I said they'd be irregular and it will be, but I've had some free time so I decided to write some more and ended up actually writing the first chapter. And holy crap they're long chapters. I'll try to keep up this length the best I can. So I'll have my main little chat session at the bottom with explanations. So without further ado let's begin.
I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE
See you at the bottom!
Ace shot up with a yell and looked around, knowing that it wouldn't help him, the entire area was basically a brown blur with some sort of light coming in, but if there were enemies in the vicinity he could keep up the facade of having sight. He frowned in confusion when he felt, or rather didn't feel, the lack of another person. Did Whitebeard just leave me after he beat me? But then my crew would've come back to get me and Jared at the very least wouldn't leave me alone. His frown deepened.
Beneath his fingertips he felt a cotton like material, and he could tell that he was on something soft. A bed. He reasoned. Out of curiosity he attempted to summon his fire, which leapt to life at the thought. Ace grinned something was working out for him. He allowed his fire to map out the room. It was small, and there was something off to the side of it, something square, and further beside the object something was round, though he didn't spend much time figuring out what they were he wanted to get a map of the room in case he was in some sort of hostile situation. A few seconds later and he figured that his fire had reached the other side of the room, there was something that blocked it from going any further. He let his fire stretch against the blockade noting that there was a rise, dip, and rise breaking the even surface. Ace allowed his fire to climb up the dip slightly, there was something sticking out from whatever that dip was. A door? So he was in a room.
With a short pause Ace swung his legs over the side of the bed, noting the stiffness in his muscles. He had been out of it for a while then. His feet hit the ground and he stood up easily, no vertigo or the need to pass out. Not badly injured then, Ace thought with a grin.
The place where he thought a door was seemed to be straight ahead, and only a short distance. He guessed the room he was in wasn't that large. Tentatively he took a step, making sure that he wouldn't be ambushed and the person was just laying in wait to see what he would do. Nothing happened. Without any more delay on his part he made his way to the door and flung it open his fire immediately going to the sides of him, feeling for obstacles or personal. It was only whatever the floor was made out of.
Then the rest of his sense caught up to him. His nose was hit with the smell of salt and water, his ears hearing the gentle lapping of waves on a ship hull and a flags rapid fluttering, and finally he felt the breeze and the salt that was carried on it as well as the sun's intense light. It took him only seconds to figure out that he was on a pirate ship. A few more seconds to figure out that he had no idea where they were going or in what direction. He didn't realize that he had been stepping forward with each thought until he felt his fire at his feet warning him that there was a barrier in his way. Then he sunk down, leaning on what he presumed was the railing of the ship, for the first time since sailing out he was completely without bearings. Ace clutched at his head, his mind racing with how he could figure out exactly where he was and how to get back to that island.
Something brushed over his fire, and he let it follow the sensation. Whatever it was kept moving, falling at a one, two, count. Walking. That's a person walking.
Shit! I let myself freak out! Dropped my guard! Ace dug his nails into his scalp, he couldn't even think to fight.
"Hey!" The voice that spoke was annoying but it didn't sound hostile. Ace looked up in what he hoped was the direction the person was standing, he guessed it was the white blob breaking up the brown.
"I'm the fourth division commander... Thatch!"
Division commanders? The only person that uses those types of titles... Am I on Whitebeard's ship? Ace dropped his hands from his head, but kept them clenched, from what he could tell this Thatch person started to walk, Ace could hear it clearly but spread his fire out just to see where he was walking. Oh, he was walking to the railing.
"Since you're joining our crew." There was a pause as Thatch's feet left his area of flame. "I thought we should be friends"
The words that Whitebeard said to him before he passed out came back to him. Take my name... become my son! Ace felt his throat tighten at the use of the word, There was no way he would ever be anyone's son, not even to his mother! And what the hell was Thatch spouting about him joining the crew?
"Shut up!" Ace snapped. He couldn't handle this, he needed to figure out how to get off of this ship.
"Someone woke up in a bad mood." Thatch was laughing!
The fireuser buried his head in his hands, clenching his jaw, he wouldn't give this bastard another chance to laugh at him.
Then Thatch spoke again. Can't this guy read the atmosphere?
"Oh yeah. I thought you would want to know what happened after you passed out"Ace didn't let himself react, but he was curious. "Your companions came to get you back...so we beat them all."
That time Ace did twitch, it was quick and he wondered if this commander would notice it.
Apparently he did. "What? Its not like they're dead. We're keeping them here on this ship"
That... was actually helpful. At least now he knew that he could find them, it would make his escape a lot easier. Next time he met Whitebeard he was taking his head. But there was still something in Thatch's tone that grated on his nerves and without really thinking he opened his mouth.
He hopped that he was looking at Thatch and not somewhere off in the distance, that would be all too telling or a sign of submission; either one didn't sit well with him. "Are you sure you should leave me like this, without any locks or shackles or anything?"
The reply was instantaneous. "Shackles? We don't need those!"
Ace wanted to hit this guy, but he wasn't sure his exact location. He knew that his displeasure showed on his face, and he hoped that his glare was an impressive sight.
Once again Thatch just laughed. Ace shot to his feet, keeping his head turned the same way as it was. It was all about appearances at this point.
"Why-!" Ace began but it was cut off by a new voice.
He didn't even hear this one approach, he was letting his guard down way too much. He called his fire back to him subtlety.
