Apparently you could write using the ffn apps. That's news to me.
The end of this chapter is rather awkward. But if I didn't cut it here, the chapter could run away to 7k words. Which is something I didn't like.
Enjoy :)
Ever since the first time Ace saw Luffy, he already knew the kid was weird. What kind of person cried just after seeing his face anyway? He knew his face is scary, but not that scary dammit! Nevertheless, the fact that the crybaby actually kept their secret was surprising. Even more surprising was that the kid looked angry when Ace asked him about his worth to live. That was nice, a very nice feeling he never felt before. Not even Sabo's reassurance ever makes him felt this nice. The day got even better when Sabo finally moved in to live with them. Really, this might be one of the few nice days he ever had.
The kid sucks at fighting, what kind of devil fruit that gave the power of rubber anyway? So lame. He can't even use it properly. Ah well, he and Sabo can teach the kid anyway. And he gotta admit, the kid brought some brightness to their usually dull and boring life. The usual crocodile hunt got even more challenging now that they have to make sure Luffy didn't get eaten, again, like the last 15 times.
Seriously, Luffy is a weird kid. Sometimes he tilted his head like listening to some faraway voice. After that, the kid would drag them somewhere in the forest and they'd find some rare berries or mushroom. Sometimes they even found some bee's nest that they could raid for the honey. Dadan was particularly nice towards them whenever they brought those honey.
Luffy also had some weird dreams. One day, he got woken up when Luffy suddenly jolted up and started crying. He kept chanting "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving you," for a while before he got this glazed look and fell asleep again.
"Hey Luffy," he would call. Luffy then tilted his head to say he was listening.
"What did you dream of last night?" he asked curiously. Distantly he noticed Sabo perked up a bit. Huh, maybe Sabo got woken up too.
"Dream? I didn't dream anything last night. Oh! Maybe I dreamed of meat? Huh, sirloin, chuck, rib, short loin... Urgh, Ace Sabo! I'm hungry now!" He complained instead.
Pissed, Ace hit Luffy's head, "YOU JUST EAT 1 HOUR AGO DAMMIT!"
"That was 1 hour ago! I'm hungry again now!" Luffy shouted back.
Ace gave up. There was no way he will listen to the idiot. And so, Luffy's dream went forgotten, until the next week when Ace went to the restroom at night. When he went back to back, he heard Luffy mumbling something about a laughing tale and a joyous boy. Really, what a weird kid.
They manage to raid the ramen shop and escaped. During their escape, Ace heard one of those stuffy nobles called Sabo. Suspicious, but Sabo said he called the wrong person. But really, how many people in this kingdom named Sabo anyway? That's a pretty rare name.
When pestered, Sabo finally admits that that noble was his father and how ashamed he was to be related to those rotten people.
"I'm sorry for not telling you both anything,"-he drooped and tinker with his pipe-"but I don't want you to hate me. If you wanted me to leave, I understand."
Ace sighed and rubbed his head. "Are you stupid? Does it look like we care about who your father is?" he said instead.
Luffy nodded decisively, "Un! Ace hates his dad, and I don't know if I had a dad or not. Gramps never told me anything. So who cares about your dad anyway!"
Sabo looked stunned, if Ace paid more attention to it, he would see the tears threatening to fall from Sabo's face. Sabo shook his head and asked quietly, "Really? You don't mind?"
"I mind actually," Ace said nonchalantly to the point Luffy glared at him.
"Don't look at me like that!" He shouted, "I mean that I mind he kept it a secret for so long! Not about his father. Who cares if your father is a noble or the king or whatever. You are still our friend, you got that?"
Sabo looked so shocked, he nodded numbly. Suddenly, he stood up, "Ace! Luffy! Let's go out to the sea someday! Let's get out of this country! So we can be free!"
"I want to see the world and wrote a book about it! And navigation is the one thing I like to study! Let's get stronger together and become pirates!" Sabo's face looked so bright and full of hope. Something in Ace's chest felt light just seeing that. Slowly but surely, a grin started to curl in his face. Something so rare to happen.
"Ha! you don't need to convince me! I'm gonna be a pirate and win, win, win! It doesn't matter if the world hates me... I'll be a great pirate and prove my life's worth something!" as Ace vowed, the wind blew carrying both of their promise to the world. Ace noticed the light steps behind him. He turned to see Luffy walking towards him with his straw hat covering his face. Something in his gait pulled his attention and around him, the world went silent. Without knowing why, Ace stepped back giving Luffy his place.
Luffy stood at the cliff, facing the sea and the churning wave beneath it. He looked at the sea for a moment, before he spoke softly, "I heard your vow and promises. So this is my own. I WILL BE THE KING PIRATES!" his last words were yelled so loudly the silence shattered. Where before, after Ace and Sabo's promises the wind blew softly, after Luffy's the blew so harsh Sabo's hat almost flew away. The wave beneath the cliff churned even more dangerous than before and thunder rumbled from a faraway place. It was as if the world was challenging Luffy to fulfill his vow and promises.
