One Piece: The Legendary Pirate

A month already passed since Darvy's arrival on this island.

A month. It was enough time for Darvy to try many things.

"Huff... huff..."

After a month of relentless effort, though there was no change to Darvy's body figure, he did succeed... in completing one push-up.

"It wasn't just about doing it until I could. It was more about what I intake."

Contrary to the words of threat that the doctor girl spoke before, the villagers regularly interacted with Darvy, sharing some food and talking about daily lives. They surely were nice people, enough for Darvy to understand why the doctor girl was trying so hard to protect them.

Anyhow, the improvement of his body was a new breakthrough for Darvy. He felt hope and motivation and felt that if he were to continue living the way he did at the current moment, he would be able to get strong at a steady rate.

Then, one day, he will make a name for himself.

"Hey! Darvy!"

Name. Speaking of names, Darvy did manage to learn the names of a couple of villagers.

For instance, that fisherman over there, the exact same one who's been regularly talking to him since a month ago. His name is Loris, 34 years old and married. Funnily enough, he is a farmer but regularly goes fishing to slack off, so he wasn't really a 'fisherman' in the first place.

"Hi Loris. Fishing again?"

"Well, duh, haha!"

Darvy then saw that there was someone else standing behind Loris. Small figure—he deduced right away that it was a boy around his age, tho seemly younger than 12 years old himself.

"And that boy is?"

"My son. Come out and say hi to the pirate boy whom you've always been curious of, Lyon!"

As if frozen, the boy didn't say anything but kept his face staring at the ground.

"Huh."

Loris shrugged,

"This is the first time I saw him being shy. Maybe it's because you're a pirate."

Darvy raised an eyebrow at that,

"He likes pirates?"

"Probably because of the book he reads. Lyon, you brought it with you, right?"

"Y-Y-You...!!"

Then, instead of answering Loris's question, Lyon all of a sudden stuttered with anger in his tone. Raising his head, Lyon jabbed his finger at Darvy, and as he raised his head, Darvy realized that Lyon's height was almost the same as him.

"There is no way that someone like you is a pirate!!"

Loris instantly groaned at that, facepalming.

Darvy replied with that of a curiosity,

"You speak as if being a pirate is some kind of glorious thing."

"Because it is!!"

Lyon suddenly opened the book in his grasp and read a line written on one page,

"It says here that pirates are the freest beings in this world, bound by nothing! They are also strong and brave, unlike a wimp like you!!"

Darvy wasn't offended, used to the vile words since his birth. Instead, he was curious about what the book was about.

"What book is that even?"

"Oh, that."

Loris answered in Lyon's stead,

"I have no idea either. I once fished a treasure chest by chance, and upon opening it, found only that book, completely dry somehow."

"And you gave that book to your son without checking its content?"

"I didn't think Lyon was smart enough to understand the book!"

"Shut up, dad! We both know who's the smarter one among us two!"

"Looks like some is in need of beating, eh?"

Darvy sweatdropped as he watched the father-son interaction.

"...And how old is this boy?"

"Ten."

"Ten..."

Darvy hummed as he thought of what he was doing when he was 10 years old.

"I've accidentally eaten your portion of food, gehehehe! Nothing for you today, punk!"

"Am feeling a lil' horny today, so you better not get in my sight!"

"Put an apple above his head. I'm down for some shooting today!"

He nodded, feeling that Loris and Lyon's relationship was completely normal.

"Ugh, anyway,"

Slamming Lyon by the head, Loris spoke to Darvy,

"I just wanted to ask you to take care of this kid while I go fish."

"You want me, a pirate, to babysit him?"

"He likes pirates, so it's all fine! Besides, what's there to be afraid of a self-proclaimed pirate with no bounty?"

"I no longer want to stay with this guy, old man!"

"Have fun, kids! I'll bring some fish for the dinner!"

Just like that, Loris abruptly left, leaving Darvy dumbfounded.

Turning to Lyon, Darvy muttered,

"What now?"

"Stay out of my way, loser."

Lyon then saw Darvy's eyes gleaming in a rage.

"Say that again, fucker."

"You're a loser. L. O. S. E. R."

It was enough of a cue for two boys to begin a fight—a pitiful one, that is.

...

"Huff... huff..."

Darvy groaned as he was sprawled across the grassy plain, with his lips torn and bleeding.

"You see it now? Weak as hell, you're a loser. Pff, a pirate? Please, you're nothing more than a beggar."

Lyon leaned down and growled into Darvy's ears.

"Don't even dare to speak a word pirate in front of me. You got that?"

"Hah..."

Lyon, confused by Darvy's chuckle, raised an eyebrow.

"You're delusional, kiddo."

Lyon was relatively unscathed compared to Darvy who had many bruises. Furthermore, Darvy had a scrawny and thin body in comparison to his healthy and quite toned ones. It was only natural that Lyon looked down on Darvy, and be unwilling to accept that someone weaker than him was a pirate.

"Delusional? Do you need some more beating?"

"Being a pirate isn't a blessing. It isn't a worthy dream for you to have."

Darvy raised his head and met his eyes with Lyon's. For some reason, Lyon felt a chill. Straightening his body away from Darvy, Lyon took a step back unconsciously.

"Pirates are filthy."