"Thatch stop riling the new recruit and get back to making breakfast, yoi." This voice was calm, and not at all obnoxious.
Ace turned his head in the direction of the newcomer, unsure of how to react. He remained tense, ready to fight or flee depending on how this situation went.
"Marco!" Thatch greeted. "I will, just thought I would say hi since he seems a little confused."
The young pirate swallowed. He was pretty sure there was only one Marco a division commander like Thatch would greet so happily but with an undertone of respect. The first mate of the Whitebeard pirates is here? I'm screwed.
Marco made a sound of agreement. Thatch leapt from the railing and back into Ace's fire. He hid a wince at how loud the sound was, the fourth division commander must be a pretty decent size.
"See ya around Ace!" Thatch walked off, and the moment he left the range of the fire Ace paid him no attention, all of it focused on the first division commander.
Silence filled the air between them. Ace didn't want to speak because he didn't want to provoke the other male, but he wasn't sure why Marco was keeping quiet.
Marco was just one his way to see if their newest recruit was up yet when he heard Thatch's laughter and a voice he couldn't identify's yelling. He sighed, leave it to Thatch to already start trouble. When he turned the corner he was a little confused, Thatch was perched on the railing, but the kid (who was younger than he thought he'd be) looked to be in some sort of distress.
"Why-!" The teen started, but Marco cut him off.
"Thatch stop riling the new recruit and get back to making breakfast. "He had noticed the tiny, nearly invisible, flames flickering at his feet and he was worried that Thatch was about to get attacked.
"Marco!" Thatch greeted. "I will, just thought I would say hi since he seems a little confused"
Marco hummed back in greeting, keeping his eyes on the teen. Confused wasn't the world that the first mate would've used, the kid looked livid and extremely tense.
"See ya around Ace!" Thatch said as he sauntered off to the kitchen.
Ace is his name? Fire Fist? The one Pops was so interested in? Marco pondered.
He looked over his newest brother. Ace was well built and tall, almost as tall as Marco himself. Shaggy black hair and eyes to match. The younger teen didn't seem like he was going to take his eyes off of him, and the fire hadn't died down at all. Marco frowned, he thought Ace would've relaxed some if he was able to wake up on his own and not be chained up.
He realized belatedly that neither of them had said a word for a few minutes, there wasn't anything in Ace's face that gave him away.
"I'm Marco, yoi." He took a step forward, and he felt the fire heating up.
Ace just scowled. "What are you planning?"
Marco just arched an eyebrow, this kid was beyond wary. "To show you around the ship"
"Why-"Ace snapped back.
"Your our newest brother, you should probably know how to navigate the ship"
Ace tensed up even more at the word brother. "No thank you. Just let me off at the next island."
Marco bit back a sigh, wondering why this kid was so defensive and why his fire had yet to move it wasn't heating up to match the others anger. "Then I'll just come back and get you for breakfast"
He'd have to be patient it seemed. They had gotten brothers like this before, and they were all understandably confused and upset but this is beyond even their reaction. There was something else going on there, he doubted Ace could really hate the Whitebeard pirates that much despite him wanting to kill Pops it was probably just a goal with no real heat to it. He started to back away, not letting Ace had the opportunity to strike him in the back, and he noticed that the fire was following almost clinging to him in a way. He'd have to ask about that at a later date, but he would let it go since it wasn't causing any damage to the ship.
Well at least now he would have another hour to work on paperwork that he didn't plan on, he might even go to bed at a decent time tonight.
Ace waited until Marco left, cursing himself for not taking advantage of the opportunity to tour the ship, but then again he really didn't want to be left alone with any of these people. He couldn't be sure what they were planning and he wouldn't be able to see if it was a trap until it was too late. There was also something about Marco that made his flames more active, like the man had an affinity with the element. Maybe he had a Devil's Fruit that was some sort of fire based on, Ace had come across that before and as he was the master of all fires it made sense.
Still he had some time to himself before Marco came back, and he really didn't want to deal with any of the crew so he subtly let his fire guide him back to the open door. After making sure he was fully inside he closed it behind him. He blew air through his nose. His fire brushing against the shapes from earlier. Ace's curiosity got the better of him so he walked over to investigate.
He placed his hand on the square one fire, it was wooden, and then he ran his hand along it. Finding a seam, so it was a crate. Ace folded his fingers beneath it, placing the other hand under it as well to see if it was open or not. The lid lifted easily, and Ace let his fire into the box to fell it there was anything in it. The crate was empty. So he went over to where he remembered the round object was. He did the same thing, it was a barrel, and it smell faintly of sake. Gently he nudged it with his foot, it moved easily and there was no sound of sloshing liquid. So he was in some sort of storage room, probably where they put the used boxes and barrels to make it easier to get to the food.
He spread his fire out feeling for the bed, when he noticed another square shape next to what he assumed was the bed (there were four interruptions around something rectangular about six inches of the ground). Maybe it was a nightstand? Ace made his way over to it, finally he reached it and placed his hand to it. The first thing came into contact with was material of some sort. He moved his hand down and felt two circular buttons. Oh, my hat. He picked it up and hung it around his neck. Ace let his fire explore the room once more and decided there was nothing note that needed attention so he sat down on the bed. Fingers steepled against his chin, he started to plan what his next course of action would be. Finding his crew, or at least one of them would be a start figure out where they could meet up and get back to their ship. Or... maybe he could take Whitebeard's head when he was in such close proximity to the man. An assassination? It wouldn't be the most noble of fights but he would still be the man who killed the "strongest man in the world" He is a pirate after all and a win is a win.
