Snake Yokai Chapter 1 (Patreon)
Content
One Piece parody: Tier 1
Snake Yokai
In Wano there was a rare species of creature called a Naga, or a snake person. They were seen as yokai and the Kurozumi family tried to hunt them to extinction, a few escaped but very few survived after the fact. One of these rare beings made it to safety with the help of a young man. The two have a son together, and that son is one of the last of the Snake Yokai clan.
Chapter 1
“Luffy-dear, come sit with me.” A raven haired lad slithered over to a woman with a snake tail lower half, she had blue scales and white spots. Her son was similar, but he had red scales and black spots.
“What is it momma?” He asked.
“I want to tell you about our home land.”
“Aren’t we from here, Grandpa says this is the Goa Kingdom.” His mother chuckled.
“You were born here in the East Blue, but I’m actually from a far away country. Your father saved me, and brought me here to his childhood home.”
“Where is my father?” He asked.
“He’s off doing important work, his name is quite infamous so its better off not knowing it.”
“Okay!” Her son was a simple boy. “Grandpa didn’t want to tell me either.”
“We come from the land of Wano, a land secluded from the world, where ninja and samurai are the main power houses of the land.”
“Ooohhh!” Luffy’s eyes sparkled. “Are you a ninja, am I a ninja, are you a samurai, am I a…” she covered his mouth with her tail.
“I know some of the ninja arts, and I can teach you in the time…” she smiled. “I can teach you!”
“Yay!” She told her son the history of their people. The Naga Clan were powerful, smart, and beautiful. Their people started off as apothecaries treating the sick and wounded. A Daimyo grew jealous of their growing standing and began to spread terrible stories about their kind, soon the superstitious people of Wano believed they were the ones responsible for the illnesses they were treating.
“We trusted the Daimyo of our region and even shared with them our secrets to creating medicine in the hopes to prove our innocence. This was a mistake because the man we trusted was the one behind all of this Kurozumi Hebi. He pretended to be our comrade and stole our secrets, and once he had everything he wanted he betrayed us.” Despite their appearance and monstrous strength, they were mostly a peaceful race. When the humans turned on them they developed techniques to defend themselves, harnessing their latent abilities.
“Soon the Kurozumi Clan began to push for the extermination of us. We were seen as monsters, a blight upon the land of Wano. Our unique appearance already made it hard for humans to trust us, all our efforts to build trust between us were crushed.” She cried.
Luffy used his tail to wipe away her tears. “Thanks sweetie!” She ruffled his hair. The boy smiled. “I’m not telling you this without reason. You want to explore the world don’t you?”
“Yes, I wanna go on adventures and be a pirate like Shanks!”
“I don’t want you to hold hatred in your heart, but I want you to be careful. We put our trust in the wrong person and paid a heavy price. You are a very trusting and honest person.” She nearly had a heart attack when her son came home and said he met a band of pirates and became friends with them. She met with Shanks and she could see in his eyes he was a good man. He became a father figure for her son and was teaching how to be a good man. “When you set out to sea, you will face challenges. People may fear you, hunt you, may try to capture you.”
“I see.” Shanks and the crew were shocked by him but didn’t treat him that differently. “But Shanks…”
“Not all people are the same dear, that’s why I want you to understand and know our history. Not for revenge, but to learn from it and not make the same mistakes.”
“I understand mama!”
She was gonna train her son, to help prepare him for the future. As it happened she soon would have two more sons to look after. Filling her life with a lot of joy before her days came to an end.
Luffy had gained two brothers, Ace and Sabo, and all three of them lost a mother. She was much older than she appeared, and her life span was simply coming to an end. No amount of medicine, healing, or magic could fix this. Despite the loss her last days were happy ones and she was able to give parting words to her sons.
“Ace, my boy, you are loved by your brothers. This love you share, this bond you form, it would not exist without you. So live, for yourself, for them, and for your mother and father.” She said and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Your mother and father would be very proud of you. I am!”
“Sabo, my boy, you are not bound by your blood. Your good nature and kind heart set you apart. Let the freedom it gives you help you soar, and spread your light as far as you can.” She kissed his forehead. “Look after Ace and Luffy for me, I know you will do your best, so even if they get into trouble you’ll help them get out of it.” Sabo teared up.
“Luffy, my son, though I leave you I have taught you all that I know. You will have your brothers, and one day when you become a pirate you’ll have your crew. This world can be so lonely... My brave boy, have your adventure see the world with an open heart and mind.” She kissed his forehead. “I love you, all of you, I thanks the gods for blessing me with such treasures.” She hugged them, but her strength was so weak.
