Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 24 STARVED

Johnny and Yosaku heard a tip about another pirate in the area and hitched a ride. They docked their small boat and would be back soon for it since it was easy to get a ride to Baratie.

We finished our meal with less drama. Luffy was true to his word and ate the whole menu. Stuffing himself full we had to roll him out of there. 

One of the ships that docked daily was a food delivery service. We placed an order with them for food and by the next day we had enough provisions to last us another couple weeks. It was enough for more than a month but Luffy ate enough for all of us twice over and none of us were good at estimating how much we needed. 

For someone that didn’t consider herself part of the crew Nami didn’t mind throwing her weight and opinion around. Usopp and Luffy jumped at whatever she said before she hit them into oblivion.

We were only at Baratie for a day but Zeff had asked us twice to take Sanji with us. Luffy laughed loudly and would run off to go ask the tall cook, but he was always rejected. 

Luffy and I were walking around the ship after lunch when we ran into Sanji having a smoke break out back. “Hey, Sanji,” Luffy yelled running up to him. “Have you changed your mind yet?”

“No,” Sanji said, blowing smoke in his face. Luffy coughed as he breathed it in. “And stop asking.”

“But the old man wants you to come with us. He’s your dad, right? That means you have to listen to him.”

“No, that’s not my dad,” Sanji said. “He’s just some old coot that I tried to kill.” He blew out another stream of smoke. Staring out onto the water. 

“Is that how he lost the leg?” I asked. Trying to act oblivious. It worked for Luffy, why couldn’t it work for me?

“Actually, yeah,” Sanji admitted. “That’s what I took from him. His leg.”

“Why’d you do that? Is that why he is pawning you onto us?”

“Maybe,” Sanji said sadly. He stumped out the cigarette but lit another. This one he let burn and barely took a drag. “That old guy saved my life once.”

“He did?!” Luffy asked. “Why’d you try to kill him then?”

“I was getting there!” Sanji yelled. “Hold your horses.” He took a long drag. “Back when I was a kid I worked in a kitchen on a merchant ship. We were waylaid by pirates during a storm. I fell off the boat and Zeff saved me.”

Sanji exhaled deeply. Shaking his head as it hung over the railing. “We washed up on the shore of a deserted island. He gave me a small bag of food while he had this huge one beside him. Telling me to wait on the other side of the island and only to come find him if a ship came up. I obeyed. And made my food last. But we were there for weeks. After 2 weeks my food was gone. And we never saw a ship.” 

He took a much longer drag of his cigarette. “By the end I was barely survivng on rain water from puddles. Delirious and starved. But I saw him with his big bag. He had more than enough food. When I knew I was going to starve to death I risked it. I went to the other side of the island with a knife I found. I ran at him. Ready to stab him in the back. But I stopped when I saw the bulging bag. Still full to the brim. Any guess what was in there?”

“Vegetables,” Luffy said. Our recent reliance on them had instilled a deep hate for them. 

Sanji laughed. “Gold. Treasures. All valuables. No food. He gave it all to me. He hadn’t taken any of it.” He finished the cigarette. Flicking it out into the water he watched the filter float away. “But he was still alive. Stuck there for weeks like me. He had to eat something. He chose his leg.”

“The one he’s missing?!” Luffy asked, aghast. Like it wasn’t obvious. 

“The same,” Sanji said with a smile. “He gave up his pirate life to give me a better chance. He was the captain of the pirates that attacked the ship I worked on. But he didn’t hesitate to jump in after me. To give me a better chance.”

“Why’d he do that?” I asked dutifully. 

“He told me once. Said he and I had the same dream.”

“What’s that?” Luffy asked. “If it’s to be the Pirate King, you’re out of luck.”

“No, it’s to see the All Blue,” Sanji said. 

“Where is that?” Luffy asked. “Never heard of it.”

“You’ve never heard of All Blue? For us cooks it’s our dream. They say it’s where all 4 oceans meet. You can find every fish from each sea in one place. Picture it. Crystal clear water. Every variety of fish found around the world, right there. Fresh for the picking.”

“Sounds delicious,” Luffy said. 

“I bet,” Sanji said with a smile on his face. “But, that’s a kid's dream.”

“What?” Luffy asked, angry by the choice of words. “It’s gotta be out there. And I plan to see it. I’m going to be the Pirate King.”

“You are? Sounds like a kid's dream too.”

“It’s not,” I said quickly. “Luffy is going to be the pirate king. And we need a cook to help get us to the One Piece.”

“You believe in One Piece too?” Sanji laughed. “You two sound about as crazy as I used to be.”

“It’s not crazy,” Luffy said. “What’s the point of living if you don’t have a dream to reach for?”

That quieted Sanji down. He looked to the side. I was afraid he was going to make an excuse to go back to work. But I had a quest to complete. I needed Sanji to be more intrigued. 

“I have a dream,” I said. I drew their gazes. “You ever heard of Fishman Island?” They both shook their heads. Despite me talking about it with Luffy it was still in one ear and out the other. “It’s filled with mermaids.”

Sanji’s eyes turned heated as a smile split his face. “They’re not real, are they?”

