Alone

From the West and also South,

a shadow stretches over the future.

He will ascend the ranks

at speeds ungovernable.

That was the ominous premonition on the fateful night a single child was born under the light of a blood red half moon.

[Fast Forward 14 years]

"Daaaaaaad! Dad, please!" A young boy, alone on the barren coast of an isolated island, wailed into the empty horizon to a long gone, absent father. But, the boy could think of nothing else to do in that moment, continuing to plead, no matter how pointlessly, as tears streamed down his cheeks. "Come back, dad! Don't leave me here! Pleeease!" His strained voice carried far and wide, but none responded.

The boy had been at it for what seemed like hours, and with his throat dry and voice cracking, struggling to even make a sound, he had no choice but to accept that he'd actually been abandoned. Left to his own devices on an abandoned island he didn't even know where, the thin but athletically built youth couldn't help but hear the last words his father spoke before departing ringing in his ears. "I'd honestly hoped it wouldn't come to this, but I meant it when I said I'd make a man out of you even if I had to break you in two to do it. So, everything you're feeling, embrace it. The hatred, betrayal, anger; mold it and use it to become stronger. Then, come for me. Come for me, and release all of that pent up aggression at that time. I'll be awaiting your challenge at home."

Quietly sobbing his final tears, the boy looked around the barren beach. In addition to the lone crab scurrying about and the seashells situated along the pristine beach, a small one man boat had been placed on the white sand alongside a pair of swords and a locked chest (the key to which rested around the boy's neck). His father had left him all the tools he'd need to survive on this island as well as leave when he saw fit. From there, it all depended on his own skill and guile to survive against the many threats that lurked on this strange island and beyond. A rumbling from his stomach pushed the thoughts of his father and his current predicament aside for the moment, and with food the only thing on his mind, the boy ventured into the deepest realms of the island. Moving the brush aside, he could clearly hear the natural cacophony of the island beckoning him further in with each passing second. The feelings coursing through his body, the exhilaration and the confusion, were all so new to him. He'd never been in a situation like this before, but he felt neither fear nor apprehension, instead his mind was flooded only with an overwhelming drive to explore and discover the hidden secrets of the island he'd been left on.

And, the more time he had to calm himself as he gathered edible ingredients, the more he felt he'd have plenty of time to do just that, the thought of predators not once occurring to him. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing to fear on this island, a sentiment borne not from naivety regarding his own place in a strength hierarchy, but his upbringing in its entirety. The young child had grown up around physical marvels, monsters if there ever were any. They were all so strong; so freakishly strong. So, he knew full well that there were people whose strength he couldn't imagine in the world. But, it didn't scare him; all those monstrous beings treated him gently and with reverence. They wouldn't harm him. No, the only person who ever caused him any misfortune was... his father. His father would beat him, punish him, and force him through grueling obstacles, always bearing down on him with a snide grin. That grin surely held malice behind it, an overwhelming weight that made it hard to breathe. Yes, that's it; his father was the only evil in this world. Forcing him through those deadly encounters, always so aloof and detached. Now, he'd been abandoned on an island somewhere. For what purpose, he knew not, but it was all his father's fault. It was okay now, though. With his father, the only person or thing that had ever caused him pain or grief in the world, gone, he could live happily. Live an earnest life away from such monsters. He'd just start a new family, meet new friends, that's all there was to it.

