Chapter Text
In the middle of the East Blue, a boat sailed through the waters, treading steadily and calmly. A woman could be seen on board, standing at the prow. She had turquoise hair that faded into azure tied back into a low-hanging braid, the rest of which was pinned back by a white hair clip. Various piercings were visible on her face and ears, made of the same material as the cuff on her right arm. She wore a sleeveless cerulean shirt with a giant white star printed off center and beige shorts that stopped right at her thighs. A belt with a heart-shaped pouch wrapped around her waist. She had brown sandals with laces that went up to her knees.
“Just where exactly am I going?” the woman asked, arms crossed over her chest. Nobody responded, for she was the only one on the boat.
A whirlpool suddenly showed up on the horizon, large in diameter and strength. Right on the edges of it was a dinghy, carrying an occupant of exactly one.
“Oi! You there!” she shouted, her voice carrying over the roar of the whirlpool. The boy in the dinghy perked up. “You need help?”
“Hey, that’s great!” He leapt to his feet and reached out towards her. Impossibly, his arms kept stretching until his hands grabbed hold of her boat. “Gum Gum—“
“Wait—“
“Rocket!”
With a twang, he crashed into her, sending them flying backwards over one another. The boat sailed past the whirlpool, now carrying two people aboard. A sea breeze blew into the sail, propelling them further away.
“Thanks for the save!” He sat up from where he was laying on top of her. A huge grin split his face, one hand securing the straw hat on his head. “I’m Monkey D. Luffy, and I’m gonna be the King of the Pirates!”
His words echoed out over the sea, ringing with conviction and truth. Waves lapped at the boat, briefly rocking it something fierce, before settling back into a calm. She stared, sea green eyes shining with faith and something else.
“Calypso, at your service. Say, you don’t happen to be recruiting a crew, are you?” she asked, sitting up. She had a bright grin that rivaled his. “I’d love to join you on your adventure!”
Luffy’s grin widened. “Okay! Welcome to the crew!”
A strong sea breeze blew by, snatching Luffy’s straw hat off his head. He leapt up with a yell, chasing after his hat to grab it out of the air.
Calypso watched with an expression of amusement, getting to her feet. “You hungry?”
Luffy whirled around, eyes lighting up as he yanked the hat back onto his head. “Food!”
Calypso gestured towards the stern where a little cabin was. Luffy raced past her with a whoop, Calypso following close behind.
Once inside, Luffy immediately raided the fridge, pulling out whatever he could get his hands on.
“You’ve got a destination in mind, Captain?” Calypso asked, watching him devour an entire bowl of marinated chicken cold. “Also, are you gonna leave some for me?”
“Nope!” Luffy grinned between bites. “You’re the first person I’ve come across since I left my island!”
“What were you doing before?” she asked, reaching over to wipe some sauce off his face.
“I was just drifting. It’s good you found me when you did, I would’ve been done for!” Luffy laughed. He pouted when Calypso took the bowl of chicken out of his hands. “Hey!”
“You ate the rest, this is the last one. At least let me have this.” Calypso huffed, biting into the chicken leg. “I’ll make more when we come across a market.”
“But Cal!” Luffy whined, hands stretching out unnaturally to try and grab at the chicken in her hands. Calypso easily dodged between the attempts.
An hour later saw the two of them back out on the deck, Luffy happily munching on something else as he sat on Calypso’s shoulders.
“You gonna get off?” she asked, glancing up at the boy.
Luffy snickered, resting his head on top of hers. “Nope! You feel funny.”
Calypso shrugged, looking unbothered by the extra weight.
Up ahead, an island emerged over the horizon line. Luffy began squirming with obvious excitement.
“Land! It’s an adventure!” he declared, throwing his arms into the air. Calypso reached up to grab hold of his ankles.
“There’s another ship docked on the other side of the island, so I’m going to stay here to guard the boat,” Calypso said, reeling in the sail. “But you go have fun! Give me a shout if you find something interesting.”
“Okay!”
As soon as they reached the island, Luffy hopped off the boat and sped into the forest with a cheer.
Calypso yawned and settled down on one of the side benches, laying down and closing her eyes for a nap. Despite nothing keeping the boat from floating away to sea, it stayed right where it was.
«»
On the other side of the island, Luffy ran into a boy with pink hair and glasses.
“Who are you?” he asked, making the boy flinch.
“I’m Koby… wait, how did you end up on this island??” He shook his head frantically. “Nevermind, I guess it doesn’t matter. You should really get out of here when you have the chance! This island is a hideout for the Iron Mace Alvida, the Lady Pirate!”
