Chapter 9: Departure and Arrival

Another chapter at the same time. Thank you to everyone who has Favorited and Followed. I could ask for more Reviews as well, but I won't demand anything. Still, I ask: Please Review to tell me was you like or dislike! I do go through and make final edits before posting, after all.

Chapter 9:

Departure and Arrival

"This is the Going Merry," exclaimed Kaya's other butler, a man with sheep-horn-like decorations in his puffy white hair and, coincidentally, named Merry. "She's a caravel, a slightly older model, but one of the fastest types on the seas. We've taken the liberty to stock her with a full month's worth of food." Little did Merry know that his version of a moth's worth and Luffy's version where very different. The crew were too focused on their new ship to enlighten the butler.

The Going Merry was beautiful, with a red-and-white-striped cross sail and a sheep/ram figurehead. The crow's nest was set at the top of the mast and the area over the crew's quarters was a wide space that could be used for anything. A cannon pointed out under the sheep's head and another lay on the deck, kept from falling into the water by a white-painted railing that surrounded the top of the ship. Luffy instantly claimed the figurehead as his personal seat.

"It's amazing," Nami gasped as her 'temporary' captain and their student swordsman inspected the vessel with excitement. "How can we repay you?"

"No payment is necessary," Kaya waved off, stepping over to stand by her caretaker. "We only ask that you take good care of her."

"We will," the navigator nodded. "I can promise you that."

"Oh," Merry clapped. "Mr. Zoro. I heard that you are teaching the boy Coby, so I added a dojo under the crew's quarters with a full set of weights and a couple of bokken."

"Thank you very much," Zoro smirked, a slightly sadistic/slightly evil look coming across his face. "I'll be sure to train him well." On the ship, Coby gulped.

"HELP MEEEEEEE!" a voice cried. It seemed to come from Usopp, who was literally rolling down the road due to the large and overstuffed backpack he was using.

"Stop him!" Luffy ordered. "He's heading right for the ship!" The straw-hat-wearing teen jumped down before he and his First Mate lifted their left and right legs respectively. Usopp stopped when his face met their soles. On the bright side, his nose was spared thanks to the space between Luffy's sandal and Zoro's boot.

"Thanks," the sniper grunted, standing up and wiping the dirt off of his face. "Now it's time for me to set sail! I hope we meet again on the high seas."

"What are you talking about?" Zoro questioned as he climbed onto the boat. "Get on."

"We're friends, aren't we?" Luffy elaborated, stretching up to grab the railing and scaring Merry in the process. "You're on my crew."

"Yes!" Usopp cheered. "I'm a pirate captain!"

"Like Hell! I'm the captain!"

"Usopp," Kaya whispered, grabbing the teen's arm before he could leave. "I know I can't stop you from leaving. You've been saying your dream was to be a pirate like your father for as long as I've known you, but I'm still going to miss you."

"Don't worry, Kaya," the sniper replied, placing a hand over hers and turning to face the blonde. "Just think; when I get back, I'll have true stories so outrageous they'll sound made up. As the old phrase goes: sometimes truth is stranger than fiction."

"I know," she sighed as she pulled out a piece of paper. "Here's my den-den mushi number, so remember to call. Just... be safe. Ok?" Before Usopp could respond, Kaya leaned in and kissed him on the lips. She pulled back after a few seconds, leaving the long-nosed teen dumbstruck. Usopp floundered, his eyes unfocused and his mouth flopping comically. The rich girl gave him a push to wake his brain up. "Now get going, you. Start having those adventures."

"R-right, the sniper stuttered. "Right. Right! I'll travel the world before coming back to tell you of all my amazing adventures!" He climbed on and the ship departed, Luffy, Coby, and Usopp waving frantically as the island faded into the background.

"I'LL BE BACK, KAYA! WAIT FOR ME!" Usopp's voice echoed over the sea.

"Now let's party!" Luffy cheered. "TO ADVENTURE AND OUR NEW NAKAMA!"

"YEAH!"

The Straw Hats learned a valuable lesson a few days after leaving Gecko Island: don't shoot at random rocks with a cannon or angry bounty hunters will try to wreak your ship.

"Come out, you filthy pirates! I'll teach you to try to kill my partner!" The man was of average height and well-tanned with short black hair and a kanji tattooed on his left cheek. He wore off-white khakis, dull green boots, and a purple shirt under a blue jacket. An average but well-made sword was held in his right hand and sunglasses sat perched on his nose.

"Stop wrecking our ship!" Luffy ordered, bursting out from inside the ship. The man lunged toward the teen, but Luffy had an easy enough time beating him by throwing the bounty hunter into the railing, breaking part of the ship in the process.

"Don't break the Merry, Luffy!" Usopp cried as he exited the dinning hall, the sound of destruction alerting him to the damage.

"What the Hell is going on out here?" Zoro demanded, coming out from below deck where he had been training Coby in the dojo. Said boy followed him, peeking out from behind his teacher. The green-haired man looked down to see the intruder spread eagle on the deck. "What the Hell are you doing here, Johnny?"

The man started at the sound of his name. There was a moment of hesitation during which he took in the form of the green-haired swordsman.