Luffy turned back to them and laughed freely. The setting sun shone behind him and the wind caresses his hair. Just for a moment, Ace saw a wildly grinning man overlapping Luffy's figure. But, that can't be, right? Just a trick of the light.
With the three of them shouting their vows and dreams to the sea and sky, Ace thought it's time for that thing he planned since last week. "Hey, you two. Tomorrow morning, why don't you guys wait here? I have a surprise for you both," he said. Somehow, both Sabo and Luffy looked stunned and scared respectively, with Luffy immediately hid behind Sabo.
"Saabooo... Who's that? That can't be Ace right? He was being too nice!" he cried.
Sabo himself spread his arms as if to protect Luffy from Ace, "Yeah! You are an impostor, aren't you? There is no way that prickly Ace being nice and wanted to give us a surprise!"
Ace could feel a vein twitched in his face, "SHUT UP AND DO IT ANYWAY!"
"Ah! That's really is Ace!" both of those idiots said. Tch, how ungrateful.
The next day, Ace woke early and harassed both Sabo and Luffy to move their lazy ass. He then snuck into Dadan's secret stash of alcohol and stole her best bottle. Ace also snuck into the kitchen and grabbed three red sake cups. Silently, he managed to escape the hut and ran to the cliff. Unknown to him, Dadan already woke up and followed the boy to his destination.
When Ace reached the cliff, both Sabo and Luffy already waited there and almost fell asleep again. Quickly, Ace bonked their heads so they would wake up. "That hurt, you bastard!" Sabo shouted while holding his head while Luffy almost fell asleep again.
"Tch, just go wake Luffy up," Ace said. After several minutes, Sabo managed to rouse Luffy and Ace finished setting up the cups.
"You know, maybe one day we'll sail to the separately," Ace started as he opened up his stolen sake bottle.
"Hey! you stole Dadan's bottle, didn't you?" Luffy asked.
"Hush! Shut up and listen! Have you heard about this? They said, if you exchange cups, it makes you brother," Ace continued as he poured down the sake. Both Luffy and Sabo smiled bigger than ever, and that showed Ace that he did the right thing.
"When we become pirates, we might not be on the same ship together... But the three of us will always be brothers! No matter where we are or what we do, this bond will never be broken!" he raised his cup, his best friends, no, brothers follow suit.
"Starting today, we are BROTHERS!" and they drank the sake together, something that Ace immediately regret as the taste was just that terrible. Funnily enough, Luffy managed to drink it all and somehow looked unsatisfied. But, they are brothers now. Brothers in all but blood. And that fact made Ace felt like the darkness in his heart receded just a little bit.
They are brothers now, and Sabo never felt happier. The blond boy also noticed Ace's shoulders that always have this tiniest slouch, as if to protect himself from the world, straightened a bit. Sabo smiled even bigger, with this, even if they are separated they'll always together.
"Huh, doesn't this means Sabo has to go through gramps' training too?" Luffy suddenly said. Sabo saw Ace stiffened in fear, something that he never thought he would see.
"Luffy, don't mention the shitty gramps, or else he'd suddenly be here," Ace said seriously. Weirdly, Luffy quickly clamped up and fearfully looking around.
"What are you talking about? By gramps you mean Garp right?" he asked. Somehow, while normally Ace would yell at Luffy, this time they acted the same and covered his mouth.
"SHHH! If you call his name he might come!" Ace hissed furiously.
"Yeah! I don't want to see him for now! Gramps scary!" Luffy whispered loudly. Confused, Sabo could only nod. The situation was tense until the bushes near them rustled. Scared, they hold each other tightly (which of course Ace denied later. Very much denied it). The wait was tense until a brown hare jumped out and escaped quickly.
They exhaled in relief and quickly let go. Except for Luffy, he still looked scared.
"Come on Luffy, he isn't here," Ace tried to calm him, by hitting his head.
"Yeah, Garp isn't here, but I did," a voice suddenly appeared behind them. Stunned, they turned and saw Dadan. And boy, did she look mad.
"So, you stole my most expensive sake and drank it huh?" Sabo never saw Dadan smile like that. He often saw her being annoyed, angry and annoyed, but this. This is just plain scary.
"You got 5 seconds to explain brats, or else I'll kick you from here to Grey Terminal," She threatened.
The boys looked at each other, and in a rare moment of insight, the three of them agree on one thing, "RUUUUNNNN!"
"DAMN BRAAAATTTTSSSS!" Dadan yelled and chased them. Well, those three didn't need to know the slight dampness in Dadan's eyes or the wet spots in her clothes from wiping her tears.
