Heya finally the new chapter! Got a job now and it's hell, I'll post when I can, I really love this story and I'll try to keep it up as much as I can!

Ages reminder:
Luffy: 9
Ace: 12
Sabo: 12
Zoro: 11
Nojiko: 13
Coby: 8

~ DD ~

The first thing the young man did when he left home was to hide his face with a dark mask he made himself. The captain merchant that hired him laughed at his face when he asked to be taken in, not only at his mask but also saying he didn't look like he was seventeen. In the end accepted him anyway. He was grateful. The merchant captain was an overweight red haired man who smelled like alcohol but at least he was joyful and who joked with his crew a lot, so he didn't regret his decision.

The ship departed a day ago and he was cleaning the main deck with two older boys. They were pretty rude if he was honest and he pretty much hated them but he knew better than fighting them. The teen didn't doubt that he would be thrown overboard if he started trouble and no matter how well he could swim he didn't feel like taking a bath in the frigid waters.

The reason he chose this ship in particular wasn't all that complicated. He heard that the Oykot island had the best Medical Academy of East Blue. He would work hard and become a great doctor, it was a promise he made to himself.

~ ASL ~

Things weren't looking up in Ace's life right now.

"Screw you!" Ace spat some build up blood to Hamrock's face, still struggling to escape to no avail. The dark haired man looked unhappy for a second and then without warning he simply twisted his ankle with a turn of the wrist to punish the gesture. Ace yelped from pain and surprise but then bit his lip to remain silent. It hurt but it wasn't overwhelming. He got punched twice more but he didn't say another word. He really wished he had his pipe, he was pretty sure that he would have been able to kick his ass with the weapon.

"Boss Boss!" Yelled a panicked man, Ace didn't bother looking at him, mostly because the world span too fast.

"Someone attacked the base! It's on fire! We found Jerry and Flow unconscious and they told us a bunch of kids…"

Aces blood ran cold and he raised his head. Hamrock was ignoring him now and stood up, taller than all his men. Ace knew he was really strong but cursed his own incompetence, if he was able to beat this guy, Sabo and Luffy wouldn't be at risk now. If only he was strong enough...

"Must be his brothers but we're on a tight schedule. The first ship is ready, Goug, get him to the meeting point. If I'm not here in an hour you can just go, I'll take the second ship, with the rest of the cargo."

"Yes Boss!"

Ace was pulled by his shirt and hollered on someone's back. His wrists were tied from the beginning of the interrogation and unlike the villagers those guys knew what they were doing, he wouldn't be able to escape that easily. He cursed himself and hoped Luffy and Sabo would be alright.

~ DD ~

He watched as the joyful Captain and a couple of men boarded the lifeboat to save their hides from the sinking ship. The storm was really unlucky and as the ship got split in half after some powerful wave, there was nothing much to do to save their trip.

One of his annoying young camarades tried to ask them to board as well but after he was refused twice, he was rewarded with a hit to his temple. The young man fell unmoving to the floor and the blue haired boy didn't try his turn. He wanted to check on the young man, he was slightly older than him and he made fun of his mask earlier the same day but he couldn't let him just die. He tried to reach him but the side of the ship he was in twisted and he lost his balance. The teen could only watch helplessly as a wave took the teen overboard. He couldn't do anything but stare with horror.

The half of the ship he was in was sinking alarmingly fast but he found an empty barrel to float with and just let himself go.

.

Hours later, the young man was laying on a beach, he found land, alive but alone. Out of spite he hoped the Captain and his men died but he didn't really believe in those thoughts. They wanted to survive as bad as him, he couldn't really fault them for trying their best.

The worst part from his point of view was probably that he lost all his parent's money, he wouldn't be able to pay for his studies, he wanted to cry but instead investigated this deserted sandy island. He would need to save all the water he had if he didn't want to die from dehydration. He could find the money later, for now he just needed to survive.

~ ASL ~

"We're done here." Sabo said with a contemplative voice and Luffy thought he was a bit angry. He could guess that from the nice bump he was now sporting on his scalp.

From what his brother explained to him, the villagers were stuck here working for these bandits and the rubber boy thought it was unfair, and now everything was on fire, thus the bump.

