Chapter Text
You blink the glowing sunlight out of your eyes. Is it really morning already? Propping yourself up, you check your surroundings. It seems to be a high up deck on some luxury cruise. Before you can even begin to wonder how the fuck you got up there, you remember what happened the night before. What happened to your best friend? Clearly you’re okay, but he is nowhere to be seen, heard, or any other method of sensing him that would indicate that he’s doing alright.
You looked over and saw that the tiny sailboat you were sharing with Luffy was steadily approaching a large whirlpool. The sky was getting darker, and it was only then that it occurred to you that maybe you should have checked in with one of those old navy farts on how the hell you’re supposed to navigate a boat. Before you could even call out to your idiot standing at the head of the tiny boat, you both get pulled under the water and lose consciousness.
Oh, fuck. Dumbass can’t even swim. He’d better be alive. As you attempt to find a way to sneak in, you see a girl with orange hair cut just above shoulder length with bangs sneak around a corner and run off. Might you add, she’s PRETTY. You only then remember that you need means of defending yourself, in case the navy or some nasty pirates show up. You stop moving and check your waist for your sword and pistol, and upon further inspection, you feel the familiar discomfort in your boot where you have your dagger hidden in case you need it for whatever reason. You then carefully enter the same way that pretty girl with orange hair left.
You find yourself in a large ballroom, filled with people dancing in pairs, clad in expensive-looking suits and dresses. You sneak along the hall, trying to go unnoticed, but despite your efforts, you really stick out. To be fair, you weren’t wearing even remotely fancy clothes. Instead, you were wearing a baggy, white long-sleeved button down tucked into light brown cargo pants. Both your sleeves and pants were cuffed. Just because you left all of your nice outfits back in Windmill Village doesn’t mean you can go around not looking like a flaming homosexual. Suddenly, the whole ship jerks every which way as a voice over a loudspeaker announces in a rather panicked voice that pirates are raiding the ship. The commotion is to your advantage however, and you run down a hallway and find a dark room to hide in. Once your eyes adjust to the lighting, you see that it must be where extra food is stored, as there are boxes of fruit stacked together along the walls with bags of rice and other goods. Outside the door to your little safe haven, you hear footsteps pounding, doors opening, but for whatever reason, the room you’re in remains untouched. You then hear two or three voices down the hall shouting something about a barrel of alcohol, followed by the sound of metal breaking, followed then by a scream. You hear another voice being added to the mix, one that sounds vaguely familiar to you. Another set of pounding footsteps rush down the hallway, and stop at your door. When the footsteps die down, you hear a loud sniffing noise, before the door is slammed open to reveal a tall(ish) kid with a straw hat, a red vest, sandals, and… jorts? With fluffy cuffs? You still can’t tell what his pants are, even after seeing them practically every day for ten years. AKA Luffy, in all his glory, and a short kid with pink hair timidly following him.
“You’re alive, thank god,” you say, climbing out from behind the bags of food you used to hide, “your stupid ass had me worried.” He turns his head, all confused, before registering that it was in fact you. He proceeds to fling himself across the room and cling to you, wailing about how he thought he’d die(not that he was actually crying, he was just being dramatic), and you join in. Upon hearing a small “eh-hem,” you turn your head and see that pink-haired kid who followed Luffy in awkwardly staring to the side.
“Oh honey, we’re not dating. This here is my best friend,” you say, staring him down.
“Oh, I-“
“My dude here is aroace and I’m a lesbian, so… y’know…” you cut him off. Luffy ignores everything around him and inhales an entire crate of apples. You then stop listening to the things around you and search around for one thing in particular. Dried mangoes. The best snack in the whole world. Digging through the various food products stored away, you hear the kid, who is apparently named Coby, mention how he accidentally ended up on the pirate ship of some lady named Alvida, and that he has a dream of being in the navy, or something like that. You zone out and then rush when you see the familiar packaging that says DRIED MANGO on it in big letters, and carry it back over to where Luffy and Coby are standing.
“And if I die trying to achieve my dream, that’s fine with me,” Luffy says, sounding a lot more mature than usual.
“Ah, going on your little spiel about becoming the King of the Pirates again?” you ask nonchalantly, chewing on your mangoes.
