the day. Haha… guess no training with wings until we reach land at least…
Other than that, I've also decided to look through the stuff the goddesses left me. Most of the book is about the things that I remember about the series, along with a small encyclopaedia on the Devil Fruits classified by Types and Sub-categories. It also includes information on the four blues, from the cultures to standard climates, as well as the biology of the ecosystem for each Blue which I've bookmarked with a fold in the page to remind me to go back to read it up when I get the chance.
The hunting knife on closer inspection, isn't actually a knife. Knife is downplaying it. It has a brown leather-wrapped handle with a bayonet-like hilt and a tanto-like blade that is long enough to not be considered a dagger, but too short to be considered even a short sword with saw-like serrations near the handguard; the whole blade sheathed in a leather scabbard.
But in the end of your trip, we reached our destination, the place where Sen has told me around the time I started experimenting with my powers.
Loguetown. The town of beginnings and endings.
The very same town where the Straw Hats stopped before their entrance to the Grand Line, the starting point of their adventures forth.
And now, I am here at the start of my very own adventure. Sen had stated the need for me to get some proper equipment for my travels with him.
Sen has agreed to train me in combat and being with him on his boat would allow me to gain some knowledge on how to properly rig up a sailing vessel. That way, no matter where I end up with, at least I'll have something to fall back on in case all things go to hell. Which considering that this is the world of One Piece, that's a very likely scenario…
Although the fact on how he is planning on training me is a little vague. He didn't actually do anything in the time we spent getting here, which worries me a little…
"Nice place, huh?" Sen's words broke me out of my musings, allowing me to fully take in the scenery in front of me.
The port city is just like how Oda has drawn it, bustling and full of life. The architecture of the place is remanence of old European port towns, with white-tiled streets and stone brick houses and buildings. There are people all over the place, of all shapes and sizes, age and ethnic origins.
It is almost breath-taking. It truly sells that I am truly am in a completely different world now. Everything is exactly like what Oda would think of in the One Piece universe. From the clothing style, to even the architecture, everything screams Age of Pirates.
"Yeah… it is…" I replied to him.
"Glad it's to your taste." He chuckled before walking past me, "Come on, we're burning sunlight here." He navigates me through the streets of the city while explaining everything of what we are to do here in this place, "If you're going to start training under me, you would a change of clothes. There's no way the threads you are wearing are suitable for whatever we are doing."
I look down at my current outfit, the loose shirts and pants barely clinging onto me from the knots I tied to tighten it, not to mention my shoes that I have somehow lost few days ago. Don't know when or how, but I did lose them. Not only that, but it seems my transformation doesn't sit well with my shirt, with the two long gashes on the back lining up with my shoulder blades.
True enough, these clothes are meant for the modern cities, not open waters. Not to mention I need a size change, and new underwear begrudgingly. My nipples have been rubbing against me shirt quite painfully the past few days. Geez, is this why woman wear bras past puberty?
A horrifying realization suddenly pops into my head. Does that mean…
"A-Are we going to a…"
"Sadly, yes, we are." Sen told me right as we stop right in front of a clothing store, the line of woman undergarments on display told me everything.
No. Nononononononono! I am NOT wearing a bra! No way! Not even that is the only clothes I have left! I rather walk about naked! My dignity as a male is one of the last thing I have left, and I would not tarnish it any more than I have to!
"There are boxers…"
"Rein. You're not a guy anymore." He told me, "And if you want to get stronger, the first thing you have to do is to adapt to your new body. Even that means wearing… you know."
"…Is there no way out of this?"
"Trust me. This is as uncomfortable to me as well."
I sigh before bracing myself, "Okay, I'll… try…"
"Good, now go."
"Huh?"
"What, are you expecting me to enter in there?" He stated out as he proceeds to pushes me forward from behind, "A young man of questionable origins entering in there with a girl with very loose clothing with no undergarment to boot? The marines will get here within minutes! Besides, getting some undergarments can't be that hard!" My feet soon pass through the doorway, leaving me standing there numbly as the door closes behind me. Most of the woman just took a glance at me, before continuing their own shopping.
