Chapter 3 : Combat , Loyalty and choice

In the middle of East Blue's vast sea, the ship of Alvida, a fearsome pirate, cut through the waves with power. The pirates aboard were bustling about, obeying the every whim of their captain, a woman as fierce as she was vain. Among them was Koby, a puny, pink-haired young man who secretly dreamed of becoming a sailor.

In one of the ship's cabins, other stowaways slept peacefully in a barrel, Ryu and Luffy, who during their journey at sea were attacked by a whirlwind that destroyed their boat, leaving them both to take shelter in a barrel.

The calm of the sea was suddenly disturbed by a loud crash. The noise woke Ryu, who yawned as he stretched, still drowsy. He struggled to get up from the barrel to see what was going on.

Looking out Ryu saw a young pink-haired man being shouted at by three pirates before being left alone in the cabin. 

"What's going on here?" asked Ryu, lazily shocking the pink-haired boy. 

"What, have you lost your tongue?" asked Ryu, stepping out of the barrel to approach the boy. 

"No sir" replied the boy quickly with fear 

"Wow... calm down buddy, what's your name?" asked Ryu as he lay down on some plates 

"Koby sir" replied Koby 

"Ahhh... you're weird" said Ryu lazily raising his hand. 

As Ryu's hand was raised, a cloud appeared just above the barrel from which it had come. 

"Amagumo" said Ryu lazily. 

The cloud above the barrel began to darken before letting a shower of rain fall into the barrel, after a few seconds someone panicked out of the barrel. 

"AHHHHH.... Ryu the water came in !!!!!!" shouted Luffy 

"Stop shouting, I'm doing it on purpose to wake you up" explained Ryu. 

"Hein.... why do you want me to wake up" asked Luffy with his head tilted to the side. 

"So I can sleep" replied Ryu before falling asleep. 

"HEEEEEEYYYY IDIOT" shouted Luffy. 

Ryu didn't move and continued to sleep, while Luffy chatted with Koby, but after a few minutes Ru woke up to a lot of noise. 

"Ehhh...you have no respect.... I'm trying to sleep in peace" said Ryu, rubbing his eyes. 

"Who are you!!!!!!!" shouted Alvida's crew. 

Ryu didn't answer the question but instead looked at the big thing in front of him 

"Who's the whale?" asked Ryu lazily, pointing at Alvida.

"SHISHISHISHISHISHISHI" laughed Luffy next to the shocked Koby. 

"Bastards!!!!" shouted Alvida

"SHISHISHIS... Come on Ryu it's our first fight as pirates, let's go !!!!" said Luffy as he launched himself into the fight. 

"I suppose there's something I can do. " replied Ryu, still a little sleepy with a shrug. 

"Kiri no Bēru"

Ryu concentrated, raising his arms to the sky. Quickly, clouds formed and moved towards the ship. They obscured the pirates' view, plunging the deck into a thick mist.

"Who did this?" shouted Alvida, furious.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Luffy rushed at Alvida and hit her with a powerful punch.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol" shouted Luffy as he threw his fist with his outstretched arm. 

Alvida was sent flying across the deck, crashing against the railing. The remaining pirates, disoriented by the fog and their captain's defeat, could do nothing to stop them.

 "You've done it!" exclaimed Koby, dumbstruck as he looked at Luffy and Ryu.

"Not bad for a start, I suppose. "Ryu replied, satisfied with his minimal effort, and went to lean against the mast. 

Luffy, laughed and helped Koby aboard a small lifeboat.

"Come on, let's go" said Luffy to Ryu from the small boat.

"Ok captain" replied Ryu before climbing into the small boat. 

In the middle of the Ocean Koby , Luffy and Ryu had a conversation about Roronoa Zoro , the Pirate hunter. 

"So you're saying that Zoro is a demon?" said Ryu lazily. 

"Yes, he's a monster in human form you shouldn't recruit him" explained Koby in a panic. 

"I'm really looking forward to meeting Zoro. You say he's the best swordsman in the world. He'd be perfect for our crew!" replied Luffy with a big smile. 

"The captain has spoken," said Ryu, looking up at the sky. 

"But Luffy, Zoro is known as a pirate hunter. He could be dangerous for you" explained Koby fearfully. 

"I've decided he'll join, so he'll join." replied Luffy seriously. 

"Hmm, pirate hunter, eh? Does that mean he knows how to fight?" asked Ryu, lazily stretched out on a pile of ropes, barely paying attention to the conversation.

"You're not even following the conversation, we've already said he's the strongest swordsman in the world" said Koby with a face full of fear.

"The strongest in the world, I doubt it.... But if he's as strong as you say, it could be an asset for us. He could do all the hard work while I take a nap." said Ryu lazily. 

"SHISHI , it's true! With him, I'm sure we'll be a real pirate crew together" said Luffy cheerfully, turning to look out to sea. 

"But it's really risky, he could attack you after you've had him, or worse, kill you.... Ryu says something? "Koby continued, trying to prevent them from taking Zoro with them. 

"Shut up Koby, these are the captain's words..... My loyalty to Luffy comes before my laziness. If he thinks Zoro's a good addition, then I'll do whatever it takes to help recruit him. After all, a good captain deserves a supportive crew, even if it takes a little more effort than I'd usually put into it." explained Ryu about why he didn't tell Luffy about his choice to take Zoro from the crew 

"SHISHISHISHI" laughed Luffy.