I don't know about you guys but when I was a kid I was blown away when my friend told me her mom had a cell phone with a camera in it. And I'm only eighteen. Technology really has come a long way in such a short time.

For starters those were the nicest review I've ever gotton! I am so glad you guys like this story! I promise I will do my best to make this story good. You guys are the best. I know I've said this before but if I ever don't reply to you it is an accident I swear. Just let me know and I will fix it. If you're ever curious about anything just let me know! I love answering questions!

"That's amazing!" Luffy said excitedly as he stared at the device in Zoro' hand.

Zoro frowned looking down at his own hand as well. Amazing was a strong word to describe it. It was just a calculator. One of those fancy color graphing calculators.

"It can really play games?" Luffy asked his face displaying such awe that Zoro couldn't help but laugh.

"It also graphs." He told Luffy showing him. "And you can type on it."

Unable to control his enthusiasm Luffy grabbed the device from Zoro, inspecting it carefully.

"Wow!"

Zoro laughed again at that. Luffy's excitement for common house hold items was sort of endearing. It was a fancy calculator but it was still just a calculator. He used one just like it for school.

"Wait till you see the stovetops. Some of them are just circles that heat up." He hadn't even broached the children toys section yet. Something told him that if he showed Luffy the remote control pirate ship he would have to buy it for him.

The three of them were currently hanging out at a nearby store. The town was small and in turn they only had a few shops. But even the limited selection was enough to amaze Luffy. Upon arriving in town Ussop had immediately taken off toward his Grandmother's house to give her the medicine. Zoro, Luffy and Sanji had stayed behind, keeping close to the tree line waiting for Ace, Thatch and Marco. They figured it would be best to give Ussop and his Grandmother a little space for a while. Besides Luffy was more than happy to go window shopping. The store managers were less than happy that he tried to touch everything.

Sanji had taken the helm of the serious one. He was currently reloading their ammo and replacing the broken weapons. Despite how helpful this was it pissed Zoro off to no end. Everything that kid did seemed to piss him off.

"Do you think Ussop made it to his grandmothers in time?" Luffy asked curiously as they made their way out of the shop.

Zoro shrugged. "Hopefully."

They watched as Sanji came up to them, his backpack slung across one shoulder. No doubt full of spare bullets. He handed a long bulky package to Luffy. It was wrapped in brown paper but it had some oddly shaped bulges.

"What is it?" Luffy asked curiously shifting it in his hands.

"Portable crossbow," Sanji told him as he reloaded his gun. He smirked at Luffy's confused gaze.

"It's for you."

Luffy's smile grew comically wide. "Really! I can keep it!"

Sanji nodded. "If a tiny kid like you is going to be watching my back against a hoard of vampires then it would be a comfort if your weapons weren't fifty years outdated."

Completely ignoring the insult part Luffy instead choose to hug Sanji. Much to the blonde's annoyance.

"Thank You!" He said as Sanji pushed him away.

"Yea Yea whatever," Sanji said. "Seriously how old was your last one anyways?"

Luffy shrugged noncommittally. "Who knows, I found it."

"Just lying around in the forest?" He asked confused.

Luffy nodded oblivious to Sanji's confusion as he inspected the new weapon.

"Don't you think that was a bit odd?" Zoro prompted, jumping into the conversation.

"No! Hunters are always leaving stuff lying around. Especially when they get mauled or eaten."

Zoro and Sanji exchanged a surprised look at that. They had never really thought about that. Were there just piles of human stuff at the bottom of a lake somewhere or did the creatures make use of it.

"Where does the rest of it go?"

Luffy shrugged. "Who knows? Some of it the Vampires take for their hoard. But I think most of it gets burned."

"Why?" Zoro and Sanji asked unanimously.

"I'm not sure. They don't really like humans so they try their best to get rid of everything human related. As long as it disappears they don't really care what happens to it. Sometimes they ask Ace to do it."

Sanji blinked in surprise, "Why him?"