Ah right, I'm a girl now. It must be a regular occurrence for them.
I glance back with a glare before taking a few deep breaths and numbly take a few steps forward, my eyes wandering about the place not sure where to look. Women standing about talking while holding up a lingerie on a rack, rows of bras of various shapes and colours paired with panties of matching designs dotted the walls and cupboards with some tags describing what kind of undergarment it is.
It's like being in another country…! I'm not even sure why I am doing here. I don't even know what the tags say! None of these makes any sense! And why does girls need that much frills on something no one is going to see?!
"Excuse me, ma'am?" I nearly jumped when a voice from behind me suddenly spoke, I slowly turn around to face a young lady with a name tag on her shirt, "Do you need some help?"
"Um… yeah… I… err…"
"Oh, is this your first time here?" She stated with a professional smile, "No worries, let me help you out. Do you at least know your cup size?"
"My… what?"
"Oh, dearie me." She gasped in surprise, "Why don't we measure it for you? Please, come this way."
I am SO going to kill Sen when I get out of here…
After a series of rather embarrassing events, like the lady teaching me how to fit a bra around my… breasts… by semi-groping me to fit them in, I finally managed to get a few sets of lady undergarments for me to wear. And I know my own cup size now, not that I ever want to know it in the first place…
For the record, I'm an AB-cup, pushing for a solid B apparently.
When I finally exited the shop, Sen is still there with another person next to him. This one is a young lady with a bluish bob-cut hair and cyan eyes, wearing a cropped black shirt that shows her belly button under a brown hooded vest left opened and a pair of tight white jeans folded up her shin to show off her stylish high-heels sandals.
"Ah, you came out okay." He commented with a smirk, which grinds my gears as I prepared to shout at him for just throwing me in without warning…
Only to be interrupted when the woman next to him walks up to me staring very intensively. All of a sudden, I felt completely naked under her glare as she circles around me with hands on her hips, her eyes never leaving my body before stopping right in front of me. "U-Um… is there something wrong…?"
She blinked a little, before her hand reaches out and pulls my pants' out for a peek to my horror, me reacting by pulling back the strap of my pants as I took several steps back away from her. What is she, a pervert!?
"So, this is guy is the one you told me?" She asked Sen, who nodded, "Got to admit, he completely one hundred percent a woman. No male attributes anywhere."
"You could have just asked!" I screamed at her to a dismissive shrug from the lady.
"Wait… Didn't Ivankov get dragged to Impel Down a few years back?" She noted, "So how are they able to change his gender and then send him all the way out here to the East Blue?"
"Ivan is not the one that change him." Sen explained, "She is a unique case, one that I would prefer not sharing too much."
"You really should do something about that bad habit of yours." She points out, "I'm not that willing to take in strays, you know."
"Yeah, but he does need assistance, and I do need a place to train him."
"If you say so." She shrugged before turning to me with a hand out, "Sorry for all that, let's start over. Name's Silvia, captain of the merchant ship Sliver Fang. You're Rein, am I right?"
"Yeah…?" I glared at her hand suspiciously, before nervously shakes her outstretched hand. Okay, this is out of nowhere. Why is a merchant talking to Sen about me? Or why did he tell her about my circumstances? Oh crap, did he told her what I told him about the plot?!
"Um… you can stop shaking my hand now."
I got out of my musing when I saw that I am still grasping her hand, letting go with a small nervous chuckle.
She let out a chuckle of her own before continuing speaking, "Sen and I goes way back in the day, great guy once you get to know him. Can be kind of an asshole though."
"Hey!"
I nodded in response to her words. Now that's something I agree with completely. He is kind of a dick for pushing me into the store like that. Sure, I HAVE to go in there, but can he at least wait for me to get my nerves BEFORE pushing me in?
"Biases aside…" Sen grumbles at this as Silvia continues on, "Sen here is actually asking me to give you guys clearance to board my ship."
