Man... I'm strangely excited about this one XD
Chapter 15: Close calls and problematic encounters
"Oi, it's already been what, a week since then, hasn't it?"
"Hm? Since what?"
The unmoved crook lazily sorted through his hand of playing cards, barely paying his buddy any attention. The task of standing guard was a chore. Certainly the worst factor about staying under the radar. Even grown men like them could turn into impatient children if their patience was just pushed far enough.
"Geez, stop being such a lazy-ass for a sec, would you? Since our last pick-up, dimwit."
"Yeah, so?" The sleepiest of the two commented.
The other man silently kicked his absentminded partner across the shin under the table, his negligent attitude not sitting well with him.
"So, we've been carrying those guys for the past 7 days at this point! They've been abysmally talkative and loud y'know! That's why humans are always such a pain. But now listen;" he paused for a moment to allow the unnatural silence to really stick out. "Now that we've finally landed at land where their big mouths could mean trouble in case a passerby hears, there's nothing."
Poacher 2# finally peering over his hand of cards, narrowing his eyes. He looked like he was about to slap his own forehead.
"C'mon man. You're just paranoid considering how obsessed the marines have been with catching us this past week. We might have had many close encounters out at sea where there was nowhere to hide, but nobody's gonna find us all the way out here," he assured scoffing in bemusement at the thought.
Pucci was home island to the slightly famed "Gourmet City." It might have gotten wealth and prestige after linking up with Water 7 10-plus-something years ago, but matters still remained that it once was home to bandits and criminals. With all the lacking resources, citizens resorted to theft, just to get by another day. Illegal trading was not uncommon back then either, and the cliffs and many small bays around Pucci's coast where the exchanging had happened were perfect for hiding a ship.
"I-I guess you're right… it's just strange is all."
"Well my guess' maybe those stubborn boneheads finally realized how pointless their lives and struggling is. Or it could be the hunger finally getting to them. We've been careful to barely feed them after all, which at least always works pretty well on the smallest brats."
Food, water, light - the prisoners could complain about the discomfort of sitting in a cage and getting cuffed all they wanted, but their bodies would do all the tiring and torturing on their own if they just played their part right.
The poacher, however, cussed at the mention of food.
"I swear, did we not pack the usual supplies when we last set off or what? Food's been so scarce these past days it's like someone's been stealing from us…"
And it was at this point a certain shifty little rat regarded it boring to just listen and instead carefully pried open the hatch leading under deck to poke out the slightest bit of his head. Dark orbs observed the two bickering men. Their conversation had reverted to a swearing contest of who'd been the most hungry and in pain for the past days. Both of them were oblivious to the fact they were being spied on.
Luffy dismissed their quarrel in favor of looking around for a way to escape. The deck was dirty, and barrels and ropes alongside other piles of junk were lazily pushed against the railing of the ship, like whoever had cleaned up didn't even care enough to put everything back where it belonged.
Unfortunately for Luffy, that meant the deck was completely exposed and he was left without anywhere to hide. Those two guys were gonna be a problem if he was gonna get help for the villagers.
Of course it was impossible Luffy wasn't gonna help them. For one thing, the doctor lady helped him with his injuries - and even if she warned Luffy he was still in the danger zone if he couldn't get more treatment soon, she had basically saved his life.
It was slow, but his energy was returning, day for day now Luffy's wasn't in life-threatening scuffles constantly.
Fresh bandages covered his torso completely…. the doctor had denied him to wear his vest, disgusting as it was, and told him to just throw it into the ocean, which Luffy had done because it didn't matter to him if he was shirtless or not. Although his shorts were tattered, bloody, and ripped beyond recognition, there weren't really anything to do with them. It still beat running around without pants apparently.
"It's unfortunate there's no one around your age in our village… I doubt any of our clothes would fit you." A worried woman had pointed out.
"But you look totally cool! Like a real life mummy - like the ones from your stories, right daddy!?" a young boy around 6 asked with sparkles in his eyes.
"Oi, Milo, that's inappropriate. Don't say inconsiderate things like that, ok?" his dad scolded.
It hadn't taken long for the teen to decide he liked the villagers. Despite their abnormal obsession with knowing everything about him and constantly asking him questions.
"That's one big scar you've got… couldn't have just been an accident, right?"
"Is your home far from here? I mean - with the Grand Line being such a dangerous sea to traverse and all…"
"You have those handcuffs… does that mean... you're like us...?- Oh! Or are you some kind of criminal who's totally cool and broke them on your own to escape?! That'd be so so awesome!"
It took the mayor butting in before they finally gave Luffy some breathing space. Their inquisitiveness did get old pretty quickly, annoying the boy more than anything. And he at this point was just tired of repeatedly telling the same stories which, in the first place, he felt uncomfortable talking about. He'd never even enjoyed talking about himself. Now more than ever he'd rather avoid thinking too much about what he'd been through.
That aside, Luffy really had done his best to repay their kindness. Stealing food - despite being warned and afterward scolded for endangering himself like that. He even tried getting the keys for the villager's cage so they could escape together, but found the ship of the poachers overflowing with garbage to an extent where even just that proved impossible. Unfortunately none of the poachers bothered carrying them around, which would have made Luffy's goal a lot easier.
Oh well.
Making sure everyone escaped was too important that Luffy would give up that easily. No way was another village perishing on his watch.
The frozen teen swallowed thickly, feeling the usual stab of homesickness that had recently been plaguing him.
Fun as it really had been to finally have somebody to talk to again, Luffy had never had felt so out of place when just… talking to someone before. It wasn't like him. It was wrong. All he could think about as he watched the villagers interact was how he was a stranger who no longer had what they did.
A home to return to once their little situation was resolved.
Fellow villagers who stuck together and knew each other like family.
