I do not own One Piece, Nasuverse or any other show/book/movie or a game that might be mentioned in this story. I only own these couple of words that i wrote.

Warning: Some swearing there and there.

Chapter 2: Professor Luffy

The first time that Scathach saw Luffy's arm stretch... she freaked out, then she demanded explanation.

"I ate the Gomu-Gomu fruit!"

"Gomu-gomu? Wait, don't tell me that you ate a Devil fruit!"

"Yeah..."

Scathach was not amused.

Devil fruits. Strange, rather horribly tasting fruits that gave the one who consumed them a unique special ability, but at the price of loosing the ability to swim. Once a person with devil fruit abilities would come into contact with water, he would slowly loose all strength in his or her limbs. Scathach heard about them from Shanks... some abilities were rather cool but some were rather useless. Like: who would want to have the ability to change colors when he is facing some monster?

The said person would have to be very creative.

Not to mention that most of this world was covered with seas. That is the reason why Scatach felt like punching Luffy. An idiot that seldom uses his brain that can't swim and on a pirate ship surrounded by nothing but sea? Scathach made a note to become a very good swimmer.

Since she did know by Luffy's ability to stretch arms, she was not surprised when she saw Luffy's unnaturally long arms around one large tree trunk. What she was surprised by was that the tree seemed to be torn from the ground and, judging by the old gray haired man's expression, hit him in back. And the man seemed to be only very, very annoyed, if the language he had been using was any indication.

Earlier that morning when Scathach woke up and expected Luffy to march in... Luffy never came. So she asked around a bit and found that his own grandpa had decided to take him away. Makino explained that he had finally heard that Luffy became friends with Shanks and the old man did not like it. Apparently, Monkey D Garp is a high ranking marine.

Though, Scathach did not really care about that. Once she got over her surprise caused by the fact that Luffy somehow managed to uproot a tree and hit his grandpa with it, she lunged herself at him. When Garp spotted her, his eyes widened rather comically. He only hard time to put one of his hands before himself, in order to protect himself.

"What the hell! Where did you come from!?"

"Let's go of Luffy!"

"Huh? And why should I do that?!"

Bugger. Garp is a seasoned fighter, one that is several times bigger than she is. If what Luffy said was true, then he is even a legend. She won't be able to make him take Luffy back to Foosha, but she would be damned if she did not at least try.

Garp removed her from his arm and held her up so he could have a look at her face, while ignoring Luffy and his whining. Monkey D Garp is a graying man with many wrinkles on his face form both worry and laughter. But his black eyes, similar to Luffy's were a bit angry right now.

"Do you know who I am little girl?"

"Don't care!"

He paused and looked over her. "You are that girl Scathach, right?"

"Yes."

"Heard about you, you have been watching over this..." He inclined towards Luffy. "...ungrateful grandson of mine."

"Luffy is not ungrateful."

"Bleh! Luffy will become a great marine one day, and you girl return to Foosha."

"No."

"Why not!"

"Coz I said so!"

"Stupid girl! Do you want me to drag you back?"

"Whatever, but I will come back!"

"What about your parents? They must be worried."

"Don't have."

Garp paused, then he swore again. "Listen. I am taking Luffy into this forest so he would become strong, he is going to become a marine someday."

"I will not!"

Scathach looked at Garp blankly, her expression silently asking him if he really means it. If Luffy said that he would become a pirate, he means it. Especially when Shanks gave him his hat. He won't be giving up on his dream just because he said it. Luffy listens only to himself when it comes to stuff like this.

"Hey, don't give me that look!"

"I wanna become strong too, so I will live here too then."

"Do you wanna die?"

"Do you want Luffy to die?"

"…."

"…."

Garp sighed. Even he, who spent little time with his grandson must have heard about Luffy's spouts of madness. Though, Scathach wondered what he had heard about her.

"Alright, you have a point. But! If you die don't go crying to me!"

Of course she would be able to chase after him and cry if she were dead. Logic.

It took them a while to reach a wooden hut of sorts. It looked quite neat, far nicer that what would one expect in a middle of dangerous and dark forest like this. There was even a nice portion of sunshine. A lot of the forest still reminded Scathach of the dark and moist forests of England. A few palm trees less, smaller trees and a couple degrees colder and she would not want to remain inside the forest a minute longer than she needed.

