Here it is! Sorry about the small delay in getting it up. I'm not too skilled in writing fight scenes, so I rewrote the end of this chapter quite a lot. I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, but you guys waited long enough. If you have any pointers on writing a fight scene please feel free to share them with me. Thank you for your patience.
Update! I updated this chapter's fight scenes. I wasn't satisfied enough with the fight scenes I had, but thanks to the help I got from Talon of soaring Eagle I redid it! I'm much happier with this outcome than I was with the other. And don't worry, chapter eleven will be out soon! I hope you all enjoy!
I do not own One Piece.
"Now remember, no attacking the other pirates." Sabo said sternly.
"I heard you the first hundred time! Unchain me already!" Ace yelled. Marco didn't really blame him. The poor kid had been promised to be let loose today, and Sabo spent the whole morning going over rules he had to follow. Most of them stated that he wasn't to attack him and Thatch.
"I'm just making sure you understand." Sabo said finally unlocking the chains, and Ace was instantly working to free himself. It was finally done with Sabo's help, and Ace stood up for the first time in days.
Ace stretch his arms upward, and arched his back. Marco heard his spine and shoulders give several loud pops. That wasn't surprising since he spent most of the week sitting in the same position. His muscles must've been so stiff. After his initial stretch, Ace did several smaller stretches to wake up his muscles and pop more joints.
The reason for Ace's freedom was a large dot on the horizon in front of them. One look through the spyglass proved it to be the next island. The timing of it couldn't have been better. The three brats were quickly depleting their food stock.
Ace was pretty much forced to eat due to Luffy threatening to go on another hunger strike each time he refused to eat. It became a daily occurrence for everyone to watch Sabo feed Ace his meal before eating their own meals. Something Ace absolutely hated, and he made sure to let everyone know exactly what he thought of it. Thatch learned to not ask Ace about his cooking after the third time he got insulted.
"Ace! What are you doing with that?!" Sabo's yell brought Marco out of his thoughts.
He looked down and saw Ace glaring up at him. Thatch was in the kitchen making lunch, so he got escape Ace's scrutiny. In his hand was one of the pipes they carried around. He didn't make any move to attack, nor did he seem like he would. He just stood there with that ever present scowl.
"Didn't you hear me when I told you not to attack?!" Sabo stood in front of Ace.
"Relax. I'm only standing guard." Ace said never once letting his eyes stray from Marco. Sabo stared at him for a few seconds before sighing in defeat.
"Fine. Just don't jump off the deep end like you usually do." Sabo said and moved to the side. Ace just continued to stand guard.
"Saaaaabooooo! When will we reach the island?!" Luffy whined from the front of the small boat.
"Calm down, Luffy. It'll be a while before we get there." Sabo reassured his fidgeting brother.
"We should reach it late tonight if we keep sailing." Marco said, and Luffy whined.
"But that's a looooooooong time from now!" Luffy flopped onto his back, and gazed at the clouds.
"We should get as close as we can before sundown, and stop for the night. That way, we'll have all day tomorrow to explore the island." Sabo said and Luffy groaned at the thought of waiting even longer before going on his next adventure.
"But I wanna go there NOOOOOOWWWW!" Luffy rolled around on their small boat, and Sabo sighed in annoyance. Marco's heart went out to him. After all, he understood what it was like to be the only sensible one on a crew full of idiots.
"How about we play a game?" Sabo suggested.
"No! I wanna go to the island!" Luffy demanded.
"Then how about we eat? It's almost Lunch time after all!" Sabo appeared to be scraping the bottom of the barrel for a distraction.
"But Thatchy is still cooking, and he won't let me back in the kitchen after I ate all the ingredients for dinner last night!" Luffy seemed even more depressed.
Marco remembered that fiasco. Thatch was furious, and then Ace got furious at Thatch for yelling at his little brother. Then the two got into a shouting match. It took all of Marco's and Sabo's will power to not beat their brothers senseless. Everyone calmed down eventually, and Luffy was punished with no dinner, and was banned from the kitchen. Needless to say, tensions were high.
"I know you're bored, and want to explore the island, but the boat can only go so fast. I know you hate to hear this, but you have to be patient." Sabo said.
Luffy groaned loudly, and Thatch walked out of the kitchen with Ace's plate.
