Fair warning: Another pretty dark chapter. I don't know what's wrong with me. I just like dark-fluff I guess (which is what I'm calling it). But yea, be warned child-abuse, trauma and just general darkness. Also swear words! I felt like swearing today.
XXX
"Where did you get that bruise?"
Sabo turned his head away trying to hide his cheek from the other boy.
"Go away, I'm busy."
The kid looked him up and down, "You don't look busy."
He held the book up in show. "I'm reading."
"What are you reading?"
Sabo closed the book harder than need be. "What are you even doing here?" As far as he could tell none of the vampires used the library. Which was why it was such a surprise to find this boy here after all the months of solitude. This was Sabo's safe place. Or at least it used to be.
"Want me to fix it for you."
Sabo reached up to feel the welt on his forehead. There were many more under his clothes courtesy of Outlook. His father had learned that he hadn't been drinking blood and lost his temper. He hadn't stopped until he had managed to force a liter of blood down Sabo's throat. Or at least had the servant do it. Just enough to keep him from withering away.
"It's nothing." Sabo promised as he stood to leave. If he had known this boy would be here he would have never of come.
The boy pulled a few titles out of his own and despite himself Sabo felt his interest peak.
"Those are medical books! Do you like medicine?"
"I'm going to be a doctor." The dark haired boy explained sitting down in the spot Sabo had previously been.
"My whole family are doctors."
"Isn't it complicated?" Sabo had looked at a few medical books himself but he couldn't make heads or tails out of them. He looked at the boy with new admiration."
"It's not that hard once you've gotten used to it," the boy promised. "I've learned a lot of stuff from these books… I can help you if you want."
Sabo's hand instinctively went to his ribs which were bruised.
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"Mind your own business," He snapped defensively. "What are you even doing here?" The ruins of the castle were where the royals and nobles lived. And going by his clothes this boy was no noble.
"Like I said my parents are doctors. They got called to treat one of the royals." He looked around the library curiously.
"I've never been in the castle before. It's pretty…"
"It's awful here," Sabo said with a sigh sitting down next to the kid.
"At least you guys always have enough blood." He pointed out and Sabo made a bitter face.
"Yea I guess."
The two lapsed into silence and the dark haired boy turned back to the books, skimming the pages so fast Sabo was doubtful he was even reading them."
"Can you really do it?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Do what?" Grey eyes met his questioningly.
"Heal people?"
"Of course." The boy said coolly putting the book down. "I'm going to be the greatest surgeon one day." Although his words were boastful there was not even a hint of a brag in his voice. He spoke it factually like it was the utmost truth.
"I'm Law."
"Sabo, it's nice to meet you."
The other boy gave him a small smile as he fetched a medical kit from his bag.
"It's a bit rudimentary but it will be fine for this kind of injury." Law explained as he poured some kind of solution onto a cloth and touched it to Sabo's cheek. He hissed a little as it stung but otherwise let the kid work.
Law paused for a second giving Sabo a curious look.
"What?" The blonde asked defensively.
"Want me to teach you?"
"Huh?"
Law gestured to the medical kit. "Want me to show you how to patch a wound? You know for next time." Neither of them needed to specify exactly why there would be a next time but it hung heavily in the air.
Sabo looked down at the kit then back to Law and nodded his head.
XXX
"Ouch!" Ace growled and batted Sabo's hand away.
"If you keep doing that it's going to take even longer. It's just rubbing alcohol Ace it doesn't bite."
"Shishishi, Ace is being a scardy cat," Luffy laughed.
When Ace told him to shut up he only laughed harder. Sabo had to hold Ace back from getting up and chasing the squirt. Probably like Luffy wanted. When the human was bored he liked to cause trouble.
"Don't you have somewhere better to be?" Sabo asked as he ran a match over the tip of a needle to sterilize it. He could see Ace crinkle his nose in distaste.
"No," Luffy answered innocently crossing his legs under him. He was sitting on the kitchen table besides their first aid kit watching the chaos unfold.
"I want to hear Ace make funny noises."
"Shut UP!" Ace told their brother louder this time.