But Luffy is here. It will be fine.

A loud screeching voice alerted her to someone other than Luffy's grandpa standing near the wooden house. Scathach shuddered a bit when she saw a fat lady with curly orange hair and a cigarette in her mouth. Her voice was like that of a harpy when she yelled at the man. She, the woman stopped when she realized who exactly is standing at the entrance into her hut but Scathach still had a sweat drop go down her face. Is Garp serious?

Seeing that Luffy was standing a bit afar, she started looking around, wondering if there is something interesting. There were loads of bird sounds, as well as a couple she couldn't identify, promising that there are loads of animals in these woods. Some maybe even bigger than normal. Scathach smelled the air for a bit, trying to figure out what is it that was missing but she had to facepalm a second later. It was salt. The smell of it wasn't nearly as strong as down there in village. Mt. Corvus forest was just that thick.

When Scathach heard a yelp that came from between the trees, she quickly turned in the direction and prepared as well as she could, in case something would jump from the dark.

There, on a large mass of something was a familiar face. She saw him only shortly and on one occasion but he was one of the faces that one doesn't forget.

Black messy hair, black eyes, freckles on face, a pipe in hand and that orange shirt. Right now he seemed quite out of it due to seeing Scathach.

"What are YOU doing here?!"

"What? Don't you like me?"

"Course I don't! Who would want to be near you?"

"I am happy with myself."

"Tche! Then you have a sad existence!"

"But I will still be the last one laughing!"

"No I will."

"I will."

"I will!"

"I will be the last one and..."

"SCATHACH! Get over here and show your face to Dadan!"

They stopped their exchange and looked at Garp, then at each other. Ace grinned, believing himself victor and Scathach glared. "Scathach? You have a weird name."

And she attacked.

Scathach held her throbbing cheek and glared at Ace, the boy with whom she fought outside. She did manage to get a hit on him, but she still lost the fight. Did that stop her? No. But that graying man Garp did. If glares could kill, Ace would be dead.

Ace on the other side acted as if she were nothing more than wind. He plainly ignored her.

The fat lady Dadan now spoke to Luffy and to be honest, Scathach did not like the lady one bit. She outright refused to give him proper food, then taunted him with some tasty looking piece of meat. And once she told Luffy that he would not only be their personal slave, but he would also perform 'bulglary, roberry, fraud and murder' she had enough.

"Remember you can't tell Garp what we make you to do! And you girl!"

The darkness that loomed over Scathach silenced the woman. Beaten by Ace or not, her spirit was not broken.

"What is with that look!"

"Shut up, old hag."

"WHAT?" It was a wonder that the screech did not crack the windows. "We accept you here gratefully and you behave like some spoiled... wait, where are you going!"

Both she and Luffy left the wooden house, ignoring the angry yelling. The woman was way too much like the mother of those red heads back in England. At least when it came to looks, she doubted that she had even a smallest bit of mother instincts in her. Her look alike from Englad at least had that. But really, Dadan even had the exact hair color! It was unbelievable!

"Hey, Scathach... I don't like it here..."

"..."

"I know! Let's become friends with Ace!"

"The boy spit at you earlier!" And Ace really did. That was the main reason behind her death glare earlier.

"Nah, that is nothing to get angry about!"

"Hey, there he is! Ace!"

Seeing that Luffy is back in his happy go lucky mode, she sighed and ran after him. If anything, she will get an another chance to punch him.

"OH! Luffy, mind if you go on your own now?"

"Huuh?! Why?"

"I hadn't told Makino that i would be staying here. Need to go back to Foosha and sort some stuff."

"Ah, I get it. Hey, can you get me some candy?"

"You ate loads yesterday!"

"But i want more!"

Scathach sighed yet again. "Just make sure that you are in one piece when i get back."

Before she even completed the sentence, he was sprinting away. Great.

Seeing his retreating back, Scathach had a bad feeling. But Ace wouldn't be so cruel to do something to him, right?

Makino persuaded Scathach to sleep at her place one more time. But the next morning, Scathach was roaring to go. But it still took her a couple of hours to get back to Mt. Corvus and to Dadan's house. The place was... silent. Meaning that Luffy wasn't around.

