The day was calm and warm. The sun shone brightly upon the small caravel with the goat figurehead and the blank canvas sail. A sixteen-year-old girl with a straw hat sat happily on her 'special seat,' otherwise known as the figurehead. Behind her on the upper deck a seventeen-year-old tomboyish girl wearing a leather jacket, tennis shoes, jeans, and a bright orange shirt sat on the railing, the long scarlet-colored hair she had blowing in the slight breeze.
That was me, Yuril Emilia Lily Rose Artwaltz, or as I'm more commonly known in this new world I'm in, Artwaltz D. Yuril.
Just last night I had joined the crazy pirate crew known as the Straw Hats after falling from the sky and landing on the lower deck, effectively freaking out Usopp, or so I'm told. Then again, it doesn't take much to scare that wimp. When I came to, I was introduced to Zoro, the green-haired first mate, Nami, the cute orange haired navigator, and Lucy, the captain. Naturally, when I realized Luffy wasn't captain, I freaked out internally, but I'm slowly adjusting to the fact that he's a girl in this world. Apparently whenever that bastard Aes ripped me from my own world and threw me in this one, he put me in a different dimension than the anime and manga.
Just my luck, right?
Today marks my first day as a Straw Hat. I've been having mixed feelings about being one ever since I woke up in the cabin this morning. For one thing, I joined as their psychic, and if all of what Aes said is true, then I'm also a demigod, which they know nothing about. Joining their crew would make them help me on this quest he said I have to take, and that could put the whole crew in danger. I can't do that to them! I mean, I know they're super strong and they almost never lose any battles they face, but still! We're talking about gods and demons here.
As I thought about all this, I found myself unconsciously humming the tune to the second ending of One Piece, Run, Run, Run. I immediately stopped.
"Hey, why'd you stop, Yuril?" Lucy whined from the figurehead. "That was a cool tune!"
I blushed, embarrassed that somebody heard me. A street kid wasn't supposed to sing. Or hum. Or whistle. Or anything like that. Then again, here in the One Piece universe, anything was possible, including Luffy being a girl.
I was having a bit of a hard time coming to terms with that.
Let's face it. A girl Luffy is just weird. I mean, sure it sounds like a cool idea in fanfiction, but when you meet her in real life, there's a whole bunch of awkward situations involved. For instance, earlier this morning, Lucy accidentally fell into the ocean while fishing and I had to jump in to save her. Well, once we got back on deck and I had stomped all the water out of her stomach (it didn't hurt her because she was rubber, after all), she took off her wet shirt. If it wasn't for her bandages, which she'd gotten from her fight with Kuro, Lucy would've flashed me her chest and my face probably would've been red enough to attract every bull in a fifty-mile radius, but luckily she did have those bandages.
Thank goodness for crazy con men.
Anyway, Lucy kept complaining about me not humming, and a tic mark pulsed on the back of my head. "Just shut up already, I'm not gonna hum," I muttered.
"You're no fun," the captain pouted.
"Yeah, well, you're shameless," I grumbled.
"What's shameless? Is it a food?"
Cue sweatdrop. "…No."
"Meh." She went back to her seat on the figurehead.
"Say, Lucy, why's that spot so special?"
She turned to me and grinned. "It reminds me of the time I got my scar and promised Shanks I'd learn to swim!"
I nodded. "Makes sense, I guess."
"Wait, do you mean Red Haired Shanks?" Nami asked. She'd just come from the kitchen and had apparently overhead part of our conversation. "You mentioned him on Gecko Island. How do you know him, anyway?"
"He visited my hometown when I was six," Lucy told us happily. "He's super awesome!"
"Oh."
As the day dragged on, I met Usopp, who came out of the boy's cabin and began developing random pachinko stars for his slingshot. Why he used a slingshot was beyond me. I mean, a pistol would be better for a sniper, but whatever. He claimed he was captain, but I shot down that lie quickly. I didn't really like Usopp until after the Enies Lobby Arc; sure, he was great for comic relief, but all that stuff about him being the captain was disrespectful to Luffy, even if he didn't mean for it to be.
I had mixed feelings about being on the crew. On the one hand, I'd be putting them in great danger, like I'd said before. On the other hand, I might not survive in this world without their help. The Grand Line was extremely dangerous, after all, with random weather patterns and dangerous pirate crews, and since I knew nothing about navigation, sailing it alone would amount to suicide.
Thus, I hadn't officially joined the crew yet. They were still waiting for my answer. Lucy seemed to think I'd just join, though, and I had to admit, it was a tempting offer. Ever since I first discovered the One Piece anime, I'd wished that I could be a crew member of the Straw Hats, and now, unbelievably, I had that chance. All the same, if I joined, I'd eventually have to break it to them that I'm not actually from this world. I wasn't sure how they'd take that. And what would their reactions be when they found out I was actually a demigod? If Aes was to be trusted, after all.
