Prologue

"So, you're really going to do it?"

A man named Shanks asked, in his typical sluggish voice that sounded like he was half asleep. Luffy gave the man a smile and nodded.

"How much?" he asked after letting out a lengthy yawn.

Luffy hummed as he tried to recount the numbers in his head. Thirty here, eighty there. "Close to a grand or two? I can't really remember, I'm shit at math," he said.

"Hm."

"It's not a lot but it's better than nothing, for now." Luffy sounded as though he was trying to be more convincing. It wasn't working out for him all that well.

"Yeah, not bad kid," said Shanks. "For now." He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets, clenching them into fists to try to keep warm. The temperature had made a surprising drop that left the air frigid, ready for a possible early winter. Luffy dreaded it. He hated the cold, but loved the snow. Shanks had often called him a child for it, which he obviously argued over.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that isn't tooth fairy money, huh?" The red head asked. Luffy looked at him briefly before turning his attention to the flicker of light coming from a light post that needed a new bulb.

"You're right." Luffy told him. There was no point in trying to fake it or lie.

Shanks smiled and looked around the empty street they walked along. It was about 10:35 P.M. and Luffy had just snuck out through his bedroom's window on the second floor of his Grandpa's home twenty minutes earlier. It was a bit stupid on his part, since no one was home and he could have easily walked out the front door. He was worried a neighbour plus their dog would notice him and the god awful heavy backpack resting on his shoulders and say a little something about it. 'Where ya goin Luffy?' one might ask. 'Hiking? In this weather?' another might question. The one thing he definitely wouldn't be missing about his neighbourhood was how nosy everyone was.

"How many drawers did you have to go through to find that kind of cash?" Shanks laughed. Luffy didn't. Shanks was just giving him a hard time, busting his balls about it.

"Either way," Shanks began. "You really should get going, if you're as serious as you say you are about doing this."

"I know, lemme just soak the streets in one last time old man."

"Oi. Watch it," Shanks warned, ruffling the young teenagers hair through the beanie he had pulled over his head. "Having doubts?"

"Hell no."

Shanks hummed before asking another question. He was just looking out for the kid. "What will you do when the moneys all gone?" he asked. Luffy stood still for a moment, stopping in his tracks. The puddle of water from the rain that had come down earlier rippling around his boots.

"Dunno. I could beg," he suggested and resumed walking. "Or borrow. Or steal. As long as I get my hands on it."

"You could do that, yeah. You'll need a place to sleep, food to eat, who's going to provide all that?"

"Dunno," Luffy said again. "I'll figure it out as I go."

Shanks raised an eyebrow, looking at Luffy suspiciously and very, very doubtful his plan would work. "You never planned this out?"

"No?" Luffy replied. "Was I supposed to?" His question was so honest and innocent Shanks couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"Normally teens do, yeah. 'Least I did when I left." Shanks smiled at him, like he was better. Luffy rolled his eyes, but laughed along with him anyways.

"Whatever, I'm my own person," Luffy told him. "If I run out-"

Shanks stopped him there. "When you run out. Money goes by quick, it doesn't grow on trees."

"You're not original at all," Luffy pouted. He thought Shanks was way cooler than that. "I'll think about what to do when I run out, then."

"You're naive," Shanks sighed, his breath leaving his throat in a puff of cold autumn air. "I'll give you a week, at best."

"Yeah right," Luffy shook his head. "Like I'm ever going back to that house. Didn't Ben Franklin run away from home too?" Luffy asked him and Shanks' jaw had to have dropped to the floor when he heard the name escape Luffy's mouth.

"How do you know that?" he asked. Genuinely, he wasn't trying to be insulting with the amount of disbelief on his face, and Luffy wasn't exactly going for shock value, but damn did he nail it.

"I paid some attention in class!" he yelled, aiming his fist at Shanks' right shoulder only to miss as the man stopped in his tracks.