When Scathach looked over the house, she once again wondered what was going on inside Garp's head. Dadan and her men were mountain bandits. While they did not seem as bad as the ones who tried to kill Luffy, she still felt distaste when she looked at the men that wondered about. A majority of people that would think that placing their descendants with mountain bandits is a good idea should have their brains checked.

When one of the men saw her, his eyes nearly fell out from his sockets. Scathach instantly got a very bad feeling that she couldn't explain. The door opened and out came marching Dadan, who also stared at her with disbelief. Wait... Had Luffy forgotten to tell them where she had gone yesterday?

"You girl! Where were you yesterday?"

He did...

"Well unlike Luffy, i had to tell someone where i have gone to." She is not telling her about the candy in her bag. "He didn't tell you, did he?"

"Course he did not! He never came yesterday!"

...

Silence. Scathach looked at the bandit head as if she saw her for the first time for a couple of seconds, trying to process what she just heard.

"What do you mean he did not come back!?"

"Just as you hear! Now it would be nice if you would get lost as well! You came only because of the brat, right?"

Scathach couldn't believe her ears. This woman. Luffy was the only person she had. When Scathach heard those words, she had to use a lot of her strength not to assault the woman right then and there. Dadan actually flinched and moved back when she saw the glare that the young girl gave her. Right now she had to find Luffy and her energy would be put into a much better use inside this thick forest.

Scathach turned around and marched right into the forest, without saying anything.

Scratched, bleeding and beaten up, Scathach wondered through the forest. The sun had long since hidden behind the tree tops and moon rose up. She did think of going back, resting and then going into the forest again. But then she realized that she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway and that she would ran back into the forest while feeling guilty because Luffy is still somewhere out there. Also one minor detail: She was lost. So, she wouldn't be able to get back anyway.

Worst of all, Scathach had no idea how to survive in the wilderness.

Earlier that day, she just ran into the forest without really thinking that she just might die here herself. And she still had that candy that Luffy asked for...

For hours and hours, she kept going around. The forest seemed even more alive than during day, and at least twice more dangerous. Scathach had never gotten lost in a forest before. Neither she spent a night outside of bed. And she was scared. In the end when she realized that she couldn't go anymore, she climbed a tall, safe looking tree, where she fell asleep even before her face touched the wood.

The next day, she tried to find some berries to eat, or something. She spat out most of what she found. It felt bitter. But bitter in an unusual way. Like it was... poisonous. Even what she ate some other did not exactly feel well.

Great.

"What are you up to?"

Due to her surprise, Scathach dropped the bag of candy... right into marsh with something that looked very much like crocodiles. She turned around and stared at the owner of the voice.

Like a little sunshine, Luffy was just standing there, not looking much better than she did. But he was obviously in a much better mood than she was at the moment, since his grin magically revealed nearly all of his white teeth.

"Luffy?"

"Ya?"

"Where did you come from?"

"From that way." He pointed his finger in some random direction.

Scathach glared at the boy, wondering if she should hug him or punch him, and after a while, she gave him and large hug, squeezing him. He is alive after all. All dirty and bruised but alive. "Huh? Anything wrong?"

"Nope, not at all. Sorry Luff. I dropped your candy just now."

"WHAAAAT? NOOOOOO. My candy..." Seeing his teary eyes, Scathach made a note to stay away from pools of water in the near future. But it was still his fault partly.

"Sorry, Luffy. I'll get you some later."

"Well, you'd better! By the way, what is it that you are doing here?"

...

Right. She needs to get Luffy back to Dadan's, making the old hag go mad with rage will be a bonus. "Better question is, why have you never returned to Dadan's?!"

"Oh.." Luffy looked around, then at her. Then he made his lying face. Had Scathach ever mentioned that he looked like some odd fish when he made that expression? "I.. I don't know."

Scathach face palmed. He is so not telling her. "Well, fine."

He grinned again, then he turned around, ready to sprint away. Scathach wouldn't let that happen this time and grabbed him by his blue shirt. "Wait, Luffy! Do you have any idea how to get back?"

"Huh? Of course not."

"Then why are you running in that direction?"