Ace nodded that what he would do, after he told his crew of the plan. He lost himself in thoughts of how he could kill Whitebeard as a result he lost track of time until there was a knock on the door. He straightened himself.
"Who is it?" He called, not that a name would help him, but it could be one of the two crewmates he's already met or one of his crewmates.
"Marco." The voice returned. "Time for breakfast. Also time to meet your new family"
Ace growled quietly he really wished that they would stop using that word around him. Even if that's what they call their crewmates, he wasn't one of them and the only family he had were Luffy and Sabo. So he shot to his feet and walked to the door knowing how far it was from his bed, but he did have his hand outstretched to find the knob which took a few tries but at least he didn't slap the door letting the other know that there was something wrong with him.
He opened the door slowly knowing that there was someone on the other side and even though they were enemies that would just be rude, and at the very least Ace could act civil while he plotted.
"Yo." Marco said when he got the door open far enough.
Ace turned his head in the direction of Marco's voice, hoping that it was close enough the other wouldn't notice. He wanted to use his fire to guide him to the exact point of where Marco was but that would be too much of a giveaway there was something wrong, let them think that it was just because he felt like he was in danger. All the more of an advantage to him in the long run.
"I'll lead you to the mess hall, we should be early enough that no everyone will overwhelm you with greetings, yoi"
He shrugged, in truth he probably would ignore most of the questions anyway he didn't want to get too close to the others if he was just going to betray them in the end. He nodded almost to himself. Marco started walking and the fire user focused on his guide's footsteps and life force. On the way there he made sure to count steps, from the length of straights to corners and what direction they turned. He was building his own mental map. Though, he still kept some part of his attention on Marco.
"This is the mess hall, the closest thing you'll find to a dining room on the Moby. Not sure who is all here things morning, yoi"
"Okay." Ace prepared himself to be overwhelmed by what he was sure to be a large crowd, but he knew if it was as big as he thought it would be he would only be able to focus on those in close proximity of him. He was vulnerable in a group setting.
He heard Marco open the door, and tensed ready as he could be for the sensory overload he was going to get. Instead he only heard a few conversations which stopped when he followed Marco inside.
"You in a better mood, Ace?" He identified the owner of that voice quickly, it was Thatch and once again the bastard was laughing at him again.
"Play nice Thatch." A new voice said, it was smooth and low.
He heard the footsteps start to approach him before he sensed them, and he backed up a step out of reflex. There was no way of knowing what this person had planned, better safe than sorry. It seemed his movement didn't go unnoticed as the footsteps stopped and the voice spoke up again.
"My name is Izou. Nice to meet you"
Ace bowed slightly, enough so people could tell that he was but not enough to give off that he had any respect. Makino's manners were drilled into him and old habits died hard, especially if the greeting he got was polite. "I'm Ace."
There were a few moments of silence, and Ace could feel the shock circulating around the room. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing, and he prepared to run just incase.
"Thatch? Are you sure that you didn't offend him to make him so hostile. "Izou was speaking again. "He hasn't even commented on how I dress! Someone raised him right."
Ace tightened his jaw. He had practically raised himself (and Luffy) the bandits did try but they didn't really help all that much, and he sought out manners on his own accord. Also what the hell was Izou wearing, if people always commented on it? All Ace could tell was that it was mostly pink with something red around the area waist should be.
"Move over Izou!" Someone shouted, it was another new voice.
Belatedly Ace realized that he hadn't paid any attention to the rest of the room, he was slipping. He fixed that quickly. Izou and the new voice were about a foot away from him, Marco was only a few inches away right beside him. Then he could sense there were four presences further away, most likely at a table but he couldn't be sure of their exact location. One of them was Thatch. I'm out numbered, I don't know the terrain, and there are at least two commanders in this room, the fight would not go in my favor.
Ace was startled out of his thoughts by the new voice. It was young sounding, and strange, he couldn't tell if the speaker was male or female.
"I'm Haruta, I'm a division commander like Izou, he forgot to tell you"
Oh, they're a hyper person. A kid? No, Whitebeard doesn't seem the type to let a young kid be a division commander. Also four commanders? I have to make sure I don't provoke them. Ace filed the information away for future reference. He'd have to be careful that he didn't let slip that he couldn't tell Haruta's sex or what Izou was wearing exactly. It would be a dead giveaway something was wrong with him.
Ace bit back a sigh. He wondered if he would be greeted by the other three in the room.
"Stop ganging up on him and let us sit down." Marco's voice didn't change in volume but it demanded authority and Ace could feel the others moving to follow the order.
He wondered if he should thank the man, but before he could Marco was already moving away. Ace followed after him, a little unsure of where exactly the table was, though it was a lighter brown than the floor that much he could tell, he rested his hand at the side but had his fingers out slightly to detect for any changes.
"You can have the end seat, yoi." Marco's voice sounded closer to the ground, and just as he finished that sentence Ace felt the table.
Marco's presence was just a little to the left of him and he used his knee to find the seat, which thankfully didn't take an obvious amount of time, he was just hoping his movements matched those of a wary man and not a blind one. The moment that he sat down there was food placed in front of him.