...
He really missed Makino and everyone else.
Of course he'd always known there would come a day when he couldn't just visit them whenever he wanted. But that was supposed to be because he instead was having the most awesomest adventures of his life!
It wasn't ever supposed to be final.
He'd never prepared to say goodbye for real to anybody.
Luffy had always imagined backtracking and visiting Dadan and everyone else once he'd become pirate king - introducing them to his amazing crew and finally repay his tab at Makino's bar.
It wasn't supposed to hurt to think back on how much he'd enjoyed everyone's company back when he still had the chance.
Luffy felt guilty for wanting to forget everything that had happened, but truth was the memories were too painful. Appalling as everything was, and as thoroughly sick to the bone it made him feel, he wasn't gonna deny what had gone down. He just… really didn't want to have to think or talk about any of it right now.
The teen viciously shook his head until he was dizzy and his mind cleared.
Now really wasn't the time for this.
Shifting his focus back on the two clueless watch-dogs, Luffy easily assembled a plan. The doctor-lady had forbidden him from doing anything straining, which, unfortunately, ruled out fighting them as an option. He still owed her for nursing his wounds, so he'd listen to what she told him for now. But, unfortunately, he couldn't promise her he wouldn't wound up in some crisis where it couldn't be avoided.
Luffy couldn't resist a cheeky smirk - one that'd been absent from his face a few days too long.
He'd spent too much time sitting around.
Suddenly, the hiding boy boldly leapt straight up the trap door concealing him, storming off with a literal mysterious dustcloud that appeared out of nowhere behind him - past the startled guards who flipped over on their chairs in shock with a surprised cry.
Luffy charged onward with a mighty roar as, before any of the two terrified grunts laying stupefied on the floor could follow, the stupidly nimble 14-year old skipped right over their ships' railing, right in front of their faces. He barely even stumbled as he landed clumsily in the water that just barely reached past his ankles.
'Alright!'
Luffy didn't dare look back as he pressed forward, reaching the sandy coast in seconds and, as fast as his recovered legs finally allowed him to run again, disappeared past the chunky trees concealing the bay, out of the poachers' immediate reach.
"..."
"..."
Dread ever so slowly found its way into the boggled men, as the seconds ticked by and their brains picked up on what had just happened. Blankly… wordlessly they found each other's horrified eyes from their positions on the floor.
"What just-?"
"Did someone just-?"
"..."
"..."
A second passed, and both fools jerked to their feet in a panic.
"Dammit! Was that one of the villagers!? How'd he get out!?"
"Shut it! If we let him get away it'll be the end of us! C'mon!"
O-o-O-o-O
Escaping was, to say it politely, an absolute joke. Maybe Luffy was just getting better at it…. that would certainly be helpful was it the case!
The island - Pucci, Luffy reminded himself after practicing the name for the bulk of the last week - had a fairly flat landscape with just a single city stretching almost all the way to the seashore of the island if trees didn't stand in the way of the buildings
The architecture wasn't outstanding - just maybe on the elegant side - although the buildings were definitely larger in scale, and a substantial lot of them were made of solid brick. It was a neat place. Fancy in the same way High town back at Dawn would be in comparison to Foosha.
The city on its own wasn't anything extravagant. But while appearance wise, Pucci wasn't anything impressive, it'd be almost insulting to claim the small island had nothing of its own to offer...
Luffy's sense of smell was exploding from all the aromas seeping out the luxurious-looking restaurants that appeared everywhere you turned your glance. The scent resembled that of the most scrumptious and expensive meals that were served on Dawn Island - the kind only Sabo could grant them access to with his special watch-thing, and Luffy hadn't had in years. But maybe that was just the starvation speaking.
*GRROOWWL*
Luffy clutched his empty stomach. Sometimes, it could feel like there was a monster living inside of there, wanting to rip its way through his tummy flesh to get to eat the food he consumed with its own mouth when he got hungry enough and still couldn't satisfy it. Considering the amount of time spent since he'd last eaten a decent fulfilling meal, tummy-monster was definitely growing impatient at all these divine fragrances right about now.
Not just being able to just dig in was torture. But lunatic as even just the concept itself might sound, finding something to eat actually wasn't Luffy's initial concern.
*GROOWWWWL*
The teen swallowed nervously. He was resting against the wall of an alley hidden from the streets that he'd retreated to for now. For maybe the first time in his life, he had stopped to think about what he was actually about to do. It really wouldn't suffice just to push forward without any real concrete plan any longer.
"Those government jerks…. they always end up finding me…" Luffy muttered quietly, as if the fact only now was sinking in as deeply as it should.
He was really tired of constantly exposing himself to those guys.
Ace and Sabo had always scolded him for being too trusting of people in the past. But back then, he hadn't cared about that, because he knew he always had two awesome amazingly strong big brothers to bail him out of any trouble he got himself into. He'd never felt unsafe with them watching his back.
As he'd grown older, the dangers Dawn Island posed became lesser, but only out of proxy of his strength increasing. He needed other people for situations like this. Luffy wasn't good at deception or even just evaluating when a situation was safe or not. He hadn't ever cared about that stuff before.
He'd definitely get somebody who excelled at stealth-related work to join his crew, that was at least one positive realizastion he'd come to terms with.
But that, unfortunately, would have to wait for the future, and future plans did little to help Luffy right now.
He needed to find someone who could help the villagers…
Who should he trust? The villagers needed a ride back home - plus a ship big enough to carry all the animals. Who did you seek out for those sort of specific requirements anyway? A sailor? Another merchant? But what did those look like? Did he just walk up to a random civilian and ask for directions?
"..."
But what if they were there too? What if they saw him - or worse even - what if they hurt whoever was willing to help him? They wouldn't care that the villagers wouldn't be rescued. They wouldn't care that another unjust death got burned into his consciousness.
