A/N: Sorry I forgot to thank everyone who reviewed my story or added it to their favourite or author alert list so thank you: Dthehalfdragon, Tomoji-kun, Mareo and Anime and Rockstar Jubilee for their reviews and thanks to Endless Xero for betaing the last chapter.

It was a rainy day. The weather had been horrible all week but that hadn't shifted Arashi's good mood after finding the ship was on its way back through den-den-mushi. Soon his father and closest friend on the island would finally be coming home from a long trip out at sea. Every day for the past week the 8 year old Arashi had spent every evening standing at one of the many balconies of the marine building he called home looking over the horizon hoping to see that familiar ship carry his father and Zenythe home.

Though Arashi often thought of them during his more menial tasks such as going to buy food from local markets His mind was mostly dominated by thoughts of his mother. He worried about her. She had not been well for a while now and though he was only young and she tried to hide it, he could see she was getting no better. However though his father kept on stating that he would leave his job and stay home with them to look after her, he never followed through on the promise. Every time they called he would always come running just like the dog the people in the town called him and his colleagues. Arashi was beginning to lose faith in his father; while he was there it was great. He was always a nice and fun person to be around but Arashi's mother Kuroko didn't just need to laugh and have fun she needed to be looked after.

As Arashi stood at his vantage point from the balcony he thought back to what he had done earlier that day. It was like any other morning since Arashi's father had gone on his trip. The boy woke up early and went to begin his usual routine of preparing himself for the day and then moving to their kitchen and preparing breakfast. Today the boy would make eggs and bacon, a high protein meal perfect to get his mum's strength up. The 8 year old stood there watching as his eggs fried for a few more minutes. After lying the food out he went to his parents' room to wake his mother before the food got too cold. He knocked quietly once before doing a progressively louder second and third knocks. "Mother," the boy said as he let himself into the room and shuffled over to the side of his parents' bed. "Mother are you alright?" the boy asked with a slightly greater sense of urgency as he tapped the woman in the bed. "MOTHER!" The boy shouted as he began to shake his seemingly sleeping mother.

In response the mother woke with a start her hand wrapped around an unsheathed katana pressed to the boy's neck before she noticed it was him and sheathed her black handled nodachi with a muttered, "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright mum don't worry about it. I shouldn't have startled you like that." The boy beamed before grabbing her hand and leading her to the standard sized table the marines equipped all of their apartments with. He quickly pulled out her chair and sat her down before the proud woman shooed her son away in an attempt to stop all the fussing over her.

"You know Arashi you will grow up to be a fine man someday." The weary woman said as she looked at her son with a proud loving smile causing the child to blush as he wolfed down the rest of his food. The woman simply smiled as the child finished and began to clean and put everything a way. As her son ardently carried out the chores the woman; Kuroko began to wonder about her husband Shiroshi and her son's friend Zenythe.

Zenythe sat crossed leg in his cabin which was a token from his father. It was a small room with very little inside. It had a plain white small chest of drawers as well as a white bed with white covers which matched the walls. By the small circular window stood a desk placed just so, so that the light from the window would catch it so that Zenythe could see as he carried out the necessary paperwork and continued his studies. The boy didn't generally receive special treatment from his father, if anything he was harder on him than his other men so to most the separate cabin was a surprise act of kindness. However it wasn't as big as other peoples and expecting Zenythe to do well and stop being such a disappointment was also the reason behind this action as well; the boy's old man refused to allow him to associate with lesser people other than on the battlefield in fear of him being influenced and corrupted by their ways.

At that moment in time the boy sat on the floor pondering the battle earlier and how he could have done better just as his father taught him to.

It was an incredibly bright sunny day and the light scorched Zenythe's skin and weakened him as the continuous strain of fighting the surrounding pirates also took its toll. Luckily if it was ever needed back-up was only a few metres away attached to the much smaller and less grand ship he fought on. However the question was not how close were the marines but whether his father would allow them to help him. After all the whole purpose of Zenythe being sent onto the ship to fight the pirates alone was to, "toughen him up".

Zenythe let out a moan as a sword broke through his defences. His defences being his bare hands as his father believed, "true strength came from one's self, not tools." As the blade came flying towards him Zenythe did what his father told him to never do in a fight… e shifted his focus onto one object, in this case the blade inches from his neck. As he moved to the side and to avoid the blade and gave it a push for assurance two other blades began to pierce his side and back before he jumped into the air to gain space. The blades left a trail as they were ripped out of the 8 year old through his upward motion while the cold father laughed at his son's rookie mistakes. The boy back flipped to gain further distance and landed on the edge of the ship just as a man withdrew his pistol from the holster.

Just as the man aimed Zenythe made another jump but this time he dived into the middle of the group of pirates causing them to leap out of the way while he was able to use his lower vantage point to knock a number of their feet from under them. By this time the man with the gun had already lost it after being jostled so many times and when he caught sight of this Zenythe launched a devastating roundhouse kick to his jaw, during which a crunching sound could be heard. He then followed up with a double fisted straight punch to the stomach sending the man and numerous others over the edge.

