Later within the tower...
Luffy was confused as he was speaking with one of the people who lived in the village surrounding the marine base, and things were not going as planed, 'So do you know where Roronoa Zoro is? I want to find him."
"I don't want to talk about that trouble maker, just move along and forget about him. I don't want any trouble here." said the shopkeeper who shifting his eyes back and forth.
"I just wanted to know where he was. Could you tell me about the super strong marine captain who has him then? Maybe I can find Zoro by finding him?" said Luffy, expecting the merchant to be more willing to discuss their protector then one who had caused them problems.
"Look, I just don't want any trouble coming my way. So keep your nose out of our business. It would be best if you left this village and head on you way. So get lost, cause I'm closed." said the shop owner as he ushered them out of his building, pushing them more then the two young people were moving themselves.
The door slammed on them as Luffy asked one last question, "You're closing, but it's still morning?"
"So I guess it's time for me to go to the marine base for basic training. You want to walk there with me or are you going to avoid it given your dream?" said Koby as he looked at the taller teen. Luffy got a look on his face which was either very thoughtful or completely blank of all thought processes.
"Yup, I'm going to the marine base too!" said the boy who would be pirate king. It was this comment which brought the dark and pink haired boy to the complex of the world government defenders.
Koby was getting a feeling of both joy of reaching the first step of his dream and saddness for leaving his first real good friend after all of his suffering. So it was with a hard effort to hold back the tears when he was about to say his good-byes to Luffy... only to see the transforming boy started to climb the walls of the fort.
"Luffy, you idiot!" complained Koby as he followed the straw hat and climbed the wall. In the centre of what looked like a training field was a man tied to a wooden cross. Koby made the simple connection this was Ronoroa Zoro, as he began to ask the question in his mind of what Luffy was going to do next.
It was then he noticed the girl coming up beside them, on what looked like a ladder. She then continue to the top of the all and pulled up the ladder to use on the other side. She then ran in front of the man on the wooden structure, and started to speak. She said in a happy voice, "Mr. Zoro, I made you these rice balls for you to eat. I wanted to thank you for all of the help you gave me, so I made these rice balls with my whole heart."
It was within moments that a young man in a well-tailor suit. He was skinny and long limbed with light coloured blond hair in the shape of an oval in his head. His suit was violet in coloured with white shoes on his feet, which made him look like a young rich man then a marine member. He was followed by a large number of marines in their traditional sailor suits He moved forward to the young girl in front of them.
He snatched one of the rice balls and spoke, "I don't think he wants this right now, if he wants to keep to our deal. So I think I'll take this into my possession for now."
With this he took a bite out of the rice ball and began to chew for a few seconds before spiting out the rice ball bite. He began to yell loudly at the young girl, "This ball stinks. What kind of idiot uses sugar in a rice ball instead of salt?"
He then took the rest of the rice balls she had made and with the one in his hand, threw them to the ground as he stomped them into a dirt mush. Then he growled to the marines around him, "Get her out of here and out of my sight!"
He turned around and left with most of the marines as a couple of them remained to take the young girl out of the base as well as her ladder. Once everyone was out of the courtyard, Luffy made his move and jumped down on to the ground. He moved quickly to the place that Zoro was hanging around and asked, "Hey, Zoro? How would you like to join my pirate crew? I can just untie you and we can get out of here..."
"I'm not going anywhere and I'm not joining any pirate crew. So you better not untie me or you'll be sorry. I plan on surviving being hung up here just to spite that moron Helmeppo. If you want to help me, you can pass me that rice ball. It would be a shame to let Rika's hard work be for nothing." said the man on the cross weakly as he looked at the younger man.
Luffy nods and picks up the flattened pieces of rice ball and feeds some of it to Zoro as the man chews them with some enjoyment, not matter how it had been spoiled. Koby was looking at the sight before him and could have sworn he saw Luffy smile. The transforming boy returned to the wall and climbed up it to where his pink haired friend was.
"Koby, I think it time for us to get out of here. There's a little girl I want to talk to there." said straw hat as he dropped to the other side and stared to walk.
The girl had returned to town when Luffy and Koby stumbled on to her. She was a brown haired girl with pigtails. With deep dark eyes, she was staring at them when Luffy asked, "Hello, Rika? I just wanted to tell you that Zoro loved your rice balls. Can I ask you a question about Zoro? Is he as evil as they say he is?"
"Mr. Zoro is not an evil man, he's a hero." spoke up the little girl in a firm, even angry voice. Even after a little smile as she learned that Zoro loved her cooking, even with it's little mistake.
"Then why do the marines have him stuck up like that?" continued the straw hat.
"It's started like this..."
(Posted Sat, 07 Aug 2010 19:33)
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