Chapter II: A Change in Destiny; Slavery and Salvation

"Speech"

Thoughts or emphasis or scenery changes or significant time gaps

ANGRY VOICE

/Flashbacks and summaries/

*noises* (except laughter)

*actions*

/ In a period of several months, the boys had faced many trials. Because of the Bluejam incident, Sabo has come to live with the three other boys. Grandpa Garp has come and gone sporadically, beating on the boys with his "Fists of Love" in his efforts to toughen them up and beat their pirating dreams from their skulls. Didn't work, but it did make the four boys grow in their observation and hiding skills, even if they never could hide from Garp.

During this time, Ace has open enough to reveal his accursed heritage of being the son of the late Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Luffy only got stars in his eyes, and Kit could care less. He even laughed at how serious Ace acted about this fact. Ace was not amused. Kit then told the three that being Gold Roger's son couldn't be much worse than being the nephew of his equally abhorred first mate Silvers Rayleigh and son of "Reaper's Hand" Silvers Lilith. The navy seemed pretty antsy about any sort of blood relationship in his opinion. Plus, his dad's not exactly the most loved guy either (don't ask, Uncle Ray refused to say anything more, even inebriated). Sometime later, Sabo was forced to reveal his noble lineage, much to his shame, but the boys did not care. They were brothers.

Shortly after these revelations, Sabo faced separation from his brothers because of his noble family and the Bluejam Pirates. Shortly thereafter, the Grey Terminal burned on the orders of the royal family of the Goa Kingdom. Sabo managed to escape his noble family during the night of the fire. Heartsick of the corruption of his fellow nobles, Sabo decided to set sail early. He nearly died when the visiting Celestial Dragon fired on his small ship. Ace, Luffy, and Kit were all too glad (and angry) when a mysterious man dropped off an injured Sabo several weeks after the incident.

The boys now have long since vacated the residence of the mountain bandits once Sabo recovered and live in their own treehouse within the forest. This morning, the shadow of a ship looms over the horizon. With it, an aura of fear and menace pulses. /

Kitsune

Kit groans as he slowly regains consciousness. One moment, he and his brothers had a few boars cooking on a fire, next thing he knows a whole lot of blackness. Did someone knock on his head? Peering around, Kitsune's confusion dissipates, replaced by a wave of apprehension and fear. His brothers and he had chains shackling them. His chains had an odd blue sheen, and he felt so tired. Luffy's handcuffs looked about the same. Ace laid against the wooden wall opposite to him, left of Sabo, and right of Luffy. One by one, the three other boys woke to this nightmare.

The door next to Kit slams open. A skinny and ragged man stands in the doorway.

"Well, my sleeping beauties have awaken. Hope you enjoy the accommodations since you will remain like this until we arrive in Sabaody. Some very nice people will certainly appreciate such fine slaves," mocked the cruel man.

Sabo's eyes nearly pops out of his head. Ace' glare tries to melt the man where he stood. Luffy only looks in confusion, the beginning of sobs shaking his little body.

Ahh…Now I remember. When we were settling down for lunch near the forest's coastline a bunch of thugs came out from the bushes. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy naturally attacked first, asked questions too late. Those men just smacked them down with their clubs and swords. Luffy tried Gum-Gum pistol but missed and knocked himself to the ground. Those men came at them with bags and chains and rope, and I sprang into action from my hiding spot in the tree. I think I landed a few good scratches before one of them wrapped one of those odd chains around me, and all my strength fled. A club entered my vision at the same time I saw more striking down on my brothers. Then nothing.

Kit crinkled his brow in apprehension as he considered how strong these guys were to deal with boys that hunted monstrous giant beasts for their meals. The man – slaver - must have caught Ace's tensing, who looked near murderous at this point.

"Don't even think about trying anything. Those chains on the oldest and youngest are seastone, the strongest material in the world and like the name suggests, carries the power of the sea. Those two won't be causing any problems, wouldn't you two say?" With that, the slaver cruelly kicks the now sobbing Luffy and smacks Ace for good measure.

Not good. Not good at all.

Somewhere at sea in the Grand Line's first half.