"Big Bro Zoro?" he questioned. "What are you doing here? Why are you on a pirate ship?" He noticed Coby. "And who's the runt?"

"Relax, I'll explain later and the shrimp here is Coby, my student. Where's Yosaku?"

"I... He's..." Johnny started crying and rushed to the side of the ship where another, smaller boat was hooked to the Going Merry. Zoro and Coby followed at a slower rate. On the boat was a man paler than Kaya had been. He had a shaved head covered with a red helmet and he was dressed in a black shirt under a green trench coat. The man also wore yellow and red plaid shorts and brown boots. A bloody bandage was wrapped around his waist and his head was bleeding slowly. This was Yosaku. Johnny explained that they had been on the small rock that the pirates had shot with the cannon as Luffy, Coby, and Usopp carried the other bounty hunter onto the Merry.

"Give it to me straight, Big Bro," Johnny cried. "Is he gonna die?"

"Now don't think that," Zoro tried to reason. Nami made herself known by walking up to and examining the injured man.

"You're all a bunch of morons," she announced. "You three," she pointed at the youngest of the crew, "we've got a bunch of limes in the storage room. Bring some up. You. Johnny, right? Your partner has scurvy."

"Scurvy?" Johnny questioned. "Will he be ok, Big Sis?"

"One: he hasn't been eating right, so he doesn't have enough vitamin C in his bloodstream and should be fine if we get fruit into him soon enough. Two: don't call me Sis." The three Nami had sent down returned and started squeezing juice from four limes into the sick man's open mouth. Yosaku sprang up after five seconds, looking healthy.

"Hooray, hooray!" The two men cheered, dancing together. "Hooray, hooray!"

"You can't be that healthy instantly!" Nami yelled.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves," Johnny said, either ignoring or not hearing the orange-haired girl. "I'm Johnny."

"And I'm Yosaku!"

"And together, we are the best bounty hunting duo in the universe!"

"Big Bro Zoro used to be one of us, too," Johnny continued after their announcement. "Never thought we'd find you on a pirate ship, though." Zoro and Johnny clasped hands and Yosaku went to join only to collapse again.

"Mr. Yosaku!" Coby yelled.

"So... you picked up a student?" Johnny asked in wonder. He and the Straw Hats were lounging in the kitchen/dining room while Yosaku slept off his illness. "You'd always said you'd never do that."

"It's a long story," Zoro waved off. Next to him, Coby was doing push-ups to strengthen himself. "Deeper, Shrimp. They won't help you if you only go halfway."

"Yes, Zoro-sensei," Coby grunted as Nami finished writing in the ship's logbook. She'd taken it upon herself to do so since Luffy's handwriting was terrible and he wouldn't take the time to do it anyway.

"And let that be a lesson, Johnny," she muttered, shutting the book. "You and Yosaku need proper nutrition. I suggest one of you learn how to cook."

"That's something we need!" Luffy shouted. "We need a cook! Right after we get a musician."

"A cook, huh?" Johnny chuckled as Zoro smacked his captain in the back of the head. "If that case, I know the perfect place. It's near the Grand Line, but it's said to be the best restaurant in the world. And there have also been rumors that a certain hawk-eyed man is in the general area."

Zoro's eyes widened. "Which way?" he demanded.

"Set a course north/northeast!"

"I am Marine Lieutenant. 'Iron Fist' Fullbody!" the tan, pink-haired man yelled from the Marine ship sailing alongside the Going Merry. He was dressed in a yellow suit and had a scar on his right cheek. His knuckles were covered in an iron plating that looked like screws. "But you can just call me 'Sir'. Who is the captain of your vessel? I don't recognize your flag." Coby's eyes were shaded at the appearance of another apparently arrogant marine proving to him that the whole system was corrupt. How often does one come across two different, unrelated, and corrupt marines in one week?

"I am," Luffy announced, stepping forward. "I'm Luffy."

"And I'm Usopp!"

"We just painted our flag yesterday," Luffy continued.

"And I'm the one that painted it!"

"Shut up, Usopp," Zoro ordered.

The lieutenant scanned the boat until he saw Johnny and Yosaku trying to hide behind a door. "Aren't you two the bounty Hunter duo that goes around catching small fry?"

"Small fry?" Johnny yelled. "Do you call these people 'small fry'?" He threw a stack of wanted posters into the air, some of them having red Xs on them. Nami grabbed one when she thought no one was looking, but Coby saw it. It was a poster for the infamous fishman, Arlong.

Fullbody didn't seem to care. "They're an eyesore," the marine told his men as he and his lovely date disembarked. "Sink them."

"Yes Sir!"

"They're pointing a cannon at us," Coby warned. "Why are they pointing a cannon at us?"

"I got this," Luffy announced as the cannon fired. He stretched his arms out to grab the mast and the figurehead. "Gum-Gum Slingshot!" The cannonball slammed into him, stretching out his arms and legs (much to the shock of the bounty hunters and the marine's watching). His left hand lost its grip and he tilted. The cannonball shot off as he snapped back to normal, slamming into the restaurant.

"Aww, dammit." Zoro cursed.

End of Chapter 9

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-SwordOfTheGods