"Huh," Shanks scoffed. "Yeah, he did. So what, are you comparing yourself to him?" he resumed walking by Luffy's side, who had a sour look on his face. He didn't appreciate the teasing. He knew some things.

"Not exactly-"

"Do you think you're going to found a university or discover something as vital to humanity as electricity?" Shanks asked. He was trying to find a more... meaningful and in depth meaning to Luffy's sudden historical outburst but couldn't, for the life of him, figure out what the hell the boy was going on about.

"Probably not, I meant- if you'd have shut up for a sec- that he ran away, and yeah he did all that. What if him and his shit head of a brother never got into an argument? We'd be walking in the dark right now and who knows what could happen the minute we turn the corner." Again, Shanks' mouth dropped. Not only did Luffy know he ran away, but he knew the reason too. Shanks knew Luffy hated school, but he had to be one of the few people Shanks' had met in his life who actually knew something about history.

"Your point?" he asked again, trying to subside how impressed he was.

"Just have some faith in me!"

There was a brief silence as the two walked down the damp streets. "You know where you're going at least?" Shanks asked. Luffy's lips thinned and he shook his head.

"I was going to go to the train station and figure it out," he said.

"Just gonna hop on a train to wherever? No plan? It's kind of hard to put my faith into something so stupid." Shanks questioned, like he was interrogating Luffy. Or so it felt. Shanks just meant well, Luffy knew that. Though he could do without all the pestering and doubt that practically dripped off his tongue with every word. He shrugged, Shanks sighed again for what had to be at least the tenth time during their walk.

"You need a ride there, at least?" he offered.

"Mm, nah. I think I'll take the subway. It runs until at least two in the morning. I'll be good."

"You sure? You have my number in case shit hits the fan and you gotta come home, right?"

"Yeah I do, thanks. You won't tell anyone where I'm going, right?"

"Hell, you don't even know where you're going, let alone me." Shanks shook his head in disbelief. Really didn't want to let the kid go on his own, considering he was absolutely fucking clueless.

"Oh yeah," he laughed, his voice echoing through the empty streets.

"You've got so much to learn about the world, kiddo."

"Shut up, I'm not a kid."

"You're running away, that's something a brat would do."

"You ran away too!" Luffy reminded him.

"Yeah, but I had a plan," he teased, grinning at him through the street lights. "You're just winging it."

"So?"

"So..." Shanks rubbed the back of his neck. Couldn't believe what he was dealing with. "Listen. What kind of job could you get? Do you know that much?"

"Does it matter? A jobs a job."

"A job where you wash dishes in a restaurant is different than a job at a strip club, get what I'm saying?" Luffy's skull was thicker than anyone he'd ever had to deal with before. Shanks figured even if he yelled into a microphone, he'd stare back, clueless as hell.

"I'm not a stripper."

"Yeah, and I wasn't a bell boy. But when you need cash, you need cash. And you've got nothing more than a middle school education diploma to your name, it's not easy out there."

"I almost finished high school."

"No one will buy that shit, trust me." Shanks told him sternly. "If you want to leave tonight and wing it all, go ahead. But it'd be better for you if you at least had an idea of what the hell you're about to get yourself into."

"I know what I'm getting into, you just told me."

"Right," Shanks said sarcastically. "Face it, out there, you're essentially homeless."

"I know-"

"And you've got no one. Not anymore."

"I haven't had anyone for a long time," he corrected. Shanks looked at him humbly, trying to see if he had any glimmer of doubt in his eyes. He didn't.

"Ah," Shanks let out another breath of air. Luffy certainly knew how to stress him out. "I shouldn't be putting all this on you now, though. Your minds really set?"

"Yup!" Luffy smiled. He wasn't about to let anything bring him down. He had to do this. He had to leave.

"If you're sure-"

"I am." Luffy reassured him. It was his life and even after all was said and done, he was going to do what he wanted. Whether Shanks or anyone else told him fifty different reasons why he shouldn't or not.

He would do whatever the hell he wanted.