"Wait, we're not using your boat?" I asked my mentor, he shrugs before answering. "We need a proper place to train when we're at sea." He explained, "The Silver Fang is quite a large merchant vessel, meaning we have enough space to do some proper exercise. Not only that, her crew are competent sailors and swimmers in their own right, meaning you can practice your wings as much as you like."
"Okay, I guess it is logical…"
"But you don't get to board for free. No such thing as a free lunch." Silvia added on with a grin, "You are to work for your place on the ship. Sen is already the ship's guard-"
"Wait, when did you-"
"-So, now we need a position for you." She noted, but before taking a good look at me and pointing out, "You would need some new clothes first. Can't have you walking around like rape bait on my ship. Lucky for you, I know just the place for good quality sailor wear that is both stylish AND practical!"
Why do I have a feeling that I'm not to like this one bit…?
"Well, what do you think?"
I would answer the captain's question if I'm not trying to cover myself up with my hand in a futile attempt to keep some decency.
After the whole debacle at the lingerie store, Silvia whisks me and Sen to another part of town to a clothing store by the name of Neptune Sister; a cool little place a few streets down. Once inside, she went on a hunt through the bargain bins and the shelves for clothing after clothing as the both of us just stare in either shock or horror, either one fits the situation well.
Sen, being the dick-ish person he is, left immediately when she tosses a small bundle of clothes into my arms and then pushes ME into the changing room. Despite my denial for the horrendous choice of clothing, Silvia immediately took it upon herself to come in and forcefully strip and dress me, groping me in places I didn't know was sensitive before.
In the end, I am left staring right at the mirror in horror at the outfit I was forced into as I attempt to recover some level of decency. What I am wearing right now can only be described as whore material. From the tight ripped jeans that is looks like panties to the skimpy tube top that shows off my collar and stomach and the leather high-heel sandals, I look exactly like some hooker at some red-light district!
"What I- No! I'm not wearing this!"
"Why not? It fits you so well!" Silvia stated with a grin, "With that curvy waist and wide hips, not to mention your nicely shaped breasts-"
"I look like a whore!"
"Which is a great distraction when you fight!" She points out, "People will be too busy leering at you to block any counters you give out!"
"This looks like it can come off just from running!" I screamed at her, "At least let me wear some proper pants! And maybe a shirt that doesn't look like it can be tore off with a tug! And no high heels?!" Just standing is hurting my thigh already. How my sister can wear this around and not grunt in pain with every few steps is beyond me.
"Tch. Fine…" She sighs as she walks off towards the hangers, leaving me alone in the changing booth. I let out a sigh of relief once I couldn't see her, before I close the curtain behind me and begin to take the horrendous outfit off of me. That lady either has no idea what common decency is, or really like girls to show off their body. She definitely fit latter considering her dress code. But then again, most females in this world are styled like that. I think I saw a few ladies wearing modest versions of it a few streets down.
Robin and Nami comes to mind, along with the various amount of porn pics those two alone starred in.
Shaking my head to clear my mind of the erotic thoughts as I took off the whorish outfit, I look back at the mirror in front of me, my reflection staring right back at me with a slight blush.
Now that I have looked closely, I'm not that bad looking… my face looks like one from a young model with my shoulder-length hair framing it perfectly, my body line isn't much of an hourglass figure Oda is infamous for drawing his characters in but it definitely has the potential to be equally sexy.
"Damn, I'm my own ideal woman…"
"Like looking at yourself?"
I flinched at the teasing tone as Silvia peeked in with a self-gratifying grin on her face, face just burns up when I realized that I have been checking myself out all this time, and she saw all of it. God, this is so embarrassing…!
"Eh, t-this is… um… I…"
"I know, I know." She nodded with understanding, "You were a guy once, so naturally you would like to a look. Don't worry, take your time to absorb it all in–"
"Just give me the damn outfit…"
The next outfit she had is way more covered compared to the first one, which isn't saying much but at least I don't look I belong at a corner of the shady alleyway.
