Warnings: Dark themes, lots of mentions of death, strong language, human experimentation, experimenting on children, child abduction, graphic descriptions of experimenting, lots of needles, lots of violence, poor descriptions of panic attacks, descriptions of blood, rated M for safety.
*If I need to add anymore warnings please tell me in the reviews or a PM and I'll be sure to add it!*
Chapter 37: The First Island of (Hopefully) Many
By the time the next day rolled around the brothers were more than ready to go onto an island. Marco had told them over lunch that he and Izo would take them out to do the shopping for anything they would need, but after that, they were free to roam the island if they wanted.
Breakfast passed by smoothly, and after, the brothers went out onto the deck, sitting where they had yesterday. It was close by Whitebeard which, once again, did not go unnoticed by the pirates, nor the Captain. They ignored them though, opting instead to watch the island that they could faintly see in the distance slowly get closer.
Ace had no problem seeing it and for once, instead of sitting on the ground, Ace leaned over the railing with his brothers, Sabo taking charge of listening for anyone getting too close.
"The trees are pretty tall, and from what I can see the towns not that big, so that means there's a lot of forest to explore." Ace said, speaking softly to Sabo and Luffy, describing the details that he could see with his enhanced eyesight. Even though the younger two could only see a speck that resembled an island Ace could see much more detail, and Luffy, curious as ever, wanted to know what it looked like so far.
"Really?! Sabo, we can go exploring right?!" Luffy asked, turning to Sabo with a bright smile and shining eyes. Sabo briefly paused in focusing on the pirates surrounding them and turned to Luffy, smiling back.
"We can Luffy, but only after we do some shopping first, remember?" Sabo asked, all three of them still speaking in hushed tones. Even though it would be easier to speak in their silent language it would mean that Sabo wouldn't be able to focus all that much on their surroundings. If he was focusing on the pirates he wouldn't be able to take the time to decipher the different taps they used in their language, and if he focused on the taps then he might miss someone coming.
"What else is there Ace?" Luffy asked, pleased by Sabo's response. Ace continued to describe different things that he could see to Luffy, how the buildings looked, how many people he could see, the different boats in the docks, even what color flowers were in one of the window sills. Luffy took all of it in, hanging onto every word, but when Sabo signaled that Thatch was coming over their conversation stopped, all of them turning to face the incoming chef.
"Hey boys, you excited to visit the island?" Thatch asked pleasantly, a smile on his face. Sabo smiled back, nodding to the man as he did, while Luffy began reading his feelings.
"We are. We've only ever been to our home island before." Sabo said, deciding that the island that the facility had been on hadn't counted. Thatch nodded in understanding, walking up to the railing so that he could look at the now much more visible island.
"Makes sense. That just makes it all the more exciting though!" Thatch said, smile widening.
"I wish I could go with you guys though, but I'm in charge of restocking the food supply." Thatch continued, sighing a bit as he lit a cigarette.
"Oh well, I guess there's always next time! Maybe I'll see you guys after." Thatch said, standing and giving them a grin before waving and walking off, saying a quick goodbye as the three watched in confusion. They hadn't really said a word to the man, the chef just continuing the conversation with himself, like a monologue that they had accidentally overheard.
"That was weird." Ace muttered quietly, Sabo nodding in agreement.
"Well, whatever it was, at least I didn't have to do much talking," Sabo said as he turned back around on the railing, looking back to the island. Ace and Luffy turned as well, the island much closer then it had been when they first started looking at it.
"We should probably go find Marco or Izo, everyone's getting ready to land soon," Sabo said, hearing everyone talking, some giving orders on what to do as they got closer to the island. Ace and Luffy nodded, the trio turning away from the railing and looking at the mass of people. Luffy discreetly sniffed the air, sifting through the many scents until he found the familiar trail that would lead them to the first commander.
'This way.' Luffy signaled, turning to walk towards the upper deck. His brothers followed, trusting Luffys nose. It wasn't hard to find the commander after that, the three easily identifying the unique haircut as they ascended the stairs.
Marco was talking to someone, but by the time they reached the top of the stairs the conversation seemed to be over, the other pirate walking away while Marco stayed where he was, glancing around at everyone else around them. Seeing this as the perfect time the brothers walked up to the man, the commander spotting them quickly as they did.
