Enjoy:)

With an open mouth, Usopp stares at the complete stranger that just so happily walked into Makino's bar. The boy doesn't look a day older than himself and has seated himself on the empty stool between Sanji and Franky, clearly not having a care in the world. It doesn't look like he really gives a damn about the fact that he is the only stranger in here and is leaning over the counter, looking around for someone to give him... meat?

Brook, almost carefully, walks up to him and asks, "Good evening, or should I say good night? Meat, you say? You could smell that from outside?"

The boy snickers and eagerly nods, his mouth almost looking like it's watering, "Of course I could, with a smell as strong as that. Do you still have it? I'm very hungry at the moment!"

Usopp takes the moment to examine the strange kid, who doesn't shy away from staring directly into Brook's very confused eyes. The one thing that immediately stands out is the big straw hat, firmly planted on top of his messy black hair. The hair has mud in it, indicating that he might have been in the forest. He is wearing a dark red cloak, with a hood bouncing on his back. The cloak is kept in place on top with a button. Usopp doesn't have a great view on what else the boy wears but from what it seems he has on short blue trousers, with old-looking sandals on his feet.

He looks rather odd overall and the way he just barged in, demanding food, doesn't make it any better.

Usopp shares a look with Zoro, who has one raised eyebrow directed at the stranger. He has halted his drinking game for a moment but continues anyway after Brook leaves to actually get some meat for the hungry guest. Sanji is looking him up and down, with a very skeptical look on his face, not sure what to make out of him at all. Robin is looking at him in mere curiosity, as is Franky.

Nami, on the other hand, tilts her head to the side before clearing her throat to speak up (much to Usopp's dismay), "Hello, sir! I don't believe I've seen you around here, what brings you to our town?"

Usopp shots up, looking at Nami with big eyes that just scream 'what the fuck did you just do' but she really couldn't care any less and gives her best smile to the stranger, who has managed to attract the attention of everyone in the bar. Even from Marco, who is known to not be the one to judge people. He leaves them be, doesn't mind them at all. Thatch, however, seems to be looking the boy over as well with a very curious look in his eyes. Izo notices it and pulls him back, but can't help to stare for a good minute as well.

The boy looks at Nami, his head turning with the speed of lighting. He slightly tilts his head like a lost puppy before answering, "I smelt food. So I followed the scent. Now I'm here." He looks around the bar, as if testing whether or not he said something stupid. When he notices all eyes are directed at him, his cheeks turn red though he easily keeps his posture before turning back. The boy tugs his straw hat, coughing afterwards.

Usopp stares at him, not sure what the make of this whole little show. Nami doesn't know either and grins uneasy, answering the boy, "Oh. Really? That's it?"

"Why, is it not a good answer?" the boy asks suddenly very concerned sounding. Nami immediately shakes her head, noticing how uneasy she makes the boy and exclaims, "That's not what I'm saying at all! Don't worry, you've, eh, you've answered my question."

"Okay! Good." the boy answers, the gummy smile back on his face. Nami sends Usopp a helpless glance but Usopp just shrugs, not knowing what to do either. However, he is always the one to break the ice when it comes to new people so it's no surprise that all of his friends are now looking at him, clearly expecting him to say something. Sanji wildly points at the boy, biting his lip as he goes. Zoro goes as far as to give him a push in the back, nearly pushing him off his stool.

Usopp loses his balance but before he falls down, an arm appears out of nowhere and he gets pulled back on the stool, with a dazed expression. He flutters his eyes, shooting one death glare into Zoro's direction, and finds that the stranger is holding his shirt. Usopp looks down and up again, at least three times, before the boy gets the message. He is quick with letting go but Usopp seizes the chance to start a proper conversation.

Unlike what Nami just tried to do.

He can feel practically the whole bar staring at him, so quiet that you could hear a pin fall down. He loudly clears his throat and says, "Thank you... kid. My awful friend nearly killed me just now."

