Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 142 ANOTHER CREWMEMBER

I really did like my new room. King size bed and a chest of drawers, that’s all that was in there. But I had talked Franky into a pretty strong lock and some insulation in the walls for dampening sounds. Once we were on the ship it was easy to get back into the groove of things. 

Franky had installed 2 spots for our treasures and pirate booty. One treasure chest for the day to day that held enough for provisions and crew shares, then another more hidden trove under the floorboards that only he and I could access. With a shipwright on the payroll now I wasn’t so worried about keeping 50% of our money for ship repairs. I set 25% of our money for provisions and another 25% for wear and tear. That left 50% for the crew’s pay. 

We had received 300,000,000 berries for the gold we stole from Skypiea. 200,000,000 of that went to the Treasure Tree Adam Wood. Then another 50 million was spent on furniture, stocking items and general items for the Thousand Sunny. That meant another 50 million for the crew. I set 25 million for a rainy day, then the rest was split between the 9 of us. That was 5 million a piece. I then had them all agree that they could only take 100,000 berries out at any one time. If they wanted more they needed express permission. 

There was some balking by Luffy, but he would get over it. I didn’t bother to try to keep Nami or Robin’s share from them. They were good enough with money to make it last and they had their own secret troves already. The rest of the guys didn’t care much. 

The Log Pose had locked onto the next island, which was Fishman Island. But I knew the archipelago was next. But before that we had to deal with Moria. Something I didn’t bother to warn anyone about. 

The first few days on the ship were spent learning everything about it. Nami had to relearn all of her Navigator Sense crap. Able to know when to raise sails or be at the helm was her speciality. The Grand Line was still a hectic place. One minute snowing, the next extreme heat, then there were the Sea Kings to watch out for, and sudden gusts of wind that blew us off course. We had to man the helm at all times. Which was annoying but also a great time to get to know the ship. 

I soon had a new seat at the helm. I had asked Franky for a wider rail at a certain spot so it was nice and comfy. We got into the groove of things over the next few days. Robin, Nami, and I didn’t get much alone time. But they were all for keeping our secret relationship going, which I was thankful for. I knew I said I could go back to not being with them, but now that we had gone all the way it was hard to keep my hands off of them. 

I felt a little bad at first, until Nami admitted she wouldn’t have been able to handle my lust on her own. Both women liked different things in the bedroom, and I slowly learned it all. Nami was quickly coming out of her shell. Going from being a virgin to sexually active during our time on Water 7 had made her calm down a lot as well. Where she was constantly hitting or yelling at Luffy and Usopp, she did it a lot less now. 

That was until we passed into the Florian Triangle one day. The triangle was basically the Bermuda Triangle on Earth. Lots of legends about it, most I doubted were true. The triangle was in a constant state of darkness. We had talked about skirting it, but the thought of secret treasures and getting to our destination more quickly pushed us to try it. It helped that Franky had installed headlamps in the eyes of the Sunny’s figurehead, so we weren't completely blind while sailing. 

Only a day into the Triangle and we heard a familiar laugh. Familiar to me anyway. 

“Yohohoho,” the voice laughed over the water. Almost eerie in its disembodied voice coming from the darkness. 

“Weston! Something creepy is going on!” Nami yelled. I was on my feet already though. Excited at the prospect of another crew member. 

“Hello there!” I yelled to the faceless voice. “Where are you?”

“I’m straight ahead!” The voice said. “I would appreciate you helping me out. My ship was damaged and sank. I’ve been traveling on the water for days now!”

“Of course. Come into the light,” I yelled. “We will help you.”

“I must warn you,” the voice said. “I’m quite a scary sight.”

“What’s going on?” Luffy asked as he walked up. Since it was dark all the time, most everyone slept. He rubbed his eyes while yawning. 

“A stranger,” I said. I turned back to the water. “We don’t judge. If you’re in trouble we will help.”

“Yohohoho,” the voice said. “How very kind of you.” Ever so slowly he appeared in front of us. He was on a long boat heading right for us. He was as I expected. Wearing a black puffy suit it was a little ragged. A cup of tea in his bony fingers he sipped at it while his cane hung from his arm. He had the classic dark afro and of course he was all bones. 

“You look rather sickly, are you alright?” I asked. Making sure the girls didn’t freak out. 

“Oh yes, I haven’t been sick in a long time. It’s hard to have a runny nose without a nose, yohohoho,” he laughed. 

