This is my first fanfiction (that I have published on this site. I had written and published one it on Wattpad, but soon deleted it).
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. It belongs to the wonderful Eiichiro Oda
Chapter 1: The Prince that Dons a Hat
Nami's eyes slowly opened, exposing her dark brown irises to the bright sun high up in the clear sky. She forcibly blinked to dispose of the drowsiness left behind in her blurry vision. She was spread out in a field of wild grass. Then, suddenly, she heard a low rumbling noise slowly getting louder. Nami flinched and sat up. Her eyes were still full of fatigue from a lack of sleep due to the horrible sleeping conditions.
Then, suddenly, a grey blob filled her vision. Said 'blob' didn't reveal itself until Nami finally rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Nami, yet again, jumped up to a standing position now, although shaky. Right in front of her was a grey wolf. Much bigger than she was used to(although the average sized ones she knew weren't any less threatening). She took unsteady steps behind her. But suddenly, she noticed many small dots walking out from the vacant spaces between trees. Those dots were wolves, and although they weren't as big as the one in front of her, Nami knew that their sheer number could rip her apart in a matter of seconds.
So distracted by the pack of wolves, slowly but surely approaching, she failed to acknowledge the bigger wolf, the leader of the pack- or so Nami assumed by its size and exclusion from the other wolves- walking towards her discarded boots sitting upright near where she had been sleeping. It seemed interested in the boots, at least enough to ignore Nami. The wolf walked around the pair of neatly set up boots. They were bit tall, and on Nami they stopped over her knees. Although they didn't look that way now, due to a lack of stiffness or thickness in material, the shafts flopped to the sides. Intrigued by the odd objects, the wolf sniffed one of the black shoes as part of its inspection.
"Hey, wolf! Let me leave and I'll give you my shoes!" Nami spoke up. As much as she would regret giving up such an essential thing as a pair of good boots, she would much rather give up some shoes to save her life. Her shoes or not. Of course, the wolf didn't respond. It continued with its 'inspection' of the odd footwear. The wolf stopped at the front of the boot, its eyes glued on the round toe box. Nami's eyes were trapped on the wolf, curious as to what he would do next. It layed down, still staring at the front of the shoe. Then the wolf opened its mouth, revealing its fierce teeth, and bit down on the thick toe box.
"Hey!" Nami yelled out. Although it was a bit contradictional based on the last thing she yelled at the wolf. She clenched her hand into a tight fist and stomped over. She threw her fist down on the head of the wolf. The force of Nami's punch caused the vicious animal to collapse onto the ground. All went quiet when the canine's large body hit the floor. But the silence was quickly interrupted when a loud barrage of low growls started up. Nami looked up from the (hopefully) unconscious wolf and to the many wolves that were no longer hiding under the shadows from where they were coming out from and now they didn't look so small. Their pace was faster and Nami backed up. She would have been bombarding the pack with many apologies, but she knew they wouldn't register, and if they did, they'd all seem like empty pleas- which they were.
Nami kept backing away, but in her mindless escape, she ended up tripping on a root that stuck up out of the ground. Nami fell on her behind, making it sore, although the situation she was in completely outweighed the small pain she felt due to the impact of the fall. Upon her falling, the wolves picked up on the position she was in, acknowledging the vulnerable pose. Their slow gait quickly transformed into a trot and from a trot to a fast jog.
'No!' Nami thought 'is this it?!' she shut her eyes tightly, a cold tear slipping from the corner of her eye and traveling down her cheek. At the pace the wolves were traveling, she knew there was no escape. Her death was impending and due in a few seconds. The wolves' paws seemed so loud when they hit the ground. Their growls were as loud as gunshots. Time seemed to slow down and one last thought popped into Nami's head: 'I can't die!' It was quick though, but she couldn't help but think those words.. And with that thought, an image of someone popped up, although it didn't last long in her head, Nami could identify it anywhere. Her fuschia hair shaved on either side of her head. Her uncommon yet beautiful grey eyes. But the image quickly left. All that remained was silence and an odd voice. It seemed a bit far away, but loud enough to understand.