"The brat's food is ready." Thatch said with little enthusiasm. Marco knew he was still trying to get over the fact that someone hated his cooking. It really hurt a chef's pride when their hard work gets insulted.
"Alright. Time to eat, Ace." Sabo said and climbed up the side of the ship to grab the plate. He climbed back down after fetching the food, and held it out to his brother. Ace made no movement to grab it.
"Ace, we've been over this. Luffy refuses to eat unless you do. You're no longer chained so you can feed yourself now." Sabo sounded tired.
"We're close enough to the island. Luffy and I won't starve to death before we reach it." Ace stated calmly. Marco was surprised at how calm he was acting. He mostly knew Ace to be a violent hot head. Who knew he could actually talk instead of yelling.
"Thatch worked hard to make this plate for you! Are you just going to waste it?" Sabo asked.
"They can eat all they want, but I'm not eating anymore of this crap. After all, isn't a chef supposed to make things taste good?" Ace answered in the same calm manner. Marco sighed inwardly. Ace only traded his angry outburst for calm jabs at the chef's pride.
"What did you say, brat?!" Thatch yelled.
"I'm sorry, I should know better than to call you a chef. A chef knows how to cook a halfway decent meal."
"But Thatch is a good chef, Ace! His food tastes amazing!" Luffy put his two cents into the conversation.
"See?! Your brother knows quality food when he tastes it! You just can't admit that I'm a good chef!"
"Luffy? Knowing quality food? You could put a plate of dirt in front of him, and he'd think it was the best thing in the world. I wouldn't trust his judgement of food if I were you." Ace said.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Ace does have a point, for once. Luffy thinks all food is good. We once gave him some burnt cheese with dirty dish water to wash it down, and he thought it was great." Sabo said, and Marco lost his appetite.
"No way! Did he get sick?!" Thatch went from annoyed to impressed in a matter of seconds.
"Eh? Why would I get sick?" Luffy tilted his head to the side in confusion.
"Because it's nasty." Marco said trying to keep the nausea out of his voice.
"No it wasn't! It was great!" Luffy defended the vomit inducing combination, and Sabo gestured to Luffy as if to say "See?!"
"Okay, so you do have one point. But that doesn't mean I'm a crappy chef!" Thatch went back to annoyed in a heartbeat, and Marco face palmed. Sure his ego was bruised some, but did he even realize that he was arguing with a bunch of kids?
"If you aren't a crappy chef, then why is your food crappy?" Ace asked in fake innocence.
"MY FOOD ISN'T CRAPPY!" Thatch looked like he was about to pounce on the kid so Marco grabbed him around the torso just in case he did try to attack.
"Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that." Ace said and casually picked his nose. Thatch was ready to jump when he stopped himself, and took a deep breath.
"Did I really just let a ten year old antagonize me that much?" He asked and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Marco let go and said, "Yeah. I was concerned that you and Ace suddenly switched personalities or something."
"Nah, Ace just knows he'll get chained up if he loses his temper again." Luffy said and earned himself a bonk on the head.
"At least we'll be arriving on the island tomorrow." Sabo said.
"Yeah. That island is a Godsend after the last week." Marco pointed out.
"You said it." Thatch agreed and went back into the kitchen.
"Are you sure you won't eat it, Ace?" Sabo asked holding the plate of food to his brother.
"Positive. We'll be able to hunt on this island, right? We'll catch our own food, so we won't have to rely on these guys anymore." Ace said and Sabo shook his head.
"It looks like Thatch made this plate for nothing." Sabo said, and climbed back onto the ship. He handed the plate to Marco, and jumped back down to join his brothers.
Marco looked at the full plate and was grateful that Thatch didn't cook the other meals until after Ace ate. Now the food wouldn't go to waste. He decided to eat it since the brats weren't going to, and Thatch can just cook his own.
Marco looked at the island slowly getting bigger as they got closer. He and Thatch needed to restock their ship, so the brats had to go unsupervised for a while. He thought it was a good idea. They were obviously sick and tired of them hanging over their shoulder. They needed some breathing room, and Marco would let them have it. After all, how much trouble could they possibly get into in the East Blue?
XxXxXxXxX
The sun rose gently over the horizon. The sky was painted in beautiful pink and orange hues only to be perfectly reflected by the ocean. Not a cloud interrupted the beautiful rainbow that was the sky. What could possibly ruin such a peaceful and pleasant morning?
