Romance Dawn - Divergence begins
It was quiet in Foosha village, even as the ship of Red Hair Shanks drifted into the dock. In another universe, a small boy would have greeted the pirates, intent on proving his bravery. This, however, was not that universe. In this universe Monkey D. Luffy was not there. In this universe Monkey D. Luffy already knew that stabbing herself in the face was not going to prove herself to Shanks.
The pirates did notice the lack of their favourite fangirl, but figured that Luffy probably didn't spend the entirety of her free time waiting at the docks. She was an energetic child after all. So the crew wandered through the small village to Party's bar, laughing and speaking loudly, bursting the quiet atmosphere of the sleepy town.
Makino greeted the group of men with a large smile, serving everyone their favourite drinks and food without even needing to take their orders.
"Luffy will be pleased that you're back Shanks-san." She said as she handed the captain his drink.
"Where is our little anchor?" He said, just as a shout of 'Captain Shanks!' could be heard just outside the bar.
A blur of black hair bolted through the doorway and up to the Pirate captain. Causing all of the pirates to look her way.
There was silence for a moment before everyone fully took in what they were looking at.
Monkey D. Luffy stood before Shanks, holding the large dead body of a boar, one bigger than herself, in one hand. Her face and shoulder length hair was smeared with dirt. Blood seeped, not just from the large wound on the boars head, but from the girl as well. In fact at first glance one might assume the shirt she was wearing was supposed to be half purple instead of blue. A gash that stretched from her left collar bone to her sternum was oozing blood down the front of the smiling girl.
"Look! I caught dinner!" She exclaimed, oblivious to the horror filled stares of every single adult in the room.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO LUFFY!" Most of the bar exclaimed.
The small girl cocked her head in confusion "Eh?" Before she looked at where Shanks was pointing. "AHHHHHH! I DIDN'T NOTICE!"
"YOU IDIOT!" The pirates all shouted as one.
xXx
After a trip to the local doctor, Luffy was back in the bar with her favourite pirates, a thick bandage just peaked out from under her new yellow shirt. Luffy sat by the bar, wincing occasionally when she moved too violently and her fresh stitches pulled at her skin.
"A toast! To Luffy's courage and to our great voyage!" Shanks roared, holding up a large mug of sake.
"Yeah!" His crew responded.
No longer worried for the little girl's well-being the pirates leapt straight into party mode. Dancing, singing and fighting over food and drink, not a care in the world. Luffy watched with a large grin on her face.
"I didn't even feel it!" She said, though she could certainly feel it now that the initial excitement of her first catch had worn off.
"Moron! Be more careful!" Shanks shouted.
"It only got me 'cause my hair got in my way," Luffy said with a pout. "Makino, could you cut my hair short please?"
The young woman seemed uncertain, but nodded her head, realising that with how often Luffy got herself into trouble it was probably for the best.
"Yosh! That'll be so much better for when I'm a pirate." She said with a grin, raising her two fists into the air, once again forgetting about her stitches.
"Hahaha. You?! A pirate?! Impossible!" Shanks said. "You can't even swim! What good is a pirate that can't swim?!"
Luffy glared at him, "I can to swim!" She shouted, crossing her arms, a barely audible 'just not very well' slipping from her lips.
"Besides! I just won't fall off the ship and then it's not a problem!" She said, sticking her tongue out at the still cackling pirate captain. "Please take me with you on your next voyage Captain Shanks! Just for a little while! I can take care of myself, I beat up that boar with my bare hands!"
"Oh a boar, wow." Shanks said, leaning on his hand and letting his eyes droop, as though he was ready to fall asleep.
"BE MORE IMPRESSED!" Luffy shouted.
"Calm down, Luffy!" One pirate said, his arms around the shoulders of a couple of his friends, who also had their arms around their friends, creating a long line of laughing pirates.
"Let's just have a good time!"
"Yeah! Pirates always have a good time!"
"The sea is vast and there's lots of islands to explore!"
"And best of all, pirates have freedom!"
Luffy's face lit up, eye's bright with joy at the idea of sailing around the world and being free.
"You guys, stop filling her head with crazy ideas." Shanks said, pouting at the group.
