Ragnazard Island [I]

It was all black.

Then it wasn't.

I woke up, my head aching from the immense pain of whatever happened. Wait, hold on, where am I?

I was reading One Piece, having just completed the Gear 5 VS Kaido fight, and I was extremely tired, so I fell asleep.

I felt a strange connection. I definitely thought to myself that I'd belong more in the world of One Piece.

And now here I lay, head blaring and a sign in front of me which clearly says "Stansel Town". Of course, being my normal self, I'd have my doubts about this location.

But it doesn't seem I am my normal self, apparently. I have no doubt in my mind that I am in the world of One Piece. What the fuck is going on??

Or so I want to wonder, but I can't. It just feels so right to be here, and I don't feel one bit of panic.

'I gotta check what body I'm in.' I stood up and checked myself.

'I'm a reasonable size.'

Seems I'm an adult. Or a teenager. I couldn't tell without a mirror. I did have a bit of scruffy hair on my face, perhaps I had a short beard.

But what was truly odd was that on the left side of my waist lay a sword. A circular, golden hilt with a dark green handle with its blade hidden by a matching dark green sheathe with golden highlights.

Upon unsheathing the blade, it seemed fairly unremarkable; a double-sided straight blade. It was not remarkably tall or short, the actual blade being about as large as my own torso.

I put the blade back in its sheathe and began pacing around the town, looking for any hints of where I may be.

Though to my shock, there seemed to be someone I seemed familiar very close to me, walking the other way.

A considerable distance ahead, I immediately recognised a man.

Heat, a member of the Kidd Pirates in the story, along with a group of bandits behind him. My little doubts about being in One Piece were immediately erased.

Somehow, something in my mind whispered to me the truth: it is indeed who you think it is.

His scars and scarecrow-like appearance were immediately recognisable, but what wasn't was the length of his hair. The colour was correct, but it was shorter and more well kept than the Heat I knew.

That being said, he did also seem a little bit younger than in the manga..

Maybe he hadn't joined Kidd yet?

I'm very familiarised with Kidd's backstory. Crush of he and the other gang leaders gets killed by another gang leader, they kill him, the remaining gang leaders form the Kidd pirates. Simple as.

But if Heat is walking around in these parts, that must also mean that this is his territory.

With that thought, I was immediately stopped in my place by a remark.

"You. Who are you to publicly carry a weapon around these parts?" Heat remarked towards me.

The whisper was back. He speaks with malicious intent, perhaps preparing to attack you depending on how you respond. Be wise.

'Why is there a voice in my head?!' I thought to myself. 'Maybe it's my subconcious.'

"I'm a sailor—I drifted to this island after a horrible crash," I said in the most casual and friendly tone possible.

Heat's face suddenly looked calculative. He doesn't truly buy it. He still considers you a possible threat, but most of his ill intent disappeared.

'I'm definitely not looking for a fight here. I shouldn't even be trusted with a damn sword.'

"If you stay here, you will be considered a resident. Leave now, or pay the fee," Heat menacingly threatened me.

He's definitely not fucking with you. It's serious.

"I would leave, but you see, my boat was annihiliated in the crash and lost in the ocean. All that remains was me," I tried to convince him with my strongest, most friendly rhetoric—not a strong suit of mine, but should do the trick.

He's inspecting you. He likely believes you are lying about all of those things due to the fact you look unscathed; no visible damages to clothing, body or hair. The voice said.

"I'll be generous. Buy a boat right now and get out of this island. Or, if you want to to stay, pay the residency fee," this was said with an emotion-less tone, preparing for a fight.

"Sir, it doesn't seem like I have any money on me, could I just-"

"I see, that's too bad. Do not attempt to plead."

Without warning, a blast of fire shot towards me from his mouth. It wasn't very quick and I was familiar with this ability, but it still surprised me regardless. I managed to dash backwards into a narrow road in between a set of lines containing many buildings, avoiding the attack unscathed and beginning my escape. As I was dashing, I heard the 5 or so bandits scramble under Heat's orders to find me, and a couple proceeding into the path I was running down.

My left foot kicked up a fairly decently sized rock and was grabbed by my left hand. The two bandits behind me did not pay much attention to this, instead choosing to continue chasing me.

