The sun was high, the sky clear and the sea was peaceful.
A perfect day to sail out, thought a figure standing at the end of the docks. Their waist-long silverish-white hair fell down and past their waist like a veil, the colour just slightly different from the loose white tunic that reached past the knees. A dark green sash was tied around their waist and underneath the tunic, a pair of matching pants and simple sandals could be seen. When the wind picked up, tinkling was heard thanks to a pair of golden earrings hidden by the white hair. Neither the clothes nor the facial features betrayed the gender of their owner, whose emerald-green eyes kept watching the vas water body.
"Sagitta-nii!"
The sound of the name made its owner turn around and smile as they saw a familiar teen running towards him. The teen was clearly a boy, with short black-white locks, black eyes and a scar underneath his left eye. He was slim yet muscular in build and dressed in a black one-sleeved shirt, red west and blue pants taped above his knees. The outfit was finished by a pair of dark gladiator shoes, two holsters, one strapped on the forearm of the bare arm and one on the teen´s thighs, and an old well-loved straw hat.
"Sorry for the delay! I just wanted to say goodbye to Dadan and the Mountain bandits!" breathed out Monkey D. Luffy, once he reached his older brother.
"That´s fine, at least I had time to check our supplies and the weather. Ready to go, otōto?" asked Sagitta, once the teen reached him.
"You bet!" grinned Luffy. "Finally! It is OUR time to go out! I can´t wait to catch up with Ace-nii and Sabo-nii again. It has been ages since they left!"
"True, I can´t wait to see them again myself," chuckled the androgynous male, remembering his other two little brothers. "But you have to remember that we still have to collect a good crew to help us make it to wherever they are. And collect a bigger ship," he glanced at Minerva. It was an old ship they found and renovated, decent enough in size for a small starter crew, but they would need to replace it later on.
Luffy waved off his concern. "We will make it and find good people to become our Nakama. Plus we have enough money to buy a decent ship once we get to an island with decent shipwrights. So don´t worry, nii-san!"
The older of the duo rolled his eyes fondly at the other´s optimism, before sighing and looking back at the sea. "Thank Magic, it doesn´t look like there will be another storm anytime soon."
"Yeah, the one a few days ago was a hellion," nodded Luffy in agreement. "Good thing we were warned by the fishermen, otherwise it would have caught us."
"Tell me about it."
"There you are!" they turned to see Makino hurrying to them with the town´s mayor in tow. "I´m glad we made it on time!"
"Makino-nē, mayor, we are finally going!" announced the straw-hatted teen with a big grin.
"We know," the female bar owner smiled sadly and hugged her favourite customer. "Take care of each other and don't get in too much trouble!" she said as she released the teen and hugged his older brother. "And make sure to give my best regards to Ace and Sabo, once you see them!"
"Sure, Makino. We will greet them in your name. Besides, don´t worry about us, we will always watch over each other," reassured her Sagitta, before pulling away and looking at the mayor. "Can´t wait to get rid of us, old man?"
"Brats, I better not hear about you ruining this town´s reputation out here!" said the old mayor grumpily.
The brothers laughed at this and with one last hug to Makino, they got into the boat. They took off, but after they were a good distance from the shore, a huge dark shape emerged from under the waves.
"Oi, Luffy! Look who came to say goodbye!" called Sagitta with a smirk as he eyed the sea king that just appeared.
"Shishishi! Shall I give him a proper parting gift?" asked the teen, readying his arm. When his nee-san gave him a thumbs-up, he pulled back his arm and called: "Rubber… PISTOL!" The arm stretched and his fist hit the sea king in the face, sending it flying far away from them.
"Nice! That was at least five miles!" praised the silver-haired man with a grin.
"Shishishi!"
They continued their journey, the old ship carrying them towards the unknown across the sea. Then something on the side caught the captain´s attention.
"Whirlpool to the left!" called Luffy.
Listening to his captain´s warning, the first mate was quick to make sure their ship avoided the deadly water vortex. But just as they were about to swim away, another thing in the water caught Luffy´s attention. Straining his eyes, the teen took a closer look, before a gasp left his mouth. Quickly casting a sticking charm on his feet, he stretched his arms towards the object in the water. Once his hands were firmly wrapped around said object, he pulled back with all his strength.