"Well he really likes fire," Luffy explained. "Sabo says he's a pile maniac."

"What?" Sanji asked clearly lost.

"Pyromaniac." Zoro translated helpfully. That did sound like a plausible personality quirk for the wolf teen.

"Great!" Sanji said sarcastically as he slung his weapon over his shoulder. "We should probably head back to the boarder. The others could be getting here anytime."

Zoro and Luffy followed him down the street and back to the edge of town. They walked in relative silence, occasionally stopping to pull Luffy away from a window display. The town was a quaint one, not as large as Zoro and Sanji were used too. But apparently it was much less excluded then the woods and Luffy was drinking in every bit of it. Anybody who spent five minutes with the kid could easily recognize he was a people person. An extravert through and through. So apparently the opportunity to be around people was exciting to him. No doubt it must have also been nice to be around his own kind again. The questioned remained why he was so reserved in his home town but not here.

"Will the three of them be okay?" Zoro asked.

Luffy just laughed at his concern, "Of course they will, Ace is really strong."

The trio once again lapsed into silence. The sun had risen long ago and the day was warm despite being in the midst of fall. They stayed that way until they arrived at the boarder of the woods. It was a little ways from town across a scarcely used road. A large neon sign warned passersby's about the horrors that lay inside.

"Hey Luffy?" Sanji prompted.

"Mhmm?"

"Why don't you like hunters? If you're a hunter you should be used to them right?"

Both Zoro and Luffy stared at Sanji like he had grown a second head. They both were surprised but Luffy looked like he had just gotten slapped. He took a step backwards from the force of the invisible hit.

"Luffy's a hunter?" Zoro questioned.

Sanji nodded. He had seen the tattoo on Luffy's wrist when he grabbed him. It was usually covered by his red hoodie but in their struggle it had been revealed.

For the first time since they met Luffy he was at a loss of words. He looked lost. He opened his mouth to reply but closed it again unsure of what to do.

Sensing his obvious discomfort Sanji raised his hands in a sign of surrender. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. It was just a question." For the first time his voice became soft.

Zoro was about to cut in when three voices from the forest.

"Alright! I get it already." Ace's clear voice rang out across the clearing.

"No you don't! I haven't even told you about the best part."

"Yes you have." Marco argued. "You've told us at least three times now. WE GET IT, Pirates are better than ninjas. Let it go."

The three of them paused as they saw Zoro Sani and Luffy. Thatch waved excitedly. "Hey you guys! We made it."

"You broke him!" Ace accused as they walked up to the group.

Luffy was unusually pale and still. For a kid who was full of way too much energy it was pretty noticeable.

Ace put his hand on Luffys shoulder, snapping his fingers in the kids face to get his attention.

"Oy, Lu?"

Luffy snapped out of his own thoughts, grinning when he saw Ace standing there.

"Your back!"

"Welcome back to reality." Ace said sarcastically throwing his arm around Luffy's shoulder.

"What the hell did you ask?" Thatch whispered to Sanji as the group began to make its way to town.

Sanji shrugged. "Who the hells knows? Probably something I shouldn't have."

Still something was tugging at the back of his mind. Not for the first time since they had met Luffy had thoroughly surprised him. For starters Luffy was way too young to have that tattoo. They usually didn't begin the official training until the candidate was a teenager. And even then it took years to become a full fledge hunter. Plus being a hunter was a lot like having a first aid certification. It never really went away. You didn't just wake up one day and decide not to know a thing about saving lives. It was for life.

Sanji was not a hunter himself but working at the road house he did know a lot about them. He was pretty sure living with a wolf was a big no no in the hunter community. Besides his weapons were outdated as hell. No self-respecting hunter would allow themselves to be seen with such low grade material. Even in the woods when they had gotton cornered by vampires. Luffy had let them go. He clearly could have killed them both. Not to mention there was a wolf right fricking there! Yet engaging in a fight with Ace to the death over the pride of the human race seemed to be the last thing on his mind. Either there was something more going on here or Luffy was the crappiest hunter he had ever met.

