Don't own One Piece or any of the characters these OCs are based on

Spirit Quest

DJ continued to entertain the children of Ken Kyji Island in addition to his training for a few weeks. He got closer to his fellow students under Sakata and enjoyed his job of taking care of the young ones. One day he decided to tell a special story that was close to his heart.

"Wealth, fame, power. Gold Roger, the Pirate King attained this and everything else the world had to offer and his dying words drove countless souls to the seas." The storyteller turned around adorning a long, fake mustache and a red jacket for his imitation.

"You want my treasure?" He said in a gruffer voice than normal. "You can have it, I left everything I gathered together in one place, now you just have to find it."

He took off his props before continuing his narration of the story. "These words lured men to the Grand Line, in pursuit of dreams greater than they ever dare to imagine. This is the time known as the Great Pirate Era!" He finished and took his bows from the applauding children. "There's a song that goes with that I think… but I can't remember it at the moment, sorry kids." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. He watched the children run around excitedly.

"Oh boy! I'm gonna be a pirate when I grow up and find Roger's treasure!" One boy proudly announced.

"No way!" One of the girls stuck her tongue out at him. "You can't even leave your house after dark!"

DJ laughed at their antics and sent them off to play pirate outside. 'I wonder if Roger knew just how many people would be affected by his dying words. Makes you wonder if he did it to spite the World Government for catching him, they get rid of one big pirate, and from him millions of pirate dreamers come forth.' He chuckled and shook his head, noticing Gin, Sakata, and Jack had entered the room while he was thinking.

"So, you're a pirate supporter eh?" Gin said with a grin. "Shoulda known someone like you would buy into all that shit."

"I may not be an 'official' pirate, and certainly not captain material, but I do consider myself a pirate in spirit." He grinned broadly. "Just a guy trying to make my way in the world."

"I see… well there is a reason we're here." Sakata smirked gently.

DJ blinked. "Why's that?"

"We thought you could ask us a few questions and get to know your dojo-mates better."

"Cheap Exposition!"

"What?" Everyone looked at Gin, who had just shouted quite randomly.

The bokuto-wielder laughed. "Nothing, I'm just shouting out literary themes that pertain to the moment. God I hope nothing happens to Karen tonight."

"What?"

"Foreshadowing, anywho on to the questions!"

"Alright Gin, why don't you go first then?" Sakata and Jack sat down while Gin sat facing where DJ was.

"Alright… lets see… why do you use a bokuto as opposed to a regular sword which could do more damage?" The musician asked curiously.

"Hmph, is that all?" Gin unwrapped a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth before answering. "It's because this bokuto was given to me by someone very important to me, and I swore I wouldn't use a real sword until I could defeat them. I wouldn't use the word dream, but defeating that person is my ambition."

"Who is it?"

"Nonya"

"Nonya?"

"Nonya business."

"Okay, what island does Mr. Business live on?" DJ asked thickly.

Gin facefaulted. "God you're dumb…"

'That's my own business…' Gin thought to himself.

Flashback, yes another one

"Here Gin." The older black-haired man handed him a pole-shaped object wrapped in wrapping paper "Happy Birthday, hard to believe you're already eleven." (Gin: More Cheap Exposition!)

The boy Gin quickly unwrapped the present to find a wooden sword within the paper. He looked up at the black-haired man who had a kind smile on his face. "Thank you so much!"

"I know you wanted to be a real samurai, but you're still a little young, and honestly with your hyper ness and attitude problem I wouldn't trust you with a sword. I'll give you a real one when you grow up a little." He chuckled and ruffled the boy's silver hair.

"Aww, when will I be grown up enough?" Gin asked, fixing his hair back to its curly state.

"How about if you beat me in a sword battle with that bokuto, I'll give you my own sword.

"Really!? Thank you…" he looked up at the man. "Sakata-san!"

--

A few years later, Gin and Sakata sat on the rooftops of Ken Kyji Island, reflecting over their journeys. "Gin, I want to found a dojo, I want to train people in a manner so that they can use swords to give life instead of using swords only for killing."

