Authors Note: I have shamelessly stolen the title to this chapter from The Greatest Showman soundtrack. I couldn't resist, I was listening to it whilst writing and it just seemed to fit :D
Many thanks to Wordlet for the wonderful beta job!
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Chapter 2: From Now On
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"Where'd they go?"
"Don't know. Couldn't have gone far though. You two head that way, I'll go this way."
"No way! I'm not heading any further into this forest!"
"Coward!"
"Hey, I just don't wanna get eaten by one of those tigers, man."
"I heard there's bears too."
"Ugh, you two are useless!"
Slowly, a young dark-haired boy hidden in the deep undergrowth mere feet from the retreating men, allowed his muscles, tensed to run at a moment's notice if the idiots had spied him, to relax one by one. He released the breath he had been holding, finally letting his burning lungs draw in the deep mountain air. He slumped back onto his hunches, a brown sack slipping from his grip onto the dusty ground next to him.
"That was close," a voice muttered softly behind him.
Ace turned to his blond companion to see he was not in much better state than he felt. Sabo had a split lip from a lucky punch one of the goons had landed before they had managed to slip free, and Ace could feel his own body aching, but he brushed the pain aside in favour of pointing at the sack resting in the dirt.
"Did that moron slash it?" Ace asked, casting a final glance in the direction of the idiots who had jumped them in Grey Terminal, before twisting and facing his companion.
Sabo examined the sack carefully before shaking his head, a relieved smile breaking out across his face. "No, it's fine, thankfully. It's getting a bit threadbare though. We might need a new one soon."
It took Ace an embarrassingly long few seconds before he realised Sabo had referred to them in the plural. Again. It was seriously taking some getting used to. He had heard Dadan use 'we' plenty of times, and even Gramps used it on occasion, but Ace still couldn't wrap his head around the notion that he was no longer a sole individual.
He hadn't really known Sabo all that long. He had first caught a glimpse of the blond-haired boy just over a year ago. It had surprised Ace at first, to see another child on the trash heaps, especially one who didn't look at all emaciated or weatherworn, and he hadn't expected him to stick around for long. Kids never did. Not with the amount of older, more ruthless inhabitants of Grey Terminal who were more than willing to force a kid into doing their slave labour. But to Ace's shock – and, maybe, possibly, only a little, bit of respect – the blond had instead thrived. From what Ace had seen of him, he had done exactly what he himself did, and only ventured into the trash heaps when necessary. The forest, on the other hand, he had made his own.
It had unnerved him for weeks after finding out that Sabo lived in the forest. The forest was his territory and Ace didn't share.
Until he did. And he still wasn't entirely sure how that had happened either, he privately admitted, watching Sabo re-tie his sack quickly and efficiently. One day, they were strangers; the next, they were hunting a boar and comparing notes on the ripest looting spots.
Despite Ace's initial hesitance at letting himself depend on another person, the coalition they had formed certainly had its benefits. And Sabo was actually pretty fun to be around; he wasn't at all the wet blanket Ace had first feared. He'd had some pretty decent ideas, too, such as using metal pipes when hunting. They were a hell of a lot more robust than the spears Ace had fashioned out of tree branches, and they rarely broke, which meant Ace was no longer wasting his time crafting new ones and he could finally put some real force into his swings.
"Hey."
Ace turned his attention back to the blond.
"What?"
"Maybe next time, you could hold your temper and not smash in the knee of the tough talking guy posturing like a peacock," Sabo grinned.
Ace scoffed in return but secretly fought back the urge to grin in return. Another reason Ace found himself liking Sabo was because he never worried about speaking his mind. It was refreshing. "Hey, those guys were idiots and they deserved it. We're not some little kids they can insult and pick on."
"I know that, but we left our pipes behind, we were outnumbered and they still forced us off that trash heap anyway. It had some good stuff in there too," Sabo lamented. "I hope no one else gets wind of it so we can go back tomorrow."
Ace understood the other's concern. Grey Terminal had eyes and ears all over the place, and little treasure troves like the one they'd been working were few and far between. And neither of them were ever reckless enough to work past nightfall. It was just too big of a risk, not only from other people – many of whom slept the day away nursing hangovers, only to start all over again when the sun disappeared – but they also risked serious injury. A sprained ankle could put them out of action for an entire week.
Ace knew it was pretty stupid of him to start picking a fight but he'd never let himself be bullied around before, and he wasn't about to start either. They'd probably never be able to find a decent loot again if the residents thought they were easy pushovers.
"Hey, Ace, you're bleeding!" Sabo suddenly burst out, making Ace jump, then frown as the words registered. He wiped a hand across his temple and his fingers came away sticky with fresh blood. He quickly realised that the guy with the brass knuckles who'd chased them must've landed a lucky shot without him noticing.
Pale but strong fingers reached out and grabbed his chin. Ace was so shocked at the sudden physical contact, he allowed his head to be turned easily towards the light streaming through the tree canopy. He couldn't recall Sabo ever having grabbed him before and he stared awkwardly up at the blond practically leaning over him out the corner of one eye.
"That needs washing and bandaging," Sabo declared. "My base isn't too far from here, we can clean it up there."
