Chapter 5 - Explaining & Training

A/N: I don't care if people got issue with this but Ace has all three Hakis. I believe he does have them and long story short, homeboy got it. So does Shanks….

Fight me

Once more the Red Hairs gathered together in the meeting room. Once everyone was settled Shanks closed the door.

"Look, I'm gonna be blunt. Ace has Conqueror's Haki."

Not surprisingly everyone was surprised and shocked. "Say what?!" they all yelled. Only Benn, Lucky Roo, and Yasopp weren't. They were there when Ace accidentally used it after all.

Shanks nodded. "He does, and I want to train him. He's already agreed and I also said you guys might be willing to help train the Spades while I work with him. How about it?"

Benn shrugged so lazily it was almost offending. "I don't see why not, they do need to grow stronger. What with sailing with us and all," he said, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Yasopp was the next speak. "Their sniper, Pakky, could use help. I think he's trainable." He grinned mischievously. Shanks pursed his lips together and stroked his chin.

"So are you all accepting?" They all nodded but Lucky Roo spoke up. "Do the Spades even want help? Or even know?" he asked.

Shanks nodded. "They do, I had Ace ask them before I came here. They're all willing, and they said they are ready whenever you are," he said with some amusement. The Red Hairs grinned.

"This is going to be fun!" Yasopp cackled. The others gave their sentiments to that.

As soon as the Red Hairs departed from the meeting room, Shanks set out to find the freckled teen. Which wasn't hard, since of course he was visiting Deuce.

When he walked into the infirmary he saw Ace holding his hands up in worry and Deuce jaw dropped. He paused.

"Uh, everything all right?" he asked. Ace startled a bit but looked at him hopefully. "Shanks! Tell Deuce that you were being serious about the training, he thinks you're pulling our leg."

Shanks threw his head back and laughed loudly. "Don't worry about it kid! Like I told Ace, I wouldn't offer this willy nilly. In fact, my crew just agreed to it. They're excited even, they can't wait to have pupils to torture - I mean train."

Deuce paled while Ace grinned. "Awesome! Whaddya say Deuce?" The masked man looked at them back and forth. But then he sighed and shrugged, a small smile playing on his face.

"Why not, someone has to keep you in check. Might as well get strong enough to hold you back from doing something stupid," he teased. Ace faked offense while Shanks snickered.

"Ouch, you wound me. But anyway, you need something?" Ace asked, turning to face the Yonko. Shanks shook his head.

"Just wanted to tell you that tomorrow we're heading to port at an island of ours. We're going to head out together, alright?" His voice held no questions. Ace nodded.

"Sure thing."

Next Morning…

Ace couldn't help but feel the knot of worry in his stomach tighten. They had docked three hours ago at the island and for an hour or so Shanks was leading him deep into the woods.

He didn't say anything. He assumed they were going to have a talk or train so he just decided to have Shanks act first.

Abruptly the man stopped to a halt, nearly causing Ace to ram into him. They were standing on a cliffside, a beautiful view of the ocean.

Shanks finally turned around. His expression dead serious. "Ace, I will warn you, this training will not be light. It's going to hard and rough, I won't be going easy on you. Can you handle that?"

Ace didn't expect that at all. For a split second he hesitated, but shook his head. "I understand. But I don't care. I don't care that it's going to be hard, I want to get stronger to protect the people I care about. So throw whatever you got at me."

Shanks smiled, nothing big or noticeable, just small and barely there. "Good. Now tell me, have you had any training?" he asked. Ace paled and nodded.

"Yeah, Gramps - Garp - would come over to Dawn Island and force us to have 'training sessions' with him." He shuddered at the memories. Shanks raised an eyebrow.

"'Us'?" he questioned curiously. Ace blinked and said, "Yeah me and Luffy. He'd mostly give us Fists of 'Love', but the actual training...ugh. He usually tossed Lu down the bottomless pit and I'd get the ravine, but sometimes he switched it up. Uh, you ok?"

Shanks upper half of his face was shadowed and he looked angry. "He...he did what?" His voice gave the appearance of calm but really deadly controlled rage.

"Um, it really meant to also strengthen our bodies. You know, endurance and all. I'd try to get Lu out of it, but Gramps was hard to hide from," he was going to continue but was seriously getting concerned at how tense Shanks was becoming.

