hey guys, I'm back with an update for this series. Again, it's short but most chapters will be this way. Hope you enjoy and I do not own One Piece.
Luffy comes to live atop a mountain, in a dilapidated hut teeming with bandits who care little for him. He meets Ace who despises him. He meets Sabo who is cautious of him. He meets Porchemy who once upon a time fell into the sea and almost lost himself to the heartbeat of the water before pulling himself out with a newfound fear of the monsters of the deep. It takes pain and blood to befriend the two boys, but even the salt of the sea sometimes stung. That kind of pain Luffy could understand.
He gains two friends who become brothers through the midst of twisted jungle paths, animal gods grown fat and tall off prayers and offerings, and storms so violent that the ancient trees would fly through the air as nimbly as leaves. He has been raised on sandy shores his whole life, but he learns the jungle quickly. The footpaths the three follow constantly change, moved by the magic and mystic of the animal gods. Sometimes the trip from Grey Terminal to Dadan's hut will take minutes, sometimes days. After wandering for a week through the circling paths determined to hinder their progress, Dadan leaves them at the steps of an ancient mountain shrine with instructions to pray for guidance.
Luffy knew shrines. He knew the act of offering to something other in hopes of good fortune in return. Back in Fuusha, ocean shrines were plentiful due to the nature of it being a port town. There were the withered stone carvings that had stood on the beaches for generation after generation. Most families had a more personal shrine, one decorated with wild flowers and bits of fruit and the ghosts of generations past. The sailors, only docking a day or two, would buy strands of beads or carve figures out of wood to toss into the waves before setting sail. Luffy knew every crack and crevice on every shrine in Fuusha, but these mountain temples were different.
The long-lost people of the mountain did not worship the sea because it was too far away to do anything for them. Instead, they had prayed to the volatile storms that raged the mountain range. They watched as lightning caught fire to the jungle green and burned away trees, roots and all. Fire could create and destroy in equal measures, a divine feat. These were gods to worship.
There is something to be said for wild gods, though. Named gods and demons at least are known. They are, in a way, domesticated. After so long spent in the middle of humanity, other things with names settled. Natural gods, though, beings that stemmed not from belief alone but from wonder of the natural world were unknown, untamed and ferocious. Fire was one such entity. The sea, even with the numerous monsters and spirits drowning in its depths, sat on the precipice of wild and tamed.
Luffy, who still felt the flowing tide in his blood and the music of crashing waves, could tell the exact moment his brothers were claimed by those wild gods. Having grown up with one foot on land and one foot soaking with salt water, Luffy couldn't remember when the ocean had first started to call to him, had first claimed him. Sitting before the elder shrines covered in thick moss with nary an offering in sight, Luffy could almost feel a fierce presence pass over him to his brothers. He could see their shoulders tremble at the weight of being observed.
Luffy has only known the blessings of the sea, therefore he doesn't know how the pull of fire can feel. The ocean cast its lure and caught Luffy long ago, even if he cannot be reeled in. Fire, though, cannot cast a line or plant a trail. Fire consumes.
The three leave, dazed and confused in the case of Ace and Sabo. The jungle paths part for them how the water once parted for Luffy on their return to Dadan. She lets them stay in the hut for the night, but Luffy thinks he will be the only one asleep. In the dark, his brothers slip away like he knew they would and don't return for a week. It is a relatively short time to commune with a being like that. Luffy had whispered devotion to his reflection on the sea ever since he knew the words, but perhaps fire was different from the calm eternity and infinity of the sea. He didn't know, nor did he care for rogue fire gods, forgotten and clinging to life.
A week later, though, Ace and Sabo return to the hut only to be met with Dadan complaining about leaving Luffy with her when she had better things to do. They sprint off into the jungle before they can be saddled with chores and they never once get lost. In a clearing, his older brothers share a glance with each other before telling Luffy they want to show him their new 'trick.'
(His mind tickles with Woop Slap's words about parasites and puppets as Ace and Sabo set things alight to watch them burn. He can see the entire island burning in their eyes as they watch the flames, even if they extinguish their fires when they are young.
They'll hollow you out and wear you around like a puppet.
Luffy cheers at their powers even as he thinks about how very long they were gone.)
There it is, chapter 2! Leave a like and a review if you want. They are greatly appreciated :D