As they approached the door, they saw the crowd dispersing and people beginning to leave, which meant they had indeed missed the execution. "Damn it! We missed it!" the young man shouted and knelt down, slamming his fist against the floor, creating cracks where it would hit. Zoro merely watched with a bored expression before grabbing the back of a sulking Luffy's vest and dragging him back to the bar.
"Thanks, Dad! That idiot insulted me to my face! He deserved to die!"
The green one turned around at the sound of the voice coming from somewhere behind the wall, probably near the base. After pausing for a second to decide what to do, he turned away and decided to ignore it. Luffy was getting tiresome and he didn't care if some idiot felt insulted.
"Luffy, stop complaining and get up. I'm not dragging you anymore, it's annoying," Zoro said with a frown, letting his future captain fall. However, before the swordsman could say anything else, the other teenager sprang to his feet, eyes wide and a huge grin on his face. Without a word to his accomplice, Luffy dashed off toward the port.
"HURRY UP ZORO! I THINK HE'S BACK AND THAT MEANS IT'S TIME TO GO!" Luffy shouted as he walked further and further away.
"Who the hell is he talking about?" Zoro thought. Well, there was no point in just sitting around. He'd better go see who the idiot was so excited to see.
Upon arriving at the port, Luffy could barely contain his excitement. He hadn't seen his friend in a week! What's more, he was eager to continue his adventures. As great as the island had been, he was happy to have recruited Zoro as his first mate; he was ready to keep exploring the East Blue and meet even more amazing people. If he hadn't missed the execution, it would have been the perfect ending to his time on the island. Oh well, once again, there was nothing he could do about it. When he finally reached the dock, Luffy put his fingers to his mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle to call his friend, along with a loud shout of "LEVIII!"
After waiting a moment, Luffy began to see familiar ripples in the water, heralding the arrival of the sea monster. "Levi!" he exclaimed, hugging the monster's nose as he emerged from the water. "I've missed you, buddy! It feels so bad I haven't seen you in ages! I have so much to tell you! I met this awesome guy who wields three swords, and we had a fight, and he agreed to become a pirate with me when I set sail—how cool! Oh! And... well, that's all. And you, buddy? Did you have any fun while you were gone?"
The sea beast nodded its head in confirmation.
"I'm glad," Luffy said with a grin. "We're getting ready to leave soon now that you're here, buddy. Oh, and you have to meet Zoro! He's the swordsman I told you about. He uses three swords! How cool! Oh, and he wants to be the world's greatest swordsman, and I told him I wouldn't want anything less on my crew. It was awesome! Anyway, you can meet him when I get here, even if it takes forever because he has no sense of direction. Then, we'll head to the bar, quick, to get some food for the trip because I don't want to be that hungry again," the boy took a deep breath after finishing speaking without having had a single drink.
"What the hell is that?"
Turning around, Luffy saw Zoro staring at him, frozen in place as his friend watched him talk to the giant sea monster. "Zoro! You're finally here!" He ran quickly toward the swordsman, grabbed his arm, and dragged him toward his best friend. The green warrior reluctantly followed, with little choice.
As they approached, Zoro could hear the monster purring and stopped to tell Luffy, mistaking it for a growl, "Luffy, I don't think that thing will like it too much."
"No way! Levi is my friend and you're my friend, so you two have to be friends!" Luffy reasoned.
"First, I'm not sure that's how it works. Second... WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING TO A SEA MONSTER?!" yelled the young man with shark teeth.
Luffy stared blankly at Zoro, confused by the question: "He's my friend, why else would I be talking to him?" He glanced at Levi, and the beast simply nodded.
"That's not what I..." Zoro paused for a second before seemingly giving up, "You know what... forget it. I don't even want to know."
After the introductions, if you could call them that, Luffy and Zoro returned to the bar to collect their belongings and buy food for the trip to the next island. On the way, Luffy explained how Levi had helped him travel from island to island. Now that they could also use Zoro's small boat, they could bring food and other supplies.
The two were a whirlwind as they scoured the bar, gathering everything they needed for their trip. It would be a small deduction from what Zoro had saved hunting bounties, but neither of the teenagers felt like stealing anything from Ririka, though she probably wouldn't make much of a fuss. Besides, what else was she going to spend it on, if not this...? Oh, yes, she still needed new swords...
In the end, the two of them, full of hope, had everything they needed for their next trip and returned to the port, with Ririka and Rika in tow.
"Do you really have to leave?" Rika asked, tears welling in her eyes. The two young men turned to look at the girl who followed them, and their hearts broke at the sight of her expression, though Zoro would never admit it.
"Rika, you have a journey to undertake, you know that. Besides, I'm sure it won't be the last time you see them... Isn't that right, guys?" The murderous glare Ririka gave them sent a shiver down their spines and left no room for discussion, though there never would have been.
"Of course!" Luffy shouted with a grin as Zoro nodded. "I don't know when we'll be back, but I promise," Luffy looked the girl in the eyes, "we'll come back someday, and when we do, we'll have tons of new stories to tell about all our adventures! Does that sound good?"
The girl nodded enthusiastically before running towards the two boys and wrapping her arms around them. Luffy laughed and hugged her back, while Zoro awkwardly patted the girl's back, unaccustomed to such displays of affection.
"Alright, Zoro! Let's go! I don't know where the next island is, but I can't wait to get there!" Luffy jumped into the small boat before grabbing a rope, tying one end to the rudder and the other in a large loop, and throwing it into the water. The rope was immediately pulled under the surface, and just before the boat started moving, Zoro climbed aboard as well. "Goodbye, guys! Thanks for letting us stay at the bar! See you sometime!" the straw-hatted teenager shouted, waving back to the rapidly receding harbor.
Rika and Ririka could only watch in amazement as the boat sped away at a much greater speed than it should have. Finally, snapping out of their shock, they waved back before the small vessel disappeared completely, wondering how long it would be before they saw the intriguing teenagers again.
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