Another pirate leant over the back of his chair, looking at his captain. "C'mon cap'n… Let's just take the lass with us, just this once…
"Yeah!" Luffy shouted in agreement.
"Okay, but one of you will have to stay behind…" Shanks said.
And just like that the group turned on their heels and headed to the other ends of the bar.
"Sorry Lassy, you've just been beached! Let's drink!
"So lousy!" Luffy shouted at their retreating backs, turning back to the bar with a scowl.
"You're just too young, kid. Maybe in ten years I'll give you a chance."
"No way! I'm not that young!" She shouted.
"Don't get upset, here have some juice."
Luffy grumbled but accepted the glass, she did love juice.
No sooner had she finished her glass of, Shanks started cackling once more and teasing her for being such a kid.
"IT TASTES NICE!" She shouted, stalking to the other side of the bar with a scowl. "I even caught a wild boar."
"Luffy…." Ben Beckmann said, the girl had ended up wandering near where he was sitting smoking his cigarette. "The captain's just doing what's best for everyone… Pirating is a dangerous business after all."
"I know that," Luffy puffed up her cheeks, "but he just likes making me look stupid."
"Hey Anchor!" Shanks called, pulling a face at the little girl.
"SEE!" She said, pointing at the pirate captain
"You might have a point…" Ben admitted.
"Luffy, would you like something to eat?" Makino called, returning from the back room with the last of her bars beer.
"Yeah!" She said, her sour mood immediately gone.
"Shanks…" Luffy said, mouth half stuffed with food.
"Yeah kid…?"
"How much longer will you stay here for?"
"Hmm… let's see… We've been using this village as our base for about a year, so after two or three more voyages we'll leave here for good and head north. "
Luffy hummed to herself thoughtfully. She doubted she'd be able to change Shanks mind by that time. She frowned, she'd definitely miss the pirates once they left. Even if they did tease her, they were great fun to hang around with, there weren't many kids her age around the village and those that were her age weren't much fun.
"Don't look so sad kid."
"I'm not sad! I'm just thinking!" She snapped
"Dahaha, that's probably making you sad!" Shanks said, sticking his tongue out at her.
There was a sudden crash and one of the bars swinging doors flew off of its hinges and bounced across the floor, clattering to a stop.
"Make way for the scourge of the mountains!" a voice called from the bar's entrance.
Luffy grimaced and turned away, she was already feeling a spike of anger towards the bandits for breaking Makino's bar, but she decided to just ignore the bandits. She might not openly admit it, but she was feeling a little light headed from her earlier blood loss.
As Higuma strolled into the bar like he owned the place and started to insult the pirate crew he found surrounding him Luffy spotted something next to her plate. It was her devil fruit. Large, ovular and purple. Just like she knew it would be. She reached out and picked up the fruit, staring at it in wonder.
There was no question in her mind over whether or not she should eat the fruit, she knew her powers would be cool, even if it did take a while to figure them out. Maybe if she had been a strong swimmer Luffy would have taken a moment more to consider the costs and benefits of eating the fruit (probably not), but as it was the little girl shoved the devil fruit into her mouth and swallowed. The taste catching up to her a moment later.
Gross! Luffy thought, gagging and clutching her throat.
The sudden sound of shattering glass drew Luffy back to what was happening and the girl found herself even angrier with Higuma. She had instinctively ducked under her seat when she heard the bottle shatter, but there hadn't been any need as Shanks had blocked most of the bottle and its contents with his body. Whether he had done so consciously or not Luffy couldn't tell, none the less she took a few steps back and out of the way of the two men.
Luffy knew what would happen and why Shanks didn't really care, but that knowledge didn't stop her from being angry for Shanks. Shanks was her friend, even if he was annoying, and Luffy hated seeing her friends being mistreated.
Luffy clenched her fists and held herself back while she waited for Higuma to leave. The mountain bandit made a big show, bragging about the exact number of men he had killed and how high his bounty was and Luffy almost let herself speak then. Almost called them out for being weak idiots (since if you were really all that strong you didn't need to brag).