Luffy nodded. “A pirate, huh? Maybe I can ask her to join my crew.”
Koby gaped. “What?! Absolutely not, no, that’s impossible! Captain Alvida wouldn’t ever join someone else, that’s just impossible!”
“Really? That’s too bad then.” Luffy looked to the side, where a crude boat made out of scraps of wood sat. “What’s this, a coffin?”
Koby twiddled his fingers, a nervous look on his face. “I built it myself. It took two years to do.”
“Two years?!”
“Yeah, I built it so I could escape from this place. I’ve been stuck as Captain Alvida’s cabin boy ever since two years ago when I boarded her ship by accident.” He started shaking his head furiously. “But I can’t go through with it! Just thinking about what Captain Alvida would do to me if she found out… it’s impossible!”
“Man, you’re kind of clumsy and dumb,” Luffy said, then laughed. “And you’re a coward! You’re pretty worthless!”
Koby deflated in an obvious sulk. “You don’t have to be so upfront about it… but you are right, I don’t have the guts to try and even escape. What did you set out to do in life?”
Luffy grinned. “That’s easy! I’m gonna be the King of the Pirates!”
“What?! But that means you’re going after the One Piece!!” Koby shouted, eyes wide with shock. “Do you want to die?? Every pirate in the world is after it!!”
“So am I,” Luffy said, looking unbothered.
“But the odds are against you!! It’s impossible, really! You wanna be the King of Pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy?? That’ll never happen!”
Luffy’s fist struck out and Koby fell to the ground with a lump on his head, pained tears in his eyes. “Why’d you hit me?”
“‘Cause you were being annoying,” Luffy said simply. He took his straw hat off his head. “I’m not afraid to die, Koby.”
“Huh…?!”
“I set myself to become the King of the Pirates, and if I die, then at least I died trying!” Luffy grinned at his hat, putting it back on his head. “Besides, I am going to be the King of the Pirates!”
A wind blew through the clearing, carrying the scent of the salty sea. Koby stared at Luffy, brown eyes shining with awe and something else.
“Maybe it’s possible,” he said, sitting up. “If I put my life on the line…
Koby looked up with determination and a healthy amount of fear. “Do you think I can join the Navy??”
Luffy paused. “The Navy?”
“Yeah! We’ll end up as enemies, but it’s always been my dream as a little kid to join the Navy and fight the bad guys!” Koby leapt to his feet, hands balled into fists. “Do you think I can do it??”
“How should I know?” Luffy laughed.
“Well I’m gonna do it!! I’ve got nothing else to lose, stuck as a miserable cabin boy to a pirate!” Koby shouted. “Better to risk my life for my dream!! I’ll join the Navy, and then, I’ll capture Alvida—!”
”Who’re you gonna capture, brat!?”
The crude boat was smashed into splinters, startling Koby into a scream. On the other side was a woman with black curly hair wielding an iron mace. She had a sneer on her face as she pointed the mace at a nonplussed Luffy.
“You must be a bounty hunter after my head! Conspiring with my cabin boy to take my head, eh??” She laughed, the sound sinister and cruel. “My men found your little boat docked on the other side of the island! They should be destroying it as we speak!
“Now, Koby! I’ll give you one chance to redeem yourself.” She hefted her mace over her shoulder, a self-satisfied smirk on her lips. “Who’s the most beautiful pirate in all the seas?!”
Koby gave a nervous laugh. “Captain Alvida, of course it’s—“
“Hey! You better leave Cal alone, ugly!!” Luffy shouted, prompting multiple jaws to drop open in horror. “I’ll beat you up!”
“He just—!”
“No way!!”
“You gotta take that back!” Koby demanded, shaking Luffy back and forth. “Throughout all the seas, Captain Alvida is—!”
Luffy stared at him and Koby faltered. His hands curled into fists and he shouted, “Alvida is the ugliest hag of them all!!”
An ominous shadow loomed over them and Koby swallowed, looking up. A livid Alvida glared down at them. Next to Koby, Luffy was laughing without a care.
“Why you—!”
“Good for you, Koby!” Luffy exclaimed, patting the boy on the shoulder.
Koby let out a wordless yell as Alvida swung her mace down, eyes squeezed shut. Luffy looked completely unbothered, smiling even.
Before the mace could make contact with Luffy, someone slammed into Alvida, knocking her over. When she tried to get up, another body flew into her, hitting her in the face and knocking her out. And as if to add insult to injury, a third body fell onto the pile.
Heads turned towards the culprit, who stood there with one hand on her hip. Calypso smirked. “Those looked like yours. I’m returning them.”