“My little ones...live...be strong...and follow...your...dreams…” Her eyes drifted closed, and the boys cried, even Ace. She died smiling. The bandits gave her a proper burial. Lady Serpent D. Terra was beloved and respected in the end. Dadan cried and shared one final drink with her. It was a painful lesson for them to learn, but they needed to learn it.
-x-
Roronoa Zoro, as a child sought strength, he one day challenged a dojo in Shimotsuki Village. Koushirou acknowledge Zoro’s potential and convinced him to become a student at his dojo. He was full of raw potential, but said potential would be wasted if not honed into a true weapon.
He instilled in Zoro not only the swordsman’s pride but the samurai spirit. Roronoa has been training, seeking to grow stronger and stronger. Despite being some of the adults at the dojo, he wasn’t able to beat Kuina or Koushirou. He kept pushing and pushing. While he did have power, he lacked technique.
“Have you heard of the samurai of Wano?”
“Aren’t they just a myth, like the stories of warriors who slayed dragons?” Some of the other guys in class were gushing about it.
“No they are quite real, Wano exists far from here, but legends of it have been passed down through the generations.”
Zoro wasn’t one for fables, he chose to believe in what he can see in front of him. “You need to listen Zoro-kun. Ronin were wondering samurai without a lord or master, they could be quite dangerous and seen as terrors. However compared to the strength of the samurai who held a master, the ronin couldn’t compete.”
“Huh?” Zoro didn’t get it. “Wouldn’t the ronin be stronger since they were free?”
“They weren’t free, they were lost. The ronin had a void inside them they couldn’t fill with blood and violence. The samurai reached a higher level of strength.”
“How did they do that?” He asked.
“When one has someone to protect and serve, they will find new strengths to defend them.” Zoro didn’t get it still, but Koushirou laughed and ruffled his hair. “You’ll find out some day. You’ll meet that special person that will push you, that will open a door for you to find new strength.”
“You aren’t talking about Kuina are you?” The two were pushing each other to be better.
“Why, do you like my daughter?”
“No way, I’m not interested in girls.” He said, making the man chuckle.
“That’s fine too!” Zoro was shocked. His teacher was a wise man, maybe a bit old school, but he did have some sage advice for him. Zoro began reading up on the samurai legends and the code of the samurai, it was interesting.
Things took a turn for the strange when Zoro discovered a devil fruit. He showed it to Kyoushirou who identified it as such. Kuina wanted the fruit for herself, she believed getting the devil fruit’s power would assist her body.
Kyoushirou was worried about his daughter, she was very skilled in technique. Her skill in the sword was respectable, and while she focused on enhancing her technique she wasn’t strengthening her vessel. Her sister Tashigi actually wanted to train her vessel so she joined the Marine Academy to get stronger.
She was neglecting her physical training, not working out with any of the other students. Zoro was training hard and learning more technique, so Kuina was getting pushed back. Kyoushirou warned her if she kept this up, her body would wane in strength as she got older.
Zoro and Kuina were a lot alike, Zoro believed his raw power could overtake training and beat anyone, and Kuina believed technique was superior to raw power. The difference was Zoro was learning and finding a balance, technique and power. Kuina didn’t see it that way, she saw Zoro’s increase in strength was just because he was a boy. Even though he was training and working harder than even the adults.
“While a devil fruit could make one stronger, Zoro found it its his to eat.”
“I’ll fight you for it!” She said without hesitation.
“But it’s mine, I found it!” It was weird despite its strange appearance, Zoro wanted to eat it. He felt drawn to it somehow.
Kyoushirou could see the wheels turning in her head. “I have something you want more.” She put up her sword the Wado Ichimonji. “We both want to be the world’s greatest swordsman. You wouldn’t back down from a challenge right?”
Zoro’s pride wouldn’t let him back down, but Kyoushirou believed his daughter may be falling to her own pride. The two had a match, and Zoro pulled out his own style, the Three Sword Style! Kuina thought she had him, but Zoro turned the tables on her using a samurai technique he learned about.
Both of them were surprised at the outcome. Zoro had defeated Kuina, not because of gender but through strength and technique! Zoro won the Wado fair and square, and ate the devil fruit.
Once the powers set in Zoro knew what it was. He ate the Neko Neko no mi model Tiger. This opened up some doors in his training, he had to be careful of the sea.
Kyoushirou scolded his daughter, and told her to start back from the beginning. Kuina refused to believe it, falling into a defeatist mentality. If she wanted to become a great swordsman she had to work on herself.
Zoro continued to work hard, wanting to set sail to pursue his dream/goal of becoming the World’s Greatest Swordsman. With his new abilities, he acquired a new three sword style. He kept what his teacher said in mind, and sought a worthy master to serve. It would be a few more years but he would meet him one day.
To be continued