"Eat." It was Marco again.
Ace sniffed the air, it smelled like it was some sort of porridge and it did smell good. He wasn't going to be taken unaware like that, he didn't see the food prepared (not that he ever would) but it wasn't made by his chef or a person who had no reason to kill him. So he ignored it, in favor of acting like he was looking around.
"Not eating at sea can be deadly you know." That was Thatch's voice, and it sounded serious for once.
The cook then? Ace pondered, sea cooks were the only people who got hostile when someone wasn't eating, but he still didn't trust this crew.
He rested his cheek on his hand, wanting to see if the other would do anything but trying to school his face into one that was neutral and not defiant. Besides he was still curious about the other three people in the room. Ace looked over in their general direction hoping the would get the hint and he would at least name the life forces he was feeling. There were a lot of big names on the Whitebeards and he would like to know if he was sitting near one.
It seemed like they were more interested in eating if the sounds of chewing and slurping where anything to go by, Ace almost wrinkled his nose, it sounded like how Luffy ate and he knew from when he could see that it was disgusting.
"Sorry their manners aren't the best." That was Izou and Ace tilted his head in that general direction.
He could've laughed at the absurdity of the situation once he realized it. Here he was, a man who vowed to take the head of the captain of this ship, eating breakfast with four of his commanders (and maybe more) and having one apologize for bad manners. This would've been hilarious if this was someone else's story and not the reality he was living at the moment. Why do these things happen to me? He mentally asked, he really wanted to know when his luck was going to turn around.
From the location of his elbow he could tell that the food in front of him was cooling but it seemed like Thatch had dropped the subject. Ace figured he could just take something from the kitchen later on, something he knew for certain wasn't contaminated.
Breakfast lasted for another thirty minutes. He finally did learn that the other three were in fact commanders: Jozu, Vista, Jiru. Ace knew that everyone else was eating, but he couldn't be sure that they didn't do anything to his food. Eventually he heard what sounded like silverware being set down next to him. Marco must be done.
"The rest of the crew will be coming in shortly, do you want to stay"
"No"
Marco shouldn't have been surprised by the answer. The kid was still extremely distrustful of the crew, as shown by his refusal to eat. Thatch was going to have Ace's head for that. Though he decided he wouldn't push the kid any further today. He had reacted well to Izou and Haruta, and didn't seem to mind the other three, so maybe it was a start.
"Alright, I'll walk you back to your room. We'll have a better one made up for you shortly." Marco said as he stood up.
Ace twitched, but followed him out of the mess hall regardless. It would seem that mention joining the crew just set the kid off, and for some reason Marco really wanted him to stay, they had a little over a month before they got to the next island and Pops had said that if Ace didn't want to join by then to let him go. The first mate wondered if it would be a good idea to mention it now, he shook his head. Best to let Ace work through this himself. Marco also didn't think that any more conversation would be welcome. The fire user still seemed wound up.
He turned his head to look at Ace. He was following behind, seeming to stare right back at him his face set in a grim line, Marco could see the little flecks of fire flutter off of his shoulder as well. Marco turned back around. He was still curious about the fire from earlier, that hadn't been a normal flame. He would find out later, Ace was bound to stay on the ship after he got over him think that he was kidnapped and held as a captive.
The walk back was a lot shorter and Marco stopped in front of the door. Ace stumbling right into him.
"Ah. Don't stop so suddenly!" Ace growled.
"Sorry, but we're at your room, yoi." Even if he had only been on the ship a day they had only gone one way.
"All the doors look the same." Ace replied.
That is true. Marco thought but didn't voice it. "I'll have someone bring lunch to you later"
Ace made a noise of agreement, gentle pushes seemed the way to go, and just getting him into the mess hall was probably a huge step in the long run.
"And I'll try and get you for dinner. I'm busy so I won't promise"
Again Ace just made a noise, and moved toward the door. Marco glanced down at the kid's hand, it was stretched out slightly, fingers straightening the closer he got to the door. Marco just shrugged it as a quirk, everyone had them and there were a lot weirder ones on this ship.
So he just turned around and threw his hand up in the air as a "see ya" gesture. He still had hours of paperwork to do since no one else on this ship seemed to want to do it, Pops included.
On his way back he thought about his newest brother. He got a better look at him when opened the door to greet him this morning. He still couldn't tell how old Ace was exactly, definitely not older than twenty-one but he couldn't be any younger than sixteen. But those freckles gave him an eternally youthful look, he supposed it was similar to how he always looked like he was ten years older than he actually was.
But those weren't the weirdest things, Ace was always tense almost like he was ready to run at any given time, of course it could do with being on a formerly enemy ship, but it wasn't like Ace couldn't defend himself, it was only when he was in a large group. There was also how he moved, he seemed so careful when he walked, always extending his foot out, almost like he was checking for something, he scarcely made a sound when he walked which is why Marco felt the need to make sure he was still following him. Ace could only be described as careful.
He shook his head, being careful was a good thing but it betrayed the image he created when Pops told him how he fought Jinbei on even footing and then was still able to move enough to let his crew get away. That didn't exactly describe someone careful.
Marco reached his room, it was probably because he didn't fully trust them yet. He would just need time to drop his defenses and be a little less careful. They were going to be family after all. The first mate's eyes landed on the tall stack of paperwork. Maybe his newest brother would be willing to help with this once he fully joined.
