Chapter 12: The Pirate in the Barrel [2]
Luffy raised an eyebrow at the Alvida's goon who gulped nervously. "That's all you have?" asked the boy. The man in front of him heartily nodded. Luffy looked back at the measly bag of treasure and beli. "That's really all you have?" he inquired again.
"Sorry, Sir," the pirate gulped nervously again, "we were robbed blind before our last raid, so we only have loot from one attack."
"Robbed? Pfft," Luffy tried to hold in laughter, but failed miserably. It echoed through the silent ship, much to the displeasure of the residents. "You're rather crappy pirates, aren't you?"
The straw hatted teen grabbed the treasure bag and tossed it over the railings, completely unfazed by all the angry glares and growls. When he heard a raucous sound from below, followed by a scared yelp, Luffy looked over his shoulder to the dinghy and called to the boy already inside, "Are we ready to leave, Coby?"
"Y-yeah, Luffy-san!"
"Alright then," he sighed, glancing over all the men on deck and smirked. "I have a parting gift for you before I leave. It's for taking care of Coby."
Before anyone could react, he stretched his leg upwards and brought down heavenly wrath. The ship swayed violently, wood creaked as cracks ran across the deck. Luffy repeated the attack, ultimately shattering the ship into several pieces, before jumping to the dinghy.
"Have fun, losers!" he bid his farewell while waving both hands towards the totally defeated, weeping pirates.
Luffy settled comfortably in their little boat and laughed at Alvida's sinking ship. Coby stared at it for a while, then glanced at the young pirate and laughed nervously.
"That was fun!" stated Luffy finally, when they'd drifted far away from the unfortunate pirate crew.
"Um, Luffy-san, where are we sailing?"
Luffy hummed. "Beats me. My crewmembers could be anywhere. Where do you want to go?"
"M-me?" the pinkette stuttered, but composed himself and said, "Shells Town is about a day from here. There is a marine base and I-I could probably join them."
"Marine base, huh?" the pirate frowned, but then lifted his head to watch the clouds and sighed tiredly. "Well, I guess we can go there."
Coby grinned happily, shifted the sail slightly in accordance with their new destination. After a moment, he spoke again, "Now that I think about it, there are rumors that the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro is held in that base."
That piqued Luffy's interest. "Pirate hunter?"
"Rumors say he is a bloodthirsty killer, wandering the seas and slaughtering everyone who stands in his way. He's a demon in the form of a man." The boy shivered just from talking about such a dangerous and evil man. "He's also called the Demon of the East Blue."
That sounded interesting. Luffy smiled. "Is he a swordsman, by any chance?"
"I think he is. Why?"
The pirate's smile grew to an impossible size. "Swordsmen are so cool! I want to see him!"
"Don't be stupid, Luffy-san! He's a demon!" shrieked Coby. "He's gonna kill you the moment he lays eyes on you!"
"Let him try, shishishishi. I bet a demonic swordsman is even cooler! I need the best for my crew." He leapt onto the dinghy's bowsprit, fist-pumped the air and exclaimed "Set course to Clam Town to meet the demon!" He burst into laughter, completely ignoring the terrified shouts from his companion about demons, bounty hunters, and being killed because of carelessness.
"We're finally here! Clam Town!" Luffy yelled excited, the moment he jumped from the dinghy to the ground.
"Shells Town, Luffy-san, I told you several times already. It's called Shells Town." Coby heaved a heavy sigh. Dealing with this extremely exuberant teen was much harder than he could ever have imagined. Once he got a crazy idea stuck in his mind, nobody could talk him out of it. Not even when his own life was in danger.
"Let's go meet the demon!" stated Luffy and promptly started walking up the hill towards the navy buildings. It was still in the early morning, so people just began to fill the streets. Nobody paid any attention to two young boys.
Coby stalked after Luffy, lacking any motivation to meet the infamous pirate hunter or join the marines. "Luffy-san, you should reconsider. Roronoa Zoro is a dangerous man. He was caught by marines because he probably did something really bad." The pinkette shivered. "Maybe he slaughtered the town or something."
The hatted pirate just snorted. "Just because marines caught him, doesn't mean that he's a bad man."
"He's a demon! Marines are justice! They would never arrest an innocent man!"
Luffy stopped and unconsciously touched the left side of his neck. Some dark memories resurfaced, but he shoved them off immediately. He needed to think about something else. Anything. He looked at the ugly building on top of the hill. He'll soon see the cool swordsman and maybe find his first nakama. That's it! He just had to focus on that.
His stupid companion still rambled about how perfect and just the navy was, oblivious of the annoyed, cold glare Luffy sent his way.
"Coby, shut up." He uttered in a low, dangerous voice, and the pinkette almost melted away under his fierce glare. "You're too naïve if you think that marines would never touch an innocent person. They'd do that easily, and sometimes go even further." He touched his scar again, and pinned Coby with his soul piercing eyes. "You'll never be truly just, if you continue to believe that all marines are saints or that all pirates are evil."
Coby gulped. He remembered Luffy saying that he didn't like marines, but his eyes now showed enormous hate towards them. Just now it clicked that it was a bad idea to glorify the navy in front of him. He made this extremely powerful pirate furious!
Inwardly, Coby had already started saying goodbye to his miserable life, but Luffy finally shifted his gaze back to the base. Coby almost fainted from relief. Now he wasn't sure who the true demon was, and swore never to make this teen angry ever again.
They reached their destination in silence. Coby was mulling over Luffy's words, and only snapped out of it when his companion happily exclaimed "We're here!"
Luffy strolled along the wall, trying to reach the presence he could sense a bit further away. It was stronger and much fiercer than any other presence he'd felt until now. It wasn't cold or hostile in any way, which he'd expected from a 'demon', only bitter and lonely.
Luffy leapt onto the wall, barely able to contain his excitement. He pulled himself up and sat cross-legged on top, laying his eyes on the so called pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro, for the first time.
The man was tied to a wooden cross in the middle of an empty execution yard, like some poor excuse for a crucifix, with his eyes hidden under the shadow of black bandana. Luffy noticed trails of dry blood on his face, it was smeared on his shirt as well, mixed with sweat. He seemed tired, starved, thirsty, beaten, and definitely nothing like the bloodthirsty Demon of the East Blue.
But if this Zoro guy had such a vigorous presence while weakened, and radiated pride even when bound and beaten, he was certainly a man worthy to become a nakama of the Pirate King.
Luffy couldn't restrain his lips from splitting into a huge grin. So that's what his swordsman looked like.