"Come inside" the old man allowed your group to enter his house. "I am in your debt. You'll be my guests"
"Alright, food!!" cheered Luffy, running inside, followed by the others.
"Ah, home sweet home" sighed Tonjit. "Our village has a tradition of welcoming guests with milk taken from our livestock"
"A village? You have a village around here?" you asked, taking a seat.
"And what livestock?" enriched Chopper.
"What village...?" repeated slowly the old man before he came to the realization and panicked greatly. "AH! THE VILLAGE IS GONE!!! THE LIVESTOCK TOO"
"Don't tell me you just noticed" said Usopp with his arms crossed and a dejected look on his face. "But even if you were up there for ten years, that's not enough time for a whole village to disappear..."
"Oh, yes. I'll explain everything. First, I must attend to you. I'm sure I had some milk stored around here"
"Erm..." you mumbled, a disgusted look replacing your blank one.
"Ossan...you were up on those stilts for ten years!" cried out Usopp and Tonjit's expression turned shocked.
"Please, help yourselves to some cheese" he said, approaching you with a smelly cheese of ten years, and didn't even dare to stare at the aliment.
"DON'T LOOK AWAY FROM IT" yelled the sniper. "AND THAT'S YOUR MILK FROM TEN YEARS AGO"
"Ah, what a shame...Well, feel free to make yourselves at home"
"Hey, Ossan, can you eat this cheese?" questioned Luffy, tilting his head on the side.
"Don't. Touch. It" you gritted your teeth, slapping your captain's hand away from the plate.
"Don't worry. It's just some ten-year-old cheese. Unlike you young'uns, I've experienced the relaxed lifestyle of this island. My stomach is much stronge than yours" told Tonjit. "Youngsters these days have such weak bodies"
"Then why are you on the ground clutching your stomach?!" you howled at the old man who was indeed in a fetal position.
"Please...call a doctor!"
"I TOLD YOU SO! YOU MORON!" snarled Usopp.
"DOCTOR! DOCTOR!" panicked Chopper. "Oh, that's me!"
The small reindeer quickly examined the old man, coming with one obvious conclusion:
"Food poisoning"
"WE KNOW THAT!" cried out Usopp and Luffy laughed.
"Ossan, you're funny!"
"You're nomads?" you asked finally and the old man nodded his head after feeling better.
"Yes, we are a continuously migrating footloose tribe of nomads"
"So that's why your village was gone after just ten years" stated Chopper.
"This island is called Long Ring Long Land. Welcome. This island is actually shaped like a long ring. Most of the time, the sea divides it into ten smaller islands" explained Tonjit. "But, there is one day of the year when the tide recedes dramatically...and the island reveals its full form for a few hours. We wait for that opportunity, and once every three years, we move to the next island"
"So, you were left behind when your village moved, Ossan?" asked the sniper.
"That's so stupid! I like your style!" chuckled Luffy while holding his stomach with one hand and the other giving a thumb up.
"Shut up" you growled, slamming a foot behind his head and making him faceplant.
"If they move one island in three years, it would take about thirty years for them to get back here. So, even after subtracting the time you were on the stilts, It'll still be twenty years before you can be reunited" continued Usopp.
"Yeah, that's about right...If only I had a hooorse here...I could jump one island every year...and catch up to the others in just five years" stated the old man.
"A hooorse?" repeated Chopper.
"Yes. The most beautiful creature on this island" smiled Tonjit. "Seeing them run gracefully across the grassland takes your breath away. Without them, going from one island to the next would be impossible. Their bodies are strong and they carry our heavy luggage. If we tried to cross the next island on foot, the tide would come in before we finished crossing"
"Why not just take a ship?" proposed your captain.
"Our tribe has no experience with navigation" responded the old man. "And besides, even after a Log Pose adapts to this island's Log, it won't point to the next island. The islands are all actually only one island, after all. I guess I'll have to wait here for twenty years"
"Are you sure? Won't you be lonely?" frowned Luffy.
"Wait! Is a hooorse...a horse?" said Chopper and you facepalmed.
"Yes, it's the same thing" you sighed.
"Oh! Cherie! Did you wait for me?" asked Tonjit as he ran toward the white horse who neighed in happiness. "Oh, Cherie, you're so cute! I've missed you so much! You've gotten much longer since the last time I saw you!"
