Chapter Text
Nami was exhausted, lost and confused. They’d made it through reverse mountain, barely, just to get swallowed up by a giant whale. How was there a sky still? How was she supposed to navigate them out of a stomach?
Then, finally, there was a tiny island in front of them, with two figures lounging on deck chairs, seemingly chatting with each other.
As the island got closer, their captain, suddenly, got very excited out of seemingly nowhere.
“RAI!”
…and he was gone, shot off like a slingshot.
At the very least, it looked like one of the figures had caught him.
As the rest of the crew finally got onto the tiny island, Luffy was clinging to one of the other men, excitedly blabbering about all that had happened since he’d left his home.
The man just nodded along and didn’t interrupt Luffy when the others joined them, so Nami took her time to look him over.
He had silver, almost white hair in a short mohawk that looked ruffled and kind of as if it was standing on its own, and he was pierced, with two rings on his lip and multiple rings and spikes on both his ears. There were two tattoos she could see, a bolt of black lightning that went from his right fingertips to at least his shoulder, and the tattoo just barely peeking out underneath the clean bandages he had tied on his left arm.
He was wearing relatively simple clothes, likely to balance out all of the spikes on his leather cuffs and belt. He had an off-white poet shirt with short sleeves tucked into a silvery sash with a fade into black ends that matched his hair, loose greenish-black pants tucked into leather boots that had long, sharp looking spikes straight out the front.
There was a deep black captain’s coat with golden ornaments hung lazily over the deck chair the man had been lounging in, joined by a tricorne hat made of leather in the same colour.
He was armed with a pistol, a wakizashi and a sabre, both fixed to his belt at his left hip, nothing else visible for weaponry. Judging by the few visible scars and the sheer confidence he exuded, the man knew how to hold his own in a fight.
All that was without even mentioning his height. He had to be seven feet tall at the least, most likely even taller. Not as tall as some of the fishmen she’d seen, but definitely taller than must humans she’d ever met.
All in all, he looked dangerous. Nami had a feeling she recognised him, and if she was right about it, it made it even worse. She’d seen what he was capable of, and that had been nine years ago. He was strong, an unknown, and Nami was, rightfully so, scared and confused.
Was this someone Luffy knew? Was he a pirate as well like his clothes suggested or just travelling? She really didn’t want a confrontation here, especially not with all of them being worn from the ride up the mountain.
“Hey Rai, join my crew!”
“Come on squirt, we’ve been over this. I’ve got shit to do, and I’ve got my own crew to take care of.”
That just made the situation even more confusing.
Then Zoro just had to open his mouth and confirm Nami’s fears.
“You’re Silvers Raizou. The Thunderbolt.”
The man paused, sighed, then proceeded to pry Luffy off of him with an ease that spoke of experience.
“That’s what they call me.”
“What is one of the seven Warlords doing at the entrance to the Grand Line?”
“Waiting for my little brother to see how he’s been doing.”
“EH? Rai, you’re a Warlord?” Luffy shouted out, obviously surprised.
“The hell kind of paperwork do you think I’ve been complaining about all this time, brat? You’ve literally met most of my crew, too! Including Mererid and Skarlex! You know, the ones that do all the normal paperwork, so I don’t have to?”
At that Luffy, of course, just stuck his finger up his nose and looked away.
The man just sighed again and turned to face them.
“Hi there. I’m Raizou, this brat’s older brother, nice to meet you.” Delivered with a grin so wide that the relation could actually be true.
That statement took Nami a good while to process, before finally, all that she got out was an eloquent “Huh?”
Raizou was having a moment right now. He finally got to see his little brother again, after not having seen him in over a year. He’d been visiting Crocus for a few days now, just exchanging stories, both old and new. His first mate had called him this morning and reported that everything was going great. It was turning out to be a great week so far.
Not to even mention the absolutely baffled little crew in front of him right now.
That right there? Absolute Gold, capital G and all. He’d know, just trust him on this.
He’d been spending the last few days imagining what the crew he still remembered from the story he’d read all those years ago would do upon meeting him like this, but nothing even came close to the sight he was being treated to right now.
Four teenagers, all freshly pirates, looking absolutely baffled at the idea that him and Luffy were related.
He just grinned.
“We’re sworn brothers, not actually related by blood. Not that it matters, really.”
“Yeah! Rai’s my brother and he’s really strong and-“
“Luffy. Please. I’m not joining your crew, but I would like to tag along with you guys for a while. There’s time. Chill. The fuck. Out.”
Then he turned back to the crew that were slowly getting their bearings.
“I know who you all are, but an introduction would still be nice, yeah? Anyone want to go first?”
And he was met with silence, again. They all looked… were they scared of him? Fucking hell, there went his moment. Reasoning people out of fear was annoying and difficult, not to mention a fucking pain in his ass. This was Shadow’s job for a damn reason.
“Seas, calm down people. Is this because Mihawk was an asshole and he’s the only frame of reference you have for Warlords?” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Alright then, let me lay it out for you. Yes, I’m a notorious pirate. Yes, I’m a Warlord like Mihawk is. Yes, I could most definitely wipe the floor with all of you. Yes, I’ve made my dealings with the marines. That’s the scary parts done, you all with me so far?”
They all nodded, with a mixture between wariness and outright fear still on their faces.