Ace shook his head, immediately rejecting the idea. "I'll be fine. I don't need it treating. I'll just sleep it off." Like always, a traitorous voice whispered from the back of his mind.
Sabo scowled with such ferocity Ace nearly scooted back. "You just suffered a head wound and you might have a concussion, in which case, you need someone to keep an eye on you. Besides, do those people you live with even have the supplies to deal with that cut?"
Ace pictured the state of the bandit's hut that morning – bodies and ale mugs scattered all over the place – and the very limited first aid box floating serenely in the barrel he usually bathed in. Besides, even if they hadn't destroyed their provisions, they'd probably all still be nursing hangovers.
"No," he finally admitted with a grimace.
Sabo grinned. "Well, that settles that then." He swung Ace's sack onto his shoulder next to his own and snagged Ace's arm, dragging the other boy to his feet.
Again, Ace had to stop himself from flinching back from the innocent touch, but he could only let himself get pulled along in the blond's wake. His stared at the spot Sabo's hand gently but firmly gripped his forearm; the skin beneath felt like it was burning, it was such a foreign feeling.
Sabo had been serious; his base was barely a mile away and the trek was surprisingly easy-going. Ace was in two minds about making a comment – he had honestly thought, with all that Sabo had clearly learnt in the eighteen months he'd lived in the forest that he'd have picked a better spot – but then Sabo pointed proudly to the tallest tree and Ace was quickly forced to revise his opinion.
It was massive. In the time it would take a trespasser to climb, Sabo could be down the other side and half way to safety before they'd even realised. It was the kind of tree Ace had always envisioned he would find when he finally mustered up the energy to leave the bandits – it was still too much effort to even think about the ways he would have to outwit Gramps in order for that to be a possibility.
The climb wasn't easy. Ace was forced to follow Sabo, allowing the other to point out the best foot holes and hand grips. Some were fresher than others and Ace suspected it had taken Sabo quite some time to hollow out the grooves in such a way that made them look natural, in order that they didn't stand out too much.
The trek up was made even harder by the fact that the cut Ace had received was bleeding even more freely than before, and by the time he reached the top, he could feel the trickle of blood running down his collar bone, making a sticky mess of his one good t-shirt. He absently swiped a palm across his forehead in a useless attempt to mop some of it up and sat down next to the two sacks Sabo had dropped carelessly.
Ace glanced around, surprised by the lack of personal items.
He turned to Sabo, ready to voice his surprise, but snapped his jaw shut when he saw the blond watching him contemplatively. Barely seconds later, Sabo obviously reached an unspoken decision because he grinned, knelt down and hooked a couple of fingers into a small hole in the bark.
"What the heck?!" Ace spluttered, shuffling forward to stare into the deep hollow that had appeared. "Did you make this yourself?"
"Yep!" Sabo smiled proudly, patting the trapdoor almost fondly. "My stuff kept falling over the edge, so this seemed like an easy solution."
Ace snorted and peered inside curiously. There was plenty of space in the somewhat crudely carved feature. More than enough, in fact, to hold not only all of Sabo's small collection of personal items, but also what looked to be nearly all of Sabo's half of the loot that they'd slowly been gathering.
Sabo's entire arm disappeared into its depths for several seconds, and Ace could hear a few things clattering about, before the blond withdrew, a small, battered tin clutched in his hand.
Ace reluctantly sat down where Sabo indicated.
"That looks to be some pretty expensive stuff," he noted, somewhat impressed at the sight of a brand new tub of disinfectant and a bundle of soft bandages, which didn't have a spec of dirt on them. Definitely not the average Grey Terminal find. "Where'd you get it all?"
Sabo grimaced. "It's all from High Town," he admitted quietly.
Ace stared at him. "How the hell did you manage to get into High Town with all those noble snobs around? I can barely make it into Edge Town on a good day."
The other shrugged and toyed with the frayed edge of the bandage he'd just torn to size. "It's pretty easy actually. All you need to do is dress like them and speak like them."
Ace frowned, puzzled as to how to go about that. Sabo reached into the hollow again and pulled out one of the tail coats he'd glimpsed the odd noble wearing – only this one was actually child-sized, Ace realised with some morbid fascination – and a black top hat. Sabo shrugged on the coat and tipped the hat into place atop his blond curls.
He couldn't help but stare at the transformation; even with the smudges of dirt, Sabo didn't look anything like the kid he'd come to like, but rather one of the stuck up, no good morons who thought they ran everything. It was a little alarming. Ace doubted he would've recognised Sabo had he not known it was actually him. The outfit did its job though, Sabo certainly looked enough like a noble to be able to walk around High Town.
"I look like an idiot, I know," Sabo said quickly, "but it got me into High Town and I broke into an apothecary."
Ace thought that Sabo looked genuinely uncomfortable in the attire. A quick glance into the hollow gave Ace an idea. Sabo yelped when he snatched the top hat from his head. Ace shielded the hat from Sabo's view and, mindful not to get any blood on the glass, affixed the object to the hat before dropping it back onto the startled blond's head.
"There!" Ace smirked triumphantly. "Now you look less of an idiot."
