A Small Adventure (One Piece fanfic)

The Calm Before a Storm

The more I look at him, the more I feel like I should know who this is. He just feels... important.

The guards started freaking out when they realized that a man and a giant that were supposed to be locked up in their cells had escaped. They freaked out some more when they realized they no longer had any slave collars on.

"R-Rayleigh?!" Hachi questioned, still laying on the staircase with Chopper and Pappag.

My eyes widened, "DID YOU JUST SAY RAYLEIGH?!"

"You mean Rayleigh, the coating craftsman?!" Chopper asked the fishman.

"If he's who I think he is, he's waayyyyy more than a coating craftsman," I huffed, my eyes still wide in shock. I can't believe I was checking out someone so legendary.

"OH! Is that you, Hachi?! It is!" Rayleigh shouted from the stage, "It's good to see you again! What are you doing here?! How did you get injured? No, that's okay, you needn't say anything!" He started stroking his beard, surveying the situation. "In short, I see. I understand the situation now. You sure got yourself into a heap of trouble, Hachi. And you folks saved him? Well then..." He narrowed his eyes and suddenly all of the people we were fighting against fell. "That straw hat suits dauntless men very well. I've been waiting to meet you... Monkey D. Luffy. "

~~~

He pulled off the explosive collar from Camie's neck. No problems, just threw that thing off of her. He's definitely the Rayleigh I'm thinking of. Franky showed up later with the keys to her collar which were clearly unnecessary now. He handed the keys to the slaves who were behind the curtain to the left side of the stage so they could free themselves. Rayleigh made his way up the steps where Hachi and the rest of us were, talking a bit with Kid.

"I'd prefer to not use that power of mine anymore, so I leave this to you! It'll be hard for me to stay settled down if the navy discovers who I am," the older man told the red head.

"I have no intention of helping out a senior citizen! The longer we stay here, the more troops there'll be! I think I'll go ahead and head out. I'll be sure to sweep you up in the New World, Princess," Kid made eye contact with me, smirking widely. 

Luffy looked at me, "What's he mean by that?" I dragged a hand down my face, choosing not to answer him.

Kid paid him no mind, turning to walk out of the auction house, "I'll be taking my leave. While I'm at it I'll help you guys out too! I'll clean things up outside, so don't worry!"

This got Law's and Luffy's attention now, and they both shot up, running after the red head since they felt that it was a competition now. 

"Geez, they're so simple minded!" Nami grumbled.

"OI! There's gonna be an all out brawl! Let's use that chance to escape! We can't just sit around here anyway!" Usopp interjected.

Franky made his way over to us with Camie and Pappag on his back. The mermaid and the fishman talked a bit before Zoro said, "Let's follow them. We're going to break through in one go."

"Alright then," Rayleigh responded as he pulled Hachi on his back, "Let us meet up on Grove #13, should we find ourselves separated."

"Grove #13? Alright, got it," the swordsman replied.

"You don't 'got it' at all!" Usopp accused, pointing at the green head. 

I nodded firmly, "Yea, you're going to have to stay close to us."

I ignored the glare that Zoro sent my way as Rayleigh turned to the freed people on the stage. They thanked us for what we did, even if it was mostly Rayleigh and Franky, and decided that they would be leaving on their own. Suddenly I felt like I was being... pulled? Just slightly. I looked at my metallic hands in question. Is my devil fruit being weird today? I decided that it was nothing since I couldn't feel anything anymore.