"Then do it Sakata-san! I'll stand by you the whole time, like I always have!" The teenage Gin shouted. "Please allow me the honor of being you your first student, please let me call you Sakata-sensei!"

End Flashback

'And a little while after that, we got some more students, and Jack came along with them, of course the two of us are the only ones he fully trained, but I like to think some of Sakata-sensei's message got out.'

"Well, sometimes people name their swords, does your bokuto have a name?" DJ blinked as Gin seemingly stared off into space.

"Hoshikudaki, the Star Destroyer. " Gin replied, snapping out of his flashback. "Anyway, I'm tired of answering questions, Jack, you're up." Gin went back to sit by Sakata and Jack came forward to be questioned next.

"Alright then, Gin-sempai told me about his dream, what's yours Jack-sempai?"

"There's an evil and very powerful warlord that rules my hometown in the Grand Line, I wish to become strong enough under Sakata-sensei to return to my home and banish that evil from its lands. Until I do, I cannot stand to face my ancestor's graves…"

"I see…" DJ's eyes saddened with understanding. "Sakata-sensei? You next." He said quietly.

Sakata came forward last. "What's your dream then?" DJ asked.

The master smiled gently. "My dream is to spread the message of life-giving swords to the people of the world, and to ensure that the person who succeeds Hawkeye Mihawk as the worlds greatest swordsman is someone who is kind, determined and understands that swords are a tool for protection and dreams, not just another weapon for killing and taking life. In this world of pirate dreamers, it is bound that he will be defeated some time in the not too distant future, I just want to be sure that the person who will inspire generations of swordsmen to come is a good and honorable role-model who follows the codes of Bushido and Swords that give life."

DJ nodded softly. "Tell me a little more about yourself then."

"Well I was born in the Wano Country of the New World, the second half of the Grand Line. I lived and trained there until I was about eight, and then eventually traveled out across the Red Line, the divider of the line, and eventually found my way to Ken Kyji, where I found Gin, and traveled around the four great seas for a while with him, learning all I could about swordsmanship. We did that for about seven years, then I founded this dojo around ten years ago and began to train myself and others with what I had learned. Gin and Jack are by far my best students."

"Wait… eight plus seven plus ten… plus…" DJ counted on his fingers. "How old are you exactly Sakata-sensei!?"

"Hmmm… how old indeed." Sakata put a finger to his lips in thought. "I really can't remember." He laughed.

"YOU CAN'T REMEMBER HOW OLD YOU ARE!?" DJ facefaulted.

'Come to think of it, he really doesn't look like he's aged a day since I met him… He looks the same as he did when he gave me Hoshikudaki.' Gin mused to himself. "You truly are an enigma Sakata-sensei." He muttered.

"You can't possibly be any older then thirty-something, I mean look at you!" DJ examined his sensei, trying to predict his age.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sakata laughed again. "Anyway, DJ, I have another type of training for you, follow me." The dojo master stood up and began to walk out of the room, forcing DJ to follow quickly.

--

The young swordsman followed Sakata into a dark room he hadn't been in before, smoke of all different colors hazed the air, making it hard to see clearly. "What is this? Your weed room?" The student asked, earning him a small bonk from his teacher.

"This is my personal meditation chamber, the many different types of incense and herbs offer medicinal properties and even deepen the meditative visions."

"So… it is a weed room?" DJ yelped as he was bonked again.

"Sit down and take deep breaths." Sakata crossed his legs and sat on the floor, lighting a stick of incense that looked different from the others and let off an odd rainbow-colored smoke.

DJ did as he was told and got a lungful of the odd gas, coughing and wheezing as he did. "What is this stuff going to do Sakata-sensei?"

"It will help you bring peace to your mind, and quiet your inner demons, you may not like what you see, but know that your personality is not written in stone, and only you choose who you are." The master waved the incense in the air, making small rainbow circles.

"W-What's that supposed to mean?" DJ woozily looked up at Sakata, but when he met the master's eyes, he saw something in them that he had never seen before.

Sakata's normal calm blue eyes were gone, they seemed fierce and with a look of determination in them, something that said. 'Blink funny and you'll die.' DJ struggled under his gaze and the smoke combination, eventually passing out on his back.

