Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, or anything else apart from my OC for that matter...
(13 years ago. Location eastern outskirts of Mariejois.)
"Finally, thought I'd never lose them" I sighed in relief as a Marine detachment earlier had managed to spot me running for the forest and identified me as one of the escaped slaves and after a few hours of setting up traps throughout the forest was enough of a message for them that I wasn't worth the effort of running through a killzone for.
It had been about a week since the destruction of the Corrupt kingdom of Mariejois, with a low number of world nobles still surviving from the encounter, Henge'ing into various settlements and Marine outposts I had managed to gain information of how the enemy side had assessed the situation.
The near absolute destruction of the kingdom had amassed about billions of damage costs, properties were unrecoverable and even the stone foundations were turned to soot.
Only a few hundred of World Nobles still live, thousands of them died in the inferno, but inspecting their burnt corpses still managed to attain knowledge of their previous death wounds before they were burnt alive or dead.
Though it was found out that there were no children deaths, hundreds of Tenryuubito died to trampling, others died to blunt wounds of heavy cuts suspected to be caused by makeshift weapons (Which meant my kills would be masked so they wouldn't know about MY kills as they would stand out), or were simply stamped to death when they were running for the exits, but one type of wound was strange compared to the rest of the wounds,
Giant cannon shot wounds, large gashes on bodies and larger than average bullet wounds.
The slaves were presumed to be using makeshift weapons so they couldn't be using blades or flintlocks, and it was impossible for them to be carrying such firepower like a cannon with them, so one culprit could be pointed out.
A red sea bream fishman, Fisher Tiger.
Apparently he was a former slave years before and had come back to liberate all slaves, as he did not discriminate against freeing non-merpeople and the absolute skills he had which was shown when he broke destroyed part of the kingdom and freed all the slaves on his own had caused him to earn my full respect and gratitude.
That also meant he would become an enemy of the World Government, due to his assistance at destroying the Holy Land, killing Saints and stealing their 'Property' had earned him a Wanted Poster with a Bounty of 230,000,000 Belli, looks like his future ventures to land would be hindered more oftenly.
But one piece of information did intrigue me though,
It looks like I myself had earned TWO wanted posters, one for my Yami (dark side) and one for me, with the Alive option crossed out surprisingly, looks like I had pissed off the Nobility, No thanks to their stupidity and received a Bounty price of 380,000,000 Belli! Interesting, I did make them constipate in rage.
Though I had earned a 'Good' name right off the bat which meant they took me seriously (Maybe), with that high of a price on my head this means that I would become a living, walking taboo, to the rest of the civilized world, merchants wont barter with me, taverns and inns wouldn't let me enter, relax and rest, and people would be running to the Marines to alert them of my presence.
Looks like I need to refine my Henge to not pop from a single punch, whoops.
But now that I earned such a infamous name, I needed to get off the Red Line, this place is the World Governments territory, and people would soon get suspicious of 'unknown people' entering & leaving settlements at strange times and moving & coming from the main forest.
I've already done well gaining good supplies and surviving in the woods but it's getting more risky moving in and out of settlements as they gain more Marine garrisons, looks like they're really intent on catching me.
Looks like my only option left,
is to head out to sea...
Well, I could just walk on the sea, though I pride myself with having a High Chakra reserve that borders between Kage and a Tailed Beast while impossibly, still retaining a extremely precise chakra control, it would still get me nowhere and running would only get me more lost, so I'll need to to find a ship to get out of the city.
I henge'ed into my older form, when I was in my early 20's but wearing a simple shirt, shorts and wore a conical straw hat and wooden sandals and catch'ed a ride on a farmers cart who was on the way to a town near the edge of the sea, if I could find a ship and a crew that might take me in that was my best shot.
Reaching the entrance of the town, I dropped off the cart and gave part of my berri's to the farmer in thanks and headed over to the main tavern the city has.