Sabo thought for a moment. "Me too," He said earning an incredulous look from the wolf.
"I wasn't the one who tore my stiches chasing a deer that was 'giving me a look," He reminded him.
"Right and who got us dinner again! You're welcome by OWWWW!" He yelled as Sabo began to stitch the bullet wound in his side without warning."
Ace's jaw clenched in pain as he tried to stay quiet. Not wanting to give the other two the satisfaction. He drew in a slow breath of air before letting it out again.
Sabo cut the thread patting his brother on the shoulder.
"Was that too hard?"
"Fuck you!"
"Someone's on edge," Sabo mused as he began to wrap the wound for the second time in as many days.
"Well excuse me for my dislike of being skewered by a psychopath."
"Why am I a psychopath? I'm the one trying to stop you from dying." Apparently he was alone in that crusade.
But his question went unanswered when Luffy laughed, "Skewered like an Ace-kabob?"
"Fuck both of you!" Ace snarled as Sabo laughed.
He grabbed his shirt pulling it back on with a huff as Sabo turned his attention to Luffy.
"Come here, I want to check you as well."
"No!"
"Ha, serves you right," Ace told him.
Luffy crawled forward on the table to besides where Sabo was sitting. "Don't stitch me up too." He warned. "It's only funny when it happens to Ace."
"You don't even have any stitches," Sabo told him as he ran a practiced hand over Luffy's neck. As he peeled the bandages back he immediately felt guilt well up in him. Tthe bite mark was still an angry red. It had been several days but it hadn't even started scabbing over yet. Which told Sabo that there had been venom in the bite. He had done that. His stomach rolled at the thought. He didn't know how Luffy could stand to be in the same room as him let alone sit here while he tried to fix it. But Luffy, oblivious as always, just kicked his legs impatiently.
"Where did you learn how to do this anyway?" Ace asked picking up on his brother's feelings.
Sabo sighed as he forced the guilt down and coated the injury in another layer of Salve.
"Around I guess." He knew Ace was trying to help but right now he didn't feel like talking about Law either.
He put a new bandage around the wound, glad not have to look at it anymore. He hoped it would heal but deep down he knew it probably wasn't going too. At least not completely. It would scar. That was probably what he wanted at the time. 'To remind Luffy of his place' or something like that. Sabo felt sick.
"Lu why don't you go get some more wood? We are running low." Ace said sensing Sabo's doubt. He was really good at picking up on people's underlying feelings, while Luffy was quite clueless. Sabo often wondered if it was the dog in him.
Luffy hopped off the table glad to be done.
"Okay." Still he didn't move to collect the axe or go outside.
Sabo sighed.
"Sometime today maybe?" Ace told him.
"Okay!" Luffy agreed but still did not move. No doubt waiting for one of the boys to go with him.
"He means go alone Lu."
Finally Luffy's smile faltered as he looked outside then back to his brothers.
"Luffy!"
"I'll be right back," he told them turning towards the door. "Don't go somewhere."
"We will be right here." Sabo promised after him.
If Luffy had picked up that Ace was trying to get rid of him then it didn't bother him. That kind of bluntness never bothered him. Chances were if Ace told him to 'take a hike' to his face he still wouldn't care. It wasn't the thought of being alone in the woods that scared him either. No Luffy was simply scared of being alone. It didn't matter if it was in the woods, their home or even the backyard.
When Luffy got stressed he got clingy. This was hardly news to them. Since they had unanimously decided not to talk about things like this it was the only way they could tell something was bothering him. Although currently it was the worst they had ever seen it. It almost reminded Sabo of what Luffy was like when they first started living together.
At the slam of the door Sabo turned back to Ace who was rubbing his new bandages.
"This isn't your fault." Ace said not even bothering to look up. Sometimes it was scary how well he knew the blonde, who prided himself on keeping his feelings off his face.
"How am I expected to believe that? You weren't there Ace. I terrified him."