Sabo had never felt this happy before, well, he kind of did when he first met Ace. But this is a new kind of happiness. Really, Luffy brought brightness in their otherwise dull life. Right now, they were resting after scavenging the Grey Terminal and robbing some thugs that hang around it.
"I think we need to live away from the bandits," and there it was, another of Ace's crazy ideas.
"Huh? Why so sudden Ace?" he asked while still keeping an eye on Luffy.
"Don't you feel it's getting cramped there?" Ace retorted back. Now that he thought about it, the bandit hut did feel a bit cramped nowadays, the influx of bandits that gathered around Dadan was rather terrifying. Then again, Dadan is a rather notorious bandit around here.
"Hm, true. Where are we going to live then? Near the creek is a good place, but too many animals live near there," the blond said. Ace looked pensive, clearly, he hadn't thought that far.
"We can build a treehouse! And fly our own flag! That would be cool!" Luffy suddenly said exuberantly. Sabo saw that Ace already planned to reject it, but seemed to think about it for a second.
"That's... actually a good idea. We could hide from predators that way. And the flooding near the creek won't be that much a problem," Sabo said. Ace nodded and agreed. Thus, the three boys went deep into the jungle to find the perfect tree for their treehouse.
Building the treehouse was fun, Sabo thought. Especially since he had the duty of making the design of the treehouse, in the dirt, using sticks, and have to be redrawn every few minutes since Luffy and Ace can't stop playfighting. It took a bonk to the head to finally calmed them down. Even then, Luffy was very much dissatisfied with the design. Something about lacking an 'oomph'. But when Sabo asked him about what 'Oomph' the treehouse was lacking, Luffy fell silent and looked confused.
"I don't know. It's just, kind of lacking a 'DON!' kind of thing," he said.
"What the hell is a 'DON!'?" Ace asked annoyedly. It's the 3rd time Luffy refused the design and the 9th time Sabo had to redraw the whole thing.
"Dunno! It's just 'DON!'" Luffy exclaimed as he raised his arms. Sabo, after seeing that Ace's patience was getting thinner and thinner, decided to intervene.
"Alright, alright. Since you didn't know what 'DON!' is, why don't we use this one for now? Maybe later we can add some upgrade to the treehouse?" he offered. Thankfully, Luffy agreed easily and they quickly head to the Grey Terminal.
Surprisingly, Luffy was rather adept at using a hammer. Not good, but not so bad that they'd rather have him hand the materials to them. As it was, Luffy did the most heavy-lifting since his devil fruit allows him to grab the materials from the ground to up the tree.
When the treehouse was finished, the three boys felt elated. This was a huge project and the sense of accomplishment from finishing it was amazing. The three boys quickly move their belonging to the treehouse and left behind a letter to Dadan that said they went to became independent.
They live in the treehouse, taking a bath at the creek nearby, and hunted by themself. It was hard, especially cleaning up the spoils of their hunt, but it was so satisfying at not having to rely on Dadan. They also didn't have to share their hunts with the bandits much to the delight of Luffy. Sabo thought Luffy might get fat from how much meat he consumes, but what did he know? For all he knew, Luffy's rubber body might use so much calories that he can't form any sort of fat.
They slept together, huddled in some sort of blanket fort. Of course, the blanket was borrowed (stolen) from Dadan. But they'll definitely return it later, much much later.
Sabo of course noticed Luffy's peculiarity when sleeping. From the half-remembered dream or when Luffy looked at Ace with so much unreadable emotion, it was scary. Whenever he or Ace tried to ask Luffy about it though, he always looked so confused. This happens so many times that they decided to dropped it.
Every day was so much fun. Until that blasted storm came
That stupid idiotic Sabo. Who the hell told him to leave for their safety? They are brothers, weren't they? Why didn't he let us fight for him? Stupid, so stupid. Why did he agree to their offer again? Oh right, he, being an idiot that he is, thought that it will help him forget. What a wonderful idea that was, and now he and Luffy were caught in this ship and that crybaby won't stop crying.
"SHUT UP! I'm trying to think here!" he shouted. The rope chafed at his skin, but that didn't matter, What matter was the fire burning down the shack they were trapped in. It was getting bigger and bigger. Just as he started to despair, he saw a piece of broken glass near Luffy's left foot. With some coaxing and scolding, Ace managed to get Luffy to grab the shard of glass and cut their ropes. Immediately, Ace grabbed Luffy's arm and ran from the burning shack.
The Terminal looked like a scene from hell. The fire was burning uncontrollably and everyone was screaming. As they ran, Ace saw people being burned alive and several charred corpses. He gritted his teeth and kept on going to the edge of the forest. Luffy was silent and tense, the only sign he was still there was the warm hand he grabbed.
"I wonder if the people at the Terminal manage to get away?" Luffy asked as they ran through the burning pile of trash.
