Survivors Guilt

Chapter 7

"So," Luffy reclined as much as he could in the cramped boat, "Do you know where the closest land is?" Of course he knew where he needed to be, he just really didn't want to have to do anything yet. Call him lazy, but he really just wanted to take a nap right now.

Coby thought for a moment before answering, "Yeah, but I don't think we should go there. It's home to a Marine Base under Captain Morgan."

Luffy didn't open his eyes. "That's fine. Neither of us have a wanted poster yet so we shouldn't get into too much trouble based on appearance and names alone."

"You're probably right." That reasoning wasn't going to stop Coby from trying a different course, though. "We still can't go there!"

Luffy was getting a bit irritated with this kid trying to undermine all of his decisions. He's willing to give his not-yet rival the benefit of the doubt, but all of his instincts were screaming at him to put this kid in his place. "Why not?"

"Because there's a really dangerous criminal being kept there!"

"All the more reason to go!"

"No way!"

It only lasted for a few hours, but Luffy's tolerance was finally at its end. "Coby," the kid flinched slightly at the tone, "Look, I don't mean to be rude or scary, but I need you to understand something." The pink haired boy was shaking, "I'm the captain here, not you. This isn't my ship and you're not on my crew, but that doesn't mean I'll put up with you trying to forgo all of my decisions. You were on a pirate ship for a while, and I can tell you that this is going to be the same in the Marines: Going against a captain's orders is a surefire way to be thrown overboard. I thought you would understand this after being with Alvida for so long." Sighing, Luffy laid back down and closed his eyes. He didn't like speaking like that, nor did he like using that tone with one of his closest friends! But he needed the boy to understand. "Let's go to that Marine Base, ne?" Coby just nodded.

Luffy slept for the rest of the trip. They'd arrive on the island a few hours before sunset, so he'd have time to get to Zoro before that kid - what was his name? Hel-something - had him executed. When they finally did arrive, he didn't let the heavy atmosphere around Coby last. What better way to break tension than to add more pressure to it? "So, tell me more about this Captain Morgan guy." The surrounding townspeople jumped back in fear when they heard the name. Luffy laughed and pointed this out to Coby. He didn't find it amusing.

"I don't know a lot about him." the pink haired boy said, "I do know that he's known as Ax-Hand Morgan, though." Again, the townspeople jumped back and Luffy giggled a bit. Coby didn't know why, but he felt a bit lighter at the people's reaction to the obviously dreaded captain's name. He even felt himself laugh a bit. He quickly stopped, though. These people were obviously scared and he wasn't going to laugh at them. That was just mean.

Luffy led the way to the marine base under the guise of just wandering. He was bad at directions - not as bad as the man he was coming to pick up - but he would be able to find his crew no matter where they were.

It didn't take a long time before the two found themselves in front of the wall that separated the base from the town. Smiling, Luffy pulled himself up to sit on it and watched Zoro. Coby found his way up eventually, but he didn't say anything. The two just sat there and watched the courtyard.

Finally, Zoro looked up at the two boys a bit away from him. "Hey, you!" Luffy almost reacted to the voice of his first mate with something other than a slight tilt of his head. It was so refreshing to hear one of his crewmates again after so long! "Get lost!"

Coby flinched at the tone the green haired man used to address them. Before he could say anything, though, a ladder hit the wall next to him and a little girl climbed up, only to jump over to the marine side of the brick fence. "What are you-" she shushed him and ran up to Zoro.