"Ready to go, yoi?" Marco asked, Sabo nodding.
"We saw everyone was getting ready so we decided to come find you or Izo seeing as we'll be going with you two," Sabo explained smoothly.
"We should be landing within a couple of minutes now. After that, we'll wait for Oyaji to give out the assigned tasks, but then we'll be all set, yoi." Marco said.
"Do you need any help with anything?" Sabo asked, feeling a bit bad as he watched everyone working around them, some getting ready to lower the anchor, others heading to get the gangplank. Marco seemed to think for a second before nodding.
"If you want could you go and tell Izo that I need him to go and separate the money for the different groups being sent out to restock? I would but I'm a bit busy making sure we don't crash into the island, yoi." Marco said, and there was a hint of exasperation behind his words as if this was something that could happen if he weren't here.
The task seemed simple enough so Sabo nodded, Marco thanking them as he told them where the man might be, not that they needed it. The three turned to leave, Luffy using the time to smell the air for Izo, finding the perfume scent easily over the others. Apparently, the man had just come out on deck, the wind blowing the scent right to him.
The three maneuvered their way through the throngs of pirates bustling around, Luffy holding onto his brothers' hands as he led them so they wouldn't be separated on accident. Once they reached the man Sabo took charge again, putting on a smile as he called the mans name.
"Oh, hello you three, can I help you?" Izo asked, looking a bit surprised that they were talking to him.
"Marco wanted us to ask you if you could go separate the money for everyone going out to restock," Sabo said, relaying the information with ease. Izo sighed, smoothing his kimono out a bit.
"And right after I just left too. Well, thank you for the information, I'll see you guys in a bit." Izo said, smiling pleasantly to them as he turned to head back where he had come from.
'Well, now what?' Ace asked as they watched the door close behind the 16th commander. Sabo shrugged.
"Guess we just wait."
And they did. They watched as the pirates bustled back and forth, listening to, or giving, commands as they went.
Not wanting to get in the way the three sat on the sidelines, letting the experienced pirates take care of it all. Besides, there was so much going on that the brothers were a bit uncomfortable being near everyone during it. They didn't like that, at any second, someone could turn and attack them, because with all the movement going on, this would be a perfect time, it would catch them off guard.
The three weren't anywhere near trusting these pirates, if they ever would. Sure, they were a bit more comfortable near some, i.e. Whitebeard, Marco, Thatch, and Izo, but even then it was more that they tolerated being near those people better then they did the others on this ship, many who were still complete strangers.
It was also a case of the brothers not wanting to try and get close to anyone, because what if they found out about them and their past and turned on them? It would hurt if they were strangers, but if they grew close with them, trusted them, it would hurt even more, and they couldn't handle that, not when the facility was such a fresh wound.
Finally, though, the ship was docking, all the preparations slowing as things worked themselves out, the Moby successfully anchoring and the gangplank being laid down onto the dock. The pirates gathered around Whitebeard and the trio guessed this was when everyone would be assigned their jobs. They decided to stay on the railing, watching Marco and Izo so they would be ready to go when they were done.
Whitebeard gave out the assignments, and when he finished the brothers hopped down, walking over to their escorts for the day.
"Alright, let's get going," Izo said with a smile, holding a pouch of what was, presumably, money. The three nodded, following the commanders off the ship and onto the solid ground, their legs a bit shaky after getting used to the rocky ship. They righted themselves easily though, following quickly, not wanting to get left behind or lost.
"So we should go get your clothes first, and then anything else after that. There'll probably be a bit of spending money left so you three can use it however you want, but after that, you can go explore." Izo said, glancing around to find the shops they would need. Sabo nodded, listening carefully so he knew what they were doing and where they should be going.
"And don't worry about the money, we've got it covered. Once you three start doing chores you'll get your own allowance to use on whatever you like whenever we dock." Izo explained.
While Sabo listened to the commander Luffy was practically bouncing with joy, looking at all the different shops, smelling the different smells, feeling the happy feelings coming from many of the citizens.
Even though he didn't want to get too close to anyone he was content sticking inbetween Ace and Sabo and observing from there. He may be different from seven years ago, but his childish wonder and curiosity was still the same.