"Oi-"

The boy snickers and puts both his hands on the counter, saying in a cheerful voice, "That would have been bad, wouldn't it? And I'm not a kid, you know. I'm almost seventeen."

'Seventeen?' Usopp thinks before giving the boy a surprised look.

"Then I was right with thinking you're about my age. Congratulations, you're the same age as the greatest warrior in town!" Usopp says, pushing his chest out. Sanji rolls his eyes, making sure that Usopp can see it, and points out, "Greatest warrior, my ass. Greatest coward is more like it."

The boy once again tilts his head to the side, crossing his arms, "Why? Are you afraid of everything? Shishi, don't worry. There is nothing to be scared of in this world." The boy looks down, mumbling a small 'nothing' to himself. Usopp is once again at a loss of what to do. The conversation was starting to go somewhere and now he acts weird again.

What is with this guy?

Usopp clears his head space and makes himself smile again, asking, "I'm sure there is enough to be scared of. Anyway, enough about me. Where are you from? You're not from around here, are you?"

The boy opens his mouth to answer but then Brook puts a whole plate of meat in front of him and a loud 'ooh!' escapes the boy's lips before he almost dives on top of the meat. He wastes no time in being proper as he grabs the first piece of meat to rip off it's flesh like some wild animal. In no time, the first piece is gone and he starts his second.

With an open mouth, Usopp and his friends stare at the still nameless boy. Robin can't help but smile a little, which she always does, and she leans on one hand to stare at the wild guy. Franky has one eyebrow raised, just about to drink another bottle of cola but having stopped once the boy went crazy at the sight of meat.

Sanji looks disgusted in the least, looking directly down on the plate next to him. Being a chef meant that he learnt all the proper manners and etiquettes that are part of the whole eating process and this certainly doesn't fit those descriptions.

Usopp can almost hear him thinking how disrespectful this kid is being with his food.

Zoro, always the least one of all to ever show some sort of emotion, is looking at him in surprise, also having one eyebrow raised. His mouth is slightly open, his hand loosely around another can of beer. Usopp himself is leaning forward with a mixture of curiosity and shock, never having seen someone eat so eagerly as this boy.

Brook, who is still standing in front of him, can't stop himself from laughing and speaks up, "My boy, what an apatite you have. I would almost think you haven't eaten in months."

Usopp turns pale all of a sudden. What if that is indeed the case? It all makes sense then! This boy, all alone, has lost his family and is now aimlessly looking around for a place to call home. He has been homeless for two months at least, hasn't been washed and hasn't eaten a full meal in those two months.

It's all so clear to Usopp now and he suddenly feels beyond guilty. He can't help but sigh, directing some of the attention towards him. He crosses his arms and looks up, biting his lip before saying, "Brook, you just hit the hammer on the nail. I just figured it all out! Poor man, don't say anything, you don't need to explain. My heart and soul are with you. Eat all you want!"

"Usopp, what the fuck are you talking about?!" Sanji hisses, looking away when the boy's head whips up and with a mouth filled with food he speaks up, raising a fist up in the air, "Twank ywou, swir!"

Usopp raises a hand into Sanji's direction, successfully making Sanji glare at him.

"You uneducated swines would have never understood this guy without me around." Usopp says and shrieks when Sanji gets up to hit him before exclaiming, "Don't tall shit already, oi! Just what's going on with you all of a sudden? You figured what out?!"

"Did our dear Usopp find out the mystery that is the stranger?" Robin, always the one to stay calm, asks with a sweet smile. Usopp immediately nods and continues, his voice dropping an octave, "There's no denying it. This boy must have lost everything he ever owned and has been homeless ever since. Starving, alone. It's clear as day."

"Eh?" Nami squeaks in a high pitched voice. She immediately turns around to the boy next to Sanji, looking at him with widened and then skeptic eyes, moving them back up to Usopp. He looks hella proud of himself but Zoro breaks it off, his rough voice cutting through the air, "How are you so sure, detective long-nose?"

