I hope you all liked the last chapter!

~Setting Out~

Sabo awoke early the next day, the sun just barely beginning to rise. He quietly dressed, so as to not wake the other members of the household. As he stood and made his way to the door he glanced back at the occupants inside the hut. He smiled softly as he looked at his little brother, curled up where Sabo had left him. The bandits and Dadan were spread all over the place around the youngest member of the family.

Sabo placed his top hat on his head before leaving the house. The only other thing he carried was a bag filled with his belongings tied to his pipe. He began walking the familiar path leading to the Goa Kingdom. Carefully treading over the worn, wooden bridge and through the dangerous forest of Mt. Corvo. Time seemed to pass quickly as he finally came to the entrance of Grey Terminal. The garbage towered as high as ever as the people inside the city continued to throw out every little thing.

The blonde made his way through the streets, the residents of the garbage dump ignoring him for the most part. His black jacket flared out behind him as the wind caught it. His cravat waving slightly over his bare chest, revealing a few scars from his accident years ago. He took long strides up to the city gates, tipping his hat to the gate guards and dropping a little bit of coin for entry.

The city was slowly coming to life as Sabo made his way through Edge Town to the Town Center. He ignored the thugs that called out to him, and as he stepped into the main streets, he continued to ignore the looks he received. He strode through the streets, eyes sweeping over the shops as he looked for a particular one.

Turning into an alleyway and walking along the buildings along the back end he finally found the shop he was looking for. He walked into the small weapon shop. The wares were simple mostly guns or standard guard equipment. Nobody saw the need for weapons in the town, except for the thugs.

The shopkeeper looked up as the door opened. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to pick up an order."

The man looked Sabo over. "What's the name?"

"It would be under the name of Dadan."

"Dadan?" The man asked, his eyes narrowing.

Sabo ignored the man's question. "It would have been placed a week ago. Is it ready?"

"Just give me a moment."

The man turned from the boy, grumbling under his breath about kids these days. Sabo stood patiently in front of the counter as the man searched his paperwork before finding the one he needed. He told Sabo to wait while he went to find it, and Sabo only nodded curtly. A few minutes later the man returned, a long box in his arms. He laid it out on the table for the boy and untied the string before opening the box.

Sabo stared at the black bo staff laying in the box, his eyes taking in the small details of the weapon. It wasn't overly decorated or anything, just a simple staff. The blonde figured if he was going out to sea, he needed a better weapon then just the old pipe. Ace had bought a dagger from this same shop when he had set out, so Sabo decided to do the same.

The shopkeeper grunted. "Well?"

"It looks fine enough, it will do."

The shopkeeper nodded. "If there is nothing else, then you can leave since it's already been paid for."

Sabo looked at the man as he took the staff out of the box. "Then I shall take my leave. Your company has turned quiet unpleasant anyway."

The blonde strapped the staff to his back and began making his way out of the store, ignoring the insults coming from the shopkeeper. Sabo looked up, noting that the sun had risen higher, but he didn't need to set out just yet. He walked through the streets, towards the wall that towered high above the Town Center. He slipped past the guards and into the depths of the High Town.

He slipped through the shadows, going towards the house he had hated all of his life. He stood in the shadows of another house, staring at the large building in front of him. It was as lavish as always, and he felt just as disgusted as he had when he was a child. He leaned against the wall, watching the building, seeing if those living within would show themselves.

His eyes narrowed as he saw a young man, a few years younger than him step out of the house. He would have recognized that bowl-cut hairstyle and that condescending look anywhere. Staring the young man over, Sabo was glad that he hadn't had to call the ignorant brat brother-Luffy was the only younger brother he had.

It wasn't long after the boy exited the house that Sabo saw his father leave as well. He watched the two begin making their way from the house and he waited till they were out of sight. Sabo then moved out of his hiding spot and to the mailbox, slipping the letter he had written inside of it. He then quickly made his way from the district and towards the dock, not wanting to attract anyone's attention.

It wasn't long till he saw the dock coming into view and as he looked over the ships docked he saw the one that Dogra had helped him procure earlier in the week. The two had come into town to find the right boat for Sabo's journey, and had purchased it. They had stocked it with supplies over the course of the week.

Sabo threw his bag onto the deck as he looked over the boat, it was similar to the one he had left with all those years ago. Sabo had checked dock notes carefully, there was not to be any visits from the Celestial Dragons or marines, so he should be safe sailing away from the port.

He didn't hesitate to untie his boat and to unfurl the sail, guiding the boat out of the harbor. He maneuvered it from the port and into the open sea, turning it towards the outer edges of the island. As it sailed he swiftly tied his flag to the post and began to bring it up, the S with cross bones waving proudly in the wind.

Looking over at the island, he saw the small cove that they had watched Ace leave from. He smiled as he saw Luffy, the bandits minus Dadan, Woop Slap, and Makino standing on the little outcrop. He heard the cheers start up as he waved at the group on the island, a large smile on his face as he looked at Luffy.

The boy was waving happily to his older brother, shouting words of encouragement. He faintly saw some of the bandits groan and hold their heads, laughing as he remembered the celebration the night before. They had celebrated his birthday two days early since he needed to depart the day before he turned seventeen. If he turned seventeen while on the island he'd be considered a noble no matter what, so he left as close to his birthday as he could, thankful the weather had behaved today.

Sabo waved to his little brother and shouted out his goodbyes, feeling a bit sad at leaving his home. He had grown close to his mismatched family and was sad to be leaving them so soon. Sabo pulled his hat off and gave a small bow to those he loved and heard laughter explode from those on the island. As he began to change the ship's course out into open water he glanced back, seeing the others begin to leave the area. Luffy sat close to the edge, planning to watch until he faded from sight, though the young raven would probably stay there till it grew dark.

Sabo stared out over the open water, excited to start his journey. He had a lot of ground to cover to catch up with Ace. They hadn't received a bounty for the raven yet, but Sabo knew he had a head start. Sabo's grin grew as he sailed out, grabbing the journal from his bag, unfolding one of the maps he had stuffed inside it to help his trip.

As he did so, he noted the small transponder snail that had been in his bag, his eyes glancing at it in thought. It had been left with Makino by a traveler a few months ago, on the anniversary of his rescue by that man. Sabo knew it was an invitation, and he was debating on what to do with it. He turned his eyes back to the horizon. He'd figure it out soon enough. For now, he needed to worry about starting his journey.

~End ch. 3~

First off I would like to thank my beta: Lady Spritzy for helping me to edit this series. She has an account on her and I recommend her stories, because she's a really great writer.

Also I started Ace's story and it's titled: Ace of Spades, and it will detail his journey from the start to when he is captured by Blackbeard.

I will also start updating regularly on Saturday to Sunday mornings for my One Piece stories.

This chapter took a bit to write, I originally had Sabo leaving like Ace, and then it went to a quick in and out of the city, before it became a whole major trip to the city before leaving.

Well till next time then!