"Because i have a hunch that it might be that way!"

"Have you been using this hunch of yours lately, while, for example trying to get back?"

"Yeah!"

The sound of her palm colliding with her face could be heard quite far.

"Scathach, you can't eat that!"

"Scathach, you can't eat that either!"

"You know which plants are safe to eat?" Scathach asked, slightly irritated. The sun was going down, again, and she nor Luffy had any idea where they were.

"Of course i do!"

"Huh?"

"Here, see those evil looking purple ones?"

"Yeah?"

"You must never, never eat them!"

Scathach rose one of her eyebrows. Luffy was teaching her? What?

Would Luffy smile a bit more, Scathach was sure that he would be shining. He was probably proud that he knew something that she didn't. The little bugger.

But it was true. Scathach had no idea how to survive in wilds. Now that she looked back, it was really, really foolish to go into the forest like this. She would have died, without even finding this boy, and who knows what Luffy would have done if he found her dead. He was attached to her. A lot.

The worse thing about the entire situation wasn't even the food, but the predators. While Luffy seemingly enjoyed being chased by giant wolves, she was not happy. And there were tons of things: From those large wolves to grumpy giant vultures. Aren't vultures native to places like deserts by any chance? She no longer knew. Nothing gave sense in this world. She was sure that earlier she saw something akin to a jolly green flying bunny.

"Grandpa once threw me into a jungle! But i survived because there was water and thing to eat like mushrooms and snakes and some fruits... i even ate this funny looking thing!"

"Funny looking thing?"

"Yeat, it had..."

"Luffy?"

"Huh?"

"Would you..." This is so embarrassing. So horribly embarrassing. Luffy made a confused expression and clocked his head, while letting out a short 'huh?'. If she were to survive here, later on if she would become a pirate, she needed survival related skills. Realizing that Luffy was doing fine, even though he was lost... to Scathachs' pride it was as if someone just hit it with something very hard. Very, very hard.

But before she becomes a pirate along with Luffy, she really needed some damn skills. "Why is your face all red and puffy?"

"Would you mind teaching me how to survive in a jungle?" Let's just not react to what he said earlier.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah."

Luffy gave her an another large grin, shortly he grabbed the straw hat on his head before sitting down and then he started to talk. By the time he was done, Scathachs' head felt like a beaten balloon from all the information it had do decipher from the younger child's speech.

It took them a few more days to return back to Dadan's, but in that time, Luffy thought her the basics of how to survive in a jungle. They still couldn't face the large animals, but it was a start.

Naturally, Luffy was not a good teacher. But he at least kept her from doing the worst things.

When they had shown up in a middle of night a week later, Dadan's eyen nearly fell out of it's sockets. Priceless look. Scathach will show that old hag. And she will make sure that she will never speak badly of those close to her.

Also, something that should be noticed, something which Scathach wasn't very happy.

Despite of how it originally started, Luffy was still very much hell bent on befriending Ace. That is why, the moment he stepped out from the house the next day, Luffy was on his tail yelling after him something like this: "Where are you going Ace?! Take me with you and let's become friends!"

Seeing Ace's grumpy expression, Scathach added an another mote to her increasing collection: Learn how to fight to be able to punch that jerk. His attitude was horrible!

And so they chased after him.

Ace stood high on a cliff, looked down and frowned. It was only for a second, but Scathach was sure that she had seen hate in his eyes. It made her stop. Why would he hate like that? Not like Luffy did anything to him. Luffy is one of those people that were really, really hard to hate and she herself doesn't recollect doing anything that could have earned that sort of look. Yeah, they fought, but that wasn't something to be that angry about.

Ace brought down that pipe in his hand and cracked the eroded stone underneath him... and caused an avalanche. Scathachs' eyes vent wide and Luffy screamed.

"Ace!" The boy whose name was being called kept walking, ignoring the girl. "Ace, get back here!"

Absolute ignorance. Ace walked into the small room where the 3 kids slept, then loudly shut the door right in front of her face. Scathach gritted her teeth.