Luffy didn't fear much... but being weak was one of them. Those government bastards… they evoked a feeling of unyielding hysteria inside him like nothing or no one else really came close to. Triggering all the memories he so desperately wanted to get over with their mere presence in mind. There was no time he felt as helpless and inferior as when his current strength proved too lacking to even defend himself. He wasn't scared of the asshole that that pigeon-bastad was… just of how increasingly pathetic he made him feel with every encounter they had.
He really was desperate to avoid them. But nothing about the kind villagers' crisis would change if he didn't gather the courage to go out there and find help.
*GGRRRROOOOWWWLLLLLL*
Luffy patted his stomach again. His increasing hunger wasn't getting any better either… But there wasn't any place to hunt on this little industrialised island… and with all his bandages wide on display, it would probably arouse too much attention if he went to dine n' dash...
Suddenly, however, to Luffy's horror, his ears failed to pick up on the sound of someone big and tough running up behind him before it was already far too late, and a stranger with bulky hairy arms wrapped Luffy in a tight grip, lifting him off the ground.
"Got you now…! *huff* Don't you dare think you could run away from us you little brat!"
Luffy instantly recognized the voice as one of the poacher's he'd been coerced to listen to through the damaged woodwork of their ship. Not that it allayed anything right now.
"Let go of me!" Luffy demanded, fiercely wiggling around, albeit awkwardly since his feet were off the ground.
"Oh no you don't!"
Almost instantaneously to Luffy's wrestling, another poacher arrived at the scene, rope in hand as he hurriedly ran up front the struggling child, frantically trying to force his legs together.
NO!
Luffy continued to squirm brutally, kicking the bastard foolish enough to try and tie his legs together right across the nose.
"RAUGH!- Son of a-! "
The man staggered back with a cry, tilting his head and slapping a hand over his throbbing injury. Unfortunately, Luffy's hope for an opening to flee dwindled quickly, as his resistance proved futile, and the other poacher recomposed himself way too quickly, completely ignoring the fact blood was dripping from his nostrils.
"You little rascal! You'll seriously pay for that once we get back to the ship!" The criminal spat, stomping wrathfully towards the teen for attempt 2.
Crap! These guys were a lot tougher than they looked!
"No! Stay away you jerk!"
Luffy kicked uncontrollably to try and land a second hit, but his assailant wasn't gonna allow it to be that easy for the desperate teen, instead approaching this time from a different angle - going in from the side where Luffy couldn't reach without stretching, effortlessly restraining one leg and struggling very little to keep it still.
NO! No no no no no no no no no no! NO! Not like this! No way after he'd had all week to regain his strength he still couldn't escape from two stupid poachers! It wasn't fair…! Was he really this outclassed in the Grand Line?!
All he meant to do was help the people who saved his life so he could get going already…!
He finally had some way of getting to Ace.
Ace.
Ace.
Ace.
Why couldn't just crying his name be enough to have his big brother come storming to his rescue like in the old days? He'd let himself be beat up a thousand times over by his grandpa's fist of love if it meant he could have him come save him right now.
"NO! Don't you dare! STAY AWAY!"
Luffy suppressed a few stinging tears as his fruitless fighting at last came to a close, his legs restrained as he could do nothing but watch on helplessly as the rope was wrapped around his ankles and nearly cut off the blood circulation to his feet.
Luffy immediately tried breaking his bonds, which he was supposed to do effortlessly, but his depleted energy plus the seastone cut his attempt very short. The teen gritted his teeth in defeat.
Both poachers seemed to let out a breath of satisfaction at their tiresome victory, as Luffy was lowered back to the ground, a firm hold still around his scrawny arms preventing him from tipping over and pretty much moving at all concurrently. The guy who'd been lifting him all this time was out of breath, but that was the extent of the damage Luffy had managed to inflict on him.
"Damn it… for his age and looks, he's deceivingly strong," Luffy's detainer grumbled. The tight lock he kept Luffy's arms in proved he wasn't taking any chances with underestimating him either. "Look, he's even broken his handcuffs."
"The hell'd that happen?" The question was directed straight at Luffy, whom apparently the poacher expected to give an answer. The teen only glared daggers in response.
"Huh!? What's that look for!? You little punk! You wanna get punched!?" He warned, already raising his fist threateningly at the unflinching teen.
"-Oi!"
All the three heads instantly turned in the direction of the unannounced trespasser, muffled curses escaping the poachers' mouths.
Luffy's heart began racing in his chest, and although the only sound he could muster was a tiny wordless cry, Luffy's captor wasted no time silencing the child with his giant hand. If Luffy's head wasn't currently spinning with panic, this would have annoyed him to no end.
Th-this was… either good, or very very very very very bad for him!
"Excuse us. I'm gonna have to ask you just what you think you're doing, good sirs."
The speaker of the group of 3 wavered not. All of the young marine soldiers pointed their guns at the poachers, fingers ready to trigger at the slightest wrong movement from the antagonistic men, who both remained alarmingly calm.
The poacher not occupied with holding Luffy down smoothly raised his hands in surrender, eyes not averting from the officer's.
"Ok dear gentlemen. Let's not do anything brash here…"
Luffy's eyes frantically darted from one marine to the next. The marines was an organisation working directly for the government. That much he understood. They'd done the dirty work of eradicating Dawn Island and led the Buster Call. Everywhere he went, everyone seemed to know him... those guys could be intending to rescue him for the sole reason of capturing him too!
"You know how it is, don't you? Don't worry, we're no snitches - we know you marines aren't the proud soldiers of justice you claim all the way through... you turn your heads away even just at the mention slavery because those Tenryuubito of yours deem it legal, isn't that right?" he calmly reasoned.