Sabo had been expecting Luffy to avoid him or at least be nervous after they had gotten back home. But no, instead the opposite happened and suddenly Luffy couldn't seem to get enough of him. It made him feel even worse. And a small part of his brain ,that must have derived from being related to those blood sucking leeches, wondered just how much more it would take before Luffy finally decided he had enough. Probably a lot. Sometimes Sabo worried about him. Sometimes he worried about all of them.
"It may have been a little bit you but mostly I think it was probably running into his grandfather again after all this time… and nearly getting caught by hunters. Ace still remembered the frantic beating of Luffy's heart when they were hiding from Marco's father. He was on the verge of a full blown panic attack. Not that Ace was doing much better. He hated that accursed town. Every time he went there something bad happened. He vaguely remembered begging his mom to take him to town with her. He wished he knew then what he had learned now.
"And what about you?"
Ace stiffened. "What about me?"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm a rock." Ace told him suddenly loosing interest in the conversation.
"Right," Sabo said slowly. "I forgot that you don't have feelings."
"Gets in the way of my awesomeness."
Sabo just rolled his eyes. He knew that neither of the boys was actually okay. Between Luffy's clinginess his old night terrors had come back with a vengeance. Before this he hadn't had one for ages. Sabo had honestly thought he had grown out of them until the incident with the hunters a few months ago. They was resurfaced sporadically since then, no doubt fueled by the events that had followed. But after the trip to the city it was the worst Sabo had ever seen it. He was getting more violent during them as well. And it wasn't just Luffy. Ace had nightmares every single night. Granted they had never really gone away but they hadn't been this bad before. Ace was on edge as well. Sometimes he looked so tense it seemed like he would snap.
"And you're the picture of mental health right?" Ace said snapping Sabo out of his thoughts.
"What?"
"Between not sleeping… eating or drinking yea I'd say your super healthy. If only I could be as stable as you."
"The difference is I never claimed to be." Sabo told him as he cleaned up the medical stuff, putting the box away.
"Sure as hell don't bring it up either," Ace said as he rose to his feet. "I'm going to go get you some food. Seriously it's been days."
Sabo opened his mouth but Ace stopped him. "Don't even try. I know you must be starving. I get where you're coming from. Really I do. But that doesn't mean you can just starve."
"I was just going to say we promised Luffy we would be here."
"Oh right," Ace sighed. "Speaking of, what are we going to do about that? I mean we can't be with him every second of the day. I guess we can but you know what I mean."
Sabo just shrugged. Hell if he had any clue. He had been hoping Luffy got over it on his own. He had in the past, all though it took a while. But if this was going to start becoming a monthly occurrence for them then chances were he was just going to get worse. They all were going to get worse. That was not a happy thought.
"I'll go find him." Sabo said with a sigh. "You need to stop moving around so much and give yourself a chance to heal. If I have redo your stiches one more time…. you know what I am not going to redo them again. So if they burst you are on your own."
Ace huffed at that. "First off I am going to go stir crazy if you keep treating me like a sick person."
"You ARE a sick person." Sabo reminded him but Ace ignored him.
"Secondly I don't know why you are complaining. I'm the one who has to get the pin-cushion treatment every other day."
Sabo just shook his head at his brother half amused and half exasperated. "Ace you are an enigma wrapped up in an idiot."
"Thanks." He flashed his teeth at Sabo, the snow white canines glinted in the light. Not as sharp or pronounced as a vampire teeth but still not to be messed with.
As Sabo grabbed his hat from the hook and headed for the door Ace called after him. "You'd better actually eat something! Luffy will tell me if you don't."
"Bite me!" Sabo called back.
"You're too skinny." Ace called to him in his best impersonation of Usopp's grandma. It was an impersonation he had been perfecting in recent weeks. And although Sabo had never actually met her he had heard enough of the woman through Ace's mimicry to recognize it.
"Get off my back grandma!" Sabo told him slamming the door loudly on purpose like a human teenager.
XXX
Before Garp even got the chance to knock the door swung open startling the woman behind it.
"Garp?" She asked her surprise turning to curiosity. "It's been ages."
"Has it?" He asked caught off guard by her enthusiasm.
"I figured you might not want to see me."
