Shanks first met Benn with a coincidence, and he didn`t want anything to do with him, but the dark haired man decided to take care of the little brat that he found battling with the currents, and well, they soon became friends.

Shanks was still reeling over the fact that his captain, the Pirate king, the man he looked at as his idol, had given himself up to the Marines. He was 16 years old, alone, on a rowing boat, in the middle of the ocean, with no food, no water and no log pose. He only had a sleeping bag and a change of clothes in his little bag. Why did he pack so little you ask? Well, the marines weren`t happy with just getting their captain, they wanted all of the Roger Pirates, and so they were forced to fled. Rayleigh had given him the boat and send him away despite Shanks protests, and here he was now, very hungry if you may ask.

He had spotted land a few minutes ago, and was now sailing towards it, hoping to get some rest and probably start gathering his own pirate crew. Just then, a gust of wind blew from behind him, and his straw hat blew off his head and glided over the water. No, he couldn`t lose that hat! It was the only remainder of his captain! Without thinking of dropping the anchor, he jumped head first in the water and started swimming after it. Thankfully, he was a great swimmer after being thrown numerous times of off the ship. After managing to catch it and put it back on his fiery red hair, which was drenched, he went to swim back to his boat. However, the current had turned and the boat was now gliding away from him. He would never manage to catch up with it, he knew that, but what other choice did he have? He would tire out and drown way before reaching land. He struggled a little as the currents picked up, and to his horror, he realized that a storm was brewing and starting very soon.

The boat was out of sight now. Shanks found himself paddling fast and a bit floppy in order to get inland, however the currents were against him and he had to double his efforts, which was tiring him even more. He was on the brink of giving up when a fishing boat sailed next to him and someone bend over and picked him up from the water before gently laying him down on the deck. The earth was tipping now, and Shanks found himself succumbing to the darkness and falling unconscious in the hands of someone he had no idea of, the worst thing he could ever done in his books. When he woke up again, he was in a house, on a comfortable mattress, and a warm cloth was on his forehead. He cracked open his eyes, and saw a man in his late twenties, dozing on a chair next to where he was laying. Years of training kicked in and he went to stealthily sneak from the room. However, he had not made it a few steps before his muscles started to burn and he hissed in pain before crumbling to the floor, panting.

"You should really rest up kid, you over worked your muscles, going to be sore for a couple of days,"

The dark haired man had woken up, and was crouching next to the angry red-head. Shanks could see him more clearly now. Dark eyes matched the pulled back hair, and muscles were quiet apparent under his black t-shirt. A cigar was hanging from his lips, and he was frowning at him, however Shanks saw the concern in the dark eyes.

"Who are you?" Shanks forced through gritted teeth as his muscles felt as if they were on fire.
"I`m Benn Beckman, I`m a fisherman. Don`t worry, I`m not going to turn you in to the marines," He said, causing Shanks to momentarily gape.
"Why would I believe you?" Shanks asked, frowning again.
"You should smile more kid, you`ll get frown lines. And if I wanted to turn you in to the marines, wouldn`t I have done it while you were unconscious? Why would I wait for you to wake up?" Benn said, raising an eyebrow at the kid in front of him.
"Stop calling me kid! I`m 16 years old!" Shanks yelled before Benn picked him up and deposited him on the bed, where he put the covers on top of the still angry Shanks.
"Just go to sleep, kid," Benn muttered, going out of the room.

Shanks waited to hear the lock clicking, but to his surprised, he heard no such thing, and feeling safe for the first time in what felt like forever, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep again, welcoming the pain-less black abyss.

He was running from marines, a thousand of them, all chasing him. His lungs burned as he struggled to breathe while running away. His sabre had been lost when he escaped with the aid of Rayleigh, so he was defenceless if he didn`t steal anything anytime soon. Without thinking, he ran into a sword-shop, grabbed a sabre from one of the many displays, and then ran out of the back door, of course not without leaving a bag of money on the counter of the shell shocked shop owner. Somewhere he had taken a wrong turn, he knew it. He had found himself on a very high cliff. He`d either be killed by the marines or he`d fall to his death. But he was Shanks. He would not go down without a fight. So, unsheathing the sword, he took a fighting position and started fighting with whoever came at him. However, he was not good enough to take on the thousands of marines by himself. He felt the sword enter and exit his gut brutally...

And he awoke in cold sweat. Benn was cradling him, while telling him to calm down as he stroked Shanks' hair. He shook against the man`s muscular body, but Benn didn`t say anything, only continued to sooth him until Shanks was more relaxed and at ease knowing that there weren`t any holes in his gut. When he was somewhat relaxed, Benn let go of him and produced a glass of water seemingly out of nowhere. Shanks took it and sipped it quietly, before falling asleep again. His rest however, was pitiful, and he kept waking up at random times during the night. Benn was always there with a glass of water and a few soothing words, and Shanks found himself liking the father-like figure that Benn was displaying.