Sabo

We're not going to make it at this rate, thought the top-hatted boy. Just a few days ago, the four boys managed to escape their captors some weeks before landing at Sabaody. Under the terrible conditions, extreme weather changes, and a diet of bread, water, and an occasional lime, the youngest brother fell deathly ill. Kitsune mimicked the younger boy - though not exactly far off from his condition - as the pirates removed the shackles of their sickly prisoners in the assumption that it may help. And really, what can two boys in their state do?

Kitsune was apparently not someone to mess with even when exhausted and starving. The slavers' ship was probably somewhere on the bottom of the sea along with their chains. Free as they may be, the boys were just drifting on the ocean in a lifeboat with no land in sight. The emergency provisions had run out, and Luffy still suffered from sickness.

Kit laid splayed on the boat's floor, his strength long drained from the fight for freedom. Ace barely could stay up. Sabo's eyes began to droop. Will any of us wake to see the next sunrise?

In the crow's nest of the Moby Dick

Marco

All looked clear. The blond man looked bored as he leaned against the railing of the crow's nest. His best friend Fourth Commander Thatch actually had watch duty in the crow's nest but bribed the first commander to accompany him because "it's too boring to do alone". Marco was regretting the deal because a bottle of sake was not worth doing the entire watch while Thatch scribbled in his notebook, planning the next day's set of pranks. Nothing interesting ever happened in Paradise.

Marco's eyes drooped until in the distance something caught the first commander's attention. There swayed a small boat. Marco shook Thatch. His friend looked miffed from the sudden interruption of his scheming until Marco pointed out the incoming boat on the horizon.

Once word got out, Captain Whitebeard decided to send a small party out to scout the mysterious vessel heading towards them. Since Marco and Thatch first saw it, they would be the ones leading the mission. Naturally, the commanders acted disgruntled to perform such a small errand. But off they went with a handful of other volunteers and a nurse for just in case.

Marco expected a lot of things. He expected either an empty vessel since he thought he saw no one aboard from the crow's nest. He expected the chance of maybe shipwrecked sailors hiding in the shadows of the vessel. He did not expect to find four unconscious boys that seemed barely alive. He ordered his men to secure the small boat to their own while he had Thatch help carry the boys to their boat so that their nurse could care for them until they returned to the Moby Dick.

The nurses on the Moby Dick spared no questions as they shooed away the curious pirates and began treatment for the four young boys. Their diagnoses were not promising. The youngest had caught a terrible virus, the eldest was covered in scrapes, all infected, and all four of them suffered terribly from dehydration, malnutrition, and exposure. Their clothing was torn and ragged and hung off their frail limbs. Thatch, for once, did not smile, worry for the strange boys eating at his heart. They may be pirates but no child should suffer so.

After a week in the infirmary, the second oldest raven-haired boy and the blond finally stirred.

Ace

Ace winced at the light. Somewhere nearby, he heard what sounded like Sabo groaning. He blinked his eyes a few times until the memories of the past months dawned. He sat up in a panic and swept his vision around the white room. He was laying in some cot and his brothers laid in cots next to his. All of them seemed to be hooked up to some sort of monitor with several tubes attached to each boy. Most of them also had various clean bandages replacing the old makeshift ones. Ace tugged at a cord and grimaced at the sharp pain.

"Don't play with that. You might hurt yourself," berated a tall, slim woman dressed in a pink nurse's outfit. "The four of you are quite lucky. The youngest especially since another day at sea probably would have killed him. Now be a dear and rest. Those tubes have been feeding you some of the necessary nutrition your body lacked, but now that you're awake, you should probably start on something a bit more filling. Oh, your other friends seem to be coming to as well," continued the nurse lady.

Still unsettled and suspicious, Ace corrected her none too gently, "These are my BROTHERS. Oi, Luffy, Kit, Sabo, you up?"

The boys responded with some muttering and an answering groan of yes. Luffy struggled up while Kit carefully sat up, eyes half-lidded in pain from the strain on his wounds. Sabo easily enough sat up in his cot with only some signs of pain from the effort.

"Ugh, where are we, Ace?" muttered the top hat wearer.

"Oh good you're finally awake-yoi." a voice greeted from the doorway a little ways away from the boys. Standing the doorway was a blond man that wore a lazy expression. Luffy took one look at him and chirped, "You look like a pineapple!" That certainly broke the ice as the four boys laughed and the man sputtered.