That word didn't bypass Luffy's ears. He stiffened in his captor's arms, eyes filling with confusion.
Hold - Tenryuubito!? Wasn't that the name of the guy who killed Sabo when he'd been sailing out to sea!? What did they have to do with this? And what was this about slavery all of a sudden? The poachers intended to sell the villagers as slaves - that he'd had explained plenty…
But did the marines turn a blind eye to that stuff too, like they did destroying islands?
Luffy studied the group for a reaction, oddly noticing how all three of them had similar glints of disgust and shock shimmering in their eyes, despite not denying any of the jackass-poacher's claims.
What… but-
"Wrong answer," the stern marine growled heatedly.
All of a sudden, a gun went off behind the poachers and a terrified Luffy who hadn't had the smallest chance to prepare. Before the child could react, however, his captor was shrieking a shrill earsplitting cry of anguish, unexpectedly staggering away from Luffy who immediately lost his balance and tumbled to the floor, head overflowing with confused thoughts. As he instantly shot the poacher a glance, he saw blood flowing from a wound in his shoulder the man clutched desperately, his twisted facial expression suggesting he could let out another equally gut-wrenching scream any second.
Luffy froze, breath stopping completely as his vision warped and sounds of fighting, fire, yelling, swearing, crying, - everything of it too real, rang in his ears.
Before him stood not some bastard who'd seconds ago restrained him against his will, intending to sell him off to a life of slavery - but a green-haired gentle warm soul whom he'd loved more than he'd ever had the oppertunity to realize.
Like always, she was falling... falling before his own eyes stinging with tears to the ground as he was helpless to even catch her corpse. It still glared at him with those confused, pleading, glassy eyes of hers. T-those terrified soulless eyes begging for answers….
Why she had to die like that.
The teen sat paralyzed.
The feel of others' blood on your hands was unforgettable. Like the scars formed by the wounds of your past mistakes - etched into your mind and impossible to erase, all the same.
Breathe.
Breathe.
All the images flashing past Luffy's eyes were quickly starting to blur as the dizziness from his rapid breathing became too much.
No… not again...
'Go away….'
Luffy still remembered the raw wrath in Dadan's eyes as she'd hopelessly thrown herself at Lucci, rage consuming her in that pivotal moment where Luffy was too crippled by everything to even go mad.
'Go away!'
She'd been shot too - the best to hope for her was she'd bled to death before the fire could reach her.
'GO AWAY!'
Foosha was the same nightmare relived. Infernal flames swallowing everything, terrorizing shrieks of despair from the limping survivors of the massacre - blood boiling in the corpses of the village inhabitants at their contemptible injustice as they were blasted to ashes.
'Go away, go away, go away, GO AWAY, GO AWAY-'
"GO AWAY!" Luffy screamed, screamed to his blaring, piercing, persistent memories, desperately launching his head against the rough familiar hard cobblestone ground, arms fearfully covering his head to protect himself from all those thoughts that made him want to go rip himself apart.
"... Go away…" he whimpered helplessly.
Taking in breaths so deep they felt like they cut his lungs, Luffy's vision and senses slowly drifted back to him, be it temporarily maybe, to finally allow him to fathom anything happening around him.
Contrary to the raging sounds of nightmare-fuel in his head, everything around him was as ominously silent as a graveyard. His forehead was pressed against the cool surface of the ground, but he couldn't be bothered raising it. Subconsciously he'd curled himself up to be as tiny as possible.
Luffy gritted his teeth, suddenly swarmed by an overwhelming tiredness of defeat.
"Damn it…" Luffy whispered, raspy voice almost gone.
Not again... he couldn't do anything if he kept breaking down like this as soon as someone was shot just like…-
...
...
But it was just too much… all of it was just too much.
"..."
"H-hey…?-"
As uncomfortable as the soft-spoken voice was, Luffy still bounced in surprise, immediately firing the spokesperson standing behind him a frightened glance.
A single marine with a concerned expression straining his face was all that remained of the preceding horde. The alley was now just as desolate as when Luffy'd first arrived here on his own, with the exception of a few blood splatters staining the ground from the fight.
Luffy's confused eyes met the adults', who immediately flared up in surprise, probably not expecting a response from Luffy after everything. The child stared blankly into his eyes, quickly forcing the marine to realize he was waiting for him to explain himself. Visibly awkward, the young adult fake-coughed.
"So, uh… are you... are you good boy? We tried getting through to you for the past while, but you've been completely gone," the man summarised, seemingly relaxing and putting back on his professional front.
"What happened? Where are the jerkasses?" Luffy immediately blurted out, easily dismissing his panic attack. Much to the stupefaction and perplexment of the marine.
"...Jerkasses? Are you talking about the criminals we apprehended? Don't worry, they've been taken away and will be dealt with. I'm sure they'll face appropriate punishment for everything they've done," he assured. The look on the marines face, however, quickly changed. His expression stiffened, eyes growing dark. That was never a good sign.
"Look kid, I'm gonna need just a bit of an explanation here, and if this thing is what I suspect, you're not gonna like it."
The officer sighed, scratching his neck in discontent. Luffy remained blank-faced. Having already experienced many things he didn't like, it was quite strange to suddenly be warned of it.
"...What's your connection to the two men we've just arrested? Is there a reason they were trying to abduct you?" he asked, disturbingly uptight. As if he was ready to jump Luffy if what he had to say didn't pass over with the government official.
"Hm? Yeah, of course….! Those guys are total assholes!" Luffy immediately blurted out, frowning. Hopefully the marine didn't need him to know that though?
"No- I mean- beyond that obvious fact." The officer paused, taking a moment just to just stare surprised at the kid.