When she met Luffy, she never thought that she would become friends with him, and now he is the closest thing she has to a family. When she met Ace, he did not seem that bad. What Scathach learned was that Luffy had a very good nose when it came to people, though one always has to sort out all the gibberish that he spouts all the time and even then reading in between lines is needed. So when Luffy wanted to become Ace's friend, she though fine. Perhaps he is not as bad as he appears to be. But the guy nearly killed them today.

Wait a second. Luffy did not want to tell her how he got lost in the jungle, and he was chasing after the mister 'I hate the world'. Oh, Scathach so knew that she shouldn't have let Luffy chase after him.

Using her bruised hand, she opened the door with a loud bang, only to find the room empty. She glanced at the open window and ran towards it. Ace was outside, she could see his silhouette, despite it being already dark.

In the past couple of days, Scathach fell from loads of high places, got multiple bruises and bled. That is why she was no longer afraid to jump from the window on the second floor and ran after him.

"Go away brat!"

"I will be not going away until you tell me what exactly is wrong with you! You could have killed us today!"

"Hmph, like the world would miss someone like you, screechy voice."

"You wanna hear a screeching voice?"

Ace finally stopped and turned around. "And what is your problem with me?! Why are you here anyway?"

"It's your damn attitude! What was so wrong that we did, that you needed to nearly kill us today? And also, am I right if i think that it was because of you that Luffy got lost?"

"Just keep that bratty kid on a leash and he will be fine."

Keeping Luffy on a leash? No happening. Not possible.

"Hey, don't just turn away!"

Just when he was about to run away, again, she grabbed his shoulder, only for him to flinch and throw the hand down. But he was not getting rid of her that easily. Using her other hand, she grabbed his shirt, preventing him from leaving. "No, you are not going anywhe..." When their eyes met for a moment, she flinched. Well, almost. She now recognized the hate in his eyes.

Ace pushed her away and she fell down. "What is your problem now?! Huh?"

She did not answer, she kept staring down for a moment before she stood up on her feet again. Ace swore. "Bratty kid, go back into the village. Foosha was it? Take that brat too. Nobody wants you and him around, so you might just get lost. You are not even good enough for this place. You will die sooner or later anyway."

Scathach looked at him, up and down as if she saw him for the first time, this time her look unnerved the older boy, but that soon turned into irritation which became reflected in his tone. "What is with that look? Have you hit yourself that hard?"

How could the damned Ace have the same look as she wore so often when she lived in England?

The Potters... the entire wizard thing. Not only they were a patriarchal society, but the stronger magic the better. She who had been born not only as a near squib according to tests done, but also as a female had little future in that society. She wasn't even suitable as a 'brood mare' according so some people outside from the Potters. Most families suggested that they should just get rid of her, it was commonly done to squibs. One of those inbred kids knew loads of details how it was done and was more than happy to tell her.

Scathach believed that her family loved her back then, but with how they always turned away it was sometimes hard to believe that. 'They are your parents. Of course they love you. Potters stand together.' She kept telling herself for hours. But when she looked into mirror, she saw the same kind of eyes that Ace now had. And when she had them she could only think of how she hated everything because nobody accepted her existence.

Should she tell him?

"Stop looking at me like that, you little brat!"

There is no way that he would listen to her anyway.

"First you chase after me and now you just stand here! What is wrong with you?!"

"Ace?"

"What?!"

"I don't know where are you going but take care. Next time please don't try to kill us."

She then turned around and simply walked away. Ace just stared at the spot where she had been standing a second ago, this time really not knowing what to think. Her voice was much softer when she spoke the last sentence.

Day after day passed. Those days soon became weeks, then months. Ace still did not like it when the two of them chased after him, and they did so every day. Dadan protested, they chased after Ace, the bandits chased after them. Then they angered some wild animal. Ace still chose the most dangerous paths to take to shake them off.

Scathach especially 'liked' the one with the giant snakes. She disliked snakes. She did not know exactly why but she did.

Day bay day, Scathach felt her body become stronger and faster. Both she and Luffy were learning how to deal with the most dangerous fauna and flora in the forest.

Nope, Ace did not listen to her when she asked him not kill them. But after some times, the frightened screams of the two of them turned into laughter as the path that Ace chose became something akin to an obstacle course. Slowly, it became fun. Even Scathachs' senses sharpened. Dunno about Luffy though.

Nobody knows what is happening in his head.