Usopp looks offended about both the name and the distrust in him. He gapes at Zoro in disbelief before sputtering, wildly pointing towards the nameless guy, "How?! Look at him! Doesn't that scream homeless?"

Zoro spares the guy a glance and shrugs, grabbing his beer as he fires back, "All I can see is someone whose stomach couldn't wait much longer. Don't make assumptions about things you don't know anything about."

"He doesn't let much out anyway." Usopp mutters, his pride gone with the wind. He looks at the boy, who is staring back at him with eyes that want to say something. His mouth is still filled with food though and after digesting it all, the boy pouts and says, "Ooi, what are you talking about? I always eat like this, isn't that what humans do?"

"No! Not like that! What are you, a wild man?! Didn't anyone ever teach you manners?!" Sanji suddenly explodes, giving the boy a very exasperate glare. Nami is quick with slamming her hand against his chest as she snaps, "Sanji! You can't talk to strangers like that!" Usopp has to agree with her, pale as a sheet.

'Well shit, Sanji. You just ruined everything', is all what's going through Usopp's blank mind at the moment. Zoro is giving Sanji a 'what-the-fuck' glare and shakes his head in annoyance.

The boy looks up at Sanji with confused eyes, gaping at him like a fish on dry land. He looks around him, his mouth still open, and turns back to Sanji, who is still standing, despite Nami's efforts.

"I-it's not?" the boy stutters, suddenly looking lost. He is staring at Sanji with the eyes of a scared ten-year-old, probably wondering what he did wrong. Usopp wants to slam his head against the counter, groaning on the inside. Sanji's anger simmers down and he suddenly looks a little guilty. Not enough to back down from his statement, but enough to at least be manly enough to ask, "Sir? I probably shouldn't have said that, even though it's true- "SANJI!" - but I guess I should say sorry?"

He turns to look at Robin, as if mentally asking her if that's the right thing. Usopp facepalms but before he can make a sound, it's Robin who speaks up this time.

"Don't mind our friend too much, stranger-san. He's a chef, he takes food-related business very serious. Your eating manner was just fine."

"'Stranger-san', Robin don't call him that." Nami groans and Franky laughs in return, exclaiming in his usual loud voice, "Oi, let's not be so down people! Here, the next round is on me! Meat-boy, can you handle alcohol well?"

Meat-boy seems surprised with the nickname and says, already reaching for the next piece of meat like Sanji hadn't just exploded at him, "Alcohol? I don't know, they always take it away from me whenever I'm handed that stuff. And I'm not stranger-san or meat-boy. Those are weird names. Though, are those names common in the human- this village?" He is quick with correcting himself, Usopp notices. He pretends he doesn't and answers, "Of course they're not, those are not fucking names."

"Oh. Well, my name is Luffy. So call me Luffy." the boy says with a big grin on his face, taking another big bite into the fresh flesh, now not minding Sanji's cringing on the side. Usopp smiles, slowly nodding. Luffy. That's an interesting name but Usopp can work with it.

"Brook! Two more beer for me and our new friend Luffy over here!"

"But-"

"Two more beer!"

"I fucking swear, if that boy got caught by some lunatic bear, I will kill both the bear and him!"

Sabo sighs, about to tune out all of Ace's rants. They have been going on ever since the two set foot into the dark and cold forest again and Ace hasn't stopped once. He keeps muttering and cursing about Luffy being an 'irresponsible little shit who needs constant babysitting even though he claims he doesn't'. It's the same old story again. Luffy always complains about being treated like a little kid even though he is already sixteen. He can handle things on his own, he claims. Roger doesn't think so, his mother is just being careful with him. Ace knows Luffy is a very capable wolf when it's needed, but when the boy is in one of his reckless moods, their little brother is unpredictable.

"Ace, I'm going to stuff a dead rabbit in your mouth if you don't shut up now. Whining is not going to help finding Luffy. And if we don't hurry this up, mom and dad are going to suspect something and that's the last thing I want for today." Sabo growls, directing it at his brother. Ace licks his lips in annoyance but has no other choice than to agree with him.