Wait- was he up to something here? How old did you have to be to justifiably give such an answer anyway? Did the boy just look old for his age or was he just the one bad at talking to children?
...
...Although the genuinely puzzled dark orbs looking him right in the eyes were fascinating and worrying all the same. He got the feeling it wasn't safe to leave this brutally simple boy on his own regardless of what might have happened to him in the past.
Coughing dryly, the marine recollected himself. This was actually no joking matter.
"Boy, Imma' be straight here. You... aren't an escaped slave, are you?"
"What?"
That absurd question had come out of absolutely nowhere. And why would it even matter if he was in the first place?
"I'm sorry to say my colleagues and I strongly suspect it from your behavior and injuries. Unfortunately, once a slave has been sold off, law dictates they serve them until their buyer releases them or they succumb in one way or another. I'm not any less fond of it than you little guy, but it's just the way the world works unfortunately, and I have no power to change that."
Luffy stared blankly, getting uncomfortable twisting in his stomach. He got a feeling there was an "and" coming up only going to make the marine in front of him far less likable.
"...We all try to ignore the whole deal the best we can, but unfortunately, we're also under obligation to bring back any escaped slave we stumble upon. By request from their… masters who pay a lot of money the government needs, so it's not like we can just ignore them. There's no way this won't be reported to HQ, so it's best if you just admit the truth now, or you'll be chased down since we know your face."
Dread stabbed the teenager in the stomach.
What!? NO! He hadn't heard anything from the government or navy since his escape from the pigeon-bastard! If the marines reported he was here - now that he was really really close to that Enies-Lobby place even the villagers had warned him of when he'd asked them - then who knew what was gonna happen to him!
'This is not good! This is not good!'
Panicking, Luffy bounced up from the floor, only to immediately fall flat on his nose as his bonds made him face-plant. Ignoring his painless tumble, Luffy immediately spun around, shedding the dumb rope a frustrated stare before immediately regaining his sitting position and starting the excruciating fiddly procces of getting it off.
The marine at first silently observed the straw-hatted boy struggle, feeling a stab of pity as Luffy accidentally tightened his knot. Panic spread across the child's face as he realized his horrible mistake.
"...Here, I'll do it," he sighed.
Not able to stomach another second of the depressing fidgeting, the marine unsheathed his sword, swiftly and skillfully cutting the teenager's bindings, to the absolute befuddlement of the younger boy.
What? After everything horrible he'd admitted, like putting up with slavery and accepting the same bastards heartless enough to kill Sabo, he was still helping him?
He stared at the marine with big confused eyes, even getting the soldier to blush a little and turn away in embarrassment.
"You should probably get going boy. If you wanna run away, then I'm not gonna stop you… now's your chance..." the stoic soldier claimed, silently tucking his blade back into his belt. He cast the dazed boy a final sly look of sympathy before slowly starting to walk away.
Struck by a sudden bolt of realizastion, however, Luffy wasn't gonna let the man abandon him that easily. Suddenly taking a big leap from the ground, he grabbed the back of the shirt of the extremely startled marine, stopping him.
"Wait, please! I need your help!" He cried, much to the shock of the speechless officer. He gritted his teeth, growing evidently impatient with the child, immediately turning around to shout in his face.
"Didn't you hear me!? You've just basically just admitted everything I suspect is true, right!? I'm willing to let you go now because taking in an injured kid would never leave my consciousness, but that's the end of what I can do for you-"
"No, I'm not talking about me! You've got to help everybody else! They're still on the ship and about to be sold off, and the captain could come back and take them away any time now if we don't hurry!" Luffy shouted, grabbing the shirt of the grown-up again to shake him frantically.
He'd really rather not resort to getting the marines' help, much less have to beg for it. But all things considered, who else had the necessary supplies and the power to protect themselves like they did?
"Hey hey, slow down a second kid, what are you even saying? Who needs help?" the marine asked. He'd caught the words, "ship" "sold" "captain return" and "help," which didn't really explain a whole lot.
"The villagers! They helped me and I need to help them too! All of them were taken when they tried protecting these awesome animals from their island, and we've been sailing for the past week! They're still on the poachers' ship!" the straw-hatted boy continued.
"..."
The marine kept a straight face, taking a moment of silence to piece together the child's confusing frenzied rambling in his head.
"Ok… so, you're claiming while you were being kept on the ship, a stop was made to an inhabited island with animals… and then the poachers took the villagers prisoners when they were defending the creatures?" he guessed.
"No, the other way around. Everybody else was already there on the ship along with the animals when I snuck aboard," Luffy corrected.
The marine's brows furrowed, head starting to hurt a little from this brain-workout.
What...- but…. if he was really a slave on the run, why in the world sneak aboard the ship of someone who would just sell you back if they discovered you? Why the risk? Was he that desperate to get somewhere? Why the hurry?
"We're gonna have to discuss the details of that a little later…. for now at least, can you show me where the ship is docked?" The marine asked Luffy.
"Uhn!" The teen agreed, spinning around and swiftly taking off in a hurried sprint. He wasn't exactly sure how to get out of the back alleys, but he'd just been running straight for the most part… he was sure.
'Alright everyone, just hold on a little longer!'
The marine stumbled a little as he scurried after the kid, significantly impressed he could still run as fast despite looking like a walking corpse. Ignoring the fact he was barely keeping pace with a child, he promptly pulled out a tiny palm-sized den-den mushi from his pocket.
"Hello?"
"This is soldier #097182 reporting in. I've got an escapee from the ship of the poachers we've just arrested. Turns out our suspicions they arrived on a boat loaded with cargo was right! He claims there are innocent villagers and smuggled animals trapped still. I'm gonna need some backup."
"Unit 1, move on in! Be prepared, we don't know how many poachers were left to guard the ship!"
