One Piece: A Taste for Trouble! [HIATUS]

Chapter 1: Poison Pears

Utano awoke with a powerful yawn and an almighty stretch from between the crates and barrels of nishi pears and saké. One would think that the eighteen-year-old was most uncomfortable sleeping in such cramped dingy conditions but it didn't bother Utano one bit. The girl could snooze anywhere at any time without a care in the world.

As per her daily routine, Utano stood up and, with well practiced ease, popped open the lid of a nearby wooden crate. Within minutes more than half of its juicy contents was gone, mercilessly chomped down by a content Utano who was innocent to the fact that the next pear she nabbed from the fragrant depths of the box wasn't quite the same as the others. It was only after a greedy mouthful later did she notice the peculiar texture and odd colouration through the dimness of the cargo room that she had vacated.

And then the taste hit her the second she swallowed the pulverized fruit like ten tons of bricks. Quite literally, the pungent, bitter, coarse flavour knocked her off her feet. It was so strong that her golden eyes had rolled all the way back into her skull, the culprit still clutched in her hand.

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As usual, not that many people were up and about during the highest peak of the sun. The sleeping quarters were too clammy and reeked of sweat and other things better left unnamed so the majority of the men decided it to be more preferable to play out their torture in the warm sea breeze which did little to cool them down.

Suddenly, the hatch leading down bellow was whacked open, capturing a collection of the crews attention. In close succession, a sickly green creature followed, dragging and clawing its way up from bellow deck like a sea goblin from the deepest depths of the ocean. Everyone froze in terror and confusion, sweating even more at the otherworldly sight which pulled itself out onto the deck in a gurgling, groaning mess.

"He-help ... me ... I've been ... poisoned ... Ughhh~"

"I-i-it . . . It talks!" Squealed one of the crew, pointing and squirming like a high school girl at the tangled blob on the floor.

"Demon!"

"STOW AWAY!"

Heads spun to the captain who had an enraged look stamped across his reddened face. Fearlessly, the rounded man stomped up to the pallid figure sprawled at his feet, and grabbed a fist-full of the front of its kimono robe, pulling it up closer to his face to sneer directly at them.

"I had a feeling a rat had found it's way on board. I can't tolerate rats at all! Who do you think you are to freeload onto my ship?!"

"P-poison . . . help," babbled the trespasser, further infuriating the man who had already been having a frustrating past couple of days.

Somewhere along the lines, it had been ordered that the girl be "dealt with" after it was discovered that thirteen crates of pears had been emptied and three barrels of saké had been drunk dry. In other words, she was going to be thrown overboard. Obviously, no one wants to be left floating around aimlessly in the middle of the sea and this very idea magically pumped life back into the downed Utano's limbs, giving her the strength to pick herself up and twist out of one of the crew member's grip.

"Stay back you . . . you barbarians!" Growled Utano, still queasy from the horrid taste left over by the dodgey pear.

Her warnings went unanswered as the men kept shuffling closer and closer until the girls back was pressed up against the side of the ship's railings. The same man who had taken a hold of her scrawny arm approached again, his large build blocking out the sun.

"Come here girly," he crooned, malicious intent gleaming in his pupils which made the said girl shudder.

"No!" Hollered Utano, frowning profusely and holding out her arms to shove him away.

No one was quite sure what happened next after that. One second this burly guy was practically on top of her, the next he was sent flying across the deck, smashing clean through the main mast which caused it to topple over, creating a great hole where it fell.

Everyone blinked in rapid succession, not sure what had just passed or who to look at. Utano barely had a second to act when the whole ship erupted in fear and rage, nearly deafening her. Everyone pounced, all manners of weapons in hand pointed at her.

"Now now. C'mon guys . . . I swear I didn't touch the guy . . . H-hey! Don't point that thing at me!" She screeched in fury, instinctively shielding herself with her arms when someone ran at her with what looked to be a bayonet.

BOOM! CRASH! BANG!

Utano glanced from the sudden wreck around her down to her hands in astonishment, not affected by the fact that some invisible force had pushed her backwards and onto her butt. "W-what the?!"

"Banji-san was right! She's a demon!"

"The ship's sinking!!!"

"What are we gonna do now?!"

The captain stuttered for the right words, stumbling away from the stowaway who had somehow blasted his ship to bits and sent his crew flying. "A-abandon ship! To the life boats!"

In the blink of an eye, small wooden boats were already packed with sailors and lowered into the sea that rose around the sinking ship to engulf it like a hungry beast. Utano was left standing in a daze, confused about the most perculiar events which had just taken place. She only realised that the ship was going down when water sploshed at her toes and invaded her sandals.

Exclamation marks sprung from her head in alert. "A-ano?"

From the broken trade ship, the sailors could hear the girl yowling and cursing at them to turn back and save her. No one seemed to want to go back. Especially if it was for the monster which had brought the current unfortunate circumstances upon them all.

"Ooooi! Get back here ya bloody cowards! I'll skin you all alive!! Heeeey! Come baaack!"

And so the air was filled with angry shouting.

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A/N - so idk if the image I uploaded for this chapter loaded or not. I'm having issues with my phone/Wattpad and I don't have a computer so sorry guy's!

♥ Tell me what you think of the chapter darlings ^~^ - Rai