"Gomu gomu no... gatling!" Nami's eyes shot open when she heard this unfamiliar voice. When she opened her eyes, she saw a bombardment of what she could only think were arms. They were quickly flying and it looked like there were hundreds of them. But even more miraculously, they were quickly taking out all the wolves Nami was sure she'd lose her life to. She quickly stood up and looked over to who was saving her. It was a young teen about Nami's age. He was wearing an odd straw hat but Nami spotted some black hair peeking out from under it. He was wearing a white dress shirt, although unbuttoned. His rolled up sleeves revealed how lean yet toned his body was (if the six pack didn't already say anything about his athletic body). His pants were normal jeans- perhaps wide legged- they stopped at the knee. The hems were all destroyed, leaving it in a messy array of stray strings all along the bottom. It was as if the legs of the pants were terribly cut, or just ripped off entirely. Through her inspection of his attire, she spotted a wolf. It seemed to have broken off from its spread out pack, running towards the mysterious yet helpful savior's blind spot.
Nami squinted her eyes and stretched her leg forward. With her leg spread out farther than you would have it when taking a normal step, she leaped off the leg and moved into a quick sprint. Her legs quickly moved, and during that quick movement of her legs, she was somehow able to grab the three piece bo staff sitting securely in a holster located on her thigh. She threw up one of the three pieces into the sky and let gravity pull it back down. As if in slomo, Nami moved the two blue rods closer, and just before there wasn't enough room left, the third piece fell in between the two, connecting all three together with perfect timing. She maneuvered the now fully connected staff between her fingers, spinning it as she ran. The adrenaline pumped the closer she moved to the wolf, which was close to its target. But just as the wolf leaped up, in hopes of doing some damage to hinder him from doing any more damage to its pack, some strong force- like a wind- blew it back.
The straw hatted boy acknowledged the quick save and looked down at Nami. She gasped for breath as her heart slowed to its calm pace. Her arm was stretched out, and in her grasp was the blue metal pole with thin smoke rising from its hollow opening. Their eyes briefly met before his eyes closed and turned upwards. His fearless smirk turned into a toothy smile that could purify the most heinous creature in all the seas. Along with his smile, Nami took in other features she couldn't see from afar. His eyes (before they were closed) were wide, almost like an owls. His eyes were a dark black and contained little, if not, no light at all. But they didn't look dead. In fact, on the contrary; they were full of adventure. They were innocent and quite child-like, yet had seen many cruel things. Beneath his left eye was a small scar. Other than that, there wasn't much else to note about his appearance. He turned his tanned face away from Nami and back to the few wolves left. His attack which consisted of multiple fists flying at his opponents was still rapidly continuing. There were many unconscious wolves left on the 'battlefield'.
Nami stared in awe at the black haired boy as he finished off the last wolf. He had taken down a whole pack of at the very least 70 vicious wolves, with the exception of the leader of the pack and a few others which Nami had taken care of.
"Nice work," Nami said, with the last one falling onto the ground with much force.
"Who are you?" the boy turned around to face Nami, his mouth was still in the same toothy smile as he had flashed before.
"I'm Nami" normally, Nami would have been at least a bit mad that he had ignored her earlier compliment, but the fact that he had just saved her life softened the blow. "So then, who are you?"
"Ah, I'm Luffy. Nice to meet you!"
"So then… Luffy.. what are you?" She knew it was an odd question, but no normal human could stretch their limbs in such a way.
"Oh that? I'm a rubber man!" Luffy gleefully exclaimed and took his hands off his hips, one landing at his side and the other tugging at his cheek, stretching it farther than any other normal person could, proving his point about the rubber. With that one question out of the way, many others arose, but before she could open her mouth to ask one of those said questions, Luffy asked one of his own.
"What about you? How can you do that cool thing with your staff?" Luffy's eyes practically lit up with amazement.
"Me? Well... I'm a witch" Nami answered, although hesitantly. She was aware he could hear the uncertainty in her voice, but luckily, he didn't press on. Her face turned melancholy as it traveled into the past without permission.
"Bellemere! No!" a small hand reached out to the fuschia haired woman.
"Witch! Witch! Witch!" a loud crowd cheered. As loud as the crowd was, all Nami could focus on was Bellemere's beautiful bloodied face. The chanting never died down, but Nami could still hear what Bellemere had said.
"Nami, Nojiko. I love you!" a tear left her squinted eyes and suddenly, Nami's eyes burned from the warm light that enveloped her mother figure entirely.
"Hey, you're strong, right?" Nami didn't wait for him to wait for him to answer, instead, she continued with her proposition. "Why don't you join me? I'm looking for something"
Excited about this opportunity for an adventure, Luffy asked her to clarify. "What are you looking for!" his smile seemed to grow wider as the seconds passed and the new adventure was revealed.
"Well, I'm looking for treasure. The lost treasure of Thaun!" Nami cheekily smirked, "So, you in?" Nami asked.
"Yeah!" Luffy excitedly threw his hands up and he quite literally jumped for joy.