Ace had resumed sitting on his bed. He had slipped up majorly, how could he had missed the fact that we were at his temporary room? Not only that he had to run into Marco, nearly stumbling back himself. How well built is that guy? Not for the first time he cursed his blurry eyes, he wished that he had clear sight or no sight at all, because it was hard to tell how close something was, and even then it was an extremely distorted were just colorful blurs that were even delayed in forming. Most of the time he just learned to ignore what he was seeing, and in the year since he had gotten his Devil's Fruit his eyes had continued getting worse, and he was starting to lose his color perception now.
He laughed bitterly, he guessed by next year he'd probably be limited to just detecting light or lack there of, and if he was lucky that would be as bad as if got. Still bad but at least then he could have some vision.
Ace blew air from his nose and slid down so that he was laying on his side. There were still a few hours before lunch, but he had nothing to do. He needed to explore the ship and learn his way around it, but he didn't want to get lost and from the rumors the Moby Dick was a huge ship, and just the brief walk to the mess hall was still almost a seven minute walk.
Still if he went outside he would have to chance running into someone he already met, or having to make small talk with someone else but he could also maybe run into his crew,. His eyes started growing heavy and he groaned as he felt a sleep attack coming on.
He was awoken sometime later by a series of rhythmic knocks on the door. Ace knew that pattern that was the one he had created with Jared, as a way to communicate. "Come in"
Jared entered, and Ace opened his eyes blinking them to try and clear them some, but as usual it didn't make a shred of difference.
"Jared?" Ace asked quietly.
"Yeah, I brought you food. I watched them make it so its fine." His first mate replied.
Ace was grateful for his first mate's thinking, he probably wouldn't eat anything for dinner either, was this Marco's doing? Probably the first mate seemed like he was an intelligent individual. Still he took the plate in his hand and felt over it.
"Its just a sandwich." Jared answer.
"Ah." Ace took a bite. It was good, even though it was just dried meat and cheese on bread. High quality ingredients. He guessed that's what happened when you were a world renowned pirate you got the best chefs and food for your crew.
"Apparently the Spade Pirates, minus you are going to be moved to a different ship."
"Wha-" Ace tried to yell and swallow at the same time causing himself to choke. Jared dutifully beat on his back until he stopped coughing.
"They're doing what?" Ace cried.
"Putting us on a different ship, and the ship is going to arrive sometime in the afternoon. Something about not being able to support another group of pirates. Which is weird considering their group is on this ship alone is huge"
There was something strange happening but it made sense, most pirate crew by a certain amount of food for a certain amount of people with a couple of extra days. So getting a group of people on board was bound to make the chef nervous especially if they didn't know the group well. Not to mention it would be separating him from the crew. It was a tactically sound move, though wondered why he hadn't been told of this. When he got off this ship he would either have to track down his crew or start another neither idea sound pleasing but it was the hand he had been dealt.
Jared sat in his room with him for a few hours, telling him the layout of the ship and other useful information, before he had to return to the deck with the rest of the crew. "Do you want to come and send us off?"
Ace nodded, waiting for Jared to stand up so that they didn't end up running into each other. Jared started walking out of the room without waiting for Ace. He was glad that he had Jared as a first mate, he didn't act at all like a pirate would after learning that the man they followed couldn't do something a simple as seeing, but he didn't try and coddle him. He guessed that the first time they met was enough to let Jared know he was fine on his own.
It was easier to follow Jared than it was Marco, he knew how the former's life force felt by heart. He could easily make his mental map of the ship without worrying that he would lose his guide. Several minutes later Ace started to hear the sound of a group gathering and he stopped.
"I'd rather not have them see me." Ace spoke up.
"Yeah, it looks like a pretty decent crowd. Must be excited to see some of their other crewmates." Jared replied. "I'm sorry, captain that-"
"Enough, its my fault. I was stupid enough to challenge Whitebeard when I was injured after such a long fight. Do what you have to do to survive. I'll manage"
"But-"
Ace shook his head, he wasn't one for teary farewells. "If I succeed in killing him, I'll come and find you otherwise I'm a failure of a captain"
Just another thing to add to the list of reasons I shouldn't live. Ace kept his smile friendly.
"They'll start searching for you if you don't hurry up." He could sense the restless shifting of his crew, but the crowd was large so it was hard to tell. "Give my regards to the guys."
"Captain. I- Thank you"
He heard Jared start to walk off. It was hard for him to listen as his crew started to get ready to board a ship that was going who knows where with who knows who on it. Though, he figured it was a better fate than following a blind captain that got the caught by a group of incredibly dangerous pirates for the sake of pride. They were loyal, and a great crew but he wasn't sure how much longer they could've lasted under his lead without the intervention of Whitebeard's crew. I'm still going to kill him.
The other boat showed up and Ace waited a little longer while he heard them quickly get the Spade Pirates on board. Then once he was sure that his crew had boarded the boat safely he began to walk back to his room.
130 steps straight ahead, there are steps, at least 20 on the first one and 10 on the next. He referenced, and turned around counting his steps. It had been a long time since he had to map something out. He was a little curious about the rest of the ship, maybe Marco's offer still stood? About showing him around the ship. He would probably needed this thing was freaking huge!
