From Ninja to Pirate

20

He tells her that the earth is flat-
He knows the facts, and that is that.
In altercations fierce and long
She tries her best to prove him wrong.
But he has learned to argue well.
He calls her arguments unsound
And often asks her not to yell.
She cannot win. He stands his ground.

The planet goes on being round.

-Wendy Cope

Fuyuki and Natsuki travelled various islands, stopping at each one in wonder if there was a person powerful enough, or had potential to join them. There was a girl who caught Natsuki's eye, with bright orange hair and a sack of gold, eating a tangerine happily, but she knew the girl wasn't meant to be for her crew. There was a son of a famous royal family at a floating restaurant, his swirly eyebrows and heart shaped eyes rather memorable, but he also didn't seem right. Though on an island, right in the centre of the South Blue, there was a presence who caught their attention.

He was slightly shorter than Fuyuki, with tousled mousey brown hair, with streaks of black amidst it. He wore a black eye patch on his left eye, and a raggedy brown cloak over his worn-out shirt and ripped trousers. His face was gaunt, cheeks hollow, shadows under his eyes. He touched the grass, which dried up and wilted, and he looked at it sadly.

"Who's there!" His gruff voice called out, and both summer and winter smiled. He could sense them.

"Hi. My name's Natsuki."

"I'm Fuyuki."

"Who are you?"

"We're pirates."

"What are pirates doing in the middle of the woods?"

"Looking for a potential crewmate, and I believe we just found one." He looked around, then pointed at himself.

"You want me? No no no. You don't want me!"

"Why?"

"I'm the bringer of bad luck! I had that peculiar fruit a month ago, and since then, all I touch dries up!" He looked at his hands which had skin peeling off.

"What you ate was the Kasa kasa no mi. The dry dry fruit, well that's what I think you ate anyway. Whatever you touch become dehydrated yes?"

"Dry dry fruit?" What's that? I mean, yeah. Whatever I touch gets dry, but..."

"Have you never heard of devil fruits?"

"Devil?"

"Ah. They're fruits which grant people peculiar powers. Like his." Fuyuki made a small ball of snow, and the man looked at it curiously. He touched the snowball which shrivelled and hardened, and in Fuyuki's hand was a small ball of ice.

"How did you do that?"

"I dunno! You're the one who knows about the fruit!" He backed up to a tree, which shrivelled up and hollowed. The leaves fell off and decoloured, creating a small area just as if it were the season of fall. He ran off, down the hill and Natsuki followed together with Fuyuki. "Don't follow me!"

"We don't even know what your name is."

"You don't get to know!" He ran to a house which was on the verge of collapsing, and slammed the dried-up door, breaking it in the process. He didn't care, and went further inside, and the pirates warily entered the cottage which was living its last moments. They saw Kanki put on gloves as he entered a room.

"Kanki... Are you back?" Came a raspy voice from further inside.

"I'm back dad. How do you feel?" Natsuki entered a small room with a makeshift bed, with a man who was thin and wrinkly laying between its thin mattresses.