“Cal!” Luffy shouted, hands stretching out to grab her shoulders. He flew into her with a twang, the woman catching him in a one-arm embrace. “You’re alright!”
“Of course I am, give me a little more credit, Captain.” Calypso looked over at Koby, who froze under her gaze. “Who’s this?”
“That’s Koby! He’s gonna be a marine!” Luffy declared. “Isn’t that great?”
Calypso smiled. “Nice to meet you, Koby. Wanna hitch a ride with us?”
Koby was shaking, glancing between Calypso and the fallen Alvida. A look of determination came over his face and he straightened his spine, bowing his head towards Calypso. “If you wouldn’t mind! Thank you for having me!”
Calypso’s smile widened. It turned into a glare as she looked at the rest of the onlookers. “Any of you got a problem with Koby leaving with us?”
There were multiple rapid head shakes.
The glare disappeared into a smile. “Great! Are we ready to go, Captain?”
“Yeah! Let’s go!” Luffy cheered, scrambling to sit on Calypso’s shoulders. Calypso did nothing to stop him, looking over at Koby instead.
“There’s a Navy base nearby where we can drop you off. Looking forward to sailing with you, future marine,” Calypso said with a warm smile, sticking her hand out.
Koby took it with a sniffle, smiling through happy tears. “Thank you for the ride!”
«»
The journey to the Navy base was mainly uneventful, filled with aimless chatter.
Calypso laughed incredulously. “You mean the entire time, you didn’t know his name?”
Koby flushed as pink as his hair. “I guess I never asked…”
Calypso stood at the prow of the boat, Luffy sitting on her shoulders without a care in the world. Koby sat on one of the side benches, fiddling with some extra rope lying about.
“My name’s Luffy!” Luffy said, arms draped over the top of Calypso’s head. “This is Cal, my first crew member!”
“Calypso,” she said, looking up at Luffy. “You can’t say my actual name, can you?”
“Cal is Cal.”
Calypso and Koby exchanged amused looks.
“I did have a question,” Koby said, adjusting his glasses. “Earlier, I thought I saw Luffy’s arms stretch out really far.”
“You mean this?” Calypso grabbed hold of Luffy’s cheek and started pulling. Koby gaped as it kept stretching as far as Calypso could pull it. When she let go, it snapped back into place with a twang.
“What— How can you do that?” Koby asked, bewilderment colouring his words.
“I ate the Gum Gum Fruit,” Luffy said, pulling at his own cheek. It stretched out just as unnaturally as when Calypso pulled it. “So now I’m a rubber person!”
“It’s a Devil Fruit,” Calypso explained. “Many people think Devil Fruits to be myths, but they’re very much real. There’s three different kinds of ‘em, and depending on which type, you can either turn into an animal of some kind, transform your body into a type of substance, or literally everything else.”
“Wow, you know a lot about these Devil Fruits,” Koby remarked, eyes wide.
Calypso grinned. “Oh yeah, my mom hates Devil Fruits. I get to hear about them all the time.”
“Does your mom hate me then?” Luffy asked, tucking his head against the side of Calypso’s neck.
Calypso laughed. “I think you’re by far her favorite. She sent me to save you, after all.”
“Shishishi! Thanks, Cal’s mom!” Luffy exclaimed.
A light sea breeze caught in the sail, giving the boat a small burst of speed. Luffy giggled at the consequent sea spray.
Koby yelped as seawater splashed over the side of the boat, drenching the back of his shirt. At his startled look, Calypso laughed.
“It just means the ocean likes you,” she said, eyes sparkling with mirth.
Eventually, they made it to Yotsuba Island. Even from a distance, the Navy base could be seen looming over the small town situated by the port.
“We’re finally here! We made it!!” Luffy cheered, hopping off the boat as soon as they got close to the dock. “Food!!”
“Ah, wait, Luffy!” Koby shouted after the boy, who’d gone running into town. He gave a panicked look to Calypso. “What should we do??”
“Go and catch up to him, I’m sure he knows where he’s going when it comes to food.” Calypso got started on an anchor hitch. “I’ll find you guys after I’ve docked and checked out the market.”
Koby glanced between her and the quickly shrinking Luffy. “Okay then, we’ll see you later!”
With a hasty farewell wave, Koby scrambled off the boat. “Wait up, Luffy!!”
As soon as Koby was out of sight, Calypso snapped her fingers. Around her, ropes began pulling themselves this way and that, furling the sail and securing the boat to the dock. The anchor splashed into the water and she stepped onto the docks with a whistle, leaving behind a properly anchored boat.