"YESSIR!"
Footsteps thundered as the assembly of marines stormed into the illegal ship. No time was wasted before doors were being kicked in and everybody started yelling to each other. Though certainly chaotic, it was an impressive display of team work considering the assembled group of marines had been notified and mobilized on a whim if nothing.
Luffy was probably lucky Pucci was as small as it was. His sense of direction was atrocious - that was a given - but not to the point where, when he noticed something familiar, he wouldn't know to run towards it. The trees concealing the small sandy bay's of the industrialized island served as a good landmark. And from there, even Luffy had managed to lead the entire squad of marines that had ended up charging behind him to the ship. Probably (hopefully) the only time that was ever gonna happen. But now he just wanted to get away from there since he knew the villagers and animals would be ok.
"Wait, hold on just a minute here... so, you're telling me all those injuries, the handcuffs, and the old old torn clothes all isn't a result of slavery? You're no slave on the run?"
The marine interrogating Luffy was the same as before. His expression was strained into a mix of befuddlement and skepticism at the 14-year old's messy story, which only got more interesting the more details the marine managed to make sense of. This kid strangely poked at his curiosity the longer they chatted, and it was starting to really bother the adult. He really wanted to know more about where this boy came from.
"No, I'm not! I've really just gotta get going!" Luffy argued annoyed. He'd been practically bouncing in place for the past minute. He couldn't take this standing around and explaining himself any longer.
Turning his back on his interrogator unannounced, Luffy was planning on scramming right then and there, if not for the hand that suddenly grabbed his wrist tight, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"Hold it boy, if you're really innocent as you claim, then surely you wouldn't mind coming with me for a quick little background check, no? Don't worry, nobody's gonna hurt you. We'll even give you someplace to sleep."
The marine had a really disturbing expression on his face. The kind of look of intrigue, Luffy could remember only seeing very rarely in his life. Like that one time he, Ace, and Sabo had come across another group of kids playing with a dead bird. They'd completely disregarded how sad it was the small helpless creature was dead in favor of examining it. Luffy didn't like how captivated the marine suddenly was with his life. And now he was trying to drag him along.
"No! Stop!"
"-Oi!"
Luffy didn't even get to struggle before the yelling voice intercepted. Both turning their heads in bafflement, a strange man appeared to be running towards the pair specifically. The marine batted him a sceptic look, immediately strengthening his grip on the 14-year old as the stranger stopped, barely exhausted, and tentatively neared them.
"Sir, I'm sorry to inform you this is no place for a civilian to be. As you very evidently should be able to see and hear, we're dealing with confidential matters right now." The irritated marine warned.
"Ah, s-sorry I swear, not here to disturb you marines with your business," the man politely affirmed, even raising his arms to show he meant no harm. "It's just, I saw you two running through town earlier, and I couldn't help but recognize that boy you're currently trying to take away."
What?-
What!?
Speechless, the marine and Luffy alike stared agape.
The man's hair was short, curly, brown. No hat or outstanding accessory or scar to identify him. But he did have a slightly fancy brown coat and leather gloves. Still he was really just the sort of guy you'd pass by without a second thought on the streets.
Luffy knew one thing for sure though. He hadn't ever met this man in his life. Or if he had, their encounter hadn't been significant enough that he remembered or trusted him even the slightest right now.
"Who are you!? I don't know you!" Luffy blurted out.
Not good - NOT GOOD! Luffy only knew one group of people aside from his family and Shanks who knew him by face. He wasn't dressed like one of the typical suit-buttheads, but that'd happened before!
The stunned man, however, only gave the child a sympathetic - edging on depressed even - look, even after he'd yelled straight in his face.
Yeah, as if Luffy was letting himself be fooled and captured again! He couldn't be caught here! By the stupid marine or the other guy!
"Hey, hey, it's ok, you probably wouldn't even know in the first place, I can explain-"
"Oi you, just what are you trying to pull, lying to our faces now? I'm certainly not hoping victimizing and tricking children is something you'd take pride in doing-"
Luffy had had enough.
The marine's attention was diverted, now as perfect a chance as he'd ever have to run away.
Briskly and effectively pulling his hand free with a single swift strong move that made his wounds burn, Luffy dashed directly past both of the unprepared adults, forward before even looking whereto - just as long as he for sure distanced himself with every predator out to get him.
"Hey-!"
Before the marine got the opportunity to charge after the little boy however, the stranger unexpectedly jumped in the way of his path, slyly watching from the corner of his eyes as the child got smaller in the distance, smoothly disappearing into the safety of the trees.
He was gone.
"You…! Just what do you think you're doing?" the marine asked bitterly, already reading his weapon for combat.
Something about this man wasn't right. Why did he seem so familiar?
"Mr marine. I don't think it's very kind of you to accuse me of child abduction when you seem so very keen on bringing in that boy for yourself. Your actions and words are unfortunately as morally corrupt as ever I see…" The man strained a smile through gritted teeth.
It took a few seconds for the man's words to register. But once the navy official finally understood what was going on here, his face lit up in shock and anger.
"Hold on! You! I recognize you now...! You're one of those obnoxious revolutionaries aren't you!?" he shouted, finally recognizing the man's face from a wanted poster.
"Guilty as charged. Sorry to say pal, but you guys aren't taking that boy anywhere now we've finally caught up to him..."
Luffy breathed a sigh of relief as he rested his quaking body against the rough surface of the brick wall. The stone was cool to his sweaty skin, and the support the wall provided was definitely welcome.
Thump thump thump thump thump thump. Multiple minutes since he'd gotten away, and yet still his heart refused to stop racing.
He was back in a crowd of people where he knew he'd be harder to spot and he felt generally more safe right now. For now he hid under the arches of some building he'd happened to come by, to calm down a bit. But the fact he couldn't tell if anybody was still following him was immensely disquieting.