"Luffy, what…" Sagitta trailed off when he realized just what did his brother just fished out from the water.
It was a person! Specifically, a man that looked as though he had been thrown through hell. He was unconscious and bleeding from wounds all over his body. Some of the wounds swelled and… were those burn marks?
"Oh Death, Luffy, quickly take him below deck and try to clean his wounds! I will join you once we are far enough from the whirlpool!" ordered the androgynous man quickly, turning the rudder to get them away as soon as possible.
The rubber teen didn´t need to be told twice. He lifted the man in a bridal carry and run below, stopping in front of the first free room. One kick opened the door and Luffy quickly set the injured man on the bed, before he got the necessary medical supplies and returned. The teen then proceeded to clean the man´s wounds, following the processes his Nii-san carefully drilled into his mind. He got rid of the ruined clothes, grimacing when the man hissed in pain, yet remaining unconscious, and used water and a disinfection mixture to clean the wounds. The young pirate worked methodically, while his hands treated each injury with the utmost care.
The smell of blood and burnt flesh was strong and almost made Luffy nauseous, so he distracted himself by observing the injured man. He was older and at least a feet taller than Luffy, with a slender and muscular body. There was a matching pair of tattoos on his upper arms. He was rather handsome with oddly arched eyebrows and curly black hair. The stranger also had a goatee, but because of the wounds on his face, the teen had to spell-shave it.
That was all Luffy had time to notice because once he moved his hand to clean the other´s neck, a hand shot up and grabbed his wrist in an iron hold.
"W-who… are you…?" the stranger rasped out; his deep voice as shaky as his breathing. Pain-clouded, exhausted eyes opened and looked at the young pirate with cautiousness.
"My name is Luffy and I´m the one that saved you," the teen introduced himself, mentally thankful for his rubber powers. Otherwise, the stranger´s grip would have broken his wrist already. "Sorry, but you will have to let me go."
"W-where… are… we…?" the injured man ignored his request to look around, at least as much as his aching, wounded body would let him.
"We are on a ship that belongs to me and my brother. We were sailing and trying to avoid a whirlpool when I spotted you in the water and pulled you abroad," explained Luffy, before pulling on his trapped hand. "Now, you really have to let go. Please. I must clean the rest of your wounds unless you want them to become infected."
The raven´s attention turned back at Luffy and grey eyes met black ones. For a moment, the older male´s pupils turned cat-like and something seemed to pass between them before it was gone and the older male relaxed. He let go of Luffy´s hand and the rubber teen returned to his work, fingers tenderly pressing the cleaning cloth against the flesh.
"Sorry if it hurt," apologized Luffy when the other groaned.
"I´ll live…" muttered his companion.
The captain hummed absently. "May I know your name? You already got mine."
"I…" the raven paused, a small frown appearing on his face. "I… don´t know…"
"You don´t… What is the last thing you remember?" asked Luffy, black eyes narrowing.
"A storm… a ship on fire… p-pain… the sea… a-and nothing… more…" replied the stranger, fighting to keep his eyes open, which the teen immediately noticed.
"Go to sleep. We can talk once you rested some more." When the other was about to refuse, he added: "I will be there when you wake up, I promise. Alright?"
There was a small pause before the stranger nodded and closed his eyes.
"So you believe he might have been on a ship that got caught in the storm from a few days back and barely survived its sinking," mused Sagitta as he looked over the bandaged from lying on the bed. He and Luffy have spent a better part of two hours taking care of the wounds, patching and bandaging them up. There was a lot of work, the androgynous man had to add several potions, to help speed up the recovery and to make sure their patient didn´t die on his injuries.
"Yeah, he said that is the last thing he remembers. And there were a few debris in the water that looked like they were from a ship," added Luffy, clearly worried about the raven.
"That still doesn´t explain the severity of the wounds. They are too bad, even for someone who survived a shipwreck."
"Well…"
The green-eyed man looked at his brother. "You know something more?"
"I think he might be a Devil Fruit user like me?" said Luffy with a sheepish look.
"What?"