'Looks like I don't have to look around much...' I deadpanned in my mind as when I entered through the door, my eyes set upon a massive brawl, a large mix of pirates, marines and bandits duking it out with fists, feet and drinks.
I calmly walked through the drunken chaos around me, effortlessly dodging all the half assed punches, kicks and thrown people or objects that went my general direction while I headed for the bar counter.
Reaching the counter I grabbed a wooden stool that was thrown at me and used that as my seat, noticing a young girl hiding under the counter while the giant bulk of a buffed man was beside her, cleaning mugs swiftly and flawlessly, completely unfazed with the chaotic brawl in this institute.
"Hi, I'd like a mug of rum." I asked cheeringly, giving a happy grin to calm down the nerves of the young barmaid, earning a small, shy smile from her and a expectant stare from the giant.
Reaching behind me, I grabbed a small leather bag that was attached to my belt, dropping it to the table and opening it to reveal it full of gold Belli coins, exactly 250.
Reaching for the bag, the giant weighed the bag of coins in his hand before huffing and giving out the bag to the girl and started preparing a mug, the girl stuttering a 'thank you' as well.
Finishing with filling the mug with rum, he slid it over to my side which I took and gave a nod and from there, begun my silent assessment of the brawlers.
Sadly I was disappointed as almost all of them were worse than civilians turned academy students, even those normal kids who intended to just graduate as genin and then return to their normal lives would be able to beat these guys down in five minutes.
But one individual seemed to peak my interest,
his strength is being hidden, suppressed, good, because if it was left to roam free, it would mean the death via suffocation of everyone aside from me in this room by merely being near its presence.
Entering the tavern through the door, I spot the point of interest looking incredulous and silly to the violence around him.
Long, black cape over his shoulders, loose trousers cut below the knee, a simple button shirt which was only buttoned halfway, a red sash tied to his waist that is holding a sabre on his right side. And a Straw hat.
Striking red hair and three scars across his left eye.
"Red-haired" Shanks, the captain of the Red Haired Pirates.
Seems like the two staff members of the bar apart from me were also the ones to notice his presence and became wary of his appearance here while I analysed him for his strengths.
Compared to my entrance into this "Gentlemans" institute and striding through the brawl, he looked like a bumbling idiot as he tripped and tumbled his way over to the counter, getting hit from all sides, causing him to hit some of the patrons to the wall or to other patrons and causing more fights to break out.
While the giant laughed full of mirth while the young girl sweat dropped at the clumsiness of the infamous captain, I mentally praised him for his effortless attempt of deceiving people of his true powers, though the giant bartender was more wise than what others and with what I could analyse from his looks he wasn't so fooled his act.
Finally reaching the counter, coincidentally, a wooden stool was thrown over this way, though unlike my skill of grabbing the projectile in instinct despite it coming from my blind side, Shank's stool hit his head causing more laughter from the giant and a half-worried and half-mirthful look from the young girl as I acted like a man that was entirely focused on his drink as he grumbled in annoyance while a bump was bulging from the spot where he was his hit with the flying wooden seat.
Finally ordering a similar mug of rum, he finally relaxed on his seat, arms on the counter as he seemed content with his drink.
And now two individuals sat together, both were simple in looks, one wore a conical hat and a straw hat, each item bearing significant history, both were walking powerhouses, hiding their powers and keeping secret from the others about their true strength.
"So, Shanks, heard you a strong warrior." I broke the silent stalemate between us, knowing that he already knows of me masking my identity by the time I sensed his powers.
Though I earned a stare from the giant and a worried & shocked look from the girl, the red head meekly replied laughing "I don't really see myself as strong man, though a lot seem to think that I could easily beat them haha." easily sensing the I meant no ill intent in my statement.
Continuing on my act I continued on my assessment of him from the information I gathered "Captain of the Red Hair pirates, one who carries a giant bounty over his head and one of the four Yonko of the sea." which intensified the stare from the giant which turned into a more cautious assessment of me while the girl became more worried over my life.
Shanks merely grinned and replied "True on all accounts, why do you ask?" getting straight to the point of my intentions.