"Alright. I'll at least walk you to the station then." Shanks offered, stuffing his hands into the deep pockets of his fall jacket.

"Thanks," Luffy smiled, doing the same with his own that had become a bit frigid when the wind hit. "You're not too bad old man."

Shanks' jaw nearly dropped at the name calling. "I'm in my early thirties, brat." Needless to say he was a bit offended, and Luffy found it hilarious.

"Old to me." Luffy laughed. Shanks rolled his eyes at the teen, who walked along side him down the streets that were light under the street lamps. Not bothering to step over or around the deep puddles of water that'd filled up in large crevices of the sidewalk.

It took the two of them with their slow pace around fifteen minutes to reach the nearest station. It was a bit more packed than the previous streets they'd been trudging down.

"Okay, I'm going now." Luffy turned to him and smiled. Began digging in his pockets for loose change to put in as his fare.

"Ah, was good to have you around, kiddo." Shanks placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. "Luffy, no matter how far you run... distance might not solve anything. Remember that," he told him seriously. It was all fun and games before, but now Luffy was dead set on leaving and he'd be damned if he didn't give one piece of good advice.

Luffy's happy go lucky smile went thin with the weight of Shanks' words, sinking in a little deeper than previous comments.

"I know," he said. Hardly any louder than a whisper, but enough for him to hear. Shanks gave him one final smile.

"Alright, well go. Get your ass outta this city. Stay safe and call me if you need anything, I mean it." Shanks said. "Anything," he repeated. Luffy nodded with a smile, turned to the stairs that led to the underground subway that ran from one end of the city to the other.

"I'll see you!" he said. Shanks stood at the top of the stairs, waving down to him as he ran down every other step until he reached the entryway.

He popped his change in and gave the usher a smile, walking through the gate and heading down another flight of stairs. He stood in front of the Eastside subway. Tapped his feet along to the music playing throughout the station that sort of reminded him of elevator music. He hated it, but his foot went along with it.

It took around two minutes for the subway train to pull into the station, a hoard of people got off before Luffy was able to get on. Nevertheless he did, and sat down on one of the empty seats. He waited through six station stops before reaching the centre of the city where all long distance buses and trains were. Hopped out and made his way to what he assumed would be a big sign, telling him all the different destinations of the night.

Despite there being one incredibly large sign pointing him in the direction he should have gone, he found himself lost.

Once he'd asked for directions, as locating it himself proved rather difficult, he stared at the large board. Several different cities blinked in neon red before him. So many, that he couldn't pick where to go. He'd heard New York was pretty dangerous, but cool. At least, around Times Square. That could be an option. Others read 'Chicago - 12:00 A.M' and 'Washington D.C - 12:30 A.M'. Those were only a few, but they were the ones he had actually heard of before.

He didn't want to wait until 12, regardless of it being 11:19 P.M now, at least that's what his phone read. A little voice in his head kept saying 'If you don't leave now, you'll hate yourself later'. Once he saw the ticket line up had two people in it, he went straight for it. Purchased a $115 one way ticket for 11:45 to NYC, and made his way to the right train. New life. New journey. New York.

It wasn't something he'd planned, because he never thought he'd need to do it. But as the days went on of him living in this god forsaken city, he grew bored. He grew tired, and he grew anxious. Only adding onto the empty feeling he had every time he'd walk through the door. He never thought that he'd be driven to the edge, where his only choice was to leave. He didn't have any regrets; because that was the way his brother had lived. So, that's how he was going to live, too.

After sitting on a bench for ten minutes, the train pulled up and people began boarding. He didn't mind waiting for all the elderly to get on first, before he took his place in line behind them. The man who stood by the door asked to see his papers, which he pulled out of his pocket. Already crumpled and looked weeks old when they'd only been printed less than an hour ago. He looked them over, and then looked at Luffy.

"How old are you, son?"

"Nineteen." Luffy said.

"Got ID?"