She waved her had dismissively as she gestured him inside. "Nonsense, come have a cup of tea. It will warm you up. The nights are getting so cold."
He followed her inside but politely declined the drink.
"I was hoping you could help me with something actually."
"What do you need?"
"Could I by chance borrow the sheep?"
"You mean Merry?"
Garp nodded as he followed her down the hallway and up the stairs of her tiny house.
"What on earth do you want that for?"
"It's a long story." One he was opposed to getting into right now. "I'll give it back to you. I just think it might help with something."
She led him into one of the bedrooms. It looked like a guest bedroom but there were a few childish items scattered about, including a well-loved stuffed sheep.
"I'm surprised you kept it all this time," he admitted rubbing his thumb over the button eyes.
"He keeps me company," She said with a laugh. One that was all too familiar. Garp hadn't heard it in far too long.
"Besides it was his favorite." She said more seriously. "I could hardly toss it out."
"I know the feeling." Garp said as he tucked the toy into his coat.
"Thank you. I will take good care of it."
"You can keep it if you want."
The man looked back down at the toy. It's black eyes stared back at him.
"That's alright."
He just needed it long enough to right some wrongs.
XXX
"Ace!"
"Ace, wake up."
"Mmmmnn?"
Sabo shook the wolf harder. He just moaned and tried to push him off, rolling over in bed.
"Go 'way."
"Luffy's gone."
Ace groaned as he sat up finally. "Not again. Third time this week."
"You didn't hear him leave?" Ace shook his head. "Swear to god we need to put a bell on that kid. How the hell did he get down? We took the ladder away and bolted the doors." A measure they quickly adopted when Luffy's night terrors started turning violent. They also had to hide the sharp object.
Sabo glanced at the loft window. "I don't think he used the doors."
"You have got to be kidding me." Ace moved to get dressed but Sabo stopped him. "It's all right I'll go get him just stay here in case he comes back."
"You sure?"
Sabo nodded. It wasn't like he was going to get any sleep anyways.
XXX
"Your crazy boss."
Shanks smiled as he loaded his gun staring into the darkened forest.
"Not scared of the dark are we boys!"
"We are scared of dying." Yasopp said from besides him.
"You can die on the stairs just as easily as in the woods. Besides that's what these are for." Shanks said patting his gun. "I'm going for a night time stroll. Anyone care to join me?"
While most of his crew opted to stay back and out of the wolf infested woods at night a few tagged along. Eager for the kills.
As far as hunters went Shanks was a bit of an anomaly. While most hunters valued their lives enough to stay out of the woods during night Shanks preferred these times to hunt. He had a reputation for being strong as hell and twice as crazy.
It didn't take long for the wolves to come. Shanks could see their eyes glowing out of the darkness. It made the crew uneasy. But not him.
"He raised his arms, signaling they were welcomed to try and eat him."
Shanks could go after the wolves, or even come during the day and ambush them but that wasn't his style. He had a rule and he forced his underlings to obey it as well. He wouldn't kill a wolf unless it came after him first. If it attacked him then it was fair game. But if it simply let him be then he would extend the same curtesy.
"How about a friendly wager?" He said turning to the small group who were either braver or drunker then the rest. "Whomever bags the most wolves wins."
"What do we win?"
"My undying respect and …don't give me that look I did say and didn't I? And fifty dollars from each of us."
The men looked between each other, their boss's enthusiasm was infectious. Only the black haired man looked unamused.
"You seem more reckless than usual today Boss." Benn commented from besides him as he loaded his gun.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Shanks said with his crooked grin. He knew what his right hand was implying but if the man had something to say he would have to come out and say it.
"Well then gents, let the best man win."
XXX
"What a mess," Shanks mused to himself as he looked around the room. Empty beer bottles and trash lay everywhere. There wasn't a single surface that didn't have some kind of stain on it. Moldy food had been left out to the point of decomposing. It kind of reminded him of a fraternity house he had been in once upon a time. Except with hunters. He briefly wondered what kind of person lets a group of hunters into their house. He just had to find the files and then he would be out of here. He glanced around taking note of a few hunters, either sleeping or drinking around the main room.