But before I could explain further, the door to the bar slammed open, getting the attention of the entire tavern, the reactions were mixed.
The marines that were in the brawl immediately cleaned themselves of bloody cuts and noses and dusted off their uniforms and quickly stood in attention while the pirates and the bandits moved back in fear.
A large figure marched through the doors, A Vice-Admiral coat hung over the shoulders weaing a red-suit with a red floral-shirt underneath, black gloves and the marine cap. Emanating a volcanic red glow as he seemed intent on reaching the counter, glaring at the Red Haired Captain the entire time.
"I don't know why you would come here, but you are under arrest." He growled out, using his powers to heat up the entire room, signifying that he would use his powers on Shanks if he ever resisted. This damn fool, wiling to sacrifice innocents for his so-called 'justice' yet ignores the"slavery" that the World Nobles thrive upon.
Standing up from my seat, I stood face to face against him, glaring at him with all my hate, releasing my Sakki and condensing it to only affect him, he'll figure out who I am if that group of guards did survive and escape.
Looks like it did its job as I could clearly see the reflection of a white wolf in his eyes, and how his permanently stoic face turned into a slightly wary face with his mouth slowly agape in intimidation.
"Take this outside, I'd rather not have the lives of innocents be harmed by your arrogance." I threatened, which brought focus back into the vice-admirals mind and thankfully took my words at face value and walked outside to bring the confrontation there with Shanks following right behind, the captain giving me a look that told of his approval of getting myself involved to assure the safety of the civilians and went out the door along with the Vice-Admiral while the rest of the occupants were looking at me in great shock,
A civilian, a new nobody that had just come into town, had just intimidated a Vice-Admiral and succeeded into having Sakazuki follow his demands.
Grabbing a larger leather bag from my waist I dropped it on the counter and opened it to reveal another bag filled with Belli coins with some paper bills rolled inside, in total counting up to 5000 Belli to be exact.
I merely said "For the damages and the inconvenience." before heading out myself.
Catching up two the Marine and the Pirate, I guessed their location to be somewhere near the docks so I started there.
I wasn't disappointed as an explosion was heard in one of the storehouses with a slight fire starting with civilians leaving the area and he marines pushing in.
'Looks like Shanks himself has gotten some backup.' I mused as two people were with him getting on a back-to-back position.
One had tight curled hair and a long nose. A simple blue shirt and slaked pants, wearing a blue headband which had the name 'Yasopp' written on it, wielding a musket pistol.
The other was a head taller than Shanks, jet black hair pulled into a ponytail, wearing a black v-neck shirt, a yellow sash tied to his waist, khaki cargo pants and black combat boots, wielding a musket by its barrel to be used as a club.
I knew that they would be able to hold this marine group off but I really don't agree with the resulting damage that would be struck upon the town and it also looks like they'll soon bite off more than they can chew once the Main Force arrives here I noted as I see a large amount of dust gathering in one of the main roads in the distance, most likely the Marines reinforcements.
Well, they're my best shot of getting out of the Red Line, and they need my help getting back to their ship. Looks like I'm their escape plan.
Shunshin'ning over to them, surprising the majority of the group except for the Vice-Admiral and Shanks, the latter grinning to the return of my presence, I continued my silence as I prepared to open the exit for the pirates.
Using the shock factor of my instant appearance, I slowly (in shinobi standards) start going through the handsigns while I notified to the trio "You might want to grab on to my shoulders."
Looking to Shanks for guidance, the captain nodded to them as he did what I asked before the two would trust me on this.
Finishing in my seals I chanted "Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique" causing face faults and a series of 'WHAT!'s throughout the docks before disappearing with the trio under the ground, with the traces and cracks of me digging through the earth slow disappearing.
"Hiding like a Mole? Really?" Asked the curled haired gunslinger incredulously.
"Hey!" I shouted in annoyance "I'm not the one who names the techniques so don't look at me!" I growled out.