"This is not the time to be worrying about other people! Dammit! I don't even know where we are!" Ace complained. He wanted to yell, but he needs to keep his energy. Suddenly, he saw Luffy closed his eyes and ran to another direction.
"Oi, Luffy! Where the hell are you going?" he shouted to Luffy.
"Dadan is over here!" Luffy yelled. Ace figured it was another of Luffy's mystery power, something not even Luffy understood. It was weird, but right now it's convenient.
"Lead the way Luffy! Hurry!" Ace coughed. Luffy nodded determinedly, they have to survive this place.
But just before they managed to escape to the forest, Bluejam blocked their way. He looked mad. Ace saw his eyes and shivered. Those eyes were the eyes of someone that lose all hope. They saw no other way to live and determined to bring as many people down with them.
"Now, now, we burnt this trash heap together, why don't we die together too huh?" he smirked. Ace stilled. Behind him, Luffy growled in anger.
"Tell us where your treasure is. We'll take it before the fire consumes it!" Bluejam and his crew laughed maniacally. Their eyes were empty and cold.
"You're going to die and you're still thinking about the treasure?! Are you insane?!" Ace asked. Instead of answering, Bluejam just laughed and laughed and laughed. He was consumed by madness and despair.
"Well, if you aren't going to use it we'll make use of it. We'll use that treasure to make a comeback and take our revenge on those blasted nobles!"
Luffy tried to stop him from telling the insane man, but really, the choice is obvious. He told them the direction to take, the landmark around the treasure tree, and which tree branch it was hidden. He was hoping they would be let go, instead, those damned pirates kidnap them as well.
"You promised!" Ace yelled. He should have learned his lesson. These pirates cannot be trusted. They were the worst of the worst.
"Don't push me, boy!" Bluejam threatened as he pointed his gun at Ace and started badmouthing the nobles. He could agree with most of what he said, but when the pirate started saying Sabo was the same as those rotten people, Ace got angry. He noticed Luffy struggled in his captor's arm. He tried to make Luffy stop, but Luffy looked as if he was possessed by something.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY BROTHER LIKE THAT YOU BASTARD!" Luffy roared and started to fight. His movement became smoother than ever and he wields his pipe as if it was an extension of his arm. Ace was ashamed. Here, his little brother fought for Sabo's pride. And yet, he himself, as the oldest brother kept on doubting Sabo. What kind of brother is he? No more. He'll protect them, that's his promise as the oldest.
They fight as best as they could. And yet, because of the numerous injury they sustained and lack of air amid the burning trash, they started to get tired. It came to the point where Luffy got careless and his pipe was sliced by one of the pirates, hitting his forehead. Luffy was stunned and held his forehead tightly to stem the blood, but the pirate kept on attacking. He saw Luffy can't move from there and he was too far away to grab Luffy. He had no time.
"Luffy!" the freckled boy shouted in desperation. Something flowed within him. And this something caused the pirates to faint and foaming from their mouth. Luffy looked up in surprise. Dimly, Ace saw the look of familiarity in Luffy's face before it was replaced by the look of horror.
"Ace! Behind you!" It was too late, Ace turned and saw the muzzle of a gun pointed at him. Bluejam looked angrier than he ever saw and Ace. Can't. Move!
He closed his eyes and started to smile. Really, after all this time, this is the thing that will kill him. Well, at least he met Luffy and Sabo. Too bad he'll never get to tell them how grateful he was to them.
And then he heard a gunshot. He kept waiting for a few seconds before finally opening his eyes. To his surprise, Dadan was there, redirecting the gun so it won't shot Ace.
"LET GO OF ACE!" she shouted as she swung her ax to Bluejam. The pirate was forced to let go of his gun to escape Dadan's wild swing and the bandits took the opportunity to grab it.
"Wait, Dadan! Take care of Luffy first!" Ace yelled desperately. Dadan spits and yelled for Dogra as she stood between Ace and Bluejam with her ax on her shoulder.
"You are the boss monkey from Mt. Corvo," Bluejam noted surprised.
"I am Dadan the bandit, and was forced to foster these brats," she declared proudly, changing her stance so she could maneuver easier.
"Now, RUN!" Dadan said as she ordered her group to go with her. And yet, Ace didn't move. He kept standing in front of Bluejam, glaring and gripping his pipe tightly.
"Ace! What are you doing!?" Dadan shouted.
"I will never run away!" he declared determinedly. Dadan tsked. Damn these brats for worrying her. Luffy too won't leave his brother alone.
"Fine, take Luffy and run," she ordered her men.
"But, Boss!"
"I'll make sure Ace'll get back with me," she said while moving closer to Ace.
Luffy struggled in the bandit's hold. Shouting and yelling that he must stay with Ace. But the bandit held strong and carry him away.
"ACEEEE!"