May 18, 1498
Buggy stood where he could easily see the Captain. It wasn’t hard…he was practically having a parade for himself. Hmmm… Buggy thought. Odd way to act on the day of your own execution… Buggy himself had been a chore boy pirate under command of the man being executed today. Beside him stood Shanks, a 15-year-old boy that always seemed to have a smile on his face. He’d served alongside Buggy on the pirate vessel they sailed on… Now I guess our pirating days are over… Buggy thought, casting another glance over at Shanks.
The boy still smiled.
This annoyed Buggy to no end.
Buggy almost gasped as he saw what a thousand other people saw that fateful day…today was to be a special day indeed…Buggy and Shanks both tipped their hats, Buggy’s being a toboggan and Shanks’ a straw hat. Their Captain, marching up gallantly, nodded a reply, in a way saying “Thank you.” This made Shanks grin from ear to ear. Their captain was being handcuffed, prodded on by two armored soldiers behind him.
All of Roguetown was silent as the pirate captain made it up the long flight of stairs onto the scaffold where he was to be executed. Buggy started to sweat. The two soldiers placed their long blades crossed at his neck, and he bent forward…
“Hey, pirate king!” a bystander shouted. “Where’d you hide your treasure?”
Without missing a beat, Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates, answered him.
“My treasure? Why, it’s right where I left it…It’s yours if you can find it, but you’ll have to search the whole world!”
The soldiers were getting bored.
Shink.
As Gold Roger’s head hit the floor of the scaffold softly, every single person in the town then screamed with delight. Buggy and Shanks both noticed pirates everywhere, across the crowd.
Sheesh…you’d expect they’d forbid pirates…
“Well, I guess that’s that…” Shanks said, in a matter-of-fact voice.
“It was stupid for that guy to get caught,” Buggy retorted.
“Well, the Navy’s been growing in power for a long while now, Buggy. The Cap’n had to give up sometime…”
“Well, he was a strong man…don’t make no sense to die that way…” Buggy said.
“Well, time for me to be a pirate on my own…” Shanks said.
“Come with me, Buggy!”
Buggy was totally enraged at the comment. Shanks had talked about having his own crew for a long time. It was even more annoying to him than his constant smile.
“No way I’ll be your subordinate, stupid!” Buggy declared as he quickly stormed away.
Buggy couldn’t believe that stupid comment…Just who did Shanks think he was? He was 14-not old as Shanks, but still-he wasn’t a chore boy. He’d been constantly promoted and was given larger duties and larger percentages of treasure on Gold Roger’s ship. He still couldn’t understand how their captain had let them all down by getting caught by Navy Captain Garp…
Buggy then walked faster, as the navy was on its way.
Shanks couldn’t really go anywhere. He clutched his straw hat, as a wind threatened to remove it. The crowds had all been rushing out of Roguetown, claiming to find One Piece. Shanks liked the idea that the captain gave everyone a last minute bit of excitement before he passed on… he’d always liked the captain for that. Now, he strolled through Roguetown, slyly and quietly asking people “You wanna join my pirate crew?”
It's lamer than I thought it would be…also, where's dat forum index?
