Freedom Isn't Free
Disclaimer: Not making the dollars off of this project.
Sources of Inspiration (check em out if you haven't already):
A Gamer in South Blue by LordVishnu (One Piece)
Rebirth in a Magical World by jmwells2003 (Harry Potter)
Deeds, not Words by Deimos124 (Game of Thrones)
Chapter 1:
Imagine having the audacity to believe that one day you might walk around without a bomb collar wrapped around your neck.
To think that one day you could see what the world looked like outside of your sea stone cell. To dare dream at the possibility of being called by your real name… or even just treated as more than someone else's property… the dirt beneath their feet… like your less than human.
And yet despite being a slave from rebirth you hold onto the hope that one day your suffering might end and you can finally start to live your life. Although that hope wavers, disappears, and reappears at a truly erratic pace you hold onto it like a drowning man to a buoy.
Why?
Because at this point it's the only reason you're still breathing.
XXX – Bowed but not broken – XXX
"So the mummies boy is still alive huh, shame I can't say the same about your mother… though I suppose she just couldn't handle all of this aye bitch" shouted an ogre of a guard as he cupped his balls and laughed.
Rapping his baton across the bars of my cell I can't help the clenching of my fists behind my back as I desperately tried to stimmy the rage that was rising inside of me.
"Come on bitch, it's been a whole five years since I last saw you and yet not even a welcome back? I mean, I could be your father you know… but then your father could be just about any guard at the rate your slut of a mother went through them."
Ice poured through my veins as my rage burst across my face but I managed to hold myself back from lashing out as that would only get me punishment… I had enough scars already. Still I couldn't stop myself completely.
"My mother was pregnant with me before she was enslaved" I stated with a cold resoluteness as I remembered the words of my mother before her passing five years prior.
"I am NOT the son of scum!" I spat out the resolute belief I had desperately latched onto all those years ago when my mother bestowed me with stories of life outside of this hellhole… a life of freedom.
"Che, whatever helps you sleep at night I suppose. Here's your slop bitch, eat it quick you've got five minutes till I grab you and all these other shit stains for today's activities" the guard stated before sliding a bowl of said slop across the ground of my cell.
The grey muck they feed us bubbled as I moved myself to grab it, there would be repercussions if I didn't eat it after all. As I funnelled it done my throat, not daring to taste it, I wondered how much longer I would have to put up with being the property of these 'nobles'. Couldn't be long till Fisher Tiger came back to free us all now surely, he'd escaped over a year ago now.
Oh the guards all told us that he'd been caught and killed for his insolence but I knew better… I had insider knowledge after all. Being reborn into the world of One Piece has been a truly horrific experience so far as I battled with the concept of slavery. Sure there was a history of slavery in my old world but living it was a whole other thing entirely.
If it hadn't been for my mother I might have tried suicide, but it was her constant love and affection that got me through those first years of cognizance. When I was battling the depression of losing all of my former loved ones she was there for me… when I cried my eyes out after being whipped yet again for speaking out she coddled me and took the pain away.
For that I would cherish her forever.
There was no doubt about her being my 'real' mother, yes I'd had a mother that I loved very much in my previous life but that didn't negate the sacrifice and love I was given freely by this one.
She will live on in me always as the person whom rekindled my faith in humanity and sparked the flame of hope within me those nine long years she existed in this life. I was now fourteen years old and while I hadn't been able to break out on my own… I was still mystified at how Fisher Tiger had managed it… I was confident that I was strong enough to get by on my own once the bomb collar and sea stone had been taken out of the equation.
For the first time in this life I would have freedom… the wait was killing me but I had no doubt that Fisher Tiger would show up soon and once he did I could finally start on my first adventure. An adventure to find my real father, I owed it to my mother to give the man closure and a chance at being involved with his son.
I just hoped that her stories of him were accurate and I wasn't walking into one giant disappointment. His name was Ivan and had lived with my mother on some place called Momoiro Island… wherever the hell that is. Still, at least I have a dream to follow even if that is the case; the blood of the nobles and their willing followers will one day soak my skin.
Until the day I die, everything I am will be given to ending slavery once and for all. If there's one thing I've learned over the years it's that the people of this world are very real with hopes, dreams, and emotions. There are no 2D characters here, just real people struggling every day to survive on the foolish hope that one day they can be free.
XXX – Bloodlust – XXX
"Gawk" *thud*
Fire lit up the crazed smile that stretched across my face as another 'warden' fell at my feet. Oh how good it felt to finally be rid of that cursed sea stone and bomb collar. Old Fisher Tiger had finally come through and freed the slaves of Mary Goise as he did in canon and I couldn't be happier.
That man was truly a legend of enviable calibre. To climb the fucking Red Line by himself and then systematically take out the guards, and hand around the guards key sets so that the bomb collars and sea stone chains could be removed. The guy even had the foresight to release the devil fruit user's slaves first to help rescue the rest of the slaves… and cut open a few monsters along the way.
Hearing a commotion outside of the current pen that I had been checking through I immediately rushed to find the cause. What I found caused a frown to cover my face for a split second as I witnessed three girls around the same age as myself running away from a group of the 'wardens'.