Gin heard the crash and walked calmly into the room. "Dang Sakata-sensei, you went a little rough on him, didn't you? You didn't have to use your spirit energy on him… The smoke in here would've knocked him out soon enough."

"His resistance was too high, I couldn't take the chance he would still be partially awake for his journey. Besides, my energy isn't enough to hurt anyone, there are those who have a lot more than I do, I have to completely focus on a single unsuspecting person to knock them out, in spirit terms that's pathetic."

"Still," Gin looked to the unconscious DJ. "I hope he'll be alright, god knows what's in that head of his…"

--

DJ looked around, but he seemed to be in a black abyss. "Hello?" He called out, his cry echoing through the blackness.

"Teehee! You're getting closer! Come this way!" A childish voice called out to him.

"That voice… it can't be!" DJ ran towards the sound as best he could, his devil fruit ability unable to aid him for some reason, but then again in this darkness he couldn't tell if he was actually standing on anything or just "swimming" through the abyss. When he finally found the source, he was astonished at what he saw.

There spirits were cloaked in shadow, one seemed to be a little girl, the other an adult man, and the third one some kind of large animal. He could make out the first, but he was barely able to speak with tears running down his face. "Sirena! Is it really you?"

"Nope." The ghost of Sirena giggled. "I'm just the embodiment of your past, I'm all in your noodle!" She giggled, floating up to him through the darkness and knocking on his forehead like a door.

"Ow… if you're all in my 'noodle' then why did that hurt?"

"Because your noodle is weird."

"Okay… freaky hallucinations and ghosts, but I left my past behind me back on Ongaku! Why are you here?"

"Well yeah, my speech is gonna be kinda short, but blahblahblah, just because you left your past behind you doesn't mean you can escape it, you have to use your past pain to strive towards the future, and blah I'm done." She giggled.

"Gotcha, what's next." He laughed, even if it was just a ghost from his memories, his sister always made him smile, and he understood the lesson that he could leave his past behind him and keep it in the past, but he could also never forget it.

"I am…" The male voice said and stepped out of the shadows.

DJ's eyes widened before narrowing in hatred, reaching for a katana that wasn't there. "Father! What're you doing here!?"

"I am the ghost of your present." His father's cold brown eyes stared into his own, calmly and easily piercing his very soul.

"B-But why? You're in my past!"

"True, but as it presently is… you're just like me, you will be as I was."

"That's a lie! I am nothing like you! I would never do what you did!" DJ rushed the ghost, somehow grabbing him by the collar and holding him above his head. His father seemed unimpressed by this and kept his cold stare.

"Like it or not, I am who you are becoming." His father continued. "It is your destiny."

DJ let go of him and fell to his knees, a strained look on his face. It was true, he was often afraid that he would become as his father was, that he would do what he did, he felt an unspeakable anger at times and had no idea why or where it came from. Even on the night he confronted his father he had attacked him relentlessly as the bastard had his mother, showing that he was capable of such an act.

"D-Damn you…" He sobbed quietly.

--

Jack burst into the front of the dojo. "Sir! Something terrible has happened! Karen's grandfather has reported she was abducted on her way here, I think it was the students from Bato's Dojo!"

Gin nodded curtly. "No doubt Kenichi-baka is at work again. He can't beat us so he's picking on a lady, what a coward. What should we do Sakata-sensei? We have to get her back!"

"I agree, but if anyone from this dojo goes to take her back, then we'd risk bringing Kenichi's connections with the government down not only on ourselves but on the innocent people of the entire island! Kenichi is so wrapped within the government he might even be able to convince them to Buster Call this place… those damn marines will do anything if they can justify it and the person has enough beli…" Sakata grit his teeth. "That's the worst case scenario, but even if it's not that kind of attack, if the World Government comes here to retaliate an attack on Bato's Dojo, then the lives of innocent people will be in danger!"

--

DJ growled, snapping his head up and glaring at his father, grabbing his pant leg. "NO!"