Before long Zenythe had taken care of the weak pirates but had become expectantly over confident due to the situation just as the captain and first mate rose from below deck. Feeling cocky Zenythe didn't take note of the power and grace of their walk showing an underlying fighting background to an extent that would put the other members of the crew to shame. Though looking back Zenythe could see this the Zenythe of that time didn't have the benefit of hindsight and was still riding the high achieved from his previous victory. As the two men approached them the child watched with an amused smirk.

One stood just over six foot which was a large difference compared to Zenythe's current height of 4 and a half foot and the other stood at around 5'7foot. The taller of the two men had stubble all over his large chin which made his face seem almost rectangular and he had short blonde hair. He wore a long green jacket that reached his knees as well as brown boots that ended just above the knee. His trousers were a slightly lighter shade of green than the jacket and he wore a brown polo neck underneath it. The other man who stood slightly smaller than the other had a full-fledged black beard that straightened into a point as well as black hair tied into a ponytail with red ribbon. He also wore a jacket similar to his captains however his was black and covered the two cutlasses he wore at his sides. He also wore a similar polo neck jumper which was yellow and he wore black trousers tucked into black boots.

The father having seen the men's stances gave a smirk at his son's incompetence while everyone else on his ship assumed Zenythe would once again win with little effort. The battle started slowly with Zenythe deciding to give them the first move and the two men circling the young boy who had somehow defeated their whole crew. The men continued to circle the boy waiting for their chance to move; however Zenythe being the less than patient eight year old that he was decided to make the first move. Bending his knees the boy prepared himself mentally before attempting a jump kick aimed at the taller of the two men. This did little to help the boys predicament however as the captain simply sidestepped as the first mate launched a kick at the boy's legs while he was mid-air. Zenythe was knocked onto his side as the man used the hilt of one of his drawn blades to slam the boy into the ground.

Luckily for the boy however his training had given him superior reaction time so he managed to catch the man's hand guard before it broke a rib, but an even greater testament to the boy's luck was the fact he had a good enough grip of the hand guard to move the sword and use it to block as the swordsman attempted to use his left sword to puncture his skull. The sword was noisily deflected by its twin in an awkward and ungraceful manner before being buried into the ship. After the quick move which saved his life the boy made a move to bring his feet up and clamp his legs over the arm that was still pressing him to the floor before quickly twisted his body around and bringing the swordsman to the floor with his arm behind his back and sword less.

Before getting a chance to celebrate however the boy was met by a searing pain in his ribs as the captain kicked him away from his first mate. Zenythe rolled with the blow to gain some distance from the attackers. He was at this point feeling a lot less confident in his ability as he looked up at his smirking father who simply looked down at his son with contempt. The two me were beginning to enjoy the fight now seeing the skill of the warrior and not just his youth. This time the captain mad the first move causing the boy to make a jump over him however as he was mid-air the first mate made another attempt at impaling the boy attempting to skewer him from head through the torso but the boy was able to alter his balance enough to start to spin backwards and kicked the blade and by extension the swordsman off course. As he landed the blonde shot towards him hand extended and his fingers snapped shut as he reached the boy's neck before he could do anything he felt the cutlasses pressed to both sides of his neck from behind in a scissor style.

The boy and swordsman both had their backs to the marine ship at this point so that meant the captain was facing the vessel that was bursting to the brim with marines. "Well marines it looks like we got your boy, and what a prodigy he is. He can't be more than 7 and yet he wipes out pirate crews by himself. You must be so proud." The blonde captain said with a smile. "However he doesn't seem quite ready to take out the higher ups. Perhaps you should take him away for some more training, otherwise he may get… hurt!" the captain said as he squeezed the boy's throat which was met by a pain filled groan making the threat clear.

A slow clapping was heard from the top of the ship causing everyone to look up at the captain of the ship. "Well done son, you fail again," the man said shocking those who heard him, most had worked with him for a long time and those who hadn't had heard the rumours of his cruelty and heartlessness but none had expected to see it aimed towards his own son. "You may do as you like to him," the man said to the pirates, "I ordered him to wipe out the entire pirate crew… no son of mine would fail so miserably." This caused an even louder chorus of gasps and in the midst of the cries Commander Shiroshi Seishin made his agile leap to the pirate's ship causing the Zenythe's father to frown.

Mid-air Shiroshi unsheathed the katana held at his hip from its ivory scabbard and as he touched down he made a swing at the pirate captain and just as he thought the swordsman moved his blade to block the attack. As Seishin put more effort into the attack the pirate was forced to use both blades to fight back. This gave Zenythe the distraction needed to kick out of the pirate's grip which held him in the air. He then grabbed the man's hand and threw the man over his shoulder across the ship before running to meet him.