When he asked one of them for help they tried to spit on him. Nasty bunch the lot of them.
"I'll find it myself then." He muttered loudly. "Don't get up."
One of the hunters, passed out on the floor, told him to 'shut up'. He made sure to make his footsteps as loud as he could as he trotted through the house looking for the file. It shouldn't be this hard. It was a small house. The upstairs only had two rooms and they were both locked from the inside, one of them was literally boarded up. No luck there.
He headed downstairs to a creepy ass basement that had blood stains on the floor and enough ammo to fuel a rebellion but no file so he was forced to go back to the main floor.
The hunters upstairs gave him a dirty look as he slammed the door but they seemed too drunk or lazy to do anything more. He pushed the dirty dishes off surfaces hoping to see a manila folder underneath. It wasn't that important, just last year's numbers. Worst case he could ask them to reprint one for him. But he didn't really want to do that.
He searched the kitchen next finding a whole lot of alcohol but not much else. He did notice what looked like paper sticking out from under the table. Figuring it was worth a shot Shanks lifted the table cloth.
"Uh guys? Why is there a kid here?"
Sure enough a little boy sat under the table, his knees hugged to his chest as he stared at Shanks like he was the fox that had come into his rabbits den.
"Guys there's a little boy here!" Shanks tried to relay the information again but he got no response.
He sighed as he crawled half way under the table as well. The kid tensed and hid his face in his bruised knees.
"Your fine bud, I ain't going to hurt you." Shanks promised as he looked around the tiny space. It almost looked like the kid was living under this table. There were blankets all over the floor and in the corner were boxes of food. Not normal food though, it looked like whatever he could get his hand on. There were water bottles, a jar of pickles, granola bars, and a tin of tuna. The tiny space was covered off by the table cloth which under different circumstances Shanks would call it a fort.
"I'm Shanks, what's your name?"
"Luffy," The boy told his knees.
Shanks smiled at him taking note of the drawings hung up absolutely everywhere. All of a black haired woman. 'His mom,' Shanks realized reading the messy hand writing under one. None of the paper was printer paper. It looked like he drew on overdue bills, instruction packets, scrap paper and whatever the hell else he could get his hands on. He spotted his folder with a wince. It was absolutely covered in doodles.
"It's nice to meet you Luffy. Good thing too. I was starting to worry I was the only human in this house full of gorillas."
The little boy gave him a small smile which Shanks returned.
"Say Luffy what are you doing here?"
Luffy looked around the tiny space, "I live here."
"Alone?"
"With my friend?"
"Oh?" Shanks said relieved. "Can I talk to him?"
Luffy crawled over to the opposite wall picking up a tea pot which he handed to Shanks.
"He doesn't really talk." Luffy said shyly.
"This is a fish?"
"It's a Wolfie." Luffy supplied as he carefully took the teapot back.
Okay enough was enough. Forgetting the file entirely Shanks picked up Luffy, slowly so not to scare the kid.
Luffy whined but didn't struggle. With the other arm he grabbed the fish as well handing it to Luffy.
The kid motioned for a stuffed animal that had been near the fish bowl. Shanks grabbed it as well and Luffy stilled as he did so. Content none of his 'friends' were being left behind.
"Where are we going?" It was easy to see the fear in his eyes as he looked at the man.
"I'm getting you out of here buddy." This was no place for a kid.
XXX
The wolf's eyes flashed a bright yellow in the glare of his flashlight as Shanks fired another few shots into its legs incapacitating it. It took another three shots to kill. Nine shots total. Not his best but it was the third wolf in under an hour. He was on top of his game. He was winning the bet for sure.
He ran a hand though his hair, roughly combing out the tangles as he did so. It had been a while since he was back in town. Seven years to be exact.
"God dammit!" He said to the dark woods. "God dammit." He said again quiter. Still he got no response.
There was a nagging idea at the back of his brain. One that he spent a great deal of time and energy trying to ignore. But his brain wasn't merciful enough to let it rest. It had a way of creeping into his thoughts. Especially on dark nights like this.