"My name's Marco-yoi," the man corrected, his expression still lazy if a bit more pinched at the chorus of giggles. "So, if I may ask, who are you brats and why were you drifting in the sea with basically no supplies?"

The laughter died off immediately. Ace and Sabo exchanged worried glances as they tried to think of an answer. Luffy's smile vanished, and he looked like he was about to cry again. Kit could only look down at his wrapped hands. Finally, Sabo responded.

"My name's Sabo, Ace is the black-haired guy about my age, Luffy's the youngest, and Kit is the eldest. We were lost on sea. Our ship sunk, and we only had enough food and water for a few days on the lifeboat. We couldn't find any medical supplies either," explained Sabo. "By chance, have you seen the hats we were wearing? They mean a lot to us so…"

The blond man raised his eyebrow but walked over to a set of dressers at one end of the infirmary. He reached in and pulled out Sabo's top hat and Luffy's straw hat. Both boys looked pleased at the return of their headgear.

"Lost at sea, huh? Well you're welcome to staying on our ship until you've fully recovered and are ready to tell us where to take you-yoi," Marco said with a small, gentle smile.

Just then, the infirmary door slammed open. An even stranger tall man strode in. The boys gaped. The man had auburn hair styled in the most ridiculous fashion they ever seen and wore a white top and pants with a yellow scarf tied around his neck. Luffy openly laughed as he asked their newest guest, "Why does your hair look like a club?"

Ace and Sabo inwardly groaned at their little brother's bumbling mouth. But the man only jovially laughed at the kid's remark and replied, "This hairstyle is called a pompadour. Don't you think it looks good? Much better than the pineapple's, wouldn't you say?" At that, Marco slapped the taller man on the back of his head.

"Don't encourage them, Thatch."

Okay, Ace had had enough of the theatrics. "Who are you guys exactly? And where are we?"

"I'm Thatch, commander of the fourth division and the pineapple-guy is Marco, the first division commander. We're part of the Whitebeard Pirates, and right now, you're on our ship the Moby Dick. We found you four drifting on the sea and treated your wounds and illnesses. You guys are pretty lucky since this part of the Grand Line is pretty desolate and out of the way for most ships." At this point, the pineapp-Marco interrupted.

"As I said before, you four will remain on the ship until you can safely travel on your own. That means staying in the infirmary for the next few days for most of you. Luffy, on the other hand, should stay here a bit longer to recover fully from the virus. In the meantime, if you guys need anything, just ask one of us commanders," said Marco.

Before Ace could protest, Kit finally spoke. "Thank you all for your aid and tolerance. We are very grateful for the amount of care you have provides to us, four strangers you just found at sea. Please, don't insist on helping us more than you have already done so." Thatch laughed and waved off Kit's response.

"Seriously, you four are no more than kids. We may be pirates but it would be absolutely heartless even for pirates not to care about a bunch of injured and sickly children. If we want to help you beyond just treating your wounds, then accept it."

Thatch and Marco

The two commanders left a few minutes later after Ace decided to ignore them, Luffy fell back to sleep, and Sabo just absentmindedly stared at the wall. Kit didn't say anything more but his silver-blue eyes were fairly unnerving when focused solely on the two men.

While they walked to Pop's room to report their guests' condition, Thatch voiced the suspicions that have been plaguing the blond.

"Hey, Marco. Those kids weren't exactly telling the truth, were they? I, mean, not the complete one at least. The infection on the eldest was really severe, and the boys looked a fairly bad even for several days at sea with minimal water supplies. They all look a lot worse for wear, actually. Something tells me that they haven't had a decent meal for a long time." The first commander glanced at his friend but said nothing.

Standing before Whitebeard, the men gave their report along with any and all suspicions regarding their unexpected guests. The captain thought for a few moments. His sons were right to bring up their suspicions as the doctor's report corresponded with the indication that the boys have been suffering for quite some time. Whitebeard thought some more before sighing.

"Those brats sound like they'll be a bit of trouble for a while. If they have been through some sort of a bad situation, they won't willingly tell a bunch of strangers that. Let's try to give them some time. Try to befriend them once they're better but avoid pushing their boundaries. I suspect they'll distrust us for a while, but the next island is about a month out. We'll decide when it comes time, but for now, they are our guests."

Marco and Thatch nodded their heads in understanding. In their heads, a certain phrase kept replaying: What have we gotten ourselves into?