Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, that's Oda-sensei and whoever else has the rights. (I don't have any such rights).
Soon I'll be free from the uni term and assignments, but it is not this day. I'm writing a chapter of Another Perspective (aka an "extra" early chapter I'll be adding to this story hopefully every 6 months) that I want to be in Ace's Perspective from chapter 1 to the end of chapter 6, but if I want to get it out this month (and before the next chapter of this story) then I might not be able to cover so much. I'm in the midst of writing his perspective of chapter 3 so 4-6 will have to be the next update. Depending on how fast I write them then, I might be able to post one chapter of another's perspective every three months.
I've made sure to add new bits and even some context to Ace's actions. I hope you'll enjoy it when I get it out! Though I hope you enjoy this chapter too, of course.
If Sabo and Ace were eight years old, then Luffy would be five. It was the age Ace was when they had met him, so it should be fine to try finding the youngest member of their trio. The more people that loved their twin around him the better.
The village of windmills that Luffy lived in until he was seven was near the coast. It's also a few hours trip to the bandit's hut. These two facts alone did not give them a lot to go off of. Especially since Dawn Island was big enough to have multiple coastal towns.
Why didn't their past life ever decide to look at the geography of the island? Heck, why didn't they when they were still a Noble?
It was made worse by the fact that they would have to convince Ace to explore said villages. It was easy enough convincing him to explore the forest on Mount Colubo. It was fun finding weird things in it and learning where the Lords considered their territory.
Their first encounter with the Tiger Lord ended horribly. Sabo got a knobbly pair of scars on their leg to match the one on their arm. At least these two didn't nearly clip an artery. They were not allowed to walk on it for three whole days.
Honestly, they wouldn't know what they'd do if this world had a healing factor like hers did. What if they had to stay off it for a month? They'd have gone crazy!
Another interesting thing they'd found was a musky grove full of weird mushrooms. The bright eye-searing colours of the fungi were enough to convince them not to eat any of it. Ace was familiar enough with bright colours meaning poisonous to not need any convincing either.
Sabo silently made a note in their head to never let Luffy near here. Dear Oda, he'd try to eat them all.
April brought their most entertaining find in the jungle yet. Another bandit camp. It wasn't in Dadan's territory as they'd finished exploring that back in January. The tough older woman focused her banditry efforts more on the trade routes into the city.
Which was actually called the Goa Kingdom. As they'd found out back in February.
"Why do you keep calling it 'the city'?" Ace asked as they were coming back from the Grey Terminal. Their pirate fund had been growing exponentially with their age just as Sabo had assumed. It helped that they'd taken lessons from the bandits to be able to pickpocket people. No one ever seemed to suspect that the pair of childhood sweethearts were the ones responsible.
Said bandits didn't like that they had practised on them as said lessons. Some of the 'official' pickpockets of Dadan's family had laughed and given pointers. Dadan had experienced mixed feelings about them finally doing some banditry.
The fear of Garp was strong even in his absence.
"Sabooo." Ace called when they didn't answer his question.
They remained suspiciously quiet and deliberately looked away. Ace stopped, so Sabo stopped too, and then he gapped at them like a fish before bursting into laughter. They tilted their hat over their face to hide their blush.
"You don't know?! Hahahaha." Ace started pounding at the ground when he hunched over and fell to his knees. "Sabo doesn't know. Hahahaha."
"Shuddup!" Sabo shouted/moaned; their face buried in their hands. It felt too hot.
"How the hell don't you know? Fuck, this is like your birthday all over again." He continued laughing.
Bag of treasure thrown aside; they pulled their pipe back for a full-force overhead swing. Ace rolled out of the way easily, still laughing he brought up his pipe and then they were fighting. It was over quickly. For all of that Sabo's rage made them make some stupid decisions, Ace didn't have his breath as he continued to laugh throughout the fight.
Their bastard of a twin was still breathily laughing at them afterwards but the joke's on him. They had put his hair into some stubby pigtails. Note to self, get a camera. They were losing too much blackmail material. His squark when he realised what they'd done was glorious. He'd immediately ripped his hair out of the style, but it had existed for a short time and Ace knew it had.
The last laugh was theirs.
He'd begrudgingly told them it was called the Goa Kingdom after that. They'd won the fight after all.
Their first encounter with bandits that weren't Dadan's bunch was an eye-opener for them both. These ones weren't as nice. That shouldn't have been a surprise, but when the only people you know are Bandits consist of those like Dadan, Magra and Dogra, it skews your perception.