"Well with how water affects us Devil Fruit users, it would explain why the wounds turned so bad," explained the younger male. "Besides, when he was awake, his eyes shifted into a feline-like form for a moment, so…"
"…he might be a Zoan Devil Fruit user," finished his brother instead of him, before wincing. "Damn. In that chase, the man has either the biggest luck... or the strongest will to live, to survive on the ocean until you found him. No wonder we needed to use so many potion-soaked bandages on him, he was practically on Death´s door when you saved him."
"But he will be fine, right?" asked Luffy.
"He will, but not without scarring," Sagitta nodded with a sigh. "The seawater affected him enough that there will be visible marks. Not as bad as they would have been without the potions, but they will be there. And after his experience on the sea, he will need to rest, a lot. The potion I gave him will guarantee that he will sleep until the majority of his wound heal."
"And how long will that be?"
The older man shrugged. "A day, max two. Thankfully there was no internal damage, just a few broken bones, otherwise, it would take longer."
"That´s good then," Luffy lets out a sigh of relief.
"So what is our next course of action, captain?" Sagitta questioned, wanting to change the topic.
The captain looked thoughtful. "Hm… We can´t exactly decide what to do with him," he motions towards the injured man, "…until he wakes up. So for now we will focus on other things. How much of our medical potions we used up?"
"Nowhere near enough so that we need to refile them," answered the silver-haired man immediately. "But we might need to make a quick stop on the next island to hunt some animals since it looks like we will have another mouth to feed with for a while."
And so they were sailing to their first destination that turned out to be…
"An island full of goats," said Sagitta who couldn´t help but stare.
His captain didn´t reply, too busy drooling at the sight of so much meat. They made port and immediately divided the work between them – Sagitta stayed behind to watch over the ship and prepare lunch, while Luffy went off hunting several goats and whatever else he came across and deemed edible. Any animal the rubber teen came across, he took down using his special holster, which turned out to be a collapsible crossbow. Anything he caught was put inside his bottomless bag, before he continued, his mind constantly returning to the injured man on their ship. Because of him, he made sure to catch some extra prey and take whatever edible plant he found, since he knew the potions burned a lot of nutrition, which needed to be refilled in food.
Once he deemed that he caught enough, he made his way back. But just then he came across a scene that made him scowl – a group of adult men were harassing a pink-haired boy around Luffy´s age. Without thinking, the rubber boy jumped into action and sent the men packing with a few well-placed kicks and hits. The men disappeared, but the pink-haired boy was positively freaking out.
"Do you have any idea what you have done?!" demanded the boy, hands tearing at his own hair.
Luffy raised an eyebrow at that. "Why, I believe I just saved you from a beating."
"That´s not it! You just beat Iron Bludgeon Albida´s men! They will surely go tell her and she will come after us! That´s a sure death sentence!" said the hysterical boy. Seeing the other boy about to start hyperventilating or worse, suffer a mental breakdown, the straw-hat wearing teen nipped it in the bud by hitting his companion on the head.
"Before you start to freak out again, care to explain who this Albida is? And why are you so scared of her?" inquired the young pirate. The other hesitated before he started explaining how he one day mistakenly embarked on a pirate ship and how he was stuck as the ship´s caretaker since he was too afraid to run away. At the end of the tale, a flat look appeared on Luffy´s face, before he said: "So you are from the stupid and wimpy lot, huh?"
Coby, as the boy introduced himself, let out a nervous laugh. "You are not wrong about that…"
"That being said, I and my brother might help you get away from those pirates if you want," offered Luffy.
"Huh?" Coby blinked in surprise. "Y-You mean it?"
"Un. We have a ship not far from here and we have enough room for one more."
"Um… May I ask why are you and your brother sailing?"
"Why? Because I want to become the pirate king! And Nii-san is my first mate!" declared Luffy proudly.
"W-WHAT?! Are you crazy?!" yelped Coby in shock. "To earn that title you must find the One Piece! And to find that you must sail through the pirate graveyard! Even if you could pull it off, there will be others after it and they would kill you! It is impossible! Do you hear me?! You will die if you try that!"
"So what?" the response caused the pink-haired boy to look at his companion, surprised at the other´s serious look. "I´m not afraid to die for my dream. Even if it is like you said, even if it might seem impossible to reach. But if I don´t try and follow my dream, then I know I will regret it for the rest of my life. That´s why I intend to give it my all. So even if I die trying, I will at least go with the knowledge that I gave it everything I have." Seeing the awed look Coby was giving him, Luffy let a small chuckle and added: "Besides, I intend to make Death work on getting me. I´m not going to give into it without a fight."