Placing his palm on the ground, Darvy's arms shook violently as he tried to lift his body up.

"Nasty, always drinking alcohol and laughing like crazed fellows. They are despicable as well, having no sense of morality at all. Kill as they please, steal as they please—pirates are the epitome of selfishness."

"If you hate pirates so much, why be one yourself?!"

Darvy's body violently trembled as he managed to stand back up. Even after years of harsh life, his frail body was unable to adapt.

However, he regardless survived. In order to accommodate such a harsh condition, it was his mind that had to accommodate.

He had the mentality of a steel.

"Because I need revenge."

Darvy grinned, revealing his bloody teeth. It was a crazed grin. To Lyon, it felt as if Darvy's true face was revealed, or as if some sort of switch was turned on inside him.

"There is this piece of shit who idolizes being a pirate just as you do, if not more. I'll become the damn strongest pirate there ever was, and put him in his place."

"...Strongest? You?"

Lyon, not realizing that his voice was shaking, muttered,

"As if—"

"Want to make a bet?"

Lyon found his mouth shutting as his eyes peered into Darvy's. Those crimson eyes—they were something else, holding a conviction of a different level.

Then, he felt fear surging in him as Darvy's grinning figure overlapped with a pirate's jolly roger.

Out of instinct, Lyon punched Darvy straight in the face, causing Darvy to fall back to the grass, bleeding from the nose.

Yet, Darvy slowly stood back up with his trembling body, spitting blood as if it were nothing.

"W-What's the point of standing back up?! You already lost! Doesn't it hurt?! Just stay down, or you will die!!"

"You think I'm scared of death?"

Taking a step forward, Darvy chuckled darkly.

"Look at this body of mine. If anything, my life has always been a step away from death. You get it? Death is my homie."

As he took another step forward, Lyon, cried fearfully as his face paled,

"L-Let's stop this, okay?! I'm sorry!!"

Lyon finally succumbed to his fear, feeling oppressed by Darvy's insanity.

"Sorry? I'm not interested in your apology. Apology means nothing."

Darvy's slow walk toward Lyon didn't stop, however.

"W-What do you want then?!"

"Admit it."

"A-Admit what?!"

"Your loss."

Now standing in front of Lyon, Darvy raised his frail arm as if about to punch.

Though said arm shook, though there seemed to be barely any force behind, Lyon was afraid. He cried,

"I-I lost, okay?! It's your win!"

As he said that, Darvy's fist lightly tapped Lyon's forehead, and Darvy, grinning, stated,

"...And that makes you a guy who lost to a loser."

And there he fell, leaving Lyon dazed.

Though Lyon was barely injured, he was the one who lost the fight... to the one who had now fallen in front of him.

It was the first time that Lyon experienced something like this.

Pirate.

'...Perhaps physical strength isn't everything that defines strength,'

Though Lyon before he looked down and yelped.

"G-Gahh!! He's bleeding!!"

Gone was hostility, fear, or any other negative feelings between the two. Hurriedly lifting up the light body of Darvy, Lyon began to run.

__________

"Fuck, again?"

"Fuck indeed. Why the fuck are you here for the third time?"

When Darvy woke up, he was in the same bed with the doctor girl bickering next to him.

"How did you even survive until today? You get critically injured from so many things. You should've died years ago."

"Well, when I usually got sick or injured, I was bedridden for a long time. And by saying 'bedridden', I'm talking about lying on the hard ground for weeks."

"Anyhow, stop getting sick. You're making me waste resources!"

"Yet, you are willing to treat me."

The girl growled in annoyance as Darvy smirked. Then, Darvy added on,

"By the way, your name is Tatara, I heard?"

"Who told you that?!!"

The girl, now revealed as Tatara, immediately shrieked.

"Loris."

"That guy, I swear!! After all the warnings...!!"

"Yeah, he has a few screws loose."

"Says the craziest one on this island!!"

She then sighed before changing the topic,

"Anyway, the one who brought you here was Loris's son, Lyon. He left a message to you, saying that he's sorry for what happened just before."

"I see."

"So you two fought?"

"Indeed we did."

"And you lost?"

Darvy shook his head.

"I won."

"...You won and was beaten to a pulp, while Lyon lost and was fine?"

"Basically."

"You—"

BANG!

There was a sudden explosive noise just outside that interrupted their conversation. Wincing, Tatara quickly turned to the window and looked out.

"What's going on?"

Darvy asked but Tatara didn't answer. Instead, full of anger, she stomped out of the room.

Curious, Darvy raised his screeching body and pulled himself to the window.

Looking outside, he saw a couple of men with filthy attires, laughing maniacally with weapons in their hands. In front of them stood a fat man with a captain's hat, having his smoking pistol raised to the sky.

"...Pirates."

Darvy whispered with despise written in his tone.

"Kill all men!! Catch all women and kids!! We will be riches today, folks!!"

"Yerr!!!"

They were about to begin a raid to fill their already full bellies further, until the blonde girl with glasses, Tatara, made her way to their front.

"Huh?"

The tension was rising, but Darvy did see—that the moment Tatara revealed herself, villagers relaxed.

"Who are you, girl?"

The pirate captain growled, and in response, Tatara's hand began to emit an icy hue.

Seconds after, all those pirates were frozen to death, leaving Darvy flabbergasted.