This Higuma fellow was a total arsehole. Sabo resolved to learn more insulting terms because calling every bad person 'arsehole' didn't allow for the proper scaling of dickishness. They knew jerk, that could be for people that displayed low levels of arseholishness. Which meant it didn't apply to Higuma, but at least they knew it for later.
His grin was rotten. The cruelty in his eyes was blatantly obvious. It was clear he didn't care they were a couple of kids, he would hurt them. He would kill them. It was the only difference he had from the child slavers of over a year ago. They had needed them alive. It was something he shared with some of the residents of the Grey Terminal. Although they at least had the excuse of being desperate.
They weren't instrumental in Higuma's survival though. Although, if he did kill them or seriously harmed them, it's very likely he'd disappear as the child slavers had. Sabo had no disillusions about what had happened to them.
"Hmm? What are a pair of brats doing here?" He began, lounging like he was sitting on a throne. It couldn't have been less like one. "Don't you girlies know this is the Mountain Bandit Higuma's territory?"
"Oi, I'm not a girl!" Ace shouted. The bandits laughed at him.
One came over and sprayed them with spittle as he laughed and spoke. He stank strongly of alcohol. "Oh yeah? Wha' kind o' man wears a stupid girlie flower in 'is 'air?"
It wasn't often that Sabo felt anxious about Ace's reactions anymore. The last time they had been was when Garp declared they'd be blood siblings going forward. Even when they'd confronted Ace after the old man left about his actual thoughts and feelings about the matter they weren't troubled.
However, Ace had pride and hated to be laughed at. Sabo only ever got away with that because he knew they never thought any less of him. If Ace took these arseholes' words to heart as he'd once taken those drunkards' words about Roger... Sabo hoped he wouldn't destroy the bush they both cared for too.
"Oh please, I could beat up everyone here and none of you would so much be able to touch it." Ace rolled his eyes. "I'm secure in my masculinity, arseholes. I don't need to posture in front of weaklings to feel manly."
It seemed they needn't have worried. Every time they'd worried, Ace would always prove their fears wrong. Not that knowing this fact would stop it from reappearing. They're proud their brother had improved his vocabulary so much too. It didn't always feel like it, but sometimes the realisation struck them.
Trash talk was so much more fun if you could sound smarter than your opponent.
Sabo grinned, matching the one on their twin's face. The bandits stopped laughing and Higuma scowled at them. The one closest to them was clearly pissed off, he reached for his sword. A pipe uppercuts him and he fell back in an unconscious heap. Ace lazily spun his pipe with his fingers alone before settling it on his shoulder. One hand stayed on his hip, showing he didn't even head to use both hands to knock a full-grown man out.
Wait a second, idly spinning something in one's hand, that was their thing! They couldn't even complain. It would have been a distraction and it did look really cool. They made a mental note to bring it up later. He'd better have a good reason for stealing it. Now they couldn't use it as an intimidation trick. Damn it.
"Hey Sabo, I can deal with these fuckers by myself. You want to go and find their gold or something?" Ace asked over his shoulder. He didn't stop looking at the array of bandits, he wasn't dumb enough to show them his back, but everything else made it so clear he didn't even see them as a threat and now the bandits knew it.
It also clearly pissed every single one of them off. They'd be off their game so bad. But even though they were in close quarters, making guns impractical and downright idiotic to use, Sabo didn't trust the bandits to realize this. Besides, they'd never leave Ace's back open in a fight. They could hardly protect it if they didn't participate.
"Nah, these guys would be so little a challenge that it'd be more fun to play with them and then just go and grab their money." They gestured over to where it was so obvious the bandits hid their treasure. It surprised some of the idiots who thought it was well hidden.
Ace nodded in assent, it wasn't his job to case the joint, he only didn't notice because he was too busy holding the bandit's attention and scoping out the general strength of the force.
Strength determined, treasure located, and bandits intimidated, they didn't need to do anything else. Not that Higuma gave them some information they hadn't known but appreciated nonetheless.
"Wait a second you brats," Higuma growled, sitting up and displaying a piece of paper. It was a bounty of his. "I'm Higuma, worth 5,470,000 Beris! I've killed forty-three people, some of them were kids like you. You better scram now before we spill your guts out on the floor."