"So it was his horse..." you mumbled, stopping a few feet away from them followed by the others.
"You must have been so lonely all these years" the old man said, caressing the horse's head. "Thank you! I'll never leave you again!"
"She wants you to ride her, Ossan!" smiled Chopper when Cherie suddenly gamboled around him.
It didn't take long before the both of them took off and galloped across the plain, with the horse neighing loudly and the old man laughing. It was almost a heartwarming sight to your cold organ. The trio next to you were also enjoying the view, chuckling at their happiness. Only it was short lived. The sound of a gun pierced the serenity and Cherie fell on her side, the old man landing on the ground hard. Chopper and Usopp let out a scream, and quickly went to the old man and horse's aid. The animal was struggling in her bounds around her four limbs, trashing around.
Luffy gritted his teeth and turned around to face the origin of the sound. There was three people standing behind you.
" Fuehfehfehfeh! " laughed loudly the one in the middle who looked like a weird fox. "That horse now belongs to me!"
"Yeah, that's right! The horse belongs to Oyabin!" said the woman next to him.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" yelled angrily Luffy.
"You dare to ask who I am?" muttered the man.
"What a rude thing to say" enriched the woman while the bigger guy merely laughed.
"I won't let you say that you don't know my face!" declared the man.
"Trust us, if we knew you, I would remember a stupid face like yours" you told, and deadpanned when the man fell on his knees, sulking.
"They don't know who I am? And she calmed stupid..." whimpered the man.
"No, Oyabin, don't be sad!" the woman pat his back. "They are lying! They must know and are pretending that they don't! Plus, I'm pretty sure she fancies you~"
"No I don't" you growled, cue more sulking from the man.
"There's no way they know" came the muffled voice of the bigger man, before he fell on his knees, laughing.
"Don't laugh about it, Hamburg!" snapped the woman.
"My name is Foxy" grunted the man finally. "I am a man who takes everything he wants! Fuehfehfehfeh! Remember that, you clowns! Why are you making such a fuss over a horse? That was nothing more than a bit of sport hunting!"
"Bastard!" spat your captain, swinging his leg behind him. "Gomu Gomu no..."
"Wait, Straw Hat Luffy!" Foxy stammered, bringing a hand in front of him and Luffy completely stopped.
"How did you know my name?!"
"I know your name...and a lot more about you" told Foxy.
"Wanted for a bounty of 100,000,000 bellies, Monkey D. Luffy...60,000,000 bellies, Roronoa Zoro....and for 150,000,000 bellies, (y/n), having a total bounty of 310,000,000 bellies between only eight people is rather impressive" said the young woman with blue hair.
"We, the Foxy Pirates...request that the Straw Hat Pirates participate in a Davy Back Fight!" said Foxy, showing between his fingers three golden coins.
"What kind of bullshit is that?! Just come and fight me!" cried out Luffy. "I'll take any challenge you throw at me!"
"Oi, Luffy, that game...Stop! You lose your Nakama!" yelled Usopp, running toward you.
"What're you talking about, Usopp?!"
"Don't accept that challenge!" continued to yell the sniper.
"Fuehfehfehfeh! You fool! I heard what you said, Straw Hat Luffy! You said that you'd accept any challenge! He said that, right, Porche?" Foxy demanded to the woman who nodded.
"Yes, Oyabin, I heard him too. Do you think you can back out now?" wondered Porche.
"It's too late" chuckled Hamburg.
"Or, Straw Hat, will you recant your words?" taunted Foxy.
"No!" barked your captain, which earned him a slap by Usopp.
"DON'T LET HIM GOAD YOU INTO THIS!"
"BUT YOU SAW WHAT HE DID TO THE HORSE!" bickered back Luffy to the sniper.
"You three, out of the way!" said the old man, who had now a gun in his hands. "Cherie believed in me and waited ten long years for me to return...and you shot her?!"
"Wait, Ossan! They're pirates!"
"Anyway, what is this Davy Back Fight?" you turned to the other pirates. "What kind of challenge is that game?"
Foxy went on explaining all the rules concerning the Davy Back Fight. It's a game between two pirate crews to win each other's crewmates in order to strengthen their crew. For it to begin, both captains must agree to the terms and fire a gun at the same time into the air, sealing the agreement. The more you heard about it, the more you cringed. All of this assembled was a whole bad idea.