Ace had to hold onto Luffy's hand a bit too tightly to keep the youngest from running off towards the first smell of food, but other than that the oldest was enjoying the excursion as well. He was glancing around, using his vision to look into the forest at the edge of the town, seeing it extend a good distance in, meaning it was big and perfect for exploring.
After they put up with being a bit too close to a lot of new people the three brothers would be able to finally relax by themselves in the forest.
"This looks like the one we want, yoi," Marco announced, breaking Ace and Luffy from their thoughts. They followed the two into the shop, looking around at all the different clothes. Izo was beaming as he practically floated away towards a shelf where he began browsing. Marco shook his head, turning to the brothers.
"Go get anything you want, I'll just wait here, yoi. Oh, and you might want to hurry before Izo tries to get you to try on twenty different shirts." Marco said, the three nodding as they went off to a different section of the store.
'That guy can try, but I swear, if he does I'll throw the shirt right back at 'em.' Ace tapped, not wanting to play dress up. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Sabo rolled his eyes, already lifting different shirts and pants up to Luffy to check if they would fit the small boy.
'Not a good plan, we're trying to be nice, remember?' Sabo asked after putting back a shirt that was a bit too big for Luffy. Ace pouted.
'Fine, I'll throw it back gently. Happy?' Ace asked, crossing his arms as he tapped against his skin. Sabo sent a pointed look to Ace, frowning but didn't say anything.
'I like pretty man! He's feeling really happy right now!' Luffy tapped, a smile blossoming onto his face, and his brothers realized that, even though most of it was probably his own emotion, Luffy was probably being influenced by the overjoyed man stacking clothes over his arm.
That wasn't an entirely bad thing though, because at least it was a happy emotion. Sabo smiled to Luffy, ruffling his hair.
'That's good Lu, he seems to be a nice person at least.' Sabo said, meaning it. Izo hadn't done anything to them that would raise any flags. He had even helped Luffy with his hat which was definitely a plus.
'Now, Ace, try this on.' Sabo said, tossing a shirt at Ace, the clothing covering the fire users face. Ace pulled it off, revealing a glare while Luffy snickered beside him.
Meanwhile, Marco watched from where he stood at the front of the shop. Izo was flitting around, clearly pleased with the situation he was in as he stacked shirts upon shirts, sometimes adding pants to the mix as he did. Marco knew he was going to have to stop the man before he ended up trying to buy the whole store, but for now, he would let his brother have his fun.
The trio of brothers, on the other hand, were a bit more interesting to watch. Sabo was helping Luffy pick out clothes, more like picking them out himself, while Ace watched, looking a bit annoyed. At one point Sabo threw a shirt at the oldest, confusing Marco a bit, but it made Luffy laugh which wasn't something he heard much at all.
After that Ace began helping with the process, taking over the role of getting clothes for Luffy while Sabo moved onto getting clothes for himself and Ace.
It was interesting to watch the brothers work. They still knew next to nothing about them, like what had happened in the facility, what information the facility had gotten on the three that made the marines want them back so bad, or even something as mundane as their favorite food, but Marco knew that they wouldn't be getting any of that information anytime soon, and that was ok.
Luffys interrogation of Oyaji had been a bit strange, and no one knew what to make of it when it had happened. Marco recalled that even Ace and Sabo seemed surprised by Luffys questionnaire which only made it all that much more confusing, but Marco had decided not to bring it up at the time, because Sabo had looked like he expected him to, and he knew how touchy the three were about sharing information, so he had chosen not to pry.
Of course, everyone else had thought he had pried because the second he left the brothers he was bombarded by questions from anyone he saw, all of them wanting to know what the deal was.
The brothers were a puzzle that was rapidly increasing in difficulty and Marco was beginning to wonder if they would ever get closer to solving it, but after the interrogation from Luffy the three seemed to be a bit more comfortable near their Captain, so that had to be a good sign, right?
The first commander watched the brothers, noticing that every few seconds one of them would tap, either on their arms, legs, shelves, or even each other, and Marco was reminded of the many other times he had seen them do that. He raised an eyebrow at the gesture, still not knowing what to make of it.