The two kids didn't drop their grins, in fact, they expanded even more. An undeniable feral gleam lay barely restrained in their shared expression. The bounty alone would get them over ten million Beris for their pirate fund. Even if they had one of Dadan's bandits cash it in for them and they'd take some of the cut as they did for selling the animal skins. Some people just won't believe kids did it. Not to mention but the perfectly normal kids, Ace and Sabrina of Edge Town, weren't the sorts to be able to do that.
Sometimes they wished they could stack up in a cloak but their faces were somehow too well known. Why did so many people gossip about them? What made them so interesting?
"Well," Sabo began, mentally ticking what they were saying off a mental list of things they always wanted to say in context, "it seems you are a thief and a murderer for I can see that you have killed a baboon and stolen his face."
With his character, intelligence, and looks all insulted, Higuma couldn't not retaliate. Catching and wrenching his blade off course with their dagger's crossguard was easy. So was using the reach of their pipe to then smash his kneecaps while he was shocked by their strength, bringing him to the ground.
In the meantime, Ace had already knocked out two people with one swipe of his pipe and was just about to knock out some more with the next swing. Sabo joined him in knocking out the grunts after using the hilt of their dagger to knock the bandit leader out cold.
About five minutes later if they had to bet, they weren't timing but time was relative so they could be wildly off, and the fight was over. These bandits were even weaker than Dadan's lot. Considering the average bounty of the East Blue was three million, it must have been the depravity of his acts that got Higuma his bounty. Like how that Kidd guy killed lots of civilians and got a higher bounty than Luffy who'd just attacked marines and other pirates.
Luffy conquered Enies Lobby and retrieved Robin and Franky with a force of less than a hundred strong, burning their flag in an act of war in the process. Yet somehow, he didn't have the largest bounty out of the Supernovas. They hadn't seen Kidd defeat any Shichibukai either, seriously.
Although they suppose that Kidd's and Killer's bounty could have reflected their crewmates' actions too. With all of the Straw Hats having their own individual bounties, they were more accountable for their own actions. It's just a theory, a … something theory. Why did they instinctively try to add on to it?
Sabo carried the money and Ace dragged Higuma all the way back to their bandits. There was one point where the arsehole had woken up, but he was delirious so they just knocked him back out again. It took them a few hours since they had to dump the treasure with their pirate fund first.
Dadan's and her bandit's expressions when they returned with Higuma's unconscious body and bounty poster were hilarious. The one bandit that did the selling of skins, leathers and furs immediately called he wasn't turning him in. Someone else could do it.
"Sometimes I think you're trying to make honest workers out of us. First selling your game, now bounty hunting? Should I be worried you'll try to take out all of the other bandits on the island?" Dadan asked, silently pleading with some kind of higher being.
"Stop complaining, you get a million beri for doing this one. It means more money and less competition for you if we keep doing it." Ace rolled his eyes.
"That isn't the point," Dadan yelled. She sighed long-suffering and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Part of it is longevity. If you take out all the other mountain bandits but us, then others will come to finish your job."
That was very reasonable, but at the same time, letting over five million beris go was just a waste. But that did raise a question Sabo had never considered before.
"Do you have a bounty, Dadan?" They asked. Ace also looked over, intrigued.
The woman scowled. "No, your grandfather has been seeing to that. At least I got something for being forced to look after a pair of troublesome brats like you."
"You love us," Sabo called out before going to help with dinner. Ignoring Dadan's shouts to the contrary. They didn't think anyone believed she didn't after that. Her face was so red and it wasn't from anger.
It was the fifth of May when Ace and Sabo visited the sleepy little village near Higuma's old hideout. The bandits that once affiliated with him gave them a wide berth. Sometimes it's cool to be feared. At least when it's child-killing arseholes that feared you.
The village was sprawled out, giving it the illusion that it was more sparsely populated than it actually was. Everyone they saw from the outskirts were clearly non-combatants. Splitting up to scope it out didn't seem like a bad idea.
"Come back here after you're done." Ace ended. The fact that he was the one to forward the splitting up idea surprised them a little. But to be fair, he was the more independent one. Sabo just had a past life's memories and people that didn't care about them causing them to become independent.
The year and two months of total independence back when they were six felt so long ago. Sometimes, they wondered how they had ever lived without Ace, not for survival. Just generally.
"You know, people generally put a timer on things like that. Like, get back here in an hour or when it's half-past three." Sabo drawled even as they started to go anyway.
"I would if you were able to keep track of time!" Ace called, running off one way.