"That was way too close just now… " Luffy murmured timidly, nervously evaluating the passing mob of different people. Everyone predominantly seemed too busy to pay him any real attention, mostly just chatting about insignificant matters, like the weather, or how many licks it took to finish a lollipop. Nobody at least appeared to be looking at him directly, but Luffy wasn't confident his hiding place would work for long if those guys had already dispersed a group to come looking for him.
Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump. Faster. His heart just couldn't seem to calm down.
"Not good... where do I go now...!?" Luffy whisper-yelled. He tugged uncomfortably at his bandages, looking desperately around the area for an obvious route to take, but unfortunately, everything in this stone-brick city looked identical. Cobblestone roads. Hefty structures. Restaurants everywhere he couldn't enter.
"..."
The teen was at a loss. He felt like a lost child in a big city. Except if he began crying and brought even the slightest attention to himself, all the wrong people were probably bound to notice and come attack him.
"Hey! Come on mom, hurry, or we're gonna miss the sea-train! C'mon, c'mon!"
The squeaky voice of a toddler caught Luffy's attention.
"Of course, of course, but wait up for your old mother would you? I don't want you to lose sight of me in this crowd dear."
A young chipper girl came running past Luffy, too enthralled with excitement to notice the teen standing alone. A woman with a bright smile followed her close behind, hands carelessly in her pockets and small giggles escaping her lips. Just an ordinary lady in an extraordinarily good mood with her daughter…
"..."
Quickly scanning the surrounding crowd just one more time, still with no signs of anybody dangerous, Luffy neglected every alarm in his head screaming at him to not head out where he could be spotted again, and tentatively began trailing the pair.
"Oi, Rafael! I need a report! How are things on your side? Are you guys ok?!"
Branches crunching under the weight of heavy boots, raspy breath coughing frantically for air, and distant swears accompanied by gunfire were all worrisome sounds the revolutionary could make out over the den-den mushi in his hand.
Of course risks would always come with any mission they'd take, but one rule set in stone by Dragon was to always prioritize the lives of their colleagues if possible. A failed mission could mean the deaths of civilians, but reality was harsh, and the lives of soldiers who could fight ultimately mattered more if they wanted to continue their war with the government.
"*huff*... No worries *huff* everything's ok here on my end! *huff*huff* back-up's just arrived! *huff* Sorry! I had no choice but to let Dragon's son run away!"
"Look! There's more of them now!"
"Don't falter! We still outnumber them!"
More bullets followed the distant shouts of the marines. Fortunately, no cries or groans from Rafael's end to signify any of them actually hit their targets.
"Don't think about us… *huff*... we'll be fine! Focus on finding our target! *huff* huff*"
"You sure?" The informant hesitated.
"Are you really selling us short right now!? *huff* huff* just get going, that kid freaking needs us right now! I saw him! I saw him.. *huff* with my own eyes but couldn't do much, so you… *huff*... better do a better job! We'll…. *huff* meet you later at the town square!"
"OI! STOP THEM!"
"YOU REVOLUTIONARIES AREN'T GETTING AWAY!"
Gacha.
The sound of the call ending was like a stab to the stomach. Nobody in the army liked abandoning their comrades while they were in trouble, but the way things were right now, none of them could afford to beat themselves up over the fact they were needed elsewhere.
He sighed.
"...Honestly, but to just hang up on me like that… he's as bad as Sabo…" the man grumbled. As much as the youthful sprightly blonde was highly beloved, it really couldn't hurt him to stop that habit of his. Of course they all became sick with worry when the 17-year-old snuck into enemy territory alone and didn't call them back. Of course he was scolded when eventually they did get through to him - he could have died alone in a ditch somewhere for all they'd know!
Sighing again, the man began dialing a very familiar number on his den-den mushi, suddenly realizing he had just talked to himself.
'Enough complaining about a teenager, you've got your part to play too,' the soldier reminded himself.
Just in time for the call to get through to its intended receiver, however, a person loud enough that the man immediately noticed, came running at him at full speed. He wasn't alarmed. Only allies knew he'd been camping out in this back alley after all.
"Oi! I… I found him! I mean - the kid! I saw him...! I really saw him…!" he hoarsely blurted out.
No need for specification, the informant's face exploded in shock.
"-What!? You did?!"
They'd been so close for far too long… always 1 step behind the wandering homeless boy who seemed to have no pattern in the directions he went. Just being told their chances of helping the poor kid finally were tangible felt unreal.
The delirious revolutionary stumbled to the side of his collegue, sweating profusely and a frantic look plastered on his face for some reason, unnerving the partner.
"What happened!? Where'd you see him!?" the soldier asked, careful of the volume of his voice. The main streets weren't too far away, and the marines currently were alarmed of any suspicious shouting.
"..."
"...Uhm, would one of you mind explaining what's going on over there?" a confused voice suddenly butted in.
Both partners flinched in surprise. Though the voice from the forgotten den-den mushi was painstakingly familiar.
"Sabo! I'm sorry...! I saw that Luffy kid crawl up on top of the sea-train just as it took off, but I couldn't board it in time to talk to him! He'll be heading directly in your direction! To The Blue Station at Water 7!"
Oof...! Sorry for the cliffhanger, I've been so very excited to share this with you! XD So - this is all I'm gonna reveal about the Revolutionary Army's involvement for now... more about Sabo and Dragon next chapter!