I turned around and gripped the stone tight. The path was only large enough for 1 person in front of the other.

In other words, there was nowhere to go.

I threw the stone with my adrenaline-filled body and to my surprise, ended up flying quite far. This body must be a lot more powerful than my original one.

The rock flew and ended up colliding paths with the bandit at the front, hitting him on the top of the head as he attempted to protect his face with his arms crossed over.

He was knocked out and fell backwards, pushing the bandit behind him and knocking him off his feet.

I grabbed the hilt of my blade, and with great finesse, I equipped the blade and rushed towards the other pirate.

Clash. A voice in my head instructed me. 'That's a different voice to the last one..'

I change my grip from one hand to two hands and swung it into the bandit as hard as I could. He hit my blade with his cutlass, though due to his thrown-off balance, he lost the clash and fell to the ground. His cutlass fell to the ground and left him vulnerable, and after a bit of struggling I hit him in the head with the dull front of my blade, putting him in a temporary sleep.

I kept hold of my blade and escaped the narrow path, immediately turning aggressively to inspect my area. Heat and the other 3 bandits were right there—only a small distance away from me. They rushed towards me, knocking over civillians and stands in their attempt to get to me.

It was an open area, there was nowhere for me to hide. I had to fight.

I ran into a crowd of civillians and ducked behind a trolley of cabbages. As the group rushed forward, I remained behind the trolley and did not make a noise.

I saw the bandits keep dashing forward, assuming I simply outpaced them.

I stopping ducking behind my cover and ran the other way, trying to find sanctuary.

"Where do you think you're going?" Heat suddenly came face to face with me and shot another blast of fire from his mouth.

'Shit, I thought he was with the bandits £cuz he was previously..'

The fire hit me directly and turned me into a monster of ash. I could feel the burns all over my body, and it fucking hurt.

Adrenaline rushed in my body, stronger than ever. My blood pumped with insane speed and I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly with my right hand.

The ash cloud that was created obstructed both my and Heat's vision.

While this played to my advantage, it also meant I could not see. Yet surprisingly, my mind was clear, and my intuiton told me to swing.

I took a swift step forwards and unknowingly slashed in front of me, ripping through the ash cloud and dissipating the blockage.

Contact. My sword glided through an unknown material and I then heard a painful exclaim. My eyes were no longer covered by the dust, and I was able to see Heat, blood splashing from his mouth with a decently large wound on his chest.

'Damn, I did that?'

But now wasn't the time to be shocked at my own power. I had to move. Heat prepared another fireball from his mouth, and I prepared my attack.

If the only way he can attack me is by shooting fire out of his mouth, I can just stop him from doing that altogether, and by extension, stop his offense.

I positioned my blade to face towards me. As he was about to shoot another fireball, my hand swiftly moved towards him and hit Heat's stomach with the bottom of the hilt.

"Argh!"

A couple embers mixed with blood left his mouth and his exhale was cut short.

'There we go.'

I spun my blade back around, pointing the tip at his chest and swung it. I could have pierced him and killed him on the spot, but to be honest I don't want to have someone's death on my conscience or change what happens in the rest of the story, no matter how insignificant.

He fell to the floor and yelled in pain. He might bleed out if nobody comes to get him, but the bandits would for sure return soon—I needed to seek sanctuary.

I ran away to the mountain just on the edge of town, hiking up as quick as I could. The path was jagged and rough and my burn wounds ached, but I continued on. If I was caught, it may mean my death.

'I'm lucky he decided to get in close instead of holding me off from afar.. one more of those fireballs and I'd probably be nothing more than a chunk of ash.'

I reached the summit of the mountain, a desolate and grey area with contorted trees. Their barks were a light gray, with an orange tint to the rare leaf.

What stood out, though, was a colorful hut close to my location. It looked inviting, and smoke was beaming out of the chimney, so I knew it was inhabited.

After careful consideration, I decided I had no better option. Besides, why would any gangster or enemy choose to live in a friendly, colorful hut on top of a mountain?

I reached the entrance and was about to knock, when the door suddenly swung open by an old chubby man with a pan.

"What do you want, bandit?!"