I am now wearing a long-sleeved beige leather bolero jacket that has a high black collar with silver button, underneath it is a dark blue tube top that reaches pass my belly button to my waist with a pair of white lines running down its sides, along with a pair of dark grey pants tucked into a pair of brown leather boots and a white cloth sash around my waist.
This is definitely way better; body is neatly covered not to mention it is easy to move in, and no high-heels!
"Now THAT is a good look." She commented with a smile, "What was I thinking, hot pants…?"
"This is pretty nice, to be honest." I noted as I took a good look at myself in the mirror, "I might take this."
"Good enough for me! But now that is over with…" I shivered at her tone as she took out a few bundles of clothes, "Time for formal wear~"
And that began a long series of painful force stripping and changing. Sen is SO dead when he gets back…
After Silvia paid for my clothes, along with a few extras that she decides to take for my sake which included a few dresses for formal as well as informal, although depends on the situation it could be either one, we left the store just as Sen is coming back; in his hands is a long-wrapped rod that he balances on his shoulders. "Huh? You finally finished?"
"You left me there, you jerk!" I screamed at him angrily. Twice. He did this TWICE! And this one isn't even like the last one! He could've just waited outside, maybe give a few opinions here and there!
"I… take it you've seen how… aggressive Silvia can be at this." He stated with a sheepish smile, "Trust me, if I am in there, it would be a lot worse."
"I don't see how it could be worse."
"And you would never know, thanks to me."
"Grr…"
"What that thing you got there?" Silvia decides to ask ignoring my growling.
"Oh, this old thing?" He taps his shoulder with it a few times, "Something I left someone here to care for, that I took back."
"You rob him of it?"
"No! I'm not THAT barbaric." Sen stated with a scowl, "I merely asked for it back. Nothing else. Pay him a decent price for it too."
"Ah, that make sense." She nodded with understanding, "What is it?"
"It's Rein's weapon." My anger dissipates a little when I heard that, "Rein's going to need something to defend herself with, and the only way I know how to fight with are my fists and a sword. So, while you guys were busy, I went off to fetch this."
"A sword?" I muttered in surprise. I know I'm the one that asked him to train me, but I thought it was just hand-to-hand, not swordsmanship.
"Hey, if you know how to be decent with a sword, you'll be set at sea." He explained, "Sure, you can get pistols, but they are a pain to reload; not to mention miss once and you are a goner." I'll have to agree with him for that one. Pistols may be handy in a pinch, but in a fight, it would be suicidal considering the most powerful and infamous are more close-quarters than snipers. And a sword would give me a decent advantage over my knife…
"You can explain the advantages of using a sword back on the ship." Silvia tells us, "Come on, the harbour is this way."
A few streets later, we arrived at what I assume is the Silver Fang. Sen is right about the size, it's pretty huge.
A large vessel at least ten times the size of Sen's little boat, what I assume is a frigate with a single row of cannons on each side, three large masts with large white sails flying a simple white flag. It is painted in whitish-hue of blue with a strip of darkish grey on the cannon row, on its bow is a ram shaped like a two long tusks.
"Here it is, my pride and joy." Silvia says with pride in her voice, "The great Silver Fang. One of the fastest ships in this part of the sea and more."
"It's pretty big…"
"Most merchant ships are." Sen explained.
"Come on aboard." The ship's captain tells us as we board the ship via the wooden ramp provided. The large deck is completely crowded with people of all kinds, most of them male sailors as stereotypical of them with few females wandering about, all of them busing themselves with the operations of the ship. From checking the ropes, to moving supplies, to even just climbing up the masts, everyone is hard at work.
"We're heading off now?" Sen asks her.
"Yup. Just finished trading off some goods at the market. You'll be surprised how much people pay for good seafood around here."
"Riza?"
"You know it." She smirks, "Best in the East Blue. I've made a deal with their fishers to sell their goods for a good price."
"You've definitely been busy the last I've saw you." He points out.
"Had to pay the men somehow."