"Great! Before we go, I need to get some supplies. I know there's a kingdom south of this forest, so we can gather some supplies for the trip and head out. I'd like to get moving by tonight." Nami disconnected the sturdy blue staff and divided it back up into three parts, putting them back securely in the holster located on her leg. "Stay here. I just need to get my things and we can start heading out" the orders only got a nod out of Luffy as he waited, albeit, impatiently.
Nami walked back to where she had been sleeping earlier. She made sure to quietly step around the still unconscious wolf. The bump on its head had decreased in size, and most likely pain, but as long as he was still asleep, Nami was fine with any condition it was in. She grabbed the pair of boots and carefully slid them on. She took a first step and was disappointed to see that the wolf's fang had punctured one of the most protective parts of her boot. The hole wasn't too big or apparent, but still unfortunate and inconvenient. She also grabbed the satchel she had brought along with her which contained some spending money and a map, some blank paper along with some writing supplies, and another pair of clothes. She slung the leather bag over her shoulder and jogged to where Luffy was, slowing down to a walk.
About ten minutes passed and although the sun was still high in the air, she didn't trust it to stay up by the time they came back to the forest to leave the island.
Nami looked down from the sky when she finally decided she had done enough staring into the sun's blinding rays. Luffy seemed to enjoy moving through the forest. He was swift when they passed through more physically demanding areas, such as jumping from rock to rock to avoid falling into a deep river or climbing up a small rocky hill. Nami had taken the boy for someone who didn't know much about directions, but he certainly knew his way around this forest. Nami was about to ask if he had lived on the island long, seeing as how well he knew his way around. But before she could ask (again) a strong wind blew, blowing Nami's long orange locks. And much to Luffy's dismay, the wind had also captured his hat in its grasp.
"My hat! Give it back, wind!" Luffy immediately ran off track, frantically chasing his hat through the many trees with Nami just barely following behind. The wind then calmed down, setting down the hat onto the top of a pile of large rocks- just small enough to not be classified as boulders. Luffy's seething face turned bright again when he saw the wind give up the chase and leave his treasure behind. No questions asked, Luffy climbed from one large rock to another until he was on top of the not terribly high pile of stones. Just as he reached the top, Nami appeared. She stopped running as soon as she spotted Luffy on the rocks and huffed. She would be so enraged if it weren't for the fatigue from lack of sleep and the running. She gasped heavily for breath, and once her heart slowed, she stared Luffy in the eye with an exasperated look on her face.
"What is wrong with you?" Nami yelled loud enough for Luffy and any others who were in a miles radius to hear.
"I needed to get my hat back!" Luffy chuckled back, either ignoring or completely unaware of how angry Nami was.
"Why? Is it that special to you?" Nami popped her hip out and placed a hand on it, letting the other tightly grasp the handle of the leather bag.
"Yeah! It is! It's my treasure!" Luffy responded, jumping down from the tower of rocks and landing right next to Nami.
"Treasure? So are there jewels in it or something? A map?" The word 'treasure' clearly excited her.
"Nope!" Luffy's smile somehow widened even more (perhaps because of his rubber power).
Nami sighed again "I see". She abandoned the pose and stood straight, although she still held the handle that slung over her shoulder. "Well then, let's start heading for the kingdom. The sooner we get out of here, the better."
Luffy nodded happily and took the lead again. However he didn't admire the scenes anymore. His body subconsciously kept moving in the direction of the palace as his mind went back to the past as he placed the hat onto his head.
"And that is why-" the lady's raspy voice cut out when she noticed Luffy looking outside with his stubby pinky shoved in his ear. "Luffy!" The woman's voice was loud and raspy. "Pay attention!" The yelling certainly made him leave his stupor and pay attention. Then suddenly, the door cracked open.
"Don't be so hard on him, Dadan" a sweet voice called out. That kind voice could only belong to one woman: Makino. "He's just a child. I'm sure he'll learn more of this when he grows up" she said as she handed her and Luffy glasses.
"If he doesn't pay attention now, he'll never learn, that brat. I can't believe Garp has me teaching this boy manners of all things." Dadan sighed. "I truly never thought I'd sink this low" Dadan lowered her head and shook her head.
"I'm sure he'll turn into a fine young man in the future" Makino comforted, "isn't that right, Luffy-san?" Makino tried asking for reassurance. Of course it would just result in a complaint, but it would assure her of one thing. And that thing that worried Makino had happened: Luffy had escaped. Again.
"Luffy!" Ddan shot up from her chair when his squeaky voice didn't answer. "That damned kid. I swear, he's gonna get himself killed in that forest one day!" Dadan mumbled, although Makino heard it clearly thanks to her naturally loud voice.