"Shanks?" The man inhaled sharply but then looked up with a fake smile in place. "Don't worry kid. But let's talk about Haki." He changed the subject, hearing enough of the old man's insanity.

Ace tilted his head, confused. "Haki? Like Conqueror's Haki? That Whitebeard has?" Shanks made a sound. "There's not just that. There's also Observation and Armament Haki," he explained.

Ace frowned. "So there's three types of Haki? Do you have one, or all?" he asked, a bit excited. This sounded interesting and learning more about Shanks was exciting.

The older captain nodded. "It's true. I have all three," he admitted. Ace widened his eyes. "Wow! Wait, that means you have Conqueror's Haki," he said slowly, a bit wary.

Shanks couldn't help but feel sad and hurt. Did Ace still not trust him fully? Or think he was going to hurt him?

"Ace, with Conqueror's Haki I helped save Luffy. I only use it to take enemies down, just like Whitebeard does. We don't use it against the innocent," he said carefully. He was pleased as he watched the young teen accept it and also believe him.

"So, what does Haki exactly do? From what it sounds like, Conqueror's Haki literally sounds like its name. Conquering people." Shanks gave a somewhat nod.

"It allows the user to exert their willpower over others, and it's extremely dangerous. It dominates the will of others, and those with weak wills, will be rendered unconscious. Inexperienced users will hurt people, blindly taking them down."

Shanks paused and asked, "You getting it?" Ace nodded, motioning a hand for him to continue.

"Experienced users who have control and proper training, can pick out those in large groups without hurting or affecting anyone else. But those with stronger wills can resist, or ignore even, the effects of it. To knock someone out depends on the difference in strength between the user and those the user is attempting to knock out. If the power gap is great, the easier it will be to knock the victim out," he explained.

Ace blinked, taking in the load of information. "That's intense...so tell me more about it. And the others." Shanks smirked.

"Of course. Now, here's another…"

On the Red Force…

Nora felt her palms begin to sweat. Her stomach felt funny. She was nervous.

But she couldn't show it. Because she needed to be strong in front of the others, and show them that this was going to be fine. She was the second mate.

"As of now you are under our training. I'm sure you all know that it won't be easy. Can you handle that?" Benn Beckman questioned, arms crossed over his chest.

The Spades collectively swallowed but nodded fiercely. This was important. They needed to get stronger, and they will no matter what.

Some of the Red Hairs grinned. Benn had a faint smirk and took a couple of steps forward.

"Good. Now, let's hear what you got and determine your training."

It took about an hour to finish explaining. Shanks wanted to be loud and clear about the Haki, so he made sure to take his time.

Ace didn't even mind. In fact he was captivated by it all. He had so much to learn and do. It also made him feel incredibly weak. He honestly thought going after Whitebeard was smart? Psh, he was a bigger idiot than Luffy.

"Well, now I believe it's time to train." Shanks stood up from where he was sitting on the grass and made his way to Ace. The teen got up and raised an eyebrow when he saw Shanks pull out a thick cuff and a blindfold.

"Why do you have that?" he asked warily. Shanks placed the items on a tree stump. "The cuffs are Seastone, and that's a regular blindfold. You're going to put them on, part of training," he said, not entirely answering him.

"But the cuff will power down my fru...that's the point, isn't it?" Ace realized, to which Shanks nodded. "The blindfold goes on after."

"But why?" he pressed as he took the cuff. "Because you need to strain your senses. The eyes are fast, but not that fast. You'll understand it, trust me." Shanks said it so sure that Ace had no choice but to comply.

With a sigh Ace put the blasted cuff on. The effects were instantaneous. He felt the drain of his powers slip to nothing. The warmth of his fire gone.

Shanks gave him a minute, to collect himself. Most likely this was the kids first time having Seastone on him.

"Ready for the blindfold?" he then asked. It was going to be the afternoon in a couple of hours. He wanted to start the training as soon as possible.

Ace nodded. He grabbed the blindfold, tied it nice and tight over his eyes, and exhaled. He felt vulnerable, exposed. He didn't like it.

"So what next?" He heard a shuffle and assumed his now trainer was positioning himself. Now he felt really exposed.

"We're going to fight." Was his answer. Ace paled but immediately prepared himself into a defense stance. "Why?" he asked.

"Because it'll help you really strain your senses. Don't worry, I won't go hard. This is your first time doing this, I'm not going to go extreme." The man assured. Ace swallowed a lump in his throat.