At 130 steps Ace ran his fire along the wall trying to find the door since his counting was off earlier he didn't want to risk running into a wall thinking it was a door especially since he had no idea who was watching him, not that he was sensing anyone near by but he didn't want to take that risk. This time as it turned out he was right in his counting. There was a door here, and he was pretty sure there was only on door on his wall. He opened it, and let his fire examine the room. Yeah this one is mine.
He walked inside. So now he didn't have a crew to count on. Ace placed his hands on his hips, Whitebeard was making this hard for him. So now he needed to figure out how he was going to kill the old man. Maybe a knife to the heart while he was sleeping? That sounded like it could work, but he would have to find his room and he hadn't been lucky enough to stumble across it in his small journeys. Was the crew being careful to not let him know? That would make sense.
Ace scowled. They didn't trust him in the least and they were trying to say he was apart of the crew? That he was a family member? That their captain wanted to take him in as a son? That last one cause Ace to turn around and punch a wall, though he had forgotten that he was in the middle of the room and was swinging at air, and lost his balance toppling over to the ground. Real smooth move.
He didn't feel like getting up so he brought his hands up and rested his head on his arm, staring in the direction his log pose, only knowing where it was by its color. His crew had thought it was strange that he bought himself a log pose even though he couldn't see it. To Ace though, it was just another way to cover up his disability.
The floor was surprisingly comfortable, and Ace didn't feel like moving much, only knowing how to get to two places in the ship and wanting to avoid any encounters with known or unknown crew members. He wasn't sure how long he laid stationary but he could tell that it was almost time to fetch him for dinner, if the worsening of his eyesight due to the lack of light was anything to go by.
Sure enough there was a knock on the door and before he could even ask the person knocking answered.
"Its Marco. Time for dinner, yoi."
Ace pushed himself from the ground, walking over to the door and repeating his actions from the morning, opening the door slowly, but sensing Marco a lot easier now.
"We're going a different way so you can see more of the ship, yoi"
Ace could've laughed. He wasn't going to be seeing much of anything, hell he could barely make out Marco in this low light but he wasn't going to complain, a different route help build him a better map.
"Did you eat lunch?" Marco asked suddenly as he started to walk off.
Ace started to trail behind him. Keeping silent.
"The plate was empty so someone ate it, probably you since you refused to eat breakfast." Marco sounded like he was scolding a child, which made Ace scowl.
The turned sharply and Ace barely stopped himself from walking on, he made sure to mention that in his map. Marco didn't seem like he was going to start anymore conversations. Fine by him, less distractions from his map. This really was easier with his fire, but he had a feeling Marco would notice it.
They took several more hallways and corners before down one hallway Ace heard a familiar voice, but he was too far away to hear what it was saying.
"Pops is giving the nurses a hard time again."
So Witebeard's room was down that hallway, he put an X over it in his mental map. This might be easier than he expected.
A few more minutes of hallways and turns, which were so confusing Ace almost got lost in his own version of the ship, the finally reached the mess hall, he guessed. Marco stopped walking and this time he was sure to stop the moment he didn't hear any more footfalls. Twice in one day was way too suspicious.
"We're a little late to dinner so there will be more people, yoi." Marco stated.
Ace blinked, he wasn't sure why the first mate felt it necessary to tell him there were going to be more people. Was it from how jumpy he had been when they first met? Marco didn't seem like the guy to be that considerate about other people, maybe it was so Ace didn't flip out and torch the place. So he probably did see my fire earlier.
Marco didn't tell him was opening the door and Ace was surprised by the sudden rise in noise level and the amount of people in this once space. How big was there mess hall? He knew that it was below deck, but this seemed ridiculous there had to be at least hundred people in this once space alone. He didn't realize that he had taken several steps back in an attempt to reorientate himself.
"Ace"
Ace grit his teeth and straightened himself up. "Didn't expect that many people"
"The Whitebeard crew isn't small. This is just the early crew members"
There are more? Ace hoped that Marco would finish eating quickly so he could leave before a whole lot more people showed up and he guessed Marco was unofficial tour guide and was following him around to make sure that he didn't do anything to harm the ship or crew. Marco once again started moving, and Ace followed after him, he wasn't sure what else to do.
They reached a table and Ace could make out the pink thing that was Izou and White Blob Thatch. He guessed Haruta was there as well in their green whatever. Marco sat down once again leaving the end seat open. Again he brushed his knee over the end to make sure where the bench was exactly, the lack of depth perception sucked.
"So, Ace, what sea are you from?" Once again it was Thatch opening up the questions.
He weighed his options, he could answer the chef and let everyone else join in on asking him random things or he could sit and mope and not eat food. If was talking there was less of a chance of Thatch noticing that he wasn't' eating. Questions it is. They probably won't ask anything too deep.
"East Blue"He replied.
He could tell the table was shocked by the fact he answered, but in seconds they were back to conversing.
"The East Sea? Haven't been there in years. The only thing I was impressed about was the sea restaurant there. Great food and a good idea." Thatch responded, his voice loud.
"The Baratie? I remember going there. One of the chefs to be, a little blond kid had quite a mouth on him." Izou spoke next.
Haruta spoke to him, ignoring the conversation starting between Thatch and Izou. "I've never been to East Blue myself. Is it nice there Ace"
"Yeah, the sea is pretty peaceful. Not a lot of rough waves unless it storms"
"Must be why its the weakest sea." Haruta mumbled, and Ace had a hard time hearing them.