My mind was a battlefield, and it was eating me up on the inside.
"Hey, Yuril-chan, what's up?" Nami asked me at breakfast. "You seem like you're troubled."
"Am I really so easy to read?" I sighed. "Yeah, I don't know whether to join or not." I whacked Lucy's hand, which had stretched over to take my food. Since we didn't actually have a cook yet, all we were eating was some PB&J's and apples. I didn't even know they had peanut butter in this world.
"It's not polite to steal other people's food, Lucy-chan," I reprimanded. "I know the bandits that you lived with constantly stole each others's food, but we're different from them. We won't steal your food."
"Lucy lived with mountain bandits?" Usopp asked in some surprise. His nose was really long! I mean, the anime and manga didn't do it justice. You couldn't appreciate its length until you saw it in real life. "I guess that explains why she steals our food all the time, then..."
Zoro gave a 'tch' sound that clearly stated he didn't trust me yet. I didn't care one bit. He'd been a bit of a jerk to me all morning.
"I hate most bandits, but the Dadan Family's nice," Lucy told us happily through a mouthful of sandwich.
"For mountain bandits, they are a good natured bunch," I agreed.
"How did you know that, anyway, Yuril-chan?" Usopp said with an eyebrow raised.
"She's a psychic," Nami informed him.
"EH?! A psychic?! Sugoi..."
"Tha's whu ai said!" Lucy managed. She still hadn't swallowed.
"Kuso-psychic."
"What was that, Marimo?"
At the mention of the jerk swordsman's nickname, Nami and Usopp let loose a chuckle. Zoro's head really did look moss-covered... I wasn't sure why Zoro ticked me off so much, but he just did. In the anime, he'd been one of my favorite characters because he was so badass and loyal, but in real life he got on my nerves. I seemed to get on his nerves, too. The feeling was mutual.
Zoro glared at me. "Eh? Wanna repeat that, Twitch?"
A fiery aura erupted around me. I haven't mentioned it before because it's kind of embarrassing, but I've got Tourette's Syndrome. Not the kind that makes you swear a lot when you're nervous, but the kind that makes your eye twitch. "YOU WANNA GO, BROKEN COMPASS?!"
Zoro's aura was icy. "BRING IT, SHITTY PSYCHIC!"
I clenched my fist. Usopp gulped and scooted to the back wall. Lucy was laughing her heart out, her straw hat sitting lopsided on her head. "HAWK PUNCH!" I bellowed.
"ONI GIRI!" Zoro growled, pulling out his swords.
The attacks met each other at the midpoint. I surprised myself; I didn't even get hurt. In fact, it seemed that the blows were equal in strength.
"Not too shabby, shitty-pyschic," he smirked.
"You're not too bad yourself, Marimo," I growled.
—POW! POW!
"Don't you two start fighting!" Nami barked, looking rather shark-like.
Damn, that girl could be scary. Zoro and I sat back down in our seats, nursing bumps on our heads. Like most things I'd been discovering lately, although Nami's demoness-like anger was funny in the anime, it was much different when you experienced it first-hand.
"Scary..." Usopp whimpered from his corner.
I couldn't blame him for thinking that. Truthfully, Nami scared me a little, too.
After breakfast was over, we all did different things. Lucy started working on something on the lower deck, while I took up the job of lookout. Nami went back to her navigation and Usopp fooled around by playing pirate on the upper deck. Zoro slept.
An hour passed uneventfully. Then Lucy shouted, "I'm finished!"
"With what?" I called back.
"Look, our pirate mark! Now that you've joined, we'd got five people! I'd say it's time we got a flag."
"Oh. And hey, I haven't joined yet, idiot!"
I joined the rest of the crew in reviewing her job. And let me just say this: IT. FREAKIN'. SUCKED.
Now, I'm usually not one to criticize unless the person I'm critiquing happens to piss me off, like Zoro, but that looked like SHIT. It was such a poor paint job it wasn't even FUNNY. Zoro's, Nami's, and Usopp's faces were fixed in various degrees of horror, and mine wasn't too far behind.
"A pirate mark is supposed to be scary. It should strike fear into our enemies's hearts," Zoro said with a frown.
"If our enemies were terrified infants, than this would be perfect." Nami supplied.
"It gives a new definition to 'abstract,'" I offered, sweatdropping. I felt like I've been doing that a lot lately.
Usopp grinned. "You guys really should've told me about this. You may not know this about me, but I happen to be an artist."