They made their way back to town in relative silence. Ussop met the halfway. He looked tired but relived.

"She's going to be okay you guys! We got the medicine to her in time. The doctors say she is too angry to die anyways."

"Angry about what?" They couldn't help but ask.

Ussop shrugged, "Who knows. She is just kind of an angry person… want to meet her?"

Luffy cheered in excitement while the others looked away awkwardly.

"I don't know if she wants to see me… my hairs a mess."

"I haven't showered today and I smell like I slept on the ground."

"Do I have to?"

Ussops eyes were pleading, "Please guys, she really wants to meet you."

Luffy grabbed Ace's hand and began to drag him towards Ussop. "Come on it will be fun."

Ace dug his heels into the ground looking hesitantly at the town boundary in front of them. If Marco didn't know him better he would almost call the expression fear. But if Ace had proved anything to him it would be that he didn't get scared.

"Please?" Ussop asked again.

"Fine," Sanji sighed. "If it's that freaking important I'll go. I mean she did just nearly die."

Although his words weren't meant to be inspirational they seemed to convince the others. It was pretty hard to turn down the wishes of a sick old lady. The same old lady they had just tramped through wolf infested woods to save.

Both Luffy and Ussop cheered as the group began making its way towards a hill just on the outskirts of town. It was doubtful Luffy really even knew what he was cheering for.

As it turned out Ussops grandma was definitely not the typical granny. After another thirty minutes of walking they had finally arrived at her small and quaint house. It was pretty much what they were expecting. It was a pleasant looking two story house with Victorian style architecture. There were flower boxes below each window full of what used to be summer time flowers. The frost of fall had clearly wiped them out. It was the perfect house of an elderly and ailing grandmother. Which was very misleading after they actually met her. Ussop was right, she was angry.

The doctor had left a few hours ago. Purposely giving Ussop some time with his gran. He had promised to come back and check on her in the mourning.

Being respectfully quite the group tiptoed up the rickety wooden stairs to her bedroom on the second story.

"Grandma we're here." Ussop called to her.

She turned to them, wearing hue coke bottle glasses that seemed to magnify her eyes.

"What big eyes you have." Ussop said sarcastically.

"And what big teeth you have as well."

He was of course referring to the large set of false teeth on her bedside table. They looked much too big for such a frail old lady. Undoubtedly the effect was quite comical.

"Eh? What did you say boy?" She asked.

She grabbed an old fashioned hearing aid from her bedside table. It looked rather like an old trumpet. Those things had gone out of use years ago. They had much smaller and more efficient ones now. No doubt she hadn't gotten the message. It was a miracle she got any message with that thing. Still it was a wonder no one had thrown it out when she wasn't looking. It was an abomination to the modern world.

"I said what big ears you have grandma." Ussop called loudly.

The group of teens ducked as the ancient hearing aid came flying towards them. They managed to move out of the way just in time for it to collide with the wall. Somehow and seemingly impossibly it was unscratched. For such an old lady she sure could throw well. It was hard to believe she was on her death bed just hours earlier.

"Don't get smart with me." She warned menacingly. Her enlarged eyes blinking dangerously.

Marco coughed loudly, trying to break the tension. "Well it's getting pretty late and I'm sure the two of you want to catch up so we will just be going." They could probably crash at a motel for a night. Undoubtedly Ussop wanted to stay until she fully recovered. They couldn't very well just leave him here to find his way back to town on his own.

"Nonsense." She scoffed. "You seven are staying here for the night. I'll go make up the living room for you." She said as she moved to rise from the bed.

"No!" Every in the room cried in alarm. The doctors had specifically ordered her to stay down and rest for the day.

"We can do it ourselves Gran." Ussop promised quickly.

"Y'all so jumpy." She said shaking her head as they exited the room. She continued to mumble angrily about being treated like a softie.

Ussop laughed nervously as he gently shut her door.

"Good old Gam Gam, she never changes."