"I don't think its weak, just the right pirate hasn't inspired the people yet." As he said that he was thinking of the last face he had of his brother, grinning and barely fourteen.
Haruta was talking again. "Do you miss it"
"Not particularly." He shrugged and that line of conversation was dropped as Haruta joined the debate that Thatch and Izou started.
"Haruta's easy to talk to, don't you think?"
Ace almost jumped out of skin, he forgot that Marco was next to him. God dammit, I need to stop losing track of my surroundings. I've never been this bad before.
"Yeah"He found himself agreeing and Marco apparently went back to his food.
Ace let himself focus on where he knew the door was, seeing who was coming and going. It was fairly constant, sometimes it was a person and sometimes it was three. It did seem like more people were entering. The number of people he was sensing was going up and started to tense up.
Marco finished eating quickly, only picking his pace up slightly when the dinner crowd started to grow. He could tell Ace was getting restless, with amount of people. He wondered why the kid just didn't leave if he didn't like large crowds. Unless... Oh he thought he couldn't go anywhere without a guide. He still thinks we're keeping him as a prisoner.
The phoenix was surprised when he answered Thatch's question and held up a small talk with Haruta. If anyone could get someone to open up it would be those two. Thatch was just a naturally friendly and open person not hiding a bad thought in his head (unless someone wasn't eating or hurt one of the family members.) Haruta was one of the youngest on the crew, probably the closest to Ace in age, at twenty years.
It was an improvement from the near silence of the morning, and Marco was thankful no one had acted on their curiosity to meet their newest brother. He was sure Ace would not be as civil with them as he was with that small group this morning. Maybe that's how he should get used to the crew, meeting them a few at a time?
He finished his food, and started to get up hoping that Ace would realize he could leave. Marco wasn't exactly satisfied with this, the younger pirate hadn't really even met Pops yet, though it was still better than Ace so on edge. It might not even be a good thing to have Ace in the same room as Pops anyhow, he was pretty determined to fight.
As he expected Ace stood up after him, and he saw Thatch's look of confusion I'll be back. He mouthed to Thatch while gesturing to Ace and then the door. He started to walk, knowing that Ace would follow behind him. Though when Marco looked back he could see that Pops was walking in on the other side.
"Hey, Ace do you think you can find your own way back? I have to talk to someone" Marco asked.
Ace looked confused, but nodded. "Yeah I can get back"
Marco watched as Ace left the mess hall, he was sure he'd be fine, it wasn't that long of a walk and the younger pirate should know where his room is now. After a few more seconds he headed over to where Pops was situation himself in usual seat, and Thatch threw him another confused look, he waved his hand.
"Pops" Marco greeted, moving to lean against the large arm of the chair.
"Marco! How's the newest family member adjusting" Pops greeted with a jovial tone.
"He doesn't seem all that thrilled about this situation "Marco responded honestly. "Ace is just wary about the whole thing"
Pops nodded. "What do you think about him? I'm sorry for putting you in charge him on top of all your other duties"
"Its fine. I think he seems like a good kid, he'll be a great addition no doubt. But I think there's something more to him but I can't figure out what it is. It doesn't give off a bad vibe, just different."
The old man nodded. "Everyone is bound to have something off about them. Devil's Fruit users in particular.
Marco shrugged in agreement. It was the first day after all, he was sure Ace would be easier to handle tomorrow, he would have some time to adjust to being on this ship and with new people. He had not doubt the fire user would open up to at least one of them in future, providing he doesn't leave in a month. This ship might do some good for him.
"He doesn't seem like the kid you were talking about hot headed and eager. He's careful" Marco said suddenly.
"What makes you say that?"
"He just moves around like he's expecting something to attack him, and just his movements in general, like he can't relax. He also isn't a fan of big groups I've noticed"
"Give him time Marco" Pops said, patting him on the head softly. "I'd be more worried if he wasn't acting suspicious in this situation"
The first mate nodded. He couldn't help but tell Pops his doubt, the man always had a way of reassuring him even though he logically knew what was happening. It had been awhile since they had gotten a new brother, and everyone was excited, so Marco wanted Ace to relax and accept them.
Ace hurried down the hallway, while he was surprised that Marco was letting him wander around by himself. The Whitebeard Pirates were arrogant. Oh well, it would be their achilles heel in the end. Instead of going to his room he turned towards where he had heard Whitebeard's laugh. He wanted to know if it was this hallway or one near by. He turned left and walked down the hallway until he almost smacked into something. A wall?
Running his hand along the 'wall' he felt to see if it was just that, when he felt something cool. Metal. Ace ran his hand up it, it was a door handle, a large one. This was a door then. and he guessed whose room it belonged too. There should only be one person on this ship that large.
Curiosity settled Ace turned back the way he came, just in case Marco finished his conversation and came to check on him. It would be easy for him to assassinate Whitebeard now, he wasn't that far from Ace's room. But how?
He wondered if they had left his belt with his dagger alone. He didn't feel it when he was messing with crates and barrel earlier. Though it didn't mean that it wasn't on a hook on the all, someplace that he didn't check.
Ace walked at a quicker pace, not sure how much longer he would be alone in the hallways. He got to the room and was able to find the handle no problem. Once he was fully inside and the door was sure he let his fire out crawling up the wall seeing if they did hang it on the wall. No such luck.
