Chapter 18: Meeting Shanks

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The boat's sway had become bearable after your 4th week on the sea. The sky was light blue with the rare appearance of clouds that drifted in the air. You shook your legs which were crossed over each other as if you were dancing to the beat of a song. The water surged the boat towards your destination even as you laid on the floor without a thought, your hands supporting your head. Using your staff had become like second nature to you.

After receiving the location of Shanks you were a little way away from the Grand line where Shanks was situated. Actually, you would be there in a few hours and were excited to arrive to say the least. Meeting a man as powerful as Shanks was going to be one of the highlights of the months.

You smiled as you closed your eyes and drifted into sleep.

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FLASHBACK

-"What did you say about Ace being in danger!" Luffy shouted as you excited the presence of Garp. Zoro stood next to him, no longer holding him back.

-"He is not in danger" You clarified. Yet. You stared at each other. "We just disagreed on a topic and I need to go find his ass before he does something stupid without me." Like dying. Luffy looked at you a second more before deciding to trust your statement.

-"So you said you were friends? When did you meet him?" his eyes almost sparked as he talked, his love for his brother could be clearly visualised. You opened your mouth to answer but someone stopped you before you could even start.

-"Luffy! That shouldn't be the first thing you ask such a beautiful lady!" Sanji hit Luffy in the head as he came running over. "And what might your name be?" you stepped back, shocked. I can literally see the hearts in his eyes without them being there.

-"Umm, they call me Saver. Sav for short." You replied. Wouldn't it be so nice to say "Sorry I already have someone I like" and gush over Ace and his cute smile. You enjoyed the thought of that for a few more seconds before being ripped apart from your dreams by the weird dance Sanji was doing. His shout could be heard through the building as he loudly proclaimed "Such a beautiful name for a beautiful lady!", "It was my pleasure to meet you today!" The shouting came to a sudden halt as the sound of impact could be heard taking its stead as Zoro punched Sanji in the head. Their bickering made you chuckle as you turned to Luffy.

-"I met him a while ago, we were traveling together, but had to separate ways due to some.. Circumstances." you paused for a moment before continuing. "Luffy, let's say something serious does happen where I have to reach you. Do you have a den den mushi (snail phone)?" You both gazed at each other as he stared at you with serious curiosity.

-"Gihihihihi... Sure!" Luffy smiled as Zoro wrote down the number you needed. Blood now trailing off his face from his fight with Sanji. They were cute and you certainly wanted to be their friend.

Luffy smiled at you as you talked about Ace and your adventures. As you looked around the crew who were conversing and laughing along with you, you knew that you had already made the friends you had hoped for.

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You jolted awake as you woke up from your slumber to a sudden force. Raising your head, you identified the shaking to be caused by your boat colliding with land.

You jumped out as the boat started filling with water. Turning over seconds later, you came face to face with the last seconds of your trusty boat as it drowned in the sea. Damn, now I have to steal another one..

After experiencing the devastating death of your boat you were finally able to check the surrounding area. It was a few hours past noon. The sky was neither dark nor bright but the start of nightlife could start to be heard through the place you had landed at.

You were here at the Grand line.

You had 2 months to find Shanks before Ace found Blackbeard. And according to your data map, this place was one of the places Shanks was expected to be.

From now on you would need to be careful. Every man from here on was powerful and could handle their own. Your eyes perked up at the sound of shouting that came from the side of the street. Trailing behind the source of the sounds you were led to a door with the sign "Ace of Clubs". That was definitely ironic...

Shouting could be heard very prominently as you got closer to the door. Once you opened it, a flight of stairs descended towards a basement where laughing and singing were unmistakable. Before you even reached the end of the stairs you halted in your tracks. The overbearing smell of beer made you nauseous, on the side of the inn you could clearly see a man cleaning his gun in a calm demeanor, unlike the others who seemed to be completely wasted.

Your breath hitched as you noted the scar running across the side of his eye, you knew who he was.

It was Benn Backmen. The right-hand man of Shanks. You were at the right place and you had found them faster than what you had ever hoped for. You stayed rooted to the stairs, just observing the inn taking in all the people until your eyes landed on a head with red hair. You had found Shanks and to top it off he was completely drunk, singing along to whatever tune that the pirates were playing.

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Your head hit one of the many branches in the forest you were walking through, leaving a red mark on the side of your cheek. You cursed the branch, rubbing your cheek to fight the pain off. After what seemed like hours, the Red Hair pirates had left the bar only to walk up to some random forest, and here you were trailing after them like some sort of spy.

You didn't want to admit it but you were kind of shy to meet Shanks. He was very strong and you thought very highly of him, making it hard for you to cooly introduce yourself. Your thoughts kept you company throughout the walk, making the time pass faster. So much faster that you almost didn't notice the crew stopping in front of a cave, big enough to carry everyone and more. You stopped, hiding behind a tree half a mile or so away from their location as they set camp and lit a bone-fire. You could see Shanks sitting on one big rock getting comfortable. Were they staying here for the night? Now that you realised it was snowing. Maybe a blizzard was coming?

You wrapped the cloak more snugly around you as you continued to gaze at the pirates. You were completely aghast when you realized they were taking out more booze. Before the crew could start partying again, however, Shanks raised his hand. Calling everyone into attention.

-"Before we start, why doesn't the miss that has been trailing after us for some time join us first?" Turning to look straight into your eyes, Shanks smiled a cheery smile. It held tranquil and warning.

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This chapter took the longest to write, ever, except the second chapter which literally took 5 years. Anyways thank god it's over. Hope you enjoy and see you in the next chapter. BTW if you guys think the chapters are too long please tell me cause I really want some feedback, positive and negative.

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