"She is a piece of work alright." Marco said as another crash sounded from the room. She had clearly thrown something else.

"I like her." Ace said crossing his arms. Of course he would. The two of them went oddly well together.

"She's funny." Luffy agreed with a laugh.

"What do we do now? It's not like we're going anywhere for a while." Thatch pointed out.

"I'm going to bed." Zoro stated as he pushed passed them. Heading towards the living room. Unable to offer any suggestions the teens followed him. With the exception of Sanji who went decidedly for the kitchen. No doubt to start preparing.

They all made themselves comfy on the scatter of furniture, most of it looked quite old indeed. Zoro had no problem hunkering down on one of the smaller couches. He was asleep in minuets and his snores were quite audible. That was ne carefree person.

Thatch on the other hand looked like a kid at a sleep over. He jumped up excitedly and ran over to the tv grabbing an old vhs tape from the top. He pushed it into Ace's face proudly.

"See! This is a pirate!" He said pointing to the cover. It looked to be a copy of an old pirate documentary.

At the word Pirate Luffy immediately perked up, he crawled over a sleeping Zoro to investigate the tape.

"Pirates!" He cheered excitedly, snatching the tape from Thacth to inspect it.

"You know what they are?" Ace asked with a mix of surprise and exasperation.

Luffy nodded enthusiastically. "When I was little I really wanted to be a pirate when I grew up."

Thatch's eyes practically lit up at the confession as he took the tape back. "Guess what we are watching tonight guys!"

Marco and Ace moaned unanimously. This was the last thing they wanted to do. Sure pirates seemed cool, no argument here. But at the same time the documentary looked like it was in black and white. Plus it was bound to be boring.

"Do we have to?"

"Yes!" Thatch said as he once again rose to play the tape.

Marco shared a look with Ace as they both sighed. Neither very keen on doing this. Sadly enough they were the only ones who seemed to care. Even after Sanji returned from the kitchen he didn't voice any complaint.

"This is what humans waste their time doing?" Ace asked in disbelief. "Its mind numbing!"

"Most things are more exciting than this," Marco explained.

"Pirates are always exciting!" Thatch insisted."

After a solid hour of watching blurry black and white ships sail slowly across the harbor all Ace had learned was it took pirates forever to get where they intended. They weren't nearly as cool as Thatch and Luffy had suggested. Aside from being continuously wasted it looked like a pretty dull profession. Besides if Luffy wanted to be one then it was probably impossible and or dangerous.

.

Ace woke up with a start with Thatch snoring loudly besides him.

He squeezed his eyes closed willing the images to go away. The worst part of waking up in the middle of a nightmare was having to remember it. Was this how Luffy felt? Being in the human village did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves. Even though there were substantially less hunters here it was still weighing heavily on his shoulders. Despite having a human mother the villagers had made it pretty clear they considered him a monster. The same as the creatures that resided in the forest. As long as he had wolf blood in his veins that was all they would ever see him as.

He pushed himself off the couch, still panting. He scanned the group of teenager before him, finding his brother among them with ease. Luffy was sleeping on the floor, curled over on his side. His dream still fresh in his mind he made his way across the floor, kneeling besides his brother.

"Luffy?" He asked shaking his shoulder.

When Luffy didn't respond he grew worried. Images from his dream flashed through his head. They took the rational part of his brain and replaced it with fear.

Luffy was dead, the humans had already gotton to him

Ace rolled him onto his back, shaking both his shoulders so roughly his back lifted off the ground a few centimeters.

"Yea?" Luffy asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes with his hand. "What's the matter Ace?"

Relief flooded through him. He was being stupid, Luffy was fine. There was no angry mob of humans trying to kill them. Being in this town did nothing to comfort him. He had never been surrounded by humans like this. It honestly wasn't a pleasant experience. They were such fickle creatures. It was almost too easy to get them into a tizzy and make them do something they would regret.

He fell on top of Luffy in relief causing the boy to let out a surprised chirp.

