Chapter 1: Carelessness

Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine.

This story contains character abuse! Oh noes! If you don't like, click "back" now.

It happened so fast.

One moment, the Strawhats were laughing and cheering as the monster trio sparred with a couple of Sea Kings. Usopp had made a few cracks about the fight being a battle between beasts. Not a single soul on board the Thousand Sunny gave much thought to the fight. In fact, for the most part, they were treating it like an ordinary day. The men of the ship often got restless, so the sea monsters proved to be great punching bags for the three top fighters.

The two monsters were hideous. One resembled a barracuda with glowing red eyes. The other looked like a giant weasel with overgrown fangs. Zoro and Sanji decided to take on the barracuda while Luffy insisted on having the sea weasel for himself. The trio wasn't putting their full effort into the fight. Still, the three men made it look like child's play. Luffy had climbed up on the sea weasel's head and was laughing loudly as he pummeled its massive cranium with a barrage of rubber fists. Zoro sliced a tooth off of the barracuda while Sanji danced through the air and landed a devastating kick to its jaw. The barracuda's eyes glowed with rage. The monster trio was given its name for a reason.

"Shishishi, Sanji! We're having Sea King meat for dinner, ri-"

Strength was one thing. Clumsiness and carelessness, on the other hand, were in a completely different spectrum. The calm laughter of the Strawhats faded into silence momentarily before giving way to shrieks. Sanji and Zoro seemed to freeze in midair as they watched the horrifying scene fold out in front of them. Luffy's voice had distracted the both of them momentarily. As luck had it, it also caught the attention of the monstrous barracuda. In a flash of blue scales, the Sea King had lunged forward, sensing its brief advantage. On the cold and harsh sea, there was no such thing as fighting fair. The moment opportunity arose, the barracuda had clamped its jaws around their captain's wiry body. A sickly spray of crimson blood washed over the Thousand Sunny.

"LUFFY!"

All of the Strawhats cried his name out in harmony. Their captain struggled weakly as he tried to lift himself off of the needle-sharp fangs of the Sea King. There was no such luck. One fang peeked through his abdomen morbidly, releasing a pool of liquid garnet onto his sticky flesh. Another smaller fang skewered his leg. To summarize it, things weren't looking too well for the Strawhat captain. Black spots began to accumulate in his vision. The sounds around him were overpowered by the erratic beating of his heart. In his last minutes of consciousness, he could vaguely make out Zoro's shape as he felt the fangs slip out of his body. After that, Luffy's awareness slipped away.

"Nnnng…"

Luffy released a soft moan as his eyes fluttered open. The moment his eyes opened, all of his pain returned to him and he instinctively clutched his stomach as he writhed in pain. In that moment, he began to realize that something was terribly wrong. Underneath him was soft, spongy soil speckled with patches of springy grass. The thick scent of the forest wafted into his nostrils. The medicinal scent of the infirmary was nowhere to be found. However, the most disturbing and unusual part of his situation was the area where his wounds should have been… There was no sign of injury other than the intense waves of pain. His flesh was unharmed and completely devoid of blood.

In a confused frenzy, the Strawhat captain scrambled to his feet and shakily stood up. There was something oddly familiar about his surroundings. Underneath of the panic and initial shock, something about the lush, lively forest he was standing in comforted him. Luffy cautiously and weakly took a step forward. As he stumbled, he reached out for a tree to give him support. The ocean was nowhere in sight. His nakama were nowhere to be found. Luffy dug his nails into the bark of the wood. For two years, he was separated from his nakama. He didn't want to be away from them any longer. The wood was rough against the tips of Luffy's nails. Right now, the subtle pain was the only thing that kept him from screaming out.

"L-Luffy? Is that you?"

"Luffy?"

The Strawhat captain froze in place. His dark eyes widened, contributing to the shocked, grim expression on his face. His surroundings were oddly familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it. Those two voices however… He could never forget them. The first was gentle and unsure. It was a voice that he hadn't heard in two years. It was a voice that he had lost two years ago. The second was subtly different than the voice he had etched into his memory, but it was still recognizable. It was a loud, almost childish voice that he hadn't heard in over 10 years, if not longer.

"A-Ace? Sabo?" Luffy choked out, setting his stunned, watery eyes on the two figures.

To be continued...

Short chapter! But I believe I got my point across. It's a bit confusing right now, but rest-assured, everything will clear up in the next chapter.

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