"Guys! Wake up! It's morning! Let's go to the island now!" Luffy yelled interrupting Sabo's thoughts.
"Wha?" Ace asked sleepily only to be fully woken up by little rubber idiot bouncing on him.
"Get off me, Luffy!" Ace yelled as he swung his pipe at Luffy.
"We have to get going! The island is right there!" Luffy pointed to the fairly large island that was no more than one hundred yards away.
"Alright! Alright! I'm unfurling the sail right now!" Sabo laughed and untied the sail. It opened up and the boat picked up speed.
"Yay!" Luffy cheered and ran to the front of the boat. Ace grumbled about annoying little brothers and rubbed his abdomen where Luffy jumped on him.
Sabo smiled, and felt truly refreshed. After a week of stress from trying to keep Ace in check, Sabo felt like an island adventure was just what he needed.
Although, he would be lying if he said he didn't hold any resentment toward the Whitebeard pirates. He could see where they were coming from, but his week would have been so much smoother had they not meddled. Which was why he felt his annoyance flare up when the ship started to move with them.
"Morning, brats. Excited to get to the island?" Thatch asked, and Sabo tried his best not to look irritated. Ace, however, had no qualms showing his annoyance.
"Yeah! It's been soooooo long since we've been on an island!" Luffy turned to face Thatch better.
"Well, you three will get to be alone for a while after we dock. Marco and I need to restock our supplies." Thatch said, and Sabo felt his irritation melt away.
After a week of being under needless adult supervision, they would be free. One look at Ace showed that he felt the same way. Once they were alone, and had eaten their fill, Sabo would come up with a plan to lose them. He didn't want another voyage like the one they just had. Luffy would whine, but it was a small price to pay to regain their privacy.
Luffy mindlessly chattered to Thatch about all the things he wanted to do on the island, and Sabo tuned them out. He decided to study the island. There was a dock over to the right slightly. The dock led to a village, and in the center appeared to be a large dojo of sorts. He guessed that that was the famous Isshin Dojo.
He remembered reading up on dojo's back when he was a noble. He found swordsmanship fascinating at the time. He had asked his father about sword lessons, and he turned him down immediately. Swordsmanship was for barbarians who barely knew how to use utensils, and he was born better than any barbarian. That's what he was told, and he didn't argue at the time despite how he felt about the statement. He really hated how stuck up those nobles were. Now, he had no interest in learning how to use a sword, but he figured it would be nice to check it out.
His only concern was Luffy. He and trouble were practically conjoined at the hip. No matter what precautions they took, no matter how many times they warn him, he always causes trouble in one way or another. He looked at his little brother happily chatting away about who know what. One could only hope that he didn't get into too much trouble. One could only hope…
"WE'RE HERE!" Luffy's yell pulled Sabo out of his thoughts. He looked at the island and realized that the docks were right in front of them. Sabo felt a smile spread across his face.
"Alright! Let's tie up the boat, and start hunting!" Sabo said as he tied the sail back up. Luffy looked ready to run off, but Ace grabbed him by the collar.
"Hold on! You got shot the last time you ran off to an island. This time we go together." Ace said and handed Luffy his pipe.
"There are animals to hunt here, right?!" Luffy asked Sabo as he jumped up and down excitedly.
"Yes, Luffy. The forests on this island are fairly large. We should have no trouble finding a meal or two." Sabo said and tied the boat to the dock. He grabbed his own pipe and nodded to Ace.
"Let's go catch us a proper meal!" Ace said and Luffy and Sabo cheered.
The three of them ran off. The Whitebeard pirates yelled something as they left, but Sabo ignored them. He was just happy to have solid ground under his feet again.
The trio ran into the forest and immediately began their hunt. It wasn't long before Ace spotted bear tracks. The tracks led all around the forest until they spotted a large mound of brown fur in a small clearing. The three of them hid behind a bush. Sabo wasn't really impressed with the size of the bear. Sure it was big, but the bears on Dawn Island were mush bigger.
"Okay, Luffy, you be the distraction. Sabo and I will sneak up behind it, and attack." Ace said quietly.
"Why do I have to be the bait?!" Luffy whined loudly. Ace and Sabo covered his mouth, but the damage had already been done. The bear turned to their direction, and growled.
"Okay, plan B. Attack!" Ace yelled and charged out to the bear. Luffy and Sabo ran after him.
