Tarnished Ambitions

It was a bright, crisp morning, the kind that assured those up early enough to experience it that the rest of the day would pale in comparison, so they may as well use it as an excuse to go back to bed. That particular lovely sentiment, shared by most of the townsfolk, was one of the many reasons Monkey D. Luffy had determined that today was the day that he would head out and make his way in the world, Pessimists be damned.

Soft looking dark brown hair fell into obsidian eyes as he rushed out of the house, A muffled sounding goodbye making its way through the wad of toast and sticky jam in his mouth as he passed his affectionately dubbed 'aunt Makino'.

He raced through the streets, (one hand held firmly in top of his head, so as his strange looking straw hat wouldn't fall off) eager to reach school before the ever so prompt bell rung, and he was condemned to a lecture from his tough as nails old hag of a teacher. He would embark today, his resolve on that level holding steady, but not before graduation lest he miss potential free food.

Beli was sparse at the tavern, food and such simple necessities never taken for granted, and as there had been no customers as of late and that toast this morning was probably the last bit of food he could scrape from his lodgings today. Although he might live for his dream, he wasn't willing to starve for it.

Making a name for himself, top priority in his mind, was an ambition understood only by his previously mentioned adopted aunt, and protective as she may be she always supported hem where his mind was set.

Those around him; a rather broad variety of people to be sure, including parents and teachers and peers alike, fish mongers, traders and even the odd street performer respected the end goal of this dream of his, but weren't exactly wild about his particular approach.

Not that he minded, of course, people talk and label and do all sorts of nasty things to each other as a species, and as far as Luffy was concerned why start trusting the general public now. Although, he did have to give them points for observation, as his preferred method of executing his dream could be in some cases not exactly honorable.

Not that he was going to be like that of course, when HE became a pirate he would do it properly, not just be a ruthless stealing vagabond thrown out to sea.

Yes Piracy. Formally known as: (and his English teacher would be proud to hear the wonderfully memorized drawl of the next few familiar words) A Robbery committed at sea, or sometimes on the shore, by an agent without a Commission from a Sovereign nation.

Dirty, thieving, stinking, grimy pirates.

Wonderful unbound free souls out at sea.

A grimace stole over his features however as he thought of what his dream had become, the beautiful freedom all of the liars and scum had ruined for the rest of the world.

They were doing it all wrong; all of those stupid so called pirates out there, hiding under their title to hide the fact that they were simply bad men with bad intentions and saying it was their nature as a pirate to commit such vile crimes.

There were fakes in every profession, and unfortunately fake pirates were becoming more common than the real ones.

Real pirates. Real men, real people who simply refused to stop believing and set off in search of those who thought similarly. The people who never outgrew the question 'why' and refused to accept reality as the cold cruel place others envisioned it to be, those select few who decided to reject the general reality in favor if one more open minded.

Not, however, people to be confused with shameless romanticizers.

The worlds not fair, a fact that was as much, if not more important to pirates than those preferring a life harbored to land. A fact of life that is, and it is accepted without complaint.

This general rule is also what sets pirates apart in the end. Corrupted governments, tyrants, manipulators, they all embrace the cold simple little rule, using those words to convince people fairness was overrated, using those words to subtly encourage people to give up, back down, accept defeat.

Pirates embrace that rule too, and use it as a guideline.

'What', they think, clever minds working full throttle, 'what can I do to prove this soggy old rule wrong?'. And they think and they think and they scheme away in an attempt to return hope to those fascinated by the mean ruthless rule of the world powers.

They sail round the world, bringing with them fantastical tales of the planet around them we like to call Yuuki(1), bringing life into a new light and hope a new meaning to those who they favored their stories with, those willing to listen. And, as was more than often the case, those willing to listen were children. Young people not yet resigned to the monotony of our torturously short lives, bright eyed and eager to hear that they haven't seen, experience what they haven't done.

Luffy was one of those children, one of those select few who in his younger years, not quite realizing the rarity of the occurrence yet, met a pirate.

A real pirate, three scars over his left eye and a simple straw hat with a red ribbon around it adorning his head, docked at Fuchsia's quiet little harbor near the quiet little tavern where Luffy lived. And into that quiet little tavern walked the greatest man that quiet little town had ever seen, in the opinion of each and every one of the townspeople who cared to look, and the man Luffy strived to be, the man who saved Luffy's life at the cost of one of his own limbs.

Captain Red Haired Shanks. And after adventures had been told and stories had been left imprinted forever in his mind, for their ship set up temporary base in quiet little Fuchsia village, the day finally came for the Captain to leave.

Standing on the dock, the rest of his crew boarding the un-tethered vessel, Luffy made Shanks a promise.

Crying, sobbing at the permanent leave of his pirates (And they really were his pirates, who else knew them like he did?) He told Shanks in a frenzied yell that he would become a pirate too, that he would surpass even shanks himself, and that they would meet one day on the open sea. The older man smiled fondly, a proud fatherly smile reserved for Luffy alone, and bent down to the distraught Childs eye level.

"Surpass me, eh?"

In a slow, caring motion, he took the hat from his head and placed it on the tear stained six year olds head.

"That hat means a lot to me, you hear? So keep it safe until you become a great pirate and we meet again, eh?"

Eyes twinkling merrily, He stood up, and without another word, boarded his vessel. Luffy watched the ship sail away until it was nothing more than a speck on the horizon, The adventure of a lifetime what now what surely awaited the determined child who fell asleep on the dock that day, watching his hero fade into the sunset.

Holyfreakingcraplookit'safreakingLINE

(1)- Yuuki is one variation of the word courage in Japanese (I think, correct me if I'm wrong). Let's face it, you'd have to be pretty damn brave to survive on a planet like that.

Well, it's the first chapter of my first story here and I'm feeling pretty proud. Not because I'm confident in my ability, it just… feels good to get this out there. Please review, I took the time to post this story for you guys and I would be eternally grateful if you gave me feedback. Also, I think if you took the time to review I should take the time to repay so I'm very open for requests for me to visit your homepage. Always feels good to know your work is appreciated, eh? Also, I know this chapter is a little rushed but I'm trying to get the foundation for this wacked out little plot down so please bear with me here.