"Come on girls, promise we'll show you a good time." "Hahaha, you'll be begging for more in no time"
Memories of my own mother's cries at the hands of these bastards fuelled a rage so deeply imbedded within me I couldn't hope to contain it… so I didn't.
"GET READY TO DIE BASTARDS" All eyes locked on me as I sprinted towards the monsters before me, each more ugly and disfigured than the next in my eyes. With their focus shifted away from the girls they were able to get away safely without even looking back. Their black, orange, and green locks the last I saw of them as they rounded the next building.
Heh, I could respect that.
"YOU COST US OUR FUN BRAT, GUESS YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO TAKE THEIR PLACE."
Never again. I would never be that vulnerable again.
My whole body bulged with muscle as pale skin changed to golden fur, hands shifted to claws, and twin fangs ran down past my chin. It was time to hunt. With a roar I propelled myself forward into the suddenly fearful group of men.
"Wait, no. How can he cha… *shick*" one down, four to go. Ducking under the swing of a blade, a swift uppercut took the head off the second warden in a shower of blood. Horror took over the faces of those remaining before two of them charged at me with reckless abandon whilst the last one raised his gun.
Leaping over the two desperate charges I felt my shoulders momentum stall for a second as I was struck by a bullet. Adrenaline took care of the pain as I pushed of towards my ranged foe. Dodging the next bullet I got behind him before snapping his neck and let out another roar. Instincts were beginning to cloud my mind in a sea of bloodlust as I drooled over the final two oppressors.
"ma.. ma… monster" one of them whispered causing me to recoil in disgust. How dare this bastard have the audacity to call me the monster?
"You should look in the mirror more often if you think I'm the monster here bastard."
"I… I was doing my job… I… I have a family to feed."
"And so did every single woman you raped… every single child you mutilated… every single slave you oppressed, and for what? So some rich fucks can do whatever sick thing comes to their mind? You people are all the same, about as noble as pirates and half as smart… now do me a favour and die"
With a single leap I closed the distance in seconds allowing them both to swing their swords above my ducked body before I swiped ones face off and turning to stare down the final piece of shit. He trembled and I allowed myself a smirk as I smelt the piss rolling down his leg. Roaring in his face, he dropped his sword and brought his hands in front of his face in a feeble attempt to protect himself.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH"
He lost them.
*pew*
Spitting out his hands, I smiled widely knowing the blood dripping from my lips was making this all the more traumatic.
"… You're looking a little… empty handed…"
…
…
Sick of the silence, I shot a claw out and ended the final warden's misery via throat slashing and then decided to T-bag the fucker. Things I never thought I'd do in real life. Now, better go check those girls and everyone else got out ok. Wouldn't want this save to be for nothing after all… well nothing more than revenge anyways.
Shifting into my full transformation for the extra speed it gave me I shot off towards where the girls had been running. Four powerful legs meant that I flew across the cobblestone road and I couldn't help the wistful smile that came across my face. Oh, what a feeling to be free again… the first time this body had ever experienced it.
Soon enough my ears perked up as I heard the tell-tale signs of fighting in the distance. Deciding to get a better look at the situation I leapt up onto one of the pens and scoured the land ahead of me. I had to jump across a couple more buildings before I saw what was causing all the ruckus.
It seems the stationed marines had arrived and were putting up a bit more of a fight than the wardens. They seemed to have their own devil fruit users spread out and were just better equipped than the wardens had been. The slaves seemed to be slowly advancing towards freedom but the losses were building up and some were being recaptured. In the distance I noticed they had rounded up the recaptured slaves and where chaining them up. Within the group I noticed those same three girls from before.
"Looks like it's time to play hero once more" I muttered to myself before I leapt back down and began my sprint towards the round up that was taking place. Bowling my way through marines along the ways I saw what must have been a higher up in the marines who looked to be in charge of the round up taking place.
*Sniff* *sniff*
"Fucking wet dog" and sure enough as I got a closer look I could see that the bastard was a zoan user just like me. Only instead of a prehistoric cat, he was a historic dog… and a Dalmatian at that. He had taken on his hybrid form and seemed to be leading a group of marines against the slaves currently trying to free those who'd been recaptured.
If I could end him, then that should be a giant blow to their defence. With that thought in mind I angled myself so I would be attacking from his blind side and charged leaping into the air and transforming into my hybrid form as I came down on him.
"CAPTAIN DALMATIAN LOOK OUT" Just in time it seems one of his bitch boys was able to let the 'captain' know of my attack. Said captain was able to barely escape my swipe by dodging to the side. A dust cloud rose up from where I landed as I slowly turned to face my new foe.
"Not very honourable of you to attack a man from behind kid" I spat on the ground to the side in disgust.
"Not very honourable of you to endorse slavery bastard"
That seemed to piss him off as the man-dog racked his teeth and tensed his body ready for an inevitable fight.
"All I see are criminals trying to escape justice" Stunned by the audacity of his words I was taken aback when he came at me with a speed that matched my own. Quickly dropping to a defensive stance I got ready to take on the coming storm.
