Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

Chapter 1: The Mystery Rock and The Strange Ruins

The sun was shining down just as a cool sea breeze came drifting softly over the railing; seagulls flocked above them casting the only shadows on the deck of the Thousand Sunny. The Straw Hat Pirates were up and each was enjoying the nice day...

Nami was in the library, catching up on two years of maps and charts from her time on Weatheria; she kept the window open so that she could enjoy the light sea breeze... for once able to relax without worrying about the change of weather thanks to that clear blue sky. Zoro was in the crow's nest, busy lifting weights—occasionally glancing out the window at the sea, just making sure there wasn't any danger. Usopp was up near Robin's flowers and Nami's orange trees tending his garden of Pop Greens. He had set up a small area where he could continue to grow them which he dubbed the, 'Usopp Garden' and here he was able to mass produce the Pop Greens without fear of ever running out. He glanced up at the bright sun and smiled widely at the warm air before he went back to work tending his precious arsenal.

Chopper was on deck, lying on the grass and letting his plants dry out in this hot weather while he drank the icy lemonade that Sanji made. Not for the first time, he hated the fact that he couldn't stand the warm weather as well as his friends could. He was fine in cold weather... but if he wasn't careful, even a sunny day could be miserable. However, he grinned and bore it as he listened to Brook's music. Brook was on the swing with a cup of tea sitting next to him as he played his newest song on his guitar... 'Bone to be Wild!' He laughed as Chopper applauded him when he finished and asked for another.

"Yohohoho," Brook laughed joyfully, strumming the guitar, "As you wish!" And at once, he started up with his personal favorite... 'Bink's Sake'.

Just at that moment, Sanji came out of the kitchen, a lit cigarette in his mouth, taking relief for the quick breath of fresh air after having been inside cooking over a hot stove all day. He breathed in deeply before he called out to them all, "Lunch will be ready in another hour!"

"SUUUUPPPPER!" yelled another familiar voice from across the ship and Franky was lying out on the deck, working on his tan. Next to him, Robin giggled lightly as she stretched out on her lawn chair, enjoying a new book on history that she had bought from the last town they had been at. She reached over to take a sip of her lemonade before she went back to reading about the most common legends in the New World.

While on the starboard side, the captain, Straw Hat Luffy was enjoying fishing. He tilted his hat back until it was hanging around his neck as he began nodding his head to Brooks's music; he cast the line out as far as it would go. When he finally got a bite he cried out excitedly, "HEY! I GOT SOMETHING!"

He then pulled with all his might, and with a great slash, something small and round came bursting out of the sea. Stretching his arm out, he grabbed hold of it, thinking it was a fish... only to pull it back and realize that it was a rock. Frowning in disappointment, he was about to throw it back when he noticed something strange about it.

It looked as if it had once been a perfectly round stone and about as big as one of Nami's oranges—but at some time it had been sliced clean in half as if Zoro had gotten through with it. But what fascinated him the most was the fact that it was glowing slightly... like there was a faint light inside it.

Luffy stared down at it in amazement, before he tried to take a bite out of it... only to end up almost breaking his teeth. "OWWW!" he yelled out loud before he looked at it again. "Hey guys! Check it out!"

"What is it?" Sanji asked, looking over the side with a frying pan in his hands. "Did you catch something we can eat?"

"Nah," Luffy answered holding it up to show him. "We can't eat it... I already tried. It looks really neat though..."