The Written One Piece

Chapter One: Romance Dawn(Incomplete)

Twin blades crossed over his heart as he kneeled atop the scaffold with shoulders hunched. He—Gold Roger, King of the pirates—faced execution before hundreds of restless onlookers. Bitter-tongued roars rang in his ears; he gave a smirk as wide as the world he conquered. 

"My treasure?" he said, low enough for his two executioners to hear. The crowd hushed. "It's yours if you can find it... But you'll have to search the whole world!" 

The crowd stood in shock to learn that his fabled treasure, One Piece, did exist. He enveloped their hearts with devilish laughter in the seconds before the twin blades severred his head. The image of his corpse remained with every witness who lived to see this day come. His final words travelled across roaring waters, moving from ear-to-ear, ushering in The Great Age of Pirates.

Twelve years after the execution of Gold oger, trouble stirred in a village near a small harbor. Pirates have settled there. The pirates' ship dwarfs even the house of the village mayor; its jolly roger, a skull with three scars across an eye and two swords for crossbones, serves as fair warning to all who know the Captain's name. A boy from the village stands boldly atop the ship's bow with one hand on his hip and a knife in the other. His name is Monkey D. Luffy.

"This is how tough I am!!!" he proclaims, fed up with the pirates' mockery of him. 

They laugh at him more, dubbing him a pup for his threat and size. Further provoked, he shanks the knife into his cheek without hesitation. Blood spills from the wound he's made as the pirates bellow in unison, losing their heads and dropping their jaws. Luffy screams too, for he knew not what he did.

At the village bar, the ship Captain toasts to their successful voyage and to Luffy's courage. The pirates are boisterous as ever: screaming over each other for more drinks, chugging booze straight from a barrel, and fighting for meat as if it were their final days. Luffy is among the pirates, with tears in his eyes, attempting to convince them, and himself, that his earlier incident "didn't hurt a bit". The Captain scolds him, asserting that the act was a foolish thing to do. 

Luffy smiles, wide as ever; his fearlessness in the face of danger proves that they should take him on their next voyage and realize his dream of becoming a pirate. The Captain, "Red-Haired" Shanks, laughs at Luffy's dream, telling him that "anchors" who can't swim couldn't possibly be pirates. Luffy stays adamant that he "just won't fall overboard" and moreso that he trained his punch to be as powerful as a pistol. A look of mischievous pride gleams over his face as he punches the air in front of Shanks. At the tender age of seven, he truly believes himself strong enough to be a pirate. 

Shanks is a simple man. He wears a straw hat with a red band, boasts crimson streaks of hair, and has a deep claw-like scar that his days of pirating earned him. He is not avoce crushing a child's dream and meets Luffy's prideful display with sarcasm, rolling his eyes at the mention of Luffy's pistol punch. Luffy raises his voice and bangs on a table. In rage, he questions whether Shanks is doubting him. To him, being a pirate is to eat lots of meat, explore islands on the open seat at will, and, best of all, be free to do whatever you want, whenever you want. The band of pirates parting around the bar reinforced each of these ideals as they chugged down beer and laughed louder by the second. Their every move filled Luffy with a greater yearning for piracy. He just could not wait and couldn't stop smiling at the idea. Shanks, sick of his crew's happy-go-lucky attitude, pleads with them to stop filling Luffy's head with crazy ideas. The crew urged their Captain to take the kid with them for once, much to Luffy's surprise.

"Sure," Shanks said. "But one of you will have to take his place." 

The crew left the topic alone as quickly as they touched it and returned to their merriment, arm-in-arm, kicking their legs about. A pissed Luffy called them out for the traitors they were. Shanks tried to calm Luffy down, letting him know that he's just too young and adding that he might give the kid a chance in ten years. Luffy gritted his teeth and scowled his eyebrows. He was not the little kid Shanks saw him to be and he was determined to prove it. Happily accepting Shanks' offer of a glass of milk moments after putting his foot down was not a good start.