The thing was, they never found the body. Sure the odds that he was dead were pretty overwhelming. But compared to the alternatives that was a good thing. Still Shanks had been a hunter for a long time. And by now he knew not to ignore his instincts. And they were telling him something was off.
Because there was blood. Lots and lots of blood. He had seen the pictures. It wasn't pretty. But Dragon and Garp, who were the best trackers Shanks had ever met, hadn't been able to recover the body. Not so much as the bone of a pinkie toe… or the red hoodie. Shank's red hoodie. Which he had on pretty good authority that Luffy was wearing that night. As he did every night. And it had never been recovered, not in all these years. Which wasn't the weirdest thing as the woods were a big place. There was plenty of hiding places especially for the body of a seven year old. Good god he was so small.
Except they had found the wolf that had done it. It wasn't hard there was a trail of blood after it. They had tracked it nearly back to it's den. Shanks wasn't there but he had heard what happened from other hunters. The wolf was dead now. They had made sure of that. But the strange thing was it didn't have Luffy. So where was he? He was bleeding enough that there should have been a trail. But there was none. No tracks either. It was almost like something had grabbed him and then covered it up?
His family had come to the conclusion that he was dead. Kidnapped or not. It was an easy conclusion to reach. That was after all what happened to the humans who entered the woods. Even if he had managed to survive it had been years and there was no sign of him.
Conspiracy theories aside Shanks found himself guilty of wishing Anchor really was dead. Because death, even a violent one, had to be better than a life of suffering. Or a life as a monster.
Shanks sighed once more as he tried to push those thoughts away. They would do no good to anyone.
He continued on into the woods. Hardly caring how late it was getting. He took the creatures down one by one. He was going to win the bet alright. But it was doubtful that would make him feel better.
He leaned against a tree to rest and seek shelter from the night's cold. He closed his eyes letting out a slow breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.
From somewhere in the darkness came a low gasp.
Shanks eyes snapped open. He was standing upright and moving before his brain could process it.
Was one of his men hurt? Was it a human?
"Hello?" He called out to the darkened woods shining his flashlight around.
He caught a flash of movement as a dark shape darted behind the trees.
"Whose there?" He called as he began to give chase. When he got to the cluster of trees he noticed a sickly red smear on one of the trunks. Blood. There was a trail of it on the ground as well.
It was wet to the touch. Quite fresh.
Shanks cussed as he once again began running. He wasn't a renowned hunter for nothing. Although not on Dragons level he was quite an accomplished tracker himself. He followed the trail easily. Someone or something was hurt.
Shanks got a break when he chased it out into a clearing. There were no more trees to hide behind nor shadows. He could now see just how small the thing he was chasing was. Nothing like a wolf. Or at least not an adult one.
"Stop running god dammit!" It was hurting his stomach and the beer he had drunken before was not helping.
He grabbed his spare flashlight from his belt and threw it with practiced precision.
It struck the back of their knees and they went down with a cry.
Shanks held up his remaining flashlight trying to catch his breath. And stop himself from puking. He had drunk more then he thought. But no doubt about it this thing was fast.
"Freaking running around in the dead of the night." The man sighed as he approached. "Wounded. What are you even do…" His voice caught in his throat as the light fell upon it's target.
Shanks felt his breath leave him and all he could managed was a whisper.
"Anchor?"
The boy before him was pale as a ghost.
He had grown since the last time Shanks had seen him. Not a child any more rather a young teenager. He was wearing a familiar red hoodie that went halfway down his thighs giving way to equally pale legs and bare feet. It fit him better now then when Shanks first gave it to him but he still had a lot of growing to do.
His hair was messy and on his cheek was a smear of blood. He was staring at Shanks like a deer caught in a headlight. Or an apparition?
"Luffy?" Shanks asked again feeling his voice break. He took a step closer which seemed to snap the boy out of it. In the next second he pushed himself back up and took off through the forest once more.
"Anchor wait!" Shanks yelled as he ran after him.
When he was a kid he had heard a story once. He couldn't remember it now but it was something about the villains having to face the ghosts of those they had killed. In the end they had gotten pulled into the underworld by their victims seeking revenge. While he sincerely hoped he wasn't a villain in Luffy's short life he had let him down. It seemed a lot of people had failed him.
