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Chapter 1 – Awakening! The Black Tree and the Glove

It was as he stared at the black box in his hand, that Daniel M. Lee made a decision: It was time to change. He could not ignore the fact any longer. If he was serious, he would have to take his hunt to the outside world. Lee was serious.

He had finished the day's hunt, and it was amidst his distracted stumbling through the dense, vast forests that blanketed this region of the sea, that he made up his mind. Over the past month or so, his subconscious had been telling—or trying to tell him that something had to change. Since the outside world wasn't changing, it would be up to him. Finding fruits was definitely not enough. Yes, that's right, fruits-to be more specific, Devil fruits. At this point however, fruit was the correct word. He had found one, and only one devil fruit.

Now finding any devil fruit, due to their rarity, would make any group of townsmen gawk. But Lee's knowledge was limited. He had made his home far from society of any form. He thought that to finding something rare would be easier with less competition. Also his seventeen-year-old mind figured that if anything made sense with devil fruits, it was logical that one would find more easily things that grow in a place with lots of plants. Finding only one of the things surprised Lee. He had of course known they were rare, but months, and possibly years of combing the trees and vegetation for a find with next to no success was discouraging. But now he had found one. Finally Lee had gotten one of the cursed things.

But it's not enough… he mused. It won't be enough, not this way anyway. It was hard not to feel discouraged. Years of grueling searching equals one fruit.

"Agh!" he complained tiredly to the birds roosting in the branches above. They looked at him, multicolored eyes blinking questioningly. A pair of sharp, yellow eyes emerging unnoticed watched Lee's every move.

–––––––––––––––– 1 Hour and 49 Minutes Earlier ––––––––––––––––

"Another day of labor without fruits." Lee stated impassively to the beetles scuttling on the dirt floor of the cave's entrance. He stood, panting at the cave mouth, catching his breath under the shelter stone roof. Outside rain pelted the dense jungle floor. "Ah well," he muttered doggedly. "There's always tomorrow." You're wasting your time. He heard his common sense chastise him, but he brushed it away as he had done before, perhaps for too long… But before he could think on the matter, a rumbling noise interrupted him. The ground he was standing on had been oddly squishy, and it began to collapse in on itself. The next thing Lee knew, he was toppling backside first into a small cave. He fell with a thud and a short 'oomph!' to the cave floor.

As the dust from the impact cleared Lee sat up slowly, groaning. "Ooooohh, agh. What the heck?" He rubbed his aching bum and shook his head. "Agh. Ouch." Then he lifted his eyes. "What? Where am I?" He looked wildly around, seeing little due to the darkness save smooth stone walls. Did I fall? He wondered, his brow knit with brief confusion. I can barely see a thing. He squinted his eyes for a moment, then as they adjusted, realized his surroundings. Another cave? But… how? I was just standing on solid ground a second ago. But it hadn't been solid ground. The rain had proven that. As he tried to make heads or tails of the matter, Lee spotted something far off that had failed to catch his attention before. Yet now with his eyes now adjusting, and with ray of light streaming in from his point of entry, Lee saw it clearly. It was a tree.

He didn't know what to make of it, but stood, mouth hanging open for a while. A tree!? This makes even less sense! He gaped at the thing, which stood, as if in complete defiance with the laws of nature, in the blank darkness. He stumbled up to the anomaly. He ran his hands ran over the bark, as if to assure himself it was real. It felt real, and it looked real, though in the poor light it looked black. What kind of tree could grow in complete darkness? He looked the tree over thoroughly, but found nothing unique about it. Then he did notice something strange. There was a black oblong shape dangling high in one of the branches. Lee eyes squinted in the darkness, trying to make it out, but it was futile. He had to get a closer look. He coiled his legs, and then sprang high into the nearest branch.

Snap!

"Whaa—!?"

The branch shuddered, and the wood cracked and groaned under the weight of his landing, and Lee tottered dangerously on one foot before steadying himself against the trunk. The branch swayed several more times, then stilled. Taking a breath, Lee relaxed his death grip on the trunk of the tree. That was close. He looked at the object he had seen earlier now hanging only a few yards in front of him. He couldn't grab it from that branch. Maybe if I… He hesitated. Then in a moment's decision, he bounded of the branch, reaching out to the black object fingers outstretched. But Lee had made a slight mistake. In making a second jump, he had completely compromised the integrity of the oddly fragile branch.

Crack!

'Shoot!' was all Lee should yelp before he hurled face first for the trunk of the tree.