The little girl slapped both hands across her mouth, her rage beginning to turn into mirth. She had to turn her back to the men so they wouldn't see the humour in her eyes. Her entire frame shook with silent laughter. These morons had just strolled into a bar that held one of the most wanted pirates in the world, a former crew member of Gold Roger, and started bragging about his eight million beri bounty. That's hilarious.
There was a crashing sound behind her, the sound of retreating footsteps and one last insulting comment as the mountain bandits left. The only sounds that could be heard was Luffy's muffled laughter.
"Luffy it's alright, they wouldn't have hurt you!" Shanks said, concern colouring his voice.
Apparently her muffled laughter sounded like sobs. Luffy turned and moved her hands to clutch her stomach instead of her mouth, letting her peeling laughter ring through the bar and dispelling the group's worries instantly. Now the adults were merely left confused.
"Shishishi what a bunch bunch of losers!" She gasped between fits of laughter, "HAHAHAHA bragging like that shishishi So lame!"
The surrounding pirates laughed along with her. It took a while for the group to calm down, Luffy could feel her poor stomach starting to ache by the end of her fit, but she was still giggling quietly as she clambered back onto her stool next to Shanks.
"You know, I thought for sure you'd be mad Luffy." Shanks said, smiling at the girl.
Luffy shrugged, "he wasn't worth your time. I was angry at him at first, for being such an ass, I was so tempted to punch him in his stupid face." The girl punched the air in front of her in demonstration.
And the entirety of the bar watched in confused horror as her fist kept moving, long after it should have stopped. It hit the front wall of the bar and was deflected down towards the ground, pulling the little girl along with it. Luffy gave a little shriek as she felt herself bounce along the ground and eventually come to a stop, tangled in her own arm.
"EH!?" The entire bar yelled in unison, then looked towards the now empty treasure chest.
"Luffy, you didn't eat that fruit did you?!" Lucky Roo shouted, holding up a picture of the fruit she had in fact eaten.
"Ah… maybe…." She said, beads of sweat appearing on her forehead. "It didn't taste as nice as it looked though." She added as an aside.
"Luffy! That was the Gum-Gum fruit! A devil fruit! If you eat it your entire body becomes like rubber and you will never be able to swim for the rest of your life!" Shanks shouted, gently shaking Luffy by her shoulders, probably trying not to tear any of her stitches.
"Oops…" She bowed, "My apologies."
"YOU DON'T SOUND SORRY!" The rest of the bar shouted.
xXx
Weeks later Luffy once again found herself in the outskirts of the large forest that covered most of Dawn Island, something she had started doing regularly. Luffy stood with her feet wide apart and threw her arm forward with as much force as she had.
She grinned as her limb shot forward, hand wide open to grab the branch she was aiming for. Maybe this time she would hit her target… Alas, it was not to be. Her hand overshot the wide branch and hit the trunk of the tree behind it, bouncing the appendage down and causing her arm to wrap around the branch she had hoped to grab.
Luffy gave a squeak as her body shot forward and she once again found herself in a tangle.
"Damn it. This is harder than I thought." She muttered to herself.
After freeing herself from her own knot, Luffy headed back to Makino's Bar, tired and hungry. Only to find it filled with her least favourite people. Higuma and his men. Luffy scrunched up her face but then wander into the bar and up to her usual seat. Makino gave her a tight smile before rushing over with more alcohol for the bandits to drink.
"Did you see the look on those Pirate's faces?" Higuma said.
Luffy went rigid with rage. It was one thing, in her opinion, to insult someone to their face, it was entirely different to do so where said person didn't have the chance to speak up for themselves.
"I broke a bottle over his head and not one word of protest. How pathetic." Higuma continued, his men laughing in agreement.
Luffy slid from her seat and stalked towards the group.
"I wanted to kill him. Cowards like that make me sick." He said, staring into his empty mug.
No one had noticed Luffy heading towards the group, even Makino had missed her silent approach. That was until a plate of food slammed into Higuma's face.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Luffy screamed, struggling as Makino grabbed a hold of her. "SHANK'S IS BETTER THAN ANY OF YOU COULD EVER BE!"
xXx
As the red-haired pirates drifted into Foosha villages dock they noticed that once again Luffy was nowhere to be found. In fact, as far as any of them could see, no one was around and small though the village may have been, that was beyond unusual.