Luffy flipped his head from left to right quickly, making sure that no one spotted him. Of course he was small which did help his escape. He scurried down the empty stone hallways, the loud clap of his sandals on the ground echoed through the whole hall. He ran down the stone steps in the stairwell, fully aware the slightest misstep could end painfully.
Not aware of how big of a presence he had despite his size, he still continued to run through the halls with the utmost silence, taking away the many people he had bumped into or the loud echos of every step he took, or the big chunk of meat he stole and ate in a matter of seconds from the big kitchen. Minus those incidents, he was as quiet as a mouse.
He crept into the dirt yard surrounded by the large stone barrier. In clear daylight with no way to disguise his presence. He casually ran out from the open dirt ground onto the wooden moat and immediately into the bustling town. Quickly, he ran through the town, weaving between every person in his way, all doing their chores for the day. His eyes were kept straight ahead, his mission was simple: go to the woods.
Luffy continued to run even when he reached the woods. The trees were lush and there was vegetation around every corner, and through it, Luffy continued to run at his fast pace, a bit unsteady. He didn't have to run for too long, because soon enough, he had found them.
"Hey Luffy!" a voice called out. Luffy's smile grew tenfold as soon as he saw the man's rugged face. Red hair spilled from under a straw hat. He had on a white shirt, unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up because of the humid air. He was sitting on a makeshift chair which was actually just a log. Next to him was an older man, his black hair sleeved back with a few grey hairs showing in the mess of his hair. There was a thin cigarette hanging from his mouth with ash threatening to fall off at the slightest movement. His arm was leaning against his large rifle. And on the other side of the red head was a large round man consuming a chunky leg of meat. His eyes were hidden behind red tinted sunglasses, the top of his head hidden under a white and green striped bandana.
"Shanks!" Luffy ran straight to the redhead who had a mug of alcohol in his grasp.
"You just missed the hunt. We caught a big one!" Shanks looked over to a fire pit with a large animal hanging above it, cooking beautifully. Without permission, Luffy helped himself to one of the legs. Its counterpart was already being consumed by Lucky Roux.
"Will you please let me come with you?" Luffy pleaded. Shanks and his crew- the infamous Red Haired hunters were a group of well, hunters. They traveled across seas to find and hunt the rarest creatures. If it was rare, he'd sometimes sell it. And if not, it would make do as a good snack. They had recently landed on the island. They set up camp in the woods north of Foosha Kingdom since there wouldn't be anything worth hunting in the town.
Thanks to Luffy's adventurous personality, he often ran out into the woods. But one faithful day, he found the Red Haired hunters successfully pursuing and capturing a huge animal (it was just a big wolf but to young Luffy, it could have been a squirrel for all he cared and he would still be impressed). After that, he escaped to the woods every day to meet with the infamous crew and ask them to take him with them when they left to go on their next voyage.
"Luffy, you're too young. There's no way I could take a five year old with me. Hunting is a dangerous job!" Shanks retorted. He took a sip of his wine to calm himself.
"I'm not five! I'm eight! And I'm plenty strong. My punches are like a pistol!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
Shanks hummed in thought for a few seconds before returning to the conversation. "Sorry, but you're still too young."
"I'm not young! I'm plenty manly. Look!" Luffy crouched down and reached for a dagger that was conveniently placed right next to his foot. He picked it up by its handle and held it up in the sky.
Shanks smirked and rolled his eyes "Get it over with- whatever you're going to do"
Without hesitating, Luffy stabbed the little space under that was between his wide eyes and his large mouth. Blood poured from the punctured skin. Everyone who witnessed this cringed in pain or yelled out in surprise except for Shanks and the two men sitting next to him.
"YEOWWW!" Luffy yelped in pain.
"Idiot! What is wrong with you?" Shanks yelled.
About five minutes later, Luffy was now sitting on the ground, rubbing the now bandaged wound with a pout.
One of the men from Shanks's crew walked by, chuckling. As he passed by Luffy, he patted him on the shoulder "That looked like it hurt!" and he walked away to refill his mug with more wine.
"It didn't hurt a bit!" Luffy chanted, obvious tears in his eyes threatening to pour out, still keeping a big smile on his face.
"Liar! That was a stupid thing to do!" Shanks spat, overhearing the brief conversation.
Clearing his eyes of tears Luffy bursted with a much happier smile "I'm not afraid of getting hurt at all! Take me with you on your next voyage!"
"Hahaha!" Shanks laughed uncontrollably. "You? A hunter? Impossible!"