Initially, he had thought that it might be a nervous tick or a habit, but for them to do it that frequently as if there was purpose behind it, made him think otherwise. He didn't know what it would mean otherwise, but he did know that there had to be some kind of story behind it.
Eventually, it looked like the three were finished, each holding their own stack of clothing. Marco stood up from where he was leaning against the wall and grabbed the pouch of money from his side, having confiscated it from Izo the second they reached the store.
"You guys done, yoi?" Sabo nodded at the question, following the man over to the check out where a woman was smiling politely to them.
The brothers ignored the pleasantries from the woman, instead more focused on what they had been discussing earlier.
'But what if there was such thing as an underwater tiger?' Luffy asked.
'And I told you, there's no way there's freaking underwater tigers! They don't exist!' Ace said, this argument having been going on for most of their shopping experience now.
'But what if they were?' Luffy pressed, only annoying Ace more.
'Alright, both of you calm down, Marcos finishing.' Sabo interjected, drawing their attention back to their chaperone who was beginning to pick up one of their bags. Ace grabbed the other two before the commander had a chance and they began heading to the front of the store.
"We're leaving now Izo," Marco called, not bothering to look to see if the other commander heard. There was a groan, indicating that Izo had, in fact, heard him, and the brothers turned to see the man quickly returning clothes to their shelves before running after them.
"Marco, you did that on purpose! You could have given me some warning!" Izo whined, frowning. Marco rolled his eyes at that.
"If I had, yoi, you would have bought something. This trip wasn't meant for you to restock your endless wardrobe, remember?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow to the man who promptly pouted, placing his arms in his sleeves.
"Yeah, but you could have at least let me get that one shirt, it would have been great for Rakuyo, he's always complaining he doesn't have a shirt with shorter sleeves for when we go to the summer islands!" Izo said, a slight whine still in his voice.
"Then you should come back later with Rakuyo, yoi," Marco said. The brothers watched the interaction with mild interest, the two going back and forth with ease. Even though they hung around the pirates they never paid too much to how they interacted, always assuming it was like the doctors had interacted with each other, calm, cool, and professional, only saying what was needed and then being done. This, however, was different, a much easier, laid back conversation that they hadn't been expecting.
After Izo and Marco finished up their talk the group lapsed into silence, walking through the town and admiring the beauty of it all as they did. Luffy was becoming a bit more comfortable and relaxed in their group, pleased that no one was coming up to bother them, and had eventually begun to speak aloud, pointing to different buildings that interested him or products he thought looked cool. Ace and Sabo indulged him, agreeing that, yes, that shop was really tall, or yes, that jacket with the spikes on the shoulders looked cool.
The group had been walking for a couple of minutes, the shop they were looking for not close to where they had been, and at one point Luffy had directed Ace and Sabo attention towards a building on their left. Just as he raised his arm, ready to blurt out whatever it was that was on his mind, Marco suddenly grabbed the boys wrist, shocking him into silence. Ace and Sabo almost immediately began to jump into action, not knowing why Marco had just grabbed Luffy, and not really caring, all they knew was that they weren't going to let the man hurt their brother.
Were the pirates finally turning? Was this the moment they had been waiting for?
"Let's go look at that over there, yoi," Marco said almost a little too quickly, lowering Luffy's arm as he pulled him onto the opposite side of the street, leading them back toward the way they had come. Ace and Sabo were just about to pull Marco off of their brother, just about to attack him when they heard Marco speak in a much quieter tone than before.
"Just follow me, Marines are coming this way, yoi," Marco said softly, probably having noticed the tension in all three of them. Luffy, who had looked particularly terrified that Marco had grabbed his arm looked even more scared after hearing those words, pulling his arm closer to his side, Marco having let it go by now.
Ace and Sabo almost froze in shock, realizing now exactly what had happened. They rushed forward toward Luffy, putting him inbetween them once more as they tucked their own arm a bit closer to their sides.
Marco had covered Luffy's tattoo from the marine who would have surely seen it had Marco let the boy continue with what he had been doing.
Izo was following behind them, and for once they didn't care, as long as they got away from the marine. They were silent again, and Ace and Sabo were silently cursing themselves, mad that they hadn't been paying as much attention as they should have.