The tall man was more relaxed than his annoyed companion, calmly getting to the matter at hand "Though we are thankful for the assist, why do you seek us though?" his stare becoming more calculating of any deception.
Sighing, I began to tell my half-truth of a life story of waking up, in chains and finding myself becoming a slave in the kingdom of Mariejois.
All while absent mindedly watching the marine group above us frantically look for our location, with the vice-admiral livid for allowing the escape of four very dangerous 'criminals'.
I explained to them "I was on a merchant ship years before, our group doing good with trading throughout the islands of East Blue.
But that had all changed when one day, were we were just happily sailing the seas we were just attacked by a ship for no reason, our ship, owned by travelling civilians, had no way of defending ourselves and shortly got wrecked." By now I had noticed the controlled anger from the three of them but I continued nonetheless.
"I woke up in a horse cart, chained up along with other various races, being 'shipped' to the 'Holy Land' of Mariejois. I don't know that had happened to my friends after that, even with communicating with almost every enslaved in the kingdom, none of them had known of my friends fate. For four long years, I had worked in forced servitude before something happened which allowed me and the rest of the slaved to escape. Have you heard of the destruction of Mariejois?" getting nods of confirmation, I revealed more about the incident "A fishman, Fisher Tiger was an adventurer that at some point was captured and enslaved by the World Nobles before managing to escape, it seems that he had returned once more to free the rest of the slaves and burn the city, he seemed so intent on his goal that from what I had learned that he broke the taboo of climbing the Red Line with his bare hands." the revelation showed shock to the strength and will Tiger had while I continued with my story "Luckily he held no discrimination when it came to freeing the slaves so he set out to free all of us as he took on the entire city. In the chaos, I managed to free more of the slaves that were trapped when he was still preoccupied and escaped as the kingdom burned." Finishing with my story, now came the reason as to why I would help them.
"The world government has issued wanted posters for all the 'property' of the saints to be acquired and returned, I don't know if the others made it but I'm confident that they know full well that staying in the Red Line is too dangerous for any of us now, so my group separated, the close friends and families though sticked together, to prevent the marines from capturing us all so easily. Civilian ships won't take me, and with my 'mark' I'd be sent off to the nearest marine in an instant." pulling up the sleeve of my right arm to reveal something which I took note to keep even when I changed my looks with Henge
It was the Hoof of the Dragon brand, the mark of the World Noble's property, the mark of the slaves.
Thankfully the three looked sympathetic to me, though they did pull back in shock when they say the brand in my arm but their eyes held a look of pity about my situation and honestly they should've expected this to be on my person when I became a slave.
Shanks looked contemplative "We'll consider it." I gave out a sigh of relief, at least they didn't say no, that was probably the closest thing I could get to an agreement, I just needed to prove to them that I was worth the trouble "We still need to know what you can do." Stating out that he needed to know my abilities.
Wait...
"Wasn't me being able dig through the earth and create a room enough for us four to fit already a showcase of a part of my abilities." I deadpanned at him, to which his face lit up and laughed in realization, jeez, so the captain can be a bit of an airhead at times.
"Where is your ship anyway?" I asked in confusion, "I didn't see your Jolly Roger sailing in any of the ships in the docks." luckily the tall, musket wielding marksman answered this time.
"Do you really thing we'd just let ourselves get noticed by the marines so easily?" correcting my assumptions while the captain laughed awkwardly at the words of the tall man, was Shanks really that clueless?, "We're currently anchored off the coast of the nearby cliffs, we're well acquainted with the family that was living in the area and let's us anchor near there as to hide our presence." right so we got that cleared up.
"Right." I replied more relaxed, dusting off my trousers as I inquired them again.
"What direction is your friends house, I could easily take us there underground." Getting more shocked faces from the three.
"Would you rather prefer being chased by an entire regiment of marines and a Vice-Admiral as you head for your ship?" And with that 'Yassop' headband wearing guy gleefully agreed to my help, while the tall man hummed thoughtfully as he pulled out a cigarette to smoke while Shanks merely grinned at my hospitality.