The bear roared angrily, and swatted at Ace. Ace dodged, and ran up the bear's arm. He swung at the head, but the bear caught the pipe in his mouth.
"Hey! Let go, you stupid bear!" Ace struggled to get the pipe out of the bear's mouth. The bear raised its other arm to attack.
"Ace!" Sabo yelled, and hit the bear's elbow with the end of his pipe.
The bear roared again, and freed Ace's pipe in the process. Ace tumbled to the ground, but got back on his feet in an instant. The bear swatted at them, and they jumped back to avoid the large paw. Luffy ran forward, and hit the bear on his shoulder. The bear backhanded Luffy into a tree. Luffy hit the tree, but was unfazed. That rubber power of his really did come in handy.
"I'm okay." Luffy said and brushed off some dirt.
Ace growled, and ran forward. The bear focused on Ace, so Sabo ran behind it. Sabo jumped on its back, and hit the bear in the back of the head as hard as he could. The bear stood on its hind legs, and roared loudly. Sabo jumped back as the bear swiveled around, and attacked without going back to all fours. Now it was pissed.
The bear tried to squish Sabo, but he ran to the side, and barely avoided being hit. Sabo charged forward and struck a hard blow on the bear's side while it was getting up. The bear turned and swatted at Sabo. Sabo blocked the large paw with his pipe, but was pushed back several feet.
Ace and Luffy ran from behind Sabo and jumped over him, and stuck the bear in the face. The clearing was filled with a loud crunching sound, and the bear staggered back a bit. It fell to it's haunches and shook its head, as if trying to clear its vision. Ace took the opportunity, and gave one last blow to thee back of its head. There was another crunching sound, and the bear fell forward. It didn't move again.
"We did it!" Luffy cheered.
"Yes, you did." Said an unknown voice. Ace ran to his brothers' side, and glared at the newcomer.
He was a kid, somewhere between the Ages of Ace and Luffy. He had a head of green hair, and he carried two wooden swords and one real sword on his hip. He seemed impressed that the three of them took on a bear all by themselves.
"Is that a real sword?!" Luffy asked in excitement.
"Yes, it is." The kid answered, and Luffy had stars in his eyes.
"So you're from the dojo!" Luffy said and practically vibrated in his enthusiasm.
"Yeah."
"AWESOME! Will you join my crew?!" Luffy asked, and both Sabo and Ace smacked him upside the head.
"Would you stop asking random people to join your crew?! It's bad enough you convinced that orange haired witch to join you!" Ace yelled.
"Nami isn't a witch! She's my navigator!" Luffy yelled right back.
"So, why are you here, kid?" Sabo asked, and the kid looked annoyed.
"I'm not a kid! My name is Zoro, and I want to challenge you to a duel." Zoro said.
"A duel, huh?" Ace said, and cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Sabo shook his head at Ace's eagerness to get into a fight with practically everyone they met.
"Why do you want to duel us?" Sabo asked.
"You're obviously strong. I want to test my swordsman skills against worthy opponents. If you can take down a bear by yourselves, you can take me on." Zoro smirked, and Ace smirked right back.
"Alright. But don't cry home to your mom when you lose." Ace said, and grabbed his pipe.
"I don't lose." Zoro said, and unsheathed the real sword. He placed it in his mouth of all things, after making sure the back of the blade was facing them, it was only a spar after all, and grabbed the other two. He had a wooden sword in each hand, and all three of them looked at him weirdly.
"What are you doing?" Ace finally asked.
"I use Santoryu. The three sword style." Zoro explained. His words were somewhat muffled by the sword in his mouth.
"You look ridiculous." Ace deadpanned.
"No he doesn't! He looks awesome!" Luffy defended.
"Yes, Luffy, he does. Who in their right mind would-" Ace was cut off when Zoro suddenly attacked. Ace managed to dodge one sword and block another, but he was hit by the third.
"Shut up, and let our fight do the talking." Zoro said, and Ace rubbed the shoulder that got hit. Ace smirked and got into a fighting position.
"Fine, have it your way." Ace said, and the two had a stare down.
Despite how weird Zoro looked, he was obviously skilled and powerful. Ace was also pretty skilled, and could probably take this kid on all by himself. Sabo sighed and sat on the sidelines with Luffy.