"Your ignorance and refusal of what's right in front of you is fucking retarded"
*thud* I was able to block his first strike but he quickly began a series of punches that I was being hard pressed to keep up. I'd had no formal training in fighting and it was beginning to show as I relied more and more on pure instinct to survive the onslaught.
"Not as retarded as you'll look when I'm done with you criminal." From all angles his fist kept flying at an astounding rate that threatened to overtake me. The skill gap was too large, I could not beat this guy with the current ways were going.
"You truly believe that all these kids, all these mothers, and all of these elderly are criminals?" The mind wiping rage was beginning to come back to me the more I talked to this moron. With it my power and instincts seemed to rise… I knew what I would have to do. Managing to throw my own haymaker I created some space between us before shooting myself back as far as I could in one jump. The space would hold for long.
But it was long enough for me to give into the beast inside. To allow the incredible bloodlust sitting beneath the surface to come through. A roar ripped out of my throat as my body pulsed with power.
"You are the one covered in blood are you not" But I was too far gone to hear whatever stupid words he'd uttered at this point. Everything in me was calling out for the bastard's blood and I could no longer deny it… I didn't want to deny it.
Suddenly I was right beside him, fist clocked back ready to punch his brains out but he was ready and moved his body under my strike and closed the distance between us. Landing a clean strike straight into my stomach I felt all that bloodlust dissipate completely as the wind was taken from me. I was dislodged from the ground by the strike and his follow up roundhouse kick sent me skidding across the stone ground.
"Shear power alone will never overcome skill"
Even if I wanted to respond to him I couldn't as I rolled over and coughed up blood on the floor. I could feel him making his way towards me slowly but couldn't do anything about it as I trembled with pain. Was this really it, I was brought to this world merely to live as a slave and die at 14? Really?
*Smack* *Thud*
"Ah, but a distraction will"
I forced myself to turn over and see what had happened only to find Fisher Tiger himself standing right before me.
"Good job kid, everyone's free"
I gasped out a glob more of blood as I finally picked myself off the ground. Tiger was kind enough to wait for me to get to my feet before turning to leave. Despite what he said it seemed he was in no mind to help a human if he didn't have to.
"than… thank you…" I breathed out, eyes locking onto the unconscious 'captain' laying on the ground.
"Don't mention it, you allowed me to free those slave once more… now get out of here before more show up." But I didn't move from my spot for a moment as my mind worked a mile a minute as I tried to work out what to say.
Do I warn him of the canon betrayal that led to his death? Try to convince him that his life was worth far more than his hate for humans which prevents him from getting a human blood transfusion to survive?
"How… how can I repay you?"
He turned back to me once more and seemed to truly analyse my person from his towering height. Nodding to himself he turned back around and started to head back over to help break off the chains of the final few recovered slaves.
"As I said, don't mention it. Forget about it even, you owe me nothing and I want nothing from you. Just leave this place a free man, and do your best to stay that way… Good luck" And just like that he was gone and I was left to myself once more. As I looked around I noticed that the fighting had ended completely. Apparently whilst I was 'distracting' Dalmatian, Tiger and a group of slaves had freed the recaptured ones and turned it around on the marines who now sat tied up together and defeated.
Taking a look down at the captain I noticed his chest was still rising and falling. Tiger hadn't killed him? Why? I walked over to him before crouching down at his side and resting a claw along his throat. Just one swipe and his life would be flushed from this world. A single drop of blood landed on my hand and I raised it to wipe off across my face only to pull it away now soaked in blood.
'ma… ma… monster' echoed in my brain as I recoiled away from the unconscious body before me. My skin became even more pale than usual as I stared at my blood soaked claw. Now that the adrenaline rush had run its course and my predator instincts taken a back seat I played back the last several hours since the breakout had begun. I felt myself overcome with shock as I realised what I had allow myself to do, what I allowed myself to become.
But no, I could never be like them! They tortured, raped, and enjoyed doing it… but then I had enjoyed killing them all hadn't I… I was just being irrational right now… nothing I did could compare to what they did.
…
Or was that irrational…
A gasp racked my entire body as I remembered to breathe… what was done couldn't be undone… and didn't all those TV shows in my previous life ascertain that as long as you felt guilt you weren't a monster?
But that didn't detract from the fact that I'd done it… Fuck me, this was not the place to have such an emotional fucking dilemma. I needed to get out of here, like Tiger said. Taking a deep breath and chucking all this emotional baggage to the side as best I could, I lumbered my ways towards where I saw all the other newly freed people heading.
There was no slaves here. Humans, merfolk, dwarves, minks, and a whole host of other species all walked side by side towards the one thing they'd been daring to dream about all this time. Freedom had finally come and I couldn't imagine a more beautiful site.
Chapter End
Thanks for reading, hope it kept you entertained for a while. Tried to do the fight scenes justice and have a good ratio of conversation and description, let me know how I did.
Don't forget to smash that follow and leave a review if you feel so inclined.
Cheers,
Firstshadow.