They groaned at that but couldn't yell back. First, it would have just drawn attention. Sparsely populated did not mean there weren't people around. Second, it was actually true. They had a feeling they could blame their past life. She hadn't been good with keeping track of time either. Or with names and faces for that matter. Or with dates, especially regarding birthdays.
Why were all the traits that Ace teased them about from her?!
Either way, they would both protest that time is relative, but the reference would just flow over Ace's head. They didn't remember or understand enough about it to explain it to him either. That's not to say there weren't other science-related things they could teach him. Newton's three laws were easy enough when they could just demonstrate them.
The search of the village didn't reveal much. It was disappointing actually. There were windmills and it was on the coast, but they didn't find the Party's Bar, Makino, or Luffy in their search. The people were kind enough to ask if they were lost or needed some help when they noticed them, but they were strangers.
Apparently, they were still untrusting of adults. Sabo could only hope it wouldn't be the case after they aged up into an adult too.
They did take the snack one of the women offered though. It was nearing lunch and they were starting to get hungry. When they returned to where they were to meet back up with Ace, they hoped he would have found somewhere they could eat. They hadn't spotted anything like a restaurant or even a bar where they had searched.
Without a time limit in place, it didn't strike them as unusual when they arrived first. It was a long time later and after their stomach started to actually ache, that they started to worry that something might have happened.
The meeting point was a ledge over the village, so they could see all of it. The more coastal part that Ace had dibbed was harder to make out. Neither of them could make out any details. Which was why Ace wanted to explore that area. Though they wouldn't put it past him to try and listen to the fishermen. Some could have had interesting tales.
If memory served them correct, there should be a Sea King (or Neptunian, they heard both and they don't know the difference if there was one) called the Lord of the Coast around these parts. Ace could have gotten waylaid hearing about it.
Sabo started their search for their friend at the docks. After finding no sign of him, they started searching more inland. He was here earlier. The fishermen voiced their surprise at seeing another kid around here. More specifically they were astounded that a girl was at the grungy docks.
After the Grey Terminal, they may not have the same level as others for what's considered 'grungy', but the docks really didn't look grungy. It literally smelled fishy, thank Goda they hadn't lost all their sense of smell, but that was the worst of it.
An old man with a striped hat and a cane came up to them as they walked down what they were sure was the main street. He didn't come too close to them thankfully.
"You're not from this village." He stated, that with the size of the village it's not a surprise he knew they weren't. He probably knew everyone in the village. "Where are your parents, young lady?"
Sabo resisted the urge to say they were a boy too. They'd gotten used to doing so.
"Dead." They stated bluntly. Because Rouge and Roger were dead and they were their parents. Pity painted the old man's expression and the people listening in winced. "I'm here with my twin brother. We wanted to explore more of the island."
One of the people straightened up in realisation and came over. Others had looks of realisation too, but they stayed back. The one that came over smelled of fish, he worked with fish clearly. Though whether at the docks or involved in the preparation process was left for debate.
"Your brother, he wouldn't happen to have freckles and wear a flower in his hair?" He asked, bending slightly. Didn't anyone ever tell him that you shouldn't do that with kids? Or was it just short people? What was left of her memories wasn't that clear on the matter.
They nodded anyways and the man smiled at them. "He was dragged to the Party's bar by Luffy. There aren't any kids similar to his age here, so he wanted to make a friend. It's just down the road, right there." He pointed.
They couldn't read the sign from the distance and angle they were at, but the saloon doors unique to the building were enough to determine where the bar was. The fact that Sabo could have missed meeting Luffy wasn't lost on them. Although they missed Ace's and Luffy's first meeting, which saddened them.
How would Ace have reacted to Luffy this time? Would he have spat on him again? Unlikely really, and they doubt Ace could have gotten away with any killing attempts. The meeting would have been absurd with how normal it might have been.
They opened the saloon doors. Ace and Luffy were sitting at the bar, a small pile of food still remained in front of them. The only explanation for why it hadn't been eaten yet was probably because the two were talking.
They were both smiling. Ace was even gesturing like he always did when talking about something he liked or was excited about.
Sabo tasted blood.
I've realised that I have a chapter for three of my stories that I really want to share because I want to see how people will react to the ending. For It's Not a Devil Fruit it's chapter 4, for The Monster in Human Skin it's chapter 8... I am now just realising the pattern there.
I'm gonna double-check some Chapter 10's real quick now. ... Hmm, I'm excited to post and see the reactions for two out of the three mentioned stories. :D