The two sides launched at each other. Zoro attacked mercilessly, and Ace was able to block most of the hits. They were at a stalemate for a good minute before they both realized they weren't getting anywhere like that. Zoro jumped back, and Ace rushed forward with his own attack. Zoro blocked it, but was pushed against a tree. Ace ran forward and attacked again, but Zoro ducked just in time. The force of the blow caused the tree to topple over.
"Are you sparring him, or trying to kill him?!" Sabo yelled.
Ace turned to respond to Sabo's question, but Zoro used Ace's distraction to his advantage. Zoro got a few good hits in, before Ace forced him back. Zoro stood a good distance away from Ace, and they stared down each other. Zoro gave a vicious smirk.
"You're tougher than I thought. It looks like I finally get to test out my new move." Zoro said with a smirk.
"New move?" Ace questioned dryly. Sabo face palmed. From the tone of Ace's voice, it was obvious that he was underestimating Zoro. Sure he could beat Zoro, but not if he misjudged the strength of the young swordsman.
"I've been looking for a worthy opponent to test it out on." Zoro said, and crossed his arms. The sword in his mouth crossed the sword on the right, and the real blade was behind the wooden blade. Ace looked unimpressed.
"Three sword style: Oni-" Zoro rushed forward so fast that Sabo barely even saw him. The wooden swords knocked the pipe out of Ace's hands, and the back of the real blade hit him with such force that he landed on his back.
"Giri!" Zoro finished. Ace laid on his back with a stunned look on his face, and Sabo shoo his head. He wasn't really surprised by this outcome. Zoro pointed the tip of one of his wooden swords at Ace.
"Checkmate." Zoro said in a victorious tone.
Ace growled, and kicked the wooden sword out of Zoro's hand. Zoro's eyes widened in surprise, as Ace caught it in mid-air. Ace immediately swung at Zoro, who blocked it with the other wooden sword. Ace got to his feet, and Zoro grabbed the sword out of his mouth to fight with two swords. He wasn't as powerful with two blades, but Sabo could tell he had more practice with two blades than he did with three.
The two swung at each other viciously. Each swing was more powerful than the last. Finally they met the two wooden swords with such force that they splintered and broke. They stared at the broken swords for a few seconds before tossing them aside.
"Ace, catch!" Sabo threw Ace his pipe.
Ace caught it, and the two continued to fight. Zoro was nowhere near as skilled with one blade as he was with two. Ace quickly got the upper hand, and managed to knock the sword out of Zoro's hand. The sword landed pretty far away with the tip of the blade shoved in the ground. Ace swung at Zoro, who dodged it, and started to run for his sword. Ace ran forward, and attempted to catch up to Zoro when he suddenly stopped with a pained look on his face.
"What's wrong, Ace?" Sabo called out, genuinely concerned that something was wrong.
"Cramp!" Ace yelled and toppled over, and Sabo sighed in annoyed relief. Ace had been sitting in one position for several days. It was only logical that his muscles would cry out in protest to being suddenly used so violently. Zoro grabbed his sword, and gave Ace an unreadable expression.
"You're in no condition to keep fighting. We'll have a rematch tomorrow. Same time, same place." Zoro said and walked off.
"Come back here, you bastard! I'm not done, yet!" Ace tried to get up, but he cried out in pain and fell back over.
"Give it up, Ace. Zoro's right, you can't fight like this." Sabo sat next to Ace.
"Whose side are you on?! I can't let this fight just end! I have to finish it!" Ace started to crawl forward.
Sabo stopped him and said,"The only way this fight can continue is if you get rid of those cramps."
"Not until I win!"
"Ace, he's already gone! You'll get a chance to fight him tomorrow!"
Ace didn't say anything. He just glared at the spot where Zoro disappeared. Sabo rolled his eyes at Ace's stubbornness.
"C'mon Luffy, lets… Luffy?" Sabo asked, and looked around the clearing. Luffy was nowhere to be seen.
"Dammit! Not again!" Ace yelled once he realized the rubber idiot was missing again.
"He probably followed Zoro. He did want him to join his crew after all." Sabo said.
"He said he came from the dojo, didn't he?"
"Yeah, they're probably on their way over right now."
"When I find him, I'll kick his rubber ass from here to the moon." Ace said, and started to get up.
"You stay here. I'll go get him." Sabo said, but Ace got to his feet and gave Sabo a challenging look.
"Fine! You can come. Just hurry." Sabo relented and the two headed toward the village.