A dull thud, emanated from the tree, being followed by a light snap and thump. Lee dazedly rubbed the bright red bruise on his forehead. Ooooooww. Lee felt miserable, he was soaked from the rain, he had fallen on his rump, and now his head wasn't feeling so good either. He sighed, long and pitifully, flopping his head to one side. Upon focusing his eyes in the dark, he saw the black thing from before. It must have shaken loose when he had jostled the tree with his… um… face. His fatigue forgotten, Lee rose immediately and drew his prize into the ray of light.

It was black, like the tree, and now that he saw it was very odd in appearance. Its texture was smooth and firm, and it black swirls covered the round part of it. The other part closely resembled a stem, connecting the two small round shapes. If it hadn't been for the odd color and pattern, Lee would have said it looked exactly like a large bunch of cherries.

"Cherries? It can't be! This black tree grew some black cherries then, is that—" but he cut himself off, as it dawned on Lee what he was holding. It couldn't be, could it?

"Did I really do it? I found… a devil fruit!?"

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Climbing out of that cave would not have been easy, so it was a good thing Lee had his hops. He leapt out joyously into the sunlight—the rain having stopped—still clasping the black treasure in his hand. He landed with a splash in a brown puddle, mud flying everywhere and soiling his simple leather jungle outfit, but Lee didn't care. He couldn't care less about anything right now, because he had found one. I finally found one.

"YEEEAAAAH!" His boyish face wore an insane grin. All that searching, and now I got one. He began to run home. All those years, and now… I got one. He laughed again. So much work, so much hardship… Flashbacks of fighting off the fierce animals of this place and building his house flashed through his mind. And now I got… one. He finished uncertainly. I got… one. He repeated, and he slowed to a walk. All of that time, endless searching, years wasted. Lee came to a halt. And I. Got. One.

Lee sat down, the full realization hitting him like a wave.

"Darn it." he muttered bitterly. "Darn it."

–––––––––––––––– Where Were We? ––––––––––––––––

"So to sum up, I have two choices really." Lee stated as he sat before fat brown squirrel in front of him. A rumble grew far off in the trees. "Either stay here in this jungle," the rumbling swelled to a roar. "…and keep up the search for more devil fruits…" The noise reached its peak as a giant red elephant charged into the clearing. Lee expression did not falter, as he slowly raised his hand to show a leather gauntlet. It was rather large for the hand-size of its wearer, especially at the knuckles. The elephant gave a deafening bellow, its feet flattening underbrush, its massive tusks smashing trees in half. Lee sat motionless; the squirrel remained likewise surprisingly, apparently familiar with the procedure. Lee stood up, looking apologetically his polite audience, before turning to face his rude interloper with an annoyed look. The mass of angry red beast was now bearing down right on Lee; who still remained calm. Lee raised the gloved right hand, and then pointed his third and little fingers at the monster.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then a moment later the gigantic beast, in all of its furious mayhem, toppled head over heels into a heap, skidding a halt a mere few feet away from Lee.

"…or," continued Lee. "I could leave, leave and not come back. Maybe forever, maybe not." The squirrel yawned and looked at him mournfully. Lee's brow furrowed. The squirrel was reminding him of putting off action, something he had done for far too long. He stood up, annoyed with the squirrel, and himself. On an impulse, he started to extend the third finger of his glove, he wanted this thing to stop reminding him of his problem, wanted this thing doing something—anything.

Don't be foolish. The remembered warning rang in his head as if by reflex.

Lee's hand froze, his mischievous smirk drooping into a tired look. He retracted his finger, then extended his pinky instead. The squirrel's lazy drooped face stared back at him for a moment, then submitted into an exhausted snore.

And with that, Lee set off for home. If he truly meant to start out for a quest, it would take mean a few days of packing. Or maybe weeks… he realized. There's so much stuff I've laid away. How much should I take? What should I leave? Should I leave anything? What will people be like in the rest of the east blue? Questions crowded his excited mind. He had never traveled before. Only once before had he, when he had left his first home, or what was left of it. The image of flames lingering on a pile of charred planks and stones flickered in Lee's mind, and then it was gone. He had been scared then…

It's alright to be scared. More advice whispered in his memories.

That part of Lee's life was tainted by tragedy. It was the kind that happened to often to innocent people. Lee took a deep breath, exhaling sharply. But that was the past. I've moved on. And it would seem he had. He made survived striking out on his own, and built himself a new home. Even though I'm leaving, he thought, I will come back here some day. But even as he walked, the thought never dawned on him that he was walking home, for what may have been the very last time.

I won't be blundering in the jungle much longer. Lee shook his head decisively as he walked. No, this is only the beginning. He glanced up toward the crimson sky.

Unbeknownst to him, another pair of eyes was watching the sky as well. They were yellow, like a hawk.

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