And at times, Scathach really did not want to know.

But so far, trusting Luffy when it came to Ace was not that bad. To be honest, Scathach would want to become friends with him. She had Luffy, it it was not really possible to hold a more intelligent conversation with him. Luffy is like a little brother that needs someone to watch him.

And who knows? Maybe if she and Luffy became friends, he won't be that big of a jerk anymore.

Three months later after their arrival to Mt Corvus, Luffy and Scathach managed to reach the end of forest. Not the end of forest on the same side as Foosha, but on the other, where there was no nice and comfortable path.

The first thing that assaulted her senses was the horrid smell. Imagine the 10 most horrible smelling things you know, then mix it together and then add some more. Scathach made a note not to complain and the occasional horrible smell at Dadan's place. It was nothing compared to this. She was even a bit surprised that the local flora was still so vividly green, prospering even.

Luffy let out a whining sound, but when the boy saw the light there, he threw away his stick and ran towards the edge. Scathach followed after him. Due to the amount of light, she had to cover her eyes for a second, but when they adjusted, she finally got a good look.

To be honest, Scathach never thought that there were so many shades of gray. She once had heard something about 'fifty shades of gray', something that sounded more like a joke but this place certainly had more that fifty.

A scrapyard. The thrown away, forgotten things piled upon more old things, creating the horrible smelling air. Through and around it walked people, odd people, sort of she would have never thought approaching a while ago, all dirty, some tired, some beaten up. An old man with a strange had coughed, some guys began fighting over something in distance.

Over the time Scathach spent in forest, she got somehow used to danger, so she would not shy from entering this place...

Luffy is gone, isn't he? Scathach really did not have to glance to her side where Luffy was meant to stand. She sighed and exited the forest. She is going to find him, and hopefully keep him out of trouble.

She jumped down and skidded a bit on the dirt, until her feet touched the rubbish. On one of the sides was a tall white wall, behind it was probably the Goa Kingdom she had heard about from time to time.

Full of nobles and stuff. There were a couple of thugs behind the walls, Dadan said once, but it was mostly nobles.

And so she began to wander.

Even years later, she would say that this scrapyard, Gray Terminal was one of the saddest places on Earth. Still, it was better than the 'Noble Circles'.

There were loads of thugs, yes, but there were also many sad faces. People who had nowhere else to go, people who were kicked out, simply because the did not fit in, not because they did something bad. Who knows how many people were there just because they existed. Similar to her. She would stop to listen to some stories, but she had to find Luffy. Still... It reminded her of how lucky she is, in a way. Her situation is not the best but not this bad either.

While the nobles acted all nice and pretty, now that she looked back, there was some really disgusting dirt under all those sparkles and colors. She was way too little to see or understand it back then. Who knows what more there was? After all, she was not on so many parties or in places where people met.

"Luffy! Luffy, where are you?!"

She returned to the edge of Mt. Corvus forest, to see from a higher spot, also to see if he hadn't come back. Nothing.

Well, she saw Ace. The boy was running swiftly across the faded junk, with his pipe in hand and a quite large bag of something on his back. The sound it made sounded suspiciously like coins. "Hey, Ace!"

Ace stopped and looked up at her... and his mouth fell open. He recovered quickly though and growled at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Chasing after you and Luffy. What else do you think?"

"That brat is here too?!"

"More like somewhere around, lost sight of him when we saw this place. Have you seen him?"

"No, and i hope that I won't. Bye."

So much for a pleasant conversation. Scathach sighed yet again and watched Ace's retreating back for a moment before she turned around and walked into the scrapyard again.

It was about 2 hours later that she had heard a rumor about something happening inside one of the shacks that were just about to fall apart. This one was a bit more luxurious than most buildings around but it still looked as if a gentle wind would knock it down. She assumed that it was one of the locals that got into a fight with some thugs, and now they were 'teaching' him the right 'manners'.

She did not have to be here for long to understand that the only laws around were created by the ones with weapons in hand, aka by pirates. Earlier she stopped so that she could listen to a gray old man, who said to have spent most of his life in this place. The man said that the pirate crew of Bluejam had most power around right now. This meant a death sentence to anyone brave enough to stand against the 'law makers'.