Sabo lifted the hat and started at it, unblinking for several seconds, before bursting into laughter at the sight of the gleaming goggles perched proudly on the rim. To Ace's surprise, Sabo put the hat back on with one final chuckle.
"Right, now hand the stuff over," Ace demanded, holding out a hand, but Sabo didn't relinquish possession right away. "What?"
"I should probably do it," said Sabo.
"Why? I know how to disinfect my own wounds, I've done it enough times. Just hand it over."
"You won't be able to see it properly, I don't any mirror or anything you can use."
"You mean your little cubby hole doesn't have everything?" Ace asked sarcastically, and with more than a little bit of impatience. "Sabo, I don't need a mirror. I can feel where the damn cut is." Which was true; it had started to sting.
"It defeats the point of cleaning it in the first place if you're just going to put you dirty hands all over it. Just let me do it. It'll be quicker."
Ace gaped, unable to think of a quick counterargument to Sabo's rather soundproof logic. It was true his hands were filthy, but they always were, and while he knew from experience a dirty cut would get infected, no one had actually voiced their concern before – if indeed they actually had any to start with – that he could accidentally contaminate his own injuries. He was generally told to clean up and that was the end of it.
Sabo had taken his stunned silence as permission to start cleaning it and Ace couldn't help but flinch at the initial sting the ointment caused. He held himself rigidly tense, all except his hands, which twitched and trembled at every swipe of the cloth.
After several minutes, Sabo paused and eyed him uncertainly. "Does it hurt?" he wondered, and Ace didn't miss the glance down to his hands.
"No." Ace was quick to reassure before the question fully registered and he realised with belated clarity that it really didn't. Ace was quite used to swiping a rag roughly across any cut, slapping on ointment and a bandage and thinking nothing more of it, but Sabo was taking the time to dab gently at the lacerated skin and applied just the right amount of pressure.
"Then stop pulling away!" Sabo snorted, gently forcing Ace back where he could actually reach the cut and started gently applying a thin layer of ointment.
Ace complied and found it was actually rather pleasant for someone else to sort out his scrapes for a change. It was also possibly the only time he could think of that someone had touched him without the intent to hurt him further. It was nice.
Sabo finished quickly once Ace actually sat still. With the final bandage taped securely in place, Ace quietly watched the blond tidy up.
The blond didn't seem at all put out by Ace's lack of conversation, content to simply sit and start sorting the loot from his sack into some sort of order Ace couldn't identify.
Ace glanced at his own sack, which was ever so slightly fuller, which was normal. The dark-haired boy usually ended up with more, and he had put it down to the fact he was more prepared to bully his way onto the better piles. But thinking about it seriously, Ace always arrived at Grey Terminal first, and he was beginning to think it was because he had a proper roof over his head. He never needed to worry about what happened to his things – if a blanket disappeared and it was a cold night, he would just go steal another from one of the bandits. Sabo didn't have that option. He had to make sure everything he owned was secure and hidden, and he probably also did a security sweep of the glade before he even contemplated setting off to the day's hunt or trek into Grey Terminal for some goods.
Ace had always been indifferent to the bandits, but now he thought they might actually have given him an advantage over a lot of others in his position – people like Sabo. He may have felt like he was on his own a lot of the time – and he was lonely, which might actually explain why he had welcomed Sabo's company so readily – but he was surrounded by people who would at least look for him if he ever disappeared. Dadan would look out of fear of what would happen to her if she had to tell Gramps that he had vanished, at the very least. Sabo had no one. No one would bat an eye if he suddenly stopped turning up in Grey Terminal one day. He really was entirely alone.
He suddenly felt incredibly silly for turning their looting escapades into a silent competition to see who could bring home the biggest prizes. It wasn't a competition at all if one had an edge and Ace hated the thought of not really having earned something. And Ace had to admit, Sabo had had the courage – or stupidity, Ace was still debating which would win out – to actually enter High Town. Not even Ace had worked up the nerve to do such a thing.
They may not be equal in everything, but Ace was beginning to see they rather balanced each other out. Brains and brawns, as he had heard Magra say once when comparing Dogra and Dadan.
"Hey," Ace said, breaking the silence and scattering a couple of birds from the branches below. "I was thinking, maybe I should leave the loot I don't sell here as well from now on."
Sabo stared at him, the surprise clear on his face, but Ace was relieved to see he quickly turned thoughtful and he didn't outright reject the idea. "I don't see why not, but why now?"
"Well," said Ace, almost faltering. "You've got it all pretty well hidden up here. And we both want to leave this island at some point right?" Sabo nodded his agreement. "Why don't we just combine what we have and then when we decide to leave, we can split it fifty-fifty and go our separate ways."
Or even together, Ace added silently, having taken note of the navigation books Sabo had found from somewhere buried deep in the hollow. If their partnership worked on land, he saw no reason it couldn't when they were finally on the high seas.
Sabo finally grinned and shrugged. "Okay, sounds like a plan! You can use the hollow, although we might want to arrive separately so no one gets nosy."
Ace nodded and returned the other's excited grin, more enthusiastic than he had anticipated that, from now on, neither was alone.
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