"Fine, but only because I don't want another one of dad's irritating scoldings. That crazy bastard always acts like we're grown up enough to go hunting but once things don't go as he pleases, we're all five again. Spare me that torture."

Sabo grins, "Good, then we agree on something. Now, where could Luffy possibly have gone?" He moves his nose up in the air, trying to catch Luffy's smell. The brothers share a scent, coming from the same family, but there is something distinct in all three that only they and their parents can smell. Or are able to set apart. They spend so much time together that it'd be difficult not to catch the tiny differences in them.

Ace is doing the same thing, letting his nose slide over the leaves and grass. Whenever he hears something coming their way or just the mere cracking of leaves, his ears stand up. If it's nearby, he moves his whole head up but he wants to keep his attention on the smell rather than making guesses about every creature.

He sniffs his way slowly through the forest, following Sabo as well, who is on the other side of the path they're following.

As they progress further into the forest and further away from the cave, Sabo starts to feel strange. Shouldn't they have caught onto his scent by now? He stops walking and looks up, calling out to Ace, "Ace! Don't you think we're starting to wander off too much? We're almost out of our domain."

Ace comes to a halt as well and moves his head down, frowning afterwards. He looks around him and only now realizes how far from home they are. There is no denying that they'll find their way back, but there is a big chance that Luffy is somewhere around here too and Ace is not so sure at all about him.

"But we've checked all around the cave and there is no scent that belongs to Lu." Ace says, walking back to where Sabo is. He looks around him and continues, once he is close enough to his twin brother, "He has to be here, there is no other way. Where else could he have went off too?"

Sabo looks troubled, not wanting to say what's on his mind. He licks his teeth, slowly as he is thinking hard about any other outcome. Sabo releases a loud sigh and says, moving his eyes up to his by now worried-looking brother, "We're too far from the cave, which can only mean that we're too close to the human village. I can't see it yet but if we keep moving forward we must run into it in no time."

Ace squints his yellow eyes at him, not saying anything for a moment. Sabo stares back him, his eyes not once deceiving him. Ace's grow wide the very second he gets what Sabo is thinking about and he wastes no time in shaking his wild fur, hissing, "He wouldn't. Damn it, Sabo. He wouldn't."

"He would and we both know it! That kid has been interested in those... humans ever since the day he was born. Ace, I don't want this to be true but my guts are telling me that it is. We have to get that little idiot back before anyone notices a single thing! What if mom and dad find out?!"

"Then we're in deep shit." Ace cuts Sabo's worried ranting short and looks pissed as hell, fully aware that Sabo is right about it. Luffy has always been fascinated by the creatures that kill werewolves once they see one. Ace doesn't understand it. Humans kill their kind because they look down on them, because they think they're the monsters and not them. Humans have hurt their pack, their family, in more ways than Ace thought was possible. They have hurt him and there isn't a single thing in the world that Ace can think of that he hates more.

Why did he have to get a little brother who has a sickening obsession with wanting to see the humans? The little idiot is aware of their hunting and Ace knows he is scared of them, especially because of what happened when Ace got captured. They grow up on the creepy stories and warnings about humans. It's in their nature to be scared of them. It's also in Luffy's nature but he also wants to observe the humans, from a distance. Their parents have strictly forbidden him to get anywhere near the lights and they tell him every day again. Ace and Sabo had heard the same speech when they were young but they got the message from day one.

Luffy didn't.

And very clearly, still doesn't.

"The little shit. Fuck, fuck all of this." Ace all but growls, baring his teeth at Sabo. Sabo isn't scared of it but backs away a little, calling out, "Ace."

"I fucking know. We have to get him back before anything serious happens. Or save him if this 'anything' already happened. Let's go and get this over with. Just so you know," Ace runs ahead and throws a look over his shoulder to finish his sentence, "I will beat the crap out of any human who touched our little brother."