"Did you have a bad dream Ace?"

"Mmm." Ace answered back sleepily. He voice was muffled by Luffy's shoulder.

He was too tired to scold Luffy for suggesting such a thing. He was too brave for such things as bad dreams and nightmares. That was just ridiculous. Usually he would hit him for saying such a thing but seeing as it was so late he would let it go this time.

He could smell Luffy's heartbeat. No doubt this is what Sabo had to deal with at all times. He as probably used to it by now. They had all been living together for quite some time. But it wasn't just Luffy's. Ace had a heart beat as well with blood more human than wolf.

'Poor Sabo.' He thought with an evil smirk. So much blackmails material right here.

If he concentrated he could feel the heart beat as well. Pounding against him insistently. Like an steady and reassuring drum. Hopefully the next time he woke up in a blind panic it would be enough to send him back to sleep. Nobody was going to die because of him ever again. He would make sure of it.

.

"You young people! All you do is sleep. In my day we were a working folk." A shrill voice said.

Ace muffled a groan as he shifted around, burying his face in his arms. He was still on the floor, the rough carpet scratching his face. Besides him he could see the blurry shapes of the other teens. Luffy had disappeared sometime in the night, probably at the prospect of food. That kid had a one track mind

"Gam Gam! What are you doing up?" Ussop asked horrified.

"Don't treat me like I'm useless." She snapped. "Now how about you boys go get me some food and I'll fix us up something."

"No need ma'am, I already made something last night. You should probably go back to bed."

Ussops grandma sure was a strong one. She was on her death bed just a few hours earlier. She sure had bounced back quickly. Especially considering how old she was.

"I like this one." She told Ussop.

"Grandma! Go back to bed!"

"Fine fine." She muttered standing up. "You all better not break my house though." She added as she headed back up the stairs.

"She is truly an inspiration to all us young people." Marco said dryly as they all stood up. He and Sanji had crashed on the couch. Ussop had slept ungracefully on an arm chair. Leaving Thatch and Ace the floor. Unsurprisingly it was Luffy and Zoro who were missing.

Ace sighed as he stood up. He really should find Luffy. The sleep had been a welcomed gift. He felt fresher and decidedly less on edge. Although being enclosed by so many humans did nothing for his head space. They were everywhere, especially in town. It truly was a wonder that their senses were so dull they couldn't even recognize a wolf in sheep's clothing.

To his surprise the others teens accompanied him. They claimed they didn't have anything better to do with the day. Besides it probably was best if they stuck together, at least for now.

Surprisingly enough the kitchen was empty, although the fridge held significantly less food then before. No doubt Luffy had been here. They weren't upstairs either, nor in the yard.

Ace throw up his arms in defeat, "Where else is there? Did those idiots go to town?"

"They might be in the shed." Ussop said helpfully.

"Think you could have said something earlier." Sanji pointed out angrily as they began to make their way out there.

"Why would they be in the shed?" Thatch asked the slightly more pressing matter.

"They like weapons right?"

Ace snorted as he made his way across the yard. That definitely sounded like Luffy. It was a miracle he hadn't caused more chaos yet. Despite being highly trained with weapons Ace did not trust him around a shed full of them.

"Hey Lu," He said opening the shed door, "Come on we're going to go into town."

As Ussop said the shed was full of weapons. It was nicer and larger than most sheds he had seen. Zoro was at one end carefully inspecting the sword on the wall. He was muttering under his breath about the steel density or something equally convoluted. Every time it looked like he was going to touch the sword his hands pulled back.

Luffy to everyone's surprise wasn't even touching the weapons. Instead he was riffling through a stack of old black a white pictures. A fond smile on his face.

"What are you guys doing?" Ussop asked squeezing through the crowded doorway.

"Whose stuff is this?" Thatch asked impressed by the sheer number of fire arms. Everyone was sort of hoping it wasn't Ussops grandmas. Although it wouldn't really surprise them.

Ussop opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Luffy.

"It's his dad's stuff."