Of course, there would be marines here, ones that probably knew to look out for children with numbers on their wrists, and they were walking around showing theirs off to the whole world!
Sabo risked a quick glance behind him, catching sight of the familiar white and blue outfit that indicated a marine, and quickly looked forward again, biting the inside of his cheek as he felt the anxiety begin to well up inside him.
Luffy, already shaken from Marco's sudden contact, was even more shaken by the close proximity they were in to the marine, wanting more than anything to go hide in their room back on the Moby, or near the giant Captain, the one who always had so much warmth radiating from him. Instead, he grabbed onto Ace and Sabo's hands, pulling them close to him so he could feel their arms on his, using the contact to ground himself, to feel safer.
Ace was trying to look anywhere but behind him, not wanting to look at the marine and risk gaining their attention, but wanting to know how close they were, if they were already looking at him and his brothers, wanting to see where they were headed. Were they going to follow them? Would they turn off towards another section of town? Had he already seen their tattoos? Ace bristled at the thought, clenching his fist tightly, his fingernails digging into his palm to the point that they were nearly drawing blood. He forced himself to keep his eyes straight ahead, forced himself to follow the first commander who was definitely high up on his suspicion list.
Even though the man had only been doing it to help the brothers it was still off-putting that he had so quickly grabbed Luffy and could have hurt him in the few seconds that Ace and Sabo hadn't reacted. They had gotten lucky, and next time someone grabbed Luffy like that, it probably wasn't going to be with good intentions. Next time they would have to be more prepared, they couldn't risk letting their guard down like they had in the town. They had gotten too comfortable, forgotten about the dangers that surrounded them at every turn, too excited about the prospect of finally being alone for a bit after all of this.
With those thoughts in mind, the brothers followed Marco as he led them back through the town, using different turns to get them back to where they needed to be without going by the marine. Now that they knew they weren't near a marine the three calmed slightly, but they were nowhere near back to being as relaxed as they had been previously and they didn't think they would.
"Anything else we'll need will be in here, yoi," Marco said eventually as they finally reached the shop they needed. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy nodded mutely, following him inside and grabbing things almost mechanically, not really paying much attention to the items like they would normally.
They couldn't help but focus on everyone around them, waiting for the next attack, waiting for someone to make their move, for marines to come swarming in.
Apparently, they had gotten everything they needed because before they knew it they were walking up to the cashier, Marco paying for their things and Sabo grabbing the bags. The group left the shop and began making their way back to the Moby to put their things away.
"After we get your things back you're free to roam the island if you would like, but be careful you three, we don't want the marines spotting you," Izo said, worry evident on his face as he spoke, concerned for the three. Sabo nodded, barely listening as he focused more on their surroundings, wanting to be ready for anything. Izo sighed, noticing the lack of attention, the trio still looking a bit shaken up.
Izo couldn't blame them, they had only just gotten out of that facility, and they were already being faced with people who wanted to send them back. No matter the fact that he, and everyone else on the Moby, knew nothing about their past, they knew it was bad.
Marco was feeling the same, but he also felt a bit bad that he had startled the brothers in the first place. He hadn't noticed the marine coming until it was too late, and in an effort to keep the boys safe he had to grab the youngest's arm to keep them from being caught, but as a result, it had put the brothers on edge. It was better for them to be mad at him then for the marine to spot them, but it was a bit disappointing after they had all been trying their best to show the brothers that they could trust the Whitebeards, and he had gone and nearly ruined it if he hadn't already.
Once they reached the ship the trio made a beeline for their room, bags in hand as they did, while Izo and Marco went to Whitebeard to tell him about what happened. They didn't know if the brothers would still be going out to the island after this but it might be a good idea to have someone go with them just in case.
"Welcome back my sons, how was your outing?" Whitebeard asked as he saw the two Commanders walking up to him. Izo sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, it could have been better," Izo admitted, Whitebeard raising an eyebrow.
"Oh? Did something happen?" Whitebeard asked.
"We almost ran into a marine, yoi," Marco explained, sighing as well. Whitebeard frowned in understanding.
"How are the brats?" The Captain asked, concerned for the three he had taken in. Izo tilted his head, turning to look at the door leading to the boys' room.