He truly thought that, but none of that explained the immense pressure weighing down on him right now. This beast bearing down on him, its huge paw crushing his chest, was intent on eating him. But, why? He'd never done anything wrong; his father was the only evil being, everyone and everything else was eternally peaceful. That foolish delusion washed away like a pebble in the lapping waves pounding the island's coast. His father wasn't the only evil being; he was the reason all those other monsters treated him so nicely. No one, or thing, would dare harm him so long as his father was around. So, why now? Why was he abandoned so far away from home? Left to fend for himself on this ravenous, wild island where nature thrived, what was he to do? He'd already screamed for his dad to no avail; he was alone now. And it seemed this is how he would die; alone and crying, cowering beneath the foot of a superior creature. "You giving up!? I won't let you. You're my son, mine and your mother's. Because of that, you're at the top of the food chain; nothing's above you! Got it? Now, fight back!" His father's oft-repeated words during their numerous training sessions resonated within him, drawing out a sense of pride he barely knew he had. He couldn't let himself be done in so pitifully. With that in mind, he struck out with all his might, fist clenched tightly as it was propelled towards the beast. His punch collided cleanly, digging into taut, flexed muscle, twisting to deepen the impact. Even from his prone position, it was a perfectly thrown punch. But, it had no effect whatsoever. The solid wall his fist had crashed into remained firm. The beast growing angrier at the boy's insolence. Tears clouded the boy's eyes and his vision became hazy as he tried to gaze at the nearing fangs of his assailant. He could only see those sharp teeth as his mind went blank. His voice stifled in his chest, preventing him from crying out like he longed to do. Instead, his soul silently wept as he accepted his fate. Who knew he'd die so soon after his father abandoned him? After just figuring out that it was his father's strength that kept him from harm not caused it, he's to die the moment that cover is removed; what cruel irony is that?


"Sir," a slightly overweight older man cautiously approached a solitary figure near the front of a large galleon ship, the two pistols and the sword he carried on his person swaying as he came to a stop. "The men wish to know if we should prepare for war with the Mistress."

"Tell me, Thomas. How long have you been a part of my crew?"

"Six years, sir. Of the crew on this ship, the newest member joined two years ago."

"And, do you all really believe I'd fight her?" the figure questioned, his voice soft but threatening. Sensing his crewmember's apprehension, he clarified. "I guess that's not a good question after all. But, don't underestimate that boy's mother. She's quite easily one of the most dangerous foes I've ever faced. That's the reason I'm doing this; so long as she's around to coddle and protect him, that boy will never grow up. This way he'll reach his potential and make a name for himself. Even if he is our son, he'll have to earn everything that is to be his."

"But what about when the Mistress asks questions?"

In an instant, the crew member had a gun pointing between his eyes. Sweat beaded on his brow as he wracked his mind trying to figure out why this was happening. "Give me your sword. Your hidden knife. And your brother's prized pistol." With shaky hands, the portly man complied, laying everything in his captain's outstretched hand, albeit noticeably slower when it came to the pistol. "Now, hand over your brother's ashes."

"S-Sir, I can't do that. His ashes are with his widow on an island in the Grand Line."

"And that's why I did this while she was away," the captain stated while pulling the gun back and returning it to its holster. "Even if she demands it, there'll be no way to hand him over. With how hard it is to find that place, he's trapped until he leaves of his own volition." The man explained while handing everything back. "Besides, she'll never suspect I left him on an island she created as a wildlife reserve." Thomas nodded in understanding. "I'll tell the men there's nothing to worry about." he saluted, before turning to leave his captain. "No, don't; this decision of mine will send a few... shockwaves across the island. Our treaty will be the furthest thing from her mind. . . Tell the men to lower all sails, we have other business to attend to for now." A toothy smile spread his lips as a conniving glint flashed in his eye and his fingers drummed the umbrella he held, pointed tip pressed into the ship's deck.

The ship picked up speed as wind pushed into the sails, the sun illuminating the black kraken embraced white skull design on the dark sails. With the sun beaming down on him, the captain, the boy's father, opened his umbrella and strolled indoors, dress shoes clacking on the wooden planks as salt from the waves peppered his suit. 'I should prepare a small gift for when little Shaad comes for me; it's time this family made some major waves again.'


Shaad had been stabbed before, felt the piercing pain race through his body, the warm sensation of his blood escaping their enclosed pathway. He knew what to expect from the beast bearing down on him. But, he didn't expect what happened next. No searing pain raced through his body, no precise puncture on his tensed muscles, and no feeling of a fading life as the blood poured from the wound. In that fateful moment, red didn't dot the blackness inside his eyelids like it usually would, instead, a sudden breeze washed over him, relieving him of the heavy weight bearing down on his chest. He slowly cracked his eyes open to survey the situation, and his heart expectedly skipped a beat at the scene unfolding before him.

