Brand New World

Ch. 1: The Awakening of Kakusei

One Piece. For some reason those words stick in my mind. Well, right now not much is in my mind, as all I can see is black. Heck, I can`t even open my eyes or move any part of my body. I don`t even remember my own name. All I know is that right now, I can`t move, I have no idea who I am, and I`m falling. And fast. And when I hit the ground, it`s gonna hurt. Wait, what`s this smell? It`s kinda salty and familiar. It`s sea air! Wait, I`m over the sea?!?! Great, I won`t die on impact, I`ll just drown. Not much better than the first option. Oh… great, I`m… blacking… out….

"Oh, my head," I say getting up. I look around and see wood. The walls, the floor, and ceiling, all made of wood. I was lying on a blanket, and I`m bandaged? And that`s when the pain kicked in. "OW, OW, OW, OW!!!" Man, did that hurt. What the heck happened to me? Was I in a fight? Maybe that`s why I was flying at high velocity towards the sea. Looking around, I don`t really see anyone, but I couldn`t have just swam onto a ship while unconscious. Someone had to have rescued me, but who?

I found what I guess were my clothes folded next to me. I was still wearing my pants, (thank god), but my shirt, undershirt, and cloak were next to me. I took a look at myself after I got fully dressed, except the cloak. I was wearing a pair of black kung-fu pants, a blue tee shirt, a white gi with "eshi", the symbol for "artist" in Japanese, on the back. My cloak was made of a dark brown cloth and had a hood. A closer look showed that my clothes were patched up. I guess they were pretty beat up from whatever happened to me. I shook my brown hair, which was, I thought, unusually spiked in the back. I remember a little of my past now, and I remember I need glasses, don`t I? I blink a few times and my sight is still crystal clear. Whatever happened, it fixed my eyes. Cool.

Luckily the pain lessened also, and I walked over to the door. I was about to open it when someone on the other side opened it. I was a little surprised when a raven-haired woman in her late twenties walked in and said, "I had a feeling you were up."

"I guess my painful cry gave it away, huh?" I said trying to lighten the mood. At the same time, I wondered why this woman looked so familiar.

"Miss Navigator, our guest is awake," she said calling outside.

"Really?" I heard another voice, this one female as well responding to the woman before me. She walked in and I saw an orange-haired girl about 18, the same age as me. "So, you are up."

"He`s awake?!?" yet another voice yelled from outside the room. This voice was male, however. The door opened, almost flying off its hinges, and in walked a guy about the same age as me, maybe younger by a year, with black, scruffy hair and wearing a straw hat. At that moment, a name hit me. "Hi, I`m…"

"Luffy?" I said, cutting him off.

"Yeah," he said a little confused. "How`d you know?"

"I`m not sure," I replied slowly. "It just kinda popped into my head."

"That`s weird," the orange-haired girl said.

"Anyway, what`s your name?" Luffy asked.

"I`m not sure," I replied. "I can`t remember anything before that falling sensation."

"That must have been around when I caught you," the raven-haired woman said.

"You saved my life?" I said a little embarrassed. "Well, thanks."

"You`re welcome," she replied. "Now, about your name, how about we call you Kakusei?"

"Kakusei," I echoed, thinking the name over. "I like it."

"Kakusei it is then." Luffy said in reply. He grabbed my arm, and pulling me outside he said, "Come on, I wanna introduce you to the rest of the crew!" As he pulled me out, I had a feeling this was gonna be one heck of a ride.