The Waterborne Strawhat (Adopted)

Lougetown pt 2

Headed in the directions that Smoker sent her, down the back alley, and continued on her merry way. Sure, for the life of her, that she could follow simple directions like the ones he told her. Until, as had not been foretold, a fork split the alley way. For some reason, her gut told her to go the other way so she did.

To her surprise, the opening to a bar appeared. It went below ground, and while Luffy visited many bars before, none of them caught her eye like that one. The sign above the stairway took the cake, and drew her in like a moth to the flame. The sigh read 'Gold Roger Bar'. It looked completely dead, but it was always places like this that were either the most entertaining or the most dangerous. But she really didn't care anymore.

Down the steps of the old bar she went, there were no lights and it reeked of something old and dusty, and also slightly foul. Like something decayed down there. But, still intrigued, Luffy forged onward down to a curtain at the bottom of the stairs. Pushing past it, Luffy entered a dark bar, lit only by the bare light that fluttered in from the windows above the bar's top shelf. A number of chairs and tables sat undisturbed, except for one man.

Old and alone, he sat and minded his liquor, most likely scotch from the color and smell. A skull, large and ominous, sat in front of him. "Excuse me Old man, are you the owner?" Luffy asked, not really caring for formality now that she was in a bar that gave her a good feeling. Something about this place...it felt warm and exciting. While that bad smell still remained, it did not dampen the atmosphere. "The sign outside say 'Gold Roger'. Is that the name of this place, then?"

"Get out. This place isn't for kids," the old man said rudely. But Luffy remained by the door, did not act to leave. "And we're closed right now."

Looking around at the state of the place Luffy asked, "Out of business?" Apparently that struck a nerve with the old man as he defended his bar.

"We aren't out of business, it's just after hours. Now get out!" The old man bellowed as she continued into the shop and sat at the last stool at the bar. She twirled in it and faced the old man.

"Sorry, I was just curious about the name...I'm lost. I wanted to go see the execution platform," Luffy said as she leaned back in the chair and propped her elbows up on the bar. "Can you tell me how to get there?" Luffy said as she fully took in the man at the table. Or what was on the table besides his drink. "Wow, that's a big skull!"

"This is the skull of the man known as 'Killer Giant'. A man who killed hundreds of pirates. He was a devil. People thought he was unstoppable. But Gold Roger fought and killed him," The man said and Luffy's eyes grew wide with excitement. This man knew tales of the Pirate King!

"Gold Roger defeated him?" Luffy asked as she leaned forward now, totally enthralled by the tales this man could tell her.

"It's a famous tale!" The old man said as he threw his hands behind him drastically. "He was a big, rough guy, with a big sword! The battle was decided pretty quickly. This gash is what killed him." He pointed to the gash in the skull that split the skull and cracked out from the empty whole. "But he was really something. His last words were: "Roger. No one can touch you. I praise you as the eternal pirate."

Luffy's body shivered in the excitement. "Amazing! Cool!" The old man seemed to notice her excitement and continued with his tale. And Luffy was so excited for getting lost for once. This was something that she would remember.

"King, of the Eric Pirates, the famous gunner Silver-Silver, the devilish Kung Fu Brothers, all were very dangerous men. Yet before Roger, they were like scared little babies." The old man watched Luffy, the lass that wandered into his broken down bar, unlike others that ran out of his bar. Instead she bounced around in the seat with a large smile on her face, stayed and listened ever on the edge of her own seat. "Want to hear more?" He asked, and the girl nodded her head happily. "Course I do!" "Nowadays youngsters don't usually take an interest in this stuff."