Sabo doesn't have it in him to smile at that and also bares his teeth, sharing the feeling with Ace. He dashes after the older one and starts to feel more anxious the closer they get to the village.

It doesn't take long for bright lights to appear between the leaves and both brothers immediately slow down their running until the point they aren't moving. Ace pants a little and glares at the homes, not bothering to hide his disgust. Sabo remains his posture and straightens his back in an attempt to get rid of the growing anxiety that he is feeling. He has never been near the village in his life and he doesn't know how Shanks and Benn do it every time. Just looking at it makes him feel scared, which Sabo hates. He shouldn't be scared, he is way stronger than any human he will ever encounter. He should feel anxious about the fact that they're so close when it's forbidden for any werewolf under the age of twenty to be nearby.

But even the grown-ups feel uneasy with the thought of entering a human village, even in their human form. The fear of being caught is luring from the dark, ready to jump out at any second.

The two turn into their human form and press against their hats, hiding the ears even in the safe darkness of the forest. They sneak closer and jump behind a tree, peeking around it to make sure there is no one around.

Ace and Sabo share a look and nod. As casual as possible, they step out of the forest and into the village. The uneasy feeling does not go away and Sabo already regrets being here. The thought of Luffy being here doesn't help and he just wants their little brother out of here as soon as possible. Ace shares the same thought and hisses like an angry pup, "You take that way, I'll go that way. Once we find Luffy, we're out of here. Whether I find him or you, we have to make sure not to leave anyone behind."

Sabo nods and adds to it, glaring around him, "I don't need to ask you not to interact with any humans, right? Just follow Luffy's scent and we'll be find."

"You don't need to repeat." Ace mutters and gives Sabo one last glance, mentally telling him to be careful, and takes off. He keeps one hand on the cowboy hat and the other in the pocket of his baggy shorts, trying to act as natural as possible. Sabo soon follows his lead, going into the other direction.

Ace curses all the gods in the world for this. He thought it'd be easy to find Luffy's scent but the whole village reeks of alcohol and scents that belong to humans. He is happy that the streets are near empty but he hates having to walk here. The lights are bright, even at homes that appear to be empty. The houses are big and he can make out stores here and there. There is a lost dog tied up to a pole near a home, that starts barking at the sight of Ace.

Ace's eyes turn wide and he rushes up to the dog, looking straight into it's eyes to let it know who's boss. The dog soon whimpers and Ace smirks before getting up to turn around and look for Luffy. However, the sound of a door opening makes him freeze right on the spot and he doesn't have it in him to turn around and face whoever just walked out.

"Well, good evening, sir. I'm sorry to say that business for today is closed but is there anything else I can help you with?"

He now curses all the gods and whatever holy creature exists elsewhere.

He can't talk to humans, he can't. So he does the only logical thing one does in a situation like this.

Ace runs away with his werewolf speed, not even caring enough to throw a look over his shoulder to see what the human looks like. He had an old voice, yet sounded like he was high on the energy of a youngster. Ace shakes his head, getting rid of the thought about it.

Once he finds Luffy, he will drag his wolf ass back home and make sure that he'll finally understand not to set foot into a human village, ever again.

Ace runs around, aimlessly, until suddenly a scent meets his trained nose. A scent that he could recognize from a mile away. It is very strong, as if Luffy is right next to him. And when he hears that laugh that always makes his day slightly better, he knows he found him.

He whips his head to the side and finds himself standing in front of an odd looking place. He puts both hands into the pockets of his shorts and stares up at the sign. It appears to be a bar. Ace growls. Why isn't he surprised? His mother did say Luffy was hungry. The little shit followed his nose and ended up smelling food from the humans.

Leave it to Luffy to go to a human village because the boy is hungry.

Ace's face darkens and he pushes the cowboy hat down to the point that you can't see the features on his face anymore. He steps forward and without any hesitation or thinking about possible consequences, he slams the two swing doors open, letting the wood smash against the wall behind it.