"Now. Do we have an accord?" smiled deviously the captain of the Foxy pirates. He had a gun pointed in the air already.
"As if we were stupid enough to agree-" you started but froze when you heard a gun shot behind you. Foxy laughed out loud as he fired on turn, announcing the beginning of the Davy Back Fight.
Your head did a slow turn toward Luffy, who was holding the gun toward the sky, a determined expression on his face. Usopp was slapping it while calling him a dumbass.
"HOW COULD YOU ACCEPT!?" you snarled, lashing yourself at his neck. You started to strangle him on spot, not caring if his face was turning blue.
"DON'T YOU KNOW HOW BAD THIS GAME IS?!" added Usopp, helping you in strangling your captain.
"We just have to not lose!" answered Luffy. "(y/n), I-I can't breath!"
"JUST DIE ALREADY" you continued to shake him wildly.
"You have formally accepted the game!" stated Foxy with his hands on his hips.
"Yeah, I'm gonna kick your ass!"
"Fuehfehfehfeh! If you think you can!"
"You bet I will. Split-head!" snapped Luffy, causing the man to sulk at the insult.
"Split-head..." whimpered Foxy.
"Oyabin!! Hey, now look what you've done!" spat Porche. "Oyabin is a very sensitive person!"
"More like he has a glass heard" said Hamburg, before muffling his laugh. "That line doesn't suit him"
"I TOLD YOU TO STOP LAUGHING"
You finally released Luffy and he flopped down on the floor, a little dizzy with all the shaking. You groaned and slapped a hand over your forehead, not believing that you were going to engage in some kind of stupid game because of the idiot captain.
"Hey, Luffy! I know you're mad about what happened to the horse and Ossan but-" Usopp tried to reason with him.
"Show them how mad we are!" said Tonjit with a thumb up and you growled.
"HOW CAN YOU BE STANDING ALREADY?!"
"LEAVE TO ME! YEAH!!" Luffy declared, throwing his arms in the air.
"I will kill you" you gritted your teeth.
When you returned to your crew, stands of festivities were already set up for the people's enjoyment of the Davy Back Fight. You saw Nami from the corner of your eyes sulking with Usopp, and you sweatdropped. You weren't the only one who was a little depressed with everything that's happening.
"The opening ceremonies will now begin!" yelled the announcer through a mic. "Please, everyone quiet! Quiet down, quiet down, quiet down! Quiet down, quiet down..."
"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!" you snarled.
"Okay, boys. Settle down, okay? We will now swear to uphold the three rules of losing a match" cooed Porche threw the mic, with Luffy and Foxy sitting on chairs behind her. "First, any Nakama or symbols taken through a Davy Back Fight can only be retrieved through a Davy Back Fight. Second, selected crew members must immediately swear loyalty to their opponent's captain. And third, if your symbol is taken, you must never raise it again. Anyone who breaks any of these rules... will be forever shamed and thrown into Davy Jones's Locker. Do you swear to uphold them?"
"I do!" told Foxy, standing up.
"I do!" followed Luffy, doing the same.
"Now then, Straw Hat. I'll let you choose. One-coin, two-coin, or three-coin. Choose whichever you like!" Foxy proposed him the golden coins.
"Oh, Oyabin, you're so kind!"
"What's that?" your captain questioned.
"The number of events" responded Porche. "Oyabin is letting you choose the number of events, from one to three"
"More games are more fun, so of course..." Luffy trailed.
"LUFFY!" yelled in unison Usopp and Nami, who were showing him one finger. The ebony male blinked before he let out a chuckle.
"We'll do the Three-coin!"
"YOU DUMBASS!" they cried out when they saw Hamburg next to them showing one finger too. "WHY DID YOU ADD THEM!? AND YOU INCLUDED THE ENEMY'S FINGER!"
"When will you understand that he is an idiot?" you scolded the two who sulked.
"We will have a three-coin game under the orthodox rules!" announced Foxy, before throwing them in the sea. "Now to inform Davy Jones! Are you prepared, Straw Hat? Let the games begin!"
"YOSHA! LET'S DO THIS!" Luffy yelled.
"I'm seriously. Going. To. Kill. Him..." you facepalmed once more.