After some dirty man attacked her, she found herself something to beat up anyone else that would try the same. A pipe like the one that Ace carries would be good... it really did not take long to find one. The next man that came close babbled something about 'human market'. It did not end well for him.

So not easy being a girl these days.

Sigh.

About an hour later, she came close to that hut with Bluejam pirates, and the moment she had heard the voice of a boy coming from inside, she knew it's owner. It was Luffy's. The realization made her freeze. How long... how long was he already in there? She clutched the pipe on her hand. Pirates or not, they are beating Luffy. And they are going to pay.

Hearing Luffy's creams, put her as if into some strange trans. Before she knew, wood was flying everywhere around her, men screamed in surprise, some cowered themselves in corners, though when they realized how small the enemy was... they almost laughed with relief. Almost. Scathach did not know what exactly was with her but she couldn't care less. She had an idiot to save.

She attacked the first guy and swiftly knocked him out. These guys were slow in comparison to things in forest! Then she closed on the second one, with her strike, she send him flying towards a wall. That makes two. The third one closed in and attacked from behind but she was already behind him when his sword touched the ground, with a kick, he was sent flying as well.

The tip of the pipe touched the ground gently as she held it in her hands, deadly cold red eyes pierced the last guy. Whoever of whatever he was, he was huge, his skin color was odd... suggesting that he might not be entirely human, or not a human at all. Shanks once spoke of fishmen. Was this guy a fishman?

She was brought out of her musings when she registered two things: There were light green lines, zig zagging on her arms, likely on her legs too... just as well as on the pipe. The second thing that she registered were the two young voices from behind her. One clearly belonged to Ace, whose was the second one?

Two boys stood by her, but that was the last thing she registered before the pipe on her hand cracked. Then she knew no more.

"I don't like spoiled kids like you..."

"I am not spoiled! I am strong!"

"Strong? You are not strong at all! You cry like a little girl! Have you ever gotten hit by that spiky thing? When i get older, your age, I will stop crying! And i will be stronger!"

"I wouldn't cry even if i were your age! I am not like you! Idiot!"

Someone please tell those two to shut up.

"When i grow up, i will be stronger than anyone! I will be a pirate!"

"You? A pirate?! Don't make me laugh!"

And Scathach had enough. She rose up and made herself known: "WILL YOU TWO CLOSE YOUR MOUTHS, PLEASE?!"

The two jumped away and looked in her direction. Ace and Luffy. Since when do the two of them talk? A horrible headache stopped her thoughts and she was forced to grab her head. A couple images flooded her mind. Some were surely from the time before she ended up... here, wherever she was. The faces of those thugs that were beating Luffy. Oh how much she hated them.

A couple more she did not recognize, therefore she couldn't place them. Regardless, the headache stopped, making her realize how much the rest of her body hurt. Ouch. Almost as if she was working out the entire day and more and with the heaviest weights in universe.

Hoping to ignore to pain, she opened her eyes, only to find all of the boys looking at her. Though, Ace and Luffy seemed ready for an another argument. And of course... she did not even have the time to look at her surroundings when they began to fight. "Hay, are you alright?"

To her side stood... who is this?

"Oh, right. Hello, I am Sabo. We had to carry you out of there... and we brought you here."

"Erm, thank you."

This Sabo looked nothing like Ace and Luffy. While the two of them could pass as cousins, Sabo had a bit more... sane spark in his eyes. Short blond curly hair, round face like every kid, black eyes and this black and blue outfit that once surely used to look very good on some noble guy, plus a hat on his head. When he spoke, he revealed a single missing tooth.

"I... I am Scathach."

"Scathach? Huh, Ace spoke about you."

"That he did not like me?"

"Something like that."

Scathach began to massage her temples between sending glares towards the arguing duo. The newly introduced boy did not seem happy either.

"We are going to hear that a lot in the near future, don't we."

"..."

"..."

The sole blond around crossed his arms. His slightly irritated expression answered the girl's question perfectly. Well, whatever. Let them argue. At least Luffy and the rest are safe. Judging by how many bandages Ace and Sabo had, they bot got into a fight with the pirates, and since Scathach and Luffy are here, it means that they won. Right now, they were back in the forest and the sky was already dark. Just how for long was she out?

