Chapter 7:
Kaya and Klahadore
"You knew my father? How? What can you tell me about him?"
"I'll talk about it later. Right now, I need some meat!"
"Well come with me. I know a place." Usopp led them into town, his curiosity overriding his previous hostility.
The Straw Hat Pirates sat in the town's only restaurant with Usopp, the son of Yassop. Luffy was regaling the other 17-year-old with stories of his father from when the Red Hair Pirates had been docked in Fusha Village. The sniper was drinking it up, wanting to learn everything about his father being a brave warrior of the sea.
"So my father is on the crew of Red-Haired Shanks?" Usopp inquired.
"More than just on the crew," Luffy answered. "He's their best sniper. And he was one of Shanks' best friends on the crew. I once watched him shoot the wings off a fly while looking in a mirror!" These words got Usopp riled up, spouting about becoming a pirate like his father. Nami cut him off.
"Actually, we're here on a mission," the girl stated. "Is there anyone you know here that can help us get a boat?"
"Uh..." the self-proclaimed captain got shifty. "Nope! No one here. Not a single person."
"What about the people in that big mansion on the hill?" Zoro asked. "They seem wealthy enough to spare a boat."
"Don't you go anywhere near that mansion!" Usopp shouted before he could catch himself. "Uh... I mean... Oh! Would you look at the time? I've got to go do something very important, SoDon'tFollowOrWaitForMeBye!" The teen bolted out the door, leaving four confused pirates in his wake.
"That wasn't suspicious at all," Nami snarked.
"Maybe he had some chores he had to do?" Coby offered, trying to give the lying male the benefit of the doubt. In the time it took for both of those sentences to be spoken, the crew's captain had consumed all of the uneaten food on the table, resulting in a bulging stomach that only made sense from the inclusion of his Devil Fruit powers. This was the image that greeted three children when they ran into the establishment screaming bloody murder.
"Where is our captain, you dirty pirates?!" the three children yelled. Their eyes landed on Luffy and his unnatural proportions.
"Ah, that meat was good," he sighed, much to the horror of the children.
"Your captain," Zoro smirked, amused with Luffy's choice of words, "was delicious."
"AHHH!" the three screamed as they turned to the lone female. "WITCH!"
"Why'd you turn to me?!" she yelled back. Their act came to an end when Coby broke into a fit of laughter and was soon followed by his teacher and captain.
Luffy and the crew followed the children, who had introduced themselves as Carrot, Onion, and Pepper. They had explained that they were the only members of the Usopp Pirates, minus their namesake, and that said namesake could only be one place at that time of day: the mansion.
"Why would he be there?" Coby questioned, hiking along despite his weariness from the killer workout Zoro had put him through that morning.
"He goes there to lie," Carrot responded.
"What?" Nami demanded. "That asshole goes there to lie to people?"
"The woman who lives there, Kaya, has had a severe case of depression ever since her parents died in an accident a year ago," Carrot elaborated, shrinking away from the scary woman. "Captain Usopp goes there every day to tell her stories to cheer her up."
"Well, then I guess that's ok," Nami amended, still miffed at the thought of lying to an innocent person.
"Let's go ask her to give us a ship," Luffy reasoned. "She sounds nice." Despite the sighs, the group made their way to the large house, skirting around the gate and its guards.
"How are we going to get in?" Coby wondered aloud, staring at the tall, iron-wrought fence that loomed over them.
"Like this." The rubber-man jumped up and grabbed the top of the fence, letting his weight stretch his arms, much to the horror of the Usopp Pirates. "Gum-Gum-!"
"No wait!" Nami, Zoro, and Coby cried, grabbing Luffy in an attempt to stop him. The three children also grabbed on.
"Pardon the intrusion!" All seven were launched into the air as Luffy's arms snapped back to normal length.
Usopp, who was on a tree branch, had been telling Kaya about the time he, at five-years-old, had fought a giant goldfish when seven people he recognized fell from the sky and landed in a cloud of dirt.
"That was so much fun!" Luffy cheered, jumping to his feet.
"No it wasn't!" everyone else shouted, punching him in the back of the head.
"Goodness!" cried a very pale, blond-haired woman dressed in a baby-blue dress. Her big, light brown eyes looked at the group worriedly. "Are you all ok?"
"Don't worry about them," Usopp tried to wave off. "They're just some fans that wanted to join the Usopp Pirates."
"Nope," Luffy denied. "Not me. I actually wanted to talk to you. You're... Uh..."
"Kaya," Coby whispered to him.
"You're Kaya, right?"
"Yes I am," the woman answered. "And you?"
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, and these three are my First Mate Zoro, our swordsman, Coby, swordsman-in-training, and Nami, our navigator."
"Temporary navigator," Nami interjected.
"It's nice to meet you," Kaya smiled, "but why are you here?"
"We wanted to ask for a favor. We need a boat-"
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" a new voice demanded. Everyone turned to find a black-haired man wearing a suit. His hair was slicked back and a pair of round glasses rested on his face while black-and-gray striped shoes adorned his feet. He did not even try to hide his look of disgust when his eyes land on the form of Usopp standing in the tree by Kaya's window. "On second thought, I don't care. Get out. You are all trespassing illegally."
"But Klahadore," Kaya argued. "These people were-"
"I don't care what these people were doing." The man adjusted his glasses using the palm of his hand. "Their presence here is very detrimental to your health. You... eight must leave immediately."
