𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙄𝙣 𝙀𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 ꒐ ℤ𝕠𝕣𝕠

(3) 𝓛𝓾𝓯𝓯𝔂'𝓼 𝓡𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓾𝓮 : 𝓩𝓸𝓻𝓸'𝓼 𝓓𝓮𝓫𝓽

.•♫•♬•Song •♬•♫•.

• 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨
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The sun beat down on the small, rickety pier, the salty air thick with the scent of fish and adventure. Luffy, the young boy with a straw hat perched precariously on his head and a grin that stretched ear to ear, stood before a girl with fiery red eyes, her eyes filled with a mix of curiosity and skepticism.

'So tell me,' Scarlet, the girl, finally spoke, her voice a low, melodious rumble, 'why should I join your crew?'

Luffy, oblivious to the irony of the question, his crew being nonexistent at the moment, puffed his chest. 'Because I'm gonna be the Pirate King!' he declared, his voice booming with confidence. 'And you'd be the first mate! You can be my right-hand woman!'

Scarlet snorted, a short, mirthless sound. 'Pirate King, huh? You're just a kid with a rubber body and a knack for getting into trouble.'

Luffy chuckled, unfazed. 'Maybe, but I'm strong! And I'm gonna make the best pirate crew ever.' He pointed a finger at her, his grin widening. 'You'd be a perfect fit! You look like you're tough, you've got guts, and you've got a mean punch!'

Koby, stood nervously behind Luffy. He knew Luffy could be impulsive, but beneath the goofy exterior, he also knew Luffy possessed a genuine spirit of adventure and a heart of gold.

Scarlet raised an eyebrow, her skepticism giving way to amusement. 'You're a bit...unorthodox, straw hat,' she conceded. 'But I'll admit, you're more interesting than most of the other pirates I've seen.'

Luffy's grin widened further. 'So, you're coming with me?'

Scarlet leaned back, a twinkle in her eyes. 'Maybe.'
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'Ow, Luffy stop kicking me,' Scarlet whisper hissed, 'I'm already suffocating down here.'

But Luffy didn't seem to hear her. Or if he did, he didn't care. He just kept on kicking and pushing his way through the tunnel, his eyes fixed on his goal.

'Sorry, but hey good news I can see the light,' Luffy exclaimed happily. 'The kicks were worth it.'

Scarlet rolled her eyes, but she had to admit that she was relieved to see the light at the end of the tunnel as well. She had been starting to worry that they would never find their way out.

As they approached the metal hatch that was blocking their way, making luffy open it. He climbed out of the tunnel, looking around in confusion.

Scarlet followed after him, panting and catching her breath. 'The kicks were not worth it, believe me,' she told him. 'From now on, I'm going first.'

Luffy just grinned at her and shrugged. 'Okay, next time you can go first. But I bet I'll still beat you to the top.'

Scarlet couldn't help but smile. She had to admit, it was kind of fun having Luffy around. He might be a bit reckless and impatient, but he was also adventurous and full of energy.

Luffy turned around, adjusting his straw hat, as Scarlet followed his gaze and fixed her scarlet cloak to cover her face. 'Oh hey, you are the guy from the bar,' Luffy exclaimed. The man in question was tied up to a cross, sweat dripping down from his face.

'Get lost,' the green-haired man spat out, not even sparing them a glance.

'We are lost,' Luffy said, as he explained their situation to the tied-up man. The man didn't spare them a second look, and Luffy's curiosity got the better of him. 'Hey, I saw the way you fight. How did they even arrest you?'

'They didn't, I gave myself up,' the green-haired man muttered.

'Interesting choice,' Luffy said, as Scarlet observed him. 'Yea, such a wise decision,' she commented sarcastically, causing the green-haired man to look up.

'I'm sure he had his reasons,' Luffy told Scarlet, who replied with, 'Of course, dumb reasons.'

Scarlet's sarcasm earned her a glare from the green-haired man, who said, 'You don't know anything about me.'

'I know that you protected that little girl from those marines last night,' Luffy said, smiling. 'You're a good guy.'

The green-haired man sighed before introducing himself, 'I am Roronoa Zoro, the pirate hunter.'

'So you are the legendary pirate hunter huh?' Scarlet asked, smirking, Zoro hums before looking back at luffy.

'Well, I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I will be the king of the Pirates, and I think you should join my crew.' Luffy said confidently, and Zoro chuckled.

'What makes you think I'd wanna play pirates with you?' Zoro asked.

'You're a great fighter. I'd say together, we'd make a great team,' Luffy replied innocently.

'I kill your kind for a living,' Zoro reminded Luffy 'Pirate hunter.'

'You keep saying that,' Luffy said, an innocent smile playing on his face. 'But is that all you are? Is that all you want?'

Zoro sighed, 'I made a promise to someone a long time ago...to become the world's greatest swordsman.'

'Impressive,' Luffy muttered, genuinely impressed. Luffy stepped forward, going to untie the rope which kept Zoro tied up to the cross.

'What are you doing?' Scarlet asked.

'Untying him,' Luffy replied.

'Why?' Scarlet asked again, 'cause he has a dream to fill?' Scarlet rolled her eyes as Luffy said that, she watched Luffy going behind the cross, hooking his finger in the rope to untie Zoro.

'You can untie me, but I am still not gonna join your crew,' Zoro said.

'Okay,' Luffy mumbled.

'Okay? He isn't even gonna join,' Scarlet told Luffy.

'Doesn't matter,' Luffy argued, making Scarlet huff in annoyance.

'She's right, I mean it, I don't owe you guys anything,' Zoro repeated, looking forward, bored. Three golden droplet earrings dangled from his left ear.

'I just think it's a waste of time for you to be hanging out here when there's something you want out there,' Luffy told him, dropping the now untied rope on the ground.

'Good luck on the sword thing,' Luffy said before walking back to Scarlet, who stood beside the hatch in the floor annoyed.

'Can you close this behind me?' Luffy said to Zoro before following behind Scarlet who already disappeared in the tunnel hole. Luffy poked his head out of the hole one last time.'Thanks,' Luffy said before disappearing into the tunnel with his crewmate.

Zoro knew that Luffy and Scarlet were worried about him, but he couldn't join their crew, not yet. He had a promise to keep, a dream to fulfill but maybe he could also fulfill his dream even after joining them, and maybe he also had a debt to repay.

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Word Count: 1085

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙡𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙮? 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙, 𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙚? 𝙇𝙤𝙡 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙤𝙠 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙗𝙮, 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨....💞