The second night went the same, the third was a little merciful, and in the fourth Shanks slept a whole night without any nightmares. Benn had taken care of him, and true to his word, didn`t give him out to the marines, but Shanks couldn`t stand it anymore. He couldn`t practise. He didn`t have a sword, he only stole one in a dream. And the sea was calling him. He would not sail without a crew, but he couldn`t stand being confined in a room all day and night. So, in the fifth night, he feigned sleep and then sneaked out of the window and to the beach, where the storm, that only lasted a day, had made fresh sand dunes and carried up two boats to the shore, which were broken beyond repair. Finding a sand dune, he laid back and stared at the open sea, where he would have countless adventures. He didn`t have a doubt about that. He didn`t know how much time had passed, but Shanks had fallen asleep on the shore. Instinct woke him up at dawn, and he was shocked to find himself on the beach, a dark haired man looking down at him. He recognised him as Benn, and felt his cheeks darken at the prospect that he had been caught. Benn grinned as he saw Shanks blush, something which he thought was impossible for the red-head to do.

"I can`t keep living with you Benn. I need to find a crew. And a sword. And sail the seas," Shanks said.
"You know how to use a sword?" Benn asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I know how to fight with a sword, got a problem with that?" Shanks asked.
"Actually, it would be a problem if you didn`t. Would have paid a lot of money for nothing," Benn said.
"What do you mean?" Shanks asked.
"Well, you said something about a sabre when you woke up after a nightmare the first night, so I did a little research, and found out that red-haired Shanks used to fight with a sabre. Here, I got this from the store. One of the best in stock," Benn said, handing Shanks the still sheathed sword.
"Thanks!" Shanks eyes lit up as he took the sabre in his arms and tied it around his hip. It was the same sabre he had stolen in his dream. "I got to go. See ya later!" He yelled cheerfully before taking off, leaving a smiling Benn behind him.

It was a week later when they met again. Shanks had been laying low, trying to find a few people to gather to his crew, but none of the people met his standards. He was casually walking in the street when he saw Benn walking back to his house. Shanks was about to go talk to him when about five marines jumped on the fisherman and kept him pinned to the floor. Shanks bristled at the sight, but kept low to see why they were jumping him.

"Where is he?" One of them asked.
"Who?" Benn asked.
"Red-haired Shanks," The other said, positioning a sword to his throat.
"I don`t know."

Benn kept a level head, but Shanks was angry. He couldn`t believe that the Marines would threaten the life of a civilian to find out where he was! He grabbed the dagger that was around his leg and accurately threw it at the Marine that was facing him, killing him on the spot. The other marines turned to face him, and smirked upon seeing the boy that they were seeking in front of them. However, they had underestimated him, as they were dead in a few minutes.

Benn watched the boy fight with surprise. He looked tired, as if he hadn`t slept all night but he was still energized enough to fight. Apparently, everybody underestimated him, and Shanks used that to his advantage as he killed them all on the spot, a cold look in his eyes. However, the cold look quickly turned to concern as they swept over him, checking Benn for injuries. They relaxed upon seeing him unharmed, but he looked as if a request was on the tip of his mouth and he was battling with himself whether to say it or not. He finally decided, and sheathing his sabre, he looked Benn in the eye and spoke.

"I want you as my first mate. Would you accept on one condition?"
"What`s the condition?" Benn asked.
"I get to be the captain," Shanks said with a grin.
"Deal. Captain." Benn said with a smile of his own, before extending his hand, which Shanks shook.

The red-head moved back with him until they left.

The first thing they did was search for a boat. They searched several shops, well, Benn did most of the searching as Shanks had to lay low because of The Marines. They found one after a few days, and after Shanks decided that he liked it, Benn bought it with the money that he had collected for future purposes. Never in his life would he think that the future purpose was of being a pirate. Benn left the next part to Shanks. They needed food, a log pose, and other supplies before they left. For a kid, Shanks was extremely sneaky, and before Benn could object, he had run from the house and went to steal everything. He had everything stacked in boxes by the beach by the evening. Benn couldn`t say he was surprised, a week with Shanks and he got to know all of his methods. They sailed away a week later. Countless marines had attacked them, but it didn`t take long for the duo to fight them off before boarding the ship and leaving the island once and for all.

As the outline of the island faded to nothing, Shanks stared at nothing as he mused on how he came to want the older man as his first mate. He had been laying in his sleeping bag, staring up at the starry skies, unable to sleep. Nightmares still haunted him from the war and seeing his own captain beheaded. He choked on tears in the clear night, glad that nobody was close to hear him. He needed someone mature enough to counter his childish character, but he needed him to be patient and not one to bitch and groan about everything. In other words, he needed someone he could look at as a best friend, someone who he could trust with his life, and someone to basically counter Shanks own character. It occurred to him then that Benn was all of that. He was mature, and didn`t yell at him or do anything when Shanks wanted to escape. He was certainly patient, and didn`t have a problem with sea, seeing he was a fisherman. It took him a whole night debate, but he decided to ask Benn the next morning, see if he would accept and then be gone. He was overjoyed when Benn accepted, so he had moved back with him when the black-haired man offered until they were ready to depart.

Benn came to know how responsible Red-Haired Shanks was, even though he was still as childish as ever. However, he never regretted his decision, not even when Shanks woke him up in the middle of the night just because he was bored with the watch. Needless to say Benn wanted to throw him in the middle of the ocean. However, he had done the watch with the sixteen year-old, and didn`t disdain it as much as he thought he would.

Now, as the orange light spread all over the horizon, Benn laid back relaxed, knowing it was going to be a normal day on the this boat. As least as normal as it would be when Shanks would wake up.

Hi gys :) Hope you liked that =p
Last story until I go back to school so don`t expect any more for now :3
Anyway, depending on the reaction, I think I`ll do when the others joined as well :P But that depends on Favourites and reviews! Bye!

-Chrisii