It draws immediate attention. The whole bar moves their eyes up at him, the festive mood down in less than a second. Ace hates all the eyes on him, hates the scent of humans so close to him but there is no way out of here now. He glares up, making sure that the hat covers most of face, and right away he notices the odd figure in the middle of the bar, who also happens to be the only one who isn't staring at him. He is chewing away on what smells like meat and Ace doesn't need any more conformation.

He strides forward with his long legs, ignoring all the burning stares, and reaches out for Luffy once he is near enough. He wraps his arm around Luffy's neck, finally making his brother snap his head up at him. At the sight of Ace, Luffy's face lights up but soon turns into a pout when he sees the deathly scowl that is resting on his brother's face.

"Ac-" Luffy starts but Ace covers his lips with his hand, his claws almost coming out as a result of his anger and frustration. He throws a look over Luffy's shoulder, his eyes meeting with a blond-haired human. The man has got a cigarette between his lips and is staring back at him with narrowed eyes. Ace sneers and wastes no more time. He all but drags Luffy from his stool, not giving a damn about all the meat that falls out of Luffy's hands and on the ground. It almost echoes because of the quietness in the bar and Ace's footsteps sound three times as loud as they're supposed to sound. His heavy boots don't help much.

Luffy starts struggling, no doubt about the meat, but realizing that Ace is never going to let him go, he stops moving a little and calls out, as soon as he is able to remove his brother's tight fingers, "The meat was good, afro-dude! Bye!" Ace feels his blood pressure go up and slams his hand over Luffy's mouth right away, getting more aggravated by the second.

With sheer force he kicks open the swing doors again and steps outside, dragging Luffy behind him. He doesn't turn back to see the damage he's left behind and looks around him, praying that Sabo is somewhat close. Luffy seems to understand the trouble he is in and has stopped struggling against his older brother. He is almost completely still and is looking down at the ground. Ace doesn't say anything either, too scared he'll shout something at Luffy that he's going to regret later on.

He takes Luffy away from the bar and as soon as the two are in the safe darkness of a nearby alley, Ace finally lets go of Luffy's mouth. He keeps his brother close to him though and peeks around the corner of the house. Luffy shuffles around with his feet, uneasy. He clears his throat and looks up at his brother.

"Ace? I know I shouldn't have gone here, I do. But-"

"Do not start this with me now. I'm so fucking angry at you right now but until Sabo is here, this conversation is over."

Luffy looks down, uncharacteristically quiet. Ace has been angry with him before, plenty of times. Most of the time he can bail himself out with jokes and laughing at his brother's constant worrying. But those times he caused innocent trouble, like knocking over all of Kureha's bottles or breaking a leg because he wanted to catch a bird high up. Luffy is a carefree wolf, sees the positive side in everything.

Right now, he can't make himself laugh at his brother. Ace is not just angry, the man is furious. He's not even willing to talk to him or scold him. That says enough.

Ace lets out a sigh and turns around to look at his brother, who is watching his toes wiggle up and down. He has every single right to be pissed at Luffy but that doesn't mean he likes seeing his brother like that. It's unlike him and most certainly doesn't suit him either. He groans. Why wasn't it Sabo who found him? He knows exactly how to deal with situations like this.

"Ace! What the hell are you doing here?! We have to find Luffy and – Luffy!"

Ace looks up, so fast that he can feel his neck starting to hurt, and finds Sabo standing there. Just like Ace, his face is shadowed by his top hat but he looks every bit of anxious. The blonde runs up to Luffy and throws his hand on his shoulder, hissing, "You! What the hell were you thinking?!"

Luffy bites on his lip and mutters, "'m sorry.."

"Sorry is not going to cut it this time." Sabo is quick with answering back and snaps his head up at Ace, who asks with a frown on his face, "Where the hell have you gone?"

"Does it really matter? We have to go. Now."

Ace doesn't answer and grabs Luffy again, running after Sabo into the opposite direction. Sabo leads the way as the three brothers make a run for the forest, that is luckily very close to the bar. Ace first lets his younger brothers get into the forest before snarling towards the village and going after them.