The two started talking about goods and the competitive market, leaving me to just look around the deck and observe the sailors do their work. Everyone looks so in the rush, people are constant in motion, coming out from below deck or entering it with countless voices all speaking at once.
Man, no wonder old time sailors are so buff. All this manual labour definitely builds up muscles faster than going to a gym. I wonder if I'll be able to keep up. I barely able to help out with the rig on Sen's little dingy and now there are pulleys and ropes for sails I do not know about. Hopefully these people aren't the sexist type.
"Hey, captain!"
A voice broke me out of my thoughts, a man walks up to us with a few sheets of paper at hand. He has long black hair tied to in a tail behind him in a stripped t-shirt over alternating white and blue with dark brown pants and leather shoes with a red bandana tied around his neck.
"Oh, Lee. You got the papers?"
"Yup." He affirmed handing the papers to her, letting the captain skim through it as she absent-mindedly wanders off. That leaves him with us as he starts to have a conversation, "Sen, my man, good to see you again. Back for another job?"
"Pretty much. Got help this time, though."
The man named Lee turned to me, I flinched at his gaze as he seems to scanned me up and down the way Silvia did. "I don't know… not to sound sexist or anything, but she doesn't look like she fit on a sailor crew. She's way too skinny, not to mention she's a midget…"
Did that fucker just call me midget?! I know I'm not the tallest guy around but I'm no MIDGET!
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MIDGET!" Lost in my vengeful rage, I launched myself right at him and tackles him to the ground. There, I took the chance to slam my fist into his face as hard as I could as muster, which is surprisingly way harder that I thought I could as I barely misses his head and my fist splinters the wooden plank it hits.
Silence dominated the ship, my rage immediately cools off as I could only stare at the splintered plank in complete shock of what just conspired. Did I just… did that…? Did I just break a plank with my fist?
"Rein. Look at your hand."
I followed Sen's instruction as I pulls back my fist, the back of my hand and forearm has the similar reptilian skin I have in my half-human state. Did I just subconsciously call forth my Devil Fruit powers? Oh my god, was I about to kill that guy?!
"Zoan Devil Fruits are known to be the weakest compared to the other categories." He noted, "But they are most simple to use. Almost too simple. Transformations can happen without the user's conscious choice."
"Oh boy… remind me to never make you mad again…" Lee grunted from under me, "One hell of a tackle that was, kid."
"I'm twenty, you know…" I grumbled. One thing I am annoyed from my reincarnation besides my gender is that my height almost never changed at all. I am always on the short side even when I am a guy, so my classmates made fun of me about it all the damn time. Had a few bullies growing up due to it too… that is until I showed them why you shouldn't be doing that.
"If you don't mind getting off me now… that would be greatly appreciated."
I blinked at the problem, before remembering that I am still straddling him to the ground; I got back up and helping him to his feet, "Sorry for that. Kind of lost it a little…"
"He kind of deserved it, though!" One of them members shouted out.
"Oh, shut it, Ivan!" Lee shouted back.
"Hey, girl!" Another random sailor shouts out with a wave, "Welcome aboard the Silver Fang!"
"If you want a tour of the ship, I'm available!"
"Dude! You just met her!"
"Keep your pants on, you horny bastard!"
"That's not what I meant and you know it!"
"Damn it, Sen! Where did you find such a lady?!"
"Hey Sen, old chum! Introduce us!"
One after another, the sailors all started shouting out their welcomes. I am stunned silent at the overwhelming hospitality of the crew. I've always assumed most sailors in this era is mostly sexist males with a few minor exceptions, but I guess I was proven wrong. It's almost embarrassing to hear all this…
"Alright, you salty dogs! That's enough of that!" Silvia shouted out with a few loud claps, "We are on a schedule with deals to make and contracts to fulfil! Ivan!" Said sailor stood in attention, "Check with the cargo. Make sure they are all accounted for and fastened down below deck properly."
"Understood, Captain!"
"Everyone else, prep for sail. We are leaving in fifteen minutes, so I want everything to be done by then, am I clear?!"