Zoro raised an eyebrow.
"Does that mean you can draw?" Lucy wondered in awe.
"Heh! When it comes to painting, I'm in a league of my own! I've been drawing for fifty years."
"WHOA! Fifty years !?"
Zoro muttered, "That would mean he's an old man by now."
"Which would give him five or six grandchildren," Nami added, "and I don't see 'em."
"Not to mention he'd be bald," I put in.
"COOOL!"
"Oi." Usopp drew his hand across his face, slightly put down by our teasing. But we gave him the job anyway.
Usopp's first painting was a jolly roger that looked suspiciously like him. It had a long nose, bandanna, and a slingshot. It earned him hits on the back of the head from Lucy, Zoro, and I. His next one was much better, featuring the exact same mark that was in the anime. I had to admit, the liar may have been an idiot, but he sure was a good artist.
"So, how do you like this one?" Usopp said smugly.
"Wow, that's actually pretty good, Usopp!" praised Nami.
"Yeah, keep it! That's the one!" Lucy agreed.
"Good job, Long Nose," I nodded in approval.
"Oi."
"So we've finally settled on it? This is gonna be our mark?" Zoro asked.
"Sure is! Oi, Usopp, draw one on the sail, too!"
"Yes."
Once that was done, the Going Merry was complete, even if its crew wasn't. The straw-hatted skull definitely added a sense of finality to the whole thing. I almost felt like a true Straw Hat, even though I wasn't really one yet. Lucy proclaimed her approval to the world, and everybody agreed.
***
BOOM!
The sound of a cannon firing woke me up from my short nap in the crow's nest. I almost called out to the crew that a pirate ship was here, but that would've been pointless for two reasons; 1) They were already firing their cannons, and 2) there wasn't a pirate ship. Except for ours. Or rather, theirs. I really should stop thinking of myself as a Straw Hat...
"Way off the mark..." came Lucy's slightly disappointed voice.
"Oi, what's going on down there?" I heard Zoro complain.
"Yeah, what are you doing now?" I groaned. "I was having such a good nap..."
"Cannon firing practice! But it's not going very well."
"Oh, is that all?" I sighed. "Whatever."
"Like I said, let the expert aim the thing," Usopp chided.
"Judging from the angle of the last one, I think this should do the trick. FIRE!"
BOOM! SMASH!
"Awesome!" Idiot #1 cheered. "You got that on the first try!"
"Wow, I did... Ha! Whaddya think? I'm pretty magnificent when it comes to aiming, so are you impressed yet?"
"Yeah! I can't believe it! So it's all settled. You'll be our sniper."
"Wait! I don't get to be captain?!"
"No, I'm still the captain!"
***
At lunch, Usopp and Lucy were still arguing. I wasn't sure why that liar wanted to be captain so bad, since he was such a coward. Anyway, once they'd finally stopped fighting, Lucy said, "You know guys, I've been thinking. Now that we've got five people, there's one last position we need to fill before we head to the Grand Line!"
"I'm not a part of your crew yet, Luce." I reminded her.
"You're right," agreed Nami, completely ignoring me. "This kitchen's really nice. Just pay me and I'll do it."
"I suppose it is vital for long trips," Zoro conceded, sleeping against the fridge.
"No decent pirate ship should be without one... a musician!"
"Ugh! Are you an idiot?"
"Yes, Zoro," I told him. "She is."
"What do you think we're doing out here?" Our navigator groaned.
"And here I thought you were gonna say something smart." complained Usopp.
"The word 'smart' isn't in her vocabulary, Usopp-san." I said.
"We're pirates and pirates sing a lot, didn't you know?"
SMASH!
The sound of a barrel breaking into pieces shocked everybody.
"Get out here ya damn pirates!" An upset voice called from the deck.
I blinked. "Who's that?"
Lucy went outside. "What the hell? Who are you?"
"Shut up! Who I am doesn't matter, you stinking pirates!"
SMASH! "Whoa!"
Nami and Usopp were at the porthole, looking out at the deck and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Zoro asked them how many guys were out there, to which Nami replied, "Uh... one."
"Then just let her handle it."
Lucy and the dude on the deck shouted some more, and Zoro looked up at the ceiling. "That voice..." There was the sound of someone getting smashed into the wall. He stepped out the kitchen and said, "Johnny. Tell me that isn't you."
Nami looked at me in confusion and I just shrugged.
"Zoro-Aniki! What are you doin' here?" said who I assumed to be Johnny.
"It is you! Where's Yosaku? Why isn't he with you?"
"What's going on?" Lucy asked, totally confused. "Do you guys know each other or something?"
I, however, suddenly remembered.
It looked like we were going to see the Baratie soon!