"Luffy-san," whisper Coby, before unsurely looking down. "Do you… Do you think I could… chase my dream... like that?"
The rubber teen tilted his head to the side. "I don´t know. What is your dream?"
"I… I want to become a marine! I know we would be enemies, but I really want to join the marines and catch the bad guys! It has been my dream since I could remember," said his companion honestly, before looking at Luffy, as if waiting for his reaction.
Said teen looked thoughtful for a moment before he grinned. "Why not? If your will is strong enough, I bet you can do anything you want!"
Tears of relief fell down the other boy´s cheeks before a small smile graces his lips.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" a voice bellows, shattering the moment.
Coby froze in fright, before slowly turning towards its source, to see Albida and her men standing here, glaring at them with their weapons ready. But before the pirates could say anything more, Luffy spoke.
"Coby, who is this rude cow?"
As one the others´ jaws dropped, unable to believe that somebody dared to say such a thing within Albida´s hearing. Their thoughts went along the line that this punk was either suicidal or had the biggest balls possible. Finally, the brutal pirate woman was the first to recover from shock, her rage clear on her scowling face.
"For that, you will die, brat! But first, Coby! Tell this foolish teen just who I am!" Albida ordered with her heavy weapon raised above her head menacingly.
"You are…" The pink-haired teen trailed off before a determined look appeared on his face. With one deep breath, he shouted: "YOU´RE THE UGLIEST AND RUDEST COW IN THE SEA!"
"WHAT?!" Albida roared in outrage. "Die you little shit!" She swung her weapon at them, ready to crush their heads.
But just before she could hit them, Luffy pushed Coby out of the way and took the whole brunt of the attack. His body stretched and adjusted around the weapon, negating the strength of the attack, before bouncing back to its true form. Seeing the shocked gaze of people around him, the young pirate couldn´t help but laugh.
"Shishishi! Force is useless against me, for I´m a rubber man!" declared Luffy proudly. Then he pulled his arm back. "Time to return you the favour… Rubber-rubber PISTOL!" His arm stretched and hit Albida in the head, knocking her out cold.
The woman´s men stared at what happened, unable to believe it. They only snapped out of their shock when Luffy spoke again. "Now, you guys will let us leave and never bother me and Coby again. Got it?" he asked, black eyes narrowed at them.
"Y-Yes, sir!" they yelled in fright, before grabbing Albida and running away as fast as their legs could carry them.
"Now that we got this out of the way, time to return to the ship," decided Luffy, once the pirates disappeared from the view. "Come one, Coby!"
"A-Ah! Yes, Luffy-san!" called the other teen, a bit overwhelmed that he was finally free from the pirates. He tried his best to keep up with his saviour until they arrived at a beach, where an old, but well-loved ship waited.
"Nii-san! I´m back!" called Luffy, once he and Coby got abroad.
"Finally, I thought I would have to go looking for you personally," said a person that just appeared from below deck. Said person was a few inches taller than Luffy and his beautiful appearance made Coby blush. That blush darkened when a pair of emerald green eyes turned to him. "And who is this, otōto?"
"His name is Coby and I just met him on this island. Coby, this is my older brother, Hydra D. Sagitta!" Luffy introduced them to each other, before looking at his brother and after handing over the back with his catch, he said: "Nii-san, Coby will join us until the closest marine base."
That statement made the androgynous man raise a silver eyebrow in question, silently asking for an explanation. And Luffy told him the story of what happened after he finished hunting. At the end of the story, Sagitta just sighed and shook his head. "You can´t help but attract adventures on every step, ne Luffy?"
An unrepentant grin was all the answer the silver-haired man got, which caused him to sigh again. Then he looked at the newcomer on their ship. "So you want to become a marine?"
"Yes, sir!" the younger man immediately replied, determination clear in his voice.
"Hm, alright, you can come with us. Far be it for me to discourage someone from their dream." He turned around and over his shoulder called: "Now come one you two. I made lunch and if you don´t want it to cool down, you better hurry!"