Memory Trap
Chapter Eight: Training Begins
A/N: adkjba;wkbarg Thank you guys so much for not only your reviews, but your suggestions as well! They helped a lot! I probably won't be able to use all of them, but I'll be able to use most of them! Plus, I FINALLY FIGURED OUT A WAY TO SHOW LAW DOESN'T LIKE BREAD WITHOUT IT BEING CRACK. Hopefully it'll fit and be somewhat realistic. C:
ALSO: SORRY THIS ONE IS EXTREMELY SHORT. I HAVE A IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS IN THE A/N AT THE BOTTOM. PLEASE ANSWER IT. IT'S ABOUT THE FUTURE CHAPTERS.
Mayday, mayday; the ship is slowly sinking
They think I'm crazy but they don't know the feeling
The days at the Donquixote Hideout could be hectic at times; Baby5 and Buffalo didn't exactly know how to keep quiet, and their mischievous pranks would often get them in trouble. Training was hard, and the occasional missions weren't the easiest. It was the nights, though, that were silent. And Law loved the silence. It was the perfect time for him to study, to have time to think to himself about various things.
Tonight, however, he was not studying. He was writing up a list of tips that would later help him during his training sessions. For example, under gunnery, he wrote down that it helps to exhale before you take a shot, and under martial arts, he wrote that your stance is very important. For swordsmanship, footwork was vital, and when striking a deal with someone, you always had to be one step ahead of them incase they try to betray you. The lists went on, and he did his best to memorize the most important tips first.
Once he'd written down most of what he could remember, he set his pencil down and got to his feet; stretching his arms and legs as he walked to the other side of the room where a plate of food had been left for him. Jura had scolded him once already for hardly eating, saying he'd need to eat more if he were to keep his strength up. It wasn't his fault his body didn't need much sustenance to keep going, his appetite just wasn't as big as the average person's.
Looking down at the plate, he picked up his fork and ate the large portion of vegetables, took two bites out of the piece of grilled chicken, and finished the small bread roll. It wasn't much, but for him it was enough for now. He began to make his way over to his desk, a quiet sigh escaping him.
"Aren't you going to finish your dinner, Law?"
The child's eyes widened and he spun on his heels, searching the room for the owner of the voice. It wasn't until he saw the room was empty that he finally recognized who the voice belonged to. His mother. He brought his hand to his face, closing his eyes as he forced to erase the voice from his thoughts. He didn't need this, not now; he had no time to be thinking of ghosts and happy days gone by. He was tired, exhausted, really, but he didn't dare go to sleep; not until he passed out from sheer exhaustion and fell into a dreamless slumber.
He was already living a nightmare.
The last thing he wanted was for more nightmares to attack him in his sleep.
Law was starting to understand why Diamante had said most of the kids that came to join the Donquixote family usually ran away after only two days. The training was hard and relentless, no one went easy on him despite the fact he was a child, unexperienced, and diseased. Honestly, he preferred it that way, though he did agree that they could ease up just a little.
Or maybe, you know, actually teach him rather than going all out and expecting him to learn from his mistakes. Lao-G didn't hold back and barely taught Law the basics before he commenced his 'training.' Usually after those sessions he needed to be bandaged up by Jora, which wasn't the most pleasant experience, seeing as she tied the end of his bandages as bows., and that the bandages were pink.
Training with Diamante wasn't as bad as it was with Lao-G, but it was close. It was a 'fend for yourself' sort of training. Law had never seen a devil fruit in use before, so seeing the man's sword suddenly become as flexible as a flag took him by surprise. It certainly piqued his curiosity, though. If a devil fruit could make something as solid as a word move like that, then maybe, maybe there was a possibility a devil fruit somewhere in the world that could cure his disease.
But he quickly shook such thoughts from his mind. No, this was Amber Lead Disease, there was no cure at all. There was no point in getting his hopes up over some fantasy—he was going to die in three years and that was that, end of story. And in those three years, he was going to kill as many people as possible, destroy as many things as he could. He would take his revenge on the world.
Even if it was the last thing he did.
He was pulled from his thoughts, however, when Gladius not so gently nudged his shoulder and motioned for him to pay attention. Law's eyes hardened as he threw his complete focus on what the man was showing him; how to handle and aim a gun, how to load it and keep it clean. He found it all very simple, except for the aiming part. The gun was so big in his hand, it felt…unnatural, almost. His arms shook as he tried hard to aim perfectly at the targets before him, blocking out the rain pouring and the fact his hat was getting soaked. But before he could even feel comfortable with his aim, a kick to his back from Gladius had him pulling the trigger as he arched forward; the bullet hitting the target almost dead center. Pure coincidence, Law thought, it was only beginners luck.
Things were a little different when a battle broke out when they were on Doflamingo's ship. Law and Baby5 weren't allowed near the canons yet, they were simply to watch from the sidelines next to Doflamingo and take note of how canons were aimed. Though, Law found it quite hypocritical that he wasn't allowed near the canons when there was a baby sitting on one of them as it was fired. He couldn't quite understand why Doflamingo didn't worry about the baby, he cherished his family, did he not? Still, Law did not dwell such thoughts. He had to concentrate, soak in every bit knowledge while he still could.
His time was running out, after all.