"Yes Captain, ma'am!"
"Good. Carry on! Oh! And Lee, stay for a minute." And the bustling returned with a fury as everyone returned to their task with a passion. Silvia turned to us gesturing to the man from before, "This is Lee, my quartermaster and second-in-command. Lee, you know Sen. And I believed you are introduced to Rein?"
"If that's what you want to call it…" He mumbled.
"Sen is back as the ship's guard, while the little girl here is his apprentice. They both will function on the guard posts and occasional other posts as you see fit. If there are any problems with them, let me know." She tells him smile, "I have some papers to go through, so I'll leave it to you for the grand tour."
"Copy that." He nods in acknowledgement, his captain then walks away and entering the door facing the deck. Guess that's the captain's quarters. Good to know.
"I doubt Sen needs the tour…" I hear him said before turning to face us, "Well, come along. I'll show you around.
A few minutes of him showing us where the living quarters are and our shared room, the kitchen and mess hall, the cargo hull, as well as the bathhouse allocated by genders, and we are back on deck where he finally explains our duties as ship guards. Which the title already is self-explanatory.
All we have to do to patrol the ship during the day and keep a watch at night. Simple enough.
As of why we are on the deck…
"Hoist the anchor! Lower the sails!"
It is time to depart. Me and Sen are left to watch from the sides as everyone all rushes about the deck with a few going below and others climbing up the ropes to the sails. The entire boat is a complete storm of people running all over with shouting of orders left and right.
It took a while, but soon enough, the sails caught the winds and the Silver Fang took off into the wide-open oceans. I could stare in awe as the port slowly disappears from view, within a few minutes later the island is just a small spot over the horizon.
My heart starts to pound against my chest with excitement as I look out towards the bright blue horizon, where dusk is setting in and the sun is slowly descending into twilight. Is this how it feels to depart to the open oceans, to adventure and parts unknown? Is this how Luffy felt every time the Straw Hats leave an island for the next big adventure?
"Pretty exciting, isn't it?" Silvia broke me out of my own musing with a bright grin on her face, "Of course, unless you are like me and these guys who are used to it all. But the first time setting sail are always the most exciting. Every sailor experienced it, the feeling of a great voyage and adventure."
"Adventure…" I mutter out as the word resonates in my mind. Back home, back when I am still a student, that word is the last thing on my mind. It's always juggling homework with final year assignments along with prepping for tests and exams in the future. Everyday was a constant rush of repeating schedules over and over again.
Maybe that's why One Piece has always been a big appeal to me. The adventures Luffy and the Straw Hats are so bigger than life that at times I want to feel the same excitement they did every time they came across a new island on the Grand Line, to be beside them all.
"Captain!" Lee calls out from the helm, bringing me out of my musings yet again, "Loguetown is out of sight now! And no marine ships in sight!"
"Okay, lower it down!"
"Wait, what?" I turned to her confused, "Lower the anchor?"
"Nah, it's something else." She tells me as I witness a random sailor lowering something into the waters below, "You see, we have one other crewmate that is a little… different."
"First I've heard of this." Sen points out as my curiosity keep rising to no end. Who is this mysterious crewmate that need such a strange calling method?
A loud splash later, followed by a spray of water on my face, and my answer has arrived.
And let me say this, I did not expect this at all.
"Sen, Rein, I like you to meet Kris." She smiles as she gestures the fishman that has landed on the boat via the ocean.
…What?
…
To be continued…
There you go! Took my quite a while to write this out, but I manage to do just that! Sorry for the long wait, life appeared as well as a few writing blocks here and there…
Now for those who have read the original story; yes, this chapter completely different compared to the original. For starters, Smoker and Tashigi does no make an appearance. And second, it is a lot longer compared to the original.
I also like to introduce some new OCs I have created for this reboot. Silvia and the crew of the Silver Fang! Now that Rein has DF powers now, the usual pattern of training from the original will not work, so I decided to create them.
With that, I thank you all for reading this!