"Oh, yeah hold on." He dug around in his coat, pulling out his wallet and flashing a card that did in fact, say he was nineteen. As he said. The man nodded and returned it, as well as his papers and let him through. He didn't look that young, did he? Whatever, no matter to him.

Once he stepped in, he noticed the train was nice, very modern looking and quite honestly was a bit too fancy for his taste. He liked it, but wouldn't make it a habit of riding it, either.

What he liked even more, though, was that the train was two levels. He practically ran up the stairs and found a free seat next to the window. The train was fairly empty; maybe a third or so of the seats were taken. Most people Luffy noticed were alone, the way he was. He didn't have a suitcase or anything big and bulky like that. Just a lone hiking backpack he'd stuffed to the brim with unnecessary items. Mostly clothes and snacks.

In his pockets he'd shoved his wallet, which had a picture of him and his two brothers tucked inside the place that also carried his cash. A pocket knife, one he recalled Garp using for skinning animals the one time the four of them went hunting one summer. It was maybe, five inches and had a nice handle. Which was really the only reason Luffy took it. As well as a lighter, one that was silver coated and probably cost more than forty dollars. He didn't smoke, and wasn't a pyro, he just liked the way it felt. Who knew, maybe someone would be in need of a light. Luffy would be just the guy.

He tugged off his scarf, since it now felt almost a million degrees with the heat of the train slowly building up. People crowded around, all sitting in their seats and tucking away any large loose luggage in overhead compartments. An announcement was made that the doors would be closing in a minute, and Luffy's knees jerked. He wasn't scared, no. It was... adrenaline. It was all he knew since he left the house. It was all he could feel rushing through his veins.

His mind wandered as he stared out at the jet black sky, counting the few stars that he could see. There were, perhaps twenty-two that he could really make out. Those were the really bright ones. Though his eyes caught a few dimmer ones, too.

Once he realized more and more of them had shown up, he noticed the train had left. That in twenty hours, he'd be in a different city. Living a new life. Beginning a new story. Some other metaphorical shit like that. He wasn't a sap; he didn't care for that kind of stuff. He wasn't living in a fairy tale, no matter what kind of spin he put on it. He just wanted to leave. So he did.

There wasn't any way of making it seem rather… normal. He lived his own life the way he wanted. No restrictions, no one to tell him what to do or how to do it. Just him. Sure, with the grin plastered across his face when he told Shanks about his 'not so thought out plan to leave' plan, he laughed in his face. Called him a kid and, well, laughed even more. Luffy hardly found it amusing, and he found a lot of things funny. Jokes were funny. People falling down the stairs were funny. Him wanting to leave the toxic home he lived in… not so much.

Eventually he'd calmed down and agreed to hear him out. During which, he laughed several times more, but Luffy continued regardless. Talking much louder than he was laughing to make sure he was heard. He was. Shanks had said he couldn't do it, but he'd prove him wrong. He would.

He smiled to himself and tugged off his boots, pulling his legs up to hug his knees. The sound of the train screeching against the tracks was loud, but bearable. The top floor had been designated as the 'Quiet Zone', according to a sign that caught his eye. The lights were dim above; only the floor was lit with bright yellow colour to show off the aisle.

He stared out the window long enough for him notice how eerie the moon above looked. Watched as the train slowly but surely pulled out of the city into rural grounds. He let out a few light yawns and quite frankly wished he'd have charged his DS before leaving. It died nearly twenty seconds into the opening cutscene of his game. He cursed and shoved it back into his bag, unzipped his coat and tugged on it to wrap around his waist properly. Sort of like a blanket, but not quite. He was just frustrated, since the one he'd brought was at the damn bottom of his backpack. It'd have to do.

Not too long after midnight, Luffy fell asleep. Like a phone battery that'd lost it's charge.

A/N: Yeah it's that generic runaway au that no one asked for but I'm going to write anyways. It'll be fun guys trust me... hahaaaaa. This is only the prologue so later chapters will be pretty lengthy compared to it but it's just a little taste. Leave me a review, yeah? Tell me what you think hooha.

~S