A small amount of surprise registered in the eyes of the ghost of his father. "What?"

"I am not like you! I am not because I chose not to be, no matter how angry I feel, or how desperate I become, I am nothing like you!" The boy snarled and stood. "I decide who I am, as Sakata-sensei said, the things I see are not written in stone, and I choose to erase the part of me that is like you. I will never be an abuser like you were, as Sirena said I can never forget my past and I will learn from it, but I am still putting it in the past, farewell!"

Duncan Jeffery Macleod Senior laughed softly as he began to fade away piece by piece like a fog being blown away by a newfound gust of wind. He smiled gently as he looked into his son's determined eyes. "That's my boy… good work son."

DJ hung his head silently as the second spirit disappeared. "Goodbye Father." His attention came after a moment to the final spirit, an animal-like creature walked from the shadows of his mind and spoke to him. "I am the spirit of your future." It emerged, revealing the form of a giant white fox.

"If you're my future… then how can you take a form? My memories have nothing from my future because it hasn't happened yet."

The fox chuckled. "Sometimes we know more about our futures than we think, it is our own hands that shape the future through our present actions after all." An image of two intersecting lines appeared on the fox's forehead. "Be careful of this cross, the point where dreams meet insanity, many have to go through it, the point where their dreams and their ambitions to conquer them drive them away from their friends and to near-insanity. I am sure you will meet people who will cross this line, remember never to cross into insanity yourself, remember well, Duncan Jeffery Macleod Junior. I expect great things from you." The fox began to fade into the darkness once again.

"Wait! Can you tell me more about my future? Like… who will I marry?"

The fox's laugh echoed. "Now where's the fun in giving away the ending? Besides, you wouldn't believe me if I told you…"

--

Sakata, Gin, Jack, and an old man who was assumed to be Karen's grandfather sat around the meeting room of the dojo. The old man spoke up first. "I'll go, I'm not a member of the dojo and if I offer them my life in exchange for my debts, maybe they'll leave Karen and the Bladeless Dojo alone."

"Doubtful, those heartless jackasses would just kill you first, then her and then attack the dojo and let the rest of the island suffer under the World Government." Gin crossed his arms, his bokuto over his shoulder.

"Besides, the dojo would go under anyway without your funding." Jack pointed out.

"Agreed, we can't let you go sir." Sakata sighed calmly. "Such a cowardly move… but it is also hard to counter with so many factors and innocent people to get in the way."

"I can't take it! The only option that even has a slim chance is for me to give them my life!" Karen's Grandfather quickly stood up and opened the door to the dojo to go out, but was stopped by a new voice and a hand at his shoulder.

"No." DJ stared clear over the old man and out the door, freshly out of his meditative coma. "I'll go, if you give yourself up ossan, you won't be doing Karen-dono any favors. You'll have saved her life but to what kind of existence? She's already had to go through her parents death, and she's dealing with it very strongly, but don't make her go through that again sir, if you die then what will she have left of her family? Karen-dono is strong, but I don't think her heart can take another shock like that." He remembered the overwhelming pain he felt when he lost every member of his family.

"But DJ-chan, if any of the students from the dojo go, then the dojo will be held responsible and not only will we be attacked, then the whole town will be attacked by the World Government and innocent people will be killed!" Gin snapped at him.

"First, don't cal me DJ-chan, it sounds gay. Second, if a member of the dojo goes, then yes those things will happen, however if some renegade pirate goes and picks her up and trashes the place, then there's no way that they can blame the dojo, is there?"

Sakata raised an eyebrow, his eyes widening. "…What're you saying DJ-kun?"

"I'm saying I quit! I am no longer a member of the Bladeless Dojo!"

--

Oooh, looks like some action next chapter, and some big revelations in this one, sorry if it was a little blah but I got lazy story-wise. So DJ has resigned from the Bladelss Dojo for the good of his friends, now what will he do on his assault of Bato's Dojo? Find out next time!

DJ: Let her go!

Gin: What is this feeling…

Sakata: I haven't seen this power in quite some time… it's quite rare…

Night of the Phantom's Cry

DJ: Never speak again!