"I think they're still a bit shaken up. Marco scared 'em a bit too." Izo said, glancing at the Commander. Even though he understood why Marco did it, he knew that it had caused the boys a bit of extra stress.
"The marine would have seen Luffy's tattoo so I had to grab his wrist to stop him, yoi. The brothers didn't know there was a marine though and probably thought the worst." Marco said in response to his Captains raised eyebrow.
Before Whitebeard could respond though the door was opening and the brothers were walking out, as silent as ever, walking over to the gangplank and making their way back onto the island.
"I thought for sure they wouldn't want to go back onto the island," Izo mumbled quietly as he watched the three walk towards the forest rather than the town.
"Should I go after them Oyaji, yoi?" Marco asked, also watching the three leave. Whitebeard was silent for a second but shook his head.
"Leave them be for now. If they're not back in an hour go check on them and make sure they haven't been harmed," Whitebeard said, concerned for the brothers' safety, but not wanting to force them to have a guard with them everywhere they went. It seemed that after the outing today whatever progress the pirates had made had gone back down again.
Whitebeard grinned. It was one step forward and two steps back with these brothers.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Finally, it feels like I can breathe again!" Ace sighed, shoulders relaxing as the trees surrounded them on all sides, not sensing anyone near them with his haki. They were finally alone.
"Look at how tall the trees are!" Luffy said in amazement, also feeling more relaxed now that there was no one around to hurt him or his brothers.
"It's almost like the jungle back home," Sabo said as he looked around, having the urge to go jumping through the trees like they had done so long ago. They may not be kids anymore on their home island, but they still enjoyed running around and being free like they had back then.
"Ne, Ace, Sabo, I bet I can beat you in a race to the cliff!" Luffy suddenly said, smiling brightly as he looked off in a direction. Ace looked as well, his enhanced eyesight allowing him to see the cliff Luffy was talking about, confusing him.
"How did you know there was a cliff there?" Ace asked, wondering if Luffy had more powers then he was letting them in on. Luffys smile didn't fade. If anything it grew.
"I can smell the ocean!" Luffy explained, but that didn't really answer the question.
"Luffy, its an island, there's water all around us," Sabo said, also curious now. Luffy laughed, running off without giving an answer.
"I'm gonna beat you two if you don't hurry!" Luffy cheered, Ace and Sabo glancing each other for a second before smiling.
"As if!" Ace shouted, taking off after the youngest.
"Like you could beat us Luffy!" Sabo teased, also running after his brothers. The two eldest easily made their way past the youngest, but Luffy merely laughed loudly, charging after them.
The three continued laughing loudly their entire way to the cliff, their previously bad mood gone completely, replaced with only happiness, joy, freedom.
As they ran out from the treeline they slowed down, coming to a stop at the cliff's edge, looking out at the beauty of the water expanding across the horizon.
Even though they were being chased down by marines, even though so many bad things had happened to them in the past seven years, even though they would be scarred for life, there was one thing that made it all better, one thing that made it seem like, even though all of those things had happened, it would still be ok.
"Ace, Sabo?" Luffy asked softly, holding onto his hat as he looked up at the sky. His brothers turned to look at him, humming in question. Luffys small smile grew into a wide, toothy grin.
"I like being free."
Looks like the brothers have had their first encounter with Marines that weren't with Garp! And Marco scared them too by grabbing Luffy. It seems their first island adventure wasn't all that great, but they still got some time to themselves in the forest, which they desperately needed after everything they've been through.
With Marco grabbing Luffy, the three have lost some of that trust, but at the same time, Marco showed that they could trust him to keep them safe from Marines. Whether they see it that way or not is still to be seen, but its a start. The three had definitely grown more comfortable around the pirates compared to how they first started out and this could possibly set them back again, but we wont know for sure until the next chapter.
Also, next chapter things start picking up again, so there's also that to look forward to!
I feel like saying it over and over again makes it lose its meaning, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm always immensely grateful for all of your guys' support on this story! I never imagined I'd be writing a story this long because I've got a horribly short attention span and cant stick to something to save my life, but all of you have continuously motivated me to get my butt in gear and write chapters for this story that I honestly have tons of ideas for! So once again, thank you all for every single comment, every follow, every favorite, every view. They mean everything to me.