So, even if Shanks and a fair number of his stronger crew members couldn't sense the fear of the townsfolk near their favourite bar, they already would have been concerned. As it was the Red hair pirates hurried to Party's Bar, ready to deal with whatever was happening.
They arrived in time to witness Higuma draw his sword and threaten to kill the figure currently squished under his foot. It did not take long to learn that said figure was Luffy.
"Nobody came to greet us at the harbour, I was wondering what was going on…" Shanks said, the calmness of his words belying the anger building in the pit of his stomach. "Oh it's you mountain bandits again…"
Shanks glanced down at Luffy and raised an eyebrow. "Luffy! I thought you could take care of yourself?"
"Is now the time!" She grit out, more irritated than hurt or scared.
"Hmph. You pirates are still here? Taking a break from your cleaning duties?" Higuma Sneered, "I don't know what you want, but you'd better back off before you get hurt. Come any closer and we'll have to kill you… Cowards."
Shanks ignored Higuma's jabs, instead beginning to stroll forward, hand on his sword. As he passed by a mountain bandit he raised a gun to Shanks' head, cocking it in preparation.
"Didn't you hear him?! Don't come any closer…" He growled.
"You're putting your life on the line by pointing that at me." Shanks said.
"Huh?!" What're you talking about?"
Shanks shifted his gaze to the man holding the gun and pointed to the barrel.
"I'm saying it's not safe to point guns"
A shot rang out across the town of Foosha, the man who was stupid enough to hold a gun to Shanks' head fell sideways, hitting the ground with a thump as the blood and brain matter that was not initially sprayed from the impact of the bullet seeped into the dirt path. Silence reigned for a moment as everyone looked on in horror, shock or a combination of the two.
The silence was broken by the cries of outrage that left the mountain bandits, claiming that such a move was unfair.
"We're pirates, we don't play by the rules." Shanks stated.
"This was none of your business!" One of Higuma's men shouted.
"Listen up… You can pour drinks on me, you can throw food at me, you can even spit on me. I'll just laugh it off. But, good reason or not… nobody hurts a friend of mine!" Shank's usually smiling face fell and was replaced by a look of pure rage.
Luffy felt her heart clench and warmth fill her. She had already considered Shank's her friend, had even believed he would consider the same of her, but all the same, it felt nice to hear him say it.
"HAHAHA! You pirates spend your time floating around in your little ships. And you think you can stand up to mountain bandits?! Don't make me laugh! KILL THEM!"
With that the remaining bandits threw themselves forward, swords raised and charged the pirates.
"Cap'n… I'll take care of this." Ben said, stepping forward smoothly and batting away the bandits like they were nothing more than a bunch of pesky flies. "If you wanna fight us you better bring a battleship."
"But… the brat started it!" Higuma said, panic beginning to set in.
Luffy could hear it in his voice, and she knew that meant he was going to try and drag her into the sea and drown her. Well, she was not going to let him. Stretching her arms forward as far as she could without throwing them forward, she aimed to grab one of the Bars support beams. Thankfully the bar was only a couple of metres away from her and she had enough force to launch her arm far enough to imitate the branch debacle from earlier that morning.
"Doesn't matter. There's a price on your head isn't there?
Higuma froze for a moment, before throwing a smoke bomb down on the ground in front of him and picking the small girl up. With Luffy in one arm, he charged down the road towards the ocean, sure that his escape plan was perfect.
Unfortunately for Higuma, he did not take into account the sheer determination of Monkey D. Luffy.
xXx
As the smoke cleared and the pirates stared at the now empty patch of dirt that had previously had Luffy and Higuma, Shank's began to panic.
"AHH! THEY'RE GONE! I GOT CARELESS!" He shouted, grasping either side of his face.
"Uh, captain…" one of Shanks' men point at a long pink cylindrical shape that stretched from one of Party's Bars' support beam down the dirt road.
A strange twang came from the limb, reminding all present of a rubber band at its limit, then the sound of shouting began travelling towards the group. The pirates watched as Luffy and Higuma flew back down the dirt road and crashed through the front wall of the Bar.
"EH?" The crowd said.
