The Red Dawn | One Piece x Reader

ix. captain black lung

"The wind's come up." Zoro's voice broke the silence as the four ran through the rain-soaked streets of Loguetown. Each hasty step echoed with a splash from the countless puddles forming on the weathered cobblestone road. Among the cacophony of raindrops drumming against stone was gunfire from the mob chasing the pirates down.

The captain glanced back to them, holding tight onto his straw hat. "Those guys sure are persistent. Wanna stop and fight 'em?" In doing so he had unconsciously slowed down a bit.

The girl in the group shook her head, grabbing onto his upper arm and dragging him with her. "Not worth it. From what I remember, a certain cigar-smoking marine captain is stationed here."

"We don't have time, either!" Sanji called, keeping up with the green-haired swordsman. "Nami told us to hurry back to the ship— Hey!"

The cook lost his train of thought upon spotting a ravenette woman standing in the rain with her head angled towards the ground. "Roronoa Zoro!"

The mob of marines that had been pursuing the four pirates seemed elated at her presence. "Master Chief Tashigi!"

Tashigi glared into Zoro's eyes. "You're Zoro! You didn't tell me you were a pirate! You were making fun of me! I won't stand for it."

"What did you do to that girl?" Sanji barked to the swordsman.

The man ignored him and spoke instead to the marine woman. "Well, you never told me you were in the Navy!"

"I'm going to take Wado Ichimonji away from you!" Tashigi huffed.

"Let's see you try." The two clashed swords as the pirates continued. "Go on ahead."

Luffy nodded. "Okay."

Sanji, however, was not happy about this, voicing his aggravation at his crewmate's behavior. "He's attacking a girl!"

"Shut it, Loop-de-loop! He and I fight all the time!" Y/N karate chopped the blond on his head.

The three continued running, only to be met with yet another marine. "Hey! Who's that guy?" Luffy asked.

"Not again." Grumbled the cook.

"Remember when I said there's a certain marine stationed here? Well, that's him!" The woman growled, preparing for a fight.

"So it's you... Straw Hat Luffy." Blocking the path stood a tall, grizzled man with white hair and two drenched cigars in his mouth. His jacket was unbuttoned to show off his entire torso, something Y/N could never understand the reason for. On his back was his signature weapon: a seastone-tipped jitte. His gaze flickered to the taller swordswoman. "And Velvet Spunk Y/N

"Who are you?" Luffy called out.

The man frowned. "The name's Smoker... Captain Smoker of the Navy." In an instant, the marine shot out his hands, which turned into billowing smoke that wrapped around Luffy and Y/N.

The former began to writhe and exclaim in surprise, while the latter bit down on the white clouds. Sanji dashed forward to kick at the marine's head, only for it to go right through. "I've got no time for a small fry." Smoker reformed, trapping the cook in his face before shooting him out into a nearby wall. "Howaito Burō!*"

"Sanji!" Luffy exclaimed, stretching his arm back to perform one of his signature moves. "Why you... Gumu-Gumu no Pistol!!" His fist only fazed through the smoke. "Huh?"

Y/N watched as from behind the pirate, the marine reappeared, grabbing his head. 'Dammit, I can't do anything!' She could only observe as her captain was slammed face-first into the cobblestone road. "You're worth 30 million berries?"

"Let me go, old man! You scared of a fair fight!?" The swordswoman hissed, only to be thrown violently into a nearby building hard enough for the wall to crack. "AHCK—!!!"

"Humph... Look's like your luck ran out, kid." Her ears could bearly pick up on Smoker's low, gravelly voice through the incessant ringing. Y/N's hand shot up to cradle her head, as some new voice spoke. But she couldn't concentrate enough to make it out, only groaning in agony at the taste of blood in her mouth. Suddenly, a harsh wind knocked the pirate over, bringing her back to reality just in time to see a green-haired man scoop her up and throw her over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

"Stop dragging your feet!" Zoro yanked Luffy by the back of his vest as he ran.

The captain voiced his surprise, "What is it!? What the heck is it!?"

"So this is what Nami was talking about!" Sanji's eyes turned into hearts as he started as well.

Y/N picked her head up enough to see the scene they had just left, eyes-widening slightly at the sight of such a notorious man holding off Smoker. "...Dragon...?" Her voice was too soft to be heard over the boys' clamoring, but it seemed the cloaked man heard her all the same, offering a nod as a parting gift.

——♤——

At some point along the way, Y/N had tried to convince Zoro that she could run fine enough on her own, only for his response to be along the lines of 'No chance in hell, you'll just slow us down. Shut up and stay still.'

In her sulking state, she jumped at the sound of Usopp calling out. "Luffy! Hurry! Hurry! The rope won't hold much longer!"

"Nami I'm back!" Sanji cheered.

Nami grumbled in frustration. "You slowpokes! Hurry up and get on board! We're casting off!

——♤——

"Yikes! The ship's about to capsize!"

"Quit freaking out!"

"There's a light."

"The island's light-house?"

"That's the Guiding Light."

The straw hat crew stood on the deck of the Going Merry, gazing towards the circling beam of light. Nami smiled outwards, "Beyond that light is the entrance... to the Grand Line." She turned to the rest of the crew. "So, what's it gonna be?"

"Do we have to do this in the middle of a storm!?" Usopp shivered, watching Sanji drag a barrel out to commemorate the occasion.

"Okay, let's launch this ship into the great ocean!" The blond yelled, slamming his shoe onto the top of the barrel.

"I'm going to find the All Blue." Vinsmoke Sanji.

"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" Monkey D. Luffy

"I'm going to be the World's Greatest Swordsman!" Roronoa Zoro.

"I'm gonna carve out My Own Destiny!" Y/N.

"I'm going to draw a Map of the World!" Nami.

"I'm going to become a brave Warrior of the Sea!" Ussop.

The crew smashed the barrel underfoot with a cheer. "Grand Line, here we come!!"