That was ridiculous though. There were no such thing as ghosts after all. Right?
"Luffy please you know me." He called out receiving only silence. He could just make out the red of the hoodie as it disappeared between the trees ahead of him. Just like a gho… STOP IT.
"I'm losing it," Shanks hissed to himself as he broke through the trees. "I'm going fucking crazy." Was he hallucinating now? Or worse. Luffy was really there.
"Luffy?" Shanks called out again. He caught a flash between the trees and took off again. As he ran he prayed that Luffy was a figment of his imagination, hell even a ghost. Anything but a vampire. The fate that awaited humans that were turned was not a pleasant one. And if he was one and Shanks caught him then he would have to…god no.
Luffy was fast and he knew his way through the trees much better then Shanks. But he wasn't as strong as the man and he was bare footed. When his toes caught a snag he nearly tumbled and Shanks was able to catch up to tackle him.
They both went down together in a tangle of limb. Luffy recovered first kneeing the man in the stomach as he tried to crawl away.
"Ouch," Shanks hissed as he grabbed his ankle dragging him back. He jumped in surprise when Luffy screamed. Loudly like he was about to be killed.
"Anchor it's okay." Shanks told him trying to calm him down as he pulled him to his chest.
"It's okay now Luffy."
But the words fell on deaf ears as he continued to scream and thrash in the man's grip. He got hit twice more before he grabbed Luffy's wrists, pinning him down. But as soon as he tried he recoiled. His right wrist was wet and it had seeped into the fabric off the hoodie.
"What the hell." Shanks looked down at his own hand which was now wet as well. Blood.
The teens desperate screams turned more desperate in nature as his breathing hitched. He struggled harder as he stabbed his right hand into Shanks shoulder desperately.
The man felt a sharp sting like fire as something pierced his shoulder. He grunted in pain as he caught Luffy's wrist once more forcing the boy closer to inspect it.
He pulled the sleeve down, which was stained a darker shade of red, to reveal a bloody hand. His fingers were all curled into a tight fist around a piece of broken glass.
"Anchor what did you do to yourself?" He murmured more to himself as he tried to wrestle the slippery piece out of his grip. Luffy's fingers were cut to hell. It was too dark to see how bad it was but it was enough to coat his inner arm.
He tried again to shush the kid who was twisting to escape his grip. "Luffy what are you afraid of?"
"Stop," Luffy sniffed. His eyes were hazy and unfocused. Like he wasn't really seeing Shanks, rather through him.
"You know me." Shanks told him again gentler. "You know I'm not going to hurt you."
He brought a shaking finger up to the blood stained cheek and his heart almost burst from his chest when he felt the skin. It was cold from the night air. But it was human skin. Soft and breakable. Luffy wasn't a vampire.
"I am so sorry buddy." Shanks told him wrapping his hand around the smaller bloody one. "I should have been there for you….I"
The next thing he knew was an explosion of pain on the back of his skull and then blackness.
XXX
Sabo watched the man from overhead in the tree tops. It was a hunter he had never seen before. He had to be pretty brave to go into the woods at night with such a small party. He had known Luffy too. He was calling his name. Not that Luffy didn't know a lot of hunters or anything. On the contrary Luffy seemed to know them all.
Sabo felt resentment bubble up at the thought. He hugged Luffy tighter to his chest as he watched the man go further into the forest.
He had tracked Luffy first by the smell of blood. Then by his screams. He had come upon the hunter trying to calm him. A would-be kind gesture if it was done by anyone other than the lowest form of human beings. While Sabo desperately wanted to teach the man a lesson for what his kind did to Luffy in the past his instincts had warned him against it. He couldn't risk causing a scene here. Not when this man's allies were so close and Sabo was weak with hunger. He had decided it would be best to remain out of sight and let the humans sort themselves out.