He wasn't even sure how that happened, he was never allowed to play with fire before, Ace said that the smell of burnt rubber was the worst. But now Luffy didn't regret it much, not only he found some great treasure, but he also destroyed the bandit's lair.

"The fire will get their attention, we should go to the village now." Mumbled his brother, he was carrying the treasure on his back.

"Yeah let's find Ace!" Yelled Luffy happily and turned to Zoro. His first mate was holding a very pale bandit by the rope he was tied to. The green teen was still hurt but looked better than before, happier. And when Luffy had tasked him with catching a bandit to find the village, the young swordsman had taken his job very seriously. Luffy wanted to hug him… though it was probably the wrong moment, he would do that later.

They walked in the forest, the bandit in the front, leading them. The island must have been smaller than Luffy thought because after a couple of minutes only, they were already at the village. With a swift move of Zoro's swords, the rope was cut and the bandit ran away, as promised. Sabo looked like he wanted to say something and Luffy decided it wasn't important.

"AAAACEEE!" He screamed to the empty village, they ran for a couple of minutes and suddenly lots of people attacked them. They didn't look like bandits and they fell way easier under his fists. Like for Coby, Luffy held back, he didn't want to hurt them too bad.

"Have you seen another kid? Around my age, dark hair, freckles." Sabo pulled one of their aggressors, or more like victims, by the collar.

"The God of the Depths will avenge-…" said a croaking voice and Sabo shook him, he shook him hard.

"Where is my brother?" Sabo had an odd edge to his voice, he sounded mad, Luffy had never seen him so angry and while he trusted Ace would be fine, seeing his brother so tense brought worry to the younger captain.

"Hey Captain" Said Zoro, while Sabo kept asking about Ace, "You should see this." He pointed something on the floor, a couple of meters from them.

It was a shoe, one of Ace's sandals, and next to it a spot of red. Luffy didn't know how to feel, Ace would be fine, he was strong. Stronger than any of them, he was… Luffy took the sandal, holding it tight.

"...t-they took him to the docks. T-they were s-supposed to leave y-yesterday but the s-storm…"

"Where are the docks?" Sabo's voice was cold, Luffy felt cold too.

"O-over there." Pointed the man and Sabo let him go, his gaze crossed Luffy's and he froze.

"Luffy." He said with a confident voice and a slight smile.

"Lets go get Ace back." A smile crept on Luffy's face as well.

"Yeah!"

They ran to the docks as fast as they could but there was only one ship to be seen with no Ace in sight. But worse, there was a lot of bandits loading this ship, and they saw them immediately.

Luffy got ready to fight, his arm already swinging for momentum. The bandits were numerous but not much better than the fry from the base.

"Gum gum no Whip!"

The guy that Sabo was fighting though, looked way stronger, but he trusted his brother and kept any bandits from getting any close to them.

Luffy didn't really see his brother getting punched hard but he heard him fall behind him. He walked to stand next to his brother, he was bleeding from his nose and glaring at the man.

"Where is my brother?" Asked the blond and Luffy noticed that Zoro got the memo as well and stood on Luffy's right. It reassured Luffy to know that his first mate was at his side, Zoro was really cool and awesome.

"Haha he's already gone to the sea but no worries, you guys are joining him soon. But first, which ones of you are Garp's grandsons?"

Luffy froze in instinctive fear, yeah he didn't want to face his grandpa, really really not but before he had the time to process what was going on, Sabo pulled at his arm and Zoro's and started running to the forest, pointing a direction.

"Ace is a priority! Luffy! As soon as you can make a Slingshot! To the ship!" Luffy's mouth opened in surprise while Zoro looked at both of them without understanding. Luffy frowned unhappily, he wanted to fight, to prove he was strong enough to save Ace. But at the blond's expression he decided to listen and question him later. Sabo always made better plans anyway.

Despite the adults pursuing them they were still really fast on their feet and while they didn't lose the men, they had enough margin to attempt the move.

They hadn't exactly practiced it before. The three brothers talked about it after what happened on the Humming Isles. After seeing Luffy use it to get away, they thought about doing it together. A solution for a quick and efficient escape from any "too much to handle" authorities that tried to pursue them. Luffy smiled excitedly and once he found a nice spot, he caught two well placed branches and pulled back, suddenly stretching his arms at the opposite side to where they needed to go. Meanwhile bandits were slowly catching up, he better be fast.

"Get ready! It's going be quick." if Luffy was more perceptive (or perceptive at all) he would hear the slight hint of apprehension in his voice.

Sabo wrapped his arm around the treasure to steady it and with his free hand pulled on Zoro's arm to set him in front of Luffy. With a sigh, Sabo stood next to the confused crewmate. Zoro turned to the arriving bandits, he wasn't really attentive to what his new Captain was doing, otherwise he would have been way more afraid for his life.

"Gum gum no…"

It happened without any more warning and as he let go, Luffy pulled his legs around his crewmates to make sure they wouldn't get away and they literally flew.

"...SLINGSHOT!

Behind them the bandits just stared in surprise.

"What the f-"

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO CATCH THEM!" Yelled Hamrock and his underlings scammed to obey.

~ NN ~

Nojiko's feeling of unease never stopped growing since they left the docks but there was nothing to be done. The guards followed her closely and Sandra was walking right next to her, giving the illusion to be on her side. Nojiko sighed, she wondered why she was in trouble, did one of the families that housed her complain about her or something? Did she do something wrong?

"Do you know about the war, the one that ended twelve years go?" Nojiko jumped slightly and nodded. She didn't really feel like talking, thankfully the older woman had that covered.

"The king Clemence was a great ruler, he finished what his father started and conquered this whole island. Took him many years but he became the Emperor of the Oykot Kingdom. And honestly it would have been fine if after a couple of years of reign, he didn't start taking the people who interested him as slaves. The army was already full of them, full of slave-soldiers that lost the war and as he was so successful, people started to believe that he was some kind of God."

Nojiko looked up at the woman who was giving her a particularly cold stare. Her voice was still calm and Nojiko guessed that as the new ruler she probably had no love for the old regime. No one told her this part of the story, mostly the grand lines and not so bluntly.

"There are a lot of legends surrounding this place but one in particular might interest you."

She still had no idea what it had to do with her words.

"Have you ever wondered why families accepted to help you so gracefully? Did you believe it was from the goodness of their hearts?" Nojiko gulped, suddenly feeling threatened by her cooling voice.

"Legends say that blue hair is a sign of good luck and grants wishes. But it's not any blue color, it's a very particular shade, the pale shade of sky reflected on the sea."

Nojiko's eyes widened, she had been surprised by the generosity of the people but she didn't know anything of the sort, it did explain the reverence and the politeness of the families. Sandra continued.

"They say blue is the color of the Gods, the colors of the rulers. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

They were in front of the Palace, the white building was imposing but less than she expected. Her head was spinning, it was smaller and a tower was missing, she felt sick, she didn't like the idea of going there. Sandra put her hand on Nojiko's shoulder and lead her forwards gently, talking in a lower, kinder voice.

"I really wished you wouldn't stay that long, that you'd leave before it was too late. You've been recognized and we can't keep you free, I apologize, Princess."

Nojiko couldn't move, she couldn't think. She recalled the royal family had been killed, that's why she wasn't able to find any family… because they were all gone.

~ ASL ~

Sabo knew when to give up, he knew this fight wasn't worth it, Ace was more important. He always believed in Ace's strength, and if Ace lost...

He was really good at pretending that it was alright for Luffy's sake but he also knew he couldn't lie too long. Luffy would read him given time and he wouldn't like what he would see.

Ace was hurt, more than hurt maybe, probably, the man Sabo fought was really strong and he didn't miss the shine of cruelty in his eyes. If the tall adult wanted something, he would get it and he got Ace.

"Open the sails, the caverns won't hold them that long, we need to go!"

Luffy sprung to unfurl the sails and Sabo directed the swordsman to retrieve the anchor as he himself took care of the half-done mooring he did earlier the same day. How fast did everything go to hell? Sabo was angry but in control, the bandits wouldn't catch up to them and they would be able to go look for Ace.