"Actually Klahadore-"
"Not now, Miss Kaya. When your parents died, your care was entrusted to me. I cannot have you associating with ruffians like this son of sea trash."
"Don't you dare badmouth my father!" Usopp ordered. "He is a brave warrior of the sea on one of the world's most famous crews!"
"Your father is nothing but a no-name outlaw. Even when not here, pirates still influence their children." Klahadore tutted. "It just goes to show that it is in their DNA to be lowlifes. I will say it once more: leave immediately."
"Cease this at once, Klahadore!" Kaya shouted angrily. "Apologize!"
"Calm down, Kaya," Usopp placated. "This is my argument."
"I have no obligation to apologize to the son of such filthy trash like this ruffian."
"Don't insult my father ever again," Usopp ordered, forgetting his own advice and losing his own temper as he slid down the tree. He stomped toward Klahadore and, without warning, punched him in the face.
"Case in point," Klahadore muttered, sitting up with a bruise forming on his face, "he resorts to violence when words fail him. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?" Usopp reached out, grabbing a fistful of Klahadore's shirt and prepared to punch him again.
"Usopp!" Kaya cried. "Stop! Please, stop! I can't take any more violence. Please, Klahadore isn't a bad person. He's just misguided!"
"Fine," Usopp growled, releasing the man roughly. "I'm leaving. Happy now? You'll never see me here again." Usopp stomped away, not reacting to Kaya's apologies.
"That was very rude of you, Klahadore," Kaya stated after he'd gone. "You're such a buzzkill."
"Buzzkill is a title I will gladly bare if it keeps you safe, Miss Kaya," Klahadore responded, straitening out his uniform. "Now you all. Please make your way off the premises as well." The three children that would follow Usopp like lost puppies began shouting at the butler, calling him every name they could think of, but Coby's voice cut through theirs.
"Yes, sir. It was nice speaking to you, Miss Kaya. I hope we see you again. Come on, guys." The crew, plus three boys being dragged, exited the estate, startling the guards that had been unaware of their entry. Luffy declared that he was going to go find Usopp while the vegetable trio had to head home to do chores. The final three went back to the only other place they knew in the town to await the return of their captain and, hopefully, a happier sniper.
The moment Usopp ran by the group sitting by the side of the road without saying anything, they knew something was wrong. His faithful trio saying that he was wearing a very distraught expression just made it worse. They followed his trail to his special spot, the place Carrot said he went when he was sad or angry.
They found Luffy at the bottom of the cliff, his hat on the ground next to him. His head was stuck underneath his body at a very unnatural angle and he wasn't moving.
"Did he fall all the way from the top of the cliff?" Onion asked in worry.
"No doubt about it," Pepper sighed. "He's a goner."
"Captain Luffy!" Coby cried dramatically, tears falling from his eyes. "Noooooo!"
"Zzzzzzz."
"What the?" Nami wondered aloud.
"Heh," Zoro smirked, walking up to his captain's body. He poked Luffy's butt with one of his swords.
"Zzzzzzz. *Yawn* What a great nap."
"You're alive?" Usopp's followers yelled.
"Captain Luffy!" Coby shouted, running forward and hugging the teen. "We thought you were dead! I can't imagine if you were dead! I don't know if-" BONK! "Ow! Why'd you hit me?"
"Felt like it," Luffy answered. "Oh. By the way, pirates are going to be attacking the town tomorrow."
"WHAT?!"
"That's not something you casually say!" Nami cried.
"Yeah. That butler guy is their captain and he was talking to this really weird guy with sunglasses. He said that he wants them to kill Kaya so he can inherit her money. I don't remember anything after that, though I think I yelled at them."
"Well it looks like we've got only one course of action," Carrot nodded sagely. "We've got warn the village and run."
"Yeah," Onion and Pepper agreed. The trio then ran away screaming like little girls.
"We have to hurry," Luffy said quickly. "We need to get all the meat we can before the meat store guy leaves!"
"That's not important, you idiot," Zoro chastised.
"Why don't we find Usopp and get his help? He lives here after all." Coby suggested. The boy had a good point, and Luffy was starting to want the sniper on the crew, so they went looking for the long-nosed teen. Or more accurately, he came to them before they could leave.
Usopp was in a bad state. He had multiple bruises and welts across his body, his nose looked to be broken, and his left arm freely bled from a bullet hole. He explained that he had tried to warn the village, but that all his previous lying had come back to bite him; they hadn't believed a single word he'd said. Then he'd tried to kidnap Kaya in a last ditch effort to save her from Klahadore's, or rather, Captain Kuro's plans, but Merry, Kaya's other butler, had shot him and the villagers beaten him with brooms and other such tools. Despite all this, he still wanted to save the village.
"I want to save this town, too," Coby stated. "Those people don't deserve to be overrun by pirates."
"I want all their treasure."
"I just want to cut something."
"I just want a fight."
"So what is everyone good at?" Usopp asked.
"Stretching."
"Cutting."
"Stealing."
"Getting beaten up."
"...and hiding," Usopp finished dejectedly. "We're screwed, aren't we?"
"Don't worry," Luffy told him. "We can do this." The group began preparations for the next morning.
End of Chapter 7
Not my best chapter, but Read and Review!
-SwordOfTheGods