"Fine! If you don't believe me, then I'll hunt something! Then you'll have to let me join you!" Luffy yelled out.
Shanks only huffed and shook his head in defeat. When Shanks wasn't looking, Luffy walked over to a small box. It looked like a small treasure box, except with no lock to protect its contents from greedy folks.
"Calm down, Luffy!" one hunter said as he joined a long kick line along with his fellow crew members.
"Let's just have a good time!" another one shouted.
"Yeah! Hunters always have a good time!" Lucky Roux hollered, surprisingly without a hunk of meat in either one of his hands.
"The sea is vast! There are so many islands to explore!" another man called out, enjoying his time in the line of celebrating hunters.
"And best of all, hunters are FREE!" the last man in the long line of celebrations cheered.
'FREE' that one word made Luffy's eyes light up. Unfortunately Shanks jumped in.
"You guys oughta stop filling his head with crazy ideas."
"But it's true!" Lucky said, the men all agreed by furiously nodding their heads.
When Shanks looked back at Luffy, he saw him eating something peculiar; a round purple fruit with a swirl design covering it completely and a very thin and oddly shaped stem.
"Hey Luffy" Shanks asked, his eyes squinted in suspicion. "What's that you're eating"
Luffy swallowed a big piece he had finished chewing, leaving less than half the fruit in his loose grip. "I don't know. It tastes bad though" still though, Luffy took one more large bite, finishing off the fruit. He stuck his tongue out in disgust once the chewed up bite went down his throat.
"Luffy. What did you eat?" Shanks asked. It seemed he already knew, but he was scared of the truth.
Before Luffy could speak, Lucky yelled out in distress "It's not here! The gomu-gomu no mi isn't here!"
"Don't tell me you actually ate it, Luffy" a drop of sweat dripped down Shanks's forehead in nervousness.
Luffy's eyes traveled away from Shanks's face, his lips puckered "what do you mean?" Unfortunately, Luffy was a terrible liar.
Shanks took Luffy's cheek and pulled it, but to Shanks's and especially Luffy's dismay, it had stretched, stretched much farther than a normal human's cheek could have ever been pulled.
"Whas wong wif mee?!" (what's wrong with me?!) Luffy shouted in terror.
Shanks massaged his temples and shook his head "You ate a forbidden fruit." Shanks huffed "we found it while hunting that animal" Shanks point his thumb in the direction of the now half eaten animal still cooking above the fire, "The forbidden fruits are protected by a special species of animal. They protect that fruit with their lives. To them, it's just a normal fruit- although its taste is completely out of this world-" Shanks was cut off by Luffy who was still being tugged on by Shanks.
"Ut it tashted howible!" (but it tasted horrible!) Luffy interjected.
"To humans." Shanks continued matter of factly "They have completely different taste buds then us humans, and because of that, they protect this rare and sacred fruit to eat." Shanks finally let go of Luffy's cheek when he heard him start to whimper in pain. "But many people hunt these animals to get these fruits. Not for their terrible taste, but the powers they hold. Each fruit carries their own different power. But the powers those fruits hold also contain a…dilemma. Once you eat one and attain its abilities, you lose the ability to swim."
"Whaaaatttt?!" Luffy yelled in disbelief. His jaw dropped in complete shock and his eyes nearly bulged out of his eyes.
"You idiot!" Shanks responded in total rage. Although he did sound like he was in a state of incredulity.
One week later
Luffy happily skipped through the woods, a very familiar smile on his face. He had forced himself to remember the route to Shanks's campout. According to Shanks, they had landed on the island about two weeks ago. But, much to Luffy's pleas, Shanks announced his departure scheduled for- well- today. And because of that, Luffy was going to do his very best to convince Shanks to take him along with his crew. Luffy scurried through the harsh vegetation that hindered his usually quick-paced movements.
By this point, the route to Shanks's hideout, stationed right in the middle of the large woods, was closer to the redhead's base he got, the more familiar the trees and shrubs and other sorts of plants became. The boy's smile widened from just showing off his pearly whites to now a full view of his gums.
Luffy sped up when his patience to see the man and his lively crew of subordinates grew thin. His short leg leaped as soon as the other hit the ground.
"SHANKS!" Luffy called out. He knew he was in the familiar base. He didn't even need to open his eyes to look at his surroundings… that is until he was met with unfamiliar grunts.
The unfriendly welcome made Luffy open his eyes to check if the vigorous man and his dynamic crew were actually there. And sure enough they weren't. Luffy's smile died down when his dark eyes were met with the eyes of a completely different man.
This said man had dark skin. His slitted eyes looked down at young Luffy in detest. A disgusted frown was plastered on the man's narrow face. There wasn't much to say about his wardrobe. He was wearing a dirty grey shirt with a very deep v-neck, regular long black pants that must have made his skinny legs sweat with the sweltering humidity that lingered in the air. The most noticeable thing he wore was either the ugly necklace that hung low on his neck. The accessory was just many bronze circles with a black crystal of some sort embedded into them hanging by a thick black string. The other memorable thing the tan man wore was a long jacket that didn't stop until it reached his ankles. It was a deep maroon color with spots of dried dirt splotched here and there, especially on the sleeves. It was completely unbuttoned, showing off his lack of style. And on the left side of this cloak-like jacket was a design. Golden infinity signs streamed vertically behind a long patch of black. The black made the gold colored thread really pop out amongst the rest of his lazily put together outfit. Of course, Luffy couldn't help but let his eyes linger on the green sword that hung at the man's hip.
"Ehh?" the man staring at Luffy finally pondered "what's a kid like you doing here?" The tone of the man's voice offered nothing but hostility.
"I'm Luffy!" the boy announced, "Who are you guys?" Luffy asked, loudly. To say he was a bit startled to find the man and his gang of practically identical men was a bit of an over statement. He had lived with Dadan for a whole five years so he was used to the cold treatment (and large crews consisting of indistinguishable men).
"Who are we? We're mountain bandits" his disgusted frown turned into a loutish smirk. Then, suddenly, his face glowed in recognition. His wide eyes retreated back to their usual half lidded position and his agape mouth turned back into a snarky smile.
"But what are you doing here, prince? You're quite far from the castle" his eyes closed to lessen the intimidation seeing as how valuable he would be.
"What are you talking about?" the bandit's eyes popped open. The boys mouth had grown into a large pucker and his eyes looked to the side "I'm not the prince"
The bandit stared at the boy in confusion. His attempt at lying completely put him off. He deadpanned at the child in front of him. But as he stared at the kid in complete confusion, a plan formulated in his brain.
Luffy finally unpuckered his lips, his mouth setting into a straight line. His eyes moved from the side to stare back at the muddled bandit. "Well" Luffy finally spoke up "bye now"
He turned around and walked off as if nothing had happened.
The bandit's eye twitched when they were met with the boy's back. "Oi! Listen kid! You are worth much more than you think" Higuma thought 'if I take this boy and hold him for ransom, I'll surely be paid generously' the bandit chuckled to himself. Luffy just stared at the quiet man in confusion.
Luffy just ignored his comment and continued walking. But before he could take another step, Higuma's boot had forcefully knocked on his back, kicking the boy with much strength. Luffy wobbled and eventually fell down, face first, onto the dry vegetated ground. Luffy immediately pushed himself up, leaving him in an odd bowing position. But before he could stand back up on his feet, something hard flew on his back again, making him fall back down. Luffy struggled to turn his head in an attempt to see what had hindered his freedom.
Higuma's foot was planted on the small of his back, applying as much pressure and weight as his lean body would allow. Luffy grunted each time he tried pushing himself off the ground. But those attempts were futile. Each time he struggled to hoist himself off the ground, it ultimately resulted in more weight being added to his captors leg.
"I'm not letting you get away, kid." Higuma was true to his word. It seemed no one would help him.
"Get off me!" Luffy complained, though the immense weight being pushed on his body didn't cease. Suddenly, a thought popped into Luffy's head- they were quite rare, and not very useful, but they were usually enough to help him escape from some of his shenanigans. Albeit, the situation didn't seem like one of Luffy's funny hijinks. Luffy threw back one of his short arms until it couldn't go back any further. This confused Higuma, but he thought nothing of it, just another stupid plan to escape his grasp, or rather, foot.
The raven haired boy's eyes squinted more and more with every second that passed by. He focused on nothing but the skinny tree in front of him. It wasn't very far, but still a good enough distance. He finally loosened his grasp on the overgrown grass with his left hand, his right arm still positioned awkwardly in the air. Then, with one last large grunt, he threw his right arm at the tree he had been staring so intensely at.
To say Higuma and his gang of practically identical bandits were surprised would be a complete understatement. Their eyes widened in shock as their jaws dropped to the floor. The kids arm had stretched and was heading for the skinny tree with no sign of slowing down… that is until about half way through its travel, his stretched arm had fallen to the grund and lamely dragged back to its usual human position on Luffy's body. The limb snapped back into place with much force.
Luffy puffed his cheeks out in anger. He was sure he could make it, except there was a bit of a problem: he had only received the power of rubber a week ago, and even during that week, he had barely even used his powers, scared his grandfather, and current king, would find out and give him the punishment of a lifetime.
Higuma's foot hesitantly hovered above the kid's back, but retreated immediately to its original spot on the kid's small back as soon as he remembered his mission. Luffy let out a small cough due to the hard and unexpected foot that rammed into his body.
'What is this kid?' Higuma asked himself as his leer scrunched up into a confused and disgusted face, as if an insult had been thrown his way. And although it was difficult to comprehend due to the insultee's odd wording of the abuse, there was still a sense that the silent question was meant to hurt.
"What-" the bandit was about to rudely ask. At this point, he had the upper hand, and the boy was forced to submit to him and please him with any answer he desired. But when he looked down, his ticket to a wealthy future had disappeared! His boot was smooshed up on the damp ground- the grass still had lingering water drops from the morning dew. Then his head turned upwards. He could have sworn he was on the verge of attaining whiplash from how fast his head shot up. The boy was running- quite fast, he might add- his figure was still on the near horizon.
"Men! Go after him! We can't afford to lose this boy" Higuma instructed.
The army of men charged after the boy as instructed. If their unneeded battle cries weren't loud enough to alert the boy, then the noise of their boots hitting the wet ground definitely did. Luffy turned his big head around. His eyes widened when he saw the gang of around twenty large men running after him. Luffy knew there was a good gap of space between himself and the mob of men, but the gap could only last so long, taking into account the men's longer legs, faster speed, and perhaps their larger amount of stamina. But, of course, none of those things made their way inside Luffy's mind. Instead, he just turned his head around and kept running. As much as he wanted to be acknowledged as a man, he had just the smallest little sliver of common sense. And that little sliver of discernment was telling him "Big men. Run" They were simple words, but it had kept Luffy alive more than once.
Luffy continued running. Since they were in the middle of the woods, there were quite a bit of obstacles. From weaving between thick trees to jumping over large shrubs. Of course Luffy's agile body had no trouble with these hurdles. In fact, he found these quite fun. Behind him, the herd of men were catching up quite quickly. They completed the natural obstacle course just as easily as Luffy had, and now they were practically a foot away from Luffy.
One of the men in the front of the group leaped out from the format and tackled Luffy. A squeaky moan left Luffy's throat. The way the man had tackled the boy wasn't exactly normal. Instead, it was unnecessarily painful. He shoved his bulky elbow into the small of Luffy's back, forcing him to the ground. Luffy was once again forced onto the ground, stomach down. The man's bony elbow was still forced and was now stabbing into his back. It was a painful position, but thankfully it didn't last long.
Soon enough, the man stood back up to his sturdy feet. But before Luffy thought he was free to go, he was pulled up. Far higher above the ground than Luffy's feet could touch. His arms were forced to reach far out. Two men held Luffy's stubby arms up, tightly, so there was no way he could escape.
They walked, in sync ,back to where Higuma was. This time, they weren't as rushed. None of them, except for Luffy, were panting, even with the wild goose chase Luffy had put them on. But that 'wild goose chase' actually turned out to be just under fifty yards.
Higuma chuckled once his crew with Luffy in tow came into view. They shuffled back, still in sync. Luffy frowned, letting his lower lip spill a little to show signs of a saddened pout. Of course, there were no signs of crying.
When the two men carrying Luffy by his arms came close enough to Higuma, they lowered him just a bit so he and Higuma could see eye to eye.
"Now that you're ba-" before Higuma could finish what he was saying, Luffy had swung his legs back and then forward, kicking him straight in the jaw, keeping a surprisingly straight face- it was as if he were a kicker in foosball.
Higuma's smug smile immediately turned into a fierce scowl, and his hand reached for his injured jaw. "Why you!" he turned his head to both the men lifting Luffy "drop him!" he instructed. They let go of his wrists. Because of his rubber powers, he bounced straight on his behind, but was immediately forced down yet again by a heavy boot. At least this time he was on his back. Higuma took one of Luffy's arms and stretched it up so he could still stand while keeping the small wrist in his grasp.
With his other tanned hand, he unsheathed his green detailed sword located on his hip. He threw his arm up to show the weapon in all its unamusing glory. The sun beams hit the metal blade, making Luffy squint his eyes. With much force, Higuma lowered the sword.
Luffy could help but squeeze his eyes shut. He felt his heart beat faster. Nothing he could do would help him now.
