Chapter 6: Usopp The Liar

I am really disappointed in this chapter. Well, not really disappointed, but it's a whole lot shorter than the others. Don't get me wrong; it's very important for the beginnings of character development, but I just couldn't make it any longer or combine it with the next chapter. Oh, well.

Chapter 6:

Usopp the Liar

The crew of four were sailing along in two small boats strapped together. The bigger of the two, which held Nami, Coby, and their meager food stores, had a small cabin and a black sail with the emblem of the Buggy Pirates. The other held Luffy, Zoro, and the treasure. They had started out with the treasure and the food places swapped, but that was soon changed from Luffy's eating habits. Nami, with the help of Coby, was navigating both vessels toward a small island where they should be able to get supplies and one bigger boat.

Eventually they reached a point where Nami could sail both boats without help, leaving Coby to his thoughts. He was thinking about the strength shown by both his Captain and the First Mate and how he had really done nothing to help in the fight against Buggy. Building his resolve, he spoke up.

"So, Z-Zoro?"

"What is it, Shrimp?"

"I-I was w-wondering-"

"Don't stutter. Speak up."

"I was wondering," Coby said again, louder, "Could you teach me swordsmanship?"

There was silence for a moment. Both Luffy and Nami were now watching the discussion with interest; nothing else was happening anyway. "You want to learn how to use a sword?"

"Actually, I want to use two swords."

"You want to learn Two Sword Style from me?" Zoro asked. Coby nodded in response. "Why?"

"Because I did nothing to help last time," the rosette responded. "I want to be able to do something in our next fight. You and Captain Luffy are so strong, but I'm not. I can't really learn to fight from Captain Luffy since I can't stretch, but I can learn from you."

"I'll warn you right now that I've never taught anyone before, so if I do teach you, it would be the way I learned and taught myself. It will probably be harsh and make you want to quit. Still interested?"

Coby was visibly shaking, but he still nodded his head. "Y-yes."

"You don't sound certain."

"Yes, I am. I'm certain."

"Good. We can start right now." Zoro threw Coby one of his swords with the sheath still on. The boy was unable to catch it, something that did not shock the green-haired man, but he managed to keep it in the boat. "Lift it," the older man ordered.

The pink-haired pirate gasped the handle with both hands and raised the sword. He pointed it away from the viewers, not trusting himself to not accidentally hurt one of them, even with the sheath still on the blade.

"That's a good start," Zoro commented, "but you've got a lot of problems. For one thing, that's a one-handed sword. So use it as such."

"What?" Coby asked. He was only holding it without shaking because he had two hands on it. He'd known he was weak, but that weak?

"Take your weaker hand off." Coby hesitated, but did as told. He removed his left hand. Almost immediately, the tip of the blade hit the deck. With visible strain, Coby tried to lift the sword with only one hand, but the tip only rose about seven inches. "Right," Zoro sighed. "That's not going to work."

Coby was put out. He'd never learn to use a sword; he was just too weak. He should throw himself over the side and not burden-

"Shrimp, drop and give me 50 push-ups."

"B-but I can't do that many."

"Then do as many as you can," Zoro ordered. "Until you can lift one of these blades with each hand, I can't teach you the way of the sword. We'll see if I can get some bokken on the next island to start earlier since they aren't as heavy, but until then, we'll just have to whip you into shape." Coby was speechless. "Well?"

"Uh, yes, Zoro-sensei!" The boy dropped to the deck and started exercising.

"Zoro-sensei," the swordsman mused. "I like the sound of that."

"Dammit, Luffy!" Nami yelled, breaking Zoro out of his thoughts. "Stay away from the food!" Zoro gave a hardy laugh as Coby continued to pump his arms up and down, a light sheen of sweat already starting to appear across his brow.

Four people were spying on the ships that had just landed on the northernmost cape of Gecko Island. As they watched, three people, two men and a woman, exited the ships, leaving behind a panting boy who was lying in a puddle of sweat. The first male, a teen with a mop of black hair under a straw hat, yawned as he stepped onto the white sand. He wore a red vest and blue jean shorts with sandals. This teen also had a scar under his left eye.

"So this is the island you were talking about?" he asked, directing the question at the woman. "It's pretty small. I hope we can get enough meat."

"You never have enough meat," the second man remarked. He was dressed in long black pants with matching boots, a white t-shirt, and had short green hair with a sash the same color around his waist. He held three sheathed swords in his right hand and had a dark green bandana tied around his left arm.

"I'm more worried about Coby," the woman commented before rounding on the swordsman. "I can't believe you did that to him!" The female of the group had short orange hair, a horizontally striped blue and white shirt, and an orange skirt with raised sandals. "You pushed him way too hard!" She gestured the boy in the smaller boat.

The boy in question was short. He was dressed in a shirt that was reminiscent of Marine uniforms, had shorts similar to the first man, tennis shoes, and blue glasses. Straight pink hair stuck to his head and his skin shone like he had just gone swimming.

"He asked for it," the man shrugged. "How else am I going to train him? Plus I warned him." He froze, gripping his swords before turning to the hiding place of the four, eavesdropping people. "We've got company."

"That's right!" called the tallest native present. He stood on a cliff facing the intruders, is arms crossed a look of superiority on his tanned face. The teen was dressed in brown overalls with a white sash around his waist and brown shoes. His curly, black hair was held back by a green bandana and a pair of goggles, and a large circular purse (I mean... satchel) hung from his neck. A long nose stuck out from his head and was as plain as the nose on his... nevermind. Aa green slingshot was Pulled out from his satchel (man-purse) and aimed at the three on the beach. "Don't you dare take another step or else my crew of 80 million men will attack!"

Behind the man, pirate flags were raised in groups of three until the entire coastline was filled with them. The symbol on the flags was a skull with a long nose and a slingshot. "I am the brave Captain Usopp of the Usopp Pirates and the town of this island is under my protection!"

"Usopp?" Straw Hat muttered. "I've heard that name before."

"You have?" the teen gaped. "I mean, of course you have! I'm famous across the world, after all! Now be gone, pirates!"

"80 million followers?" the woman scoffed. "My guess for the real number is three."

"Crap!" three voices cried out. "She knows!" Six flags that had been moving dropped to the ground and three boys ran away toward the center of the island, leaving the oldest behind.

"Wait! Don't leave me here alone!" He was visibly shaken, but the teen still pretended to have confidence. The boy in the boat hoisted himself up with difficulty and drug himself onto the beach to see what all the commotion was.

"So 80 million was a bit of an overstatement," Usopp conceded, "but they don't call me Usopp the Brave for nothing! I can rival anyone with a gun!"

"Do it then," the other teen ordered in a serious tone, his hat shadowing his eyes. The woman and boy were staring at him in surprise. "Guns were made for action, not threats. So do it; pull the trigger."

Usopp stood there, shaking nearly as bad as Coby had been when trying to raise Zoro's sword. Said swordsman smirked and prepped his favorite weapon, egging the sniper on. 30 seconds passed before Usopp gave in, falling to the dirt.

"I'm pathetic," he cried. "I can't even protect my town."

"Shishishi!" Luffy Laughed. "I stole that from Shanks. Don't worry about it, Usopp. Oh! Now I know where I heard that name. You're Yassop's son, aren't you?" Usopp jerked and fell off the cliff, surprised. He tumbled to the beach, but recovered quickly. Leaping to his feet, Usopp shuffled over to Luffy.

"You know my father? How? What can you tell me about him?"

"I'll talk about it later," Luffy responded as his stomach growled. "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.

End of Chapter 6

As usual, Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods