A/N
So, I've decided to reboot this series. It still won't be a full-fleshed story, but a series of one-shots/drabble (with no word count in mind), skipping parts of canon material, even if it won't completely follow canon. The difference is that it'll be following the timeline, starting from Luffy's childhood. I keep the right to add a piece depicting what happened in the past if I think up something cool after we already went past that point, but other than that, the story will be in order. That's why I deleted the previous two chapters after a long time of debating what to do.
WARNING1: the world will be AU, certain worldbuilding will be done to accommodate the new premise, and it will ultimately derail canon quite a lot. Ds are vampires, containing an inner entity that is called the inner demon inside them. They are alpha predators, highly volatile creatures, very possessive, extremely territorial, and absolute battle freaks. They thrive in fighting and bloodbath more often than not (hence M rating). Of course, everything comes to their control over their demons and their temper.
Luffy will be fairly OOC. I want to write dark, dominant, (accidentally) seductive, ridiculously strong femLuffy to just have fun and self-indulge instead of worrying about millions of things that I need to worry about in my other stories. She will start without Devil Fruit and gain one at a certain point along the way.
WARNING2: Super self-indulgent! The author regrets nothing!
WARNING3: English is not my native language. This won't be betaed. Read at your own risk.
POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNINGS: blood, possible gore, violence, murder, blood drinking, (sort of) animalistic behavior, possible suggestive scenes, display of platonic affection. Battle crazy vampires are not the cuddly type unless you're their nakama.
I'm open for any type of opinion in the comments (likes, dislikes, speculations, questions, etc). I'll appreciate constructive criticism that might help me improve. Just please no telling me that my English sucks. I KNOW it sometimes sucks, comes with territory of not having English as my first language. I'm trying my best, give me a break.
I also appreciate when people write a reason why they decide to drop the story. I'm just curious like that.
Ominous
Red-Hair
"—can't anymore, Garp-san!"
"Makino…"
Lying silently in her bed in an antic room above the bar, Luffy fisted her hand into her blanket.
"She doesn't listen! Villagers are afraid of her!"
Her grandfather didn't even answer this time. Or if he did, she couldn't hear him.
"She hurt those kids, Garp-san!"
Her eyes burned and Luffy pulled the blanket more tightly around herself. Curled in the corner of her soul, her inner demon whined.
Stupid prey humans. Those assholes always insulted her, yet she let them be. But when they started throwing stones… Well, that was when she simply snapped.
"I can't—" Makino's voice cracked and for some time there was only silence. "I'm no longer equipped to deal with her. Why can't you take her?"
"You know why. If the Navy will find out about—" Garp suddenly fell silent. "I have to keep them busy. And Dragon fell out of contact completely after dropping the girl. Something bad happened—"
As her demon let out another whimper, Luffy pressed her hands against her ears. She wanted to be here as much as Makino wanted her here.
She thought about happier things, a place where she felt safe and wanted. Its memory started to fade over time, finer details were already gone. All she could still remember was a tall figure with piercing black eyes and a demon that eclipsed her senses with the protective ferocity.
"I'll take her when she's seven. One more year, Makino. Please."
The guys downstairs were loud, particularly so. More than usual.
Luffy pressed her face into the pillow and growled.
For the most part, drunken noise from below never bothered her. She could sleep through the loudest racket and not even twitch, but it had been three weeks. Three weeks from the last time she drank and she was thirsty.
So, so thirsty.
Throat felt parched and veins dry. Her fangs ached and body throbbed. It almost hurt, yet not really. Distant, deep, primal urge burning her from inside out. A need for survival.
Luffy was stubborn. She refused to listen to it.
One part of her mind realized that it was a stupid ordeal. Just because he denied herself blood, didn't mean that Makino would start liking her. However, her unwilling guardian was the closest she had to someone being hers, someone being her pack.
A growl, slow, heavy, full of malcontent, filled her soul. A sound that clearly meant You're pissing me off. Done with her misbehaving, her demon no longer felt like staying docile. Hackles raised, teeth bared, it threatened to rebel against its own master.
And that wasn't something Luffy could allow, she knew instinctively.
Shoving the blanket off of her, the girl slid down from the bed, the wooden floor cold against her bare feet. Silently, she padded to the lone window and opened it.
The sky was black canvas dotted by millions of stars crowding around the full and bright moon. Warm, orange glow spilled through the windows and illuminated empty streets. Cool sea breeze swept over and Luffy took a lungful of fresh air. She had always found the night to be a comforting presence.
The girl hopped on the windowsill and looked around. Two guys talking in hushed voices below her perch were of no interest to her. She stood up, hugged the corner of the window, and reached for the roof so that she could grab it and pull herself on top.
Unconsciously inching forward and leaning more and more forward, Luffy never noticed when she put her feet on the very edge of the windowsill. Until she slipped and tumbled down like a stone.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
The guys below startled at the sound of her terrified shriek. The moment one of them lifted his head, holding his straw hat so that it wouldn't fall off, was the moment when the girl crashed straight into his face.
Luffy plopped ungracefully on the ground, face first into the dust, and groaned. That hurt! And it seemed that she hit something hard, she thought, as she rubbed her stinging forehead.
"Captain, you okay?"
There was a sniff and then muttered, "Yeah. Peachy."
"You have a bloody nose." There was a distinct lilt of amusement etched in that comment.
"Thank you. Benn. For your astute observation," the reply came through clenched teeth. "I might have missed this little fact if you wouldn't have pointed it out."
Luffy's nose tingled, all of her senses suddenly stilling, going quiet for the briefest moment, and then roaring to life, overwhelming her. She whipped her head around, eyes glowing crimson.
It was the first time she smelt something this—this—this intoxicating. Heavenly. It stimulated every single feeling of bliss, soothed her thirst by its smell alone.
Such strong blood.
Simmering just underneath her skin, her demon gave an agreeable rumble, urging her further.
"Huh?" The man in the straw hat looked at the girl, pressing his hand over his bleeding nose. His brown eyes widened at the sight of bright red ones watching him and his jaw went lax in sheer shock.
For a few seconds, they just stared at each other.
Then, Luffy attacked.
There was no warning, no build-up. One moment she was still sitting on the ground and the next she blurred forward, mouth wide open, white fangs glinting in the moonlight.
The man yelped in surprise, stumbling back to avoid getting that dangerous set of teeth anywhere near him. His companion caught the girl by the scruff of her neck and flung her away.
Luffy landed nimbly on her feet like a cat poised to strike, despite the strength behind the throw sending her skidding through the soil. Slitted red eyes regarded two men in front of her like they were nothing but prey to be hunted.
Benn raised his rifle, finger at a ready on the trigger.
"Whoa, whoa! Come on, Benn, no need for that," the other man said as he pushed the weapon's muzzle down. "It's just a child."
Reluctantly, Benn lowered his rifle, flicking his cigarette to the other side of his mouth in a nervous habit. "You sure, Shanks?"
The man hummed in assent as he moved his bloody hand back and forth, observing how the girl's intense gaze followed it without as much as a blink. "A very thirsty child by the looks of it." Slowly, as if not to spook the kid into offensive again, he gripped the handle of his saber sword.
Luffy's lips pulled up into a snarl, chest rumbling with a growl.
But the man—Shanks—didn't draw his sword all the way out. Just enough to brush his wrist along the blade and then let it slide back into its sheath. Ignoring his companion's disapproving glower, he crouched down and raised his heavily bleeding appendage. "Drink, kid," he said softly. "You're gonna get yourself in trouble if you stay that way."
Luffy's throat constricted at all that sweet sweet blood flowing. She gulped, taking a step closer. Gaze flicked at the man to gauge his motive, but an open, gentle expression gave no sign of danger.
Blood was still dripping on the ground. What a waste.
Luffy shot from her spot like a bullet. Sharp teeth sank into the man's wrist, claws digging into the meat of his arm.
Shanks hissed, but didn't pull away. "There you go," Luffy heard him murmuring in a steady, sort of fond, understanding tone, warmed by the smile that was obviously now present on his face. A weight settled down on her head, stroking her wild mane of black hair. Surprisingly, she didn't even twitch at the unfamiliar touch. "Isn't it better now?"
Feeling her demon's presence finally receding into the depths of her soul, content and satiated, Luffy detached herself from the human and quickly retreated to stand at the safe distance. She wiped the blood from her mouth, a wary glare fixed on two adults.
Benn was wrapping some sort of cloth around his captain's wrist, keeping the girl in his sight at all times. Shanks, though, just grinned at her, broad and dazzling.
Luffy gawked. Weird. No one reacted to her drinking their blood with so much joy before.
Most suspicious.
"Hey!" The man waved at her once his companion finished with his task and took a step to the side. "I'm Shanks! What's your name?"
Luffy's heart fluttered as she stared at that brilliant expression beaming straight at her. It was such an odd feeling, she didn't know what to do with it. Her demon didn't help either, suddenly letting out a little happy yip of approval.
The safest thing to do was to flee. So that was what Luffy did. She swiveled on her heel and disappeared into the night.
Luffy peeked around the corner, immediately zeroing on the specific man in the crowd that was milling around the Foosha's pier. In his straw hat, he was easily identifiable among his people.
Shanks was a pirate, as she found out, a captain to his own crew. Benn, the second man from that night, was his first mate. Yasopp was a super cool guy who could hit a target from miles away. Contrary to his huge appearance, Lucky Roo seemed like a very kind man. Apparently, Orman's duties were to navigate the ship once they sailed through the seas. Haig was a doctor and sort of the mother-hen to the crew. Seabury was—
After a couple of days, Luffy could attach a name to every single face of Shanks' crew. Not like they hid it from the public, it wasn't hard to find out. She was definitely not stalking them or anything, they were not that interesting.
She was a bit interested in Shanks though. Just a smidge.
The man in question burst into bright laughter at something his first mate had said.
Luffy's cheeks blossomed red. What a wonderful sound. His fascinating red-hair and an awesome battle scar across his eye—he was quite handsome.
Luffy took a deep breath. The pirates were leaving today and she wasn't sure if they were coming back, so mustering all the courage, she left her hiding spot and walked towards the crew.
Yasopp noticed her and elbowed his captain. "Captain, your little admirer is here," he teased with a smirk.
Shanks smacked him upside his head, eliciting an indignant 'ow!' from the sniper. He paid no attention to the latter's dramatics. Instead, he favored the approaching girl with his usual warm grin.
Just another reason why Luffy liked him.
"Hi!" the man greeted her. "I haven't seen you for a few days."
The white bandages around his arm as he waved at her, made Luffy's chest tighten for some reason, even if her demon perked up at the memory of the smell and taste of his blood.
Luffy stopped a few feet away from Shanks. "I'm Luffy," she said, wringing her hands nervously.
Shanks' smile only grew wider. "Nice to meet you, Luffy."
And that was when her mouth decided to disconnect from her brain and ran away on its own. "I like your hair," she blurted out without a thought.
Silence.
"A-And your scar... It's cool," she added in a whisper.
Shanks just kinda stared at her with a weird expression. His crew broke into hushed giggles and smothered sniggers.
"Why, thank you." The man's smile returned tenfold as he crouched down. He reached for her, a measured action slow enough for the girl to duck out of the way. Luffy didn't. She allowed his big hand to land on her head. "I like your hair too."
Luffy could feel her face heating up again. No one ever praised her hair. Or any part of her.
"Say, Luffy, where is your pack?"
The girl startled. Shanks knew about the pack?! He was amazing! "Don't know," she replied.
The man furrowed his brow.
"Makino is looking after me," she added in a hurry, then pursed her lips. "She doesn't like me though."
Shanks sighed, lifting his straw hat to brush fingers through his red hair. Such a stunning color. Like flowing blood. "A child of D all on her own, what the hell…" he grumbled under his breath.
His crew might not have heard it, but Luffy did. She cocked her head to the side. "Why do you have my kin's protection mark, Shanks?"
A surprise crossed the man's features. "You're already so in tune with it that you can sense the mark?" he questioned, sounding absolutely baffled. "At such a young age?"
Luffy blinked at him, not understanding what he was so shocked about. The mark screamed at her senses loud and clear.
"Well," Shanks said as he fixed his straw hat back on his head. "My late captain was one of your kind."
Luffy's eyes almost jumped out of their sockets. "Really?!"
"His name was Gol D. Roger, better known as the Pirate King." A smirk tugged at the corner of Shanks' mouth. "Would you like to hear more?"
A/N
Tiny femLuffy having her first crush on Shanks. The moment that idea popped in my head, I just had to write it lol This setup seemed more than perfect for it.
I have a discord channel now, so if you're interested, here is the link: discord. gg/a7tQPPa