Auch... I felt pretty bad writing that scene where the poacher got shot and Luffy got his panic attack. Poor bby, it's only really now I'm starting to realize the crap I still have in store for him O-O (but it's not that much :))) I figured guns alone wouldn't really scare him, since he's still made of rubber and they can't really do much to him specefically, but what happened with the poacher was enough to push him over the edge ;-; Also, aside from setup to what's maybe gonna be my favorite chapter to write thus far, I also wanted to use this chapter to highlight how wary and suspicious of everyone Luffy's getting after getting tricked and constantly getting discovered because he wasn't being as careful as he could have. This is gonna play an important role just a little further down the line.
Sorry that I couldn't get this chapter done as quickly as I maybe could have. There are just tons of people coming over constantly for all sorts of reasons - health wise most prominently. Throw in visits to the hospital and working desperatly to finish a pretty ambiguous gift for my friend's birthday coming up very soon I've just been stressed and tired :)
MR97: *ahem* I apologize for my abscense, but here's an update as you requested! Thank you a million for your sweet compliments dearest reader! And even if we're gonna have to wait just a little longer for the reunion, I'll tell you I'm really really excited about it too! XD
BlueHeartNina: Aww, you're so absolutely welcome!
Daranceli: Haha... whoops, but you're still welcome? XD MY GOD YOUR REVIEW NEARLY MADE ME SCREAM WHEN YOU MENTIONED SABO! Yeah! He's here! Right now! And Shanks is just gonna have to step back a little again, unfortunately, until his moment comes...
Lusamine: Your opinion is always very insightful and highly appreciated, thank you! Your idea actually made me really excited, even if I already had some ideas for Garp XD But about your PM, I did see it the day you sent it to me, but because I'm really really socially anxious, I just couldn't get myself to answer... sorry :( But I still stand by everything I said in chapter 14 - I thanked you because you gave me ideas that inspired me for what to do with Robin, which I was pretty unsure about before! Sorry... I know I probably could have been a little clearer about that.
hendo2031: Good to know, thanks for reassuring me! Just wait a little longer for Ace - but Sabo IS gonna be in the next chapter at least! The straw hats are actually gonna be interesting, not gonna spoil anything, but I'm pretty hype for them :)
kagome11: At last yeah XD didn't last long unfortunately... The means of getting to Slumtasia is gonna be explored next chapter, hang tight! And indeed. Poor Garp ;-;
Magic Morgana: (Oh wow! Let me just start this thing out by thanking you for taking the time to write such a long review O-O) Ok, thank you sincerely for you kind compliments! And please allow me to say how absolutely thrilling it is watching my readers theorize and tell about their own speculations! It's a joy to read, and I'll 100% agree with you. That WOULD be EPIC XD - AND THANK YOU SHANKS FOR KICKING SOME WE'LL DERSERVED ASS
PirateHunter55: Thanks dude! And oh-! You did? Thanks for sharing your opinion, it's always welcome!
deathshade37: Thanks, I'm really relived so many people told me I did ok. And I'll eagerly await the day I get my chance to write Garp's carefree side, I know it's gonna be a lot of fun!
Caraline Fisher: Hi again dear! I'm praying things have only gotten better since last chapter? It's at least a relief to know your family has everything it needs, but don't use that as an excuse if you're still unhappy! It's ok to feel down! Thank you for your concern, though, I think I'm just getting really tired of everything that's going on ahahaaaa... All my love to you, sweetie :D
SerenaDragneel: Congrats with your birthday, I hope it was a joyous day full of love from your family! Don't worry about the villagers, they're gonna be safe at least! (Ace... O-O) I'm gonna have to agree with you regarding Garp. All the poor man wanted was to protect his grandson... and now it's all come to this... ;-; My wheelchair helps me get around because I can't walk too well, which yeah sucks, but it could still be a little while before I don't have to rely on it, unfortunately. Well wishes to you too, though!
Guest: Thank you, I will!
AysaWolf: OMG, I'm so sorry for scaring you! Here have a hug! *hugs* Thank you for the amazing compliments and well wishes, you're seriously awesome! :)
Mel72000: Your review litterally almost made me choke XD
Greer123: A pleasure to know! Thank you!
FrwydChykn: Thanks! I personally am really excited about what's gonna happen in the future, but the next few chapters like this one are gonna be mostly Luffy-centric. Hope you're staying healthy as well, I'll be updating as fast I can.
Rustery: Aww thank you! I think the relatability of a messy folder is too real... XD And really, I just do my best, but emotions can get pretty frustating at times ahaaa... Regarding typos, no, I'll acknowledge they're there - but that basically boils down to the fact it's really just me doing everything (the one beta-reader I did have is too occupied with serious personal issues right now). I definitely feel I've progressed though, and believe me, I WILL SOMEHOW FIND THE TIME TO GO BACK AND CORRECT EVERYTHING AHHHH (but this alone took nearly 1 and a half day to edit, so time's an ass ;-;)
Sophia Mendes-Coruja: Wow... I'm still sitting here in awe over the fact you went back and reread everything... O-O hug to a hurting friend? *hug?* Ahhh, I didn't expect to have compliments regarding older things in the story thrown at me here... I'm blushing even if you can't see it. Garp and Kuzan are just two old friends who can relate to each other way too hard for it to be funny ;-; Garp and Luffy... that's the first time I've heard a reviewer mention them, but I won't say anything regarding it for now... and Water 7 coming up - THE CHAPTER I'M SO EXCITED FOR, DON'T YOU FEAR FRIENDO, THERE'S GOING TO BE GOOD PARTS TOOOOO :)))
(I went back and counted and just- HOLY 18 REVIEWS TO ONE CHAPTER I-
I mean, obviously it's a good thing, I just didn't realize it was this many before I finished giving my replies and noticed how long it actually took just to answer you guys O-O T-thank you)
Things unfortunately don't seem to be slowing down much for me, so writing is still gonna happen whenever I have the energy and time. But an update is still gonna come, so please, just wait for me~ XD
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