“H-he bullied me!” Coby blurts out.
“Mm.”
“I’m serious!”
“Nah, he doesn’t bully people on purpose. He’s just brutally honest,” you yawn. Before you or Coby can say anything else, however, the wall gets broken down by a rather… large woman with a gigantic metal club with spikes on it. You turn your head to see Coby trembling, clinging to Luffy’s leg.
“Who’s this chunky lady?” Luffy points straight at her, looking at Coby. You see other men who appear to be pirates peeking around the corners of the hole, shocked and terrified looks on their faces. You look up, trying to hide the grin tugging at the corners of your mouth, to see the woman looking royally pissed.
“Coby!” her voice booms, “Who’s the most beautiful woman in the East Blue? Hm?”
“Why, it’s y-you-“ he stops himself, his voice wavering. “N-not you! You’re the ugliest hag I’ve ever seen!”
“Nice one!” Luffy gives him a thumbs up. You peer around this lady, who based on the mutterings of the other pirates, seems to be that Alvida person that Coby mentioned earlier.
“That’s got to be the fugliest ship I’ve ever seen with my own two good christian eyes,” you deadpan. She turns to face you with her red, angry face. ”I’m just saying! I love pink just as much as the next person, but even I think a heart-shaped boat painted entirely pink is a bit much. What are you, ten? Also GIRL! Your outfit? Disgusting. You look like you’re trying to be a rich cowgirl with that sparkly cowboy hat, but like… quite a few things are off,” you look at her tacky red handkerchief distastefully. “Point being, it’s not a look. I can think of a lot of other outfits, colors, and aesthetics that would be so much more flattering on you!” She stares at you in disbelief.
“You done yet?” Luffy asks, very impatiently.
“Yeah, probably,” you reply, STILL eating your mangoes.
“Hey, fat lady!” he calls out. She (about as pissed as she can get) slams her club onto his head. She lifts it up, only to see him shooting her a crooked grin.
“What?”
“That doesn’t work!” he taunts, running out onto the deck. You, trusting in Luffy’s abilities, go off to find a rowboat to leave the ship with. You find what you’re looking for, but get distracted by what’s across from you on the ugly pink ship that six year old you would have loved. It’s that same girl you noticed earlier, the pretty one with the orange hair. She seemed to be carrying a heavy bag, and when you actually pay attention to the clinking sound it makes, it occurs to you that it’s treasure. She must be stealing it from that ship. A chorus of screams snap you out of your daze, and you hear Luffy laughing and the familiar snap of his arms going back into place. Ah, they must have seen his abilities for the first time. After all, even you were freaked out when you first saw his arm stretch out to steal your food. Honestly, anyone would be, since it’s not every day you encounter someone who’s eaten a Devil Fruit, at least outside of the Grand Line. Luffy ate the Gomu-Gomu no Mi, making him rubber man. He can stretch, take bullets, and blunt damage and get away completely fine, due to that. The biggest downside however, is that he can’t swim. No one who’s eaten a Devil Fruit can. The sea’s mad about how unnatural the abilities are or whatever. You continue untying the boat(you already put your bag of mangoes in so you wouldn’t lose them), and Luffy and Coby run up to you.
“I assume you sent her flying?” you ask, turning your head.
“Yeah!”
“Oh, shit,” you say, not in response to your friend, but in response to the familiar horns blaring, getting louder and closer. The horns of navy ships. “Ookay, time to go!” You shove the other two into the boat and it falls and hits the water. You frantically row and try to make yourself look innocent, and hope no one who knows you from headquarters is there. Somehow, you make it out without getting caught. Coby, reading the newspaper just dropped off by News Coo, gasps loudly.
“My goodness, at an island just south of here, they’ve caught the Pirate Hunter,”
“Pirate Hunter?” My god, Luffy really lives under a rock.
“You mean THE Pirate Hunter? Roronoa Zoro?” you ask, hoping Luffy will listen.
“Yeah! The swordsman,” Coby shudders, “People say he’s like a demon, and the strongest swordsman in the East Blue!”
“The strongest in the East Blue, you say…” Luffy has that look on his face again. Oh no. He’s decided to get that guy to join our crew, hasn’t he. And when Luffy decides something, he WILL make it happen, one way or another.