At this point the two swordsmen were trading blows in a rhythmic fashion. Though Arashi's dad had only one sword compared to the pirates two Shiroshi didn't lose any ground, he blocked all strikes in a calm fashion while also sending off a few of his own counter blows. Shiroshi suddenly began to shit a gear blocking the strikes in a quicker fashion and dealing his blows with more power; he was finally going to show the crew why he had recently been promoted to Commander. He started to attack with more speed and ferocity not giving his opponent the chance to attack and pushing him onto the defensive. Cuts began to appear on the man's arms as he began to tire, blood also started to pour from his arms in high pressured gushes as the wounds became deeper and suddenly all was still as the Commander's sword could be seen coming out of the man's back right through the space his heart lay.

During the swordsman's battle Zenythe also fought, this battle being much easier for him as he now only had one opponent. The powerhouse of a captain had thrown numerous punches but it was awkward for him as he had never before fought such a small opponent. It was easy for Zenythe to dodge the tall pirate's attacks and counter with fearfully powerful kicks, the majority of which struck the same spot in the man's jaw. After a particularly ferocious kick the captain was on the floor backing away from the child who in his opinion had enough skill and strength to induce fear in the most battle hardened pirates. The man came to a sudden stop as he realised that his escape route was cut off by the ships side and just as he turned back to the boy he saw a small foot flying through which smashed him through the port side of the ship. The boy watched the man skip across the water for a good distance before diving in and dragging him as well as the rest of the crew to the cells in the hull of the large marine ship that dwarfed the pirate ship that was slowly sinking after being to look like Swiss cheese with all the cannon ball holes the marines had made in it.

After finishing the meditative exercise Zenythe stood with the majority of the crew looking out over the horizon where Oreburgh Island had finally come into sight.

As Arashi stood there at the balcony a smile came to his face. It was unsure and cautious at first but grew when he finally realised that it wasn't just a trick of the light and a giant ship that was so big it couldn't belong to anyone other than the rear admiral had appeared over the horizon. "Mother, they're back, they're back!" the boy screamed to his mother as he went into their apartment.

After the two Seishins stood in the marine docks along with the families of other marines they saw the warriors of the sea, their warriors of the sea make their way out of the ship, but no Shiroshi. One of the first ones to move was Zenythe as he pushed his way through the crowd of homesick marines as if he were attempting to escape from someone though he didn't once look back. Arashi's frown about not seeing his dad leaving the ship lessened slightly at the sight of his best friend who quickly reassured Arashi and his mother as he told them Shiroshi was just talking to his father, though only Kuroko noticed his frown as he talked about it.

The woman who was still noticeably ill looking but insisted on meeting her husband hurried off to meet him and her old friend while her child listened in awe at the tales of the battles Zenythe and Shiroshi had fought. The woman made the long walk through the crowd and against the general flow of people. She continued her journey until reaching the top of the ship where one marine stood guard outside the door. As she walked up to the marine and door she could hear the sound of her husband's raised voice before the young marine approached her.

The boy had bright red hair that was cut short and stood a head taller than Kuroko at around 6 foot. He wore a baseball cap with the word, "MARINE" on the front as well as a short sleeved white shirt with the word marine and a seagull emblazoned onto the back out of sight. He also wore dark blue trousers and a blue neckerchief but over all these clothes he wore a large coat over his shoulders in a cape like fashion. As he saw her approaching the door he quickly made his way to confront her. "Who are you?" the dark haired woman barked before the boy had a chance.

The question was spoken with too much authority for the boy to ignore so he stood to attention, causing the woman to smile before continuing, "I am Ensign Axel Mirando ma'am," the boy said before plucking up the courage to carry on. "Who are you ma'am?" the boy asked while still stood at attention causing the woman to snort.

Before she had a chance to continue however a loud voice that did not belong to her husband could be heard shouting, "She is former Captain Kuroko Seishin and unless you want to go back to scrubbing toilets, you better open the door and let her in!"

Axel recognising the name quickly bowed to her before running to the door and opening it for her to go in. As she passed him the boy couldn't help but wonder what exactly happened to her, here she walked like a zombie, sweaty and pale yet last time he had seen her, the way she had demolished the opposing pirates had been awe inspiring. Noticing an angry look coming from the rear admiral the ensign took notice of everyone watching him stare at Kuroko and slowly backed out of the room closing the door behind him.

A/N: I still really need characters so please send some in. I've got the main crew I think but I still need marines, bounty hunters and rival pirates. Btw I especially need characters as I won't be using or mentioning any canon characters, please remember that when submitting characters.

Oh yeah and this is being split coz I wanted to write more random stuff from the past so the next chapter will carry on from this.

Characters in the chapter:

Arashi

Former Captain Kuroko

Zenythe

Commander Shiroshi

Rear Amiral Acmay

Ensign Axel Mirando