Chapter Text
He grumbled, pouting as his chest was still aching. He wanted to get started already. It was taking too long. Sure, he had 2 years, but it was still only 2 years. It had taken like 7 for him to learn how to properly stretch out his arms and everything… Rayleigh let out a deep sigh. “Alright.” Luffy perked up in excitement. “This will be a history lesson of Haki first of all. You still need to rest in order to fully recover, so I’ll need you to listen.” Luffy pouted.
“I’ll try, but if it’s boring…”
“It’s all relevant, I promise.” Rayleigh eased with a smile. “Firstly, there are 3 kinds of haki. The one you demonstrated at Marineford was conquerors. It’s a rare gift, particularly of the intensity you showed.”
“It is?” Rayleigh nodded.
“Everyone has some form of it, but very, very few can manifest it outside of their own bodies and affect others. Another you likely encountered in Skypeia would be observation haki: the ability to identify threats beforehand and identify intent behind certain actions.”
“Oh! Zoro has that: he calls it rhythm!” Rayleigh paused slightly, then chuckled.
“So he was trained by an older Wano native?” Luffy shrugged: he had no idea about that. He didn’t even know what a Wano was! “The final one is one that you’ve seen repeatedly. It’s called armament haki. It allows people to contact logia users, and can be infused into weapons.”
“Oh, that’s what the ladies used!” Rayleigh nodded.
“Amazon Lily’s warriors are particularly trained in such for their own safety and defense. Usually, someone chooses one to focus on more than others, but it’s a good idea to learn all of them to be most effective. Now, the history gets complex, so I’ll try to simplify it.” Luffy tried to stay away. He really, really did. He yelped as Rayleigh bopped him, rubbing his head with a pout. “You didn’t even make it past a single sentence, Luffy!”
“It was boring!” He defended, only for Rayleigh to laugh, making Luffy look at him in puzzlement.
“You sound so much like him.” Like who? Rayleigh didn’t explain, smiling fondly at someone in his memories as he stated,
“Regardless, I’m surprised even one person on your crew learned it. Haki is rarely mentioned before the New World, much less taught, and with how fast your crew has traveled through the Grand Line…”
“We’re going fast?” Luffy prompted, tilting his head with a frown. Rayleigh nodded.
“Most take at least 5 years to even get to the Florian Triangle. You succeeded in getting to Seabody in less than a year of sailing from what I’ve heard.” Luffy frowned, counting on his fingers.
“…it’s been 10 months since I started, but we got to…when was Loguetown…?”
“You first got a bounty in June.” Rayleigh offered helpfully.
“So that was 9 months ago, but we got Chopper late in June, and Robin joined in July…” Rayleigh laughed.
“So who was the last one to join you all?”
“Oh, Brook! He’s the skeleton: he joined in January!”
“Ah, the musician. You have to have a musician on a crew.”
“Exactly! You get it!” Luffy exclaimed proudly. “I think I still need a helms-guy: Nami and Franky both say they aren’t one, but I don’t really know what they do.” Rayleigh smiled, sitting down as Luffy rambled, “I got a swordsman first! Nami keeps calling him first mate and vice-captain, but we don’t really have one of those. Zoro’s just the first nakama I got! And then we got a navigator, because Zoro gets lost really easy, and I don’t know how to navigate. I should learn so Nami doesn’t have to wake up so often, though-oh, and we got a liar next!” Rayleigh frowned, eyebrows knitting together.
“A liar?” Luffy nodded proudly, rocking back and forth while he held his ankles.
“We needed one of those. He’s also a really, really good sniper, but I think the lying part’s more important to the crew.”
“I see.” Rayleigh didn’t seem to understand that, but Luffy continued, grinning as he gestured wildly,
“And we got a cook who only fights with his legs. He kicks HARD. He and Zoro fight a lot, but it’s mostly training or letting off steam, since they know they won’t hurt each other more than they can handle.”
“Ah, I knew a couple of kids like that.” Rayleigh chuckled fondly in memory, Luffy bulldozing forward with a grin,
“And-and then we had a princess for a little while, but she had to go back to her kingdom because she loved them, and then we got a transforming reindeer!”
“A Zoan, then?” What was a Zoan? Luffy corrected,
“He ate the hito-hito fruit! Oh, and he’s a doctor, too. He’s still a kid, though, so we all try to protect him when we can.”
“You’re all young, Luffy.” Rayleigh reminded.
“No, Chopper’s only 15. Well, he was 14 when he joined, and then turned 15. That’s little-little!” Rayleigh seemed more amused than understanding, so Luffy moved on. “Then we got Robin! She’s an echo-ichy-” Luffy pouted, trying to remember the word. He didn’t want to mis-introduce her! Rayleigh offered kindly,
“An archeologist?”
“Yeah! She’s super smart, and was always sad when she’s alone, so I hope she finds someone to keep her company until we regroup. Then Franky joined-he’s a pervert shipwright who built the Sunny!”
“Pervert shipwright. I see.”
“He’s also a cyborg, too. I think he built himself, but I don’t remember exactly-he’s nice, just mean.”
“A nice but mean pervert shipwright.” Rayleigh chuckled in genuine amusement.
“And then Brook joined, too. He’s a skeleton musician, and he can play anything-except the French horn, whatever that is.”
“Really? That’s quite a talented musician, then.” Luffy nodded eagerly, smile fading.
“I hope they’re okay. A lot of people they knew were mean or hurt them, and I don’t want people hurting my nakama anymore. That’s why I want to get stronger. So I can do something to keep them safe.” Rayleigh ruffled Luffy’s hair, smiling warmly.
“Not to worry, Captain Luffy. I’ll put you through hell to make you stronger, and I’m sure your crew is doing the same to themselves. They seemed the type to do so.”