“What is that?” Nami whispered as he moved closer. 

“He appears to be a talking skeleton,” I said. 

“Wh-wh-what?!” Luffy asked excitedly. I threw a rope over the side as the bone man got closer. That’s when I got the quest. 

“W-weston, what are you doing?!” Nami asked. 

“Helping someone in need,” I said with a smile. But instead of taking the rope Brook tied his ship off onto it and jumped the 20 feet to the deck of the ship. 

“Ah yes, thank you, kind people,” he said with a bow. Others from the crew walked up. All eyes on the talking skeleton. “If you haven’t noticed. I am a skeleton.” He hefted the violin case over his shoulder. “But most important of all I am a musician. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Brook.”

Luffy had stars in his eyes. Not only from the fact that he was a talking skeleton but also a musician. “B-Brook you have to join my pirate crew!” He yelled. 

“Luffy!” More than one person yelled. 

“Ok,” Brook said. “Yohohoho.” He laughed while sipping his tea, but my quest didn’t finish with that. 

—-

“I ate the Revive Devil Fruit,” Brook explained as we sat in the dining room. The others sat around, less casually. Usopp and Chopper were wearing crosses and garlic necklaces. Trying to ward off the evil spirit. 

“I ate the fruit and thought it was a dud, but low and behold I could not swim anymore. It wasn’t until I died that my soul returned to my body. Allowing me to keep living. Yohohoho,” he laughed. His creepy jaw raising up and down with each word. In the manga he was a comedic skeleton. But in front of me was an actual skeleton. Very odd to watch talk. 

“Who cares about that?! Join my crew!” Luffy yelled. 

“Oh yes, how I wish I could,” Brook said. He was sipping tea again. “Unfortunately I have been stuck in the Florian Triangle a long time. And I cannot leave of my own free will.”

“Why’s that?” I asked dutifully. “Your soul trapped where you died?”

“No, thankfully. But the Triangle has many secrets. Many secret powers working here under the cover of darkness,” Brook said. “One such secret power is able to steal shadows.”

“Shadows?” Robin asked. “That sounds familiar.”

“Yes, there is a Shichibukai here that can steal shadows.” Brook extended his hand over the table. “As you can see, I have no shadow.” Despite the impossibility of it. He really didn’t have a shadow. Again Oda does something unexplainable. 

“In this normal light, such a thing isn’t a problem,” Brook continued. “But out in the sun…I would burn to a crisp.”

“I knew it!” Usopp yelled. “You’re a vampire!”

“Vampire!” Chopper said, pushing his cross forward.  

“Yohohoho,” Brook laughed. It was already getting annoying. “How I wish I was. But no. Simply, my shadow was taken. Forcing me to stay in the Florian Triangle as I wander. Trying to find my shadow again.”

“That’s simple!” Luffy said. “We just need to beat up this Moira guy, right?”

“Moira is a powerful Shichibukai,” Robin said. “We need to proceed carefully. Back when he was a regular pirate he had a higher bounty than you do.”

“How much was his bounty?” 

“320,000,000 berries.”

“That’s simple. Mines 300,000,000. That just means we need someone with 100,000,000 and we can join forces to beat him,” Luffy said. 

“Maths a little off there Luffy, but you’re trying,” I said. “The captain's right. We should just kick this guy's ass.”

“Yohohoho,” Brook laughed. “How I wish I had your conviction. However, I’m not the only person Moira has stolen the shadow of. Hundreds of other pirates and regular people have traveled this triangle. Only to have their shadows stolen. Then they are forced to do his bidding to get the shadow back.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Luffy said. “You’re going to be my nakama. We need a musician on the crew. And you’re a talking skeleton.” At least Luffy had his priorities straight on the most important qualities of Brook.

“Speaking of,” Brook said. Picking up his instrument case the aged leather opened up to reveal a violin. “Let’s celebrate our meeting with a song.” He began strumming on the violin. Tuning it. 

Picking up the bow Luffy began to excitedly clap as Brook began to play. It wasn’t Bink’s Sake as I expected. More like a melody. Relaxed as he played some wordless song. 

To be honest I should have known something was up. Brook had said that Moira made those he stole shadows from do his bidding. I had assumed things would be the same as the canon. 

It wasn’t until all the others dropped to the table asleep that I knew we had been tricked. I couldn’t fight the music as he played. My eyes rolling to the back of my head it wasn’t long until I was in a deep slumber.