Recovering from his initial shock, Shanks rushed into the bar just in time to witness Higuma's sword begin falling towards the groggy form of Luffy. He drew his sword in a heartbeat, knocking Higuma's sword aside and relieving the man of his head in two quick blows.
After sheathing his sword Shanks scooped up the small girl, mindful of the fact that two people had just murdered in front of the seven-year-old.
"Luffy, are you alright?" He asked.
A light snore was all the response he was given.
Shanks chuckled and carried the sleeping girl back out of the bar where Makino immediately began fussing over her. The only real damage Luffy had received was an overstretched arm, though no one was entirely sure how long it would take for her limb to return to normal they all figured that she'd be fine in the long run.
"Why did she attack that bandit anyway?" Shanks mused out loud.
"They were insulting you and your crew," Makino said softly, smiling down at Luffy who she had just scooped into her arms.
Shanks hummed in thought.
xXx
"So you aren't coming back this time?" Luffy asked, staring up at Shanks.
Her arm was still in a sling even though it had been a week since the bandits had attacked. Thankfully the limb had returned to its normal size but Luffy still couldn't move it.
"That's right. We've been using this harbour as a base of operations for a long time. Maybe too long…" Shanks said, gazing over his many men.
Crates and sacks of all shapes and sizes were being hefted onto the large ship that flew the man's Jolly Roger, quite a few townsfolk had also gathered to see the friendly group off.
"Are you sad?" Shanks asked, looking back at the girl.
"Yeah," Luffy sighed, but then perked up a bit. "But I'm definitely gonna become a pirate on my own!"
"There's no way you can become a pirate!" Shanks chuckled in response, sticking his tongue out at the girl.
"YES I WILL!" She growled at the pirate before her. "I'M GOING TO GATHER AN AWESOME CREW AND HAVE AN AWESOME SHIP. THEY'LL BE EVEN BETTER THAN YOURS! THEN I'M GOING TO BE QUEEN OF THE PIRATES!"
Movement stopped all around the pair, all of the pirates present smiled fondly at Luffy. Shanks let out an amused huff.
"Queen of the pirates huh? Well then…" Shanks gently took his beloved straw hat from his head and pressed down on Luffy's messy hair. "Do me a favour. Keep this hat safe for me."
Luffy felt tears start pooling in her eyes but nodded in response.
"This hat means a lot to me." He said, removing his hand from the girls head and starting to turn towards his ship, "promise me you'll return it someday, when you become a great pirate."
Luffy nodded again, before looking up at him. "I promise." She whispered.
The dock burst back into movement and as the last pirate climbed aboard there was a shout to raise the anchor and the Red hair pirates were off.
xXx
It was a lovely warm day in Foosha village. Only a soft breeze blew across the fields. Most of the village was silent. No one wandering the streets or manning the shops. No, all the people of the village were gathered by their small dock, ready to say their last farewells to the cheeriest kid any of them had ever met. She was also probably the loudest and most destructive kid they had ever met, but most didn't mind all that much.
"Shishishi, bye everyone!" Monkey D. Luffy called back to the shore, waving furiously from the small sailboat she had acquired.
Luffy was a small thin girl of only seventeen. Her arms and legs were long and lanky, belying the strength she had. Her short black hair rippled in the wind, pulling back ever so slightly from her face and out towards the open ocean.
There was a sudden surging in the sea before her, the ocean churned and a large Sea king rose out of the depths, ready to devour the small snack that had drifted by its nest. Luffy turned as she felt a few drops of water on her bare shoulders. The loose red singlet she wore displayed the beginnings of a thick scar that ran from her colour bone and disappeared under the fabric. Where the bottom of her singlet stirred one could just glimpse the ends of three metal rods.
Luffy grinned at the sea monster. "I don't believe we've met…" She said, pulling her arm back in preparation.
The monster snarled and started to lunge forward.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, future Queen of the pirates…"
Her arm snapped forward, stretching out to meet the creatures face.
"Please get out of my way!" She snapped, sending the sea king up and out of the water.
It disappeared into the distance, a small bright twinkle signalling its departure.
"Huh, that's weird," Luffy said, before turning back to the small figures at the dock and waving once more. Had she been close enough she would have seen the shocked expressions of every single townsfolk.