Instead he had knocked the man out and grabbed Luffy before retreating. At least he tried but Luffy was still too deep into his night-terror to understand. He had started screaming then in his attempt to escape his brother. Which despite the reason still hurt every time. But this time the noise could attract the other hunters. And while he usually loved a good fight Sabo couldn't defend his brother from all of them as well as warding them off so he had knocked Luffy out, (vampire powers). Which to be clear was not the same thing as compulsion, which he had promised to never use on his brother. He did make Luffy go to sleep from time to time though. Mostly in situations such as this one, whereLuffy would only hurt himself further.
Sabo pulled Luffy against his chest as he waited for the humans to leave. They seemed pretty determined, especially the red haired one. He wondered why.
When the lights had drifted back in the trees, far enough away they wouldn't not be spotted Sabo tried to sit up but his body immediately protested and he had to lay back against the tree with an annoyed growl. Ace had been right. He was starving. He hadn't eaten the food or blood Luffy had caught him today. It had taken all of his remaining energy to put Luffy to sleep and get them both to safety. They would have to stay here a while longer, at least until the world stopped spinning.
"He knows you." Sabo told his little brother running his hands through his hair. Was he one of the good ones?
Of all the hunters Luffy met so few were 'good' he didn't hold out much faith. When Luffy didn't answer he sighed.
"I wish I knew how to help you and Ace." He told him honestly.
"Take away all the bad stuff that happened."
But it seemed like the only thing Sabo could do for the two people he loved most in the world, was just watch and pick up the pieces.
He kissed Luffy's temple, tucking his head under his chin as he looked out at the dark forest. "We'll be okay," He promised.
XXX
The chapter is unfortunately a bit of a mess. I have been working on it for the last month in whatever free time I have (which is not a lot between work and school.) So I do apologize. I had a lot of plot threads going at once here so I hope it wasn't to scattered. I wrote each paragraph on a different day with different ideas in mind. But it has many of the points I have been hinting at for a while, like Shanks, Luffy and his hunters, Law and Sabo and Lots of PTSD symptoms from all three of them. Which believe it or not were actually planned since the first chapter. Which is sprising because I can't even plan what I'll be doing five minuetes from now.
I babysat a girl who got night terrors once. Which gave me the idea. And I can say it was terrifying. She kept trying to ask me where the woman in white went. Apparently night terrors/ sleep walking can also be violent and even creepier.
As far as nightmares go I can relate to Ace in that I have some pretty F***d-up ones. Like all the freaking time. I once asked a dream interpreter what one of them meant and he told me to get therapy. But who has the time to deal with childhood traumas? Not me that's for sure! I have way too much freaking organic chemistry homework for that. And who needs hugs when you have Hg? Without U it's toxic! Haha? I apologize. I tell chemistry jokes periodically.
I can't promise when the next chapter will be sice now that school has started I am pretty slammed. All I can promise is I will do my best. Either chapter 26 or 27 Shanks is going to try and 'Save' Luffy from his brothers. Which is going to go great! Also the Straw hats will return.
For anyone who reads my other stories I will post Defenders chapter 16 next. Then hopefully finish Dolls like I have been promising to do. Stay tuned for updates. And thank you as always for reading! Please let me know if you liked it or if this chapter was a scatterd mess and think I should give up my F.F. career and university and join a paruvian flute band?
XXX
Guest#1: If I had more time I would update more. But don't worry about this story being abandoned.
Guest #2: Yep yep yep
Guest #3: Aww thank you
Guest #4 Thank you
Nora: Haha mission accomplished I guess. Same here though. I felt that one got especially dark. That's a good question. I honestly don't know if Luffy remembers that or not. Or pieced it together. Which I think is part of the reason Ace feels guilty about it. Thanks for the review!
Nonyaarb: Thank you!
AnimeAngel2692: You are so awesome you! Thank you for always reviewing. Using all my skills as a discount fanfic writer I can confidently prenunciate that you are awesome sauce! I'm glad the duality of Dragons character is getting through. Although he isn't great as a dad. You aren't allowed to leave your three year old home alone for hours and forget to feed him. But he does try. I think Ace feels really bad about it now. But he was so desperate at the time. Thank you for the compliment Much kind words.