“Good, because now comes the important part. No, I don’t have to bring you in just because you guys have bounties. No, I don’t plan on doing so, either. No, I won’t start a fight with you for no good reason. No, I am not as much of an asshole as most of my fellow Warlords seem to be.”
They all still seemed doubtful, but some relief was starting to show.
“Let me summarise. Luffy is my little brother and you’re his Nakama. Unless you personally give me a reason to fight you, I have no plans of attacking you. This is not a trap or anything of the sort, I just wanted to spend some time with my little brother. So, will you please just treat me like a normal fucking person?”
Usopp still seemed absolutely terrified and was trying his best to hide behind the others, Sanji looked sceptical at his words, Nami was in a similar position and still attempting to regain the composure she seemed to have lost. Zoro, though, was something else entirely.
“Who’s stronger, you or Hawkeye?”
Just as expected, he had balls, Raizou could respect that. Naturally, that meant he was now going to fuck with him, just a little.
“Depends on how much either of us are holding back that day. He is the better swordsman though.”
“Fight me, then.” Never mind that respect, this was just pure arrogance right now.
“No. You lost to Mihawk using a toothpick of a knife, I am not fighting you until you can at the very least use Haki on your swords. I do not want to accidentally kill one of my little brother’s crewmembers just because you don’t know your limits.”
“Ne, Rai, what’s that? Hack-ee?”
“Luffy. What the fuck do you mean “What’s Haki?”, I literally taught you how to use it. Years ago.”
Luffy just made a face that translated to ‘nope, never heard of that in my life’.
“You fucking dumbass, you’re so lucky I love you. Remember that power that makes you sense stuff and makes you able to make your hits harder? That? That’s Haki.”
“No, that’s just the mystery power.”
Raizou groaned. “I give up. Zoro?”
The swordsman made a grunt that sounded vaguely like a “Yes?”
“Introduce yourself and I’ll teach you how to fight Devil Fruit users that normally can’t be cut or hit.” Raizou looked at the three that were still looking anywhere from terrified to wary. “That offer goes for you three as well, by the way. Haki will become a necessity down the line, might as well learn now.”
All of them took a second to consider his offer.
“Roronoa Zoro. First mate. I will become the World’s Greatest Swordsman.” Raizou nodded in acknowledgement.
That was all it took to get the rest of the crew more comfortable. Nami shook herself and went next.
“Hi, I’m Nami, the navigator of this crew!”
“Nice to meet you, Miss Nami. Luffy has had only the best to say about you, and I’m pleased to make such a talented young woman’s acquaintance.”
Sanji glared at him, probably for getting the girl’s attention. “I’m the cook, Sanji. And you better stay away from Nami-swan!”
Raizou chuckled. “No worries there. Not into women, no matter how lovely they might be. Nice to make your acquaintance, as well.”
Then Usopp finally got his courage up. “Well, only fitting that I should go last! I’m the great Captain Ussop, and I-“
Yeah no, that wasn’t going to fly. Raizou had seen cases like this play out, and he really didn’t want another one of them on Luffy’s crew. Not to even mention that this bordered on actual mutiny, and was absolutely against the code.
“Stop. Why are you even on this crew? If you pulled this kind of shit on my ship, you’d be thrown overboard immediately.”
All of the Strawhats just looked confused, and Usopp looked mildly terrified again.
“You do realise what you’re doing when you say shit like that, right? Because all I’m getting from it is that you don’t respect Luffy as your captain, and that shit’s not gonna fly with me. I may not be part of your crew, but I’m your captain’s older brother and a captain in my own right, so let me tell you something, just this once.”
Usopp gulped, now very much trembling before Raizou, who wasn’t even putting a lot of effort into looking pissed. He just was.
“All that you’re doing by disrespecting your captain like this is showing others that he is weak for allowing it. You’re making yourself seem disloyal and your captain like a fool. I’m only telling you this once, and only because it seems like you don’t know what kind of damage you’re causing. You are his subordinate. He is your superior. What you are doing is bordering on mutiny and is also against the code. You will follow his orders and properly respect his authority, or you will leave his crew. Am I understood?”
The teenager nodded, and he looked like he was about to pass out from the stress. Well, now that he had given his lecture, Raizou would let him try again.
“Good. Now that we’ve been over that, introduce yourself, properly, once you’ve calmed down enough. Maybe talk to your crew on what your role actually is, just in case you had something confused.”
Wait, did these kids even know what the code was? It was common enough on the Line, but since the start of the great pirate era things had gotten muddled in the Blues. “Actually, I’ve got another one for all of you. Study up on the code and make sure you know that shit word for word. a lit of things might have flown in the East Blue, but on the Grand Line going against it can actually get you killed or worse. How many of you know what the code is?”
Luffy and Sanji raised their hands. He didn’t trust Luffy to actually teach anything to anyone except unconditional love and batshit insane chaos, and he didn’t know how much of the code Sanji knew. “Well, guess we’re doing that before anything else. Any objections?”
Luffy, of course, had something to ask. “Ne, Rai, can you tell the story of how we became brothers? It’s been too long since one of your Storytimes and I want my crew to know you!”
Well, no way for him to say no to that, he supposed. Hopefully that would get rid of some of the leftover tension, as well. “Sure kiddo.”