"Alright, that is enough."

Ace and Luffy growled at each other after Sabo separated them, but luckily nothing dangerous. Well, that dangerous.

"Listen guys, I find myself in a bit of a problem."

"Huh? What problem?" Luffy finally calmed down, and was not looking at Sabo with interest, as well as a bit of worry.

"The thing is, the Bluejam with surely try to kill us after this incident, right?"

"Well, i think so.."

"This forest that i have been living in is too close to where they are, and they aren't hesitant to attack someone in his sleep...so."

"You will die."

"Yup, you will certainly die."

Scathach sweat-dropped. Those two, Ace and Luffy must be somehow related. How come she did not mention it sooner? Still better than fighting or Ace trying to murder them horribly.

"Yeah... That is why i need your help."

"You need a place to stay at?"

"Yeah... Ace you said that Dadan's hut is closer to other side of forest."

"You wanna come and live with the worthless hag?"

Ace looked at him for a while but agreed. "Just a bit of warning, the worthless hag is really worthless."

Luffy just smiled brightly, happy to have one more friend around. Nothing to discuss there.

Scathach agreed too. "Just look out for her shrill voice. She is a harpy when angry... and she is angry a lot around us."

Sabo laughed, Scathach did not need to know him well to see that he was relieved.

Unfortunately, Scathach was in no condition to walk. That is why, Ace said that he would do it, she had to be carried back. He grumbled a bit, but at leas he did not drop her into some crocodile pit on the way back...

When Dadan marched into the room next morning, Scathach though that she was really going to assault the woman.

Her head hurt, damn it!

Though the old hags face that she saw when Scathach cracked one of her eyes open... It was priceless. A large portion of the bandits stood behind her, including the white pooch that lived here for some reason or other.

"One, two, three..."

"One, two, three..."

Had she forgotten what number goes after three?

"One, two, three..."

She did. Or she is just having a shock of her life due to finding an extra kid in her humble house. She bets it's the first option.

"Ace, Luffy, Scathach...huh?"

And again, and again. The expression got possibly even funnier, forcing her to turn on her belly and cover her head with the thin cover available to them.

So when Sabo fully woke up and introduced himself and called Dadan a manly worthless hag with a smile on his face (and a couple of farts), she couldn't help herself. To displeasure of others, her shaking with suppressed laughter woke up the rest. And so after some more swearing, the four kids ran out from the house, completely ignoring the angry bandit head.

"Oh!" Sabo turned around. Luffy crashed into him. Wonder if he registered it... "Hey, Dadan! I have forgotten, Bluejam might show up around here!"

All of the bandits paled considerably while their eyes bulged out. Hehe... not even her group dares to stand against the Bluejam pirates. What a mess they have gotten themselves to. "We beat up a couple of them yesterday and stole some money! Bye!"

Their mouths hit the floor, clearly astonished with how brave they were... and stupid. Well... they can always hide in this forest in case something happens. The four of them. Scathach doubted that there isn't a place Ace and Sabo haven't been to around here.

Anyway, overally a great morning. She has got new friends! And Sabo even looks as if she could have an actual intelligent conversation with him. Luffy is cool. But she really missed someone normal to talk with.

Wow, this took forever. But here it is. Was originaly going to end at a later point but i have decided that it would be the best if it ended here. By the way, i have never really mentioned but Dadan was seriously mean in the show... some things she said when she began taking 'care' of Luffy were really horrible. Never really mentioned before i rewatched the episode a couple of times this week. Ace was also a jerk. Who throws a small kid like Luffy into a deep ravine? Most people would die.

Ok, got that out of my system. Now... The four are starting to become friends, Sacthach messed up her reinforcement and blew her pipe but she learned how to fight and survive in wild. She revealed a bit more about her past... I will not go about her past forever, but i want it sorted before she sets out on sea.

Feel so tired right now. Finished this thing yesterday but waited for the next morning then re-read this chapter to see if there are any mistakes or to see if some parts could be writted better.

I kept running around, trying to figure out how to write things without repeating all that happened in the show. That would be too boring, and I myself would rather go and watch the anime.

Sorry, there won't be an omake this time. Have a nice day.