He would have to steal a knife from the kitchen. Ace wasn't used to only eating once a day so his stomach rumbled quietly, yeah he would need to get to the kitchen. There was still a long time between him carrying out his plan, so he let himself doze lightly.
When Ace woke up he was sure that it was late enough he could carry out his plan with minimal chance of him getting caught. He took his cowboy hat off from around his neck and tried to set it on the night standing, failing several times before he just decided to find it with his fire. The orange of the hat would give him away, to any sharp eyed guards.
Quietly he snuck out of his room shutting the door behind making sure that it latched enough that it would stay closed but make barely a sound if he needed to come back to it. After breathing in once he sensed there was no one nearby and began his journey to where he hoped the kitchen was. Ace crept along the corridors until he reached the mess hall, taking the first way Marco showed him (it also happened to be the fastest.)
He opened the door and attempted to sense if there was anyone in the room. Again he got nothing. So he let his fire out and spread it across the room, letting it tell him the dimensions and where the tables and benches were, this way he would have one more escape route, and also knew where more of the doors were. Ace knew that two of them let out into hallways, and there were three other doors.
He frowned, he could tell one was larger than the others so he guessed that's the one Whitebeard went through, so that lead to his room as well. The other two doors were a mystery. Ace walked over to the closest of the two and opened it, letting his fire out after he made sure that he was still alone. The sides of this room were irregular, all square in shape but there were dips and raises. As well as round objects (he assumed those were barrels). Ace sniffed the air, it smelled like food. So I'm in the kitchen or the pantry.
Ace let his fire climb upwards, most of the squares didn't go past three feet or so. They were cabinets, and Ace walked over to make sure thats what they were. He wasn't disappointed. Then the taller squares were bigger cabinets? Small pantries? A refrigerator? Ace walked over to the next closest on and opened it, he didn't feel a gust of cold air, but after he ran his fire along the inside he could tell this is someplace they store the things that won't go bad. Across the room and to the left there was another tall cabinet so he went over to that. This time there was a blast of cool air indicating that it was at the very least an ice box. This time he reached in, not wanting to risk melting the ice. There was some sort of round food item he picked it up and lit the tip of his finger. It was red, most likely an apple. Ace wasn't going to complain food was food and this would be enough for now, he was running out of time.
He stuffed the entire thing in his mouth and chewed, smiling fondly as remembered the first time he and Luffy had eaten apples together finding out that they ate the fruit the same way and it was so unlike anyone else. Then he swallowed, closing the ice box with one hand he let his fire see if there were anymore door like things. Only the way I came in? That sucks.
Before he left he let his fire climb even further up the walls looking for anything that was similar to a knife. Thankfully he found the entire knife rack. He walked over to it, and picked up a blade, it was heavy but he would've cut his hand if wasn't a logia type, so they were sharp. Ace clutched it in his hand as he returned to the mess hall. Now he had to go find Whitebeard.
He walked out of the way he and Marco had come in for dinner, walking through the hallways easily, relying on his mental map, but he kept the knife low just in case there was someone walking around in the middle of the night for more innocent reasons. Ace reached Whitebeard's door, and felt for the handle. Once he had it he gave an experimental tug, it was heavier than he thought but it still opened out, again a better advantage for him.
Now Ace crouched down low, sneaking into the room and holding the door so it closed silently. Once inside he stood, tightening his grip on the knife. In front of him the strongest man in the world lay asleep, snoring away like he wasn't about to get killed. Ace tightened his jaw and adjusted his grip on the knife. He inhaled once and jumped forward a yell tearing from his lips as his flames leapt out from his body.
The next thing he knew was he was flying through a wall, after being punched. There's no way the old man could've responded to his sneak att- oh yeah the yelling probably gave him away. Ace groaned and gripped at his now sore head as some crew members scolded him for disrupting other people's sleep. The old guy could hit, Ace would give him that, but he would be prepared next time.
We're at the bottom! Please leave your thoughts below!
AS A REMINDER TO MY READERS:
1.) I am doing this for fun so I don't mean to offend anyone so I'm doing my research but if you have any suggestions or something is factually wrong feel free to tell me! Please.
2.) Ace's condition is one that I made up using parts from several others, just because I don't think I could've written any of them the way that I wanted to portray Ace.
3.) I am going to update this irregularly
Okay sub chapter chat session, I may have one every chapter if I feel something needs to be clarified, or if a reviewer asks a question.
First thing, thank you to the reviewer that pointed out the spelling mistakes, it was autocorrected and I don't know why stupid electronics. Which is to say if there are any blinding spelling errors or grammar errors tell me and I'll probably fix them.
Second thing, to the reviewer who asked if Ace had observation Haki, the answer is yes, and I'll most likely have it explained in the story. But as of right now he doesn't know that's what its called since he's done it since he was a kid and he didn't really have that much of a chance to run into any haki users pre-Whitebeard.
My third point is my clarifying point. So Ace's eyesight it extremely poor, and therefore doesn't rely on it often, since to him Thatch is a white blob and Izou's kimono's are just pink. So since he doesn't rely on it much he generally tends not to care what he sees, unless it strikes him. (In writing terms I may describe things he's seeing and other times I won't it just depends on what's happening.) Also related, I do have some photo's of what Ace's vision would roughly look like, so if you're having trouble envisioning it, I'll post it to my tumblr at some point.(link on profile)
Later! ~IF