“They are. As real as All Blue,” I said. Before he could deny it I explained further. “Right smack dab in the middle of the Grand Line.”

“The Pirates graveyard?” Sanji asked. 

“What’s the Grand Line?” Luffy asked. 

“You’re going to be the Pirate King, but you don’t know what the Grand Line is?” Sanji asked. 

“That’s what I have a crew for. To know things I don’t,” Luffy retorted. 

“Great point, Luffy,” I said. “The Grand Line is where One Piece is supposed to be. It’s said the old Pirate King’s treasure, One Piece, is right at the end of the Grand Line. And the land of the mermaids is half way there.”

“Are mermaids like they say?” Sanji asked. “All beauties with fish tails below the waist?”

“Better. Their princess, Shirahoshi, is a giant mermaid. At least 50 feet tall. Tail for legs. Long hair. They say she’s the fairest beauty of them all. But no one has seen her in years.”

“What? Why?” Luffy asked. 

“I heard an evil fishman makes it so she can’t leave her room. He has a devil fruit power.” I noticed Sanji grind his teeth as he heard it. 

“What? Why doesn’t anyone do anything about it?” 

“They’ve tried. But no one’s been able to save her,” I said sadly. I could tell it was kind of working. “What about the most beautiful woman in the world? That’s my dream too. I want to meet her.”

“Who’s that?” Sanji asked, caught up in the story. 

“Boa Hancock. They say she’s so beautiful you’ll turn to stone if you see her,” I said. Sanji lit another cigarette. His imagination getting the better of him. “She lives by the Grand Line. On an island of nothing but women.”

“There is such a place?” Sanji asked a new dream forming in his mind. 

“There is,” I said. “Women that have never seen a man before.”

“How do they get more of them?”

“I heard that they attack ships that get too close to their island and steal the most desirable men. Forcing them to…you know. To replenish their numbers. If a boy is born he’s dropped off on a nearby island as an orphan.”

“That sounds like paradise,” Sanji said. 

“It does. What do you say, Luffy? Should we drop by there?” Luffy had been ignoring the last part. Picking his nose as looked out to sea. 

“What? That sounds boring,” he said. “I want One Piece.”

“Dang. I only have one vote on the ship. Guess I’ll never see it if more people don’t want to go,” I said. Eyeing Sanji I could tell there was a genuine struggle going on in his head. A struggle that the lustful man was losing.

“Did I mention that the isle of women are all pirates?” I asked. “They wouldn’t be interested in someone without a bounty.” Sanji’s eyes bulged. I was making some good headway. A few more conversations like this and I might actually have him. I was racking my brain for other beautiful women to talk about when we were interrupted as a giant ship came into view. A minor fog over the water had obscured it, but so close it was easy to see. 

The ship was at least a galleon. 3 times the size of the Baratie it towered over us. It would have been really impressive if it wasn’t cut up all to pieces. Sails slashed. A large chunk missing from the front showing the different levels inside. No crew to be seen on board it looked like a ghost ship. 

“What the hell is that?” Sanji asked. 

I groaned. I had forgotten about Don Krieg. A wannabe big shot with a big ship and crew he tried to take over the Baratie for some reason. 

As we stared at the giant ship a smaller longboat dropped down. We watched as it slowly rowed over to us. There were 2 figures on it. One was a dark skinned man with gray clothes and bandana on his head. He rowed the boat slowly but surely toward us. 

The passenger on the boat was a white haired man wearing golden armor. Locking eyes with me I knew that was Don Krieg. They noticed us. The man in the gray clothes slowly rowed. We threw them a line as they got closer. Krieg grabbed it and pulled them in. 

“I heard this is the Restaurant on the sea,” Don Krieg said. 

“That it is,” Sanji said. “How can I help you?”

“We need-“ Krieg said then his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fainted on the deck. 

“Captain!” The gray clothed man said. Running over to him he tried to shake Krieg awake. “Food. We need food. None of us have had a bite in over a week. Our storage was flooded after we were attacked.”

“How many of you are there?” Sanji asked. Rolling up his sleeves as he looked at the giant ship. 

“Only 60 of us are left,” the man cried. “The others were too weak to come here.”

“On it,” Sanji said. “I’ll have enough food for everyone as soon as possible.” I knew that as someone who had almost starved to death, Sanji would never say no to feeding them. The man bowed deeply. Crying as he watched Sanji go. 

“What were you attacked by?” I asked. Staring at the ship I had a bad feeling I’d forgotten something else. It had been a long time since I read the beginning of One Piece. 

“One man,” the guy said. He shivered as his eyes unfocused. “He had the eyes of a hawk. We only lost him a few days ago in a bad stor-“ he was cut off as a huge geyser cut through the giant ship behind him. 

 

We turned to see the galleon split in 2. Cracked through the middle like the titanic the 2 sides took on water and began to sink. We heard cries of anguish as the crew tried to swim and save those they could. I gulped. Coming out of the mist was a man with a wide brimmed hat. A cross-like sword at his back he reminded me of Vampire Hunter D. That was until the eyes locked onto me. 

Even at the distance away I could feel the strength of those eyes. The gaze of Hawk Eyes Mihawk. The strongest swordmaster in the world. 

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