Once they're into the shadows of the trees, they turn into their wolf form and run back towards the cave. It's not surprising that Sabo remembers the way and soon, the three find themselves back on familiar domain. They turn back and find their breath again before the twins lock their eyes onto the youngest, who is still looking down.

Sabo is the first one to speak up, breaking the awkward silence.

"Do you have any idea what kind of dangerous stunt you just pulled? Luffy! One wrong move and they could have found out what you are! This isn't just another pack of rival wolves, these were humans you were dealing with! You could have gotten yourself killed, for god's sake!" Sabo exclaims, throwing his hand out as he looks at Luffy in frustration, eyes pleading the young wolf to please understand his point.

Ace is watching Sabo with his arms crossed, glance darkened as the time goes on. He hasn't said a single word from the moment they ran out of the village and frankly, he doesn't know what to say. He always thought of himself as a good older brother, who is good at handling his younger sibling's crazy moods. But when it's actually serious and his parents are not around to do the job for him, there are no words that come out.

He has so much to say, but half of it is stuff that he doesn't want Luffy to hear. Too often it happened that he blurted out words that made Luffy not talk to him for at least two weeks. Luffy is bad at hiding his emotions and while he acts like nothing is wrong, everyone knows something is wrong.

Ace hates it, every time that happens. He has trouble keeping his mouth shut but as long as Sabo keeps going, he can think of other things to add to whatever is coming out of Sabo's mouth.

"Luffy, do you hear me? I am not joking around here! That was dangerous!" Sabo exclaims and Luffy looks up, chewing on his lip before he says, eyes flickering between Sabo and Ace, "I.. I was hungry, okay? Mom said you guys were out, so my initial thought was to find you. B-but, I smelt food and I just followed it."

Ace deadpans, finally speaking up, his voice hoarse, "You just followed it. You just followed it? And you didn't think when you saw those fucking houses to maybe turn around?" He steps closer to his brothers, his glare not getting any brighter. Luffy's eyes grow a little wider and without showing any fear for his brothers' wrath, though guilt is flickering through his eyes, he says in a high-pitched voice, "I did! I really did! I got scared once I saw the village but when I turned away, my stomach started to growl and I really couldn't keep it together anymore! I just.. I just needed to eat! And I was careful, seriously! I did it just like Shanks."

Sabo pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, stopping himself from saying whatever curse he was about to say. Ace stares at Luffy's tense form, the corners of his lips twitching. Luffy is slightly trembling and loosens up a little, adding in a quieter voice, "I'm sorry. I know I'm stupid and I am truly, really, really sorry."

He looks up at his brothers like a kicked puppy and Ace can't stop himself from sighing. He groans out loud and walks up to Luffy. With the palm of his hand he hits his brother behind the head and scolds, "You fucking better, idiot! That's for making us worry and for disobeying the damn rules! I swear, if you ever do this again, I won't hesitate to skin you alive. You hear me?"

He reaches for Luffy's collar and pulls him closer, making his message a lot clearer. Feeling the tension slide away, Luffy is brave enough to grin at him and he says, "As long as Ace and Sabo aren't angry with me, I'll listen."

Sabo joins the two and puts his hand on Luffy's hand, empathizing their point even more as he says, "Stay away from the village and just keep it with your usual antics." He sighs and proceeds to pat Luffy on the head, slightly brushing the fluffy ears as well. Ace rolls his eyes and lets go of Luffy's collar. He then throws his arm around Luffy's shoulders, pushing him along with him as he mutters, "Stupid little kid, always causing us trouble. Be glad that it wasn't dad who found you."

Sabo's ears go up when he remembers the important fact that their father is out with the hunters and he pushes himself between his brothers, reminding them with a low voice, "Then let's hurry home. Dad doesn't want to find us out here when we're not part of the hunting group."

Without letting Luffy and Ace have a say in this, he chuckles and pushes them with him as he makes a run for the cave.