Joy. Anxiousness. Excitement .
He came into existence slowly, but much faster than what was normal for one of his size. What should have taken months took weeks. The benefits, he supposed, of having the world's greatest shipwrights all work on you at once.
Happiness. Anticipation. Elation.
As soon as his keel was completed, he was aware, not coherently thinking yet, but aware, a mix of brightly colored emotions that danced along his wooden frame in joy. He was being built and he couldn't have been happier. His soul was a single burning star among a massive group of others that traversed the sea. And as the shipwrights completed him, that star became a sun that began to outshine the others and the mess of emotions that was his consciousness became sentient.
Curiosity. Wonder. Enthusiasm
It was only when his mass head was completed that he gained a form, trading a burning ball of light for limbs, hands, and an actual body. Of course, the term "actual" was used loosely as the shipwrights still could not see nor hear him. It didn't bother him though. That was the melancholy of being a ship's spirit after all. There was nothing he could do about it, so he wouldn't worry about it.
Pride. Confidence. Strength.
When he was completed, he felt strong, brave, like nothing in the world could bring him down, his confidence a mirror image of the proud lion he was supposed to represent. Of course he knew that there were going to be challenges, enemies that would make him fall to his knees and struggle to keep moving forward, but he would make it. He had to.
He was the ship of the next pirate king after all. He had a crew to bring to Raftel.
Eager. Ecstasy. Delight.
When the shipwrights placed the last details on his physical body, he danced across his deck, bounding around, impatient, eager to finally meet the crew he was destined to sail with. He was strong; he'd prove to the world that he could bring a crew the very end of the Grand Line.
Awe. Exhilaration.
And when he finally met the crew he was supposed to carry, he was happy to note that they were just as excited as he was. They set sail soon after and were shot at by marines. A member rejoined. More cannon balls were launched in their direction, but he had no worries. He could tell his crew was strong. They'd protect him while he waited to make his move.
Bliss.
They named him and his soul shined brighter.
The name just felt so unexplainably right that he couldn't help but smile brightly from where he sat above the sail. His soul flared and for a moment; he was sure that he was visible. Then they gave him an order. So he did, and they flew.
Nice to meet you, Sunny!
Author's Note: I am well aware that there are other stories I should be working on. No, I have not given up on any of them. In fact, I wrote twice as much for those two stories as I did for this one, so those chapters should be out relatively quickly. (NO GUARANTEES BECAUSE I'M SLOW AS FACE) Chapters for this story are shorter in the beginning. I have the next two written out. This chapter was more of a prologue.
Also, this concept seems to be a little bit more confusing. You haven't seen much of it, but I do think that I need a beta reader for this story, just to see if I can get somebody to let me know before I post that it doesn't make sense.
And it's kind of an AU? Plot wise, nothing really changes with the Strawhats. There may be an added adventure or two, but other than that I'll be following the Strawhat's journey to a "T" although I will be telling it from a different point of view. This isn't a retelling though, so I'm not going to go into very many details with the different arcs. This is a side story basically. Just a few tiny details that I took from the canon universe and decided to run away with.