"Yea! How did you know that?"

Luffy put the pictures down with a smile. "I know your dad!"

"Really!" Ussop's eyes grew incredibly wide. But the initial excitement was quickly replaced by confusion.

"How could you know him?"

"He' a hunter." Luffy said simply standing up. "He came to my house when I was younger with Shanks."

"Shanks?"

At the mention of the name both Sanji and Zoro perked up. But if they recognized it they didn't say anything.

Luffy nodded, "Yea he's his boss or something. Anyways I thought you looked familiar when I first met you. Plus you have one of his guns."

Ussops eyes were impossibly wide, brimming with unshed tears. That was curious considering all Ussop seemed to do is cry. "You really knew my dad!"

"Yep! He is pretty cool. Not as cool as Shanks though." Luffy clutched his hoodie tighter at that. "He wouldn't shut up about you. Especially when he got drunk."

Although the way Luffy put it wasn't exactly a compliment Ussop still teared up, snot and tears mingled on his face at the sentiment.

"R-Really?"

"Yep!" Luffy chirped happily.

That only sent him into another round of sobs. "My dad's the best."

The teens had gathered outside of the shed. The sunlight clearly illuminating the yard giving it that special reddish tinge that all ways accompanied the sun rise. Ussops grandma had sure woken them up early. From their vantage point on the hill they had a clear view of town.

"If you recognized Ussop from the beginning why didn't you say anything?" Zoro chided.

Luffy shrugged. "You didn't ask."

Marco opened his mouth to protest but Ace cut him off with a laugh. "Trust me, that's the best you are going to get from him. Who knows what goes on in that head of his?"

"Did you know about this?" He accused Ace.

Ace just shrugged again. "Nope. Like I said kids full of surprises."

"Come on! Let's go to town" Luffy said cutting their conversation short. "They have toasters that burn Spiderman's face into the toast!"

"What the hell is a toaster?" Ace asked confused as he followed his brother.

.

The lone wolf frowned as it watched the town from the overhanging hill. He didn't even bother getting closer. It was clear the pictures had not reached their intended target. He frowned, chiding himself for being so careless. It looked like he would have to try again some other way. Surely Dragon would not stand for his son living with monsters. Unbeknownst to him he had been the laughing stalk of the forest for years. Who can take a hunter seriously if he can't even control his own son? Once he was made aware of the situation he would undoubtedly take care of the vampire and Wolf. Luffy's so called protectors. At that time He could swoop in and 'save' Luffy from his new hell. It was a win win situation. Dragon got rid of the obstacles for him without even knowing it. And in turn Luffy comes to live with him.

The only problem now was how to alert Dragon to his son's whereabouts without implicating himself. It was doubtful another opportunity would arise like the previous one. So he was going to have to get creative with his methods. That sounded like a fun challenge. Fresh ideas swirling around his mind he once again retreated to the forest.

Yea so! I don't know if anyone noticed or not but Luffy has been staring at Ussop ever since they first met. He was also strangely obsessed with Ussops gun. That's because he recognized it as Yassops. Thank you so much or reading! Please comment and tell me if you liked the chapter or not. It was kind of anticlimactic but we got the typical red riding hood stuff in.

Guest: Lol, thank you! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought it was funny. The vampires were actually ordered to go after the humans, Luffy was just an obstacle to them. Althoug I'm sure Ace and Sabo have a reputation in the forest I'm not sure if its enough to keep Luffy safe at all times. Especially if their on orders. Poor Sabo :.( He's so neglected. We will be seeing more of his soon. When the group heads back home Sabo is going to show up and save the day.

Lostdog200: Lol sorry. Law isn't the stalker but I mean… He is still kind of a stalker. He follows Luffy around and makes his life tougher. I hope you liked the chapter!

PipeDream: Thank you! Hopefully both the monster Trio and Commander Trio will continue to strengthen. I am trying to slowly introduce as many f the SH as I can without crowding them. Thank you so much

EmeraldEyed: Thank you!