"It's in this general direction" Shanks said, pointing to the left side of the earth dome, nodding to the captain I issued the same command like before and prepared the a different technique to quickly reach the destination.
"Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage." I chanted as the ground around us slowly turned to liquid and I swam with a speed that would make even the Shark Swordsman of Kirigakure look like a sprinting sloth in comparison.
\['_']/
POV ?. Location A Coastal Home in the Red Line.
"Are you sure they are fine." I asked my Oji-san again, I was so worried for our friends safety as there were so many marines around, even a Vice-Admiral! Who knows what could happen?"
"Don't worry about them." my uncle stated "From what I could read from them and that young kid earlier they wouldn't fall so easily." He reassured, being delicate and careful when he ruffled my hair, causing me to pout but I guess he has a point.
Shanks may be strong but there had been a large increase of Marine numbers in settlements and patrols, he could beat groups of them with a flick of the wrist, but he would get overwhelmed.
That young man earlier was so nice as well, he didn't have to risk his life for Shanks yet he went through with it, but he was able to face a Vice-Admiral and cause him to look at him in fear was a really big surprise.
He didn't even need to pay even more for the damage the ruffians that were brawling in the bar, he's powerful yet so kind.
That is so rare to see in people today, Shanks is like that but meeting equally strong and like-minded individuals on the same day is just strange.
But before I could wonder more about who the man was, Uncle and I spot something coming at us in the plains, it looked like the land was being split in two as dirt and dust was being flung up, it looked similar to water parting when a shark is swimming a bit above water.
My uncle immediately went to my front, likely to protect me from the strange phenomenon, while I looked in wonder at who could be the causing it.
My questions were answered when suddenly four people were flung skyward from the phenomenon that I thought to be a land shark.
\['_']/
POV Hokurou.
Whoops. Looks like I hit that small rock there with that miscalculation.
The three seem to be taking the problem differently, the 'Yassop' guy was screaming, the Tall guy was still smoking and acting indifferently and Shanks was laughing it off.
Shortly after the observation, we landed on solid ground this time, again each of us had different results.
Shanks landed exactly on his rump, already on a cross-legged sitting position.
The Tall man and I deftly landed on our two feet without issue.
The 'Yassop' guy landed face first into the ground, immediately standing up pointing and shouting at me incoherently, I was still acting that the problem was a minor inconvenience.
Since we reached our destination, I began looking at our surroundings.
Aside from seeing a well maintained house and a field of good-quality crops it looks like we met the Giant and the girl from the tavern again, the two looking at us in unhidden surprise that the landshark was caused by us.
"Hi!" going back to my facade "Good to see you again!"Giving out a very cheery tone which again got the stare from the giant but it looks like the girl was more relaxed with our appearance as well.
"Yo Jiji-sama!" Shanks shouted out, catching the attention of the giant "We've going out now!"
The giant merely huffed in relief while the girl shouted "Come back soon Shanks-sama!" the Red Haired Captain replying in a loud "Definitely!"
"So crew mate, I'll only ask of you three things once you become a pirate under my fold." Shanks said, turning to me next
"One is that you become part of our nakama, you protect us we protect you and your fights are our fights now unless you specifically tell us its personal." the first order bringing shock to me but quickly subsided, 'Similar to me and Naruto-teme's line of thought.' I mused in my mind, once I nodded to him he continued,
"Two, you are to stay your hand away from the blood of the innocent, we venture out for the sake of it and for the chance of glory, but not the corrupt way." Again, another similar ideal. Another nod.
"And three, is that you are to attend and join in on drinking parties and celebrations enacted by us whenever you are able, understood?" finishing his final order with a grin while I looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, Does that have to be a rule? I wondered. But nonetheless I nodded.
How bad could it be? Little did I know that know that I would later regret those words
And little did I know I would set off a chain of events that would change the lives of nearly everyone in this world.