Some of Luffy's crew couldn't help but grimace at how ruthless training could be. Luffy, however, let out a slightly nervous chuckle upon seeing the state of Law after the boy went through a session with Lao-G. It reminded him of training with Gramps, the man never held back, really, and him, Ace and Sabo would be sore for days. But despite how painful such training could be, it toughened you up. You learned more quickly in such environments, and it kept you on your toes.
It was no wonder Law was a tough fighter.
Zoro focused on the bits of training that focused on Diamante. There had been only one other time that Zoro had seen a sword become flexible, and it was in Skypia. Ohm's blade, the Eisen Whip, had been made out of Iron Cloud and had the ability to change its shape. It was versatile and deadly. Zoro couldn't help the smirk that began to slip onto his features at the idea of fighting against such a weapon. It would be a challenge, hopefully.
While the green-haired swordsman focused on one executive, Usopp focused on the one named Gladius. He wondered if the man was a good shot. It'd be nice if he was, Usopp hadn't come across a great many snipers or gunners since he joined Luffy. But then another thought hit him: does Gladius have a Devil Fruit? If he did, what was it? Was it dangerous? He suddenly felt a little uneasy about taking on the gunner, and hoped, maybe, the man was just a terrible shot like everyone else they'd come across.
Franky looked around the crew, taking in their expressions. He could see several were in deep thought and that Zoro was giving another creepy face again. Usopp looked unsure of something while Luffy looked a little…nervous? The cyborg tried to focus back on the training scenes with Law, but something kept nagging him at the back of his mind, and he couldn't keep it quiet any longer. "Why the hell did they let a baby sit on a canon?!" Nearly all the crew members turned to face Franky with mildly surprised faces. "I mean, come on! Aren't any of you guys wondering about that, too?"
"I was wondering about it," Sanji answered. "But I figured they weren't too worried about it. The kid seemed to like being up there and Doflamingo was pretty sure he'd win against the marines with no problems."
"But Franky's right," Chopper spoke up, looking slightly worried. "I mean, what if the baby fell into the water? Or fell off the canon and bumped his head? They were being awfully careless with the baby…"
"Maybe they had no reason to worry." All heads turned toward the observational archeologist. "When we first saw the baby, it was wearing a hat that had the picture of a fish on the front of it, and there were horns poking out through it. And on the canon as well, those same horns appeared again." Robin turned to look at her fellow crew mates. "Perhaps they aren't as worried as they should be because the baby is actually a fishman."
"That would…sorta make sense," Nami said. "Fishmen are stronger than humans and I bet even a baby fishman can withstand more damage than a human's could. But still, it's an infant! They should have been more careful anyway with it!" It was Nami's natural love for children that had her anger suddenly flaring as she truly began to think of the many dangers of sitting on a cannon. "And what if the canon malfunctioned? Or the–"
"N-Nami, hey, easy there," Franky said, motioning for her to calm down. He hadn't meant to make the navigator so upset. He silently cursed at himself for forgetting how protective she could be of children. "If Doflamingo truly thought the baby was at risk, I doubt he'd let it sit up there." In response, the orange-haired navigator gave a huff, crossing her arms as she muttered something under her breath with a glare. The cyborg gave a sigh of relief as he watched his friend finally begin to calm down.
"It's quite–" The rest of Brook's sentence was drowned out by the sound of a canon shot, and all eyes fell on the form of Corazon as the man managed to trip while simply standing. His legs flew into the air as he once again crashed onto his back. From the side, Law looked at the man with what actually looked like a mix of confusion and surprise. Brook couldn't blame him, he'd be surprised too at the idea of someone tripping while doing nothing. Baby5 looked on with enjoyment, while Doflamingo looked less than happy at his brother's antics.
Across the way, one of the Marine ship's suffered a direct blow.
The sight nearly brought a twisted smile to Law's face.
A/N: GUYS. IMPORTANT NOTICE. READ THIS. This is one story I will never abandon. It may take 2-3 months, or longer, unfortunately, to get a chapter out but I refuse to give this one up. On another note, I love how I made it where some of the crew already has their enemy picked out in their mind here, and yet when they reach Dressrosa, it all just goes haywire. XD I tried to be careful here though, to not let the crew see too much otherwise it might interfere with canon when they reach Dressrosa. While this is slight AU, I still don't want to kill the original canon story too much.
ALSO I apologize for making you guys wait so long for this short chapter. (sorry it's so damn short!) Life…has been…complicated (SHIT, IT'S BEEN SHIT HAHAHA-), in short. And I had to rewrite this twice. But! I'll try to not let that get in the way next time! Thank you for all your reviews, and thank you for the birthday wishes as well! :'D
IMPORTANT: I may not be able to give out long chapters, as some of you know my usual chapter counts are around 2,000 words or so. It takes me a while to write longer chapters, so I have a question: Would you rather me put up small chapters, or would you rather wait for the longer chapters?
FANKY. I ACCIDENTALLY CALLED FRANKY 'FANKY' IN THE LAST CHAPTER AND I AM DYING. I CAN'T BREATHE. NO, THAT NAME IS GOING INTO FELINE PROWESS UNDER TEXT NAMES. TRASH-FALGAR LAW, EUST-PAIN-IN-THE-ASS KIDD, DON-SHIT-XOTE DOFLAMENCO, AND FANKY.
Your shy ice elemental,
~»roo the psycho«