In place of one beast, there now stood two. Shaad, though, figured to use the chance to escape as the vicious beasts bared their fangs at one another. Lifting his back off the ground, Shaad cautiously rose to his feet and jetted towards the coast and his supplies as fast as his legs could carry him. It didn't take long for Shaad to get back to the coast, having not once slowed down along the way and almost falling on his face a few times as a result. It took even less time for the young man to gather everything left on the sand in the small boat his father provided. Once he'd collected everything, Shaad pushed the boat completely into the water and readied himself to set off.

Unfortunately, Shaad had no navigation or sailing ability at all, and the one man boat was capsized almost as soon as it left the shallowest portion of the waters. He struggled to flip the boat over while staying afloat, not being a very good swimmer, and holding on to the two swords, but he eventually was successful in his endeavor. That success lasted only a short while, though, as shortly thereafter, having gotten everything back to normal, he felt an unsteady disturbance under the boat. Shaad jumped to his feet, swords in hand, and awaited an attack, but he still wasn't ready for what rose from the water. "Oh, shit." he muttered to himself, face deadpanning and arms going slack as a giant sea snake lifted its head from the water, mouth like a lamprey housing rows upon rows of sharp teeth behind four spiked pincer like fangs. Seaweed hung from its spiky scales like decorative ribbons, showing it to not be native to these waters. Almost as fast as it appeared, it swooped down to swallow Shaad whole, only missing the boy because the waves produced by its sudden emergence tilted the boat backwards. 'Fuck.' was the only thing that crossed his mind. Shaad's swords scraped against the creature's solid exterior as it lunged after him again, obliterating the little that was left of the boat and knocking him into the water. He managed to grab hold of the chest and use it to stay afloat through the carnage, but with no foothold he was left defenseless. Thankfully for him, in the most recent splash, he was pushed away along with the chest and the animal apparently had no interest in searching for such measly prey. Shaad kicked his legs in a panicked frenzy and hurriedly escaped to the island. Once back on the island, he rested with his two swords to one side and the chest on the other. Using a piece of rope that drifted back from the single sail rigging on the boat, he tied the chest to his pants and dragged it with him to find a place to stay for the night. He'd think more about this miserable situation in the morning; he couldn't deal with it all any more tonight.

Three years passed with Shaad alone on that island. In that time, his strength had vastly grown, becoming the second strongest being on the island behind only the King Beast, which treated him as a close rival, even before eating the strange, rancid tasting fruit locked within the chest two years into his stay on the island. After eating the swirl patterned, blue cantaloupe looking fruit, he lost his ability to swim, but, for him, that was no great loss. Additionally, his overall combat ability had increased exponentially.

He had previously been trained by multiple well known martial artists and swordsmen in a variety of styles, but he'd always lacked the pedigree and killer instinct to break through to the upper echelon. In order to survive the past three years, those qualities were necessary as well as the ability to anticipate attacks at all times, which he developed and improved over the entirety of his time there. By the time three years had passed, Shaad, with the use of his swords and his new abilities, could hold back and challenge five of the strongest beasts on the island simultaneously, though a single animal, the King Beast, was beyond such reproach. The only thing that was easy for him in that entire time was sleeping, something he became liable to do in the middle of what he'd termed 'Poison Patch', a collection of poisonous spore releasing flowers and parasitic plants that he'd wandered into on more than one occasion. That was always an adventure in itself.

His father's plan in leaving him there to mature and learn seemed to have fully come to fruition. Now, he just needed a method of transportation to leave. Unfortunately, among the many skills he lacked, building ability was chief among them next to navigation skills. Still, though, after many failed attempts, he did come up with an idea that worked. By cutting down the largest tree on the island and carving out a seat, he made a raft he could row using a log he found. And so, after almost three and a half years alone and being abandoned just after his fourteenth birthday, Shaad said his goodbyes to the animal friends he'd made, even inviting the resident King Beast, an eight foot tall Shelled Wolf, to accompany him (though it was too territorial to leave) before setting off on his long journey home.