"But we're next to a cliff…" He surprised himself when he didn't jump away from the warm hand that appeared on his shoulder.

"Kid, I'm not going to let you fall. I know what I'm doing. Trust me." Shanks said, not voicing the undertone of his words but knowing Ace still heard it. That trust was the ultimate thing now.

Ace needed to trust him completely. If not then this was going to be all over. Probably the end of their travels together and neither wanted that.

Ace exhaled slowly. He trusted him. He trusted Shanks, with his life.

"I trust you." He said it softly but it rung loudly in the sky as clear as fireworks. The hand slipped away.

"Let's begin."

Ace only had a moment to prepare himself before he barely heard the slightest movement of feet charging at him. He quickly moved to the left and just in time blocked the fist coming towards him.

But faster than anything he felt a sharp smack hit his side. It already started to sting.

This was going to be difficult.

~oOo~

His body hurt. It stung and he felt pretty irritated. Shanks swiped at him so many times that he was sure every inch of his body had gotten hit.

Yet he felt alive. His feet were constantly moving, his ears listening to every sound. Every step.

Snap!

Ace whipped around so sharply that he felt a crack shoot up throughout his spine. He ducked an incoming roundhouse and barreled rolled to the side.

He lifted his hand up and blocked a fist. He felt somewhat happy when he managed to strike at the older man's shoulder. But he knew that Shanks was probably letting him.

He gritted his teeth. If this was this hard, he was scared for the next training sessions.

A sharp smack landed on his ear and he nearly growled. Focus! Don't let your thoughts distract you! Breathe...hear...feel...

He inhaled, held it, and then exhaled. His body relaxed and he felt himself become more aware. Something changed. Light was coming to him.

He lifted his leg and spun around, successfully knocking Shanks's arm and sending the man off with it. A second later he heard a stumble and an 'Oof!'

"Shanks? Shanks are-" Ace stopped when he heard laughing. He reached up to take the blindfold off but an amused yet proud voice cut in. "Don't. Don't take it off." Ace frowned, his hands hovering by the blindfold. "Shanks?"

He could feel excitement and something else emitting from the man. He heard movement and immediately prepared himself.

"Now we're getting somewhere." Shanks chuckled. Then he dashed forward at Ace.

They continued fighting like that. For who knows how long. It felt like forever. Never before had Ace ever felt this. This energy, this...this. He didn't even feel his body sting.

When he didn't sense the elder coming at him, he paused. It was silent. No warmth or any feeling of sunshine. It was nighttime.

"Find your way back to the ship." Shanks' voice echoed around. Ace felt his stomach drop. Shanks really wanted him to find his way back? To the ship, at night?

Ace listened once more, hoping to hear the man, but when he didn't he sighed. He had no choice. He had to find the ship. Blindfolded. At night.

Near an ocean.

Great.

~oOo~

Shanks had to admit he felt a bit worried. Expecting Ace to find his way back to the ship while tired and sore from fighting, was probably a bit worrisome.

But the kid was stubborn, like his old man. He believed in Ace.

As he approached his ship it was Benn who greeted him first. His friend raised an eyebrow. "Where may I ask, is our friend?" Shanks rolled his eyes and waved a hand.

"Oh just trying to find his way back here. Blindfolded, and cuffed with Seastone I might add. It's part of training," he explained nonchalantly. Benns face dropped, looking unimpressed.

"In that case the training here is going nicely. They show promise, all of them do." Shanks couldn't help but feel like something was lifted off of him.

"Good, I'm glad." Both men walked onto the deck where the remaining Spades were leaving. They looked miserable. And tired.

A chuckle. "Give them a rough time did you now?"

Benn rolled his eyes. "Please Captain, you probably would've done worse." Shanks couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah I probably would have," he agreed.

He did after all leave Ace alone in the dark. Quite literally.

~oOo~

A/N: Lemme explain something. Shanks wouldn't have left Ace alone if he knew about his narcolepsy. That's right. I'm writing this where Shanks currently doesn't know about Ace's narcolepsy, cause if he did he wouldn't have left him stumbling in the dark with the ocean so close.

ALSO! KEEP READING!

I'm writing this where as to right now, Ace doesn't know that Shanks was a cabin boy/apprentice on Roger's crew. But he will soon ;)

I LOVE YOU