Something heavy fell on Luffy's stomach which made his eyes pop open. He wasn't dead. Far from it. But at that moment, all he felt was dread.
"Shanks?~" it was shaky, but it got the man's attention. He turned his head around.
"I'm glad you're alright Luffy" Shanks said. His familiar red hair blew in a refreshing wind that would have felt refreshing in the humid air, had the situation been different.
Large, salty tears fell from his eyes.
"Hey, stop crying! You're a man, remember?"
"B-but... Shanks! You're arm!" more tears poured out when they left Shank's smiling face and to the disembodied arm laying flat on his belly.
"You bastard! I'll cut your other arm off if I have to!" Higuma yelled. He took up his sword again in an attempt to slash another one of Shanks's appendages off. But before he could, Shanks pulled out his own sword.
It was impressive how Shanks was able to pull out his sword last minute and not only guard, but overpower his opponent. Doing all this without the slightest hint of pain on his face as well. It was a truly commendable feat that had Luffy in tears- well, that, and the guilt.
The strength of the red-haired man surprised Higuma. His slitted eyes widened in disbelief that some total stranger could best him. But 'best' was an understatement. Shanks had made sure he pay back the price, in full. Higuma's tan arm cut right off; it was as smooth as butter. His arm fell right onto the grass, sword still in hand, although the lifeless fingers had loosened his grasp on the weapon.
Higuma stuttered out a quiet "huh" to show his confusion, but that one simple word soon turned into a loud and inaudible scream. He backed away a few steps, he had almost tripped on his own arm. His yelps continued even as he ran. He had made sure he placed his hand on what was now the end of what was left of his arm to cover the blood that poured out, but even still, the red still dripped from between every finger and the edge of his palm. He continued his quick staggering to avoid more injury, and his equally scared crew didn't hesitate to follow behind.
"Hmm? What's up with them" Shanks thought to himself nonchalantly. He sheathed his sword back, securing it back on his hip so he could scratch his red hair with one finger. The redhaired man looked down when he heard the loudest whimpering he had ever heard. The tears still ran down from his closed eyes to his now irritated cheeks. It was clear he was trying to act tough and hold in the tears, though as hard as he tried, it was futile. Shanks reached his (only) arm out to Luffy, to which he complied by tightly grabbing the offered appendage. Shanks did most of the work pulling Luffy up, but that was to be expected. Even on his feet, he seemed to be unsteady. His eyes focused on Shanks's amputated arm as it slid off his body when he stood up. He closely focused on it, burning the image into his brain, which woridied Shanks.
"It's a small price to pay... just an arm" Shanks spoke up Luffy brought his head up to look at Shanks. "I'm glad you're okay" the solemn smile still remained on his face as Luffy wept. The tears just didn't seem to have an end.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Shanks had brought Luffy to the edge of the island where the Redhaired crew had docked their large boat.
"So you won't be coming back to this village after this voyage?" Luffy asked.
"We've been staying in this part of the kingdom for perhaps too long" Shanks replied. It was a fair reason, but Shanks couldn't help but notice Luffy's eyes travel to the ground and his frown deepen. "Are you sad?" Shanks asked, which woke him from his second long stupor.
A smile grew on his face as he spoke "Yeah, I am sad, but I won't ask you to take me anymore!" that last part relived the redhead. He wasn't quite sure how much more bombardment he could take. "I'm going to sail on my own and become a great man like you!"
Shanks gave a light chuckle, like someone had told an adequate joke. "Hmm? Really then? Well then-" Shanks slowly slid his straw hat off of his red hair and walked to the boy. When he was about a half a foot away, he slipped it onto Luffy's head "- do me a favor... keep this hat safe for me? It means a lot."
Luffy's nails dug into his shirt as his grasp on the edge of his shirt tightened. He ground his teeth, and suddenly tears poured down from the brim of what was now Luffy's hat which hid his glossy eyes. Shanks pulled away and walked closer and closer to his ship, but before he joined his crew that all lingered outside of the boat to watch the goodbye, he stopped, turned around, and said, "Promise that you'll give it back to me someday... when you've become a great man".
He turned around, and just as peculiarly as he had arrived, he left.
He boarded his boat after his other crewmates had yelled their goodbyes. He shouted orders to his crew, and they had sailed away.
Authors note:
I have started so many fanfictions that are just sitting in my docs, so if you enjoy this, please let me know and I may post some of those.
P.S. Please don't expect chapters after this to be as long. I was planning on making this a much longer chapter, but decided to stretch it out for another chapter or two. I hope you enjoyed! Please R&R, it'll mean so much to me, and give me so much more motivation to write.